Hell Bound

I had to drive Graham to work the following day. I stopped to get gas before taking him, and I left him by the pump while I headed inside to pay. I could see him outside, waiting in his little Arbys uniform while I waited in line at the counter. He was singing along to whatever song was playing over the speaker system. Then a black SUV pulled into the lot and parked at the pump behind him.

My stomach started to twist in knots, and I took a deep, steadying breath. It was just a car. SUVs didn’t mean anything, and I saw a lot of them in DC. But ever since a whole fleet of them had run me off the road, which resulted in me getting shot in the shoulder, they tended to make me a bit nervous.

I told myself not to be so paranoid. Getting a box of childhood pictures and coded letters written by my mother made me a bit on edge. A guy climbed out of the back of the SUV and headed toward the door. I handed out my card to the attendant and glanced out the window again. The guy had gotten in line just behind me, but no one else had come out. No one was waiting to pump gas. It took about three seconds for the gears to click into place. I recognized him. I didn’t know where I knew him from, but I was confident I’d seen his face before. And with my track record, it probably wasn’t a good thing.

I got my card back, and Graham began filling up my car, still singing and apparently unaware that anything weird was happening. I moved my hand back around to pull my phone out of my pocket. The man in line suddenly stepped forward, nudging me against the counter. Something blunt pressed against my spine.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he warned.

I glanced at the kid again, the SUV, and back to the attendant, who was probably wondering why the hell I was still standing there. I kept my eyes on her.

“He has a gun,” I said. “You should call the police.”

She immediately dropped behind the counter, and he yanked me back by my arm.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said as he guided me toward the door.

“You think I’d let you put her life in danger?” He pushed the door open and yanked me out.

“She wasn’t in any danger. Your little friend, though. He’s not going to be so lucky.”

He marched across the lot toward the SUV, dragging me along beside him. My heart was pounding. I had to get Graham out of there before he got hurt. He heard us coming and turned around to say something, but his eyes went wide instead.

“Get in the car and lock the doors. Now!” I said.

He didn’t react for a split second. Like he was trying to come up with an argument, but the guy lifted a gun in his direction, and he bolted toward the door. He’d just narrowly scrambled inside before the weapon went off. The bullet struck the window just as the door shut. It left a thick crack but didn’t make it through the glass.

“Still borrowing from Stark, I see,” the guy remarked.

“Of course.”

Graham peeked out over the edge of the door. The glass would only hold for so long. But now that I knew he was safe, and Jarvis was probably well aware that something was happening, I could fight back. I swung around and cracked the guy in the face with my elbow. He jerked back and let out a yelp. I took that moment of freedom to run for the car, but I only made it a few feet before another shot rang out, and I toppled to the ground hard. My calf exploded with pain. My palms, knees, and chin scraped against the cement as I hit the pavement.

The words, “Son of a bitch!” burst out of me.

Hands gripped my hair and yanked me back up onto my knees. One of my legs wasn’t responding very well, but I could still lean on it. So I kicked my other leg out and felt it connect with his knee. He tumbled over, squashing me back onto the ground and knocking all the air out of my lungs. I heard the car door pop open.

“Jo, what do I do?” Graham called out to me.

“Get back in the goddamn car!” I yelled. “Tell Jarvis to call Stark!”

We scrambled to be free of each other, and I rolled onto my back just as he pinned my arms down to my sides. He got me across the cheek with one quick punch before I jerked forward to hit him on the chin with my forehead. It probably hurt me more than him, but it gave me a way out. I sent my knee into his stomach and hobbled to my feet. But then I couldn’t move at all.

There were two more agents with guns on me. Another one left the SUV and joined them, but he had no weapons that I could see. Just a fancy suit that made him look more like a politician than a Hydra agent. I didn’t recognize any more of them.

“We don’t want to hurt your friend, Hayes,” the suit said, motioning toward my car. Graham was now in the front seat, looking panicked as he shouted at Jarvis or Stark. “You come with us, and we won’t have to.”

“What will you do to him?” I questioned.

“I have enough ammunition to blow him into a thousand tiny pieces. Just like that girlfriend of his.” I shook my head. I was breathing heavily, and blood was soaking the back of my jeans. I couldn’t put any weight on my foot, and I was pretty sure I’d ripped holes in both knees. Everything hurt. I hated when everything hurt.

“That’s low. Even for you,” I said with a tsk.

“Then get in the car.”

I took another deep breath and decided to follow instructions. I wasn’t going to chance it. I couldn’t let Graham get hurt, and I hated myself for insisting that he stay with me instead of just having Stark find him a job and a motel. The street was busy with cars, and there were plenty of people in the store watching. I didn’t want anyone else to get caught in the crossfire. So I limped toward the SUV, and the agents followed me with the barrels of their guns. Then I heard my car door open, and my heart dropped.

“Jo, what the hell are you doing?” Graham shouted, stumbling out of the car.

I turned back around. He had a gun in his hands. I had no idea where it came from, but I wasn’t surprised. Tony had to have at least ten different weapons stashed around the car somewhere. He must have told him where to find it. He stepped over the gas line still attached to my tank. The agents all swiveled in his direction, and he stopped.

“What are you doing?” I snapped.

“I’m trying to save you, you dummy,” he replied, holding the gun up. He obviously knew how to use it, but it didn’t look like he wanted to. I was sure he wouldn’t get one shot off before they filled him with holes.

“Hayes,” the suit warned. So I limped toward Graham. He turned his eyes to me but kept the gun pointed at the suit.

“Get in the car,” he told me. I shook my head.

“I can’t do that. And I apologize in advance if this hurts,” I replied.

“What are…?” he started, but I swung my arm and punched him in the face. My fist connected with his nose, blood spurted out, and he dropped like a ton of bricks. I kicked the gun out of his reach and turned back toward the SUV. “What the hell?” Graham muttered with a groan.

“Leave him alone,” I said to the suit. One of the agents was waiting for me by the open door of the SUV. I climbed in before Graham could regain his senses enough to fight back.

“Good girl,” the suit said, moving toward the passenger seat.

“Call me that again, and you’ll be next.”

“She’s a little feistier than I remember,” one of the agents said. The one who shot me in the goddamn leg. His lip was bleeding from where I’d headbutted him. My whole head was pounding, and I regretted not going for his nose too. But he was also twice the size of Graham and likely wouldn’t drop from one punch.

I took the backseat and was joined by an agent on each side. The other one took the driver’s seat, and the suit took the front passenger seat. They peeled out of the lot before the doors closed all the way, and we left Graham sitting there on the pavement, his nose bleeding like a hose and looking pissed off. The suit handed a handkerchief out to the agent with the busted lip.

“We got her,” he said to the mic attached to his ear. “We need to get her out of here fast. Stark probably already knows we have her. No sign of the Asset.”

I crossed my arms over my lap and felt for the pink knife I’d stuffed into the pocket in my sleeve. None of them were paying any attention to me now. The one on the right still had his gun out, but the one on the left was busy sopping blood off his chin. The suit was listening for instructions, and the driver couldn’t do anything. So I slid the knife out as quietly as I could, clicked it open, and swung.

I hit the guy on my right in the thigh. He yowled and dropped the gun to the floor. The car swerved, and the guy with the busted lip grabbed me by the neck. He pulled me against him and yanked my arm up in an attempt to pry the knife out of my hand. My shoulder ached, but not enough to make me give up. My hand was slippery with blood, but I managed to keep my grip on it. I lifted my good leg and kicked out, smashing the other agent’s face into the window with my foot. Then the suit spun around and pointed his gun between my eyes.

We all froze like kids caught bickering in the backseat. I was breathing hard and bleeding profusely from the leg. But I stayed exactly as I was. I kept my grip on the knife and kept the other guy locked to the window with the bottom of my sneaker.

“Let him go,” the suit warned.

“What are you going to do? Shoot me again? I thought they wanted me alive,” I replied. He shrugged.

“Accidents happen.” I pushed my foot harder. Squishing the tip of my shoe against the guy’s nose. He grunted but kept his hand on his bleeding thigh instead of fighting me off.

“She’s right,” said the one holding me. He still had his arm wrapped around my neck. It was tight enough to hold me back but not enough to cut off my breathing. “They said we couldn’t kill her. They told me she’s important.”

“She’s not important. She just fucked the Winter Soldier, and they want to use her as collateral.”

“You know he’ll come after me, right?” I pointed out. “If you’re lucky, Stark or Rogers will get here first.”

“Oh, darling. You actually think you left an impression on him? Women always think they can change a man. I almost feel sorry for you. And Rogers and Stark won’t get here in time. You should have gone back to New York. You made this too easy.”

“I told you we should have just tazed her. Would have made this even easier,” bleeding chin guy remarked, tightening his grip on my throat a little more.

“She would have pissed herself,” the driver said. “They always piss themselves, and I’d rather smell blood.”

Bucky warned me something like this would happen, but all I’d had was his word. And to be honest, I still didn’t care. Even stuck there in the back of the SUV with an arm around my throat and a gun at my face. All I cared about was that Graham made it out with nothing but a busted nose. I just wanted to make sure I did as much damage as I could on my way out. I’d never be able to walk to my death knowing I hadn’t at least blackened a few eyes or stabbed a few guys in the leg.

“Uh, we got company,” the driver said, glancing into the rearview mirror. The suit with the gun looked over the backseat. While he was distracted, I went back to struggling to get my knife free.

“Goddamn it, Hayes. Will you stop squirming?” my captor said as he tried to pry it out of my fingers.

“She fucking stabbed me,” the other one muttered through his squished cheeks.

“You deserved it, you piece of shit,” I snapped.

Then all hell broke loose all at once. Something slammed into the back of the SUV. I was launched off the seat, whacked my head, and dropped the knife. A gun misfired, the SUV screeched and swerved, and then two more bodies flopped over me as we crashed to a halt.

Nothing happened for a few seconds after the SUV stopped. I was buried under two bodies and couldn’t see anything but the other guy. I didn’t have my knife anymore, or I probably would have slashed him. But then again, my arms were pinned. Blood dripped over my face, and I couldn’t tell if it was mine or someone else’s. I could hear groaning and cursing coming from the other occupants of the car. And then a door opened. The driver yelped and went silent.

“Shit,” the suit said as something jumped onto the hood and shook the whole car. “Shoot him, shoot him!” he yelled, but no one could respond fast enough.

“Well,” I said as I tried to wiggle my way free. “Either Rogers and Stark are exceptionally fast, or I left an impression.”

I could feel stabbed guy’s gun under my legs, but he was completely still on top of me. I didn’t know about bleeding chin guy, but he was scrambling to move and not making much progress. The window shattered, the suit shrieked, and then there was silence. For a moment. Before the other door was ripped open and the weight on my legs disappeared without a sound. The other guy was yanked off me, and I moved onto my back to sit up. The blood on my face was definitely mine. The other guy wasn’t bleeding, but he had a silencer pointed directly between his eyes.

“You have four seconds to tell me what I want to know before I pull the trigger,” Bucky growled. He was standing in the doorway, looking more terrifying than I was accustomed to. Thankfully, he wasn’t looking at me. He lifted one hand and motioned for me to get out.

“I don’t know anything,” the guy stammered.

“Why did they send you after her now? Why not before? What do they want her for? Where were you taking her?” He held out his hand, and I took it so he could pull me toward him.

“I don’t know. They didn’t tell us anything. We were following instructions as they came.”

“One.”

“You should have asked the others. The one with the mic. He knew.”

“Two.”

“I’m just a grunt. They don’t tell me….”

“Three.”

“Please? Please don’t?”

“Bucky, don’t…,” I started to say when he got me to his side. He hissed between his teeth and jerked forward, smacking the barrel of the silencer into the man’s temple. He dropped onto the seat and didn’t move. I was glad he didn’t kill him, but I wasn’t sure about the others.

“Can you stand?” he asked, helping me to my feet.

I groaned and tried. He slid the gun into the holster on his ribs and pulled my hood up to cover the blood.

“You didn’t kill them, did you?” I asked as I slumped against him.

“I don’t do that anymore.”

“Damn.”

“Did you want me to kill them?” I sighed heavily, and he guided me away from the SUV. It was difficult to see where he was leading me because blood dripped over my eyes and stuck to my eyelashes.

“No—I’m just a little pissed off.”

“Just a little,” he remarked.