#ofblxckwidows

JESS: The last thing that Jess wanted to do was bring someone else in on this. She never wanted to be the type of person who kept making the same mistakes over and over again, never learning, never growing. Trusting Miles, bringing him in on Hydra, that had been a mistake, and now here she was with Natasha beside her doing the same thing. The difference this time, she reassured herself, was desperation. She had tried, fifteen times over she had tried, to get to Miles just like she had promised. If there was anyone she trusted to keep herself alive, it was Natasha. She had faced worse than Hydra -- or at least, she had significant previous experience of them, which counted for something. 

 "Are you sure you're up for this?" Jess asked, taking her eyes off the base at the bottom of the hill to look at her friend. She never doubted that Natasha was more than capable for a mission, but whether she wanted to, that was important. "If things go south, Nat, I want you to promise me," she said, meeting her eyes, "I want you to promise you'll leave me. Leave and I'll work from the inside, you put pressure from the outside. We find Miles no matter what happens today, but I won't ... I can't-" She cut herself off, not even capable of imagining a world where she not only got Miles captured, but brought back a decade's worth of horrors for Natasha at the same time.

NATASHA: Hesitation wasn't a word of her vocabulary. Not when her friends or family were in trouble. Of course, it hadn't been in her vocabulary before either. The Red Room had taught her to never hesitate. If you hesitated, you could get yourself killed. Hesitation got you punished. tortured until you made sure that you never hesitated again. But then again, she hesitated on that mountaintop when she'd met Clint and it had changed her life. Clint had given her a second chance and she hesitated until she decided to take it. That was why she was where she was now. However, Natasha hadn't hesitated when Jess asked for help. Jess never asked for help. So, when she called, she knew it was serious. When she learned it was about Miles, hesitation wasn't an option. 

 "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't up for this," Natasha reassured Jess firmly, her gaze meeting her friends. She wasn't there just because Jess had asked for her help. She was there for Miles. She was there because she wanted to be there. Two heads were better than one and in most ways, Natasha was just thankful that Jess had asked for help. For her sake and for Miles. Her gaze hardened when Jess spoke again and the redhead shook her head stubbornly. "Don't do that, Jess. I'm not going to promise you anything other than the fact that we're going to find him and we're going to get out. All of us, alive. I'm not leaving anyone behind and I'm not promising you that. I can't do it." Her gaze turned back to the base and she squared her shoulders back, "Let's do this."

JESS: “I know you wouldn’t.” If there was one thing in this world that Jess could count on, even more than Hydra’s ever pervasive presence, it was the fact that Natasha Romanoff knew exactly what she wanted to do, what she was willing to do. They’d both had self control stripped from them in different ways, and they had both promised themselves that they would do anything in their power to prevent it from happening to someone else. “Soulmate,” Jess retorted, the word that summed up how irritated she was at the fact that Natasha was doing exactly the same thing as Jess would have in this scenario. If it wasn’t for Hydra chewing her up and forcibly spitting her out, she would’ve followed them, and Miles, to the end of the universe to prevent ever losing him. 

 The plan was simple. Jess would infiltrate from the top, as she had done before, while Natasha covered the bottom floors. As it turned out, having a former Avenger as a best friend came in handy. Jess took a running jump off the hillside towards the base, landing softly on the wall and sticking to the brick side. In one fluid movement she smashed the glass of the window, swung into the base, and took the guard on the other side out with a quick kick to the throat. Chances were Miles was in the same place most of Hydra’s projects were hidden -- underground, and in the darkness. That’s why she had to make this quick. She moved through the top two floors with ease, subduing the agents before they could even draw a breath to scream.

NATASHA: The redhead had learned loyalty from a young age. She was loyal to the KGB and the Red Room or she'd be punished. It was only after Clint saved her and she joined SHIELD that she truly learned about loyalty. Clint became her partner and that was when she truly knew what loyalty was. Now, she was loyal to a fault. She'd do anything for the people that she loved. She'd grown fond of Miles in the short time that she'd known him and when Jess had filled her in, Natasha didn't hesitate. Her loyalty was unwavering. It would probably be her downfall in the end, but at least that was a good way to go. If she went out due to her loyalty to her friends, her family - it'd be a good way to go. 

 Jess' words tore her away from her thoughts, but she repeated the sentiment, "Soulmate. We've got this, Jess. We're going to get him and get out." They both knew the plan and Natasha looked at Jess for one more long moment, before setting the plan into motion. 

 The redhead took on the bottom floor with ease. The agents didn't seem to expect them and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Natasha took on two agents at once and took the both of them down with ease. She kept her eyes open and looked for Miles and any clues that he was there. That he was still alive. He had to be. She wouldn't know what she'd do if he wasn't. The mere thought made another wave of adrenaline course through Natasha's veins and she took down another group of the Hydra agents.

JESS: Jess had never known Natasha to be a liar, at least not when it came to things like this. In work, dishonesty was what they both made their living out of, and Natasha was the best there was at what they did -- there had never been a day that went by when Jess wasn’t confident in her friend’s ability to get out of a bad situation with nothing more than words, even if she did have the strength to back it up. When it came to her personal life, to emotions, Natasha didn’t pull her punches. She was dangerously direct, and Jess had always respected that about her. 

 Right now, as she tore through the Hydra agents in front of her trying desperately not to remember doing exactly the same thing with Miles, she wished that she was capable of convincing herself to believe, to have faith. After all, how could she believe in anything when the person that had helped prove cynicism wasn’t safety was potentially downstairs right now, dead or broken or bleeding or worse? 

 Jess reached the middle floor, spotting Natasha making steady progress towards her. She surveyed the area, a cautious check over with years of experience and backed up with some Stark tech, and then nodded at her friend before pressing the button on the elevator. “We need one of them alive!” she called out to Natasha, tapping her foot as the elevator moved towards them. “Biometrics are on the lower levels. They don’t take my card anymore.” 

 The elevator arrived, and Jess helped Natasha drag in the unconscious man, giving him an extra zap for good measure. The doors closed behind them, and Jess leaned against the railing, then pushed herself up again. She couldn’t stay still, couldn’t even think. “Please,” she whispered “please be here, please be here.”

NATASHA: There wasn't a possibility in her mind in which they got out of this hellhole without Miles. Miles had to be alive. She wouldn't know what she'd do if he wasn't. Natasha wasn't sure she'd recover from that one. If she had to rip Hydra to pieces, she'd do it with her bare hands. No. Miles was alive. She knew it'd be rough. She knew that they hadn't treated him well, but she needed him to at least be alive. He was alive. There were no doubts about it. No other possibilities. Because anything other than Miles being alive wasn't something Natasha could imagine. 

 Natasha helped Jess drag the unconscious man towards the bio-metrics and scanned the parts that needed to be scanned, before she gave him another punch to the jaw for good measure. They entered the next room and found a corridor that she assumed led to Miles in the next room. Her assumption was only because they were suddenly surrounded by agents and a woman who looked a lot like their leader. 

 "So, uh - What's your plan for this? I'm not sure we can just punch our way out of this one, Jess," Natasha murmured under her breath, her gun trained on one of the agents that surrounded them.

JESS: Every step Jess took sent a dull ache through her body, and that wasn’t even mentioning how her venom blasts ran up her still bruised and burnt arms, yet more retribution for what she had done here — a reminder than no matter how much she felt it was right, trusting someone else only brought them hell on Earth. 

 In this case, Hell had a face, and a familiar one at that. Jess held out her hand to Natasha, signalling for her to hold back, and then took a few steps forward. Green eyes followed her, always too bright to be completely natural, and Jess wondered yet again what Madame Hydra had running through her veins, other than pure venom, of course. Their eyes met, and Jess could tell from the tension in the other woman’s shoulders that she was waiting for Jess to speak. She didn’t. 

 “If you thought burning our bases would endear me to your sad little pursuit, darling, you were wrong,” Madame Hydra said, words twirling together so smoothly she might as well have been auditioning for the stage. 

 “I know,” Jess said. The woman’s eyebrows furrowed. “I was wrong. I bring everyone down.” She turned, meeting Natasha’s eye, giving her a significant look, then returned to Madame Hydra. “I want to come home, Mum,” she said, “and I brought you the Black Widow to prove it.”

NATASHA: Hydra was a lot like the KGB and the Red Room. Being inside their bases, always gave Natasha a bad taste in her mouth. They always managed to remind her of her past. The past which she tried her best to forget about. The infiltration of this particular one served as a reminder of the intel she had received from one of her contacts in regards to the Red Room. That thought sent a shiver down her spine and she had to bite down on her lip hard to remind herself that wasn't where she was...yet. This was for Miles. For Jess. For them, she'd do anything. 

 The redhead watched the interaction between the woman and Jess. She looked around the room, ignoring the feel of eyes upon them. Natasha didn't care how many of them she had to go through to get to Miles. Judging by the number of agents they were surrounded with, they were closing. Judging by the woman who blocked their path, they were on the right track. 

Jess looked at her and Natasha nodded to tell her that it was alright. That she had her back. No matter what happened, they were soulmates. She'd follow her to the end of the earth and back. Especially for Miles. However, she paused when Jess spoke and she wondered if she was hearing her correctly. What was that? Mum? Prove it? Natasha hesitated for a split second, before she began to play along, hoping that Jess knew what she was doing. 

 "This was your plan the whole time? Give me up to them? To Hydra? I can't believe you." Natasha muttered to Jess dramatically, but too realistically for anyone to question the two of them.

JESS: Jess watched as the woman’s mouth curled into a seething smirk. It was only now that Jess could realise how all of it, every single second this monster had spent masquerading as her mother, had been a lie. There was no sentiment behind her words, no fondness in her hard eyes. 

It said a lot about Jess that it took until this point for her to realise that, perhaps, but for all her cynicism, she had held out one last shred of hope that the people who raised her weren’t all monstrous. Now, that hope had been shattered. They’d taken Miles, done God knows what to him. Nothing else mattered. 

“Don’t take it personally, darling,” Madame Hydra cooed, reaching out to touch Natasha’s cheek. Jess strained against the agents instinctively at that, but they’d already got the peer dampening cuffs around her wrists. She could feel the electricity drain from her, venom blasts out of commission. “Once a double agent, always a double agent. Boys, take them downstairs.” She turned, then, back to Jess, pinching her chin between her fingers. “You can go there too,” she said, “until I decide whether I forgive you or not.” 

It wasn’t the first time those words had been spoken, but Jess didn’t feel a shiver go down her spine. The plan was working. They were pushed into the elevator, the agents surrounding them, and Jess went easily. Corridor after corridor passed, and she managed to catch Natasha’s eye for only a brief moment, a silent apology, before they finally reached the end of their journey, the agents coming to a standstill before three small, cramped cells. 

 Two of them were empty, but the one in the middle held a familiar form. Don’t get angry, don’t get scared. Jess settled on pissed off instead. 

 “Widow,” Jess said, causing the agents to stir around her. “It was nice working with you.” She let the words settle, the agents lulled into a false sense of security, and then brought her arms up, using the cuffs to knock the man holding her to the ground.

MILES: Somehow, Miles assumed things would end. In the movies, on TV, the torture ended when the hero gave up and Miles had given up. He’d stopped making stupid jokes, he’d stopped straining against the bonds holding him to the table, he’d stopped fighting back, but Hydra didn’t care. They didn’t care about anything. He wasn’t even sure they had a goal in mind anymore beyond making him hurt. And they were good at that. Every part of him ached now, worse than he ever had before. He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe without hurting. 

In his worst moments, he was sure he was going to die here. Jess had promised him she’d find him but, in the moments when everything ached so badly that he couldn’t think properly, he was positive the only thing she’d find of him was his body. He hated himself for that. Jess made him a promise, and Miles knew she would keep it, but it was so hard to keep that in mind. It was so hard to remember that. 

At some point, they moved him into a smaller cell. ”You’re less of an escape risk now,” explained the scientist who’d carved him up, looking absolutely gleeful about that. Miles managed to raise the middle finger on one of his hands, though that effort alone was laughably difficult because the man was right. He wasn’t an escape risk. He wasn’t any kind of risk now. The transition to the smaller cell was a torture all its own, the effort of moving sending waves of pain over him so quickly that it was impossible for one to recede before the next hit. Miles might have passed out, or he might have just drowned in it for a while. He wasn’t quite sure which but, eventually, he was strapped to a new table in a smaller cell with a scientist and a scalpel and another round to go.

He didn’t know how long they’d been at it when something in the air outside shifted, but it had been a while. He was covered in new blood on top of dried blood, barely aware until someone outside the cell started yelling. His latest torturer walked to the door of the cell. “What’s going on?” The man demanded to one of the uniformed agents running by the door. 

“Black Widow and Spider-Woman are here,” the agent said breathlessly, sounding equal parts terrified and excited. 

Miles laughed weakly from his table, drawing the attention of both men. “You guys… are really in trouble now,” he said breathlessly, flashing a bloody smile. Look at that. A few quips left after all. There was a brief moment that almost felt like victory until the scientist crossed back over to him and slapped him hard across the face, drawing out a quiet groan. 

 “There are hundreds of agents between you and them,” the scientist hissed. “They’re the only ones in trouble here. Them and you.” 

 And so it continued. More torture, more agents running by the door. Miles tried to keep up with them as they ran by, tried to count how many were headed in that direction and do mental math to figure out how many might be left, but it was hard. Eventually, he retreated back into himself. But the chaos came closer, and the tiny flicker of hope in his chest grew.

And then --- and then he saw them. Just the shadow of a uniform and a glimpse of red hair at first, but it was enough. “Spider-Woman turned on the Widow,” the scientist muttered. “She’s coming back to Hydra. I’m sure the two of you will get a reunion. I’ve heard stories about her parents. They were brilliant scientists. I bet she’ll follow in their footsteps. I bet she’ll start with you.” 

Miles laughed softly, though the sound quickly bubbled up into something louder. The scientist muttered something about hysteria, something about breaking, and Miles laughed harder. Almost loud enough to drown out the sound of blows landing as the inevitable happened, because Jessica Drew? Jessica Drew was no traitor. The fact that Hydra had thought it was impossible at all was a testament to their own arrogance. Maybe there was something poetic in that. It was Miles’s arrogance that got him into this situation, after all, his insistence of underestimating Hydra that left him strapped to their table. And now, it would be their arrogance that freed him. 

 Or it would kill him. That was still possible, too. He felt the restraints holding him down loosen, felt the scientist yank him up by his shirt, felt the cool metal of the bloodied scalpel against his throat. 

“They… they’re probably gonna kill you,” Miles murmured, shifting slightly and wincing when the action caused the blade to knick his throat. 

 “They’ll let me walk out of here,” the man countered harshly, “because I’ll kill you if they don’t.” 

 It was probably bad that that made him start laughing again.

NATASHA: Natasha had the KGB to thank for her incredible acting skills. She knew that whatever Jess was doing was an act. She knew Jess like the back of her hand. Hell, she considered the woman her soulmate. She knew how Jess felt about Miles, the same that she knew how she felt about him. They'd both do anything to save him, just like they'd do anything to protect him. Her face remained neutral with a hint of betrayal just to add the cherry to the top of the cake. Meanwhile, internally the red head watched the agents around her waiting for the right moment. Waiting for them to let their guard down. 

 "I can't believe you'd sell me out like this," Natasha added in disdain towards Jess for added effect. She could have spit at Madame Hydra whenever she touched her face, but she behaved herself. Natasha pretended as if she was disgusted and withdrew the moment her fingers brushed her cheek. The woman seemed to believe the act and she followed Jess and the Hydra agents downstairs to where she prayed they had Miles. 

Her eyes met Jess' and her gaze softened for a millisecond to show her that there were no hard feelings. She'd die for Jess, for Miles. A little pretend betrayal was nothing. Hell, she'd even take torture before she began to question the plan. They settled before the cells and Natasha could feel her heart in her stomach. Fear and anxiety, mixed with a bit of anger. She'd take down every last agent who had put their hands on Miles and she'd enjoy it.

"Always a pleasure, Ms. Drew," Natasha replied curtly, before knocking out the agent who was standing next to her. Once the man was on the floor and unconscious, she searched his pockets for a way to get the cuffs off. Once she found what she was looking for, Natasha reached over and unlocked Jess' after her own. She shot her black widow's bites at another agent and took him down in an instant. 

 The redhead struggled with another agent, before asking Jess, "This is the last of them, right? He has to be in there. He has to be." She didn't know what she'd do if he wasn't. Or worse, if Miles was dead.

JESS: Venom blasts were a no go, Jess discovered that pretty quickly. She attempted to get electricity crackling between her fingertips and found that it only flickered before the pain ran down her arms, meaning she took a quick uppercut that she could’ve easily avoided otherwise. Another agent took advantage of her misstep, coming in with a swooping kick, and Jess found herself on the ground, wind knocked out of her chest. 

Luckily, she wasn’t here alone. The agent above her dropped to the ground, a Widow’s Bite attached to his vest, and the element of surprise allowed Jess to get back on track. If Plan A didn’t work, go for Plan B and all the way through — Hydra had taught her that. 

Jess grabbed one of the unconscious agent’s guns, whacking the one who was attacking Natasha around the head with it. The metal clanged as she dropped it along with his body, and she let out a breath, pushing her hair back off her face. “We have an opening. We should take it,” Jess said, glancing up at the security cameras pointed towards them. 

She set off towards the next set of doors, getting Natasha to help her with lugging the agents over for the biometrics, and finally they were in front of the cages with nothing separating them — besides a few final Hydra punks who seemed even more irritated by the intrusion. It was a personal affront to them when their experiments were interrupted, Jess knew, and that thought only made her angrier. They didn’t even open their mouths before she let out a scream, a last venom blast tearing through her, knocking Jess back along with the agents.

Groaning, she pulled herself up on the bars, and that’s when her gaze met a familiar form on the other side. “Miles!” Jess shouted, desperate, a laugh escaping her lips despite the singed ends on her hair. “Miles, we’re here! Me and Nat are here, and we’re getting you out.”

MILES: The sounds of a struggle grew ever closer, and the grip the Hydra scientist had on Miles’s shirt tightened. He was afraid, Miles realized, and he was right to be afraid. Miles still wasn’t sure whether or not he deserved a rescue. He’d messed up in getting himself caught in the first place, had underestimated Hydra and overestimated himself, but he was positive that none of that would matter to Jess. To Jess, he was worth rescuing. To Natasha, too, since Jess had brought her along. Miles trusted both of them entirely, and he knew their presence here spelled bad things for the man holding a scalpel to his throat. 

Finally, the fight was right outside the door, the relief of it all hitting Miles square in the chest. One way or another, this thing was about to be over. Either Jess and Nat would get him out and he’d be free or they wouldn’t. Before all this, the second option wouldn’t have even occurred to him. Before his capture, he would have blindly assumed that Jessica Drew and Natasha Romanoff couldn’t be beaten, and while some part of him still thought that, he knew it wasn’t entirely true. Anyone could lose. Miles knew that now. 

But when he caught Jess’s eye through the bars of his cell, he forgot that all over again. She looked beaten, she looked worn down and singed, but she was here. She came for him, just like she’d promised she would. “Hey, Jess,” he greeted, voice raw and pained but as bright as he could make it.

The grip on the back of his neck tightened again, the scalpel at his throat digging in a little deeper and drawing a thin line of blood. “One step closer and I’ll kill him,” the scientist warned. Miles caught Jess’s eye, glancing at Nat behind her and then looking down at his wrists. They were bare, he realized. The power dampening cuffs had been lost at some point, and he hadn’t even realized it. God, how out of it was he? 

When his eyes found theirs again, there was a faint blue spark behind them. “I think,” he said hoarsely, wincing at the sound of his own voice. “I think you guys should maybe get down?” 

And then, the world exploded into bright blue lightning and the grip on his neck was suddenly gone.

NATASHA: The Hydra bases were incredibly similar to those that she had been in before. The Red Room was like Hydra almost and she wouldn't be surprised if they had ties. The Hydra base reminded her of her past and the things that she'd been through. Natasha tried her best to forget about it and focus on the mission that they were currently in. The only people who mattered were Miles and Jess. She could worry about herself later. Still, she found it amazing how much she had changed since the Red Room. How much Clint Barton had helped her with his offer. She'd been nothing, felt nothing and now she had family. She felt everything. 

She felt the fear that coursed through her veins as they raided Hydra base after Hydra base and were unable to find Miles. She felt the panic that set in the moment Jess told her about what had happened. She felt love for Miles and for Jess. It was a drastic change from the robot she had been programmed into. Feeling everything was scary, but she never wanted to go back to what she was before ever again. 

Natasha focused upon the mission at hand and helped Jess to take down the remaining Hydra agents. Her heart dropped into her stomach the moment she saw Miles. He was a kid and she couldn't imagine the things that Hydra had put him through. It made her sad. It made her angry. It gave her a purpose. Still, she smiled at Miles and tried to hide the fear in her expression. The only thing she wanted to do was to save him and get the hell out of there. Maybe blow up the base on their way out.

She barely had time to think twice before she grabbed Jess in the split second she had before hearing Miles’ command and his cell exploding into bright blue lightening. Natasha covered Jess on the floor and only looked up when she was sure the coast was clear. When she looked up, she found the scientist on the floor of Miles’ cell. 

 “Good job, kid. We’re going to get you out of here. If it’s the last thing we do,” Natasha murmured to Miles, knowing she was speaking for Jess too when she promised him that. The redhead grabbed one of the Hydra agents and used his biometrics to unlock Miles’ cell. The cell unlocked with a quick click.

JESS: Jess didn’t think she’d ever felt this relieved in her life. There were moments when she realised that maybe she was capable of being a hero after all, of getting out from under the influence Hydra had on her as a child, and this was definitely one of them. Her ears were ringing, her heart was pounding in her chest, and she only registered Miles’ words when she felt Natasha crash against her, pushing her to the floor. Jess tucked her head under, wrapping her arm around her friend, and when her ears popped and dust started to settle, landing in her hair and on her lips, she pushed herself up from the ground. She wanted to speak, to thank Natasha for the save, but she could only manage a squeeze of her friend’s hand -- Natasha would understand what it meant. 

Bringing Widow along had been one of the best decisions in Jess’s life, but of course she had learned a long time ago that banking on Natasha Romanoff was a safe bet. Her own hands were shaking, but Natasha’s remained steady as she opened the cell. Jess stumbled forward, arms immediately wrapping around Miles, pulling him close to her and feeling the air rush into her lungs for the first time in a fortnight. 

“Never do this to me again,” Jess said, voice cracking, hand going to the back of Miles’ neck. Blood smeared from her palm onto his skin, mixing with the mess those scientists had left in their wake. If they weren’t already motionless on the ground, Jess would burn this place down to pay them back for what they had done. Her lips pressed against the side of his head, and she squeezed Miles once more before standing up, giving him the support to do the same. “Every holding cell area has an emergency exit,” Jess explained, her words a little clearer now even though her ribs ached and she could feel her pulse in the burns on her hands. “Come on, this way.”

She moved over so that Natasha could support Miles on the other side and began moving towards the exit. The path was clear, save for a few agents that she was able to dodge and kick on the way past, and when they reached the elevator, Jess untangled herself for just a split second to remove her mask. “Dr. Miriam Drew,” she said, emphasising her accent, leaning forward to look into the retinal scanner. The failsafe worked -- her mother putting in failsafes to protect Jess even when she was gone (because she did such a stand-up job when she was alive). 

Jess went back to help Miles into the elevator and it shot towards the ground. The doors opened, and a jet shone in the middle of the clearing. “Just in time,” Jess commented to Natasha. It was a good thing they had friends in high places. They stumbled to the jet, and Jess didn’t speak until it was lifting off, taking them to relative safety within the city. 

She turned to Miles as they flew, gently guiding him to one of the stretchers that had been pulled out. “You’re going to be okay,” she whispered. “We’re going to make it okay, yeah?” 

After all, sometimes a lie was easier to hear than the truth, and Jessica Drew had always been one hell of a liar.

MILES: Immediately after the explosion of energy burst from his veins, all Miles could manage to feel was tired. He felt the man who’d been holding him drop to the ground behind him, and the sudden lack of someone holding him up nearly knocked him to his knees, too. He swayed as the cell door opened, nodding distantly when Natasha spoke. 

And then, Jess was there. Miles practically fell into her, leaning against her so that she was the only thing keeping him on his feet. He let out a hoarse laugh when she spoke, nodding against her shoulder. “Knew you’d come,” he muttered quietly. “I knew it.” And he had, even in the moments where he’d started to doubt it. Miles believed in Jess, believed in her with everything in him, and she’d never let him down. She was here now, holding him up. She’d brought Nat, they’d come in and knocked everyone on their asses. They’d slain every single monster between him and the door, and Miles could breathe again. 

He was only vaguely aware that they were moving, swaying a little more with every step. If not for Jess taking the brunt of his weight, he would have fallen over before they even made it out of the cell. The jet, when he finally saw it, drew a hysterical laugh from his throat that came out  sounding strangled and wrong, because this felt like a dream. It felt like something a dying mind came up with in a desperate attempt of last-minute comfort, but it wasn’t. He could feel Jess’s warmth against him, could smell Natasha’s hair, could hear the jet’s engines powering up. This was real. He was going home. 

The stretcher under his back brought a quiet sigh from within him, and he nodded again as his eyes slipped shut. “It’s already okay,” he said quietly. “You’re here. You guys came. That’s ---- That’s as good as it gets.”