Sergeant Barnes: The Last Mission (COMPLETE)

Chapter 57: Natasha

Peter was fidgeting with his hands again. I wonder if Tony has noticed at all. He probably has, he knows everything about that kid.
"So what happens now?" He asked. It was a valid question, especially for someone in his position.
Maria, always on top of things, answered without missing a beat. "Well, we'll book it to the safe zone in a few hours." She opened her tablet and started scrolling. "No later than 7:00, or we'll get caught in the morning work rush." She faced the tablet towards the group and showed us a map of the U.S. with various marks. "We have every set of eyes we can spare looking for cyborgs, and based on the scans and data you fou-"
A faint disturbance from upstairs, followed by a rattling sound. It wasn't extremely loud, but it definitely wasn't normal.
"What is 'Agent' taking care of?" Tony asked, pointing his thumb up at the ceiling. "Is there something up there we should know about?"
Nick waved it off. "Other than an obnoxiously loud heater, no. I told Jeffery to fix that last week." He pulled out his phone and started typing. "Don't mind me."
Maria faced the tablet back towards her. "Starting tonight, and for the rest of the week, we'll have agents rounding up the cyborgs."
Steve sat up. "They're not all just going to walk through security again. How are you going to find them?"
"We're working on it," Maria assured him. "A scanner is en route, based on the scans of the cyborgs we've met so far. It should be able to locate them in time." She looked up and made eye contact with him. "We might need more help programming it, though."
Steve nodded, somewhat uncomfortable. He motioned to the non-agents in the room. "What about them?"
Fury looked up from his phone and answered. "We'll get you back to New York sooner rather than later. I think Romanoff will be more than happy to help with rides once her back is in better shape." He glanced over at me.
I nodded. "I'll take Flotsam and Jetsam to Brooklyn once it's clear."
Steve and Bucky nodded, then did a double take and glared at me. Well, Steve glared. Bucky just looked confused. I love it when that happens.
The noises coming from upstairs hadn't stopped. Bucky looked up at the ceiling. "How long have you had this heater problem?"
Fury sat back and pocketed his phone "A while. The maintenance crews have been booked with A/C replacements since November." Nick followed his gaze. "It's gotten worse since the last time I've been here."
Of course, just then, the upper floors went silent.
"Ookaayyy, I don't know anything about heaters," Tony said, "but I don't think that's normal."
A few more seconds passed, and no one said anything.
"Nick," I asked, "are you sure that's the heater?"
Just then, my earpiece started vibrating. I had put it in my pocket once I had changed, but it had been silent this whole time. I didn't see why anyone would be using it. The only person not with us was Raven.
I put it in my ear. Why did she need us?
"...body hear me? Please tell me you didn't ditch coms."
"What is it?" She sounded winded. Not a good sign.
Her heavy breath came through the coms before she spoke. "You know those cyborgs we never found?" She was definitely running or something.
The others seemed to understand that something was up. Everyone started grabbing their gear and putting in their earpieces. As much as I hated whoever gave Steve a HYDRA shield, I knew he would need it. Bucky activated his earpiece and asked "What's going on, Shots?"
'Shots'? Where did that come from?
"They found us, Bucky."
Nick connected to our line. "Raven, are you sure?"
An explosion shook the building.
No. No, no, no, no, no. I ran towards the elevator. She was not dead. She couldn't be.
Tony and Peter ran for the door, activating their suits. Maria and Nick followed me to the elevator, and Steve and Bucky made a mad dash for the stairs. Raven still hadn't said anything.
"Raven?" I asked, barely starting to panic.
Her winded breath finally broke through, and I breathed easy for one second. One.  "Let me rephrase that," she amended.
"They found me!"