A/N: Yeah, sorry! It's been so long since I updated. School stuff and my personal life had kinda mixed up and turned into some kind shitty mutant that's about to kill me. Plus the fact that I had to live without a computer for a month and a half. (Trust me its hell). So, I'm back and I hope this chapter is good and you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers: Age of Ultron, but I do own my OCs.
It has been weeks since that day and Wang knew not what to expect. He sat on his desk, working on bypassing the security files. He held back a frustrated sigh as he failed again. The security in this place was giving him a headache. He gingerly touched the back of his neck. Wang didn't even know if the tracker was even working but at least he got his phone to emit just small distress waves. He just hoped it would reach them in time before he got caught. It was already late at night, and he looked ahead to see the three of them, sleeping soundly in their own perspective beds. He sighed as he packed up his things and hid his phone in a hollow pipe too to noticed and isolated.
The scientist slumped back into his seat watching the dark cell of his three enhanced friends. They slept comfortable in their sleep. It had been long since he had interacted or had actually seen them nowadays. For all he knew, their hairs grew longer than before or had been cut. He wasn't allowed anymore to guard them during the day, but only at night. Wang was mostly assigned for other projects that included the maintenance of the electric barrier around the city.
He internally laughed at himself. Wang remembered Aerith's face when she found out there was a huge city below. Apparently, Aerith had never seen a city before. And despite the bleak and ruined disposition of it, she was entranced and amazed by it. Of course, this caught the attention of the twins and has indeed shared their dreams of protecting their country. That's when Aerith really felt for the two of them. And from the little time Wang had spent in SHIELD, he was reminded of Steve Rogers. If he was close with Clint and Nat, it's practically a given to meet the Captain America at one point in time. The scientist had to admit that he may have squealed when he saw him. Then again, He and Coulson shared the same (sort of) obsession except Coulson was the #1 fan to which he came out second.
Steve, if the super solider was here, would be the only one that would understand where these two kids came from. Of course, the reasons of both parties are indeed different since during Steve's time they were in a war. And in war, we all make some hard choices that we are not proud of. In war everything was permitted, and Steve did the right thing because he was doing it for the right cause. It must have seemed to some people that what the super solider did was to protect his country and to save people and to make a difference, but these two kids have no excuse for volunteering to these scientists.
That's when they are wrong. For most Americans, the war was something ugly that their grandparents had to deal with, something in the distant past that left a mark but is also behind them, but just because there hasn't been a war in America for over 70 years didn't mean that other countries had been so lucky.
And Wang knew that Steve would get that more than he or Aerith will ever know.
He sighed, looking at the ceiling in quiet thought. This was one of the moments in his life were he regretted everything. Never for a second did he regret trying to contact the Avengers here. He was not afraid of death…at least his death.
Wang yawned and stretched out of his chair, deciding he needed a long nice rest before the sun would come up. He got up and walked through the empty halls. When he first was assigned here, God knows he was afraid of wandering here at night. It was like a stage to a horrific anime. Any given moment maybe a Ghoul would just come out at him and eat him alive. Or Light Kagami was actually real and had heard of his name, and decided that he would die using the death note.
There many worst scenarios he could think of, but for the most part they were irrational. It wasn't like a 6 meter Titan would smash his head on the side of the wall, looking at him intently before he would snatch and eat him…or much worse tear him in half then eat him. At least you can predict the actions of a normal Titan, but an Aberrant, just no, nope, he's dead. And that's what Strucker was like to him right now. He's an aberrant. There was no knowing what the guy was up and what he was thinking. List was still the average normal titan, so the scientist was a bit easy to read.
He arrived in front of his dorm and got inside his dark room, not bothering to open the lights. There was a rumble of metal hitting metal, and he stood frozen in place. The hairs at the back of his neck stood. Someone was here in the darkness. He stumbled getting the closest thing to him. Once he felt its hilt he half upright and to his chest. Wang held it like it was a katana with his two hands relaxed on its handle. Wang didn't know what he was doing he was American-Chinese not Japanese, but taking lesson from that (albeit) horrible Wolverine movie (the one set in Japan) kinda helped, and of course many number of anime. God knows he won't be able to do that kind of amazing shit and, of course, he won't shout his next move.
He was holding a lightsaber, so it was reasonable; lightsaber was a bit close to a katana. If only he was in Star Wars he would actually know how to do this shit. And if he was Japanese, he would have excelled and probably chose to be a ninja or a samurai or probably a ninja assassin rather than a fucking HYDRA agent.
Suddenly, someone lunged at him from behind, gagging him with some white cloth. Wang had luckily stomped on the agent's foot and head butted him at the back he muttered an apology. The cloth fell harmlessly on the floor, but then the lights opened and he saw five more guys around him. They looked angry and indeed were professionals. A tall bulky one was behind him. Wang knew that guy. He offered him a turkey sandwich a few months ago and was also almost beaten to a pulp when he didn't realize that he was a vegetarian. Wang gulped, clutching the lightsaber. There were two in front of him. At his left was short but taller than him with a bald head. And the one at his right was Hispanic and tall as fuck. The two behind him and besides the huge vegetarian bulky guy was something he'd not want to see but nicknamed them the uglies.
The one at his left, Baldy, drew his gun and aimed at him. In a terrified and high-pitched scream of alarm, Wang pushed his arm from him, enabling the bullet to hit Ugly #2 behind him to his right dead in the centre of his chest. Ugly #2 before he was hit had enough time to pull the trigger and had actually hit Baldy when Wang whacked the tip of his lightsaber and Baldy was in line of sight. The huge vegetarian that was behind him wrapped his arms around his torso; Wang released his gripped on the lightsaber and another scream of fear as he was then spun around. H.T.F.D. (Hispanic Tall as Fuck Dude) was going to shoot him when because of H.V.B.G. (Huge Vegetarian Bulky Guy)'s spinning. Wang's foot collided with H.T.F.D.'s face, smacking him to the floor.
Ugly #1 ducked down missing the leg spin. And when H.V.B.G. sets him back on the floor because of the lack of momentum and tiredness, Wang accidentally head-butted him with the back of his head, smacking it straight on his nose.
H.V.B.G. cried out in pain with the collision, leaving his grasp on Wang to hold his face. Wang had apologized.
"I'm sorry!" he said in genuine apologetic tones.
Ugly #1 gained back his footing and shot at Wang, who had dodged and grabbed the nearest gun on the floor. He shot Ugly #1 on the chest as the scientist released a frighten scream. H.T.F.D grabbed Wang's shoulder spun him around, but the scientist had released another scared scream and accidentally pulled the trigger. He panted heavily going to open the door. Wang was not acclimatized to this shit. He knew held a gun in his life unless it was a toy gun or a gun controller.
The scientist tried to access what happened. This wasn't HYDRA's normal agents. These were brutes, probably even newbies from their lack of coordination, but why were they in his room?
He opened the door, but saw H.V.B.G. rise up from his the reflection of his mirror. Wang calmed his beating heart and the tried to put on his brave face. When he saw H.V.B.G. raise his gun, he spun around and slapped the gun upwards, letting the bullet from H.V.B.G.'s gun shot his lintel instead of his head. And with a moment's notice, Wang pulled the trigger and shot the big guy's gut. He ran from the scene with breathe perturbed breaths, seeing H.V.B.G. fall down to his knees.
Wang ran and ran through the halls in fear, but came to the most ironically safest place he knows. He went back into the lab, seeing the enhances' cell. He quickly typed the code. It had been weeks and was able to hack into the system and find out the real actual code. Before he activated it to get in he typed in a simple coding. The glass of the cell waved going back into its normal overview. It was a simple trick he found out while he tried to tinker with the system. The glass will the last image in imprints like a video, and that video was of the three enhances sleeping peacefully in their beds. He has a few hours before they realize something was wrong. He went inside the faintly lighted room to find all of them asleep.
The scientist didn't know how to wake them or approach them. He walked to Aerith first, seeing that she was the least dangerous to wake up. He looked at Aerith to see her twist and turn in her sleep. It seemed she was still having the nightmares, but, at least, a milder version. Wang took a deep breath and reached out a hand to poke her, and then suddenly something grabbed his wrist, leading him away from Aerith.
Wang's breath hitched in fear and his heart beaten faster.
"Don't touch her." The heavily accented voice warned.
The scientist knew that voice, but before he can reply he was suddenly flung to the other side of the room with a loud thump. He groaned and then the other two occupants woke up.
"Wang?" Wanda's voice broke out the silence.
Wang smiled widely as he sat up, giving them a peace sign. They looked at him in amazement, shock, gladness, and of course, wariness. There was always wariness with these people.
"I-I'm sorry for that." Pietro said, looking very surprise to see his friend.
Wang shrugged it off, feeling very happy to see them again.
"Why are you here?" Aerith asked in worry.
She had looked at his rough form taking in that he looked as if he was in a fight. This was something that all three had noticed. Wang's smile faded when he remembered why he was here. He had promise to never break down in from of them, but seemed that he was about to break that.
The scientist broke down in tears and sobbed in anguish, "I don't know!" He reached towards intending in to hug Aerith, but had accidentally hugged Pietro.
It was weird to find a sobbing Asian man hugging you with his head on your chest. And the thin layer of Pietro's shirt was becoming Wang's tissue. He found it awkward and of course shocking. Wang had always struck him to be goofy but controlled, but to see him as this sobbing man was unnerving. The scientist's arms with around his torso, clutching him tight; Pietro in return looked at both Wanda and Aerith for any advice. He knew that both were trying to hold back laughter at the scene, but the solemnness of this wasn't something fit for laughter, but it didn't stop Pietro from glaring at them.
Looking at this situation right now, Pietro returned the hug. No matter how awkward it was, it must at least give his friend a little comfort. Pietro had been with a lot of women and have always been in the company of his sister. When Wanda was feeling upset, he would hug her and they would talk. And right now, the situation was the same except that it was his sister it was a very emotional short man that had no problems hugging him.
"Wang, you shouldn't have come here." Wanda said carefully as if she was handling a fragile child. "They'll see you because of the wall.
"No they won't." Wang said, tearing his body away from Pietro.
Aerith quickly got a box of tissues and gave it to Wang. Wang gratefully accepted it and lifted his glasses up and to wipe his tears away.
Pietro looked at his short to see the centre to be wet of Wang's sweat and tears. This irked him a bit, but he walked it off.
"Why won't they see us?" Aerith gently asked him.
Wang sniffed. "Because I-I did a trick. A video of feedback of you guys sleeping, outside the glass."
Aerith watched him with pitiful eyes. And she grabbed his hand gently and dragged him to her bed. They sat down on the foot of the bed, facing each other. Pietro had opted to stand, watching from the side lines as he leans on the wooden post of the bunk bed. Wanda had taken the other unoccupied space next to Wang and patted him in the back.
"Why don't you tell us want happened?" Wanda suggested soothingly.
From this, Wang blurted everything he had done (except the Avengers part). He sniffed and sobbed as he continued on telling them everything (well, not everything). It went to the point that he started speaking about his father and the horrible things he did, the standard torture that was given to him with a whip or a stick if he had done something wrong. His father had never bothered to train his sister because he believed she just a fucking weakling, but it didn't stop him from disciplining her when she got out of hand. To Leia, father was just abuse and short tempered. She never thought for a moment that he was a HYDRA agent. Even mother didn't know! And nobody knew that dad that experimented on her every night and would dose her afterwards to make her forget. No wonder she had brain cancer!
And because he cried again until he had no more tears to shed. He felt pathetic and worthless just like what his father had always said. He wiped his tears away.
"But no more of that." He said more confidently. "We have to go."
All three enhanced looked at each other rather warily, but from the determined look on Wang's face it proved that he had a plan. The matter of what this plan is was still a mystery. From the pocket of his jacket, he got the map of the tunnels underneath the base pathways leading in and out of the city. He unfolded it and all three were amazed of what they saw. It was like a maze of twist and turns and dead ends. The map was old enough to be centuries old; full of memory.
"Where did you get this?" Pietro asked, walking towards them.
"I found it in my room when I was looking for a place to hang my…souvenirs..." he sheepishly admitted. "Anyways, there was a loose brick on the wall next to my bed and when I pulled it out I found this."
There was a route that had been lined in red. It was freshly marked by Wang himself. He found this map over his first weeks in the base, but never found a use for it so he kept it hidden and never reported it. It was a lengthy passage. He even scouted that passage himself. It was their only way out. So, he started explaining the plan.
The plan was to go to Aerith's Greenhouse where a door to one of the tunnel mainframes that would lead to different pathways, but if they followed the one to the centre they would have more speed to get out of the base. This particular tunnel leads into the city and if they just changed clothes they could sneak in there and blend in. The city is still not safe though. They have to sneak into the forest afterwards.
"We can pull this off." Wang finished.
The three enhanced looked at each other, pondering if they should cooperate. After a few minutes of silence Wanda spoke on their behalf, "what do we need?"
Wang grinned. "Don't worry. I've come prepared."
"Where did you get this, Wang?" Pietro asked as he wore a pair of simple Nike running shoes.
Wang zipped his jacket. "I go into town every so often using the tunnels. Where do you think I get all my stuff?"
"Didn't Strucker find that suspicious?"
"He did at first, but he looked my belongings and saw bunch of it and he just went along with the fact that I just have a lot of things." Wang said looking at himself in the one-sided mirror. Apparently, the feedback was still playing yet no one had been coming in yet. Maybe they dismissed the fact that he'd come back here where he'd be surely caught. There was one agent that went here, but saw nothing of importance.
David Wang looked at himself and saw a scared looking man with a body of 19 year old. He was lanky in the clothes he wore. Underneath his hooded coat, he wore a ribbed knit sweater with the colour schemes of white and blue. His cargo pants were a colour of a dark shade of green. With his round rimmed clothes, he looked like another dork on vacation to Sokovia. His shoes were normal black running shoes. He felt normal for once, but it was entirely unfortunate that he had to be normal for an escape plan.
At the corner of his eyes, he saw Pietro looking at himself as well. It must be weird to see yourself again in normal clothes that weren't grey and ragged. Pietro looked normal. He looked like a normal guy who just bleached his hair. He wore a yellow and black shirt underneath a black jacket with arrows at the side. He wore normal stretchable pants that were easy for him in run in.
Despite his gender, he felt a bit insecure. Pietro was handsome as any celebrity with the charm of that of Han Solo. He hated the fact that he just acted like a totally high with oxytocin which really was found in woman. Maybe that was the whole reason Wang didn't like Pietro had first. He tried to tell himself that it was because he was obnoxious, self-absorbed, and a complete ass, but maybe it was because Pietro was more good looking.
Wang sighed. He experienced being shadowed by guys with looks like Pietro in high school, or really his whole life. It was petty, but it was something that even guys experience.
Who would like him?
He was extremely awkward and he had a face of a little groundhog.
"You're handsome too."
Wang spun around to see Wanda facing him in her civilian getup. Wanda was in simple dark blue long sleeved dress with some kind of flowery embroidery on it. Around her neck, she wore a silver low chained necklace with a sphere pendant. She wore some kind of ripped stockings, and comfortable leather ankle boots. He looked to see something glinted in the light to see that Wanda had two rings on one hand. Her hair was down, tied with no ponytail. It framed her face and delicately gave more contrast to her pale skin.
"Excuse me?" Wang replied nervously, looking around the room to see if Pietro had heard that. Luckily, the runner was looking through Wang's supervisions.
"I heard your mind." Wanda stated. "You can't really think that."
Wang shuffled awkwardly. "No, I don't think that..." He said, he played with his hands.
Wanda was about to reply but Wang beaten her to it. "…I know that." he shuffled away to join Pietro with the bags.
He felt Wanda's stare directed at him. God knows that he had no feelings for Wanda nor does she with him. It was platonic as chicken with rice. He stopped though in his tracks when he saw Aerith.
Aerith sat talking to Pietro in hushed tones. Her red hair was tied up in a messy bun with lock falling on to her face, and Pietro brushed it off with his fingers. Wang didn't mean to stare but he did. This was the first time he ever seen her in any other clothes than the dread grey ones. She wore a black two layer V-neck dress. Her sleeves were polka dots of black with translucent sleeves. The straps of her dress can be seen underneath the fabric. It seemed that the translucent sleeves were a part of her dress with the sleeveless top inside. Around her neck was a golden mod retro vintage feather necklace. She wore normal black thighs and tall black lace-up boots. Her hands bore no jewellery, but a black five hollow out leather fingerless biker gloves.
She was pretty in all aspects, but the point where Pietro was involved did not soothe his uneasy when he was close to her. Wang watched as Pietro handed her a red wine cashmere coat winter hooded mantle military coat. Aerith gratefully accepted and wore it. Wanda it seemed walked past him and got a black cashmere winter coat with a wide white fur-lined hood. Pietro in return had gotten himself a beanie.
Wang's watch beeped. It was time.
"Okay, we need to move, daytime is upon us." He said, getting his backpack.
He checked the room to see it clean and spotless before opened the door out of the cell. He peeked outside. There doesn't seem to be anyone out there. So, he walked out and ushered the others outside.
Luckily, they managed to get into the greenhouse. It was still littered with fireflies, and this was a safe zone where Aerith rules the place. With a flick of her wrist, the trees blocked the footage and the hedges began to form a roof off their heads as Wang leads them to the doorway. If you probably wondering why they didn't the hedges to make roofs, the greenhouse has a thermal sensor and if you might have remembered, they could hide them.
They went deep in the greenhouse, making sure to be quiet as possible and as quick as they can be. Soon they were confronted with a big willow tree with its roots up and down into the earth.
"Aerith, we need to move the roots." Wang whispered to her.
Aerith nodded and lifted her hand, soon the roots started to move quietly. And when the door was revealed Wang rushed towards it, brushing the leaves away and tried to open the door. It wouldn't budge. Wanda appeared next to him with a wave of her hand the door disintegrated.
"Okay, that works." Wang said a bit speechless.
"You're welcome." Wanda said in return.
One by one they jumped inside in the dark dank tunnel. Aerith patched up where the door used to be, so when Strucker attempts to find them they wouldn't find the entrance. Wang opened his torch and led the way through the tunnel to where no one knew what fate decides.