Marble Statues ⏃ Captain America [4]

five

05. | CRUSHED LEGOS

CLINT BARTON FOUND Steve Rogers unconscious on the floor and then spotted Thor on his knees on the walkway above. He frowned worriedly, anxious to find the others. If the Maximoff girl'd gotten the two men out here, then it was safe to say the girl would've gotten to Natasha and Christina in the shadows of the corridors.

    He hoped that he wasn't the only one still up and functioning—with his mind clear—but the radio silence did nothing to ease his nerves. Clint combed through the various corridors, searching amongst the fallen bodies before his eyes spotted familiar golden locks. He breathed in relief that Christina was at least alive and breathing as he saw her chest move up and down.

    His relief was very short-lived as he hurried over to her and saw the state she was in. The woman was lying on the ground, her eyes staring straight up—unfocused—her face was one of absolute terror as her arms clutched at her lower belly. He'd only seen something close to that face once, and even that dark time was nothing compared to the sheer horror that painted her face now.

    "Belle?" He asked, patting the woman's face lightly, but there was no response. Clint quickly hauled her up, heaving her off the ground and up into his arms. He inwardly groaned, mentally cursing the Captain for not being coherent enough to take care of his own girlfriend.

    But the thought was quickly fleeting; his worry over Christina's current state too great. He honestly wasn't sure what the Maximoff girl could've possibly shown her; until she'd met Steve, her greatest fear—after Micah—had been allowing people to get close to her, allowing them to get to know the real Christina. Now, Clint wasn't sure. Could she have seen something about Steve?

    Clint's eyes widened as he spotted a familiar red mass, and he quickly made his way over to Natasha. The Russian assassin was in a similar state to Christina, although she looked more dazed and out of it than terrified, as Christina had looked when Clint had first found her. Clint immediately placed Red Cobra down gently, moving to check on the red-head.

    Tony Stark's voice suddenly called over the comms. "Natasha, I could really use a lullaby."

    Clint sighed. "Well, that's not gonna happen. Not for a while. The whole team is down. You got no back up here." He answered grimly.

    He glanced between the two women lying at his feet, knowing that neither of them were capable of moving on their own. And he didn't want to leave one of them behind, but he wouldn't be able to carry both. Not at once.

    "I'm calling in VERONICA." Tony announced, and then he cut off the comms as well. Clint rubbed at his eyes tiredly—now they had to deal with the Hulk on top of everything else. And he knew, without a doubt, that the damned Maximoff girl had gotten to Bruce. She'd almost taken the whole team out in one swoop.

    Clint heaved Natasha up, bringing her out into the walkway. Then, he went back to get Christina, picking her up and carrying her out as well. He moved past Natasha, heading toward where Thor Odinson continued to wrestle for control over his mind. Clint gently placed the blonde assassin by the wall, frowning when he saw that her expression of terror had flattened out into a dazed look similar to Natasha's—and Thor's and Steve's—now that he thought about it. Hopefully that meant the effects of the illusion were starting to fade, not worsen.

    He turned and went back to fetch Natasha, picking her up and hauling her out to where he'd left Christina. As he placed her down gently, Clint groaned. There was no way in hell he'd be able to carry them both back to the Quinjet—he'd just have to wait for the other guys to break out of their trances.