Ice Maiden (A Loki Fanfic)

Betrayal

The journey into the city passed quickly enough and there was nothing to raise their fears other than the fact Ali and Loki had a very bad feeling.  Steve and Bucky sat on one side, together with Rumlow and one of his men.  Ali, Nat and Loki sat on the other, watching and trying not to jump to conclusions.

The truck drew to a halt and they jumped out into the darkness of an alleyway.  Instantly they were on high alert, it was like a kill-zone.  High walls and only one escape route - and that was blocked by the truck.  Rumlow directed them to a side door which apparently wasn't locked.  Alarm bells began to ring in their minds.  This was THE Hydra base, surely they would lock their doors?  Steve turned to Rumlow "What the hell?  It's open?"  the other man shrugged "We have help on the inside, it's fine.  I've got it under control, you don't need to worry." That didn't help.

"That's what makes me worried" was the reply.  "Buck, you go first, I'll follow" he turned to the rest "Protect Ali, this could get very nasty very quickly" they nodded and Loki tightened his grip on Ali's shoulder.

They crept into the corridor.  At the far end, 2 guards were patrolling.  Instantly they pressed themselves to the wall and tried to stay in the shadows.  The guards didn't stop and walked on into the next area.  They breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"That was lucky" Ali whispered to Nat, who turned and whispered back "Yeah, wasn't it."  she didn't sound like it was luck at all.  Slowly they made their way further and further into the building meeting no resistance whatsoever.  Now they were all on edge, this was too good to be true.  Rumlow fell back, letting them press on.  They encountered one lone guard, quickly despatched by Nat.  They came to what they'd been told was the main coms room. Looking inside, it was empty.  Leaving Rumlow and Bucky outside, the rest went in.

Quickly they began to rifle the drawers and the computers for all the information they could.  Hydra was as sloppy as it was powerful it seemed.  Files lay around in the open, photos and information on open laptops.  Quickly Ali got to work, scanning through them, discarding most but keeping some.  Nat quickly copied the paper files by scanning them onto her phone.  Old school was often the best.  Ali made her way through the hard drives, opening files, quickly translating and reading, saving those she thought might be useful onto a pen drive.  Just as she came to the last folder, having found only minor bits of information, she opened a file and that was it!  The list.  The whole reason for the journey.  She quickly copied it and stood up,

"Right, I have it.  Let's get out of here." she turned to Loki "This pen drive is the most valuable tool we have right now, it has to get home." he nodded and they made their way to the door.  Nat and Steve on their heels.  Opening the door slightly, Loki said

"We good Barnes?  All clear?" No answer.  "Barnes - are we good?" he was beginning to lose patience, time was of the essence.  Steve came up and pulled Loki aside motioning him to stand in front of Ali.

"Buck - Rumlow - we good?"  he opened the door and they both stood looking back at him.  Rumlow had a gun pointed at Bucky's temple.

"Well, I don't know about him, but I'm just peachy thanks Cap" he sneered.  Bucky stood, teeth gritted immobile.  Even he couldn't survive a bullet to the brain.  "Out here, all of you, now." 

For a moment, they paused, Steve looking Bucky right in the eyes.  There was a brief moment where they exchanged a glance that said fight and they did.  Steve barrelled into Rumlow and for the brief seconds it allowed, Bucky broke free turning and smashing him across the face with his metal arm.  Rumlow fell, groaning, the other guards began to pile in, opening fire.  Steve used his shield to deflect most of the bullets as they fled the room.  Fleeing into the corridor, Steve took the lead, clearing a path.  Bucky and Nat brought up the rear, fighting off the chasing troops.  Loki almost carried Ali through the melee, only dropping her to fight off a second wave that appeared from a subsidiary corridor.   They fought their way to the doorway back outside.  It was only then that they realised Bucky and Nat were no longer behind them.  Steve had gone ahead to call Clint in for extraction. They were on their own.