Matthew had outdone himself this time. They'd been fighting through the base for at least two hours, and they’d been having way too many close calls to be comfortable. Phil was starting to run low on ammo, not to mention he was beginning to tire out. Endurance wasn't the tech expert's specialty, after all.

     Phil's gaze flicked over to Natalie, an apology that he couldn't say in them. He dropped his gun and held his hands up in surrender. Hydra agents grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back almost instantly, forcing his body downward. He gasped in pain, but he couldn't look to see if Natalie had done the same, not struggling as he was dragged off into another part of the base. The cuffs they locked onto his wrists were lined with rubber, neutralizing his powers, and he craned his head to look for Natalie. Then he saw her, with zip ties digging into her wrists. He winced at the look she gave him and turned his head away. As they went deeper in the base, a blindfold was forced on each of them, and Phil's breaths became shallow and sharp in his panic. At least Matthew was likely to slip up, do something wrong. He always did. But so far he had done everything right, and Phil had to wonder if he had made a mistake in surrendering.

     They were taken to a block of cells and pushed into cells on separate sides. Cutting them off from communication, even by signing. Matthew had finally done his homework. The thought made his stomach flip. He got them into this mess, he had to get them out. He knew no one would be coming for them. They had no extraction plan. They were considered professionals in their field, but… they were just kids. He was barely nineteen, and he ranked higher than most agents in their mid-twenties, because of what? The fact that he could survive a few thousand volts constantly coursing through his body? It wasn't fair, not to anyone.

     When he finally heard footsteps, he dared to hope it was one of the team. The door of the cell opened, and he was about to speak when a fist tightened into his hair.