Captain On Ice

Chapter 5

Steve landed on the third floor with a solid thump, dust billowing up and threatening to enter the airways of the two men who were still in the chimney. Steve took a quick moment to peek around the corner of the grand fireplace, the brick charred and worn from years of abuse. When he saw the coast was clear, he signaled to Clint that he could come out.

"What?" Clint whispered. Steve made another hand signal to Clint. "I can't see you, Cap. It's pitch black in here."

"Sorry, I always forget," Steve quietly apologized, and Clint looked curious. "Serum eyes," he explained, "The coast is clear."

Steve had heard of these giant fireplaces before when he was young, but he had never seen one so massive. Even after he woke, the only fireplaces in the tower were gas-powered - never anything real. That seemed to be the general trend nowadays; anything he had ever been curious about or wanted had been phased out and replaced by something newer and more complicated but not necessarily better. Every time he tried to speak to someone, they would avoid eye contact with him and return to their gadgets. At first, he thought it was because they were intimidated by him, but then he paid attention. They didn't make eye contact with their own friends, let alone him.

His mind snapped back to reality when he heard shouts from the floor below them. He gave Clint a slight nod in the direction of the stairwell, and they advanced together as a team. As friends. Opening and closing the door with complete silence, they made their way down the stairs when Clint laid a hand on Steve's chest, motioning him to stop. Clint put his finger to his lips and pointed downward. Two flights down, there was a guard holding an assault rifle and a... spear? Steve did a double take, and sure enough, there was a thick black rod with a razor-sharp blade at the end.

Clint nocked an arrow and pulled back on the string. He exhaled deeply and let it fly, rocketing the arrow at the guard and hitting him straight in the jugular, effectively silencing him while also killing him. Neither man took a second look as the crimson waterfall pooled out of the guard's neck, nor did they notice that he was still flailing around as they crept by.

When they reached the bottom floor, Clint peeked through the tiny window on the door, noticing the floor was effectively empty save for the one guard that had already been incapacitated by one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s snipers.

"First and third floors are clear," Clint spoke into his earpiece. "The building is prepared for evacuation. We're ready when you are, guys."

"Widow and I are heading in," came the response on the other end, and with that, gunfire erupted from the second floor as Clint and Steve reached the door. With just two men standing with their backs to the heavy metal door, guns drawn and aimed at a group of hostages in the center of the room, Clint could barely make out where the gunfire was coming from. Clint motioned to Steve, and Steve understood exactly what he meant. Clint cleared his way, and Steve stepped forward. If Clint had blinked, he would have missed it. Steve struck like lightning, his foot striking the door with such force that it erupted forward, breaking from the frame and traveling forward directly into the two guards at the door, taking them down with it. Out cold,Steve thought.

Clint waved at the trembling hostages at the center of the room, and after the first one stepped forward, the rest made a mad dash for their protection, and Clint guided them down the stairs and checked for injuries.
"All clear," Steve said into his earpiece.

"Great, because we could really use some - OW - help out here!" Tony practically yelled.

"They've got guns AND spears, Cap! And there's a lot of them, more than we anticipated. I'm almost out of ammo!" This time, it was Natasha. Although it was just the two of them, they could more than handle themselves. Steve began to worry, wondering how many enemies there were if they could overwhelm Iron Man and the famous Black Widow. With that, Clint and the Captain ran in the direction of the gunfire.