Advent Day Five

Summary: Set after Avengers: Endgame. Fluff and stuff leading up to Christmas.
Warning(s): Explicit. Disciplinary and erotic spanking; Heavy Domination/submission; sexual situations; dub/non-con (consent after the fact/reluctant agreement); violence and mentions of violence; AU

###

Jack Rollins glanced around at the HYDRA operatives as they uneasily talked amongst each other. The rumors had got worse. There was a mind-reader, and Ultimus had brought them through a week before. They'd been randomly calling different groups of soldiers to meet with the individual. Each group that had returned looked harried, frightened and beaten down, while talking about how every thought and memory had been forcibly yanked from them so that their loyalty to Ultimus could be proven. Jack knew: if this was how Ultimus's loyal soldiers returned from the questioning, when his turn came and he inevitably failed, it would be a hundred times worse. It wasn't until the very last message from Jessica, when she'd expressed worry for him and he'd given her the information about a mind reader, that he'd made his decision. He had to get out before it was too late. So... he'd taken what little he needed to survive, and anything personal he didn't want to lose, and he'd snuck out of his barracks in the early hours of the morning. By the time they realized he was actually gone and not just on another mission, he would hopefully be long gone.

His first stop had been to make sure Jessica hadn't left him any further messages. But then he'd looked for one of those signs she'd asked him about. It really was ingenious. If you were a follower of Ultimus, it really did look like Steve Rogers (or someone in his group) thumbing their nose at Ultimus. But for someone not truly a follower? It was a symbol of hope. And a map, if you knew what to look for. He found the coordinates and then quickly left the location, heading to where the coordinates indicated. He went slow; if his defection was somehow discovered early, he didn't want to leave a trail to the coordinates.

***

Natasha hadn't been all that worried about the appearance of the mind reader, at least not at first. Her worry had rapidly grown as more HYDRA soldiers were called in for questioning. And when she went to the area where Clint had been leaving messages for her, she found the worried message about the mind reader and a request for her and T'Challa to leave the enemy base...and go to coordinates that were hidden in code that only she could decipher.

Returning to the base, Natasha quickly went to meet T'Challa. "You know about the mind reader?" she said urgently, after making sure there was no one around who was listening to them...no bugs or magic placed on the room. "The resistance here is worried and think we should leave the base."

"I am worried," T'Challa said. "You are used to spying and hiding. I am not." He sighed. "This mission has been important, but the appearance of this mind reader has made it even more dangerous."

Natasha nodded. "I agree. I think we need to gather everything we cannot leave behind and then, once we are out on our next patrol, we will leave this place."

****

Jack had found a cave to spend the night in; it was hard enough navigating and remaining hidden when he could see where he was going. Doing so in pitch black, when he couldn't afford to use a flashlight or other source of light, was near impossible. The cave at least provided shelter and if he went far enough back, he could make a small fire for warmth. He hoped he could reach the location in the coordinates within the next day, though. The longer he was on his own without any support, the more nervous he felt. He could only be thankful he'd trained for difficult situations such as this. He didn't know how he'd survive if he didn't know what he was doing.

***

Getting out of the base had been easy...at least compared to many of the other missions Natasha had been on. She'd checked them both over for any signs of trackers, but they'd still only taken the bare minimum they needed.

The problem was going to be getting to the coordinates. They weren't close to the base at all...which meant she and T'Challa needed to travel. And that meant finding shelter along the way. Once they were far enough from the base and it was too dark to see where they were going, Natasha quickly led the way into a cave so that they could snatch a few hours of rest before moving out again.

****

Jack had woken early; or, rather, he'd started moving again early. He hadn't really slept. He could only hope that he was not miscalculating the direction of the coordinates.  He hadn't had anything decent to eat since before he'd left, though he'd brought protein bars along with a thermos of water. If he didn't make it to the location soon, he'd probably need to risk going into a town and foraging. If he found one.

Unfortunately, he'd nearly run across a patrol mid-morning and had needed to hide. By the time they left and he could leave his hiding place, it was nearing dark again. He only had time to find a secluded spot that would shelter him from the wind and let him build another small fire; he didn't even have time to find a cave. He spent the night shivering and watching nervously, in case that patrol returned and somehow found him.

***

T'Challa and Natasha made slow progress, having to hide from patrols and make sure they didn't leave any tracks behind them. They'd brought food with them, but it very quickly began to run out.

Placing a hand on T'Challa's arm, Natasha quickly signalled to him that she was going to look for food...asking him to keep watch.

T'Challa nodded and moved into the shadows in the trees, keeping watch, as she quickly moved to see if she could find food anywhere.

****

Jack began his third day of running; tired, hungry and worried. Even if he had trained to survive on nothing in the middle of nowhere, it didn't make it easier. And he had no guarantee that, even if he found the coordinates, there would be anyone coming to pick him up. Still... he kept moving.

It was nearing the end of the third day and he felt he would need to look for a cave again when he found it. A tiny cabin in the woods with a goat pen (of all things) nearby. There were no traps and he hadn't seen a patrol all day. The cabin was warm and had a bed and a table so he could sit and eat comfortably, even if it was only protein bars. He was so tired, he wanted to crawl into the comfortable bed... but he needed to keep watch, just in case. He forced himself to stay sitting at the kitchen table, looking out the window to keep watch.

***

Natasha had managed to forage some berries that were edible and would do to supplement some of the meagre supplies they'd managed to bring. Still, their strength was flagging as they finally made it to the coordinates...both on their guard as they reached the tiny cabin in the woods indicated as the meeting point.

Jack was very tired, so was dozing off and on. Still, the goats were a good early warning system and their bleats woke him enough to realize he had company. He moved into a defensible position, just in case, and watched to see who showed their face.

As the two of them moved towards the cabin, both were clearly on edge...on their guard. Natasha wasn't happy about the noise from the goats, but there was little they could do about it now.

Jack shifted so that he could watch whoever was approaching the door without being seen from the window. He was relieved when it didn't appear to be anyone loyal to Ultimus. But then again, Ultimus was constantly bringing new people into this dimension; maybe they were just better at hiding their loyalties? When they finally got close enough to the door where he could call out to them and be heard, he yelled, "Who are you?"

****

Back at the compound, the group who were slowly forming a miniature town were gathered for breakfast. Friday made the announcement as soon as Steve and Tony had arrived. "One individual arrived at the cabin last night. Two more arrived early this morning."

"Thank you, Friday," Steve replied, before addressing the others who normally went with him to retrieve those at the cabin. "We can go and investigate who's there after breakfast?" He paued, waiting to see if there would be any objections.

"Sounds like a plan..." Clint agreed. He was much more at ease since completing the bond with all three of his mates and reconnecting with Bruce.

Makkari quickly signed her agreement, then reached out to begin eating.

***

Jack waited for an answer to his question, getting more anxious the longer it took for Natasha to answer him.

Natasha glanced at T'Challa and then shifted forward, gripping her gun tightly. "Black Widow and the Black Panther." She used their codenames, rather than their actual names. Both of them were well known, even here in this dimension. She'd done her research.

"You work for him..." Jack said assuredly, looking for a response or behavior that would prove him wrong.

"I'm a spy." Natasha shrugged. "My dimension took out the versions of us who were being sent here by Ultimus. Ultimus is someone who threatens all dimensions across the multiverse. I haven't seen anyone else here...so I know you came on your own. Which means you're not working for him either."

Jack swallowed. She was as good as he'd always heard Black Widow was. Unfortunately, if she was lying about spying and actually was on Ultimus' side, he couldn't tell. "Fine... get out of the cold, but stay on the other side of the room from me..." It was obvious he didn't fully trust them yet, but he wouldn't leave anyone exposed outside if they were hiding form Ultimus.

Natasha led the way into the cabin, T'Challa keeping watch on their rear...just in case they had been followed and neither had noticed.

Jack kept watch on both of them and the surrounding woods. "I'm Jack," he said, but didn't give a last name. Until he knew for certain that he hadn't allowed the enemy in, he was going to be very careful.

"Natasha. And T'Challa." She introduced each of them in turn, clearly on her guard as well. There was a faint flash of recognition in her eyes. "I recognise you. You existed back in my own dimension. As a HYDRA agent."

"Yeah..." Jack didn't elaborate. If she was against Ultimus, there'd be time to come clean later. If she wasn't, saying he'd changed sides would get him killed. "Were there a lot of similarities?"

"Appearance wise, you're both identical. I couldn't say if you're the same in personality, though. Not without knowing you better." Natasha shrugged.

Jack nodded.  "If he wasn't HYDRA?" He winked. He was a flirt. Couldn't help himself.

"Could have been something there," Natasha allowed.

T'Challa glanced at her, but he didn't make any comments. Natasha had kept to herself in their dimension, after losing Clint. It was nice to see her opening up a bit more.

Jack's eyes widened at that. "I never would have dared make a move on the Natasha in my dimension. Even if I didn't think she'd despise me, she was way out of my league..." He snorted.

Natasha shrugged. "I'd never say never. Of course, my interests never aligned with those of your counterpart. I'll be interested in seeing what things are different in this dimension."

Jack nodded. "Our interests in this dimension never aligned, either. But...that was before Thanos. Things changed for me. Your counterpart never had a chance to meet me after that, though."

"Well. We've met, here and now...even if we're different versions," Natasha said.

"That's true..." He gave a weak smile. Until he knew for certain she truly was against Ultimus, he couldn't let himself hope.

T'Challa shifted slightly, closer to Natasha. "Do we know how long we will need to wait here?" He was clearly on edge. The small, cramped space didn't help him to feel safe.

"The message didn't say a timeframe," Natasha answered. "I assume Tony has one of his AI keeping watch over this place...." She mentioned Tony's name because he was one of the ones they could confidently confirm had been freed from Ultimus.

"You got an actual message?" Jack perked up. Maybe he hadn't been a fool to follow the sign Jessica found, after all. Speaking of....

"Someone I know of came here a few weeks ago. They left me a message that they only spent one night here. Guess we'll find out soon if I was a fool to trust..." He muttered the last. He knew if the other two weren't really against Ultimus, he'd just given himself away, but he was tired and if they were going to turn against him, he wanted it to happen before any of the other freed people showed up to a possible trap.

"We were directed to these coordinates," Natasha confirmed. "We have contacts in the rebels." She made the decision to trust Jack. Even if he turned out to be working for Ultimus, she and T'Challa didn't know the location of the rebels' base. They didn't even know the full amount of people fighting back against Ultimus...although what she'd heard made her think there were a lot.

Jack relaxed slightly at the words. Maybe they were a lie. But he'd been alone in a nest of vipers for entirely too long. The last tiny shred of hope in him had to trust...or die out completely. "Hopefully they are watching for you, then, and the wait won't to be long." He sagged back into his chair. The last real sleep he'd had had been more than three days before and even then, it had been a fitful sleep due to his feeling of impending doom if he didn't leave. He was exhausted.

"You can rest," Natasha said. "I know you won't be able to sleep...not properly...until things are safer. But you can rest and we'll keep watch," she offered.

Jack smiled tiredly. "Might be a fool, but something tells me I can trust you, even if I don't trust anything...." Swallowing and yawning, he slumped back against the chair and promptly passed out.

Natasha moved to collect one of the blankets, draping it over him, and then returned to stand with T'Challa and keep watch.

***

As soon as they had finished eating breakfast and cleaned up, the group going to investigate the new arrivals left the compound, speeding to the location. They stopped just outside of sight, so they could make sure it wasn't a trap.

Clint motioned to Steve. "I'll go ahead. If it is Natasha, she'll know me and come out. If it isn't, you can move in to rescue me if needed."

Steve nodded. "Just be careful," he said quietly to Clint. Even if there wasn't a way of breaking the bond, Ultimus could still hurt them.

"Of course, Cap." Clint smiled, before carefully stepping out of the forested area and into the clearing. He was watchful of all of his surroundings, in case it was a trap. But he still walked slowly toward the cabin.

Spotting Clint approaching, Natasha slowly slipped out of the cabin, telling T'Challa to wait...just in case it was a different version of Clint who was under Ultimus' control.

"You got our message, I see... I'm glad you escaped," Clint said, without obfuscation. If this wasn't the same Natasha, they'd be finding out either way when she attacked. If it was the same Natasha, his words should put her at ease. "T'Challa came with you, but I was told there is a third?"

Natasha nodded, relaxing fractionally at Clint's words...though she was still obviously on her guard. "Jack Rollins. In my dimension, he willingly worked with HYDRA. He's told us that it's different for him here."

"Not entirely different. He was HYDRA. But from what I was told, he had become disillusioned with them when they outed themselves and then, when they turned on the world and began working with Ultimus, he couldn't take anymore and betrayed them. He was spying and feeding information to another group who are now at the compound with us." Clint glanced toward the cabin. "They both inside?"

Natasha nodded. "Jack passed out...mostly exhaustion, I think. T'Challa stayed behind in case it was a different version of you who was under Ultimus' control."

"Ok. Well, we probably should wake Jack up before taking him to the compound. Nothing worse than falling asleep in one place and then unexpectedly waking up in another..." Clint said, speaking from experience. "Plus, we'll need you to change into these gowns and leave behind anything that isn't super important to you that can't be given up. One of these days, we'll scan all the items that have been left behind and people can retrieve whatever is safe to take back, but until then, we have things in storage to replace what you leave."  He held out a gown to her, while motioning the others forward.

Natasha changed quickly into the hospital gown, having no modesty, and went into the cabin, quickly telling T'Challa to get changed and that they were being retrieved. She then moved over to Jack so she could wake him...doing so carefully, since she was certain his reflexes on being woken suddenly were similar to her own.

Jack was awake before she got within a few feet of him, some sixth sense telling him someone was heading in his direction. He blinked at seeing her in a gown and T'Challa changing. He also noticed that she held a gown in her hand. "They're here?" He slowly stood. "And I guess I'm meant to change as well?"

Natasha nodded. "In case there are any trackers on you. There's no chance you might have one embedded in your skin?" she asked, since he'd been with the rest of the HYDRA agents in the enemy base.

"There is a very high chance... HYDRA put trackers in us before Ultimus ever showed up. I never dared remove it, because they'd know and it would give away the fact I wasn't on their side anymore..." Jack sighed. "I have a knife. If I tell you where to cut, you can get it out?"

"I can do...but the group might have someone with medical training, if you'd like me to check," Natasha offered.

"Yeah... Okay. Thanks." Jack began to strip, no sense of modesty at all.

Natasha quickly stepped back outside. "Jack still has a tracker in him from HYDRA," she said to Clint. "Do you have anyone with medical training who can remove it?"

"Stephen... Need a tracker removed, stat!" Clint called, with a sense of urgency. "Hopefully, they haven't reported him missing yet, or this location is blown."

Jack had put on the gown, though he'd not tied it, so it could be easily shifted. "I shouldn't be missed until the next meeting when I don't attend. They would have come after me by now if they suspected. Which gives us...." He looked up at the sky. "... About three hours, give or take an hour."

Stephen had moved to Jack's side by this point. When Jack explained where the tracker was, he carefully made an incision and removed the tracker, destroying it with magic. He then quickly bandaged the wound. "I'll clean this better and stitch it once we are at the compound," he said.

At that, Druig moved forward. "Ready to go, then? Everyone got the few items they need to keep?"

Natasha glanced at T'Challa, who nodded, and she confirmed that they were ready...and they didn't really have anything they needed to keep hold of.

"Got nothing. Ready when you are," Jack agreed.

The speedsters took hold of their passengers and soon, everyone was walking into the compound. "Check-ups first. Then tours and picking out rooms. Do you all know how we've got and stayed free of Ultimus?" Stephen asked.

"All of Ultimus' minions were told. I suppose I'll have to stay in the compound until I'm bonded?" Jack asked.

Druig smiled as they reached the medical suite. "Pretty much."

"It is a better situation than being forced to serve him," T'Challa noted.

"Oh. Completely. It will be good to be safe. Might actually get some sleep," Jack agreed.

"It's certainly safer than the situation any of us were in before leaving," Natasha noted.

"We have plenty of food, including fresh fruit and vegetables, if you're hungry," Steve said. "As soon as you've had your checkups, you can pick rooms and then get some food. Or sleep. Whatever need comes first."

"I just want to sleep for the next month..." Jack yawned.

Stephen snorted, beginning his examination with Jack, since he needed to clean and stitch the wound. "You can sleep till dinner. Then, after eating, you can sleep some more."

Natasha and T'Challa had followed them to the medical suite, Natasha looking around. "Would I be right in assuming this was all Tony's brainchild?"

"You would, Ms. Romanov." Fridays voice carried, the pride in it clear.

"So is there anything about this bonding we should know?" Jack asked. "All Ultimus' soldiers know is that it is a bond and it breaks his control and keeps him from regaining control."

Natasha smiled at that. "I thought so." She glanced towards the others at Jack's question, also wondering about the bond.

Steve explained the process of the bond and how it worked to keep Ultimus outside their heads.

"So it needs to at least begin with a Dominant and submissive...even if it doesn't stay that way?" Jack asked.

Steve nodded. "The bond has actually enabled people who are bonded to share abilities. The three speedsters you saw are bonded. Before they bonded, only two of them had that ability."

"That sounds like a useful skill," Natasha said. "Along with being able to communicate telepathically. Does anyone know how far the range is for the communication?"

"As far as we have been able to test, there is no limit," Stephen said. "We ask everyone to keep track of things they learn about the bond, though. We learn new things about it frequently."

"The sorcerers did not seem any closer to finding a way of breaking the bond when we left," T'Challa said. "It seems as if that is the best way to fight back against Ultimus."

"That is very good to know." Stephen had finished examining Jack by this time and moved to Natasha. It didn't take long to examine all three and draw blood. "All done, if Steve wants to show you to the rooms."

Steve moved forward to show the three newcomers to their rooms. It didn't take long for them to settle in with the rest of those at the base...and after resting and eating dinner, one of the children crossed off day five on the calendar, ready for day six of December.