Chapter Text
The room was dark, but it didn't take a genius to know the layout. The floor was lined with thick rocks that created puddles of dirty water. The walls were misshapen slabs of concrete with jagged edges that cut into anything that leaned against them. There was a small window near the ceiling guarded by thick bars that allowed a few beams of light to hit the ground. There was a door on the far side of the room that was bolted shut from the outside. It was a dreary place that took inspiration from dungeons in castles from Europe at the beginning of humanity's formation of politics. The one difference is that the girl chained to the wall beneath the window, sitting the muddied pools with her back being torn into by the back wall wasn't from that time period. Her face was smattered with jagged red lines, dried blood, sickly bruises, and dirt with visible tear tracks down her cheeks. The skin around her wrist had been rubbed red from her time in the chain, and her legs were spread out in front of her. She didn't have the willpower to move even if she wasn't chained. She probably couldn't move considering how much her ribs were aching and how little she had eaten since her incarceration.
The girl- Kate Bishop- counted the footfalls of the guards around her cell. She was creating a schedule in her mind. After she counted twenty two steps getting softer, Kate began fidgeting with her cuff. She had been messing with it for a while with a makeshift knife she had made using a piece of the wall she pried off with her fingers. The slight blood loss was worth it considering she was almost free. Kate kept her eyes trained on the door, ears straining to hear whatever happened out there over the sound of rock cutting against metal. After what felt like hours without any movement, the cuff of the chain had snapped. The metal snapped open, falling onto the ground with a splash. Kate heaved a sigh of relief. She flexed her hand, seething when pain shot from her wrist to the nerves along her arm. Kate let her hand fall limp, alleviating some of the pain. Kate closed her eyes again, counting in her head the steps of the guard. Three... seventeen... six... twenty six... there. All the guards were as far from the cell as they would be in a time period of 24 hours. What helped was that it began raining outside. The sound of water hitting the ground created a background noise that Kate could hide behind. She just needed to act fast.
The good thing about a dungeon inspired by the age of old was that it was rusty. Where there was rusty, there was brittleness. Kate used her makeshift knife along with parts of her former chain cuff to start hacking at the bars to the window. She could hear one of the guards shuffling around outside the room, but it didn't seem like they were getting noticeable closer. Still, Kate began to hold her breath like any more noise would attract attention. Finally, the bars gave way to make a small crawl space. Kate wasn't fond of the tight squeeze, but she placed her feet and hands on the sturdiest holds of the wall to hoist herself up. It burned everywhere on her body, but she didn't stop. Kate knew that if they caught her with her chain cuff broken and the bars gone, they would do something far worse to her than they already had. The idea of what pain she might endure was enough to help her persevere through the pain she was feeling in that moment. It wasn't in vain, either, considering Kate was able to pull herself into the world outside the cell.
Rain smashed into her face, turning the dirt into mud that dripped off and cleaning up some of the blood. Kate took one minute to catch her breath before stumbling to her feet. She took off running into the forest that surrounded wherever she had been held captive. Lightning shot through her legs with each step she took, and she felt her arms getting torn up by some of the thorns on the bushes. The shoes she had been allowed to wear didn't do that much to protect her feet from the harsh terrain. Despite the fiery pain that threatened to burn her alive, Kate felt something like happiness blossom in her chest. She was escaping. And if the lights appearing before her eyes were what she hoped they were, she could be gone from that place before they even knew she had escaped. Kate smiled as she rubbed a hand across her cheek to wipe away some of the worst of her dirtiness that made her look more human.
Kate stopped when she broke through the treeline. She was standing in someone's backyard. There were plastic toys scattered around. The lights of the house were on, which was promising. Kate limped around to get to the front of the house. Walking on the wooden porch didn't feel all that great, but Kate didn't have time to complain as she tapped the doorbell. As she waited for someone to arrive, she looked down at the doormat. Other than the blood and water she was dripping onto it, there was the word Willkommen! Kate blinked warily. It took a moment for her brain to register the word. It wasn't English but German. Kate bit her lip. Did she remember enough of the language to ask the people to borrow a phone? Kate didn't get a chance to remember much as the door slid open. A petite brunette peeked around the door, her eyes widening and mouth gaping as she took in Kate's appearance. Kate breathed out heavily. "Telefon... kann ich..."
"Oh! Natürlich, meine Liebe. Bitte schön!" The woman said. Kate didn't know what that meant, but the woman was handing her phone over so it must have been some reassurance. Kate nodded thankfully. It took her a few moments to figure out the apps of the phone, but she was able to find the calling app. She typed a number she had memorized the moment she had gotten it. After a few rings, a man's voice filled Kate's ear as he explained that he couldn't come to the phone. Kate almost wanted to pout. She waited for the ding before she started talking. "Clint, it's me... Kate Bishop. Look, you were right... I shouldn't have gone back to my mom. I knew it was stupid, but I wanted to trust her. I know now that I can't. You were right, and I was wrong, and I made a mistake, and I need you to bail me out. I'm in..."
Kate looked at the woman expectedly. The woman stared back for a few moments before snapping her fingers. "Bonn, Deutschland." Kate repeated the town name, though she used Germany instead of Deutschland. It probably didn't matter since Clint would have heard the woman. Kate merely said it again as if to make sure. Clint didn't have to come save her. It had been Kate's fault in the first place that she had gotten captured. They had made up with Yelena, they had put a stop to the Tracksuit's plot against Ronin, and Clint had gone home in time for Christmas. It should have been perfect. The problem was that when Kate found out her mother might have been in cahoots with Kingpin, she had recklessly gone to confront her mother instead of going with Clint or staying with Yelena like they had told her to. Kate had made a bad decision, and she was paying for it. Clint didn't need to do anything for her, especially when he warned her how horrible the choice she was making was. Still, Clint hoped that he would find some time to send a colleague to take her home or tell the NYPD to stop looking for her, at least. Though she doubted the former Widow tolerated her, maybe Yelena would come pick her up... if just to lecture Kate about how foolish she had been.
The voicemail ended. Kate sighed, handing the phone back over. She muttered a thanks with horrible aunication, but the woman seemed to understand. She went inside, leaving the door open. After a few moments, a little kid came outside that looked like the older woman. The kid handed Kate a blanket and a towel. Kate nodded at the child. She wiped her body off as best she could before pulling the blanket around her shoulders, aware of how dirty she was getting it. Once the child had gone back outside, the woman came out with a bowl of soup. The woman kept pointing at the door, but Kate shook her head. It was one thing to dirty the woman's blanket while loitering on her porch. Kate wasn't going to carry bloody, muddy footprints inside the house. The woman gave a despondent sigh as she handed the bowl over. Kate held the warm bowl in her lap with a grateful smile. She tried to take a few gulps, but her stomach lurched painfully each time. Kate didn't give up. She merely took smaller sips with more time in between each sip. After a while, Kate's eyes began to fall heavy. She was terrified she would be found again, but that paranoia lost the fight against her exhaustion. It had been a long time since she had eaten warm food... or even been warm.
Kate felt someone shaking her shoulder with a light grip. Her name was being called out along with it. It took Kate a long time to force her eyelids to open. She felt sluggish, like someone had forced antethestics on her. Kate blinked warily, looking to find who was trying to wake her up. When her eyes took in the face of a relieved Clint Barton, the threads of exhaustion snapped to keep her wide awake. Even though it hurt her body, Kate sat up to wrap her arms around Clint's shoulders. It had been weeks since she last cried, but she couldn't stop the sobs from racking through her body as she pressed herself into Clint's neck like that would protect her from the world. He returned the hug with a soft grip like he didn't want to hurt her. Kate didn't really care. He was there. He had come back for her even though she had been stupid and did the one thing he was warned her not to do. Kate hadn't expected him to show up, and she definitely didn't expect him to look relieved at seeing her. She was sure he would yell at her instead of comforting her.
"Come on, let's go home," Clint whispered quietly. Clint stood up, easing Kate up with her arms. When she stumbled forwards, Clint caught her. He wrapped his arm underneath both of hers to help keep her standing straight. She wanted to cry with every step, but she was finally placed in the backseat of a van. Kate supposed she should have sat up to buckle up, but she laid herself out. She laid her head against her arm, exhaustion falling her once more from the exertion of sobbing and walking. Clint returned after a few minutes. He placed the blanket the lady had given Kate back over her like the woman hadn't wanted it back when Clint tried to return it. Kate could vaguely see a plastic container that might have had soup in it. Clint looked back at Kate, but her vision was too blurry to read the expression. What she could tell was that he was telling her she could go to sleep. Kate didn't need to be told twice as her eyes fluttered shut, sleep overtaking her again.