Chapter Three
"Lainey, come on. You gotta wake up, Buddy. We don't have much time."
Steve let out an audible sigh of relief when Lainey's light blue eyes met his own. They were on borrowed time and he really needed her to stay awake.
The explosion had torn the entire base apart. They had gone underground just in the knick of time.
But unfortunately, Natasha took a bit of a hit and was now unconscious.
Of course, Steve had tried waking her up first because Lainey was easier to carry, but the redhead wasn't responding. So, naturally, he tried Lainey.
He couldn't carry them both out of there. He was exhausted.
"Steve?" The nine year old slurred, blinking to clear her vision.
And whether it was from pure sleepiness or blunt trauma, Steve didn't know. "That's right, Buddy, it's Steve." He lifted Natasha into his arms, carrying her bridal style.
Lainey shook her head to try and wake herself up, but her eyes kept fluttering. She didn't remember anything hitting her head, and it didn't hurt. So, why was she falling asleep?
"I need you to stay awake for me, okay?"
Steve knew S.H.I.E.L.D. would be around soon to make sure that they finished the job, and he needed Lainey completely awake until they got to a safe place.
"…..Okay." She nodded, leaning into him for support. "M'awake…...but sleepy."
"I know, sweetheart. I know you're sleepy." Steve began walking, making sure that she was matching him step by step. "I promise that when we get somewhere safe, I'll let you sleep."
"Okay." She nodded. "What happened to Tasha?…..She hurt?" The child glanced over at the unconscious woman with concern written on her soot covered features.
"Just a little. But she'll be okay. Keep walking, you're doing great."
Steve could only hope that they'd be able to get out of this place soon enough, because now they were really in danger.
"She just passed out?" Natasha asked, watching over a sleeping Lainey, gently wiping the dirt from the girl's cheeks.
And she didn't stir. Not even a little bit.
After stealthily getting both girls out of the rubble and destruction, Steve brought them to Sam's house. They couldn't trust anyone, but they didn't really have anywhere else to go. And Sam seemed like he was trustworthy enough.
Steve believed that Sam was a good man after just a couple of encounters with him and ultimately decided that he was the person he would go to for help.
He felt guilty for dropping in on him like this, but there really was nowhere else to go.
"Literally a second before you woke up." Steve answered in between washing his face in the bathroom. "I have no idea what happened. She was slurring and she could barely keep her eyes open."
Unbeknownst to the two adults, there was a perfectly logical explanation for why this occurred, but they wouldn't find that out until much later.
For now, they could only be concerned.
"It was a long day…...any kid would be overwhelmed." Steve tried to reassure her. "Don't beat yourself up." He dried his hands and made his way over to her, noticing her look of forlorn. "You okay?"
"Yeah."
But he knew better than that, so he pressed on. "What's going on?"
"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for Hydra. I thought I knew who's lies I was telling, but…..I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."
"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business." Steve joked, managing to get a small smile from her.
"I owe you."
He had saved her life without even having to think about it. He saved her when it would have just been easier to leave her and Lainey and get out of there on his own.
Whether he knew it or not, that meant something to Natasha. She could trust him. And the list of people that she could trust, wasn't very long.
"It's okay."
"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"
And she wanted him to be able to trust her.
"I would now." Steve looked directly into her eyes. "And I'm always honest."
No lies, zero hesitation. He trusted her.
And just like Natasha's list of people she could trust, the list of people who trusted her was even shorter.
But Steve did. And it meant the world.
"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing." She smiled, her voice audibly lighter than before.
"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."
"I made breakfast." Sam knocked on the doorframe. "If you guys eat that sort of thing."
Steve and Natasha shared an amused smile and stood up. Of course they ate breakfast.
"She still asleep?" Sam nodded towards Lainey. "I thought for sure the smell of my food would wake her up."
"She's had a rough couple of days." Steve lifted Lainey under her arms and set her down on her feet. "Hey, Buddy, wake up." He shook her gently.
The child opened her eyes and glared at the man for waking her up out of her slumber, but immediately lit up when she saw Sam. "Hi!" She waved enthusiastically, as if she hadn't just been deep in sleep.
"How're you doing?" He smiled. "I made breakfast. Hungry?"
"Yes."
"Then come on."
Lainey continued to look up at Sam and made grabby hands at him, prompting the man to lift her up and take her into the kitchen with the two former S.H.I.E.L.D. employees following behind, both with expressions of shock on their faces.
Lainey didn't just...let people carry her like that. She always had to size them up first.
There must've been something about Sam that made her feel comfortable and at ease around him.
The food smelled delicious. There were pancakes, eggs, and loads of bacon.
Sam really knew how to cook.
"And since you're my favorite person in the room." Sam sat Lainey down in one of the dining chairs. "You can sit next to me. I might just have some marshmallows you can put on your pancakes."
"So, the question is, who in S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asked after they had finished eating.
The breakfast was delicious and it highlighted the fact that none of the three had eaten anything in several hours.
It was no wonder they were falling asleep on their feet.
"Pierce." Steve concluded.
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." She continued, fixing Lainey's hair as gently as she could.
She did her best to wash it clean of all the dirt and soot from the explosion, Sam had allowed her to use the kitchen sink and some hair products he had lying around from when his sister came to visit. But Lainey didn't make it easy.
She hated getting her hair done. Natasha couldn't figure out if it was sitting still or getting rid of all the tangles that she hated the most, but whatever it was, Lainey acted like she had never been through this before.
So Sam bribed her with some cookies he had sitting in the pantry and thankfully, it helped the situation.
"But he's not working alone. Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."
"So was Jasper Sitwell."
Lainey didn't know Jasper Sitwell very well. Actually, she didn't know him at all. They had crossed paths a couple of times when Fury babysat her, but that was it.
He always seemed very fidgety to her. Nervous, even.
"So, the real question is, how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?"
"The answer is, you don't." Sam dropped a file on the table in front of them.
"What's this?" Steve questioned.
"Call it a resume."
"Is this Bakhmala?" Natasha asked, securing a dutch braid she had been working in Lainey's hair with a hair tie. "The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you? You didn't say it was para-rescue."
"Is this Riley?" Steve stared at the picture of the two men, one of which he didn't recognize.
"Yeah."
Riley was Sam's wingman before an RPG shot him right out of the sky. The worst part of the whole ordeal was that Sam couldn't do anything about it except watch as his good friend hit the ground.
Steve could empathize with that. For him, it wasn't that long ago when he tried to save Bucky from falling off that train. He reached out as far as he could so that he could grab his hand, but the metal bar Bucky had been holding onto snapped under his weight. And Bucky went right down with it.
All Steve could do was watch, but he felt like he should've done more.
So he knew exactly how Sam felt. It was a gut wrenching feeling. The kind that just didn't go away.
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?"
"No." Sam handed Steve a larger file. "These."
"I thought you said you were a pilot."
"I never said pilot." Sam smirked.
"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."
There was no way that Steve was going to talk him out of this. He could help.
"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"
"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."
And after exchanging a look with Natasha, Steve shrugged. "Shouldn't be a problem."
"But first." Natasha finished off Lainey's second braid. "I need to make a call."
"To where?"
"I'm gonna ask Clint if he can take this one somewhere safe." She wiggled her fingers under Lainey's chin, making her giggle and squirm away. "I already put her in enough danger and we can't do this properly if we're watching out for her. I'm compromised."
It was a scary thing for Natasha to be compromised. And even scarier to admit it out loud.
But it was true. If they went through with this, and Lainey somehow, someway ended up in danger, she wouldn't even hesitate before abandoning the entire mission to keep her safe.
That kid had wormed her way into her heart and there was no going back.
That's why she couldn't have her around while they worked this out. It wasn't safe for either of them.
"I can take care of myself." Lainey announced, making the three adults smile in amusement.
"I know you can." Natasha tapped her nose. "But you don't have to. That's my job. да?"
One thing the redhead had learned about the child, was that she was quite fluent in Russian.
Natasha had been in the kitchen one day to get herself something to eat as a snack before dinner, and she accidentally stubbed her toe on the leg of a stool. She was obviously in pain, so she began to mutter to herself in Russian, not knowing that Lainey could understand ever single word she said.
She was absolutely shocked when Lainey asked her if she was alright in the same language.
Turns out, Allison, in addition to training her in various forms of martial arts, also taught her a third language.
Lainey just never used it because she always associated it with the negativity she had experienced when her mother tried to drill the language through her head.
But she trusted Natasha. She wouldn't hurt her or scream at her in Russian if she was upset. She wouldn't treat her the way her mother did.
So to get her accustomed to it, Natasha would say something here and there in her native tongue and Lainey would answer, growing more and more comfortable with it each time.
She never threw things at her when she pronounced things the wrong way and she never yelled when she forgot the meaning of some words.
She was patient and she was gentle, correcting her calmly in the areas that were needed, allowing Lainey to gain more and more confidence as they went on.
"да."
"Hydra doesn't like leaks." Sitwell nervously bounced his leg.
"So, why don't you try sticking a cork in it?" Sam snapped.
Lainey eyed Sitwell warily and moved closer to Natasha, who wrapped an arm around her in response.
The nine year old had been ordered to stay in the car while they interrogated Sitwell in order to get the proper information from him. She had no idea they were going to 'kidnap' him and bring him along for the ride.
Of course, Natasha was sitting in between them, so he couldn't do anything to hurt her, but she was still uncomfortable with him there.
"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here." The redhead spoke to the two men in the front seats.
"I know." Steve spoke from the passenger side. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly."
That sounded like a solid plan.
"How're you doing there, honey?" Natasha asked Lainey.
She had called Clint and told him about the situation, but it would be a while before he was able to pick Lainey up.
For now, she would just have to power through.
"I'm okay." The child leaned into her touch, listening to the adults' conversation with keen ears.
"What?!" Sitwell responded to Steve. "Are you crazy?! That is a terrible, terrible idea."
Famous last words.
As soon as he finished his thought, a metal arm broke through through the glass and yanked him out of the car, eliciting a shriek of terror from Lainey.
Natasha immediately jumped into action and pushed Lainey down on the floor, before jumping onto Steve's lap, just seconds before a bullet hit where she had been sitting.
And without having to think of it, she moved both Steve and Sam's heads out of the way of oncoming bullets, pulling Lainey up from the floor and into her arms.
Steve, thinking quickly, put the car in park, causing it to stop abruptly, throwing whoever was on top of the roof of the car off.
That must've been the Winter Soldier all the grown ups were talking about.
Lainey could understand why whenever anyone spoke about him, it was in hushed tones. He certainly looked scary.
His metal arm shined, reflecting the light from the sun above and his gaze never left theirs. He was on a mission and he was going to complete it.
It looked like this entire incident was being planned, because a large Hummer rear ended them, giving the soldier time to jump back on the car, ripping the steering wheel out so they could no longer control it.
Natasha tried to shoot at him, but he just couldn't seem to get hit.
Since there was no steering wheel, the car spiraled completely out of control, smashing up against the divider on the highway.
"Hang on!" Steve grabbed onto Natasha, who in turn, tightened her grip on Lainey and held Sam's shirt in one of her fists.
The super soldier busted the passenger door open just as the car began to flip through traffic, and used the shield to safely slide down the road.
If they weren't in such grave danger, Lainey would've thought that this was fun. It was like sledding on the highway with no snow. But this was no laughing matter.
And they weren't out of the clear yet.
Turns out, Hydra was with the Winter Soldier and they had come prepared.
That's when the gunfire started.
Lainey's entire body froze, she didn't know what to do.
And it was a good thing she wasn't alone.
Natasha took immediate action and snatched her arm, forcing her to run with her, hopefully out of the line of fire.
Lainey could feel her sneakers slapping up against the pavement, but her mind couldn't comprehend that she was in an insane amount of danger.
This was the kind of stuff she saw in movies, not real life.
"Get on my back." Natasha ordered in a tone that left no room for arguments.
Lainey did as she was told, hopping onto the woman's back, wrapping her arms around her neck.
"Don't let go." The Russian said, before racing to the edge of the highway overpass and jumping without hesitation.
And to Lainey, it felt less like falling and more like flying.
She couldn't explain it properly, but she didn't get that sickly, stomach dropping feeling that was typical of when you fell off of something of great height.
This was a lot more peaceful.
Before they could hit the asphalt below with a splat, Natasha shot a grappling hook at the wall, and used it to slow their descent in order to safely land on the ground.
"Are you okay?" She asked the girl, checking her over as quickly as she could.
"I'm okay." Lainey assured her. "I'm not hurt."
She didn't feel hurt. Nothing was bleeding or broken, so she must have been alright. And cool as jumping off of the elevated highway seemed, she didn't particularly want to have to do that again.
But other than that, she was fine.
"Good." Natasha sighed in relief. "I need you to listen to me. I need you to run."
"Huh?"
Run? Run where?
"I need you to run as fast as I know you can, and keep running until you feel safe enough to stop." The woman stressed.
"But what about you?"
There was no way Lainey was going to leave Natasha. What if she got hurt? What if she needed her and Lainey wasn't there to get help? What if Hydra got her and she never saw her again?
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'll find you once this is all over, but right now, I need you to go."
"But—"
"—I said go!" Natasha snapped in an uncharacteristically harsh way, a way she never did with Lainey. But it needed to be done. It was imperative that Lainey listened to her and did as she was told.
Now wasn't the time for a deep and heartfelt discussion. Now was the time to run.
And if Natasha needed to scare her into doing it, then so be it.
Lainey gasped and took off, running as fast as her legs would allow.
She heard the sound of bullets leaving their barrels behind her, but she kept it moving.
Her muscles burned and the wind whipped through her dark brown locks as she turned several corners. Hearing the screams of terror from the innocent bystanders was nerve wrecking to say the least.
And it was even harder to dodge them.
It was like they were so scared, that they were just scattering. They weren't really looking to see where they were going or what they were doing. So, Lainey had to push her way through them.
Nobody was going to stop and move out of the way for some little kid they didn't even know.
Despite the large breakfast she had, her stamina was beginning to run out. The stitch in her side began to ache and her lungs were demanding that she stop and take a breather.
And she did.
The nine year old made herself scarce, hiding behind a parked car. She assumed that she was safe, because there was really no one around and no one knew she was there. She wouldn't stay here for very long anyway. She only stopped to catch her breath.
But it looked as if Hydra had other ideas.
The child's eyes widened when she heard footsteps draw near, freezing in place as not to be seen.
The whole situation was making her feel like she was in 'Jurassic Park'. That kitchen scene with the raptors wasn't so far fetched anymore. But at least the two kids in that film had each other and they had places to hide. Lainey could only hope that whoever it was, wouldn't find her.
The footsteps were too heavy to belong to a woman, and the silence was making her come to the conclusion that she was being followed by the Winter Soldier.
She had to bite her lip to keep from screaming when he reached the opposite side of the car. He was so close, that when she looked underneath the car, she could see his feet.
That was far too close for comfort.
So, Lainey, being Lainey, decided to crawl away quite stealthily for someone of her age, making sure the soldier wasn't behind her.
The pebbles of asphalt from the ground, cut into the palms of her hands and scratched up her knees right through her jeans, but she ignored the pain.
Her main priority now, was to get away.
And fast. Because if she got caught now, that little bit of pain she felt from the pebbles would be nothing compared to what would happen to her once Hydra got ahold of her.
Once she felt she was in the clear, she slowly stood up and ran.
But she didn't get far.
After a few steps, she rammed smack dab into the Winter Soldier's chest.
Her jaw dropped as their eyes met, and suddenly, her fight or flight stopped short. All she could do was stand there. She had never gotten a good look at him before, so now, she was getting an up close and personal view of him.
Or of whatever wasn't being covered by his face mask.
His metal arm still shined under the glow of the sun, and she could now see that there was a red star painted on the shoulder. His feet were clad in combat boots and his chest was being protected by a bullet proof vest. He was so tall compared to Lainey's small height, that she had to look up at him just to see his eyes.
They were a piercing blue.
Almost like Steve's, but not quite.
Lainey believed that his eyes would look prettier if his eyebrows weren't furrowed the way they were. It almost looked as if he were confused.
Well, that made two of them.
All of the stories Lainey had heard about this man said that he was cold-blooded, and didn't care about who he hurt. Natasha, Nick Fury, Sam, Steve…...
So then, why was she still okay?
What really surprised her, was when he slowly lifted his arm, his flesh arm, to cup her chin. And despite all the stories, he had a gentle touch. Not that she was giving him a chance to prove it, she just couldn't move!
The man's eyes flickered with something Lainey couldn't possibly recognize, but the look was gone just as quickly as it came.
He removed his hand from her chin and gave her one last look before turning on his heel, and walking away, leaving Lainey stunned and frozen.
What just happened?
"Excuse me, sweetheart. Can I get you anything?"
"No, thank you." Lainey shook her head.
After her little meet and greet with the Winter Soldier, Lainey had run as fast and as far away as she could. And she didn't stop until her body nearly gave up on her.
When she stopped, she realized she was outside of a little fast food joint. It seemed safe enough away from all the chaos and she really needed to sit down for a spell, so she went right on in.
"Are you sure? You look a little hungry...…how about I get you some French fries?" The waitress who had come up to her asked. "On the house."
"Thank you."
"I'll be right back."
Lainey forced a smile as her leg bounced nervously.
She was used to being on her own, but this was different.
She felt more vulnerable this time.
"Breaking news, Captain America and a couple of friends have been arrested near Pennsylvania Avenue just a few minutes ago." A news reporter announced on one of the tv screens that was mounted to the wall.
Now she really was alone.
And she needed help.
"Here you go." The waitress smiled, setting a plate of fries down in front of her.
She seemed nice enough, but after finding out that S.H.I.E.L.D. was Hydra and a lot of people weren't who they claimed to be, Lainey couldn't find the energy to try to trust her.
Right now, everyone was an enemy until they could prove otherwise.
"Thank you…..can I use the phone?"
"Sure, you can."
Lainey wasted no time in hopping up out of her seat, hightailing it to the payphone on the wall near the table she had been sitting at.
Who could she call?
Natasha did say something about calling Clint…...
And luckily, Lainey knew his number by heart. But could she trust him?
Let's see. She had been separated from Natasha and from Steve, S.H.I.E.L.D. was Hydra, the Winter Soldier had a chance to really hurt her and didn't, she was all alone with nowhere to go, Natasha, Steve, and Sam had gotten arrested...
That didn't leave her with very many options. She needed Clint's help. She had to trust him on this one, he had never given her a reason to think that she couldn't.
So, picking up the receiver, she made a collect call.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three.
"Hello?" She heard the man's gruff voice on the other end of the line.
"Mr. Barton?" Lainey spoke softly, as not to alarm any of the other customers. "It's Lainey…..um, remember me? I was the one who—"
Why Lainey even thought that he wouldn't remember her, was beyond explanation. They spent a whole lot of time together whenever he was at the Tower, so it wasn't like he could possibly forget her.
Maybe it was the stress from the entire situation.
"—Geez, kid, I remember you." He cut her off to quell her fears. "Nat called me earlier, but she wouldn't give me any details. What's going on? Is she okay?"
"I don't know." Lainey answered truthfully, still shaken up by the day's events.
"You don't know?" If Lainey was calling instead of Natasha, then things must have been a lot worse than his friend had made them seem.
"No….she told me to run and I did…..but I don't know where she is. She said she would find me, but she—"
"—Okay, take a deep breath." Clint coached, stopping the hysterics before they could start. "Nat's a tough girl, I'm sure she'll be fine. What matters right now, is that you're safe. I'm coming to get you, okay? Just stay where you are."
"Okay." Lainey felt her resolve crumbling. She didn't know how on earth he was going to find her, and if he couldn't, she'd be all alone and maybe Hydra really would get her, and then she'd never see Natasha or Steve again.
"Just don't move." Was the last thing he said before hanging up.
Lainey inhaled very shakily and sat back down, staring at her plate of fries, not bothering to touch a single one.
She wasn't very hungry, despite what the waitress thought.
Maybe she thought that because she was being paid to, Lainey didn't care. She wasn't eating them. She didn't want to.
She just wanted to go home.
"Lainey?"
"Mr. Barton!" Lainey hopped out of her seat and rushed into the man's arms.
He found her! He really found her!
And she was so glad to see his familiar face. It meant she wasn't alone anymore and she was safe. She could trust him, because he found her.
"Are you okay?" He asked. In order to get to her location, he had to trace the phone call to the location of the payphone she had been using and then pass all the residual destruction in the city in order to get there. "Are you hurt?"
"No." She shook her head, so relieved that she was no longer on her own, that she forgot all about the little scrapes she had gotten hours prior.
They didn't matter now.
"Alright, we gotta get out of here." He swung her up onto his hip and walked out of the small restaurant with purpose.
"Where're we going?" She asked.
"Somewhere safe."