Ice and Defenders: The New Age// Book 4 of the Frostbite Series

A Hard Hit

Clint had practically carried everyone back to the jet, everyone except Ellie, he had yet to find her. As he ran through the ship halls, shooting every mercenary he came across, one of the men came running down the hall. He looked terrified. 

Clint grabbed the mercenary's shirt and slammed him against the wall.
"What are you running from?" He asked.

"The- there's a woman!" The man answered in a panicked tone. "She- she- she took down about ten men, she's just standing there, ice everywhere!"

"Where is she?" Clint asked.

"That way!" The man pointed down the hall.

Clint looked before turning back to the mercenary. "Thanks." He brought his head forward, butting the man in the head, knocking him out.

Clint walked down the hall with caution and put on gloves when he saw the trail of ice. As he rounded the corner, he came to an unpleasant scene. The hallway spread out, making a little room and on the floor, walls, and ceiling was a layer of frost and ice. Icicles jutted out in different spots, on the ends of each of them were impaled bodies, their blood dripping onto the floor. In the corner, Ellie sat hugging her knees, her head down, rocking back and forth, and mumbling to herself. 

"Shit," Clint muttered, slowly walking up to her. "Ellie..." He reached his arm out as he slowly inched towards her and kneeled down. His gloved hand touched her arm and her head shot up, the red color in her eyes disappearing.

"Bucky!" She screamed and her arms swung to the side, touching her hands to the wall.

Icicles shot out and Clint ducked down, covering his head. He looked back up, Ellie stared straight forward. The icy blue color returned to her eyes and her chest heaved with her uneven breathing. Clint reached forward and put his hands on her cheeks.

"Ellie, it's me. You're okay."

Her eyes darted around before resting on his face. Her breathing slowed and her heart rate went down. 

"Clint?"

"Yep," He nodded, lifting her up off the ground and supporting her up against him.

"What did I do?" She looked around the room in shock.

"Doesn't matter, let's get you back on the jet." Clint replied as he walked down the hall.

Ellie barely did anything to move her legs. Ahead of them a mercenary began walking their way, Clint grabbed his gun and fired twice at him. The mercenary crumpled to the ground and they continued walking, well, Ellie dragging.

"Forget this," Clint grunted and he lifted Ellie up and began carrying her.

~~~

Clint reached the jet, where Steve, Thor and Natasha sat. They had also suffered the mind games of Wanda and were in no right state of mind. Steve had recovered the most out of all of them, he instantly stood up when Clint carried Ellie in.

"Is she okay?" He asked as Clint laid her down on the floor.

"She will be." Clint sat down on a seat and rotated his neck, a couple of cracks came out of that.

"We can't go back to the tower, Ultron knows we'll be there." Steve said.

"I know," Clint nodded and moved over to the pilot seat. "Is Stark still getting Banner?"

"It would seem so," Steve glanced out the jet door.

"We should probably see if they're okay." Clint pressed a button and the hatch closed. "Make sure that they aren't dead."

~~~

My eyes opened, finding myself laying on the floor of the Quinjet at Steve's feet. My head still hurt and the images of the vision came to my mind again. I rubbed my eyes and looked around the jet. Bruce sat on the ground with a blanket wrapped around him. Thor was massaging his hands as if he were trying to warm them. Natasha sat in a seat, staring straight at the floor. I looked up at Steve, his brows were furrowed and he looked hurt. Tony also sat in a chair, one earbud in his ear as he rested his head on his hand. Clint was at the front of the plane piloting. Maria spoke to us over a monitor.

"The news is loving you guys, nobody else is."

I sat up and got into the seat next to Steve. He glanced at me, smiling softly before staring straight ahead again.

"There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air." Maria finished.

"Stark Relief Foundation?" Tony asked.

"Already on the scene," Maria replied. "How's the team?"

"Everyone's- we took a hit." Tony answered. "We'll shake it off."

"Well for now I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here." Maria said.

"So, run and hide?" Tony asked.

"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer." Maria replied.

"Neither do we," Tony switched off the monitor, Maria's face disappeared.

I moved in my seat, crossing my arms and leaning back. Steve looked at me again.

"You doing okay?" He asked and I shook my head no. "It was Wanda, she used her abilities to play with our minds."

"Playing isn't what I would call it." I said. "More like manipulation."

"What did you see?" Steve asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I looked away and out the front window of the jet. The vision of Steve's blistered body flashed before my eyes and I blinked to make it go away.

"Was it HYDRA?"

"Steve, I said I don't want to talk about it." I snapped back.

I stood up to join Clint at the front of the plane. At least I knew that he wouldn't pry at me with questions. The sky was cloudy and dark, a few rain droplets hit here and there.

Clint glanced up at me as I sat down. "How are you holding up?"

"Not so well, I'll get over it." I answered. "Thanks for getting me out of there."

"What, did you expect me to leave you there?" Clint joked.

"Yeah, that's it." I smiled. "Where are you taking us?"

"You know where," he replied.

"Really?" I looked at him and lowered my voice. "A surprise visit to the Mrs?"

"It's our only chance," Clint breathed out.

"That's true," I nodded.

"It'll be awhile before we get there, you get yourself some rest." Clint said.

I nodded and stood back up, making my way to the back of the plane and sitting down. My eyes fluttered shut as the humming of the engine became background noise.