Chapter 8
Chapter 8
This was not Clint’s first rodeo. He had honestly lost count of the number of times he had been captured, whether it was on purpose or accident. This time? He wasn’t quite sure which one it was. When he had made his presence known mere hours before now he knew that the likelihood of making it out of there was incredibly slim. It would have taken a serious amount of luck to make it out of there without being captured. Luck that Clint Barton never really ever had. Not when he was younger and definitely not now. Why is it you’re always getting yourselves into these situations, Barton? He admonished himself as they drove him to whatever secret lair they had.
When they arrived at wherever their “secret location” was, Clint found himself subjected to the normal bullshit. They dragged him into a room and sat him down on a chair before removing the hood. He, of course, wasn’t going quietly and gave them a run for their money. Eventually they had to get four guys to sit him down and hold him down in his seat when their “interrogator” came into the room. “Where is she?”
“Who?”
That earned him a punch to the stomach. “You know who.”
“I know a lot of female people, you’re going to have to be more specific.”
Another punch to the gut. “Where is Ogun’s daughter?”
“Oh…her…yeah, I have no idea.” This time the blow went to his jaw and he nearly fell off the chair. “You’re lying.”
“You’re really bad at telling when someone is lying, then,” Clint replied, running his tongue along the inside of his cheek. He and Logan hadn’t exactly talked about where they were going to meet up once they got Kitty. Logan had a lot of different safe locations in Tokyo so he could be anywhere. But the idiots didn’t believe him as they punched him again. “Where is she?!”
The question kept coming and Clint kept giving them the same answer, each time more snarky than the last. One day your mouth is going to get you killed Natasha had told him oh so many years ago and maybe she was right, but he couldn’t help himself. Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers. It made sense, even if it didn’t work well in his favor.
After probably the twenty-fifth hit (or was it the twenty-eighth?) Clint was finally knocked out. The next thing he knew he was being violently woken up when an ice cold bucket of water was thrown on him. He shot awake, one eye opening as the other was swollen shut while jumping up from laying on the floor. He realized as his body was jolted awake that while his hands were still bound behind him they had removed most of his clothing, leaving him in only the thin fabric of his pants. Really? They couldn’t at least leave my socks on? He thought as his body began to shiver. He half expected them to ask him those stupid questions again but they closed the door.
That was never a good sign.
Either this was sleep deprivation or it was temperature torture, both of which sucked. His answer came moments later when he felt how frigid the air in the room was. They’re going to freeze me. How original. His body started suffering from hypothermia but as soon as he would feel himself starting to slip into unconsciousness he felt the heat suddenly burst through the room and yank him away. It happened maybe four or five times and each time he almost passed out, he hoped it would be the end. As the room grew dark he could see them waiting for him. Laura. Cooper. Lila. Nathaniel. They were there at the edges of his mind welcoming him to the other side but then would be yanked away as soon as his body felt the heat warming him back up. When they did it again he actually yelled in frustration. He was tired of these games.
After being thawed yet again the door opened and he actually yelled at the guys on the other side, “Could you just get it over with already? I already told you I don’t know where she is and I’m really bored of the will I-won’t I freeze to death game. Just do us both the favor and put me out of my misery.”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, Agent Barton.”
Clint’s one good eye narrowed as Ogun entered the room, a smug grin plastered on his face. “You are worth more to us alive.”
“Why? Because you think I have information that I keep telling you that I don’t?”
“Oh no. I already told you that the Hand is very keen on your life, but so it seems does a Wilson Fisk. They’re both trying to outbid one another on who gets to skin you alive.”
So they were going to auction him off. Great. “I could have sworn the Yakuza and the Hand hated one another.”
“Oh, they do, Agent Barton. And that is the only reason why we’ve entertained the idea of their bids. Wilson Fisk is just fodder to get them to pay more than what you’re worth.”
Clint chuckled as he shook his head. He had to admit, the plan was genius. “It’s very surprising that Mr. Stark hasn’t joined the bid war for your life.”
“Yeah, well, hate to break it to ya but Tony Stark didn’t survive the whole Thanos thing and I’m not exactly an Avenger anymore so even if he was alive, I doubt he would be willing to match any number.” Well, not completely accurate. Tony, if he was still alive, wouldn’t be trying to buy him out. Oh no, he’d probably be staging a rescue mission…that is, if Tony still gave a damn. It hurt to think that Clint would never get that chance to reconcile after the Raft. “You haven’t heard, then.”
“Haven’t heard what?”
“Tony Stark is alive.” Clint felt a stone settle in his stomach but he hid that with a laugh and another shake of his head. “Yeah, right. And I’m the fucking King of Wakanda.”
“It is true. In fact, if you tell us where the girl is, I’ll let you go and you can see for yourself.”
Ah, and there was the rub. “You must really think that I’m an idiot if you think that I’m going to fall for that. I already told you, and I’ll say it again in Japanese so you can’t get it lost in translation – I don’t know where the girl is. If you want I can say it in whatever language you wa….”
Clint stopped mid-sentence as the cold steel of a katana was pressed against his throat. Maybe now was that day. “If what you say is true, then perhaps you wouldn’t mind if I poke around in that mind of yours to make sure?”
“I do, actually,” Clint muttered as he glared at Ogun as much as he could, “I’ve already done the mind games shit and I’m honestly really tired of all you baddies trying the same trick over and over again. Seriously. Get some new material.”
The blade inched closer to his neck and he felt the sting as it nicked his skin. “We’ll see about that.”
Clint tried to pull against his bonds as Ogun’s hands came closer to him. He noticed how they turned red and he knew that that wasn’t a good sign. “Wait…wait…wait!”
They were just about to touch him when an alarm sounded outside, pulling Ogun’s attention away from Clint and to his men that were running down the hall. “What is it?” He called to his men.
“Intruders!”
Ogun turned to Clint who just smirked. He had no idea if it was meant for him but hey, he wasn’t going to turn down this opportunity to mess with Ogun back. “You’re fucked.”
Ogun growled as he pointed to the two men who were already behind Clint. “Stay here with him. Kill anyone who comes here!”
He left with the rest of his men, leaving Clint behind with the two. The katana was still at his throat, but now with the rest of the posse gone and the two guys thinking they had an upper hand on him, Clint saw his opening.
It was now or never.
He pushed up with his feet, knocking the chair back and into the man right behind him to send him off balance and get the katana away from his neck. As soon as he hit the ground he rolled, bringing his hands in front of him and using his bonds to choke him to death while simultaneously using him as a human shield from the other person in the room. As soon as he was dead weight he kicked the body forward into the other and followed immediately, jumping up and grabbing the metal pipe above him while using his legs to wrap around the man’s neck and twist, making it snap and fall to the floor. “Amateurs,” he muttered as he dropped to the ground and situated the katana so he could cut off the bonds around his wrists.
Once freed he exited the room and gazed down the hallway. The distraction of the intruders was the perfect cover as he ran down the hall with his now borrowed katana. He needed his gear and he needed to get out. He wasn’t sure exactly how he was going to accomplish both but he was a master at improvising. As he made a left he noticed a figure and raised his katana, only to freeze when he noticed a metal man in front of him and the end of a machine gun pointed at his face.
Wait, he knew metal man…
“Rhodey?”
The machine gun raised, revealing the War Machine armor as the face plate slid up and Rhodey’s face appeared. “Jesus, Barton, you look like shit.”
“Hang on…how…”
“Logan called us as soon as you two got separated. You mind explaining what you’re doing here in Tokyo?”
They both turned as they heard voices coming down the hall. “How about we get out of here first and then answers.”
“Fair enough.” Rhodey let his face plate fall back into place as he grabbed Clint. “Logan and Kitty are drawing them out. You ready to get out of here.”
“Once I get my gear, then yes.”
“FRIDAY?”
// Yes Colonel? //
“Did you find Barton’s gear yet?”
// Down the hall, third door on the right. You may want to hurry. //
“On it. You copy that, Barton?” Clint nodded as he led the charge down the hall, finding the door with ease and busting in to find his gear. He put on as much as he could as fast as he could before joining Rhodey and while the face plate was still covering Rhodey’s actual face, he could still feel the glare coming off of him. “Later. Escape now?”
Rhodey nodded as he wrapped an arm around Clint. “Hang on. Logan?”
// You got bird brain? //
“All wrapped up. Heading to the rendezvous point.”
// See ya there, bub. Kitty and I are just taking care of some unfinished business first. //
Clint heard the repulsors firing up before Rhodey shot a hole through the roof and they flew away. While Clint was glad that back up had come to get him, he couldn’t help but think, Oh man, this is going to be fun explaining.
TBC…