Tangled Paths | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 27: The Raft

27
The Raft

The Raft
Nearest landmark: Rikers Island, New York

Darla winced as the fluorescent lights in the ceiling beat down on her. She tilted her head to the right and saw a small table and a toilet. She sat up slowly and assessed her surroundings better.  Three walls of the room that she was in were made out of reinforced steel the one near her feet had a metal door attached to it beside her head, making up the fourth wall was a wall entirely made out of glass with metal bars on the other side of it sitting lengthways across the pane.

"What the hell?" She asked, she looked over the edge of the bed to the slated floor below her. She looked at the edge of the single bed and saw a cast on her leg. Then looked further up her body and saw she was in some sort of scrubs. She groaned as she closed her eyes and rubbed her head.
"Hey, relax. Try not to move around too much you're still healing." Darla heard a voice say from her left.

"Sam?" Darla asked placing a hand on the wall.
"Yeah, I'm beside you. Wanda's on the other side of you I think." Sam said.
"What happened?" She asked groggily as she laid back down and pulled her blanket over her eyes.
"After Steve and Bucky took off in the jet Tony and Rhodes went after them. Sam was on Rhodes six and Vision shot a beam at him but Sam dodged it and ended up frying Rhodeys suit." Clint explained also from somewhere on her left.
"Is he okay?" Darla asked, everyone was silent and she opened her eyes.
"Someone tell me Rhodey is okay." She said raising her voice slightly.

"We don't know... he fell out of the sky. Tony and I both dove for him but neither of us were fast enough. He left a crater in the ground. When medics got there they suspected he'd live but there was a strong possibility of a broken spine." Sam said carefully. Darla's eyes filled with tears.

"Where are we?" She asked attempting to hide the sadness in her tone.
"When emergency services came so did JCTC. They took Scott, Clint, you, me and Wanda, and transported us here. We've all been in here for a few hours now but you were in I can only assume the med bay until about an hour ago. We're in a place called the Raft as they said. It's some kind of high-security prison for high-profile criminals and supervillains." Sam explained to her.
"Steve and James?" Darla asked.
"No clue," Sam said to her. Darla nodded in response not even thinking about the fact that Sam couldn't see her.

She ended up nodding off again from the pain meds they'd given her. When she woke again there was a tray of food sitting on the small table. Darla sat up and moved to the floor of her cell carefully and shuffled to the table. She leaned against the wall that led to Wanda's cell. She realized that if she sat against this wall she could see Clint since the prison was a large cylinder. She assumed Clint was on the other side of Scott. She gave him a small wave he was leaning against his far cell wall too. He waved back at her with a sad smile. Darla grabbed the granola bar off the tray and began to much on it.

"Wanda you okay?" Darla asked groggily breaking the silence.
"They have me in a straight jacket." She told Darla bitterly. Darla stopped chewing and looked at Clint who gave a small nod. Suddenly the building began to shake. Darla wedged herself into the space between the table and the toilet tighter than she already was.
"What the hell is that?" Darla asked in confusion.

"We're moving to the surface," Clint said.
"Wait what? We're underground?" Darla asked.
"Underwater." Wanda corrected.
"Hence the name I assume," Scott added.

A few minutes later the secure door to their floor opened and in walked Tony. Darla shot him a look that could kill as he looked around the room. Darla watched as Clint began to clap.
"The futurist ladies and gentlemen! The futurist is here!" He said as he stood and continued to clap. "He sees all! He knows what's best for you, whether you like it or not." He said as he quieted down. Tony glanced at Darla for a moment then approached Clint's cell.
"Give me a break Barton. I had no idea they'd put you in here. Come on." He said to him. The sound of Clint spitting rang through Darla's ears causing her to smirk.
"Yeah well. You knew they'd put us somewhere Tony." Clint replied to him.
"Yeah but not some... super-max floating ocean pokey, you know? this place is for maniacs, this is a place for..." Tony trailed off.
"Criminals?" Clint asked. Darla watched as Clint approached the glass and rested his hand against it. "Criminals, Tony. I think that's the word you're looking for." Tony didn't answer him. "Right?" He asked. "That didn't use to mean me. Or Sam, or Darla, or Wanda. But here we are." He said to him really drilling it into his brain.
"Because you broke the law," Tony replied firmly earning a scoff from Darla followed by an eye roll. "I didn't make you," Tony said to him ignoring Darla.
"The law? The law. The law, The law, The Law." Clint replied as he backed off the glass and shuffled around the cell.
"You read it, you broke it. Right? You're all grown up. You got a wife and kids. I don't understand, why didn't you think of them before you chose the wrong side?" He asked. He lingered for a moment then moved toward Sam and Darla's cells. Darla could now see him fully.
"You gotta watch your back with this guy!" Clint said as he slammed his hands against the glass. "There's a chance he's gonna break it!" He hissed.