Yay! I've been dying to write an Avengers-themed story for agesss... And Falcon & the Winter Soldier has reignited that flame. Hope you enjoy!
- CHAPTER 1: A KNOCK -
- OMNISCIENT POV -
Steve Rogers was not used to being on the run, and he was not used to being outwitted.
His mouth gaped, eyebrows bristling in anger as he stared at the empty slot in the vending machine where he was absolutely sure he had left the flash drive for safekeeping. His hood pulled up, he looked around the staunch hallways of the hospital warily. Nurses bustled about, carrying clipboards and various medical instruments. Everyone looked normal, but Fury's last words rang in his head loud and clear.
"Don't trust anyone."
He couldn't be sure if any of these people actually were doctors, or just pawns meant to keep a lookout for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current most wanted.
A face appeared behind him in the glass, smacking gum as her bright red hair tickled her shoulders. He sighed internally. Should've known. Turning abruptly, he grabbed Natasha Romanov—code name Black Widow—forcefully by the arms and shoved her into the nearest secluded room.
"Where is it?" he seethed.
"Safe," she replied with as much venom.
"I need something better than that."
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Where'd you get it?"
"Not telling you." His jaw clenched in frustration.
But he didn't have to as she connected the dots, face melting into realization.
"Why did Fury give it to you?" she asked, voice slightly less defensive.
"What's on it?" He ignored her.
"No clue." She scoffed at his look of enraged disbelief. "I only act like I know everything, you ass."
They were disrupted momentarily by a noise from the hallway. A body stopped in front of the shuttered door window for half a second, halting their breathing before whoever it was quickly moved along. He turned back to her with a steely gaze.
"I'm not going to ask you again."
She hesitated, not knowing how else she could convince him that she really had no clue what was on that drive. So, instead, she settled for pivoting.
"I know who killed him," she said seriously, looking right into his eyes.
"I don't believe you," he said sternly, but the look on her face made him pause.
She took it as her opportunity to go on. "Most intelligence communities don't believe he exists, but... those that do call him the Winter Soldier. His ledger includes at least a couple dozen assassinations in the past fifty years."
"So he's a ghost story." He scoffed. "Or just another group of individuals roaming around and murdering people per usual."
"I would've thought so, too, except I've seen him." She leaned her head back, a memory resurfacing as pain played through her mind. "A little over five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer to an intelligence base and he was there. After shooting out my tires, I used my body to shield the engineer so the Winter Soldier shot him through me." She lifted her shirt to reveal a brutal scar. "Bye, bye bikinis."
He stared at the scar intently before looking back up to meet her gaze. "Okay, so what do you have on him?"
"Almost absolutely nothing," she began, letting out a sigh after she spoke. "I've been trying to track him ever since, with not a single sighting. The only lead I have..."
She stopped, hesitating in a way that was unbecoming of her. His patience began to wear thin once more, giving her a slight nudge with the hands still resting on her shoulders.
"Spill," he said through grit teeth. "Because, in case you haven't noticed, we're in some deep shit here. If you have anything we can use as a starting point, now would be a great time to divulge."
"The only lead I have," she began again, "is volatile. And that's putting it mildly."
"Again, I need better than that."
"She's ex-Hydra. Enhanced. Whether or not by experimentation, I don't know. And..." she hesitated again before his unfriendly eyes coaxed her to go on, "she used to be the Soldier's right hand. For how long before she got away, I'm not sure."
"So she can't be trusted." He finally released her, running an aggravated hand through his blonde hair.
"I didn't say that." She smirked. "I was able to convince her to run on something with me a couple of years back. Didn't exactly go as planned but proved to me that's she's no longer playing ball with the bad boys."
She held up the flash drive from where she had kept it hidden just inside her pants. He took it from her hands without protest.
"Well," he said, eyeing it, "let's go see if she can help us chase a ghost."
- ILANA'S POV -
The bearded soldier held me down by the neck, grip tightening as I reached up to scratch at his arm, his face. But to no avail. His hand held steady, and I felt my breath leave with every passing second. Finally, I was able to free a leg, kneeing him in the groin that made him shout in pain. Even super-soldiers couldn't take a hit to the dick. With his focus elsewhere, he released my neck and I was able to land a punch up and under his jaw.
It knocked him back far enough for me to roll out from under where his legs had been straddling my thick thighs. My long, black braid whipped at my back as I ducked into a crouching position to assess my opponent. He stood at his full height, and I followed his movements exactly as we now stood about six feet apart.
I was tall, built wider than most, but this man was a bear. He had already been a monster before the serum, but now he was probably bordering seven feet in height. His long curly beard gave him a friendly facade, but I knew what danger lay just underneath.
We circled each other for a moment, me buying time so I could catch my breath. I made sure not to stray too close to the bench of super-soldiers along the wall. The blonde woman sitting there smiled at me menacingly, no doubt remembering how she'd bested me not half an hour ago. There was a deafening pang as a rod hit a nearby patch of the cage I was in with these monsters.
"Get to it!" our commander yelled, and then there was another sound of baton against metal. "You're not here to walk around in circles all day."
The bearded super-soldier lunged and I was able to duck the first fist aimed at my face. Unfortunately, I hadn't anticipated the rapid follow of his other to my abdomen. As it made contact, I buckled, allowing him ample opportunity to punch me on the cheek as previously intended. On my back again, I watched as he walked to hover over me. The light silhouetted him but that didn't stop me from noticing the next fist he intended to land somewhere on my broken body.
Even though I couldn't see them, I felt the veins bulge around my eyes and my vision darkened as my magic began to flow through me. Pieces of metal-esque plates began to crawl up my arms, beginning in talons at my fingertips until they sprouted like scales up to my biceps. They radiated with strength as my fight responses kicked in.
With a quick movement, my foot collided with his shins and he collapsed like a giant tree in the woods. At an inhuman speed, I was atop him, straddling his wide torso. With my reinforced arms, I began pummeling his face. His nose broke in a sickening crunch while blood poured from his mouth and shone on my magical armor.
I smiled. For the first time against one of these beasts, I was going to win.
Another clang on the fence. "Hand-to-hand only!"
And then I felt the zap at the back of my neck. In a painful wave, the electricity washed over me, paralyzing my ligaments until I had no choice but to fall off of the bearded man. I was incapacitated for only a moment, but it was time enough for my opponent to get up. If I'd waited for a second longer, my face would have been under his fist, but I rolled just in time to avoid it. His punch met the ground and made an indent in the concrete.
With another swift movement, I was up. The magic on my arms dissipated back into itself, leaving me with bare arms and only my naturally heightened strength. The super-soldier didn't take any time to rest now, leaping after me so quickly that I didn't register his movements until his arm was wrapped around my neck. With his foot, he buckled me at the knees. My face planted into the floor, a hand at the back of my neck now while the other held one of my arms at an odd angle behind my back. My jaw throbbed, possibly dislocated.
Clapping rang out from my right but I couldn't turn my head to see who it was.
"Well done, Number Four!" our commander yelled out. "Very well done."
Satisfied, the super-soldier gave one last heave on my neck before lifting himself up. The other soldiers stood to greet him as he approached the bench, slapping him on the shoulders in congratulations. I flopped onto my back like a fish, every inch of my body aching. For a moment, I thought he might have actually broken something in my spine as my body refused to move.
A metal hand appeared in my vision, offering to heave me up. Despite my pride, I grabbed ahold and was lifted from the concrete.
"You would've had that," the one-armed soldier mumbled as I limped over to the edge of the cage.
I leaned my entire body against the cool metal, my legs pleading for me to just collapse. But I knew weakness like that wouldn't be tolerated, especially after losing two fights in a row. So I remained standing, using my fingers to snap my jaw back into place
"It's bullshit," I muttered back as I looked at him.
To me, he was only known as the Winter Soldier—a popsicle they unfroze every time we needed to carry out some high-profile mission. He was tall and muscular, with long dark locks to top it off. True to his name, he was pale as snow, his time in cryo clearly wearing on his body. But if he weren't a deadly assassin with a brain of mush, he might be considered handsome. There were times, like now, where he wasn't so bad. But then he'd be escorted to some secret room, blood-curdling screams echoing around the hallways not shortly after. When he emerged, he was hollow, nothing more than a shell of a human.
At least Hydra hadn't broken me to that extent.
The baton practically hit my head through the fence, making my ears ring.
"Jesus Christ," I said through a groan at the noise.
"You're getting lazy with your hand-to-hand, witch," our commander scolded. "Can't rely on those pretty tricks of yours all the time."
"And do you expect those guys to only go up against normal people?" I shot a thumb in the direction of the still-gloating super-soldiers. "I assure you, I'm probably not the only enhanced out there."
At my attitude, he raised up the remote that would activate the device on my neck in warning.
I lifted my hands in defeat. "Apologies, commander. I'll work on it."
"He's getting wiped tomorrow." The commander tilted his head in the Winter Soldier's direction. I saw a flash of pain cross the latter's eyes. "After that, I'm sure he won't hold back in training."
"Can't wait."
"Good." With a sickening smile, the commander hit the fence behind the soldier next to me. "You're up."
"Good luck," I muttered without enthusiasm. He'd been faring as well as me today.
He approached the center of the caged ring, rotating his metal arm to loosen it up. Another super-soldier stood and my stomach dropped. Number Five was the worst of them, malicious and without a moral compass even before he was injected. He held no mercy, even killing some of the guards during his time here. Fortunately for me, he went up against the Winter Soldier every time we sparred. Unfortunately for him, it was only a matter of time before Five ripped his metal arm off entirely.
The fight started out evenly enough, each soldier landing powerful punches. But one misstep from the Winter Soldier and I could tell it was as good as over. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. My neck protested from the movement, but the pain gave me something else to focus on besides the chaotic noises from the carnage in front of me. Eventually, I heard the sound of metal, twisting in a way that it shouldn't, and then one final grunt before the commander clapped again. When I opened my eyes, Number Five had the other soldier pinned in a way that even my shoulders ached from just looking at the contortion.
"Well done, well done!" our commander hollered, glee filling his voice.
The Winter Soldier gathered himself off of the floor, twisting his metal arm around to align it back in place. He heaved himself onto the cage beside me but didn't say a word.
The doctor walked up to Five, grabbing for his wrist to check his heart rate. But the super-soldier heaved, still fueled by the adrenaline from his most recent win. He grabbed the doctor by the throat and I heard a sickening snap before he slammed him onto the concrete. The other super-soldiers stood, looking empowered by the actions of their peer.
Shit.
A guard went after Five with a baton and it broke like a toothpick as it met with the soldier's shoulders. After that, it was chaos. Super-soldiers sprung into action, attacking the nearest guard they could get their hands on. Blood sprayed the floor of the cage, bones snapped, and the screams echoed throughout my ears. I was barely able to miss a punch from Number Two before kneeing him in the chest and sending him flying. Luckily, he fell into the arms of another guard and became occupied with eliminating him.
"Soldier," the commander yelled over the ruckus as he banged on the cage behind us, "get the witch out."
The Winter Soldier was in front of me in an instant, hand grabbing onto my shirt just in front of my abdomen, while my own found his bicep. He walked us quickly around the perimeter, holding off a couple of the super-soldiers with solid punches to the throats. My talons protruded, my vision turning dark once more as I kept on alert. Finally, we reached the other side, the gate buzzing open as he pushed me through first.
As the screams behind us intensified, he turned and heaved the heavy door closed.
I bolted upright, the thud of the cage in my dream matching the knocking at my door. Looking over to the clock on my bedside table, it read 2:18 a.m. The apartment went silent for a minute before the knocking started again, much more pronounced and powerful this time.
With slow movements, I got out of bed and pulled the handgun out from under my pillow. My oversized sweater reached my mid-thighs, and, combined with my leggings, I was much too warm. I held the gun up as I made my way into the area that comprised both my living room and kitchen, the two separated by a marble island. My one-bedroom was scarce, with nothing more than a bed, sofa, and a TV for furniture. When you live your life on the run, you learn not to get attached to things.
My footsteps were silent, my feet barely touching the ground as I made my way down the hallway that led to the front door. Without getting too close, I leaned forward to look out the peephole. Nothing. My heart wished that it was just one of the dipshit neighbor kids playing a prank, but my mind knew otherwise.
Taking a slow but steady breath, I put my hand on the doorknob. With a resolute click, I unlocked both the deadbolt and the main knob before darting back to duck behind the wall that ended the hallway and opened up into the living space. I counted the seconds in measured heartbeats, minutes passing by before I finally heard the hinges of the door squeak open. My landlord always offered to oil them up but I never let him for this exact reason.
They were quiet, too stealthy to be your average break-in criminals. My breath hitched for half a second as I considered the possibility that they had finally found me.
Well, if they had, I would not be going without a fight.
I counted only two pairs of footsteps if my ears weren't deceiving me. That wouldn't be so bad, so long as their backup wasn't hanging right outside the door. I looked at my window, about a ten-foot run. Easy. And I was only on the eighth floor, so if I rolled right, I could probably get away with just an achy shoulder.
Or you could whip out some of that magic and not have to run at all.
I closed my eyes tight to fight back at the intrusive thought. I hadn't used my powers in the four years I'd been on the run. That wasn't me anymore. My eyes opened wide, my heart pounding with determination.
Two shots, ten feet, eight floors.
With one last breath, I repositioned my hands around the gun and counted down from five. With each second, their steps grew closer. Perfect, the shots were much easier when they were near.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
I whipped around the corner, gun straight up. I registered a head of blonde hair and aimed. Instead of hitting its target as usual, the bullet bounced off of a flash of red, white, and blue before lodging in a nearby wall. It caused me to pause for just a breath, allowing me to assess who else was in the hallway.
"Oh, absolutely not," I spat at the redhead, both of our guns held high at one another. "And here I thought we'd come to an agreement. The terms of which being that you never seek me out again."
The Black Widow hadn't aged a day with the exception of her new, blunt haircut. She was still petite with slightly tan skin and severely serious eyes.
"The terms have changed," she said seriously, gun not wavering an inch. She cut to the chase. "We need your help."
I chanced a peek and the blonde and almost groaned. Great, Captain America. Having a high profile superhero in my apartment was exactly what I didn't want as a fugitive. But he wasn't in his star-spangled regalia, I noticed. He lowered his shield but kept it up defensively, revealing a chiselled pale face and oddly wide shoulders atop a tall frame.
"Is good looks an Avengers thing?" I asked, nonchalantly taking a step back towards the window.
"Don't even try it." She took a solid step forward, keeping me from putting distance between us.
"Try what?" I asked innocently.
Her mouth opened but I fired off, purposefully shooting just past her head to cause what I hoped was a good enough distraction. With their eyes momentarily off mine, I rolled backwards, snaking my way to the window. With just one foot away from the jump, something heavy ricocheted off of my wall and lodged itself in the window. The metal shield gave me no viable space to get through.
"We don't want to hurt you," she said, right behind me now.
But when I turned, her gun was lowered. The Captain stood at a respectful distance behind her, eying me up with a stern look on his face. My hand fell to the side, gun still cocked but no longer poised to shoot. A heated truce.
"You know," I said with an aggravated sigh, "whenever someone says that to me, they usually wind up doing the exact opposite."
"We know your past hasn't been kind to you," Captain America finally spoke. "But we're not like those monsters that want to lock you up."
"Wow, Captain America," I chuckled before flopping down onto the couch, "you are not disappointing when it comes to the whole 'being righteous' thing."
"Call me Steve."
"I'd rather not get close since this conversation is over. And, trust me, I'm not planning on seeing you all again, so." I looked over to my busted window frame. "You know, I'm going to lose my deposit because of that."
"Like she said, we need your help, Ilana," Steve said sternly.
"How do you know my name?" I snapped, glare locking on his steady eyes.
"I did some digging after our last encounter," the woman I knew as Black Widow said, leaning comfortably on my kitchen island. "Ilana Dimitrov, code name Illusion. Born in 1987, taken by Hydra in 1992. A shitty childhood by the sounds of it."
"Oh, I don't know. Solitary confinement tends to help grow the imagination." My mouth shut in a hard line as I thought back to my tiny, windowless room.
"You were trained to be one of the deadliest weapons that no one's ever heard of," she continued. "Enhanced by powers of some sort. Ones that didn't present themselves to me the last time we were in touch."
"In touch!" I scoffed. "Is that what you call leading me into a shitshow on Madripoor? Did you know the bounties they put on your head there are for life? No! You wouldn't! Because you left me there to die."
Steve sent her a disbelieving look but she shrugged. I could have sworn I heard him curse under his breath before he shook his head and looked away.
She picked a piece of nonexistent lint off of her leather jacket. "I told you to get out when we got the bounty. Not my fault you didn't listen."
My jaw clenched. She was right, but I wasn't going to admit that. Plus, it still didn't change the fact that she just left, not even caring to turn back for me. But I honestly didn't know what I expected. Life taught me not to trust anyone, but I slipped.
My head sagged to rest on the back of the couch. I knew I shouldn't put myself in such a vulnerable position but I had the feeling they weren't here to kill me.
"What are these powers?" Steve asked after a few awkward moments of silence.
"I'm sorry." I rubbed my eyes as I looked at his stupidly handsome face. "Is this an interrogation or something?"
"Of a sort."
"Am I under arrest?"
"No, absolutely not," he said, taking a step towards me but stopping when I moved my gun closer to me. "We're in a tough spot and could use an assist from someone like you."
I eyed him suspiciously. "Well, you must be in some insane trouble if you consider me a solution."
"Oh, you wouldn't even believe," Widow said.
"And why would I help you?" I narrowed my eyes at her. "Especially you?"
"Because this isn't about us," Stever interjected before she could reply with some snide comment. "We all have high stakes in this. You," he pointed at me, "probably even more so than us."
"What makes you say that?"
"It's Hydra."
My shoulders involuntarily twitched while my leg started to bounce. The scar on the back of my neck burned, as if the device was trying to electrify me, even though it was no longer there.
"What about them?" I could barely even breathe the question through my rage at hearing the name.
"We have strong reason to believe they're taking over S.H.I.E.L.D.," he continued, hands going into his pockets as he shifted uncomfortably.
"Okay?" I huffed, tossing my gun off my lap in frustration. "So call up Iron Man and Thor. You're the Avengers, you can deal with an undercover terrorist organization."
"Not a possibility," he said flatly. "I'm kind of a wanted man right now."
"Oh, I did hear about that." I nodded, smiling at the irony. "America's hero becomes America's number one threat. Funny how easy everyone can flip-flop, no?"
He clenched his jaw, neck rolling slightly as if to relieve some stress. Widow cleared her throat.
"Thor's doing universe stuff, and I think Tony's wrapped up in something on the other side of the world," she spouted off like she was reading a grocery list.
"We're on our own," Steve sighed. "Plus, this is personal for you."
"You don't even know what I consider personal."
"We're looking for the Winter Soldier."
The room slammed into a deadly silence. My heart rate increased and my mind swirled. Hearing about Hydra was bad, but him? That brought up new layers of pain that I'd locked away years ago. My eyes began to burn as they darkened. I felt the talons rip at the palms of my clenched fists. With calculated breaths, I leaned my head back once more and out of their sights.
"What's he got to do with this?" I finally asked when I felt in control once more. Lifting up my head took as much effort as pushing a truck up a hill.
"So he is real?" Steve asked, bunching his brows.
"Told you," Widow mumbled.
"Oh," I let out an exaggerated puff of air, "he's real alright."
"You knew him well then?" Steve prodded.
"Well enough." They just looked at me expectantly, clearly waiting for more. "He was on ice for the most part when I was first brought in. Never saw him, but heard about how they would unfreeze him to carry out a mission and then put him back under. Eventually, we became... acquainted."
"He trained you?"
"If that's what you call getting beat to shit on the daily." I rubbed my shoulder as a phantom memory crept into my brain. "My fifteenth birthday present was him coming off the ice permanently and beating me from sun up to sundown."
"How long were you with Hydra?"
"You have so many questions."
"Yeah, well," he said in annoyance, "I'm trying to stop them from collapsing the government. How long do you think you'll be able to avoid them if they're running the country with God-knows-what they have planned?"
His words stopped me. I picked at my cuticles, blood seeping into the cracks of my fingernails. But the physical pain was nothing compared to what had been unleashed in my mind.
"Well," I gave in, "like the Black Widow over there said. I was captured at the blissful age of five. They trained my abilities ruthlessly for thirteen years, and then I was on missions with the Winter Soldier from eighteen on. We had a good run... about six years. And then three years ago, I miraculously got out. As you can see," I raised my arms in emphasis as I spoke, "been living the high life ever since."
"So, you know Hydra pretty well." He paced lightly, cogs clearly whirring in his mind.
"If you want to make it an understatement, yeah."
"And the Winter Soldier?"
"Oh, we're BFFs," I said sarcastically.
Steve sighed, putting his hands on his hips as he glanced at his companion. They shared an abnormally long conversation with just their eyes. I continued to pick at my nails as I considered it all.
Hydra had infiltrated the most highly classified and fortified intelligence agency in the world. Surely, if they'd made it that far, there was nothing we could do now. But a nagging feeling pulled on my gut. They were planning something, and something huge if they had rooted that deeply into the government. If I could help stop them in any way, shouldn't I? Wasn't that the whole point of getting out in the first place? This could be my chance to finally get my revenge on the assholes that ruined my life.
But was it worth the cost of possibly getting caught again?
"I can't say it enough," Steve pulled me out of my thoughts as he went over to the window, "we need you. You've got serious, current intel on Hydra. You're also the only one currently not employed by them with significant information on the Winter Soldier."
The wood splintered as he yanked the shield from the frame. He slung the metal circle onto his back, attaching to something I couldn't see. It looked so out of place as it hung on his denim jacket.
I leaned back and crossed my arms. "Ah, but I have no loyalties to anyone, so what's in it for me?"
"Thought you'd say that," the redhead smiled.
The Widow pushed off of the counter and sauntered over. From her pocket, she produced a shiny flash drive. There was an unsettling glint in her eye as she held it out to me. I looked at her with confusion.
"Is that supposed to talk or...?"
"When I was running intel, I pulled your presence from the web in the process." My eyes widened. "Ilana Dimitrov—Illusion—doesn't exist." She smirked. "For now."
"So you'll give it to me if I help you?" My mind sounded off alarms of doubt.
"Actually, I'll give this to you right now." She held up the tiny thing for emphasis. "It's half of what I have. Consider it... a down payment. I'll give you the rest upon completion of the mission."
I eyed the flash drive as it twinkled in the moonlight, beckoning me. The thought of it in my hands ignited desperation within me. It was like I was drowning and that piece of metal was my only source of oxygen. I wanted it. No, needed it. With my existence gone from the traceable world, I could do whatever I want. Go wherever I want without having to look behind my back.
Complete freedom.
So, with a thick gulp and rattled ego, I reached out and took it.
"Where do we start?" I asked, looking between them both.
"Well, firstly, by calling me Natasha." She smiled down at me before going back to the counter and holstering her gun. "Might as well know my name if I know everything about you, yeah?"
I rolled my eyes. "Definitely an even trade, for sure."
"And next," Steve spoke up, hands back in his pockets, "we've got another flash drive to crack open."
He walked over, standing just above me from my lounged position on the couch. This time, I didn't reach for my gun. He assessed me with a disgusting look of pity for just a moment before reaching his hand out. I stared at it, flashes of a cage and a metal arm bouncing around in my mind.
We were going to die. There was no doubt. But I reached out and took it anyway.
"Welcome to the team," he said with a smile, accompanied by a pat on the shoulder. "Ten minutes, get what you need."
"Aye, aye, Captain."
And with a mock salute, I pushed past him to prepare for what was sure to be a losing battle.