Chapter 8
"And I love you"
Hands; grabbing him, trying to pry him away. He hears his name being called, but it's distant and muffled.
"Thor! Stop! Get off of him!"
"Someone stop him!"
The same hands continue to pry him away, still to no avail. He promised. He promised. He promised.
"And I love you."
Red. Blurring his vision, consuming him. There's no heartbeat anymore. She's gone. She's gone, and it's his fault. He promised her he would keep her safe. He promised. He promised.
"Oh my God!"
"Thor, Thor! Please, stop!"
He's aware of the sound of breaking bone, of blood splatter, dusting his face in slick crimson.
He's also aware of the weight of a rifle in his hands, barrel pointing upward to the sky, stock being thrown again and again into the man's skull who took his Jane away.
Then, he's being hit over the head, and dragged off of the soldier, Steve and Sam throwing him up against the house, before the adrenaline is falling away, and he's on his knees, sobbing into his hands.
The rest of the group are in various states of shock and horror, the women opting to stay with Jane's body, as the men had followed Thor out the front door, no clue then what the man had planned.
"She's.... Gone. He killed her. She's gone."
Bile threatens to rise from the pit of his gut, the sting of tears still all too harsh on his skin. The sounds of Jane's heartbeat slowly coming to a halt ringing in his ears, consuming him in sorrow.
Steve and Sam's half-hearted attempts at consolation fall flat on the air around them, the man sobbing into the dirt hearing none of them.
A fair amount of time passes before they are able to bring Thor into the house once again, the man immediately asking to sit in the dining room, taking Jane's hand from where a silk white bed sheet has been placed over her body, which the women moved to lay on the dining room table, head resting on a pillow from the family room.
Once they are alone, Natasha just collapses into her husband's arms, the bittersweet sting of such glorious reunion mixing with the harsh, guttural pain of loss.
"We're gonna die out here, Clint. We're all gonna die out here."
She feels as if no air is passing through her lungs whatsoever, the image of all the blood that had fallen in a pool beneath her friend imprinted in her mind. Just yesterday, these same men were promising to do everything in their power to help Waverly. Now, they're killing innocent people, snuffing out a life that had hardly had the chance to be lived.
"Don't talk like that, Nat. You know that it'll take the literal hand of God to keep me from protecting you."
"That's what they were supposed to be doing! Now they're shooting us for the fuck of it!"
She's in hysterics, grasping at Clint, and willing her heart to calm. Her hands are still covered in Jane's blood, and all Nat continues to see is the life as it drained from the woman's eyes. An intense ringing begins in her ears, and her pulse continues to beat away wildly, as her breathing becomes even more erratic.
Her trembling body crescendos, every nerve seeming to be operating at full force, lungs screaming in an effort to draw in any breath, desperately clinging to the sound of Clint's voice piercing through the haze of her panic.
Clint just slowly lowers them both to the carpet beneath them, never loosening his hold on his wife, while placing one of her hands over his heart.
"Tasha. Try to steady your breathing for me. Match my heartbeat."
Through the cacophony of madness inside her racing mind, a steady beating rhythm begins pulsating under her fingers, and as minuscule as it is, it's instantly calming.
"I'm right here, возлюбленная . I'm not going anywhere. I got you."
The ringing in her ears dulls, but is still enough to make it hard to hear much of what her husband is trying to say to her.
"I can't hear anything, Clint."
The man continues to rub soothing circles into her back, then taps his index finger against one of his ears, showing off his hearing aids.
"It's okay, love. Neither can I."
She's actually able to produce a laugh in her mess of a mind, as manic as she may look in the midst of an attack, still clinging to his chest, latching onto his steady heartbeat.
Against everything, the trembling dies away, and she feels her breath evening out, matching in time with that of the man holding her like its his life's purpose. The pulse of his heart sounding like salvation.
"I got you. I'm not going anywhere."
Sharon is on a mission, one single task on her mind after hanging up with Barton, and that is to find out what the Hell is on the flash drive she had procured.
Finding the fifth floor to be entirely empty, she sets out quick, finding a secluded cubicle, and pulling the laptop on the desk to rest in her lap as she takes the flash drive out of the jacket pocket it was hidden in.
Booting up the thing and placing the drive into its correct port take no time at all, and Sharon finds herself hesitating to open the single preceding file it contains; her suspicions of the small device being important being validated when her eyes land on Extremis as the file's title.
Taking a deep breath, she clicks on the icon, and a small document which she analyzes to be several e-mails between two private servers appears on the screen, Waverly: Extremis trial, appearing as the subject of each.
Gentlemen,
I don't believe I need to remind you of the fragility of this operation. If that group leaves the borders of that town, they will tell of the strain, and our cover of a natural gas leak is blown away. They cannot be allowed to leave that town other than in body bags, I hope that I have made myself perfectly clear.
An e-mail further down the page truly chills her to the core, setting the severity of all of the events in stone.
Gentleman,
I have reason to believe that Director Fury with the Homeland Division knows more than he's letting on. I plan on extinguishing this issue myself. I will allow him to participate in the proceedings of the containment protocol, and then most likely put a bullet in his skull.
Knowing almost full-well that Pierce had been the sender, Rollins and Rumlow being his recipients, and that Fury's right now sitting in a room with a man who has plans to kill him, Sharon closes out of the tab, shutting off the computer and once again tucking the drive away safe and hidden, before retreating back to the elevator, and immediately jumping out of her skin when her cell begins ringing.
Recognizing the number as the Sat phone she had spoken to Barton on, Sharon doesn't hesitate to answer.
"Hello?"
"Sharon, I am glad to hear your voice."
The familiar baritone resonates through the wire, and Sharon just collapses against the wall, the knowledge that Rhodey is still alive hitting her with too many emotions at once, and adding fuel to her commitment to holding Pierce responsible for all this terror.
"You stole the words right out of my mouth, Colonel."
"What the Hell are we dealing with?"
Sharon feels she could probably write a novel at this point of the myriad of revelations that she'd encountered since the protocol had been enacted, but tries to the best of her ability to steady her voice and give her friend an explanation, and warn him of the danger he now faces.
"Pierce and Senator Stern orchestrated this whole thing. Waverly was their test run for Extremis, and you, Ross, and the other two goons were just inconsequential in the whole scheme. Rollins still seems to be on his chain, and has orders to take you out, and the group you have with you. Director Fury is on our side, but that's only if Pierce doesn't kill him before I can get to him-"
Sharon stops listing off harrowing detail after harrowing detail to take a steadying breath, and deliver the one sentiment she's been needing to tell the Colonel since Fury first passed her the note in the situation room.
Just, get yourself and those people out of Waverly, as soon as possible, Rhodey. If Rollins can't deliver on taking you down, I'm terrified to think what Pierce will try next."
Before the man has a chance to respond, the doors to the elevator are opening, and who else but Pierce enters in, immediately giving her a smile that up until this point never seemed so unsettling and vicious.
"I'll have to call you back, babe. Duty calls."
She pockets the phone, making sure to calm her thoughts and plaster on her best poker face before turning and greeting the man next to her.
"Any progress on the Extremis front?"
His face doesn't reveal anything, and the smile he continues to wear has Sharon wanting to flee.
"Not yet, my dear. Was that someone special?"
"Boyfriend. Heard about a bad accident here in DC and wanted to call and check up on me. I'm sure you get the same calls from your wife."
He gives a very faux laugh before placing a soft hand on her shoulder, and continues to give her that same wicked smile.
"She likes to call when she thinks I'm up to no good, though I can hardly blame her. People are so hard to trust these days."
If Sharon hadn't been so thrown off by the man's words, she'd have noticed the doors to the elevator opening to another vacant floor, and the way the man moved to block her from reentering.
Instead, her hair ends up in Pierce's fist, who promptly knocks her unconscious against the wall next to them.
The man just stands over her, surveying his work before pulling out a phone of his own.
"This is Pierce. If Rollins hasn't radioed in with progress by nightfall, I want a bird in the air, and a bomb signed off for Waverly."
Steve and Bucky have been sitting with Thor for what feels like an eternity, nothing but the man's sobs filling the air around them.
Neither one have any words to say that could possibly ease their friends pain, so they continue on in silence.
Several times, Bucky finds himself wanting to reach out and take Steve's hand in his own, needing the reassurance that his fiancé truly had returned to him.
After taking one look at Thor crying over the dead body of his love however, he decides it would be in bad taste.
Steve is experiencing similar turmoil, and just generally feeling useless. He wants to tell Thor that all will be well, and that Jane will be vindicated, but he's not sure if that's a promise he can keep.
Suddenly Buck's on his feet, and Steve has seconds to mutter an apology to the other blond before he's chasing after his fiancé, who is making a beeline for the backyard, and the other attacker.
"Buck, where are you going."
"To get the other bastard."
Steve catches up to his fiancé, standing in front of him, and holding him in place with two firm hands on his shoulders. Bucky tries to continue pressing forward, but if Steve is anything (and Bucky can certainly attest) he's stubborn, holding his ground.
"I figured as much. And you're what? Gonna bash his skull in like Thor did to his partner?"
Bucky just narrows his eyes back at the man, and Steve at least has the decency to drop his hands from their vice-like grip on the brunet's shoulders.
"He's probably getting orders directly from Rollins. We can get answers as to why the fuck they're now slaying innocent people."
Steve just stands in profound amazement at his fiancé, a proud smile and faint blush gracing his features, before wrapping an arm around his waste, and pulling him in to kiss him on the forehead.
"You find new ways to knock me on my ass everyday, babe."
It's Bucky's turn to blush, before playfully shoving the blond out of his path as they both make their way to the backyard.
As expected, the guy is still unconscious on the ground, and it's an easy task to tie him up to the first chair they come across, out of reach of anything he can use to cut his restraints.
Steve finds the gun that had been kicked across the room in the soldier's struggle with Bucky, and holsters it when he finds it underneath a side table.
Bucky is just standing in front of the guy, hugging his arms to his body, and biting at his bottom lip, which besides being entirely too sexy to be legal if you ask Steve, is a tell of his. Steve has come to learn that his fiancé only ever pulls his bottom lip under his teeth when he's anxious or overwhelmed, both of which are very justifiable given the circumstances.
So, Steve does the same as he always does when Bucky needs to be comforted, he slowly makes his way over to the man and wraps his arms around him, Bucky immediately nestling his face into the crook of Steve's neck; his safe haven.
Maybe a very modest serenity, Bucky knows this, but Steve is the only one he can truly take security in, knowing the man will do everything in his power to protect him.
"You don't have to be worried anymore, Buck. I'll burn the whole world to the ground before anyone hurts you."
"It's you I worry about, Stevie. I mean, Christ. You stole an army-issue vehicle and then dumped it in a lake, just so you could come rescue my sorry ass."
"Your ass is a lot of things sugar; sorry isn't one of them."
The small laugh he gets in response is enough to make Steve smile once more, and it only grows impossibly bigger as Bucky pulls his head up to press a featherlight kiss to the blond's lips.
"I'm serious though, babydoll. We're gonna get through this. We just gotta keep fighting. You love that don't you, pulling me outta fights?"
Bucky laughs once again, keeping his face pressed close to Steve's, their foreheads held together as he buries his fingers in the tufts of golden blond hair above Steve's neck, Steve's strong arms holding their bodies almost as one.
"You're right. That, I'm good at. This is just like when we were younger. Maybe even easier."
Steve raises an eyebrow at that, asking without words for his fiancé to explain himself.
"I used to sit at your bedside and watch you move mountains just to catch a breath, or hack away for hours, and I'd beg, Stevie. I'd fucking beg to whoever would listen to keep you alive. At least now, I can see who's trying to kill you, and never give them the chance."
Steve can't speak, can hardly breath or do any damn thing other than pull Bucky to him, and kiss him breathless.
"Were you boys planning on getting us at any point, or were you just gonna stand here and give the bastard a show when he finally woke up?"
They continue to hold close to one another even as Steve laughs and turns to answer the colonel, who is leading Tony and Sam into their makeshift interrogation room.
"We were gonna find you eventually, I swear."
The three men smirk knowingly as they take up stance in front of the tied down soldier, Sam stepping up to hand Rhodes the Sat phone they had kept after Agent Carter had contacted them.
"A Sharon Carter gave us a pretty unexpected call on our way here. She's pretty sure your boss is up to no good."
The name has Rhodey grabbing the phone in haste, dialing the number he has ingrained in memory after countless years coming to trust absolutely none of the snakes in the intelligence community other than one Sharon Carter, niece of the legendary Margaret "Peggy" Carter.
"Hello?"
The voice is just as he remembers, completely stoic, void of any of the fear it absolutely has every right to hold in that moment.
"Sharon, I am glad to hear your voice."
"You stole the words right out of my mouth, Colonel."
"What the Hell are we dealing with?"
She lingers in silence for a moment before answering, and although he knows that he's facing a harrowing odyssey; Sharon's hesitance is a sure sign that all has truly gone to Hell.
"Pierce and Senator Stern orchestrated this whole thing. Waverly was their test run for Extremis, and you, Ross, and the other two goons were just inconsequential in the whole scheme. Rollins still seems to be on his chain, and has orders to take you out, and the group you have with you. Director Fury is on our side, but that's only if Pierce doesn't kill him before I can get to him. Just, get yourself and those people out of Waverly, as soon as possible, Rhodey. When Rollins can't deliver on taking you down, I'm terrified to think what Pierce will try next."
He stands in stunned silence, the men around him waiting in apprehension for him to explain why his face is now so haunted.
"I'll have to call you back, babe. Duty calls."
With that, the line is dead, and Sharon's voice is gone. Her final words sending him into a panic, he now very much fears for the woman's safety.
A loud groan coming from the bastard that they have bound down shocks them all, and Rhodey has a fist full of his shirt in an instant.
"You've got twenty seconds before I start putting bullets in you. Where the Hell is Rollins, and how do we get out of town without him being any the wiser?"
The guy does exactly as expected; stays silent, and gives Rhodey the most depraved smirk the Colonel has ever seen. As he tips his head away from Rhodey, he smirks in contemptible pride at the emblem branded onto his skin.
"Hydra. Pierce collecting checks from domestic terrorists now, is he?"
"Я не склонились перед врагами, полковник."
The Colonel owl blinks a few times at the goon in front of him, before turning to the rest of the group with a look of sheer confusion.
"What.... What the Hell did he say?"
By this point, Clint and Natasha had entered the room, Bobbi, Maria, and Pepper opting to stay in the front of the house and keep watch.
"He said he doesn't bow to enemies."
Bucky moves closer to the goon, Steve staying pressed right behind him, and doesn't look away from the man even as he answers Rhodes. If he wants to play this game, then Bucky will play.
"это было не так , минуту назад."
Natasha suddenly laughs, winking at Bucky before she pulls from Clint's grasp and makes her way out of the parlor to the wash room.
Bucky's eyes follow her before the man begins speaking again, grabbing his attention.
"Я лояльных только для моего, капитан. я не согнуть таких людей, как ему."
He follows the thugs eyes back to Rhodes knowing full well that he's indicating racial slurs, before literally digging his nails so hard into his clenched fists that he draws blood, trying his hardest to refrain from punching the guy in the throat, and turning to bite back.
"Каким образом она неудобное положение для заднего передал вам сказку и чернокожий мужчина."
The bastard actually seems to flinch at that, staring daggers at Sam, who in turn, moves so Bucky is between him and the thug.
"What the Hell did you say to him,
Barnes?"
"Don't worry, Sammy. Only good things."
Natasha finally makes her way back into the room, carrying a full glass of water, and she sends a wink Buck's way before taking stance in front of the soldier.
"Вы говорите по английски?"
The guy stares at her with complete disdain, eyeing all the others in the room, before facing Natasha and scoffing loudly, then speaking in a very thick accent.
"I will for a woman as beautiful as yourself."
"He'll do what for a woman as beautiful as you? Nat? Nat!?"
Natasha just waves off her husband, stepping closer to the man in front of her, and motioning for Rhodey and Sam to stand on either side of him. The accumulation of all the fear, anger, pain, and grief she's experienced in the span of only two days is terrifyingly and beautifully painted in her features, and the bound captive actually shies away as she moves toward him.
"I'm sure you're aware of what this virus of yours does to people. One of our own just bashed your friends skull in without even blinking an eye. So, let me make myself clear. Unless you want me to force this strain down your throat and put you on your deathbed, you'll answer my questions for me, got it?"
At this point, the guy has all but pissed himself, actually trembling as Natasha just smirks down at him. Everyone else's faces are pretty much variations of the same theme.
Sam and Rhodey are both gaping at her boldness, Clint looks like the proudest son-of-a-bitch on the planet, and Steve and Bucky are just smirking along with her. She raises an eyebrow at him, before turning to the two standing at attention next to him.
"Boys, since he won't do it himself, open his pretty little mouth for me."
"Wait!!! Wait! I'll tell you what you want to know."
"That's what I want to hear."
"Rollins ordered the civilians at the isolation zone to be shuttled out. Anyone still within the town's borders are to be considered infected and eradicated on the spot. We have specific orders to take out all of you. If we can't, Pierce is going to-"
The man's blood is painting Natasha red in an instant, a single shot to the back of his head silencing him permanently.
No one has even a second to process the scenario exploding around them, until Steve has the pistol he took off the soldier trained on Thor, who has the rifle from the other guy locked and loaded, sights now on Rhodes, who is also focusing his weapon on the deputy.
"Thor, put the gun down."
Experience is a brutal teacher, so Clint knows as he's voicing the command that Thor will not listen.
"I can't do that, Sheriff. No man in an army uniform can be trusted."
Tony moves to stand in front of Rhodey then, staring the deputy down.
"We can trust this one. Rhodey's trying to help us, Thor."
"AND A LOT OF GOOD THAT'S DONE!"
Everyone in the room flinches at the sudden outburst, Steve still aiming his sights on a man that just a few days before he considered one of only a handful of people he could trust his life with.
If the group had thought they'd seen insanity before, they were sorrowfully mistaken. Thor seems to be skirting the edge of an abyss, his eyes resonating the loss he suffered, and the vengeance he intends to exact.
Tony is unwavering, however. He remains planted firmly in front of his friend, silently challenging Thor to pull the trigger.
"If he hadn't come round here, no one would be hunting us right now, and JANE WOULDN'T BE DEAD RIGHT NOW. SO DON'T FUCKING TELL ME WE CAN TRUST HIM."
The blond is far too intent on keeping his sights trained on Rhodes, and doesn't notice Maria sneaking up behind him until she's wrestled the rifle from him, and thrown the stock into his nose. Once he's collapsed to the floor, trying to stop the cascading crimson, she turns the thing around, and backs away, never dropping the barrel from its aim on her friend.
"I'm sorry to have to do that."
The air in the room is defiantly taciturn, when just a few moments before, it seemed as if the Gates of Hell themselves were threatening to burst open.
Thor is still cupping his hand to his broken nose, seeming now so fragile and utterly ravaged by the nightmare that has become their lives, that Maria instantly lowers her weapon, causing Steve and Rhodey to follow suit.
"I'm sick, aren't I?"
Natasha guardedly steps toward the blond then, giving her husband a look as to quell his fear, before kneeling down and placing her hands on Thor's cheeks, pulling his face up so he can see the poignancy in her eyes, see the sympathy.
Thor smiles back at her as a single tear falls to frame his face.
"Can I..... Can I stay with you all a little while longer? I don't... I can't be alone right now."
In an instant, Clint moves to pull both his wife and friend to their feet, before wrapping Thor in a tight embrace, then stepping back to stare him directly in the eye.
"No one else is going to die in this house. When you go, it'll be on your own terms, among friends."
The rest of the morning goes on in stunted reticence, Thor keeping to himself, facing the reality of his impending demise.
Everyone tersely avoids the dining room, not wanting any reminder of the horrors the room will now forever echo.
In the midst of the near purgatory, Sam seeks out Maria, pulling her outside, away from everyone, one thing on his mind.
"Sam, we should be helping Nat and Bobbi find a change of clothes for everyone or helping with the old cruiser. We can't stay here too-"
Her words expire on her lips when the man wraps his arms around her, and crashes their lips together.
Taken by surprise at first, Maria quickly gains her composure, then kisses back with the same desperation and longing.
In a way, she can sense all the best aspects of Sam cascading outward while her lips are on his.
He isn't demanding, but gives enough force to take her breath away; the brunette deciding that she's never felt safer than here in this moment.
As they part, Maria can't do anything but rest her forehead against Sam's, relishing in his closeness, and the electricity moving between the two of them.
"A lot is uncertain right now. I wanted to make sure there weren't any wires crossed between us. I really like you, Hill."
She pulls away from him then, smirking as she makes her way back to the house. She stops at the threshold of the door, turning back to Sam and leveling him with a dazzling smile.
"So, for that date. Your place. I like Sangria and Pesto Aioli."
And then, she's disappeared back into the house, leaving Sam smiling like a fool.
"Natasha, Thor! Everyone is piled in the cruiser already. We've gotta get moving!"
Nat makes her way to the bottom of the stairs at the same time Thor steps out of the dining room, wanting to say one final goodbye to Jane before they left, possibly not to ever return to Waverly. Clint and his wife had been generous enough to find a clean change of clothes for those who needed it, and the rest of the group were now huddled together in the barn, waiting for the three to join.
Clint watches as Natasha lingers at the foot of the stairwell, breathing in the foundation of hope and love that they had built together, herself saying one final goodbye.
She turns to have her husband kiss her softly on the lips, earning a small smile and stray tear.
"I love you, Tasha."
"And I love you."
Thor moves to the window suddenly, cursing faintly before turning to his friends, a too familiar look of terror painting his features.
"We've got company."
The couple move to the window to see four more armed soldiers exiting an unmarked black sedan, sights trained on the house.
"We've gotta move. Now."
Thor just takes a hold of Clint's shoulder, holding him in place, knowing only one scenario will play out if they all try to flee to the barn.
"You two go, I'll keep their attention on me."
"Thor-"
"Clint, please. You said no one else is going to die in this house...... I'm already dead."
Not knowing what to say to that, Clint just takes a hold of his wife's hand, trying to grasp at what the implications of Thor's words would be.
"Please. Allow me the dignity of helping you all to escape this Hell. My times run out, Clint."
The Sheriff doesn't say a word, just nods back at his deputy, almost as a final order to one of his most loyal compatriots, before handing him the rifle from earlier.
Natasha moves quickly, pulling the blond down to place a kiss on his cheek, before giving him a tearful smile, and inclining her head to the dining room.
"Make her proud."
With that, Thor is taking up position in the front of the house while Natasha and Clint make a silent retreat out the back toward the barn.
As the final minutes of his life begin to play out in front of him, Thor allows his mind to wander.
He thinks of his brother, and how he'd have liked to reconcile his relationship with him before meeting his end. Thinks of his father, and how they were supposed to meet for lunch in the near future for the first time in ages and catch up on each other's lives.
Mostly, images of his mother and Jane dance on his mind's stage, the hope of seeing them after his final stand is over causing him to lift the rifle to the air, pulling the trigger, and alerting the intruders to his presence within the house.
All four merge on the front door, and in his periphery, the side window offers a glimpse of his friends slipping into the barn unnoticed, as he smiles a victorious smile, before taking a deep breath, and readying the stock of the rifle at his shoulder.
"Welcome to Waverly, bastards."
The words cut into the silence, and the blond has only a few moments to position himself in front of Jane's body, one final tear falling as he readies to enact his retribution.
The last thing the group huddled together in the cruiser hear is a symphony of gunfire as they make their way back out onto the lonely stretch of highway ahead of them.
An acute, fierce pain ripples through Sharon's head as her eyes slowly flutter open.
The room she's in is very dimly lit, seeming to sit at the back of the buildings armory, meaning she's completely at the whim of the Devil smiling execrably upon her.
Her movements are languid and strained, and she realizes in horror that she's been restrained, unable to even defend herself from Pierce.
The man looks as leisurely as ever, sitting with his legs crossed at a desk resting parallel to the blonde, hands cupped together on his lap.
"I'm surprised at you, Sharon. Margaret would be absolutely appalled at your lack of finesse in the covert."
She shivers as he leans in next to her ear, his serpent-like voice ghosting into the tense air of the room.
"You should have used a better cover then a coffee run."
She all but bites back, never wanting to hear the man say her Aunt's name again.
"She'd be putting a bullet in your skull right now you sick fuck."
And she believes it with every fiber of her being. Her Great Aunt never shied from here moral compass; Virtue, above brawn, wit, cunning. Virtue makes a good soldier. Peggy Carter was a damned good soldier.
And Sharon will be too. She promised Sheriff Barton that she'd see this through to the end, even it I killed her. If that be the case, well.
Her Aunt will be damn proud when they meet in Heaven.
"You're to be admired, young lady. Sadly, your stint in heroics ends here. I have far too much invested in Extremis."
"What paycheck is worth being signed in the blood of innocent people?"
The man doesn't deter his gaze, doesn't show a shred of remorse. It makes Sharon's blood run cold. The knowledge that she'd worked under this man for so long, and had absolutely no inkling into the evil he kept hidden behind curt smiles and orderly demeanor, causing tears to sting at her eyes.
"Hydra pays very well."
He then opens his palm to reveal the stolen hard drive that she had scoured from his office. Giving her the same grotesque smirk, he opens up his jacket, and places the device inside, before typing away a message on his phone.
"Why keep the hard drive? Those e-mails are a little incriminating, are they not?"
"Absolutely they are. You're well enough trained, Ms. Carter. A good espionage artist always measures leverage. I needed a fail-safe in the instance of Rollins and company failing to apprehend Rhodes. The servers the e-mails had been sent from would have been impossible to trace, meaning, the Senator from Iowa sitting with Director Fury right now posed the perfect framing. I simply could have said that he was in cahoots with the men inside Waverly, including Rhodes, and been heralded as a hero."
Sharon just shutters out another breath, sinking in upon herself, the weight of her predicament almost suffocating.
"Do me a favor?"
The statement has Pierce's brows rising, though he stays silent and allows Sharon to finish voicing her desire.
"When you kill me, and almost undoubtedly tell everyone I died at my own hand..... Tell them it's because I hated my fucking job."
The low hum of the engine coasting down the open road is the only sound heard between the group of ten.
The midday sun is high in the sky, though it's shining down onto a ghost town is a sight none of them take comfort in.
The chorus of gunshots that crescendoed as they escaped the Barton farmhouse still echoes on, the image of Jane's lifeless body haunting them all every time they close their eyes.
Rhodey is sitting shotgun, Clint at the wheel. Conversation between them had fallen away, both men staring out on the horizon, and their safety.
Behind them, the open back of the cruiser holds the rest of the refugees.
Sam has an arm around Maria, occasionally rubbing a soothing hand up and down her arm, or kissing into her hair. Bobbi and Natasha are sitting directly behind the large front seat, arms linked. Next to them, Tony is resting with his head against the window, Pepper resting her head on his shoulder. Directly across from them, Steve also has his head resting against the window, Bucky with his back resting against the man's broad chest, his strong arms encasing the brunet.
"How about some tunes?"
Actually agreeing with Tony's sentiment, Rhodey turns the dial on the dashboard, the ancient thing crackling to life, and the beginning synth of a familiar eighties tune resonating into the vehicle.
You and I in a little toy shop, buy a bag of balloons with the money we got...
A small smile finds its way onto Tony's lips then, joining in with the vocals.
"Set them free at the break of dawn, 'til one by one they are gone."
Be it as provisional as it is, the song floating in the air around them is comforting, and soon, Sam and Nat have started to sing along with Tony.
"Back at base, bugs in the software, flash the message, somethings out there. Floating in the summer sky, 99 Red Balloons go by."
Then, the car fills with sounds of laughter, as Tony, Clint, and Sam all try to mimic the pulsating synthesizer that starts to drive the tune.
Bobbi and Maria are clapping along to their failed attempts at staying in rhythm and harmonizing, and for a moment, the scene actually feels like any other day among friends.
"Y'all know this song is about the end of the world, right?"
Steve reaches over then, punching Sam in the arm as his best friend gives him an indignant look.
"What!? It's true!"
Steve doesn't say anything, just points a thumb out the window.
"Punch buggy."
Both men have to let out a morbid laugh at the sight of an overturned red VW along the side of the road, abandoned.
"Let's play never have I ever!"
Everyone turns to Tony, who is vibrating like a child, Pepper moving away to allow him his excited convulsions, before placing a hand on his shoulder and leveling him with a questioning glance.
"Must you always be occupied with something?"
"Come on, Pep. We've been married long enough for you to know that I don't handle silence well. I'll start. Never have I ever....... Smoked pot."
Everyone freezes then, waiting for truths to be revealed.
To everyone's surprise, both Pepper and Rhodey as well as Steve put fingers down.
"Steve? What ever possessed you to roll a duby?"
Buck just reaches back and pats the blond on the cheek, taking Sam's question for him.
"He has a thing for immediately doing something if someone tells him not to."
Steve just blushes and hides his face in Bucky's hair while his friends get a good laugh, all except for Tony, who is looking at his wife and best friend with looks of utter betrayal.
"Don't look at me like that, Tony. We didn't invite you to all the parties."
She gives her husband a kiss on the cheek, before turning to everyone else, and giving a scenario of her own.
"Never have I ever been arrested."
Tony huffs in betrayal, placing a finger down, joined in company by again, Clint, and Maria as well.
"I used to get in trouble with the carnies. What did you in, Hill. And why didn't it show up on your record?"
A faint blush dusts her cheeks as she avoids her supervisors gaze. She had been planning on having this conversation anyway; might as well be today.
"I was twelve when I learned how to hot-wire cars."
She gives an evil smirk then, turning to Steve and Bucky before opening her mouth.
"Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex."
They both give her a scathing look, each putting a finger down, and laughing as Tony, Clint, Sam, Natasha, and Bobbi all do the same.
"Holy shit. Alright. Stories, now."
Sam just rubs a hand over the back of his neck, avoiding Maria's amused look.
"It wasn't anything interesting. Riley and I got really drunk at a college party once and ended up making out. What about you two?"
Nat and Bobbi both smile, sharing a devious look before answering Sam.
"We both got ditched at senior prom. Nat's a really good kisser."
"слава Natalia."
Nat smiles at Bucky before turning to her husband.
"What about you, darling?"
Clint keeps his eyes on the road, but his smile is wide all the same.
"It was a stupid dare. Wade Wilson said that I didn't have the balls to kiss Peter Quill on the lips. I won ten bucks that day."
Tony snaps his fingers getting everyone's attention, the group all eyeing him warily.
"Well I kissed Justin Hammer one time. He was being annoying as Hell, so I planted one right on his lips, and he shut right the Hell up."
The group again fall into laughter, the confines of the cruiser seeming to be the most serene and safe place in all the world. For a moment, tranquility settles in, and the echoes of gunfire and images of blood and death are non-existent in their minds.
Suddenly, a helicopter zooms overhead, and everyone's eyes immediately follow it, the peace of a few seconds before shattering to pieces and falling out onto the empty stretch of road they left behind them.
"That's an Apache. One of ours."
Clint follows Rhodey's gaze toward the chopper, and decides that he doesn't want to wait around and hope that the thing doesn't turn back their way.
"Clint! The car wash!"
Natasha's words take a moment to register in his mind, but Rhodes points a hand off to the left of the road, and he sees what she was talking about, cutting the wheel so sharp he's afraid he might roll the damn thing, barreling into the building a second later.
"What are they doing with a damn attack helicopter?"
"Hunting me.... Hunting all of us."
Clint's mind freezes to a halt, the cacophony of voices around him all a droning white noise.
"We can't stay on the main road, we've gotta find a back road."
"What road can't they see, Pep? What magical fucking road can't they see!?"
"Tony, calm down. She's just trying to help."
"Just like you've been trying to help, Colonel? From where I'm sitting, that chopper is hunting us because of you."
"Sam. That's not fair. If it weren't for him, I'd still be trapped at the school."
A shrill scream from Pepper has everyone going silent, the woman pointing out the window into a dark corner of the building.
"Someone's out there!"
Their collective hearts have another immense shock when the assembly roars to life, and suds begin to cover the entirety of the car.
This leaves them blind to the group of bodies standing forebodingly at the entrance of the tunnel, waiting to strike.
"I think you should drive, sheriff."
"Colonel, I couldn't agree more."
Slamming on the gas with all the strength he can muster, the sound of the tires wailing in protest resonate throughout the building.
The car won't budge.
"I can't get any traction."
Steve and Rhodey both unholster their guns at the same time, training their eyes on the perimeter of the vehicle, the various moving contraptions of the conveyer making it near impossible to discern if any infected are indeed waiting for them.
The way in which the dim lights outside the car are dancing through the soap covered Windows paints a very ominous image to those trapped inside. Each shadow flashing through their periphery potentially being a demonized former neighbor or friend.
*CRASH*
Before anyone can react, the windshield and drivers side window are being smashed, and the monstrous faces of Aldrich Killian and Wilson Fisk are reaching in toward Clint and Rhodes respectively.
Fisk is able to handily take a hold of the Colonel's gun, the two struggling with it for a moment before it gets tossed off in the distance. Killian wastes no time grabbing for Clint's throat, the man fighting against the restraints of his seatbelt, trying to tear the vice-like hands from his windpipe.
Steve aims his gun for Killian's head, but stills in horror as he finds the magazine to be empty. His body moves before his mind thinks, and he's rolling over the hood of the car with Killian's head in a chokehold a second later.
The rear window is also broken open, and before Bucky can go diving after his fiancé, two more inhuman hands are reaching into the vehicle, pulling him with ease out into the madness of moving parts and flashing lights in the building.
He stumbles to his feet, and has just enough time to throw his metal hand up, grasping the blade that Darren Cross has careening toward his face.
He holds the blade in place, and throws his foot up into the man's stomach, kicking him away.
The guy is on his feet again very quickly, and as Bucky's focus is locked on him, Arnim Zola is able to start creeping up behind him.
"Bucky, move!"
The brunet dips out of the way as Sam flies out the back of the vehicle, tackling Zola to the ground, then rolling out of the way as Cross throws a heavy boot down, crushing against Zola's skull where just a second before, Sam's head would have been.
Bucky moves to aid his friend, but Will Simpson jumps in front of him before he has the chance. The man is almost identical in build and stature to his fiancé, and Bucky knows that this won't be an easy fight.
Back in the front of the vehicle, Steve is still rolling around on the ground with Killian, the man much stronger than his appearance would suggest.
He's draining far more energy than he'd like, struggling to keep the maniac on top of him at bay.
Seeing an opportunity and having only now seconds to act on it, he uses his feet to turn their bodies to lie parallel to the hood of the car, before throwing Killian off to his right side.
The man tries to grab for Steve once again, but the sounds of every bone is his body beginning to snap fill the deputies ears as the cruiser rolls over his attacker; he himself lying flat on his back as the vehicle passes over him.
Back inside the thing, Natasha screams in pain as Dottie Underwood reaches in and pulls her by her hair out of the vehicle. At the same time, a piercing sound of metal crashing through metal booms in the car, and Pepper once again screams in horror as her eyes fall upon the large iron rod that had been thrust through the side of the car, and ultimately, right through Tony's abdomen.
Maria pulls Pepper's head down out of the way as Jack Thompson tries to jam another one into her skull, then grabs the same rod, using all her strength to push it back, straight into the man's chest.
Bobbi allows Maria to tend to Tony as she dives out of the car, lunging at Dottie, who has a blade raised to Natasha's throat.
Bobbi punches the woman in the face, and Nat takes the opportunity to slip from her grasp, falling to her knees, gasping for air.
Clint sees the exchange, and with the help from a sudden jolt of adrenaline, busts open his seatbelt and door, falling to the ground in front of his wife, just as Dottie kicks Bobbi back into the side of the car.
The sheriff stands to his feet, throwing an open palm in Bobbi's path, the blade the woman had been sporting cutting a perfect incision straight through his hand.
He howls in pain, but doesn't miss Dottie going for Bobbi again, quickly reaching up and back-handing the exposed blade across the blonde's face, her body falling to the concrete lifeless once he's finished.
Inside the vehicle, Rhodes finally grabs a hold of the bald bastard's head, slamming it repeatedly into the dashboard, before slipping down in his seat, and kicking the man in the throat. He follows the guy over the hood and onto the conveyer, one more kick snapping the man's neck.
Once again behind the vehicle, Cross and Simpson are incredibly menacing, bearing down on Sam and Bucky relentlessly.
Cross's blows are packed with superhuman strength, and one lucky blow lands across Sam's face, disorienting him long enough for his attacker to tackle him to the pavement, hands grasping at his throat.
Simultaneously, Simpson has pulled a large trail knife on Bucky, and all the brunet can do is dodge each swing, keeping his feet planted on the ground and focus locked on the man in front of him.
One swing aimed right at his face has him backing up against the wall, and rolling his shoulder just in time to have the blade come down and impale his metal prosthetic, the wiring connecting to his nerve endings blinding him with pain as he screams out in agony.
Like the Godsend that he is, Steve pulls himself fully from underneath the vehicle once it's rolled over him, and springs to his feet. He meets Bucky's eyes, who uses the leverage of Simpson's hold on him to jump up and throw both feet into the man's stomach, sending him staggering back toward Steve, who grabs his head, and slams it into the tailgate of the car, before turning on Cross and kicking him off of Sam. The bastard tries to come for them again, but Bucky pulls the blade from his shoulder far quicker, and throws it almost perfectly into the guy's forehead.
Steve helps Sam to his feet, making sure he is uninjured, then is at Bucky's side in an instant. The roles have been reversed, as Steve is expertly coddling Bucky to the brink of insanity.
"TONY.... OH GOD, TONY, NO."
"Stay with me, Stark. You've come too far to go out like this."
The sight inside the vehicle has time ceasing, everyone quiescent, transfixed, unwilling to accept that another one of theirs is dying in front of them.
Tony just pulls Pepper closer, and places a soft kiss on her forehead.
"I'm so sorry, Pep."
"Don't you dare do this, Tony."
"Pepper, keep pressure on his abdomen."
"Hill, get your filthy paws off me."
"Glad to see you've still got your sense of humor."
As the conveyer dulls back into quietude, it's as if the only sound in the world is Tony's heartbeat, gradually becoming softer and softer.
"I love you, Pepper. So much. So so much."
"You'll have time to tell me later, darling."
"Pepper, keep your hands pressed there. He's bleeding far too much."
Clint's got a firm hold on his wife, the spray of water from the ceiling raining down on the group. Sam has moved to check on Bobbi, who has her back turned to the scene in the car. Rhodey is just standing in shock, not able to fathom his best friend dying before his eyes. Steve's got Bucky pressed to his chest, running a soothing hand through his long strands of brown hair.
"I refuse to work for any other mayor, God dammit. Keep your eyes open Tony."
The cruiser pops off the assembly, before rolling a few feet further, the bright rays of sun beaming down from Heaven above calling the dying man home.
"Public approval was bombing...... Chemical disasters are bad for business, Hill."
Even with his life draining, Tony's still got the same teasing whimsicality to his voice.
Pepper's tears are all-consuming, burying her face into Tony's neck, praying to whomever may be listening,
Don't take him. Please.
A blinding streak of fire rains from the sky, and in a heartbeat, the cruiser is obliterated in flames, Maria, Pepper, and Tony gone with it.
An army attack helicopter flies off into the distance.