Elletra didn’t know what was going on, but Hawkeye was nervous and so was she. Examining the half-caught grapple that she’d thrown over, she clamped it firmly to the gunwale and latched it shut securely.

As it clicked, a small commotion broke out nearby. Hawkeye had reappeared, discussing an issue animatedly with the pockmarked man from earlier. Eventually he threw up his hands in exasperation and strode over.

“The man thinks I’m crazy enough to go in without a long gun because it might go off in the engine room.”

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow quizzically.

“And are you?”

He shrugged off the carbine and handed it to Gladstone, smiling grimly.

“Only if you come with me.”

She looked him in the eye then, searching for an ulterior motive. To her surprise, all she found was a steely determination to get the job done despite all the odds.

There’s always something else. Everyone always wants something from me.

She couldn’t quite work out what it was, though, so she nodded and followed them down.