Live. Laugh. LOVE. - A Romanogers fanfiction

The Rescue - Part 1

"Okay guys, you ready?" Maria said, looking at the four people standing in front of her. Steve, Natasha, Bucky, and T'Challa nodded. New S.T.R.I.K.E. personnel and Sharon were behind them, boarding helicopters. The four superheroes would be riding in a quinjet to the underwater prison. Once they were inside the quinjet, Steve gave them a pep talk.

"Guys, I just want to let you know, I really depend on you with this. This is our teammates we're talking about. Sam, Clint, Wanda, even Scott are like family to me. And so are you. So let's try like we never did before to rescue our family."

"How is this a pep talk if you're putting so much pressure on us?" Natasha asked, speaking for everyone with a smile on her face.

"Nat, not the time to joke," Steve replied. Sensing his impatience, Natasha stayed quiet for the rest of the ride. She pondered while staring at Steve, his tousled blond hair, his deep blue eyes, his muscled arms. She pondered about if they would actually succeed on this mission. She obviously wanted to succeed, but in the back of her mind, there was this thought of how they might not win this battle. Steve caught her staring, then met her eyes and gave her a grim smile. They were all thinking the same thing.

The As the quinjet landed, Natasha braced herself. She knew it would be a tough battle, but she had confidence in herself and the others to save Team Cap.

"Okay, we're going to split ways. Tasha, you follow me to the left. We're going to find the video surveillance room, then find the cells from there. Bucky and T'Challa can go to the right. You two can defeat all the guards from that side, along with the help of the S.T.R.I.K.E. team, to clear out a path for us to come out," Steve ordered as they climbed out of the jet. The S.T.R.I.K.E. team we're forming behind them.

"How about me, Steve? Can I go with you?" Sharon asked. Natasha wanted to gag with disgust. Didn't she realize this was a serious mission?

"You stay with the S.T.R.I.K.E. team," Steve replied firmly. With a nod, he turned then bolted to the left, signaling for Natasha to follow. She ran quickly; it was hard for her to keep up with Steve when it came to running, despite her rigorous training. She broke away from her thoughts when she heard a loud thump, then a masculine groan. She strained her eyes in the dim light of the hallway. Steve was knocking down two guards. He needed back up. Natasha stopped where she was right now, took out her handgun, aimed, then pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the guard's stomach, immediately causing him to crumble down in pain. Steve turned in surprise, then had a look of relief in his eyes when he saw Natasha. The spy smirked, then jogged to catch up with her friend.

"Thanks," Steve said. He was panting, and already had a couple of bruises forming on his face. Natasha waved it away; shooting one petty guard was no big deal.

"Come on, let's go. We have to get to our friends as fast as we can," Natasha said. This time she was the one who got a head start, with Steve following right behind. After fighting then climbing over eight guards, Steve and Natasha soon made it to the video surveillance room. One guard was there, holding his gun out, with his jaw set hard. He pulled the trigger and Natasha barely had time to dodge the bullet. It grazed her upper arm, and she bit her lip as she felt pain searing through her. Steve quickly threw his shield, aiming for the man's chest. The shield, was dodged, unfortunately. Steve and Natasha, who were angry by now, came at him with kicks and punches so fast that he didn't even have time to dodge them. Two bullet wounds later, the guard was simply a limp body on the floor.

Two sets of eyes - green and blue - frantically scanned the surveillance videos. The green ones lit up after just a few seconds.

"Steve," Natasha nudged him with her shoulder. "They're over there, in section 7B. But someone's missing."

"I know," replied Steve in a grave tone. "Wanda is stuck alone in section 4C. She has a straight jacket and an electric collar on." Natasha's wide eyes moved over to where Steve was looking at. Her hands curled into fists when she saw what they did to Wanda. How could they do that to her? Natasha thought bitterly.

"Change of plan," she said. "I get Wanda out, and you get the others. It's more dangerous where Wanda is, and the security is much more updated there." Steve immediately shook his head.

"There's no way I'm letting you go in there alone," he said firmly. Natasha sighed. When Steve set his mind on something, there was no going back.

"Fine," she replied. "Let's do it your way." After that, they sprinted down the halls to section 7B, while kicking some guards on the way. Section 7B, Natasha observed, was heavily guarded. Ten guards were patrolling, and the cages were heavily locked. Natasha's heart thumped fast and hard. She looked around to catch a glimpse of her friends - no, her family. She resisted the urge to just run straight ahead as her eyes met Clint's. Steve was staring at them too. It was an appalling sight. With a silent agreement, Steve and Natasha starting attacking the guards. Natasha brought out her handguns and started shooting the guards one by one, without hesitation. Meanwhile Steve was, as usual, using his shield as a deadly frisbee and tossed it around from guard to guard. The two of them rapidly dodged hits and fiercely fought. Soon, they were panting heavily, a bunch of bodies laying on the floor. Without giving the bodies a second glance, Natasha went to picking the locks of the cells, while Steve guarded and protected her.

Natasha, of course, went to Clint first. He was, after all, her best friend just like Steve.

"What'd you get yourself into," she muttered softly while struggling with the lock. Clint said nothing. He looked very pale and thinner than usual, the light gone out of his eyes. As soon as the door of the cell opened, he pulled Natasha into a long embrace. He held onto her tight, and she suspected that he was crying. She almost cried too.

"Laura. And the kids. Lila, Cooper, and Nathaniel. Are they okay?" He asked her. She nodded, although she wasn't so sure.

"I'll bring you to them, as soon as we get out of this hell of a place," she whispered, emotion building up inside her.

Next, she went to Sam's cell, where she found him tapping his foot impatiently.

"What took you so long? You know, I always thought Steve would be the one to bust the majestic Falcon out of his cage," he said. Natasha rolled her eyes. Unlike Clint, Sam didn't seem to have changed much. However, he did hug her tight just as Clint did when she broke him out.

"Thank you," he said curtly, then went over to Steve to help.

Last was Scott Lang. He was laying spread-eagle on the floor, mumbling about his family at home. Natasha felt a pang of pity. He seemed to be most affected by this.

"Hey," she said to him in a soft voice. "I'm going to bust you out of here." He just nodded slightly, and sobbed. He was still sobbing when she opened the cell. He was sobbing tears sadness, and tears of gratefulness, and like the others, wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes and thought, I should've done this sooner.

Suddenly Natasha heard a loud gunshot and a thump as a body felt to the floor. She turned around, and then the screaming started.