The sun beat down on Jades' back as she walked. She was about half way to the city. Normally she could run a mile in a reasonable amount of time, but not in a jungle, with bleeding wounds, and multiple bruises.
After her second escape from the facility she had started to walk to the city. She had only been walking for fifteen minutes before she didn't look where she was going and ended up falling into a small hole, twisting her ankle in the process. She had the city in sight before giving into her ankles' complaints and rested.
She sighed and sat on a large rock. She pealed back her pants that Hydra had given her. With barley a glance she knew it was swollen, and she doubted she would find ice in the jungle. Her outfit was torn, sweaty, and plain dirty from her battles with the Avengers and that stupid tree.
"I can't walk into the city like this," She said looking down at herself. She would probably draw enough attention as it was. She needed to find some different clothes or maybe even a jacket, but that would be hard to come by. She didn't have money, the only thing she had was her backpack. She was beginning to see the major flaws in her plan.
-o-X-o-
The Avengers had just safely landed at their destination. It had been a long, silent trip. Nat had stared at Steve almost the whole time, but hadn't said anything. Which made Steve a little nervous. When all the others went to get their equipment she got up to talk to him.
"You know we're basically hunting a fifteen year old girl, right?" She looked at him waiting for an answer.
"It's only hunting if you intend to kill." He replied.
"Are you saying that were not allowed to shoot if she attacks?" Steve looked at her and smirked.
"I've seen you dodge bullets before, and I think you can do it again. I've also seen your hand to hand combat I think your good there too." Nat glanced over to Clint, who walked in and had looked at Cap and Nat. He smiles then sits down. Thor comes in next and sits next to Clint. They were both in regular clothes so as not to attract any unwanted attention.
"Avengers," Steve takes no time to get to the point. "if you see Miss Jade do not engage. Contact the rest of the team and we'll get to your position as soon as possible. Keep on the down low. If she sees you, she will undoubtedly run. If she does happen to attack, try not to hurt her. Does everyone understand? She has some valuable insight on Hydra that we may need in the future. She's probably scared so try not to intimidate. Now what are your positions?" Steve asked.
"I can take the east part of the city," Clint says first. He stands and straightens his shirt.
"I'll take the south part." Nat says. She steps over to stand by Clint. With Thor on the west and Steve in the north they had complete confidence in their ability to find her.
"We'll stay here," Tony sarcastically calls from the pilots seat. Bruce had been on his computer most of the trip and hadn't said anything for all of it.
Clint rolls his eyes at Stark. Tony had complained most of the trip there because he had to stay behind. Something about a rematch, if Clint remembered correctly.
"You'll be fine," Natasha said, "stop complaining."
"Okay," Steve interrupted, concerned about them loosing daylight. "Everyone move out!"
-o-X-o-
Jade had reached the outskirts of the city with a few hours of sunlight left to explore. She looked around to see houses with clothes lines in their backyards. She really didn't want to steal anything, but it looked like her only option at the moment.
She waited until she was sure no one was looking before snatching a pair of jeans and a shirt off a nearby line. The jeans fit nicely and the shirt was red and had a silver flower on it. She put her old clothes in her backpack next to her files. Her shoes were still in pretty good shape so she didn't look for any of those.
On her walk she had decided to see if she could dig up anything on Washington D.C and the hellicarrier crash. As of right then it was the only thing she had to go on. She started to head further into the city when she saw her reflection in a window.
She stopped to look. Her auburn hair had fallen out of the uniform braid it had been in the morning before. A young face with hazel eyes starred back at her, She didn't look like the murderer she was, nobody would ever guess what she had done. She shuddered to think about it, and pushed the memories aside.
She went deeper into the city. She blended in easily, and she liked it that way. People hurried here and there, on their way home or to work. Jade secretly envied them, they had the life Jade had wanted. No facilities, no training, no experiments or painful exercises, just to be normal. Right now, that was a dream at best.
'It must be great,' Jade thought to herself. Children ran on the sidewalks weaving in and out of the startled adults in their path. Jade smiled with amusement at the scene in front of her.
She looked back up. Her smile quickly dropped at the sight of two soldiers from the facility. They standing only a block away from her. She dogged into an alleyway to her right almost knocking over an trash can.
"How did they get away from the Avengers?" She questioned. Her breathing started to grow heavy.
"You're fine, you'll get away, your not going back," She promised herself. Awful memories and images flooded her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to keep them at bay, but one in particular overcame her.
"Winters, Are you ready? The soldier is in position. Shoot on sight, do not hesitate," A man beside her commanded. His face was fuzzy, but the voice was familiar. She was riding in the back of a large van moving quickly. It was only her and the man.
"The target is almost here. You'll do great," The man smiled. Her mind flashed to a rooftop, sniper rifle in hand. She heard a motorcycle coming down the street to her right. She positioned the gun.
"The target is coming down shoot at the cycle do not hit the man, the soldier will handle him," A voice told her through the ear piece she had on. Her shoulders tensed as the cycle rounded the corner. She took aim, took a deep breath, and shot the front wheel. It threw the two people riding to the ground.
"Good job. Mission complete come back for report." She stood to go and a man rode in on another cycle. He jumped off and raised his gun.
Jade gasped like she had been drowning. She put her hands on her knees and panted. She glanced around. Nobody seemed to notice her. She peeked her head around the corner to see if the men were still there. They weren't. They seemed to have disappeared.
Still shaken from the memory she straightened. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing.
'In. Out. In. Out,' She slowly said in her mind.
When her breathing was normal opened her eyes. She slowly crept out of the alley. Keeping her guard up on the off chance that they were hiding.
Getting the information she needed was going to be a lot harder than originally thought. How was she ever going to find him?
-o-X-o-
The Avengers had searched all afternoon with no luck. Clint and Thor were growing tired of the search, and made it very clear that they wanted to leave. Out of pure boredom Nat and Clint had started an argument in whether or not fish felt wet or not.
Steve sighed at the conversation he heard over the ear piece. He had been searching all day for this mysterious girl and had found nothing. He didn't even know what she looked like, other than what Clint had told him.
He looked over at the city, and all the people running around to get their required work finished for the day. A young girl only seven or eight bumped into him while running to meet her friends.
"Oh, sorry," She said, and ran to meet those waiting for her. He smiled and heard a voice over the ear piece.
"Hey, Cap, Banner here found us that Sakovian Hydra base that Jade told us about. You want to head other and crash the party?" Tony asked.
"I don't know if Steve's ready to give up this wild goose chase yet," Nat said sarcastically.
"Ya, it seems pointless. Looks like she's disappeared," Clint says
"Alright, sounds good. I haven't even seen anyone by the description you guys have given. How long will it take everyone to meet back at the ship?" Steve asked. He looked around his surroundings just in time to see a young lady with a red t-shirt duck into an ally.
The team piped in with their positions and the time it would take to meet. Steve wasn't even paying attention anymore, though. He was more focused on the girl in the alley. She looked scared and had her back pressed against the wall.
"Steve you still there?" Nat asked. It snapped Steve back to the voices in his ear.
"Ya, I'll meet you guys at the ship," He answered.
Tony said something about the fish argument, but Steve had already tuned them out. He was concentrated on the girl in the alley.
-o-X-o-
Jade had moved more to the north side of the city in hope of finding a library. No luck. She spoke fluent Portuguese and Spanish, but was to shy to ask for directions.
When she heard two men bickering, in Russian no less, she snapped her head in the direction of the voices. The soldiers! She can't get away from these guys.
She ducked into another alley. She was considering moving into one of them, considering how much time she spent in them. It couldn't be that bad, at least she wouldn't fall out of any more trees.
She pressed her back against the wall and closed her eyes. She had to keep calm she didn't want a repeat of what had happened earlier.
Someone put a hand on her shoulder. She snapped her eyes open and jerked away. Reflexively she moved into a fighting position.
"Are you alright?" The man asked. He didn't attack her, but he looked surprised at her reaction. His question seemed genuine. She backed off a bit, and straightened to stand in a normal position.
"I'm fine, you just scarred me," She laughed. He studied her, it kind of made her uncomfortable. "Is something wrong?" She asked.
"No, no, you just look like someone I'm looking for," He said. He was tall and well built, his eyes were blue, and his hair was blonde.
She did her best to avoid eye contact. The people at the facility would hit her if she did. It was thought of as an act of rebellion.
She peeked around the corner to look back at the soldiers. To make sure they were still there. They were, and they were still arguing by what she could hear. After confirming where they were she looked back at the man.
"Sorry, I need to go," She said. She took two steps before the man reached for her. He didn't grab onto her, just put his arm in her path.
"Hey, are you okay? You seem a bit on the edge," He gently asked. She turned her head back to look at him. She was now in complete view of the soldiers.
"I'm fine. I need to go. My parents will be wondering where I am," She lied.
"I could walk you home if you want," He offered. Alarms went off in her head. She was not expecting that.
The soldiers glanced her way and did a double take. Jade was caught. The men started running to her, weaving their way in and out of people.
"Um, no thanks. Hope you find who you're looking for, though. Bye," She said. Then turned on her heel and ran.
She jumped over a cart and down the street. She could hear her pursuers following close behind. She turned a corner and knocked over a trash can. They were yelling at her in Russian to stop or halt, not that the specific word mattered. She wasn't going to stop. Her heart was pounding in her ear, blocking out most of their words anyway.
She jumped onto the nearest trash can and launched herself onto a fire escape that was connected to the started to climb like a mad man. She looked down to see a man draw his gun. He shot at her and she bit back a scream.
The man she had talked to only moments before came around the corner and punched the first man, causing him to fall over unconscious. He attempted to hit the other man, but missed by less than an inch. Then they went into hand to hand combat. The man won almost instantly knocking the soldier out. He looked up to her.
"Are you okay?" He called. She bent over the railing and looked down at him.
"Ya, I'm fine. How did you do that?" She asked. She was amazed to say the least. She had never seen anyone do something like that outside of Hydra and Clint.
"It's a long story. Do you want to came down?" He asked.
"Na, I'm fine up here. Thanks for your help, though. Guess I'll see you around," She said before starting to climb up the stairs toward the roof. He called after her, but she ignored him, until he started to climb after her.
"Seriously?" She muttered to herself. She couldn't catch a break. She got to the top of the stairs and jumped onto the roof. She ran for all she was worth.
Jumping from roof to roof is not as easy as it sounds. Her ankle had started to feel a little better earlier, but now it was burning. She would have to stop soon. She heard the man behind her. He was gaining quickly.
He called for her to stop that he just wanted to talk. She wasn't stopping until she was completely safe, or until her ankle gave out. Right now the later seemed more likely.
On the next roof over there was an AC unit. When she jumped onto the roof she ran and dove behind it. She heard the man land. She heard the crunch of his boots. He was walking toward her.
"Don't run, I'm not going to hurt you," He said.
Now where had she heard that before? Not replying she took a deep breath and went down through the roof.