The group of assassins had finally reached Axel's house, according to the map that they had been following. The car that they'd spotted on the CCTV footage was right there, parked across the street, so they knew they were in the right spot.

Christie led the way to the Axel's apartment, bracing herself for the drama that was no doubt about to ensue. She, Natasha and Clint soon reached his front door, which was of course locked shut - so Clint did the honours and blew it open, straight off it's hinges. Music was playing from further inside, the smell of weed was strong, and there were beer bottle caps and disregarded underpants all over the dull carpeted floor.

The whole place was grim.

"Ugh. Men are so gross," Natasha murmured in disgust, as they crept their way towards the source of the thumping music.

"You're telling me!" Christie hummed back. Once they reached the master bedroom Clint did the honours again, opening the door - before jerking his head back in horror and squeezing his eyes shut.

"Ahhhh gross - dude, put it away!" he yelped, speedily spinning back round again as the women walked straight in behind him, baffled at what he was reacting so dramatically towards. Inside the bedroom and bent over on the bed was Axel, with a busty blonde beneath him. His eyes widened in surprise and he awkwardly scrambled around for his clothes once he saw the unsurprised Christie and the sickened looking Natasha standing there in his doorway, whilst the girl just let out a scream of terror.

"Oh please stop the screaming, love. Do us a favour - get your clothes on and f*ck off," Christie drawled as both she and Natasha stepped aside so that she could go. The woman grabbed for her clothes, shoved them on and quickly ran from the room, not wanting to be caught up in whatever this was. Of course, Axel attempted to escape as well - but Natasha was far too quick for him. She had pulled a pistol out and pointed it in his direction before he could even lift his leg off the bed, whilst Christie made her way over to him and tried to keep the insults out of her mouth, and the repulsion off her face.

Axel slowly raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry, l-l-listen any money you want, I'll give it!" he spluttered with his eyes lowered uncomfortably. "Can I…uh…at least get some clothes on first?" Christie chucked him a towel from the floor which landed perfectly in his lap, covering all his…precious bits.

"There," she sighed, walking closer to him once he was no longer exposed. "Alright Axel, let's make this fast cos we don't have time. Where's the creepy doctor friend that you were driving around?"

Axel's face faded from one of tension to one of fear.

"How the hell do you know my name? Are you S.H.I.E.L.D? Cos I'm S.H.I.E.L.D too!" he blurted out in a panic.

"Oh give it a rest you absolute wanker!" Christie rolled her eyes dryly, crouching down so that she was dead in his face. "I guess you don't recognise me?" Axel's eyes squinted for a second before they slowly grew wide, realising exactly who she was.

Those sharp steely eyes of hers were undeniable.

"Dr Kriztina?" he breathed. "What…what the hell? Why is your hair white? So you were really S.H.I.E.L.D? How did you double cross-"

"I was the reason the precious Winter Soldier programme went bust in the first place, Axel," Christie broke it down to him slowly, as if he were a child.

"Sucks to be you then, cos it never went bust," Axel spat back, his charming face turning into one blatant fury. Christie's eyes flickered up to his and she opened her mouth to ask him what she was talking about, but Natasha knew that they were under strained time. She quickly approached Axel with the gun pointed stubbornly at his head.

"Where is the doctor that you picked up from Roefield?" she demanded loudly, pressing the barrel against his forehead. "And if I were you, I'd answer fast."

But Christie was already distracted.

"What do you mean it never got busted?" she asked directly over Natasha's words. Her face was getting stonier and stonier by the second. It was the thought of Bucky still being in their clutches that was triggering her the most.

"Whitey," came Clint's calm voice from where he was still guarding the door. Christie turned her head to look at him, clenching her jaw. "Mutation first, your pal Bucky afterwards."

"We don't know how much time we have left to play with Rogue, Christie," Natasha also muttered to her out of the side of her mouth.

"Fine, then let's speed it up a bit!" Christie hissed back as she slipped her rugged dagger out of its sleeve, climbed onto the bed and pressed the blade straight against Axel's neck. He began to sweat profusely as he felt the cool steel stick threateningly against his clammy skin, alongside the gun that was still pointed at his skull. "One last chance you bastard, where's the doc-"

"He fled the country, okay?! His name's Dr. Luka, he's our medic, now w-w-would you get that damn demon knife away from me?!" he shouted, spraying spittle of panic everywhere.

"Fled the country to go where?!" Natasha barked, pressing the barrel even further into his forehead.

"H-h-he didn't say, he has a place in the mountains in some country somewhere!" Axel spluttered back in a hysteria, eyes darting from Natasha's to Christie's and back again. Truthfully, he would've loved this predicament if his life wasn't as stake - both of them were utterly beautiful and in his eyes, were oozing sex appeal…if you like that sort of thing. "He's…he's been tracking the freak mutant b*tch for ages, cos apparently they're all in some school or something, cos his son his a mutant kid and h-h-his son is SICK, alright? He needs a damn cure!"

"He wants to extract her powers for his son?" Natasha frowned up at Christie, her dark brows knitting together. "Not another Winter Soldier mission?"

"We were gonna use it, but it wasn't practical enough so we gave up," Axel grumbled back. "The target would have to get too close in order to do any real damage, so it wasn't worth it. It wouldn't even work in the weapon blasters like we thought, so he took it back to his."

"Alright that's all fine, but how the hell are we gonna get into the mountains? Which mountains? Do you know how many mountains there are in the world?! A MILLION, CHRISTIE!" Clint groaned, his hands placed on the back of his head in exasperation.

"No, wait - there's an easier way to find out," Christie muttered quickly. "Of course there's a way. His son's a mutant - so we already have an advantage…trust me on this one." Natasha nodded and lowered the gun slightly, trusting her every word.

Well, she didn't exactly have time to dispute it.

"Alright, let's call the guys down here to take this one into a cell and get the hell outta here - this place reeks," Clint shuddered, already making his way back out of the bedroom and into the hallway. "I'll make the call, you guys… just make sure the creep doesn't go anywhere."

"Sounds like a plan, Stan," Natasha yawned slightly as she finally slipped the gun back in her holster.

But then she noticed that Christie hadn't quite loosened her grip on Axel yet. "Christie, you can-"

"Nope! Because now we have time to spare," Christie hissed, pressing the blade even closer to his Adam's apple instead. "What did you mean when you said that The Winter Soldier programme didn't go bust? And I swear to god - you need to start talking, Axel-"

"I mean we got your lover dude back - briefly," Axel grunted out, trying not to sweat any more profusely than he already was. Christie's blood ran cold and her hands began to tremble, already replaying the echos of Bucky's tortured screams in her head from that awful time. "We caught him and tortured the sh*t out of him until he complied, in fact!"

"Christie, keep your cool, dude," Natasha warned her quietly, noticing her face considerably harden. But it was too late.

"Natasha, you didn't hear how Bucky screamed in that f*cking chair," Christie muttered through gritted teeth, her hair falling messily over her face. "They tortured him mercilessly. You remember how that feels, surely?" Natasha quickly fell silent and allowed her to continue.

She had a great point, to be fair.

"Either way, somehow he killed everyone in the lab and escaped, AGAIN," Axel continued to ramble on, not seeing the effect that it was having on the woman holding him captive. "But The Winter Soldier isn't even active anymore, so get the freaking dagger sh*t off my damn NECK! I don't even like HYDRA like that, that Hail HYDRA performative sh*t isn't even what I'm into! But the pay is good and it gets the chicks - so I keep it." Christie's throat suddenly went dry and she gradually removed the knife from his neck. Her hands were so sweaty that as she dropped the dagger onto the bed. In fact, the clamminess of her palms shocked her a little.

"So no more lab created assassins?" Natasha sighed to herself. "I mean-"

"Oh no, we have a new target now," Axel stupidly made the mistake of telling them. "We haven't found her yet, but Strucker and Mikel are on a race to find her. Some sexy lookin' red-haired chick with this nature kinda weird bending power. Hot body, hot face - and woah, when we finally lock her up and I get my hands on her-"

And just like that, with the speed of lightening, Christie had grabbed her dagger again and shoved it straight into where Axel's neck met his shoulder, causing him to gasp and tense up, spluttering and gasping for air with his face in a permanent state of shock.

Blood was spurting everywhere.

"That's my sister you vile piece of sh*t," Christie whispered into venomously into his ear. "I'll be damned if you touch her." She carelessly flung his heavy torso forward and left him spluttering, bleeding onto his bedsheets and gasping for air. Whether he lived or not wasn't her concern.

Natasha released a shaky breath out and shook her head, running her tongue over her lips as she watched Axel squirm for his life.

"Good on you," she smirked up at Christie, much to her surprise. But only then did she see that Natasha had already clicked her own pistol, clearly about to shoot him too. "Guessing you've got history with the creep."

"Your average 'won't-take-no-for-an-answer-spike-your-drink' kinda guy," Christie breathed back, aware that she now had blood splattered on her hands and on her face. She attempted to wipe it away with her sleeve. "Realistically, I wasn't gonna let him get within a mile radius of Ashley."

"I don't blame you. So…HYDRA's still after her, huh?" Natasha suddenly frowned, remembering what Axel had said.

"Yup. They have been for a while," Christie yawned back as she stretched her arms into the air, feeling a little cramped after being in the same position for too long. "She knows, though. And I don't doubt that she can handle it. But now I'm wondering where the hell Bucky is."

"Mhm. I'm sure you'll find him eventually," Natasha somewhat assured her just as Clint poked his head round the door, still on the phone. Once he saw the bloodied corpse slumped on the bed and both Christie and Natasha having a casual conversation right above it, he gave the largest sigh of his life.

"Sorry, Agent?" he groaned down the line, leaning himself up against the wall and keeping a steady eye on the nonchalant Christie, who was absolutely splattered with blood. "Yeah we don't need the arrest kit anymore…just a clean up one. Sorry for the confusion…yeah well I'm on the job with Darmer, what the hell did you expect? A clean exit?"

…

Rogue had taken such a dramatic and sudden turn for the worse that it was frightening. Her skin was now all pasty and her hair was beginning to shed onto her pillow. Everything was happening much quicker than Ashley had anticpated, and she hadn't left her bedside once. Rougue's breathing was shallow but she was still attempting to chat to Ashley through it all.

Small talk, which she hated.

The real issue at hand was that this was nothing but a slow and steady suicide, and Ashley was forced to sit by and watch it. She was lost for words, because she didn't know what to say that would possibly help. Thankfully, her phone went off, which suddenly interrupted the uncomfortable silence between her and Rogue. It gave Ashley the opportunity to leap up and go out onto her balcony to take the call, so that she could leave Rogue to watch some trash television with Lady Bucky on her lap.

Ashley slid the balcony doors shut behind her and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Ashley," came Christie's tired voice, "we just found out a bit more about the dude that stole Rogue's powers. He's not doing it to make an army, he's doing it because his mutant son is sick and I guess he's hoping Rogue's mutation will help cure him? Apparently he's been tracking mutants from your school for ages." Ashley chewed on the inside of her cheeks and leaned over the balcony in thought. "How is she, by the way?"

"She's dying, Chris. And she's fine with it. She wants to," Ashley sniffed back.

"Sh*t," Christie hissed.

"So what now? Are you going to wherever that guy lives?" Ashley asked.

"No. Because don't know where the hell the guy lives," Christie answered regretfully. "All we know is that he lives somewhere in the mountains. I wouldn't even know where to begin…but can't you think of someone who would-?"

"Dad," Ashley breathed out almost immediately, thinking of her father's friendly face. "Yes, he's the one! Cerebro should be up and running by now, and if he can get into the son's head-"

"Exactly…so get to calling, we're on our way back but we'll stay on standby if you find something else," Christie finished up quickly before hanging up to free the line. Ashley took this as her time to burst back into the bedroom and slam herself into her chair that was in front of her dresser mirror.

"What's going on?" Rogue croaked out, dragging her heavy eyes from the TV, as difficult as it was for her to do so. Ashley said nothing - she just got the holographic screen up and selected her father's name, waiting impatiently for it to ring.

Charles' face flew onto the screen quickly, causing Rogue to roll her eyes.

"Ashley? Any news?" he frowned at his daughter.

"Dad, I need you to use Cerebro to get into contact with a mutant living in the mountains. He's terminally ill, apparently, and it's his dad who took Rogue's mutation in an attempt to save him. Is that even possible?" Ashley rushed out. Charles blinked a few times before answering.

"Well, many have tried before. But if he's gotten as far as extracting the mutation then…I…how did he find Rogue in the first place?"

"Apparently he's been tracking like…everyone from the damn school. It's HYDRA, they have their ways," Ashley waved off his questions. "Listen, Dad, Rogue is dying. Please try and connect, I don't think we have much time-"

"Alright, be on standby," Charles nodded briskly, before hanging up the call. Ashley let a shaky breath out before standing to her feet and turned to face Rogue again.

"We're gonna get you help, you silly girl. And you can't do anything about it," Ashley told her through gritted teeth, not taking no for an answer.

Before long, although it felt like years, an hour or so had passed. Ashley had received no updates from neither her father nor Christie. Rogue was now laying on her bed, propped up with a number of pillows. Her face was now completely drawn out - she looked like a barely breathing corpse. The speed at which this was all happening was what worried Ashley the most. Rogue could drop dead at any second, and although she would be devastated, she wouldn't even be surprised.

She just couldn't bear the thought of losing her.