"Glad you made it." Steve greeted as we got out of the car. I smiled at him, walking right up to him and giving him a hug, which he readily returned.
"Good to see you." I muttered.
"You too, Ty." We stepped away from each other, Steve walking over to Bucky while I headed into the building where Nat and Sam were. It was a simple building, slightly run down. Like a mini abandoned warehouse. It was quite clean inside, however, and nothing looked like it was about to break any time soon. One room with everything they needed and a staircase heading up to a second floor, where I assumed was where they slept.
"Nice hideout," I called out in greeting, "Could use a bright pink rug, though." Sam looked up from a bunch of folders he was looking over and Nat swung around on her chair, a computer screen just behind her with, I assumed, the information on Phoenix.
"Why bright pink?" He asked, standing up and heading over to me. I gave him a quick hug, then Nat.
"I dunno. Just looks a bit dull in here."
"It's only temporary. Going to move again soon. Hopefully to somewhere a little more comfortable." Nat explained. I shrugged.
"Wakanda's pretty nice," I said, "Definitely better than this place."
"Not all of us can be so lucky as you were, Ty." I grinned, then sobered.
"So, what have you got on Phoenix?" I asked. Nat headed back over to her computer, and I followed.
"His real name is Ryan Chase and he's about 18 years old."
"So he's as much of a kid as he looks. That's great to know. I'm being beaten by a child." Nat and Sam looked at me in mild confusion. I just shook my head.
"I'll tell you later. Anything on where he currently is?"
"Well, he's currently working under someone you know."
"Kuznetsov, yeah, I know. But where is the base of operations?"
"From what we can tell, a bank not that far from here."
"We've been taking turns in staking the place out. Definitely some suspicious people going in and out." Sam added.
"Have either of you seen Kuznetsov or Phoenix entering the building with a kid? Yay tall, looks kind of odd? Incredibly blue eyes?" Sam and Nat shared looks, then looked back at me.
"What's going on, Ty?" Nat asked. I sighed, looking around as the door opened and Steve came in with Bucky. My eyes were trained on Bucky.
"You told him what happened?" I asked.
"Not everything." He answered. I nodded.
"Since everyone's here now, may as well fill them in." He nodded, Steve pulling up a couple of chairs. Sam went and got a couple more, one for me and one for him. Then we sat around Nat and her computer. And Bucky and I started explaining the situation as we knew it.
We'd spent the rest of the day trying to come up with a plan to get Oxana away from Kuznetsov. The planning had gone on for a lot longer than we'd expected it to, and before long it was dark outside, everyone vanishing to their respective sleeping areas. Upstairs was a bit more complicated than I'd thought it'd be. It actually had multiple rooms, for one, and one of those rooms had been assigned to me for as long as I needed it. A small room, fairly empty. Just a few blankets and a pillow on the floor in a corner near the window, more than enough and not exactly something I wasn't used to from missions I'd been sent on, both by S.H.I.E.L.D and by Hydra. And it wasn't like I used it for that long. I tried to get to sleep, I really did. But my mind kept working too much, thoughts swirling in my head, making me toss and turn. I sighed, rolling onto my back and staring at my ceiling for a white, trying to count the spiderwebs, then the cracks, and then just listening to the number of cars that drove past outside. Nothing worked for calming my mind, for making me get to sleep. I shook my head, sitting up and looking out the window, back to the door. I was just wearing shorts and a t-shirt, which was a bit chilly, but that didn't particularly matter with my powers. I simply warmed the air around me until I was at a comfortable temperature if it bothered me too much. And then I just set about paying attention to where everyone else was, waiting. When I was certain everyone was in their rooms, I descended back to the downstairs area, my bare feet softly pattering on the cold wooden floor, hoping that I wouldn't get any splinters in them, heading over to make myself a coffee, then sitting down in one of the chairs near the window, aimlessly staring out of it, my thoughts on anything but the coffee. It was going to be a long, restless night.
I'd reheated my coffee a few times by now, having been sitting curled up in the chair for a few hours without getting up. My legs were starting to cramp a little, but I barely noticed. I was still thinking too much about Oxana. About what she must be feeling. About the rage I felt for Kuznetsov, about what I would do to him when I would see him again. And I was going to see him again, I'd make sure of that. I'd also make sure that I was the one to kill him. Wasn't even going to use my powers on him. I wanted to be able to watch the light go out in his eyes. Wanted to do to him what he made me do to my parents.
No. I wanted to worse. I wanted him to burn, the way he'd tried to make the Phoenix do to me. Except worse. I wanted him to burn from the inside out. Wanted to hear his screams, hear him beg for mercy. The way he'd made so many beg for mercy from me. Wanted him to feel the fear he'd made so many others feel. I wanted to see him hurt.
"Your coffee's boiling." I snapped out of my thoughts, head snapping around to look at who'd spoke.
"Huh?"
"Your coffee," Steve repeated, stepping over to take a seat opposite me, "It's boiling." I looked down at the mug in my hands, blinking slowly a couple of times.
"Oh. Right." My eyes faded back to their natural colour and the bubbling stopped, despite the rage that still lurked beneath my skin. I looked back out the window, watching the occasional car that went past.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"Nah, not really."
"Dreams?" I shook my head.
"Just an insomnia night." I looked around and smiled at him, trying to be reassuring. Clearly it didn't work very well, Steve watching me, that usual look of concern in his eyes.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You don't seem like your usual self."
"That's because I'm not," I shrugged as casually as I could, "But I'm still fine."
"Is it because of Kuznetsov?"
"Come on, you don't need to go Papa Steve on me, Rogers." I rolled my eyes, setting the coffee aside and starting to pace around the building. Steve just watched me for a moment.
"Worried about Oxana?" He asked after a while. I stopped pacing, half turning to look at him.
"If he touches a hair on her head, I swear, I will kill him." I growled, Steve giving me a sympathetic look.
"You really have become a mother to her, haven't you?"
"No," I objected, "I barely know her, and she barely knows me. But she's a child. A child that Kuznetsov is ordering experiments on. And I bet Hauer is involved, too. I've been there. Done that. And wouldn't wish it on anyone, let alone a child as young as Oxana."
"She'll be alright, Tyra. We're gonna get her out."
"She'd better be alright. Or I will destroy everything they love." Steve frowned, shaking his head, getting out of the chair and walking over to me.
"This isn't you, Tyra. This is her." I scoffed, looking away again, shaking my head.
"No," I told him, looking back up at him, at the concerned glint in his eyes, matching it with my own look of determination and hatred, "This is pent up rage and hatred that I've been feeling for the past twelve years." I sighed, looking away again, running a hand through my hair. Part of me worried that he was right. That it was the person Hydra made me be coming out. The one part of the technology in my brain that I actually missed. The forcing the two people I was into actually being two people. Sometimes it felt like it could be handy. Being able to supress the murderer without actually having to think about it.
"Hey," He rested a hand on my shoulder, "You know you can talk to me, right?" I smiled slightly.
"Yeah. I know." He sighed, pulling me into a hug.
"Come here." He muttered. I just let him, not returning it, not fighting it. I just stood there, letting him give me a hug. It took me a moment to hesitantly return it, the anger subsiding for a moment, letting me feel the terror beneath it all.
"I'm scared, Steve." I whispered, now having to concentrate on not shivering. I didn't want him to know exactly how scared I was. In all honesty, scared didn't even begin to cover it. I was terrified. Completely, utterly, terrified.
"I know, Ty. But it's gonna be alright. We'll get her back tomorrow. This will work." I nodded.
"Yeah," I bit my lower lip, "It will." I wasn't sure if I believed it or not, but I felt like I had to. I didn't know what I'd do if it didn't work. Oxana was too important to me. A thought slithered into my head, taking root and not wanting to leave.
Maybe he was right. Maybe I was becoming something of a mother towards Oxana. And hell knew I'd do anything to get her back. Do anything to keep her safe.
My fists clenched into fists and my whole body tensed. I couldn't lose her. I'd already failed her once. She hadn't wanted to go. She'd said so. And I'd done nothing to help her. Her words rung in my head.
"Don't make me go."
Steve's grip tightened around me before I pulled away. He left his hands on my shoulders, looking down into my eyes.
"You going to be okay?" He asked. I nodded, giving him a shakey smile.
"Yeah," I assured him, "Just that I should probably go try to get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a big day." He nodded.
"Okay." I stepped away, moving over to the stairs, looking back around at him.
"You should get some sleep, too. Not even the now infamous Captain America can run a mission on no sleep." He chuckled, shaking his head.
"Don't worry, I'll go to bed soon."
"You better."
Neither of us noticed as someone slipped out of the shadows upstairs and back down the hall, their door closing silently behind them as I ascended the stairs. He leaned back against his door as I passed, waiting a moment before letting a sigh escape him as he thought over everything he'd seen and heard.
