Time to go

He Never Misses

When Clint landed the plane, Bucky could feel his hands shaking. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this nervous before a mission. Usually he was never nervous.

You're nervous because you have a reason to live now. The voice in his head supplied.

Bucky decided to ignore the voice. If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to get off the plane.

"Buck?" Clint was already out of his seat, swinging on his quiver, and straightening his toque. "Earth to Bucky?"

Bucky hastily got up, and went to get his own equipment. "Yes, sorry, just got lost for a minute."

Clint gave him a long look. "Look, I can't promise we'll live, or even that you'll live, this is a difficult mission. That base has one of the tightest security systems I've ever seen, and once, if, we get inside it's only a matter of time before they find out we are there, and sic the dogs on us. But I can promise one thing. I can promise that I will do everything in my power to try and get you home."

What do you even say to that? Bucky wondered, staring at the man that essentially just offered his life for Bucky's. In the end, all he could do was nod slightly and say:

"Let's get this over with."

Clint had landed the plane in a grove of trees two kilometres from the outer fence of the base, so the two assassins crept through the dense forest, as silent as deer, poised to fight, or run, for their lives. Eventually, the high chain link fence came into view, and once they were close enough to make out the faces of the patrolling guards, Bucky pulled Clint behind a bush to do some recon.

"Guards patrolling in pairs of two. Classic parametre pattern, one pair for each side of the fence, going clockwise." Bucky said in a hushed tone.

"Counter-clockwise." Clint replied.

"No, clockwise."

"No, counter-, oh wait yeah you're right." Clint amended. "I see four towers, and one guard per tower."

"One road in and out with a mechanized gate." Bucky squinted at the fence. "There are fuze boxes along the fences meaning that it is-"

"Electrified." Clint finished. "This place is insane."

"Well there's one upside to all of this." Bucky said.

"What?"

"That this is definitely where the Tesseract is."

Clint huffed a laugh. "So, how are we getting in?"

Bucky bit his lip. "Cut the power?"

"Not gonna work." Clint shook his head. "Dude this is Canada, the power goes out so often and it is so cold that literally everything has backup generators. We cut the power and they'll sizzle us like back-bacon when the generators kick in and we're only half way up the fence."

"What about luring out a couple guards and taking their uniforms?"

"That may have worked in the 40s, but not with today's biotech."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Well then, what's your plan?"

"Oh I've got nothing." Clint settled more comfortably into the bush. "I guess we better get comfortable, it's going to be a long day."

Bucky shifted from a crouch to a more sustainable kneel. "I'm taking first watch."

"Fine by me." Clint slid his bow off his back and reclined.

Bucky watched as Clint made himself comfortable, then turned his attention back to the base. There had to be some way in. As he watched, a truck came up the road to the gate, and was buzzed in. Then another one, ten minutes later.