They were ten minutes out from the Raft and Steve was all but buzzing with fury. He hadn't been able to relax from the moment he received the call from Pepper, but it had only gotten worse when FRIDAY confirmed Natasha had been taken to the Raft. Wanda had stepped in for a moment right after the confirmation and after a few tricks with her magic, Steve hadn't destroyed the Compound. 

Now, sitting in the quinjet as they neared the Raft, Steve was ready for just about anything.

"Are you alright?" Wanda asked Steve tentatively. 

"Yes," Steve said shortly.

Wanda gave him a look. "I can hear your thoughts."

Sighing, Steve turned away and looked outside the quinjet and down at the Atlantic. Wanda didn't leave. She took a seat in a chair beside him even though he remained standing, but didn't leave him alone again. 

"We're here," Tony announced as the quinjet touched down gently.

FRIDAY had already hacked the Raft's security and Tony confirmed the cameras were playing back old feed. The AI had even managed to keep the aircraft from triggering any sensors or being seen on the myriad of intruder detectors the prison used.

Steve grabbed a gun and stuffed it in the pocket of his suit. He wasn't sure if Natasha would be in any condition to shoot, but he was tempted to use the weapon himself either way.

"No one deviates from the plan," Tony instructed, giving Steve a sharp look. "The explosives will go off exactly thirty seconds after we're on the quinjet, so don't go on any fool's errands."

"Just focus on setting the explosives," Steve said before he opened the door to the quinjet and led the team off.

According to Tony, they had about five minutes before a guard noticed the jet didn't belong to the Raft and an alarm would sound.

Just as they had agreed, Tony and Rhodey broke off from the group to set explosives around the prison while Sam, Wanda, and Steve headed for the three floors where the cells were located.

While this wasn't Steve's first time breaking into the Raft, it was different without Natasha at his side. She'd led the way last time and Steve had followed without question. Now, he was the one leading and shooting down any guards they came across.

As they had no real lead on where Natasha would be, it was up to Wanda to try and find her using magic. The constant stream of guards was distracting, though, and it was taking her longer than she'd expected. Fortunately, no alarm had sounded yet and the guards they stumbled upon weren't expecting them.

"Is she close?" Steve asked, securing the floor of cells they were on. 

Wanda shook her head. "No, not here." 

They moved down to the next level only for Wanda to shake her head again. As they approached the third level of cells, however, she stopped.

"Here," Wanda said, stopping them at the door to the third floor.

Steve broke down the door of the stairwell and an alarm immediately sounded. They were met with a wall of bullets that Wanda immediately sent back. The few guards that didn't drop dead, she took care of careful with a twist of her hand.

Wanda spotted Ross at the same time Steve did. Before he could turn his gun towards Natasha as he intended, though, Steve threw his shield at his chest. There was a dull clang as the shield hit Ross so hard it fell to the ground and Ross dented the wall. Steve didn't check to see if the hit had killed Ross before hurrying over to where Natasha was slumped on the floor.

"Natasha." He dropped beside her with a gasp and Wanda stepped forward slowly.

Behind her, Sam stepped around them to check on Ross and grimaced at the dent on the wall. With a nod at Wanda, he confirmed the man was dead. The hit to the wall had broken his spine and while Wanda felt it was a merciful death, she was glad he was gone.

As she turned her attention down to Natasha, however, Wanda wished she could have done more to make Ross regret what he'd done. 

Kneeling beside Natasha, Steve stared at her with wide eyes and muttered, "God, Nat."

Steve broke the cuffs off Natasha's wrists. There was a sharp shock, but Steve tossed them aside before the cuffs could hurt him. His eyes landed on her burned and bloodied wrists next.

"I don't think they like me too well," Natasha muttered.

Steve looked up from her wrists to her swollen face. Already, her left eye was purple and she had a cut across her forehead. The bruises couldn't have been more than a few hours old, so it was all the more worrying to see they had appeared so quickly.

"Come on," he murmured, offering her his hand.

He helped her to her feet, but after she stumbled twice, he picked her up without pause. She hissed in pain but shook her head when he gave her a concerned look, promising she was alright.

Sam led them back up to the top floors, taking care of the guards that appeared in front of them while Wanda took care of those who tried to attack them from behind.

They were the first ones back on the quinjet, but Tony and Rhodey were close behind.

As planned, the prison blew up just seconds after they were a safe distance. Once Tony was sure they were okay, he put the jet on autopilot back to the Compound and turned to find Natasha. In a corner near the back of the quinjet, Natasha sat with her back against a corner and her legs over Steve's. Her eyes were closed, but they shot open as soon as he approached.

"God, Red," he muttered, feeling even worse than when Steve had tried blaming him earlier. "I'm so sorry."