Chapter 22
"Can't this plane go any faster?" Mikayla muttered under her breath. She tried to keep busy by checking her arrows and knives, knowing if she stayed focused on her weapons and kept her hands busy, her mind wouldn't think about what HYDRA could be doing to Clint. Eventually, she stood up. "That's it. Lower the ramp. I'm jumping out."
She started walking toward the ramp's emergency button but was stopped by Steve grabbing her arm. "Mikayla, we're almost there."
"Cap, if I don't do something, I will lose it. I know what HYDRA's capable of, and if I can't keep my mind occupied…." Mikayla's voice trailed off, not wanting to voice her worst fear. Natasha announced they were about to touch down. "Finally," Mikayla said as she and Steve sat down and buckled in, preparing for the landing.
The instant the plane landed and the ramp was dropped, Mikayla rushed off the plane, the team on her heels. "Stark? Find anything?" Cap asked.
"Two heat signatures. Waiting on everyone to open the bay door."
"On our way," Cap said as he jogged to catch up to Mikayla. "We're going in as a team." Mikayla nodded.
When the team arrived at the building, Natasha sprayed something on the keypad, which revealed the passcode. She punched in the numbers, backed up, and let Cap and Thor open the heavy doors. The group cringed, hearing the loud scraping of the doors against the cement floor. Sam sent up Redwing to get the exact location of the heat signatures. Shortly, Redwing sent a signal to Sam, who motioned toward where the two people were supposedly at. Everyone had their weapons drawn, prepared for anything. As they walked through the central area, Thor jabbed Cap in the side, getting his attention and pointing to the side. Cap looked up and saw five cryogenic chambers, each holding one person. Each of the figures had a bullet hole in their foreheads. "Us or them?" Natasha asked. Cap shrugged.
Sam motioned to the left, so the group turned and walked down that hallway. Cap heard a noise and held up his hand, turned around, and put a finger to his lips. He peered around the corner and saw two figures on the floor, slumped against the wall. "Stevie?"
"Bucky." Cap released a breath when he recognized his best friend's voice, then rushed down the hall. Steve knelt when he got to Bucky's side. The figure crumpled up next to Bucky was moaning.
"Clint?" Steve put a hand on Clint's shoulder.
"Hey, Cap. Is Mikayla?"
"Couldn't keep me away, Clint." Mikayla had appeared behind Steve, then knelt to examine her husband more closely and wondered why he sounded so unsure that she was there.
"We got him." Clint winced as he tried to move his leg.
"Rumlow?" Clint nodded. "Good riddance. Feel like I should go find him and shoot an arrow in him for good measure."
Clint tried to stand up, but Steve put a hand on his shoulder. "Clint, don't think your leg's gonna hold you."
"Got me this far, Cap."
Bucky shook his head. "Why am I surrounded by stupid blonds?"
"I've got brown hair, Barnes."
"Seen photos of your circus days, Hawkeye. There's blond in that mop somewhere."
Natasha snorted. "Nice to see you boys deflecting. Now, what's say we get you back home?" She motioned to Thor, who came over and picked up Clint.
"Aw, bridal style, no. Where's my dignity, man?"
As Thor stood holding Clint, Sam looked down and remarked, "I think you left it on the floor with your blood, Barton."
Mikayla watched Clint as he turned his head to look down, then realized his eyes weren't focusing. "Nat?" She asked as Thor returned to the Quinjet carrying Clint, followed by Steve holding up Bucky. Barnes's arm had healed, but his body needed time to recover from using the serum to heal the wound.
"Cap?" Steve turned his head around. "We'll do a quick tour. Make sure no one's left." He nodded and continued toward the entrance. "Stark, you and Wilson check the outside perimeter for any stragglers."
"On it, Widow."
Natasha still had her gun drawn, so she waited for Mikayla. The two women started their canvas once Mikayla pulled out a couple of knives. Walking down a passageway, they came upon two dead bodies. "Rumlow and Rollins," Natasha said.
Mikayla nodded. "I remember them from the farm." She kicked Rumlow in the side, then turned back to Nat. "Let's go home." The pair headed back to the Quinjet. When they made it out of the building, Mikayla looked at Nat. "Something's different about him, Nat."
Natasha noticed but wanted to avoid mentioning it. "His eyes."
"Yeah. What did they do to him?"
"I don't know. I'm sure Bruce is already looking into it and conferring with Doctor Cho. Hey," Natasha grabbed Mikayla's arm. "The docs will figure it out." Mikayla nodded wordlessly. The two were silent for the rest of the walk back to the plane.
Clint was lying on a stretcher with a proper tourniquet around his leg and an IV inserted in his arm. "Doctor Banner? You there?" Steve asked
The video screen pulled up. "Waiting for your arrival. How are they?"
"Bucky's okay. His right arm got grazed by a bullet. Serum healed it, so he's tired. We've got a tourniquet on Clint's thigh and an IV going. Just worried about his eyes. Bucky said they gave him some eye drops to blind him."
"How's the bleeding?"
"Slowed down."
Bruce nodded. "Good. There should be some eye wash in the cabinet. See if you can rinse his eyes out. Any idea what they used?"
Steve turned to Bucky. "Hold on a sec." Bucky dug in his pocket and pulled out a bottle. "Bottle says cyclopentolate."
"Hmm, that shouldn't blind him. It sounds like they added something to it. Friday? Please help walk Cap through how to get a sample on a slide, then send me a photo of what it looks like under the microscope.
"Of course, Doctor," Friday explained to Cap what he needed to do.
As that group was working on Clint, Mikayla tried not to hover. "Hey." Mikayla glanced over at Sam as he sat down next to her. "He's in good hands."
Mikayla nodded. "The best there is."
"I've never met a tougher and more stubborn person except maybe you. That's what will get both of you through."
"He remembered me," Mikayla said, seemingly not hearing Sam. "That means they didn't completely wipe him." She shivered, thinking about her time in HYDRA's captivity. "Did someone destroy the chair?"
"Hell, yeah. It'll never be used on anyone again."
"Hallelujah." Mikayla leaned back against the bench. "Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever get tired of fighting?"
Sam thought about it. For so many years, it seemed like all he ever did was fight. "I do, so I try to remember what I'm fighting for. You learn over time to pick your battles, which ones are worth fighting, which ones you let someone else fight for you, and which ones you let go. I think a large part of your problem is that you haven't had a break since you got back from your honeymoon. There's been no time for you to be Clint and Mikayla. I don't blame you for being tired."
"Thanks, Sam. Guess now I need to learn to prioritize my fights." Mikayla closed her eyes. "Thankfully, I'm good at list-making."
"That's the attitude." Sam patted her knee. "Try and get some rest. We'll be back home soon." Mikayla nodded.
A few hours later, the Quinjet pulled into the tower. Bruce and Doctor Cho, along with medical staff members, were waiting for them. As soon as the ramp dropped, a couple of techs ran up, took the stretcher from Steve, and rolled it down the ramp into the medical bay. The team was behind them, Mikayla sandwiched between Thor and Sam while Steve supported Bucky. "Let 'em at least take a look at you, Buck."
"Stevie, I'm fine, just tired." Bucky tried shoving himself away from his best friend, but Steve was insistent (and uninjured), so he continued leading Bucky into the tower and up to the medical wing.