The Winter Wraith

Chapter 11

Adina fell through the air. She didn't reach up, as one usually does when they fall. She didn't have any hope of being saved by someone. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to be saved. If she deserved to be.

She closed her eyes and waited to hit the pavement more than fifteen stories away.

All of a sudden, her body was jerked up and then settled, hanging in the air. She cracked open her eyes and saw the archer leaning over the ledge with his bow out in position. A black cable ran from somewhere on the ledge down to Adina, where a grapple had attached to the middle of her shirt.

She had one last knife left. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the last knife. She grabbed the cord and maneuvered it to pull herself into a more upright position. She flicked her wrist so that the blade flipped out.

She snuck a quick glance up and saw that Barton was intently watching her and was catching onto her plan, which meant she needed to hurry up. Adina took her small knife and started to cut away at the cord, using the knife like a saw.

The cord was made of a strong material, but she was making headway. She had two or three more cuts, and then she would be free.

The cord was now a couple of strands intertwined together. Adina took her knife once last time and easily slashed the cord. However, before she could fall, Wilson swooped in and caught her.

Her plans were foiled. Again. Adina had promised herself that she wouldn't get caught, and she planned on fighting to the end. Wilson had lifted her small frame by holding the collar of her jacket. He flew back over the roof that the main fighting had taken place on, and she took her chance.

She wiggled out of the jacket, and fell a few feet below onto the rough concrete. Wilson landed behind her as she stumbled to her feet. The rest of the Avengers surrounded her. Her arms were now covered in scrapes accompanied with some dull stinging. Her left leg threatened to buckle underneath her due to the two bullets in it. The dull throbbing that had been present in her head grew to a loud pounding that made it hard for her to focus on coherent thoughts. As she was in a great amount of pain, she missed the next few crucial moments.

"Barton, do you have a trick arrow with a tranquilizer?" Captain America asked.

"Sure," the archer replied. He took out an arrow from his quiver and broke off the tip of it, which contained the tranquilizer.

"Here," he said, while tossing the tranq to him.

Meanwhile, Adina was breathing heavily, yet she couldn't seem to get enough air. She needed to get off her injured leg, but she didn't have the time or luxury to do that. She finally looked up at her surroundings. The Avengers were around her on every side, closing off all possible paths of escape, with only a few feet between her and them. Adina noted that Steve was getting closer to her with something in his hands.

She started to backup, but she bumped into something, or rather, someone. Steve was a foot away when she finally realized he had some sort of needle. A feral look gleamed in Adina's eyes. She tried to back up more, forgetting she had run into someone.

The person wrapped their arms' around her, holding her in place. Steve stabbed the needle into her upper arm. Adina thrashed in the arms of the Winter Soldier. The world started to turn and tilt, and her vision got blurry. She revamped her efforts, and harshly stepped on the Soldier's foot. He didn't move an inch and just kept holding her in place. She tried to pull away, but she got more and more drowsy.

Lastly, she attempted to push the man's arms away, but she only managed to slump her arms over his as she finally lost consciousness and gave into the darkness.