Poisoned Freedom

#11

"We gotta move out," Steve remarks, taking in a deep breath, looking around at his bruised teammates. "Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."

Clint glances between Katarina and the Vibranium core. "What about the core?"

"I'll protect it. It's my job," Wanda pipes up, sharing a confident nod with Steve and another with Clint to emphasise her point, her surety. Steve runs off instantly, checking for those left behind. Natasha follows, leaving Clint to convince Kat.

"Kat, come on," the Archer bends down slightly in front of the girl; her hand covers the bottom half of her face. "Wanda can take care of it. We have to go," he continues, grasping Kat's trailing hand and pulling the other one from her face, gasping worriedly at the black blood gushing from her nose and mouth. His surprise jerks him upwards and she falls into him, exhausted, as the two finally hurry to catch up Natasha.

Wanda turns to Pietro. "Get the people on the boats."

"I'm not going to leave you here," Pietro replies pleadingly.

"I can handle this," she blasts off an approaching robot, him whistling, impressed, as he watches. "Come back for me when everyone else is off, not before. You understand?"

"You know, I'm twelve minutes older than you," they both chuckle.

"Go," Wanda finally orders her brother, and he does. He runs off in a flash of silvery blue, leaving her alone to defend the core.

Outside, Clint and Natasha pile into a car they've just hot wired, the Archer draping Kat inelegantly across the back seat as she coughs up more oily blood all over herself and the innards of the car.

"I know what I need to do," Clint exclaims suddenly. "The dining room! If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice work space for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?"

"Agente, you still hav not finished reflooring the sunroom. You should probably do that first," Kat chokes out as she sits up, leaning against the door of the car. She's taken more today than she has ever had to before, but only today is it truly her choice.

"She has a point," Natasha laughs, glancing at the grey Spaniard in the back seat before turning back to Clint. "You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway."

"No one eats in a dining room," Clint smiles, stopping the car as they reach the lifeboats. "We don't have a lot of time."

"So get both of your asses on a boat," Nat climbs out, smiling as she runs off to find the Hulk, hoping to calm him into Bruce and onto a boat without casualties. Natasha finds him in a small clearing in between damaged buildings, alone. "Hey, big guy," she starts, outstretching a hand towards him gently. "The Sun's getting real low." 

Clint pulls Katarina out of the backseat, keeping her cradled in his arms. She wipes the pools of blood from her face with her sleeve, trying her utmost to avoid staining the Archer with the stuff. "Sure you don't want to give me any of it?" Clint asks Katarina again, hurrying towards the boats.

"Estoy seguro. You will have to take it from my corpse," the girl answers defiantly, struggling now to breathe fully.

"Yeah, well, that's what I'm afraid of," Clint lays Katarina across a few spare seats on a boat, but she doesn't stay there for long; the moment that the Agent's back is turned, watching for stragglers, the girl extends her staffs and uses them as aid to walk to Steve and Thor a small distance away, their rounds finished for now.