The Winter Wraith

Chapter 11

The Winter Soldier carried an unconscious Adina into a black SUV as the rest of the Avengers followed.

~~~~~~
Stark Tower

"Hey, you're the one who decided to leave the quinjet here? What did you expect? Plus, all I did was make a few minor adjustments."

"You don't need to modify everything, Tony. The quinjet was fine. It didn't need a brand new 80 decibel surround sound system!" an exasperated Steve Rogers exclaimed.

"Whatever, Capsicle. Learn to have some fun, will you? Anyway, you got that checked out, right?" Tony said, gesturing to Steve's bloodstained pants.

"Yeah, I'm all patched up. She got Wilson, too, but the bullet didn't hit anything important. Quick recovery for the both of us," Steve replied.

"I heard she broke Clint's bow. That's no easy feat. I engineered that bow myself, and it's made of pretty tough material. Has she got some kind of super strength?"

"We haven't done a full rundown of her powers yet. We do know she can teleport, and she has some kind of force field. Obviously, she's well trained."

"You think she's like the Manchurian Candidate?"

"His name is Bucky. And, yes, it's a possibility."

"And where is this mysterious girl, right now?"

"Barton took her to get patched up before we left for the compound."

"Capsicle, you do understand the magnitude of this, right? Ross isn't going to be very happy when he finds out you're keeping an Enhanced from Hydra, especially after the whole Accords fallout."

"I know, Tony, just give us a month or two, please."

"One month. And then I'm reporting in."

"One month?"

"One of us has to stay on Ross's good side, Rogers."

"Alright, one month," Steve confirmed. "Are you going to visit at all?" he said, transitioning to a different topic.

"Maybe. I'm pretty tied down with things right now. Pepper wants me to take a break and slow down, after, well, you know," Tony said, referring to the mental breakdown he had after finding out the truth about his parents' death.

He had allowed Bucky into the compound. He had pretended everything was fine. He covered up the sleepless nights with his usual charismatic sarcasm. He drank more, trying to forget about all the sorrow and quiet down the thoughts swirling in his head.

Fortunately for him, Pepper caught on. Nothing ever got past her. She supported Tony and got him the help he didn't want, but needed.

"If you ever need anything, you know you have us," Steve said, referring to the family the Avengers had found themselves in. "Just stop by, we can put on a film or something, have dinner. Wanda makes some pretty good chicken paprikash."

"Thanks, Cap, but no one calls a movie 'a film' anymore. And it looks like your new project is here," Stark said, as he saw Barton, with the motionless teen girl in his arms, heading towards them on the giant deck.

"How is she?" Cap asked.

"She is pretty banged up, you know, she did have two bullets in her. Plus, it looks like she didn't yet heal from one of your repulsor blasts, Tony," Barton replied, with a slight hint of concern behind his voice.

"Let's get going then. Everyone else is ready on the jet, except Romanoff. Have you seen her?"

"I think sh-"

"Right here, boys," Natasha Romanoff interrupted, striding towards them.

"Okay, let's get back to the compound. See you later, Tony. Don't be a stranger," said Steve.

They all said their goodbyes and parted company. The unconscious teen girl was put onto the quinjet with the rest of the Avengers.

~~~~~~

Adina was slowly brought back to a drugged version of reality. Her head was leaning back against something metal and her hands were clasped together in her lap. She could hear a conversation nearby, but was too drowsy to discern what was being said.

She had a small headache, but otherwise she felt fine. That was a bit weird considering when she was last fully conscious she was in a lot of pain. She tried to take a look at her surroundings, but her eyes felt like they were taped shut.

After a few moments, Adina was finally able to force her eyes open. Her vision was a bit blurry, and, mentally, she still wasn't all there. She shifted in her seat and tiredly looked around. She was in a decent-sized room that had a row of seats facing each other on the two walls opposite each other. There were a few people standing by the other row of seats, the one opposite her, talking to each other.

Her head felt so heavy, too heavy for her neck to support.

She looked down and saw she was strapped into a chair with a secure-looking seatbelt. She also glanced at her hands and observed that the pesky metal band was still clamped around her right wrist. Her hands were also banded together with a high tech version of handcuffs that looked like they might prove a challenge to her above-average strength.

Adina wearily lifted her head and made eye contact with Wilson, one of the people who had been talking in the group. She wondered what his first name was, as she still didn't know that. Maybe Wilson was his first name.

"Steve, she's awake," Wilson told the man next to him.

Steve went away for a few moments and came back with a syringe filled with some liquid in his hands. He walked towards Adina, who could barely keep her eyes open. With every blink she took, she kept her eyes closed for longer than the last time.

He knelt down to her level, next to her side, and plunged the needle into her arm. Adina's drowsiness grew to an even stronger level, one she couldn't pretend to ignore any longer. A few seconds later, her head slumped to the side, and she went back into the deep, dreamless, drugged sleep.

Published: 3/29/22