Back to Square One
Jessica looked up from his body and beheld Zemo's gun her face. She didn't react, but flicked one last glance at the woman she called mother. She swore that, before the brief flash of pain and then darkness that overtook her, she saw a look of regret on her face. It was brief, but she saw it.
8:35 AM EST – Avengers War Room
"There are ten bases, scattered all across Europe. Miles separate them, so we won't be able to hit them one by one as a team in anything resembling a timely manner. I've had Jarvis run surveillance on the facilities." Steve paused and pulled up three bases in particular- located in Northern France, Eastern Italy and Central Germany - and circled them in silver. "These are the ones with the densest population, so I want Thor and Valkyrie to take them out."
"Aye."
He nodded and pulled up five more - located at the Northern Britain, Romania, Northern Sweden, and Switzerland - and circled them in white. "These are the ones that are the most remote. Ms. Rambeau, these are your targets."
"Got it "
"These last two," he said while highlighting bases in the Ural Mountains of Russia and Black Forest in Germany, "are seemingly the most important since they have the heaviest security, so the majority of the team will hit these. Natasha, take Mr. Rand, Ms. Walters, Jessica and Ms. Van Dyne and take out the base in Russia. I'll take Tony, Wanda, Clint and Col. Rhodes and handle the one in Germany. Top mark is this guy." He pulled up a picture of a bald man who appeared to be somewhere in his forties, with a eyepiece over his right eye. "Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Intel says he's been the leader of Hydra since 1946. We bring him in or take him out if need be, we deal a big blow to Hydra's whole operation.
"Also, remember that Viper is still on the loose. Chance are she returned to whichever base Strucker is at." He scanned the assembly, then nodded and switched off the projector. "Suit up. We move out at 0900 hours."
Today was a big day. Today was the day the Avengers were going to launch a full assault against Hydra to take advantage of their weakened state. Save for Steve and Bucky, that didn't mean more to anyone than it did for Jessica.
They took her as a small girl and turned her into a weapon. They killed her parents and left her in the care of a madwoman. They took her life away, then abandoned her when she needed them most.
The sins of the past still stung deeply for Jessica. She had killed so many, betrayed so many, led so many to their deaths for Hydra. Then, when she joined SHIELD, she found peace and a path to redemption that she didn't even know she wanted. In the Avengers, that road hit hyperdrive.
She was a hero, a purveyor of good and justice.
She died believing that what she was doing was right. She died believing that the five years she had spent with SHIELD was her redemption, that everything she had done with and for SHIELD was good.
She came back confronted by the cold slap of reality. It wasn't good. SHIELD wasn't her road to redemption. It was simply Hydra with a mask on. Everything she did was for Hydra.
Every bit of it.
She had spent the last night going back over her career and giving serious thought to which missions could have possibly been for Hydra. She concluded, after spending an hour alternating between vomiting and crying, that it was safe to assume that all of it was Hydra.
She was back to square one.
It was a painful thought, realizing that she had never left that hellish place.
But then, I never really left anyway, had I?
She looked at herself, dressed only halfway - the top half of her admittedly gaudy red and yellow catsuit was hanging down past her waist - in the mirror. It was the same suit Hydra gave her. The only difference was that she had a different mask, and the suit was a different material. But, it was the same.
She was comfortable in it. And it worked for her.
Now, it didn't. It was time for a change. Since her previous redemption wasn't what she thought it was, it was time to start it all over again.
She pulled the rest of her suit on, zipping it up deliberately, and walked out of the women's changing room. She found Steve standing at the end of the hall and made a beeline for him. "Cap, a word?"
He nodded and followed her inside an empty room nearby. "What's on your mind?" he asked curiously once he closed the door.
"Two things actually. One, I want to go on the Germany mission."
He raised an eyebrow. "Any reason why?"
She felt sick as soon as the question left his mouth. She had already known he would ask why she wanted to switch, but she never actually thought about telling him the reason. "Because Mu– Viper is there." His expression changed from curious to expectant. "I've an old score to settle with her for… my childhood. Or lack thereof."
"Alright," he agreed with a single nod. "And the second thing?"
"I want to take point."
He frowned but said nothing.
"No one knows these wankers better than I do. No one knows that castle better than I do. No one knows Strucker and Viper better than I do." Listing it out loud was making her feel sicker by the second.
"Okay. I'll make the changes." He turned to leave, but stopped just shy of the door. "Sure you're ready to lead? Five lives are depending on your instruction." It could have sounded disingenuous, as if he was just trying to spook her. It didn't.
She sighed. "I guess we'll find out, eh?" She chuckled. He didn't. "I'll do my best."
He nodded. "How do you know Strucker and Viper won't be in Russia?"
"Because the German base is Strucker's castle. And well, let's just say I know Mu– dammit – Viper well." She frowned and tried to leave. Steve touched her arm.
"Why do you keep calling her that?"
"Calling who what?" she tried to deflect. When Steve pressed his lips into a thin line, she sighed softly. "Because she's my surrogate mother," she answered simply. "I was trained to call her that."
"Not anymore. You're free from Hydra. You don't have to see that madwoman as a surrogate mother anymore."
Right. She didn't. It had been six years, so why couldn't she stop? "You're right," she said with a tight smile. "Old habits die hard, I suppose."
She could feel his eyes lingering on her as she walked out. Any other time, she would have been flattered. Back when she could pretend that life was easy. When seducing a someone like Steve was a game she won with ease without having to try for very long.
Life wasn't easy, not now and not before. There were a lot of things she was hiding from the others. Her roots at Hydra were the least of the emotional baggage she was carrying.
"Jess." Jessica turned around to the source of the voice and found Natasha walking up with Clint and Rhodey. "Steve just told me that you're switching teams. Good luck." Unlike with Steve, this did sound disingenuous; but, she knew that Natasha knew that.
Clint just nodded once.
"Cheers. Luck to you, as well," she said with a sharp nod. Sounded like Natasha and Clint still didn't trust her. Oh well. She continued her quick gait into the hangar bay. A pair of state-of-the-art quinjets were primed and ready to go. Clint stepped aboard one, while there was a black man she didn't recognize waiting by the ramp of the other. "Where's Carol?"
"She's not feeling well," Steve answered.
"She has a hangover," Tony stage whispered as he walked by, clad in his latest red and silver Mark 45 armor. Steve glared at him.
"She's not hungover," Steve lied horribly. "She has a cold."
"Right." Tony smirked and approached the man by the other quinjet. "Sam Wilson, I presume?" He extended a hand.
Sam nodded and shook his hand. "That's right. Steve called last night and said you needed another pilot. I'm your guy."
"Good to have you aboard, mate."
"Buck coming with us?" Sam asked Steve.
"No, he's still on bed rest."
Sam chuckled and began to walk inside the quinjet. "Rest well earned, I'd say. If it wasn't for him, Hydra might be in control right now."
Steve shook his head. "That would be a nightmare."
Nightmare didn't even begin to cover it.
Black Forest, Germany – 2:35 PM CET
An hour passed and five bases had been destroyed. Thor reported that a few Hydra agents managed to escape using some alien technology. Steve told him to bring everything he could with him so Tony could look at it.
"Coming up on the castle, Cap," Clint reported from the cockpit.
Steve handed out some comm links and slipped his in. "Secure channel five."
"Five secure. Listen up, guys. If you run into Strucker, take him out quickly. He doesn't look like much, but he's more formidable than he appears." She pulled up a SHIELD file on the screen beside her in the back of the jet. One it was displayed the image of a red metal gauntlet with the fingers tapering off into claws. "This is the Satan Claw. It gives Strucker super strength, electric blasts and… well, it let's him drain the youth out of anyone it touches."
Wanda raised an eyebrow. "Drain the youth?"
Jessica shrugged. "Don't know how it works. Don't have time to figure it out now. Just don't let him touch you with it and you'll be ace. Moving on from him, most of the bodies in the castle will either be agent/soldier types or scientists. The castle is where most of Hydra's experiments take place, since it's the most secure and remote. That also makes it the most dangerous, because we don't know what's in there. Just know that knocking them out won't do. You have to kill them."
Wanda shifted uncomfortably.
"Any reason why?" Tony asked. He wasn't disturbed by the notion of killing, just her bluntness at suggesting it.
"They'll kill themselves long before we can get anything out of them. Along with Strucker and Viper, our main targets are Dr. Daniel Whitehall and his right hand man, Sunil Bakshi. If Viper and Strucker go down for some reason, these two are next in line for leadership."
Steve looked at Whitehall's picture and nodded knowing. "I know Whitehall."
"Really?" Tony examined the picture, then looked back at Steve.
"From the war. He was one of Schmidt's men."
"Jesus. What happened to just growing old and dying?"
Steve snorted and slipped his helmet on. "Anything else, Jess?"
"Not that I can think of."
"Alright, then. I got Coulson's team on standby. They'll come in when we're done and haul the prisoners away."
Almost there. You can do this, Jessica. You don't need them anymore. You've moved past them now. Shoot to kill and keep moving. Jessica's mental pep talk fell on deaf ears. Truth was, she was more nervous about returning to Hydra than anything.
Steve knew Whitehall from the war. She knew him from her conditioning to turn her into a compliant agent. She still had nightmares about being forced to watch subliminal messages for hours at a time, not being allowed to eat, sleep or use the bathroom for hours on end. Viper was always there, watching like the loving mother she was.
She wanted to puke.
"You seem to know quite a bit about Hydra," Wanda said absently. Or, seemingly so. Instead of her usual red leotard, she was wearing a pair of red pants and a long red leather coat. She was also absent her red headdress thing.
Jessica sighed. "Let's just say I do my homework." And she left it at that.
She could feel Wanda's eyes probing her from behind as the jet descended down when a beige brick castle came into view. They were a few miles from nearest city, so civilians getting caught in the crossfire wasn't an issue. The surrounding forest was covered in snow, so their colorful costumes stuck out somewhat.
Clint landed the jet carefully in the midst of a clearing that was blocked off by a thick patch of trees. He slipped on a long purple and black coat and slipped his quiver on his back.
"What are our orders?" Steve asked once they exited the jet and began walking swiftly toward the castle.
The building was surrounded by a black metal fence with barbed wire wrapped around the large spikes at the top and bottom. Guard towers were stationed every fifty feet, each with two guards wielding large assault rifles. The castle was two hundred feet from the fence.
Jessica looked at Steve and noticed his expectant expression. "Oh, you're talking to me. Okay." There were four guard towers on each side – two in the center, fifty feet apart, and two on the corners. "Clint, can you take out those guards?" He nodded and moved into position, then pulled out his bow and two arrows. "Tony, draw their fire towards the castle. Clint, take them out as fast as possible. The rest of us will use that diversion to sneak inside."
"Got it." Tony rocketed into the air and streaked toward the castle. As soon as he crossed over the fence, a klaxon began blaring and bullets started flying from the towers.
Clint found a good spot to take out the two towers on the left of the team's position. Two arrows were loosed in records speed, then two more. Before any of the four knew what hit them, they were dead. =Going for the next two.=
Jessica fired a bio-electric blast that punched a hole through the fence. She went through first, then Wanda with Steve bringing up the rear. =Incoming,= Tony warned.
A dozen Hydra soldiers poured out of the front exit and immediately opened fire. The three ducked behind a Humvee for cover. "Damn it, should have brought a gun," Steve chastised himself.
"You don't need one." Jessica streaked into the air and fired a stream of venom blasts that transpierced the Hydra soldiers like wet toilet paper. "You have me." They quickly moved forward before screeching to a halt. Someone was firing missiles on the other side of the fence that were tearing through the forest.
"Clint, report," Steve barked.
Several tense moments passed before he answered. =I'm good. Think I lost them for now. Go, I'll catch up!= More explosions sounded in the background before the line was cut off.
Steve cursed and looked back, as if trying to look through the treeline with x-ray vision.
"Cap, we gotta go," Jessica said. "He'll be fine and Tony's out here to help if he isn't."
He hesitated, then nodded and followed her inside the castle.
Upon entering, they were immediately accosted by soldiers wielding strange pitch black rifles. The rifles hummed and spat out sickly green beams that melted away at the the wall when they ducked out of the way. "Scatter!"
There were six soldiers wielding the rifles, and they kept the Avengers moving from cover to cover. Wanda rolled out of the way of a stray shot and fired a hex bolt in return. The rifle shook suddenly, and then fell apart. She smirked and turned him into a ferret with a simple spell.
Jessica his behind a computer console and breathed in deeply. As she exhaled, her body exuded the sweet smelling pheromones that bent men to her wills. "Stop!" Three soldiers had Steve cornered and were just about to fire when she gave her command. They turned and waited expectantly for her next order. She sauntered out from behind her cover and approached them. "Where are Madame Hydra and Baron Strucker?"
"Lab six, on sub-level two," one of them answered immediately. Jessica cocked her head toward the elevator at the end of the hall.
"Here, take one of these with you," she said as she took one of strange rifles. Steve took it, face beet red and a dopey grin on his lips. "Aren't you cute? Now, get a move on. We've not much time."
"What about you?" he asked with genuine concern.
She grinned slyly and allowed her finger to trail up his chin. "Me and these charming chaps are going to have some fun."
Wanda scoffed with disgust and marched toward the elevator. "Be careful," Steve said before following after her.
Hmph. What could be if I let myself loose once in a while. She sighed and gestured to her new group willing servants.
Seduction was a female spy's greatest weapon, whether she wanted to admit it or not. The fact was, regardless of how capable she was or how deadly, men would always underestimate a woman. Their brains were incapable of processing a woman's capabilities based on sight alone. The feminine appearance being as nonthreatening and appealing as it was played a large role in that, for certain.
Hydra knew this. As a highly attractive woman in her own right, Viper knew the value of seduction as a means to an end. After all, she managed to fly right under the normally sharp and astute Victoria Hand's radar for over a year.
In creating the ultimate spy, they turned to the masters of seduction, the Black Widows, for inspiration. Jessica was genetically engineered to be the most appealing to the male senses. She sounded beautiful, smelled beautiful and, of course, looked beautiful.
Then, there were her pheromones. A strong musk that triggered a man's lust and lowered his inhibitions, it made her seem like a bedmate than a mistress. Anything she said came across as sweet nothings whispered from the full, luscious lips of a goddess. Anything she said was done without question, to the letter.
Hence, why these devoted, fanatical Hydra soldiers were gunning down their fellow agents with impunity at her command. She swiftly made her way through the castle, leaving behind her a trail of bodies numbering in the dozens.
She didn't lift a finger to kill anyone. She didn't have to. Moreover, she wanted to prove a point.
Madame Hydra, her surrogate mother, lorded her authority over her minions like a queen. Every word she said had better have been followed thoroughly, or consequences were going to be faced. Jessica was the same.
Now, she lorded her power over her hapless minions, without fear of reprisal. They did her bidding, because she told them to.
=No sign of Strucker or Viper,= Wanda reported.
Jessica sighed and ducked around a corner. A group of fifteen agents stormed over to attack her, only to confusingly stop when their own began to defend her. "They must have left already. I guess trash the labs down there and take whatever looks useful. Meet back at the foyer when you're done."
"Madame Hydra, they're closing in!" someone from down further down the hall yelled.
"Then stop them, you idiot!" Viper shouted. "Don't let them in here!"
That voice. That voice still sent waves of fear down her spine. Part of her wanted to run away right then and there. I can't. I-I can't!
Her minions had dwindled down to just one, not that she noticed. She was too busy arguing within herself to care.
"Ma'am, there's only Spider-Woman."
"Is that so?" Viper sounded considerably calmer. "Bring her to me. Now!"
"Yes ma'am."
Jessica was gripped with fear, too much to resist being grabbed and dragged into the room where Viper was holed up in.
It was a lab, a place where experiments on living things took place. There were a pair of operating tables in the center of the room – both covered with bloody sheets. In the back of the room was a tall, cylindrical tank. Within it was the Kree alien, Mahr-Vehl, with tubes sticking out of his body that were drawing blood out and into a container on a table next to the tank. He was naked and seemed to be unconscious.
Jessica was dropped to her knees. She grunted and looked up, and saw Viper looking down at her. There was a silver handgun on the console behind her. She cut a glance at the three agents standing in the room with her. "Leave us."
As they walked out, Jessica stood to her feet. Her eyes remained on the alien behind Viper. Even though it was clearly unconscious or asleep, she still felt a little nervous around it. Gradually, she returned her attention to Viper. Her expression was neutral, but she could tell that something wasn't quite right.
Suddenly, Viper lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Jessica's arms. She cinched her grip in tightly and buried her face into her shoulder. What's this?! She squirmed in her grip and managed to free one of her arms. It was then that she felt something warm dripping on her shoulder. What?
Viper breathed in shakily and let her go. Her cheeks were wet with tears, and a small smile was barely visible. "I… I never thought I would see you again, édes kis pók."
Jessica looked both mortified and confused. Viper wasn't the kind of woman to show this kind of sentimental feelings toward anyone, especially toward someone who she could rightfully view as a traitor. Perhaps being pleased that she was alive again - undoubtedly so she could try and persuade her back to Hydra - yes. But this; it was like she was a grieving mother holding her child for the first time. It was scary. Scarier than when Viper was angry.
It was scary because it was real.
Her lips parted to speak, but nothing came out.
"It's okay," she said in a hushed tone as she held her again. "You don't have to explain anything. I'm just glad you're back."
"I…"
She released her and retreated back. Her gloved hand rose to wipe the tears from her eyes. "When you died, it felt like a piece of me died with you. I wandered through life, contemplating whether I even wanted to keep living. But, now you're back." A genuine smile of gratitude and relief touched her lips. "And now, I can want to keep living. Because I'm whole again."
What she was saying was the truth. She had heard her tell lie after lie with ease, but this was the actual truth. And that scared her. She… she really does care about me. "Mum, I –"
Her self-assigned mission was to bring this woman in, but a part of her didn't want to. A part of her wanted to believe in what she was saying, to maybe finally have a mother-daughter relationship that she never had the chance to have because her real mother, Miriam Drew, died during childbirth.
"I know, child, I know. Now that you're back, we can start over, have a fresh beginning. We can rule Hydra side by side as mother and daughter, as we were always meant to."
Jessica snorted. "Well, there it is. I should have known this sentimental shit was just that. A steaming pile of shit, just like you." Viper recoiled, hurt flashing across her face briefly. "You think expressing your grief will make me rejoin Hydra? You're wrong. Dead wrong." Her hands became aglow with bio-electricity. "I will never rejoin Hydra. I will destroy it, and I will see you die in a prison cell, as you were always meant to."
The pain of Viper's face multiplied with each word. Then, it was replaced by seething anger. "You… selfish… little ingrate." The gun behind her was picked up and fired. A bullet whizzed passed her ear and pinged off the wall behind her. "I gave you life and you still dare to deny me my basic respect?!"
"You took my life from me!" She fired a stream of bio-electricity, but it was dodged and bounced off the glass tube. It cracked, but neither of them noticed. "You took another woman's child and made her life a living hell for twenty years!"
"What?" Viper rolled to her feet and fired her gun again until the clip was empty. Jessica managed to avoid the shots by dodging where Viper was aiming.
"My mother died during childbirth and you took advantage like some kind of predator." She dashed forward and connected with a right jab to her jaw, then followed with a sweep of her legs.
Viper fell to the floor, but kicked her away before she could do anything. "You fool! There is no Miriam Drew."
Jessica stopped. "What? What the bloody hell are you on about?!"
Viper grabbed her and hurled her into a wall, where she landed with a sick thud. "Johnathon Drew was a scientist that Baron Strucker wanted to recruit because of his work with splicing spider DNA into humans. The initial attempt to bring him in failed, so they tried another method."
Jessica floated to her feet and streaked toward, fist first. It was grabbed and wretched violently behind her back. "Your father eventually met a Hydra agent disguised as Miriam. He fell in love with her and married her. That was when he was coerced into joining Hydra."
Viper smirked and punched her in the kidney until she was coughing up blood. "And they had a child – you. But, your mother never died during birth. She's actually just fine." She whirled around and tossed her into the wall again. "Take a wild guess at who that agent was."
Jessica wobbly rose to her feet, and looked up. She saw the satisfied smirk on Viper's face and suddenly felt like vomiting again. "N…no."
"Yes," she said with a grin. "I call myself your mother because I am your mother." She stalked toward her, a fresh clip in her gun and an evil glint in her eyes. "I didn't mean to get pregnant. Unfortunately, love making is something of a requirement for newlyweds. Not that I regret it."
Jessica was absolutely frozen in shock. Her eyes were widened to saucers under her mask. She started hyperventilating. =Spider-Woman, Strucker escaped but we got Bakshi,= Steve reported. She didn't answer. Short, shallow breaths echoed into the comm. =Spider-Woman? Jessica?!=
"I was ready to terminate my pregnancy and move on with my life, but then I had an epiphany. I could turn my child into an heir. The head that would grow in my place, should something happen to me. And that almost happened, but then Fury got in the way." She placed the muzzle of the gun to Jessica's forehead. "Well, I don't like loose ends, even those that I created." She hesitated for a long time.
Jessica stared off into space, her mind struggling to comprehend what she had heard. The woman she hated more than anyone else on this entire planet, the woman who took her life from her and turned her into a monster was her mother. Not surrogate mother, as she had believed for so many years, but her birth mother. How could you do this to me? How could you do everything you did to me while knowing I was your child? She looked up at her, hate and vitriol burning in her eyes. "I hate you."
Viper bared her fangs in a furious scowl. She pulled the trigger. Instead of splattering Jessica's brain all over the wall, it jammed. "Huh?!"
Suddenly, she flew back. Wanda and Clint ran inside and stood between mother and daughter. "Step away, Viper."
Viper rose to her feet, lips raised in a snarl and a tight grip on her gun. Her eyes flicked from Clint to Wanda to Jessica. They lingered on her for a lengthy moment before her gun raised and fired a shot at Clint.
He was already in the process of ducking, and that was the only thing that saved him from getting one between the eyes. He retaliated with an off balance shot that still landed in the barrel of her gun, just as she was about to fire again.
The barrel was jammed, and it exploded in her hand, causing her to shriek and drop the gun. "Damn you!" She lobbed a grenade at the them and took off running for the door on the opposite side of the room.
Wanda snapped her fingers, hexing the grenade so that it wouldn't fire, then caught Viper with her telekinesis. "Clint, if you would."
Clint nodded and loosed a taser arrow.
"AAIIIIIIEEEEE!" she screamed before falling to the ground, unconscious.
They might as well have been holding a friendly conversation for all Jessica knew. She was still in a daze, in utter shock.
Her life, from the moment she defected from Hydra and joined SHIELD to now, was predicated on the belief that Viper was just a soulless monster who destroyed her life, killed her parents and wanted to her become just like her. She believed that with every fiber of her being. To have that belief shattered with a few words, "I am your mother," was too much.
Viper… Madame Hydra… is my mum… why… oh God, what the hell…
"Jessica?" She felt someone shaking her gently. She looked up to find Wanda's concerned face inches from hers. "Jessica, you alright? What did she do to you?"
"I… I'm fine." She stood slowly and stretched out her back. A sharp pain shot up her spine. She relished in it; it was something else to feel besides the numbing disbelief. "Just got sodded up the arse a little." She flashed a half-smile and turned to leave. "Collect Viper. I'm going to meet back up with Cap."
Clint eyed her for a moment before nodding and going to gather Viper.
"I've seen that look before," Wanda said as they walked down the hall. "I think I know what happened."
"Do you now?"
"I do." She grabbed her arm to get her to stop for a moment. "If you… when you're ready to talk, I'll listen."
Jessica considered her for a moment before nodding hesitantly. "Sure. We can have a little chat."
"Spider-Woman, did it go okay?" Steve asked from the end of the hall. There was a long trail of dead bodies separating him from them. Even from yards away, she could see the blood staining his suit.
"Beating up Hydra fanatics is rather therapeutic, isn't it?" She smirked wryly. "Viper's out cold, thanks to Clint."
"That all?"
"Yes. That's all."
He nodded and moved aside to allow two ex-SHIELD agents, Sharon Carter and Grant Ward, to carry Viper aboard their quinjet.
"You did a good job, Avengers." Fury walked inside, hands tucked inside the pockets of his leather duster. He stopped Ward and placed as pair of titanium handcuff on Viper before slapping her across the face.
"Unh…" Her emerald eyes blinked open. "Where… Fury!" Steve grabbed her before she could tear herself from Ward's grip. "I kill you! I'll kill you all!"
Fury chuckled loudly. "I won't be holding my breath." He injected her with a sedative, then looked at Ward and Carter. "Take her to Ryker's, and make sure she stays there this time."
"Hail… Hydra… HAIL HYDRA!" she screeched before losing consciousness again. Ward hoisted her up onto his shoulders and walked toward the exit to secure her inside the quinjet he and Carter arrived on. Carter was behind him, but slowed down when Steve jogged up to her.
The sick feeling returned full force. Jessica touched her forehead and let out a shaky breath. "You did a good job, Drew," Fury said with a knowing touch in his voice.
"Thank you, sir… I mean, Nick."
Steve returned, that same dopey grin on his face. "What brings you here, Nick? Other than gloating, I mean."
"I was in the area, and wanted to make sure Viper was really her and not an LMD this time. I'm heading back out to track down Strucker and Whitehall. I'll check in when I have something."
"Hey, Patches, I'm throwing a party on Friday. You know, if you wanted to show up and mingle," Tony said.
"I'll check my calendar." With that, Fury nodded and headed out himself.
"What was that about?" Wanda asked Steve as they cleared out to make room for the Damage, Inc. cleanup crew, which was already filing in with state-of-the-art, hi-tech cleaning equipment.
Steve blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I… I asked Sharon to be my plus one this weekend. She said yes."
Tony and Clint groaned loudly. "Jesus, Steve. Haven't we been over this already?"
"Don't wanna hear, you two. I'm going to ask Sharon out and you can't stop me," he said defiantly.
"But, Steve," Tony whined, "she's your ex-girlfriend's granddaughter."
"First off," Steve replied with a finger raised to count off, "Peggy and I never dated, so she can't be my ex-girlfriend. Second," he raised a second finger, "Sharon is her great-niece, not granddaughter."
"Like there's a difference," Clint interjected morosely.
"There is. And third," he raised a third finger, "Peggy got married, had kids and a happy life. I think I'm entitled to that, as well."
"Not saying you aren't." They stepped aboard the jet, where Clint climbed into the pilot's seat and prepared to take off. "Just don't think Sharon is right."
"Wait," Jessica interjected. "You and Peggy never dated, so… you're still a virgin." Steve blushed bright red, making her grin madly.
"Ha! Figured you'd be up to your eyeballs in hot angel chicks in heaven," Clint said with a snicker.
"You've managed to be both sacrilegious and misogynistic in the same sentence. Congratulations," Wanda said, deadpan.
"How was that misogynistic?" Clint asked, dumbfounded. Steve smirked, while Tony wisely kept quiet.
"The coordinates are set, ma'am," one of the quinjet crewmen reported to Sharon after returning from the cockpit. He sat down two seats down from a still disoriented, but awake Viper. "ETA is forty-five minutes."
"Good." Sharon eyed Viper smugly. There was an agent on each side of her, and she was handcuffed with her hands behind her back. Plus, she was restrained in a titanium harness. There was no way she could escape. "Not so intimidating now, is she?" she asked Ward.
He didn't answer, but he looked at Viper with disgust.
Sharon smirked and slipped her hands into her pockets. "You know, Fury told us to drop her off at Ryker's, but I'm not so sure about that. A soft bed, three square meals a day, an hour of TV time, God knows how many of her friends are locked up there. I'm starting to think that a prison cell at Ryker's Island is a little too comfortable for Agent Sanders. I'm thinking she needs to be dumped a little deeper underground."
Viper lifted her head to look at Sharon. Even dazed, her glare was enough to send a jolt of fear through her.
"How 'bout it, Ward? We lost a lot of friends when her and her pals tried to take over. Wanna pay her back?"
Again, Ward didn't answer, but his face hardened and he stood from his seat. He removed his gun from his holster, slipped a fresh magazine in and cocked it. His cold brown eyes locked onto her as he raised his gun.
A tense beat passed.
His finger squeezed the trigger, but, instead of Viper, he shot the two men at either side of her in the head.
Sharon jumped back in complete shock. She had a gun at her hip, but didn't have a chance to reach for it before he shot her in the neck. It nicked her carotid artery, spraying blood all over the cabin wall. She fell to the floor in a pathetic heap.
He shot her again in the neck and head for good measure.
Ward watched her blood stain the carpet of the quinjet for a moment before turning his attention to Viper. Her grin was wide and her eyes were alight with satisfaction.
Grant Ward's face remained neutral, and he whispered only two words, "Hail Hydra."
