COBRA | B. BARNES

XXI. THE BATTLE

Aiyla moved with quiet steps along with everyone else, her eyes narrowed on the only guard standing in front of the door. Bucky had walked away, after Hill's command, and was getting closer to the guard from the side, the bushes and the dense plants around keeping him hidden. A while later, he had attacked the guard from the side, his metal arm in front of his mouth, keeping him quiet and suffocating him at the same time. He was unconcious in seconds, and Bucky dragged him in the bushes before standing up tall as all agents slowly made their way over to him.

Aiyla reached his side soon after, Sam right beside her. The three of them got in, going down a narrow and dark corridor and then choosing to take a dark flight of stairs they remembered led to the lowest part of the facility. There were a few agents with them, all of them having their weapons at the ready, but it seemed like there was no reason for them to be so alert. There was no one there.

They finally reached the lowest floor of the facility a while later. Aiyla and Bucky walked in the front, eyes darting around cautiously. They reached a closed door and instantly rushed to the side, keeping themselves covered behind the wall. The agents moved out of the way as Aiyla opened the door quickly and kicked it open as Bucky rushed inside, his gun raised. There was no one in the room.

It was a small circular room, dimly lit, with a bed in the side that seemed to have a rather uncomfortable mattress. Aiyla briefly looked at it before her eyes fell on the wall on her left that was covered in photographs.

She walked closer, her eyes narrowing as she got close. There was a photograph of her in the middle of the wall, and around her own photograph, she saw one of Bucky's, but her eyes widened as she took in the other pictures all around them. She recognised Wanda, Clint, Maria Hill, James Rhodes, a few other agents she had worked with when she had been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, her mouth parted as she noticed the few pictures that were crossed out with red marking. Her eyes rested on another picture.

"Sam," she called out softly, her eyes never leaving the pictures. She felt someone coming to stand beside her and didn't need to glance up to realise it was Bucky as another person made his way over. She looked up at Sam, whose eyes were wide as he looked at all the photographs. She cleared her throat. "You're a target."

He almost choked as he turned to her. "What?"

She wordlessly pointed at his photograph and he shook his head as he reached up and grabbed Wanda's photograph, then Clint's, finally Rhodes's.

"Wanda's not an assassin, neither is Clint or Rhodey-"

"You want to think about this again, Sam?" she cut in softly. "Wanda killed a few people on accident in the past. Clint went on a killing spree after the first snap. And Rhodes is a soldier."

"They saved the world," he insisted as she slowly shook her head and took a step back.

"He doesn't see it that way."

"That's madness!"

She didn't respond as she stole one last glance around the room before her eyes trailed over to a door that had been open from the moment they had gotten in the room. She slowly walked over, eyes careful as she crossed the door to find herself in a rather large empty room with two doors, both of them left wide open. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked around her, confused. She didn't see a reason anyone should have such a room if they wouldn't use it.

The rest of the agents followed after her, Bucky and Sam bringing up the rear. The moment they had gotten in the room, the doors slammed shut. From some pipes on the ceiling she hadn't noticed before, gas started to come out.

"Gas!" she called out, her voice frantic as she turned to Sam. He didn't waste a second to raise the huge gun he had insisted to take with him and he fired at the door once, then twice. A small opening was made and quickly, they rushed out of the room.