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no one expected it, that SERPENT would target joaquin – no one even had them on their radar at the moment, with sidewinder still jailed.
but that didn't stop them, no.
because there was someone else who was still left to take charge.
it happened on a random afternoon – joaquin was out on air force matters instead of avengers duties, for once.
he was done for the day, coming home to the tower in his car and just about to call bob when he was attacked.
his car had flipped and he was unconscious – bleeding slightly from cuts on his forehead and in a few more places from the impact and glass shards – but miraculously, the call went through.
bob had picked up, but when there wasn't any response from joaquin except for his slightly labored breathing, bob started to panic.
it didn't help that he heard unfamiliar voices coming closer, the car being further damaged to get joaquin out before the phone was picked up and destroyed.
then, joaquin was gone.
bob had run to sam, telling him that something had happened to joaquin and that he was in danger. they didn't waste a second to try and locate joaquin, find out who took him, but SERPENT learned from their mistakes before – they were more careful and secretive this time around, more untraceable.
so it took them a bit of time to find out that it was SERPENT who was behind this, and where they could be.
with a few more digging, they did find out where joaquin was: a lab.
turns out, SERPENT had started branching out to human experimentation just recently.
bob's blood went cold, mind becoming blank with all but one thought: joaquin.
he strode to his room to get ready and suited up, nearly ignoring sam following after him and calling out to him – he only stopped when sam had gripped his forearm tightly, firmly.
"bob. you can't go crashing in there without any plan."
"i have a plan: get joaquin out of there."
"you don't think they have any measures to stop someone like you?"
bob just furrowed his eyebrows, breathing in deeply,
"maybe. but i wanna see how they fare against a god."
with that, sam had pulled him back strongly.
"robert, calm yourself. it won't do anyone good if you start thinking like that and losing control. we have to get to joaquin, understand?"
"... crystal."
then he ripped his arm away from sam's hold, walking to their room to get ready.
<------------------------------>
bob wasn't willing to wait for anyone, ready to go the second that he was done suiting up,
"i'm flying there, sam, i'm not wasting any more time doing otherwise. anyone who could keep up will go."
sam had crossed his arms, goggles on and wingpack on his back.
"you realize that means it'll only be us two, right?"
"more than fine with that."
then he walked determinedly to the balcony of the tower, getting ready to take off.
he only hears sam shout a command to yelena to handle the comms before he's flying – sam hot on his tail.
on the way there, bob feels uneasy – not from his emotions or a looming threat of the void coming out, just an odd feeling that he can't explain but can't get rid off.
so he just shakes it away, forces himself to think of joaquin and getting to him.
they land just outside the facility, and bob jumps into breaking in – no time for sneaking in or subtlety.
sam still follows him, reminds him.
"kid, no matter what, you don't forget what the avengers stand for, you get me? we're not killing anyone, no matter how angry you're feeling right now."
he pauses, but doesn't look at sam. bob nods his head, but thinks, 'no promises.'
they go on ahead, but the facility's a mind-fuck of a layout – filled with secret doors and hidden passages. even with redwing deployed to get scans of the area, yelena has a hard time figuring out where they need to go, not to mention that there are a lot of guys guarding each room and hallway.
the goons are the easy part though, what with him and sam working together while yelena gives them a heads up through the comms each time.
the hard part is getting to where they need to.
"we're not getting anywhere like this, and we're taking too long. yelena, any updates?"
bob hears sam asking nearby, but he's stuck on doing the breathing exercises that joaquin taught him – trying not to lose control of his anger.
it doesn't help that the feeling of unease from before is coming back.
then when yelena says over the comms that no, there's no update, he breathes out harshly, walks to one of the guys they knocked down, and fists his hand on the guy's collar – slamming him on the wall.
"woah, woah, woah, hey! bob, what're you–"
"i don't have time to play games."
he sneers at the man's face, pushing him to the wall more. sam makes his way to him, trying to pull his arm back unsuccessfully.
bob's eyes glow a dangerous gold,
"where is he?"
when there's no reply – the man shaking his head and keeping his lips shut – bob pulls him back and slams him again to the wall with more force.
the wall dents, cracks a bit as the man groans.
bob's eyes glow brighter,
"where is he?!"
"bob–"
"underground."
that gets sam's attention, has him letting go of bob's arm.
the guy winces, holds onto the blue metal arm bands of bob's suit.
"the labs – they're underground. there's a hidden door that leads to it in the room at the end of this hall."
bob drops him to the ground unceremoniously, doesn't waste a second to follow after sam who had moved faster.
in the middle of the hallway, bob suddenly drops to his knees, clutching onto his head – there's a tinny, screeching sound that he hears.
he doesn't even hear sam calling his name, rushing back to him and kneeling in front of him to ask what's wrong, because he suddenly hears it loud and clear – joaquin groaning and screaming from pain, whimpering and calling for bob, sam, anyone to help him.
bob gasps when the sound disappears as quickly as it came to him, and he looks up to see sam looking at him with concern.
"you okay, bob? what was that?"
"... i heard him, i don't know how... but he's hurt, and he needs us."
sam breathes in deep, nodding.
"we have to go to him. can you stand?"
bob does, shakes off the slight trembling of his legs, and they make their way to the end of the hallway.
redwing does a quick scan of the room, and with yelena's instruction, they find the door – rushing down into another hallway that's dimly-lit.
it's a long corridor with closed doors on both sides, nothing to indicate what's inside of each room.
suddenly, the PA system dings, and a voice fills the hallway.
"well, well, if it isn't captain america. i assume you're here for your... bird boy?"
sam looks up, and sure enough, there are cameras by the corner of the ceiling.
"what did you do to him?"
"well, let's just say that after you took sidewinder away from SERPENT, we made a little detour from weapons and technology to... human experimentation. your little air force captain is one of our test subjects, but,"
the voice tsks.
"he wasn't too... helpful... to us, so i guess you could take him back – if you can."
the voice breaks off into laughter, and bob's heart rate elevates – without even having to see the shocked look that sam sends his way.
(because if captain america himself loses his composure in a situation like this, then there's really something wrong.)
"you can tell sidewinder that we don't need him anymore, tell him that viper will be the one leading the SERPENT society to new heights."
sam inhales and tries to compose himself as best as he can, nudges his chin to the corridor to signal to bob that he should go look for joaquin.
bob nods, and starts making his way down the hall – forcing open the closed doors and heart falling each time that he sees nothing inside the rooms.
(they're cells – holding rooms for human experiments, most probably. and although he finds no one else, the stark white color of everything along with the smell of bleach in each room are eerie.)
distantly, he hears sam call to redwing and yelena to look for the leader – viper, she said – so he can take her in.
he's near the end of the hallway already when the screeching sound comes back ringing in his ears, and bob clutches onto the doorknob in his hand too tightly, crumpling it like paper as he winces.
but then–
"bob. bobby, help, please, i can't–"
he's crying, then gasping for air.
bob breathes in sharply, hearing where joaquin's voice is coming from – knowing where he is.
his eyes focus on a door opposite where he is, third to the end.
there.
he rushes to the door, opens it with a bit too much force using telekinesis, and–
there's just one bulb lighting up the room – drowning it in almost fully darkness. unlike the other rooms, this one is devoid of furniture but is splattered with marks of blood on the floor and walls – a stark contrast to the white paint and tiles.
in the middle of the room, lying down on his side is joaquin: in gray-green clothes that look like scrubs – loose pants and a shirt with an open back. he's facing away from bob, so bob sees the bloodied mess of his back, and what seems like small wings sprouting from it.
they seem broken, wing bones bent in weird angles, and the feathers are this deep brown that bob isn't sure if it's their real color – or the result of blood having dried.
even from this distance, he can see the shuddering breaths that joaquin is trying to take in.
bob's heart falls into a black abyss.
he runs to joaquin and falls to his knees, hands visibly shaking,
"j-joaquin? joaqui–"
"it hurts... please, i-it hurts–"
"what does, baby, what– what hurts?"
joaquin gasps, but doesn't move.
"e-everywhere. my back, i– i can't feel it, please, help."
bob nods, breath trembling,
"okay, okay. okay."
he's not even sure if he's convincing himself or trying to comfort joaquin, but he sits beside joaquin and pulls his falcon to him telekinetically until he's cradled in bob's arms – cautious of his wings and back, and afraid to hurt him more.
bob feels a part of his soul break when joaquin doesn't even try to move his arms and legs. when he looks closely, joaquin's left arm is bent at an unnatural angle at the elbow, and his right hand's fingers are visibly broken. his left leg seems to be broken in two places.
when he turns his head to look at joaquin's face, bob freezes at the sight of his brown eyes unfocused – like they're unseeing – and there are multiple streaks of dried blood that run down his cheeks, seemingly coming from his eyes.
"j-joaquin? baby?"
"b-bob? bobby–"
tears start streaming down bob's cheeks,
"ye-eah, it's m-me, sweetheart."
joaquin inhales shakily through his mouth, like it's taking everything in him to keep on breathing. then, tears fall from his tear ducts and down his temples when he realizes who's holding him.
bob almost forgot that he has an earpiece, and that someone is still there in the comms – if it weren't for yelena shouting at him.
"bob! bob, what's happeni–"
"we need a doctor! call an ambulance! hurry, call an ambulance!"
he tunes out anything yelena says when joaquin whispers.
"b-bob..."
"y-yes, yes, i'm here. i'm here."
"i c-can't feel or–"
joaquin breaks off in a sharp breath.
"s-s-s-see anything-g."
"i know, i know, it's o-okay. i-i'm gonna get you some help, okay? just– just, just hold on."
he pulls joaquin in closer, rocking them back and forth like it would help.
bob presses his lips to joaquin's forehead, trying to comfort him.
joaquin doesn't feel it.
"bobby, i'm scared, i'm so s-scared. i-i'm so scared."
"i know, i know, i know. i know."
his own tears rush down his cheeks, and he tries seeking purchase in holding on tighter to joaquin – but never losing that gentleness in his touch that always comes out with his falcon.
joaquin sobs loudly.
"i don't wanna die, i'm not ready–"
bob shushes him softly, hand coming up to cradle joaquin's cheek,
"y-you're not gonna die, please, just hang on–"
joaquin shakes his head, minutely – sobs wracking his body.
"i don't wanna go! i'm not ready to leav–"
"you're not gonna die! just– just– just, just hang on!"
bob pulls back to look at joaquin, sees him continue to take in shaky breaths – even when it looks like every time he does, it just gets harder and harder to breathe.
"joaquin? joaquin, joaquin, joaquin– no! no, no, no, joaquin, stay with me! joaquin, stay with me! no– no, no, joaquin, stay with me! just– look at me! look at me, joaquin, stay with me, joaquin! hang on, just– just hang on."
nothing happens, and joaquin opens his mouth to breathe in as best as he can, only for a pained cry to be uttered.
bob's heart breaks, and he sobs more uncontrollably,
"yelena, help! yelena..."
looking back down at joaquin, bob feels his breathing weakening.
and joaquin's eyelids start fluttering closed.
"... joaquin?"
his eyes shut the same time that bob feels his breathing stop.
it's like his own breathing stops too, life stopping when he feels joaquin's fade away,
"joaquin? j-joaquin, joaquin, stay with me! joaquin, stay with me!"
he strokes his thumb across joaquin's cheek, and it's like the warmth in him was suddenly taken away,
"no, no, no, no, no! joaquin, stay with me! please, stay with me!"
the world somehow keeps turning, even when robert reynolds' just died right in front of him,
"help!"
he hugs joaquin closer, joaquin's head lolls back – lifeless.
bob screams in agony, and it's cruel how he wants the void to consume him now,
but it just never comes.