Universal Headaches

Chapter 13

Barton was directly outside the door when Sutton emerged from the interrogation room. His bow was at the ready and his eyes were sharp as they watched the hallway.

"We have maybe three minutes until the cameras are back up. We need to move," he said.

Natasha gave him a firm nod and the three of them began the trek out. Sutton's first reaction was to whack Clint with his own bow, but seeing as how time was of the essence she curbed her impulses for once.

The Avengers were teaching her more patience than babysitting toddlers ever had.

The hall was sparse of anything. It lacked any photographs, color, or fake plants sitting at the ends or in a corner. Clearly it was purely a functional feature, simply leading from one room to another. The lights were low, she was sure the team had something to do with that, and the most attention grabbing item was the blinking red alarm at the end of the hall. They moved down further and took a right. There were more doors that they passed on either side, but they ignored them and continued on.

"Where are we even at," Sutton asked in a whisper, interrupting the silence. "Are we still in the same state?"

Clint gave a sharp nod, bow still at the ready, and Natasha elaborated.

"We're on the eastern side of the state now. This is an underground facility in the desert run by that agency we informed you of. Right now we need to get topside."

"Two minutes," Clint said.

Sutton had a lot of questions still, but she was tired and a bit sore from sitting for so long and she really did want to get out of here, so she stayed quiet and continued to follow the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They came to another fork in the hallway and took a left. It was like Natasha and Clint ran this facility themselves with how sure their directions were. It must not have been a very large facility because at the end of this hall was a wide set of double doors and an exit sign. Sutton felt her body practically sigh. The relief was vanished when a metal door right beside them burst open and six men with guns barreled out. Sutton let out a surprised shriek and stumbled back, almost falling over in her haste to backtrack. But the other two didn't even flinch.

Clint let one arrow fly from a point blank range into one of the men's thigh and then spun around, grabbing that arrow on the way and yanking it out, using it to stab another man in the abdomen. Natasha lunged forward in a blink and gripped the closest man's wrist, twisting it until he let out a cry and dropped his weapon into her awaiting hand. With his own gun she pistol whipped him in the back of the head while passing on to deflect and whip the next guy.
Sutton watched in wonder and horror as they worked to take down every man in their way. It was like watching an extremely violent dance. Clearly they had worked extensively with each other before, especially since they even used the other's movements to help take out the remaining two men. There was the sound of thundering footsteps congregating on their position in the hallway and then the sharp order to keep moving. She had to shake herself out of her trance as they pushed open the double doors and finally stepped out into the hot sunlight.

Freedom.

It was always much warmer on the eastern side of the state. It was desert, in fact. Sutton didn't like it. After spending hours in a small concrete box, being interrogated and facing life in prison or worse, and being currently chased by suited cronies, her first sight of freedom was dirt and tumble weeds. It was not inspiring. Off in the distance a van sat waiting that struck Sutton as familiar somehow.

"Come on. Hurry."

She followed Clint and Natasha's lead as they broke into a run heading for the van and wasn't surprised when the side door opened for them upon arrival.