Dark Arrow

Chapter Thirty Two

Steve was off fighting Ultron in the city, giving me a clean shot to the cradle. The device that was currently on pause for building him a permanent body. I had to get to it before Ultron did. Tony would know what to do with it.

If he could not make another murder bot with it that would be just peachy.

Zooming between cars on the highway, I pressed my hand to my ear.
"I'm going in. Vanilla keep him occupied." I told him as I leapt from the motorbike into the truck currently carrying the target.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Steve panted back at me. The familiar butterflies coming back into my stomach. I had to find a way to squash them, I wouldn't let them get in the way of the mission.

I came face to face with two robots as I landed.
"Oh fuck off will ya? I'm done with this bullshit today." I grabbed two knives, sinking them into their 'hearts'. The annoying sacks of shit dropped to the floor with a metallic thud.

I walked up to the cradle, trying to stop the upload of Ultron's mind.
'User Override Failed' three words that flashed at me over and over again. I was about to inform the others when the truck started flying.

Yep. I'm in a fucking flying truck. Great.

"I can take out the cradle." Clint called down on comms.

I hid behind the cradle, not wanting to be spotted by any more flying metal cockroaches.
"Not unless you wanna take me out with it!" I gritted out just barely above a whisper.

"Rain? What the hell are you doing?" He snapped back.

"My job, now get ready." I pulled the small explosive device from my belt.

"We need to have a discussion after that." Clint sighed as I set the timer for ten seconds and placed it on the side of the truck.

"Noted. Now open the ramp, we're going to play catch."

Clint lined the jet up with what was left of the truck I was in. As the ramp lowered I shot the safety chains that were keeping the cradle in place. Pushing as hard as I could I launched the cradle towards the jet.

The truck exploded behind me, propelling the cradle into the jet with me on top of it.

Just as I thought we'd done it, something grabbed my foot.
"Shit!" I called out as I was yanked from the jet by one of Ultron's robots. I let out a scream as he flew off with me. It made no sense to fight too much, if it dropped me I was going to be in deeper shit than I was already.

"Rain!" Clint called out as my comms disconnected.

"Barton?" Steve tried to hide the worry in his voice. He'd heard everything in his ear, as had everyone else.

"They grabbed her, I can't see her!"

Steve's heart sunk, he didn't know what to do. For now they had to concentrate on the mission, he knew that's what I would want.
"If you've got the cradle, get it to Stark!" He called out, using his shield to dismantle the robots coming towards him.

"Shit." Clint grunted before flying back to Tony. He felt beyond guilty but there was nothing he could do.

***

After unloading the cradle, Clint shook his head.
"I should've gone after her." He couldn't shake the guilt that he hadn't been able to protect me.

Tony needed him to stop pacing, he was going to end up putting a hole in the floor.
"She's smart." He reminded Clint. "Any ways outside of the internet she would leave you a message?" He gave Clint a slither of hope.

Clint suddenly remembered the back up plan me and him had made years ago.
"There's one." He stated with a newfound sense of confidence. "I'll find her."

The thing with villains is that they monologue for far too long. Whilst Ultron had been going on and on about the failings of humanity, I'd been taking in everything around me.

What he saw as scraps for failed creations, I saw as tools for what I needed. The small concrete room he'd thrown me in smelt of nothing but oil and metal. A smell that would now be seared into my mind.

Ultron pulled the gated door across, locking me inside with no chance of escape. At least that's what he believed.

I waited until I was sure he was busy with whatever his great master plan was. As soon as I was sure I began pulling the parts of failed robots apart. Finding exactly what I needed to send a message to Clint, I just had to hope he remembered.

"Come on Clint." I muttered as I started typing out morse code of my location.

I may have been being dragged through the air when I arrived, but I knew where I was. Something I'd failed to let on you Ultron. He had nothing on some of the people I'd faced in my life. All the villains are the same. They underestimated me.

Clint loaded up the old style radio, tuning in to the channel he knew I'd use. Within seconds he'd found my message on loop.

"Clever girl." He muttered to himself as he turned to the computer next to him. Within seconds he'd located where I was.

He ran out of the room, quickly informing everyone of where I was.

Steve felt a flood of relief wash through him, just knowing I'd sent a message meant I was alive. For now that would be enough.

"Buck, you go for Rain. She trusts you most right now."

Steve wanted nothing more than to come for me himself, but he knew that was what he needed not what I needed. He had to put me first, he felt he owed me that much.

Everyone began to suit up, this was going to be a big fight and they all knew it was the whole of the human population on the line.

"We're coming Rain." Clint muttered to himself as he looked at a photo of us he always kept in his pocket.

Steve placed his hand on Clint's shoulder, looking down at the picture. "We'll get her back, we have to."

Tony walked in, complete in his Iron Man suit. "We get her and take him out in one."

Everyone nodded in agreement, including Wanda and Pietro who had finally realised what Ultron truly wanted.

The whole jet ride to Sokovia the mood was solemn, the weight of what was to happen sitting firmly on everyone's shoulders.

'Just hang in there sweetheart. We'll make it right.' Steve thought to himself. There wasn't a single thing he wouldn't do to make it right between us. He would move heaven and earth to get me back. He just hoped that when he got the opportunity, that I'd let him.

***

My fingers were beginning to hurt from the tapping.

Seriously? Come on guys.

I groaned in frustration. Being alone in here had given me plenty of time to think. I deserved to be loved by someone who sees me as a first choice. As much as my heart may have screamed for Steve, he didn't feel the same. Moving on from that pain was the only thing I could do. I couldn't fight for something he didn't truly want.

"Doll? You here?" Bucky called out as he found me.

Never before had I been so happy to see his grumpy face.
"Buck! In here!" I scrambled up off the floor, my legs aching as I desperately tried to stand.

He nodded at the lock with his hands outstretched, pointing his gun at it.
"Stand back."

I knew what he was going to do, moving and covering my ears I waited for the bang.
When he shot straight through the metal I sighed in relief.

"Thanks, let's get out of here."

I tried to walk past him, only stopping when he gripped onto my wrist.

"Doll. Stop. Are you okay?"

I scoffed. "Not even a little bit Bucky Bear, but I need to go kill something. So, shall we?"