Under or Over: Hawkeye & Black Widow

CHAPTER #64

The R2 facility was cloaked and underground in a remote area of Dedovsk- Russia. Not even the air shafts were visible to Bird.  But the information that Romanoff had collected, gave them enough intel to find entry. Certain areas of the underground facility opened up to allow fresh air and light to come through.  That area was the weakest structurally, which meant night entry was possible. What seemed to the naked eye an unmovable rock outcropping, was actually part of the mechanism for the subterranean facility. Elevators, shafts, stairs and paths were what linked the different levels of the structure.  The architectonics qualities of space under the surface of the earth, was obviously from an inventive architect.  It messed with their sensory perceptions, creating an almost mythical dimension which clashed with their minds' natural understanding of depth and direction.

"This feels like a screwed up labyrinth built by a mad mind," Clint complained softly.  

"I wouldn't be surprised if the architect was completely insane," Natasha agreed.

"It's hard not to feel any phobias in a place like this."

"We must be at least to the second level, so why is no one coming to stop us."  Was the facility so naive to believe no one could enter?

"What if they want you to find them Nat?" Clint asked.

"I can't wait," Natasha replied with a hiss.

Machinery could be heard below them, which confirmed that their source had not lied.  They were coming through the back way, where mostly the maintenance division worked.  Deeper down is where they needed to go.  Dropping into a shaft, they slid on a 45 degree angle, down many feet, before being stopped by the floor of another level.  A narrow hall forward and down, was their only option to go.  Romanoff felt like they were in a reversed pyramid. She froze when the sounds of screams reached her ears.  Without needing to see her face, Barton knew Black Widow couldn't wait to confront the instigator of the terror.  She lead the way, he stayed close on her six.  Barton knew first hand that the physical torture was never as bad as the psychological, but he'd never experienced what Romanoff had gone through.

Red light glowed from beneath a door, so Black Widow adjusted the night vision goggles.  Through that door would begin the trial of revenge and survival.  All her life she had trained and waited for this moment. A rumbling noise shook through the hallway they were in, suddenly the wall had changed and the escape route was gone.  Their only option was to go forward.  Black Widow heard a string of curses, but knew Barton was ready too.  Through the door they went.  Instantly he wasn't agent Barton anymore, but Hawkeye.  Arrows sang through the air, while Black Widow was fluid with her actions.  Chaos erupted, around them, but they worked in perfect unison.   There were no victims in this room, the screams had been audio from the video feed.  They were in the security area of the third level.  The moving walls for the hallways, were operated in this area.  With a digital key, she easily hacked the system and over-rode the wall changes.

"Bird confirm receiving access to their systems."

"Received and monitoring, Black Widow," Bird promptly reported.

There were four doors exiting the room, two of which opened to concrete walls, due to the jammed system.  The one on the right, was where they continued their advance. Black Widow had used the cameras from security to determine what door to take and Bird guided them the rest of the way.  Fifth level down was the testing area and the eighth level was where they had seen the director.  No alarms gave warning of their approach, so each door they went through surprised the occupants.  When they arrived on the fifth level, Hawkeye surprised Black Widow.  Normally he did everything to prevent killing his targets, but not this time. His expression was dark, furious even.  She'd only seen him like this once before, many years ago, and even then it wasn't close to how he was now. Necks and backs were broken, arrows stole life and knives slashed arteries.  He used anything he got his hands on to kill the white lab coated people.  While Black Widow advanced, he back tracked to release the victims.  They had no time to help them, but it gave the victims a chance to save themselves or extract their own revenge. Too many people on the fifth level, so when Hawkeye ran out of arrows and darts he used the black diamond tip arrow head to pop back to his private weapon collection, when Black Widow had her back to him. His blood ran hot and his eyes couldn't believe what they relayed to his brain.  He didn't care if Black Widow annihilated all the R2 staff and operatives, because he was bent on doing the same.  Destroying this place had become his main goal.  It was unrealistic, but Hawkeye wasn't in hell, hell was within him.  The God of Wrath had nothing on him.

"Hawkeye we didn't come here to save them, I need your control!" Black Widow scolded harshly.

The stare Barton gave her, almost made her flinch.  "I am in control," he replied quietly.

"Then make sure you stay that way Hawkeye."  

The only sound after that, was the gurgle of blood, when he retrieved some arrows.  As the removal tore flesh, his smile was sickly.  She rose an eyebrow at him, but he followed her down to the next level without complaint.  Alarm had finally been sounded, but because Bird was controlling the walls, the assault team that were after them, got detoured repeatedly. Finally the director's office, came into view.  Hawkeye went first and narrowly dodged the gunfire, a widow's bite landed on target.  Black Widow had the person they'd come for, but returning to the surface wasn't an option and time was running out.  There was no hesitation, when Hawkeye locked his hand on her left wrist as soon as her right hand clasped the director's neck. Immediately he used the Black Diamond head to transport them to Fury's covert interrogation room.

"What the hell was that?" Both Natasha and Nick asked.

"My back up escape plan," Clint replied. 

They could ask nothing further, because he used it again to disappear instantly.

"Bird, where is agent Barton?" Nick demanded.

Natasha answered instead, "he went back... Bird can you send me back like Barton?"

"No, I do not have the Black Diamond technology."

"What's that?" Nick asked, momentarily distracted by the new information.

"It's alien in nature.  Banner and Stark have more answers," was all Bird could explain, before agent Romanoff refocused Furry's attention on the man in front of them.

"I'll go after Barton later."

"I expected you to be like this, not Hawkeye."

"Fury I knew what to expect, he didn't.  You know what he's like, does his reaction really surprise you?"

Nick Fury shrugged and nodded at the director, "let's get started."

By the time Hawkeye left the R2 facility, the stench of death was on every level.  Fires burned, explosions continued and Bird had erased the entire data base.  He wasn't as good as Romanoff when it came to computers, but with the AI's help, destructive viruses lay dormant until someone tried to retrieve the lost files.  Barton knew that another facility would be built, probably in a new location, but for now he was satisfied.  Not in a mood to talk to Fury or Romanoff, he had Bird take him to his cabin.

"Sir agent Romanoff and director Fury inquired about the Black Diamond device," Bird said.  

"Not now Bird," was all Clint said.  As soon as they arrived at his cabin, he went for a run up the mountain.  He needed to be physically drained, before he could order his thoughts.  The horror he'd seen in R2, was burned onto his eyes.  

Having forgotten to take off the ear com, Bird spoke to him an hour later.  "Agent Romanoff has arrived and is waiting inside the cabin."

He grunted and wiped sweat off his face.  "Tell her I'll be there when I get there."

Natasha came on the com immediately, "get your ass back now!"

Clint sighed, "Bird pick me up."