Alexis knocked on the door to Natasha's medic room. When three sets of eyes turned her direction, she gave a little wave from behind the glass. Steve and Tony were inside visiting Nat, who seemed to be doing a lot better than Bucky had been. She was all smiles, especially as Alex entered after seeing Steve wave her in.

"Look who it is" Nat replied, her grin present but slightly weakened from the drugs. Her eyes, however, were just as friendly as ever.

"And look whose awake" Alex said as she approached. "Glad to see you're awake and well." Like Bucky, Nat lay propped up in her medic bed with an IV inserted into her arm. Instead of her uniform, she now wore a simple white tank top while the rest of her was covered by a thin blanket. The gash on her arm was fully cleaned and wrapped, and any sign of blood was gone. The other scrapes and cuts she sustained were still glowing an angry shade of red, but overall she seemed to be in a much better state than when Alex saw her earlier. "How are you feeling?"

Nat looked down at herself and shrugged. "Could be a lot worse. That's why I'm glad you're here." She reached up and took Alex's hand in her own, even just for a second, and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you for getting us out of there before it got any worse."

Tony and Steve shared a smile as they looked at Alex. "We never properly thanked you either" Tony told her. "And while I think it goes without saying - thank you."

Alex certainly hadn't expected to hear any of this. Her guilt over not listening to her powers or her gut all sooner prevented her from really appreciating the thanks they were giving her. She accepted it nonetheless, but that tiny guilty tug in the bottom of her stomach made her feel terrible for doing so. "You're welcome. I only wish I had acted sooner" she told them, noticing Steve's smile turn sympathetic.

"How's Bucky?" Nat's brows knitted together. "He was in rough shape the last time I saw him."

"He's stable for now." Alex felt another tug in her stomach, but this time it hurt. "They got him stitched up, but he's knocked out on drugs."

Nat shook her head. "Those monsters..." Disgust lay heavy in her expression as she looked away. The memory seemed to drag her spirit down. "...they came on so strong this time. Far worse than Thimphu. And there were so many of them."

Nat's voice hitched. Steve was right there, rubbing his hand on her back in comfort. Alex felt a moment of admiration for the pair and the friendship they had. Over the months, she'd witnessed the way Steve and Nat moved together, made decisions together, fought together, and leaned on one another...and not just in battle. Alex always wondered if one of them harbored feelings for the other, but it wasn't her place to inquire. Regardless of the kind of bond they had, Alex could tell it was solid.

Nat's normally lush mouth was a tight line now, her eyes darkened by whatever had happened. "Those creatures haveto be stopped."

"I know," Alex told her. "I'm working on it."

This grabbed Steve and Tony's attention, as she knew it would. Both their expressions were the same: they looked at her with question and a hint of doubt.

Alex turned to Steve first. "I was hoping I could speak to you and Tony alone." She looked at Nat and smiled. "Whenever we're done here first, of course."

A little of Nat's glow returned. "Well don't let me stop you from talking shop." Her eyes found Steve's, giving him a little nod of permission. "Go, if you need to."

Alex and Tony turned to leave, while Steve stayed a minute longer to exchange something private with Nat. When he finished, he met the other two in the hallway.

Steve took on his typical, authoritative stance; wide-set legs, arms crossed over the broad pane of his chest, and a stare that was both kind but concerned. "So what exactly did you mean in there when you said you were working on it?"

Alex tried to straighten her posture, giving off a more confident air than she actually felt. Sometimes, she wished it came as naturally to her as it came to Steve. "I meant just that: I have a plan to stop these hybrid creatures, but I can't do it totally alone." She took a pause in order to inhale. "I've made the decision to make a transfer with the creature you caught, enter both facilities that I saw in Dr. Matheson's memory, and stop these things once and for all."

"Okay...definitely was not expecting that..." Tony replied. His dark eyes shifted uncomfortably towards Steve, whose entire face had now twisted as thought he swallowed something horribly sour.

"Are you out of your mind?" He took a step towards her, mindful of the volume of his voice. "This is exactly what we tried to prevent—"

"—I know, I know." Alex's voice was full of the appreciation she felt. She only hoped Steve could hear it. "But this time, it's my choice. My decision. Before, I didn't have one. But right now, with the way Bucky and Nat are..." She exhaled as the memory of Bucky's bloody midsection and the angry gash left there flickered in her mind. "I can't let this happen to any more people. If there's something I can do to stop it, then I have to try."

Steve looked at Tony, waiting for some backup. Unfortunately for him, Tony was being unusually quiet. He stood with a finger on his chin, deep in thought.

"I've already made up my mind and told Fury" Alex continued.

"You told Fury!?" Again, Steve had to correct the volume of his voice. "Alexis..."

"Who, mind you, has stated that he supports my decision" she finished, her eyes never leaving Steve's. "Right now, I'm asking the both of you for your help. I'll be the one that goes in, infiltrates the facility, and manhandles the creatures. If I can't kill them myself, I'll get them into positions so you both can kill them. It might be the advantage we needed before but didn't have."

"If the transfer is successful" Steve reminded her.

"Yes, if."

"And if it isn't?"

"I've told Fury to use the collar on me."

Both Steve and Tony's eyes met in alarm.

"No." Steve shook his head with finality. "No, I can't let you do this."

"With all due respect, Steve, it's not up to you." Alex could see the turmoil in the stormy blue of his eyes. She knew what he was thinking. He was concerned for her, but he was also concerned for Bucky. Steve was protecting his friend by trying to protect her, and Alex couldn't blame him. It's just what Steve and Bucky did when it came to their friendship.

"Steve, look..." Alex tried to collect her thoughts, but all she felt were the hum of her powers and the nervousness of the unknown ahead of her. "...None of us have been able to take these on in the conventional ways. But if this works, and I can end this?" She shrugged. "I have to at least try. I can't sit back and do nothing, knowing there might still be a chance."

Tony's eyes never left Alex. Even as her gaze turned from Steve to him, his stare remained steady and collected. He may have been silent during most of this, but his brain was working as it always was. It was always running in the background and coming up with ideas and strategies as Alex faced him.

"Tony? Will you help me?"

Tony's finger stayed positioned over his mouth as he studied her. "What's your plan?"

A glimmer of hope kindled inside Alex. "Assuming the transfer goes well, I'll be a part of their hive mentality. I'll be able to connect with them, in a sense. Read their thoughts. Mimic their behavior. It might be enough to slip past a few and find the 'mother' hybrid, assuming there is one."

"There should be one, yes - that was part of our instructions on the mission" Tony replied. "Go on."

Alex glanced at Steve, whose facial muscles seemed a little less tight now. "I'll try and take out the mother first, which should weaken the rest and leave them open for me to unleash on. If I'm not able to do that, then that's when you guys come in. We can come up with a signal of some kind...something to let you know on the outside that things are going well on the inside. I'll leave it up to you guys how you want to finish off the rest of the facility."

It sounded like a decent plan to Tony. And whether Alex knew it or not, it was actually quite close to their original mission plan they had not 24 hours ago. Steve was thinking this very same thing as he stewed over Alex's plan. Initially, he was against all of this for the simple fact that he still believed Alex might end up in more trouble than she realized. Then again...after what he and the others encountered, she might be their only true chance at success.

And then there was Bucky. He was asleep now, but if something happened to Alex during all of this...Steve didn't even want to think about it. He wouldn't consider it. And the only way he could ensure nothing happened to her on this mission was to go with her and help her.

"So..." Alex tried to smile at the grim looking men in front of her. "Will you help me?"

Tony gave a single, firm nod. "I'm in." He looked beside him at Steve. "Cap? Whaddya think?"

Steve remained staring at Alex. He also gave a single nod. "I'm in."

Alex let out a relieved exhale.

Fury came through with everything Alex requested. The ride she wanted was the Quinjet, which had been resupplied and refueled and was now completely ready to go.

The ammo she requested consisted of her usual assortment of hand guns and one singular rifle strapped to her back (the one, in fact, that she practiced using with Bucky many weeks ago), as well as one of the grenade launchers, and several rounds of explosives. It looked like overkill, but that's exactly what she was going for.

Her team, of course, would be Steve and Tony, with some additional S.H.I.E.L.D. gunmen appointed by Nick Fury to go along for the ride. Steve, Tony, and Alex would be handling the heavy work, but it never hurt to have a few well-trained, well-armed agents in tow.

Fury stood still as stone as Alex crossed the hangar, now dressed in her Wakandan suit of black and purple. It was the first time Fury had seen Alex in her specially made suit, and the sight of it made both his eyebrows rise. "Quite an upgrade from the last time I saw you suited up."

Alex looked down humbly. "You can give your regards to Stark. He had it specially made."

"Wakandan?"

Alex nodded.

Fury eyed the sleek black one-piece suit with high regard. "Not bad, Markos. Not bad at all." He smiled at her, and Alex returned the gesture.

"Everything ready to go?" She looked past him at the Quinjet. "Is, uh...is the subject still in its crate inside?"

"Yes. And all the ammo you could ever need." Though he only had one eye visible, it honed in on Alex in a rather fatherly, protective way. "You know I gotta ask one more time..."

Alex chuckled. "Yes, Fury. I'm sure I want to do this." He also let out a soft chuckle, and for a moment, Alex thought they could have been back in that dark alley of Boston when he first approached her about joining the team. If Alex recalled correctly, she had done most of the chuckling because she thought one of them had lost their mind.

Sam interrupted Alex's reverie as he came striding forward. He wiped his hands on his now-dirty khakis, doing his best to remove some of the gunpowder residue before shaking Fury's hand. "Hey Fury, good to see you."

"Same, Wilson. Everything loaded up?"

Sam looked at Alex, though his smile seemed laced with regret. "It is, but...Markos, are you sure-"

Both Alex and Fury began to smile, causing Sam to halt mid-sentence. Alex nudged him in the waist. "Fury just asked me the same thing, so you might as well hold your breath."

"Should've expected that" Sam replied, eyeing Fury with sympathy.

"There is...one thing." Alex felt her chest tighten with guilt and fear. "Can you do something for me while I'm gone, Sam?"

Sam shoved his hands in the pockets. "What's that?"

"When Bucky wakes up, make sure you explain this was my idea." The words were difficult to speak, but Alex knew Bucky would demand an explanation. "You're the only one here who can explain everything from start to finish."

Sam glanced up and away, watching both Rogers and Stark board the Quinjet. He knew Barnes would be furious the minute he realized what they were all doing, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be around when it happened. But when Sam looked back at Alex, he couldn't ignore the pleading look in her gaze. "Alright, I'll do it." He lifted a finger at her, even as her expression brightened with gratitude. "But if I get a taste of metal in return, I'm sending you the bill."

If the moment wasn't so serious, she might have laughed. Instead, she gave him a smirk. "We'll discuss that when I get back."

"Just make sure you do" Sam told her.

Alex would do everything she could to make sure of it. Now, she turned to Fury. "Thank you again. For all of this."

"Good luck out there, Markos." Fury said, watching as the young woman walked away. No longer was Alexis Markos the angry, lonesome, lost girl he found in Boston. She was officially an Avenger; not because of the suit, or the ammo, or the people she was about to embark on this mission with. She was an Avenger because of the risks she was willing to take to protect and serve.

With a lingering smile, Fury turned away and headed out of the hangar.

A strange thing always happened to Alex whenever she felt really nervous. A song from some obscure moment in her past would pop into her mind and get stuck there until her nerves receded. Right now, as she paced in the back of the Quinjet, a Bob Seger song from one of her mother's old favorite albums rolled over and over in her agitated mind:

Sometimes at night, I see their faces
I feel the traces they've left on my soul
And those are the memories
That make me a wealthy soul

How ironic, Alex thought as she paced. Of all the songs, the one about memories and souls had to be the one stuck in her brain. She could almost see her mom carrying the tune as she drove her home from school. Her carefree spirit would brighten Alex's otherwise dark days at school. It didn't matter what song or how poorly she hit some of the notes, it always used to make Alex smile. Perhaps those really were the memories that made her a wealthy soul.

And so Alex continued to pace, lost in her thoughts about the mission (and the lyrics of that damn song). She didn't exit those thoughts until Tony found her there.

When Tony realized Alex was pacing, he couldn't help the smile that broke across his face. Only a few months ago, he'd found Alex doing the same thing outside the door to his office. Now, she was practically wearing a rut into the steel floor of the aircraft.

"Not to interrupt," he said, purposely interrupting, "but it feels a little like you could use some company?"

Alex halted. Apparently, she'd been so deep inside her own brain that she hadn't even heard him approach. "Why is it always you who catches me when I'm being ridiculously nervous?"

Tony shrugged as he came closer. "My timing has always been somewhat flawless." He said this with a great deal of humor...and sarcasm. He watched Alex's shoulders slump. "But I'm not here to harass you."

"Oh? I thought that was your specialty?"

He noted the hint of jest in her tone. "In all honesty, I wanted to check in on you." With some memory, he recalled doing this very thing a few months ago himself. Funny how history was weirdly repeating itself. Not to mention that Alex seemed surprised by his admission, but judging by the way the light danced a little brighter in her dark eyes, Tony figured she appreciated him being there. Or at least, she appreciated his honesty.

"Any words of wisdom for me before I do this?" Alex asked him.

The proud way she held herself faltered, but only slightly. Tony knew the stress she was under, and he also knew what it was like to try and hide it. In fact, he excelled at it. "Yes. Several words of wisdom, if you'll hear me out."

"I'm all ears."

"You know what you're up against, so I won't remind you how awful those things are" he told her matter-of-factly. "But there's plenty of good you can take from them. All of which you know how to handle: Super-human speed. Heightened senses. Increased flexibility. And of course, some degree of invincibility." He paused. "Make sure you use them."

Alex was grateful for the reminder. She wasn't entirely sure once she did the transfer if she'd be in her right mind, or even have control of it as much as she normally did. Anything was possible, but she hoped for the best. "And the hive mentality."

Tony snapped his fingers. "Use that most of all. Not a single one of us have the ability to do what you're about to do, so that - above all else - could be the difference maker."

It's the one thing Alex had been contemplating when Tony found her pacing. If she could enter their minds, using their mirrored traits and physical abilities, the operation might be easier than she expected.

"If you get in a pinch, Steve and I will be right there. We'll be watching you every step of the way." After a moment's hesitation, Tony pulled a small rectangular case out of his pocket. It was hard-sided like a cargo crate, but no bigger than a wallet. "These are all I was able to make, so use them wisely."

He handed to small case over to Alex, who looked at him with question. "What is it?"

"A kind of antidote I've been dabbling with in my spare time." Tony watched as Alex opened the case, revealing three fully loaded syringes. An opaque turquoise blue liquid was suspended within each of them. "I was going to test it on the sample we brought back, but..." He facially shrugged. "You see how far that got."

Alex lifted one of the syringes out and examined it in her gloved hand. The liquid was strangely beautiful, but the look of it left her with an ominous feeling. "I'm guessing these are fatal?"

"Correct. And, since I wasn't able to make enough, stick to taking out each of the 'mother hybrids', wherever those might be. Assuming there even is such a thing." Tony knew he sounded unconvinced, but him and the others never even made it into the facility. Whether the theory of a 'mother hybrid' was even real was still unknown, even to him. "Consider the third one a bonus."

Alex placed the needle back in the case and clicked it shut. "I'll guard these with my life."

Tony pulled one more item out of his other pocket. It was another syringe, similar in size and make to the others but with a bright green liquid inside. He wiggled the syringe in his fingers. "And this one- this one's all yours."

"Mine?" Alex suddenly felt like their talk had turned morbid. "You don't mean..."

"No, no, this isn't fatal." Tony stared down at the syringe, rolling it in his fingers. "My goal with this was to make sure you don't need to wear that collar. I wanted to make sure that as long as Steve and I were a part of this mission, you wouldn't have to." As he suspected, Alex went to argue, but he held a patient hand up to her. "I don't care that you're being strong and trying to put on a brave face, I know that thing fucked you up last time. I may have never seen you wearing it, but I saw you later that night. I watch people. I observe others when no one thinks I am. And you were a pretty open book that night, for as well as you tried to keep it together." He smiled at her. "Plus, I owe you one. For...you know...the night of the psyche-memory-emotions thing we did in your living room."

"You don't owe me anything."

"I do." Tony nodded at the syringe as Alex took it from him. "This is the very least I can do."

Alex stared at the green liquid. "So if this isn't fatal, I'm afraid to ask what it will do to me, exactly."

"It was a brilliant idea on my part, if I do say so myself" Tony beamed. "It's the same formula as the others, which should completely destroy the creature the second it enters their fucked up bloodstream. I played around a little and was able to remove the fatal strain. So basically, this will do the same thing the collar would: remove your powers, but only those transferred from the hybrid. Oh, and it'll probably knock you out pretty good, but that's just a temporary side effect. Consider it a way to cancel your membership if you can't stand being part of their hive anymore."

Alex was always amazed as the casual way Tony spoke about his inventions and creations. What she was holding in her hand was scientifically mind-boggling, but to Tony he was just 'playing around'. Alex was wholly impressed to say the least. She handed Tony back the syringe. "Once again, you and your gifts have left me speechless."

"You're not the first woman to tell me that." He pocketed the syringe and grinned. "I'm pulling for ya, Alex. Really, I am. After you helped me that night, you left me speechless. I couldn't even fully describe to Pepper what I felt or what you did, but it made a difference. If there was a way I could ensure you had a little help on this mission, then it was just a small way of repaying you for the help you gave me."

Their matching brown eyes met, and for a second, Tony thought Alex was going to cry. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"You didn't even have to do that" she uttered quietly. "But it means more to me than you could know."

Tony rubbed her back, unable to keep from smiling. He wasn't the best at mushy moments, but the hug spoke for the both of them. He liked Markos. He had her wrong in the beginning; misjudging her and her powers out of fear. Yes, fear. He feared the worst with her, but found she wasn't so unlike the rest of them. Her relationship with Barnes was evidence that her powers could actually help others and bring them together. After Tony agreed to try the trial run (months after he finally got over his fear), it had benefited him and had strengthened the budding friendship he and Markos had with one another. For all the ways her powers had driven people away from her in her life, Alexis' powers had brought her and the rest of the Avengers together.

Steve entered the back of the aircraft, one hand on the doorframe as he leaned inward. "We're about 20 minutes out."

Alex tried to exhale the nerves that suddenly filled her body. "Guess it's go time, huh?"

"We'll be right beside you" Tony told her. From the doorway, Steve gave her a reassuring nod.

"Last chance to back out" he offered.

"Like hell. I'm ready to end these ugly bastards." She pushed past the both of them and led the way back to the crate.

Behind her, Tony double-tapped his arc reactor and the red and gold plates of his suit appeared and covered his entire body. Steve maintained a protective position behind Alex, guarding her as they entered the room with the crate. The thing began to screech in the ear-piercing manner it had since they caught it. Steve's enhanced hearing made it hard for him to be in the same room as the monster, but he wanted to be there for the transfer. Alexis was his responsibility from this moment forward; if she needed him, he promised to be there. He swore to himself he'd bring her back to Bucky in one piece, just as he swore to do the same to Alex a day ago.

Alex knelt in front of the crate, coming eye-to-eye with the hybrid. Being this close gave her a whole new perspective on its artificial design. It was bigger than a carnivorous feline, and way, way uglier. It had no real distinct head; just an oblong shape covered in layers of loose folds around its neck that blended into its body. She remembered those folds, but even more so she remembered the stench of death. Alex felt her stomach roll over the first whiff she got of it.

She looked back at Tony and Steve as she hit the button that removed the gloved part of her suit. "You two ready?"

"Ready" they replied in unison. Steve stood behind her, shield ready in case something went wrong. Tony engaged his helmet, the slits of his eyes glowing white beneath.

Cautiously, Alex lifted a hand towards the creature. Deep inside, Alex felt her powers come alive with ferocity she'd not felt before. Her entire body was like a live wire, humming and flickering from within as she focused on the well from which she gathered those powers. She lined her hand up with the chest of the hybrid, well away from its face so it couldn't hurt her, and closed her eyes.

In those final few seconds before she made the connection, Alex thought of Bucky. She tried to picture his face when he told her he loved her for the first time. She recalled the wholeness she felt when she was with him. He was her teammate, her partner, her friend, and someone she would avenge this very night.

A comforting warmth spread through Alex's body that steadied her. She put her open palm on the creature and began.

Almost instantly, her body jerked; her head tossing backward as the first onslaught of foreign power entered her body. The white light that encircled her spread outward and onto the hybrid's body. In response, it hissed and screamed in protest as it felt Alex enter inside of it, but it never broke Alex's concentration. She focused the energy within her, forcing it to push beyond the unearthly obstacles she encountered once inside the creature's psyche. When she locked onto its powers, her body opened to the transformation about to take place.

A scream originated deep inside Alex's chest, exploding through her and splitting the silence inside the Quinjet.

The scream took Steve and Tony by surprise. Steve turned to him in alarm, but Tony lifted a plated hand telling him to wait. Neither moved or spoke, waiting through Alex's pained scream. Within a few seconds, she grew silent once more. Her head lolled forward, but her hand remained on the creature. The monster bellowed, and the white light emitting from Alex grew brighter. Slowly but surely, the transfer was taking place.

Inside, Alex felt like her body was splitting in half. Her blood felt cold, as if icy steel liquid traveled through her hands into her chest and outward to her limbs. She grit her teeth, feeling through the pain as the transformation continued. It was unlike any transfer she'd done before. Transfers were normally a smooth and easy ordeal, but now...now she encountered pain that rattled her entire body. She could feel her muscle fibers tearing as they took on the characteristics of the hybrid, enhancing her and giving her their power. The creature continued to wail, but Alex hung on.

Somehow, in all the moments she and Bucky had worked on this together, her control had grown stronger than she realized. When she did the trial run with Tony, it took almost the same amount of energy and focus as she was using in that very moment with the hybrid. All the work she'd done the past few months had amounted to something, and it never counted more than it did in those final moments.

When the transfer was complete, the creature fell silent. Its deformed figure slumped within the crate, no longer suspended by the blue field of energy around it. Alex had taken every last ounce of what it had to offer her, leaving nothing behind but the shell of its body.

When she lowered her hand, Alex toppled backwards. Steve caught her, helping her to stand. "Markos?"

Alex blinked exactly once before her eyesight adjusted to that of the hybrid's. Everything was enhanced, but the coloring wasn't that of her human eyesight. Instead, she saw things in shades bright yellows, oranges, and reds. Infrared.

Steve helped her upright, but it didn't take much for Alex to adjust to the strength she now felt. "You alright?" he asked her.

Tony took a cautious step forward. "You still with us, Markos?"

Alex could hear both Tony and Steve talking to her, but she could hear so much more. Inside her brain were dozens of voices, and they were all the same. Each was a voice of the creatures waiting below at the facility, and one stronger voice belonging to the mother hybrid from which Hydra created all the others. It was a foreign language. Basic. Animalistic. Full of anger. All of them were repeating their one desire: kill.

Steve was starting to feel nervous as doubt crept into his mind. Alex just stood there, staring at the ground. Her breathing was slightly elevated, and her bare hands were balled into fists at her side. "Markos?" He wanted to touch her, just to see if it would break her out of whatever trance she had entered. "Are you...still one of us?"

When Alex finally lifted her gaze, the chocolate brown of her eyes now glowed a pale golden yellow.

"Bring me to them" she said. It didn't even sound like her own voice when she heard herself.

Tony disengaged his helmet as he looked at Steve. "What the hell's with her eyes?"

"I don't know, but we gotta move." Steve placed his shield onto his back and headed for the cockpit.

Alex remained standing, staring off at nothing. Chilling voices spun round in her mind. Kill. Kill. Kill. Her powers burned in her hands. Kill. Kill. Kill. She heard them. She could sense them in the facility. In cages. Waiting. Pawing at the bars of their pens. They wanted her, but she wanted them more.

"Hey, Alexis - look at me. Talk to me." Tony turned her towards him, forcing her eyes - those new eyes - to meet his. "Are you in there?"

"Yes" she answered coldly.

"Do you have control of yourself?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that's a start."

Kill. Kill. Kill. The voices wouldn't stop inside Alex's mind. They drowned most other sounds out, making Tony's voice seem like it was down a long tunnel. She forced herself to compartmentalize the sounds, utilizing her own skills and those of the hybrids in order to focus.

"Are you connected to their hive mentally?" Tony asked, still worried. Alex's face was so blank; all her personality seemed to have left her.

"Yes. I hear them." She flexed her hands at her side. "They want to kill. I want to kill."

Tony's eyebrows rose and he rubbed his goatee. "Okay, but, uhh...which side do you want to kill?"

Her pretty face turned wicked. "Their side."

"Well that's a relief" Tony exhaled. He glanced over at the lifeless creature in the crate. The blue aura had disappeared now that it sensed nothing was alive for it to control within it. Its body lay in a half-shriveled lump. The sight of it sent a chill down Tony's spine.

Steve returned to the back room, grabbing both of their attentions. "Cloaking device has been activated. We'll be on the ground in 5 minutes." He stared at Alex, wary of the golden hue of her eyes and what she might be able to sense with them. "We follow your lead" he told her.

Alex grabbed the grenade rifle and strapped it across her back. "My belt."

Steve handed Alexis the utility belt she always wore on her suit. Instead of just knives and guns, she now had dozens of hand grenades strapped around it. The irony of the moment, though Bucky wasn't there to see it, was that Steve thought Alex actually resembled Bucky once she donned all her weapons. She still moved with that quiet, deadly grace she always had, but the super strength she now shared with the hybrids allowed her to move with a new level of power.

When the Quinjet settled onto the ground, Steve raised his hand to his ear. "Connecting comms in 3...2...1..."

Tony and Alex synced their earpieces to his as the hatch opened behind them. Without another look back, Alex headed down the platform and into the night with one goal in mind: to kill everyone and everything that hurt Bucky and Natasha.

Author's note: I know Bucky wasn't a prominent fixture in this chapter, but it was important to give the other characters some time to hash out the plan that will take us into the final chapters of this tale. Bucky returns in an important role in the next chapter (and beyond, of course), so stay tuned. Thank you again for all the love, follows, favorites, and comments. I see and read them all and appreciate each and every one of them!