18 – Surprise Visitors

Sleep eventually won, but it didn't beat James, it beat me.

And I hadn't rested for very long, because when I wake, it's still pitch dark out. I don't wake out of not being able to sleep, I wake because a sixth sense is sending all kinds of alarm bells my way.

My eyes are open, and I can see James' slumped figure in the dark. My ears are attuned to the squeaky hall on the other side of the door. I close my eyes. Deep breaths, Victoria. This won't be like the time HYDRA abducted you. You'll get the drop on them.

I open my eyes again and position myself, ready to throw myself over the couch and face HYDRA head on. I should wake James. But I know better. He needs the sleep, and besides, I can probably take anyone that walks in through that door.

I hear the lock being picked. My muscles tense, and I feel a shot of adrenaline working its way through my system.

When I feel the change in the room, I strike.

With a burst of speed and strength, I throw myself over the couch, and immediately I know I've made a big mistake. One, because I feel my stitches tear through the bandages, which causes me to buckle to the floor and cry out. Two, I hear James startle from behind me. Three, I could've nearly had my head blasted off by Natasha Romanoff.

I hear the light flick on, and I'm huddled in a ball on the floor, feeling the intense pain lick at my open wounds, which, now lifting my shirt up, I can see are bleeding through the patchwork.

"Steve," I hear James say. I hadn't seen Steve Rogers come in after Romanoff, probably because the pain hit me so fast I almost gave myself whiplash. "God damn it."

"Watch what you touch!" I screech as James tries to roll me over onto my back, trying to not aggravate my wounds.

"Hey, not my fault you decided to be stupid. Come on, sit up."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't pull the trigger," Romanoff says bluntly.

"Yes, thank you for that," I snarl. "Crap." I've stained the floor with blood droplets.

"It's probably way worse than that," says James. "Natasha, help me for a second."

Once James gets me standing, I'm given to Romanoff. He runs into the bathroom, comes back out with a bunch of towels. He begins to set them along the couch. Rogers helps Romanoff to get me to the couch.

"The hell were you thinking?" James murmurs.

"Thought they were HYDRA. Wanted to get the jump on them."

"Good job. You could've clued me in."

"You were sleeping."

"Our damn lives could've been on the line! That's something worth waking me up over, Vick."

"Hey, look, if you guys want to continue this whole thing, we can just leave and wait it out," Romanoff jokes.

James pulls back the bandages, and once again, my body is colored in bright red. Some blots of dark are gushing out. "You ripped them, now I gotta redo them. Great work."

I roll my eyes, before looking towards Romanoff and Rogers. "How'd you find us?"

"We've got an excellent bloodhound," Romanoff jokes, throwing a thumb in Rogers' direction.

"Were you followed?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Romanoff frowns. "Yes, I'm sure. You two didn't make it easy on us."

"That was the point," says James as he disappears to another room.

"But we've only been gone, for what, like a day or two, if that," I say. "There's no way you could track us that fast."

"You guys didn't get very far," Rogers says. "We didn't think you would, assuming you stuck together."

"We weren't sure what to think," Romanoff admits. "It was a hot mess when we all scrambled."

"Did we lose anyone?" I pant, looking at Romanoff.

"Depends on your definition of 'lose'," she says. "On top of the agents you killed, we lost a few others. Some of our best were captured."

On top of the agents you killed. Well, I'm hurting even more now. "Like who?"

"That we know of, Sharon Carter. We can't confirm any other abductions."

I only met Sharon once, she seemed nice. "Who else was on the list?"

"Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff."

I snort. "I doubt Maximoff let HYDRA best her. That kid has some serious power in her."

"Don't we know it," says James, who comes back with needle and thread. "You want me to knock you out for this?"

"I'll stick it out."

"Guess I shouldn't be too surprised that you survived," Romanoff tells me. "You took some good hits and still stood."

I wince as I feel my skin being poked through. "You didn't have to shoot me."

"Oh, I did." She crosses her arms. "If not, he wouldn't have been alive to save your ass. Which, by the way, why did you, Barnes?"

"Don't distract me," is James' muttered answer. "If I screw this up, she'll definitely tear these open."

I see Rogers peek through the windows in the apartment. "I really hope you guys tracked us down with some good news."

"We've got the location," says Rogers. "Trouble is, you guys ran the other direction."

"Sorry if we didn't know." I flinch. The idea of my skin being stitched together skeeves me out. "Guess we're not trusted like you two are with the director."

"The less people that knew, the better, in case they got captured," Romanoff says bluntly.

"Oh, so, Coulson gave up the location to those he felt wouldn't crack under interrogation? Wow."

"Don't feel too offended, Melbourne. You weren't exactly in his good books."

"I'm probably still not."

"Not after what happened in the base, no."

I'm about to go on a rant about how the attack isn't my fault, but James opens his mouth first: "So, what, you guys are gonna get us to the new base?" he asks.

"Yeah. We got to do some traveling though."

"Wouldn't be us if we didn't have to."

"How far?" I ask.

"Few states over," says Romanoff.

"Great, so we can just take a plane over."

"It's not that easy," says Rogers. "HYDRA's gonna be looking for us. They'll want to hit any subways, train stations, or airports."

"Then it's a road trip," I say plainly. "We hijack someone's ride and we go find the others." I look at James. "Unless you want us to stay here because of my new sutures."

"We don't have that kind of time," Romanoff says. "You'll just have to suck up the pain."

"Damn, we were starting to get comfy here too." I pout. "I mean, James bought us enough food for days."

"Then we'll take it with us, can't let it go to waste."

"We were gonna spiff it up."

Romanoff rolls her eyes. "Okay, tone down the sarcasm."

"Look, it's how I'm fighting the pain right now, okay? Are we leaving right this second?"

I get two answers: a "Yes" from Romanoff, but an adamant "No" from James. Both glare at each other.

"The more time we stay here, the more we're sitting ducks," Romanoff explains. "We can't hide like we used to."

"She's hurt," James says, gesturing to me.

"She can walk it off."

"How about I shoot you a few times, Romanoff?" I sneer. "See if you can 'walk it off'."

"Enough," Rogers cuts in. "Unfortunately, I got to agree with Natasha. We have to move."

"Fine. Secure us a ride first, and then we'll fly the coop." I sniff.

Romanoff rolls her eyes. "I'm on it. Get ready, because I'm not gonna wait for your asses." She hightails it out of the room.

"Wow, isn't she a peach."

"You get used to it," Rogers says. "How are we looking?"

"If she doesn't move too much, we'll be set," James reports. "She's gonna be less mobile though."

"Good thing we're not walking," I pant. "Let me just...adjust. You guys get the food packed." James just watches me. "I'll be fine."

Groaning, I adjust myself on the couch, James' new patchwork feeling tight on my skin. I can hear them rummaging around the kitchen. The pain is dulling, but it still packs a serious punch.

We're gonna be fine. We'll regroup, get our bearings, and figure out our game plan. Normally I'd be gun-ho about wanting to take down HYDRA, but even I have my limits.

It must be because I haven't been injured a lot in my life, pre and post-Hell's Angel, but my tolerance for pain isn't great. The pain is enough to deter me away from the endgame, for now. Once I'm better, I'll be back on track.

"Once Natasha gets the car, we'll go," says Rogers, who comes back out, him and James both, with food in a few bags. They get sat by the open door. James gets back to me.

"How much longer, do you think?" I ask.

"Knowing her..." A car horn sounds. "Right on time."

James offers me a hand up, I push him away when he tries to make himself a crutch for me. He helicopters at my side, while Rogers grabs our food bags. We take the fastest pace possible with me and get out of the apartment.

I hate the stairs that we go down, because each step makes my body jiggle, and it feels like it slowly pulls my new sutures apart. Rogers and James check back on me, and every time, I wave them forward.

By the time we're outside the door, we spot the black car, headlights on, parked near the sidewalk. Rogers takes lead, food bags in hand, while James lingers with me.

When Rogers stops abruptly, stiffening like a meerkat scouting for danger, all hell explodes. 

**It couldn't just be the two of them. Besides, I wanted to see how this went over with the four of them being on the run together.

Road trip, anyone?**