Whatever It Takes

3.4

We rise, and then a heavy turret riddles us with holes from a control tower across the mountain.

"No!" Yelena whines. She removes her headphones. "Sloane," she orders, and I come up to the front, switching seats with her. "Okay, enough of this."

I hold the chopper steady and she walks to the back calmly, plucking a small missile launcher from our collection of weapons and kneeling in front of the open door. She pulls the trigger, the tower exploding with a cloud of smoke.

"Ha!" she grins, falling back inside.

"You were always the better shot than me," I smile.

"Damn right."

She drops the launcher and we switch seats again. I return to my position, looking out for my next target, but the low rumble of thunder makes my gaze rise. It's not thunder, instead a massive avalanche Yelena triggered with the reverberations of the tower.

"Yel," I say, getting her attention.

She looks out the window, mouth falling open. "Whoa... This would be a cool way to die."

"Tell me that's a good sign for us!" Alexei shouts from down below.

"Move your ass!" Natasha shouts back.

At the sight of the avalanche, the inmates and guards fall back, forcing themselves back inside before they get drowned in snow. Alexei moves his way up slowly.

Natasha cups a hand around her mouth, yelling up at the chopper. "Get us outta here!"

I join Yelena in the cockpit, wrapping hands around the other joystick. I look over at her, a little overwhelmed, and give her a reassuring wink.

"You thought you'd do this alone?"

She smiles exasperatedly, and together we maneuver the chopper around the platforms, swinging Natasha's rig past her. She takes a running leap, latching on. She stands on the chain on the end, and we swing her past explosions and towers. Constantly looking out the window to check her position, we round the platforms, Alexei waving at us as we pass him.

"Wait!" he screams desperately.

I shake my head, the man clearly not understanding our plan to get him out. We bring Natasha in line with the platform he stands on, a mound of snow following behind her as she lowers an arm from the rig. A dusting of white covers the two of them, and the moment we pass him we pull up on the joysticks, bringing them out of the snow.

We look over the edge, hoping we see the two of them, then smile when we catch sight of Alexei holding tightly to Natasha's legs. We laugh, looking over at one another and grinning, bumping fists.

I leave her in the cockpit, patting her shoulder as I make my way to the door. I begin pulling up the rig, helping Natasha into the chopper and then Alexei, who coughs cold air.

"I need some help up here," Yelena calls, and this time Natasha goes.

Alexei leans out the open door, taking in the prison. "Proshchay pridurki!"

He slams the door shut and I fall back onto one of the benches. He sighs, standing between their two seats at the cockpit.

"Oh, that was exciting. Oh, I'm so proud of you girls. And you, woman I don't know." We don't answer him, and he clocks their headphones. "Oh, you can't hear me, huh? Okay." He finds a spare and puts them on, chuckling. "Ah... Wow."

Yelena quickly throws her arm behind her, colliding with his nose. He cries out, cursing in Russian, holding a hand to his face.

"Okay. Why the aggression, huh? Is it your time of the month?"