Chapter Text
December 2009
They weren’t sure if it was a HYDRA hideout, although everything pointed to that; all they had was little to no information that there were some sketchy things happening in there. After the heat scanner didn’t manage to penetrate the walls of the building, the agents had simply surrounded it, hiding in the woods, discussing the best tactics and waiting for the right moment to begin the mission. Then they heard a siren coming from the inside and they had no choice but to simply storm in with all their forces, with agnet Barton as the main force of the team, hoping to take all hostages alive and avoid unnecessary fighting. But someone inside had other plans, and as they entered the place was already in chaos. People in laboratory coats running around, armed soldiers shooting at the newcomers, flames spreading around, and her.
Clint remember thinking that she seemed as if she didn’t belong there, looking around with panic as she stormed past the guards trying to catch her. She hit one of the in the stomach but the other managed to grab her by the waist and lifted her up. She kicked and struggled, but another man grabbed her legs trying to restrain her. An explosion shook the whole building, making two guards stumble a bit. The girl stopped wriggling and looked at a man holding her feet with madness and pure hatred in her eyes.
Focused on that scene, Clint almost didn’t see a man trying to sneak on him from behind. He twirled around and hit him with his bow, quickly taking down two other armed man and put his leg down to stop a running scientist. He held him down and looked back at the girl only to find three guards on the ground and her passing him and disappearing through the door. Clint cursed vigorously as the scientist tried to wiggle his way out, which resulted in him having an arrow stuck in his laboratory coat as the archer called for another agent and sprinted after the runaway disappearing among the trees . They couldn’t let anyone get away.
A silent gasp slipped through her lips when the branch almost hit her head. She managed to duck just in time and she wasted no time, already breathless, yet still running like her life depended on it. And she worried it did. She could hear people behind her, she didn’t know who they were or how many of them were chasing her – she only knew she couldn’t let them catch her. With panic creeping into her mind to accompany the fear already there, she jumped over the gulp of snow and nearly tripped as her ankle bended dangerously to one side. She didn’t have time to check if it was alright, she didn’t have time to think.
She just had to get away.
She rapidly changed the direction of her escape and squeezed through the dense wall of the trees. Her paste was a bit slower, but as it was getting dark she hoped the forest would hide her better. She leaned against a tree to catch her breath, lurking nervously in search of her persecutors. Her body began giving up to the cold and the exhaustion of the run as she gasped for air, feeling as if the frost was taking over her throat and lungs. The wall of dense woods was ending shorty as she could see an open field with just a few small tree samplings here and there. She would be perfectly visible, and she had no idea where the people chasing her could be hiding to spot her. She needed… She just needed to…
swoosh
She heard it more than she felt it. She looked down at her exposed arm. A small, yellow arrow-like dart was deep into her skin and suddenly all hope left her. She began to feel a familiar sense of nothingness, this awful peace creeping into her head. She felt nothing. She knew exactly what was coming next. She wasn’t stupid. At this point she was just sad. Being so close to freedom… Perhaps it was just not meant for her.
She could see them approaching her. Her fingers twitched slightly but she knew it was too late to even try and do anything. Her head dropped as they pointed something at her. She could hear words, directed at her or exchanged among them, but she didn’t care. She just waited to be taken back where she belonged. The last thing she could recall were hands catching her before her body collapsed.
A man with the bow frowned slightly as two agents carried the unconscious girl to the jet. She didn’t seem like someone they would usually be after. She looked fairly young, she didn’t have any weapons, and the look in her eyes as she was slowly giving in to the sedative didn’t seem to show any malicious intentions.
He watched her being strapped and bound to the seat when he heard another explosion. Shit. All the documents and proof were being consumed by fire and he quickly called off the agents who were still inside the building, searching for survivors. Or anything for that matter.
And they said it would be a quick mission.