Some Things Never Sleep

by Lucky Strike's alter ego

"You never learn when to quit, Spider-Twerp." She told him. "Spider-Twerp?" Spider-Man questioned in disbelief as he glared. Emma smirked. "Well, you annoyingly seem to get in my way all the time. That and you don't look or sound like a man to me." She explained. "I am a man." He told her angrily. "Somehow I doubt that." The first time Emma and Peter met didn't exactly go well.

86. Chapter Seventy Eight

Author's Note: Yay! So I finally updated faster this time. I'm really proud of myself and especially since this is another long chapter. It took me a couple days longer than I wanted but it's still just a week from last time. I would've updated sooner but I was binge-watching this amazing show on Netflix called 'The Fall'. Has anyone ever seen that show? It's so addicting and I just finished it.

I just want to include a link where I've created a collection of Fanart for Some Things Never Sleep. I'm not really into Tumblr since I really don't like social media that much so it's on Quotev. For now it's just the art work Another random account has been sending me but if anyone else has anything I'll gladly add it to the collection. Seriously check it out though. The art work is so beautiful.

Link: story/11656025/Some-Things-Never-Sleep-Fan-Art/1

Has everyone seen the new Superbowl Avengers: Endgame TV spot? Steve's pissed off look intrigues me. I also want to see a lot more of Rocket interacting with the other Avengers. It's just so weird to picture him with the rest of them. I just realized that these recent Endgame trailers are kind of like a drug to me. One is not enough. Two is definitely not enough. I'm pretty sure three is definitely not going to be enough until the movie actually comes out.

WARNING!

I'm going to list a bunch of warnings for this chapter because Rumlow plays a big part in this chapter. I seriously had to take several breaks while writing a lot of this because Rumlow's a really sick and sadistic person so it's hard to write some of the stuff he says. Getting inside Rumlow's head is not somewhere you want to be. So there's a lot of mention of rape in this chapter. The mention of rape is pretty graphic so be warned. This chapter is also pretty violent too. So also be warned about that.

So now that we've gotten through the warnings, I'll start answering some of the reviews.

Stoffel02: Thanks. I'll keep that in mind when I start re-editing the story.

moocella: Steve and Bucky are going to see the videos as I've said before. This definitely wasn't going to be the chapter for that but I'm sure you'll see why. I'm thinking it'll either happen in the next chapter or the one after. I haven't decided where to fit it in yet.

I'm the Galactic Starfish: Thanks so much for your kind review. I really wanted Steve and Tony to reunite in Infinity War too so I was kind of disappointed but hopefully we'll see that happen in Endgame. I just hope it's not too late. Emma's a huge flirt so I imagine her flirting with Thor too. Not just Loki. Jokingly, of course. The only person she flirts with for real is always going to be Peter. I'm glad you enjoy STNS so much and that it can inspire you. You don't know how much that means as a writer. Well, maybe you do since you're a writer too but I'm sure your writing is amazing. My writing still needs a lot of work. I know that more than anyone else. I think there's always room for improvement. I also think the key is to just keep writing and it'll get better. My writing now is way better than it was at the beginning of the story which is why I want to re-edit so bad.

Assbitch67: I got a little emotional myself just writing that scene with Steve and Tony. It was a long time coming and I'm thinking they'll be a little closer now than they were before in this story. I'm glad you love the story but you might hate me or love me for this chapter. I'm not sure yet about how people are going to feel about it. I'm happy with the end result though.

JuggernautJJ: T'Challa wasn't specifically speaking about Killmonger but himself as well. It was referring to that time in Civil War when he wanted to kill Bucky because he thought Bucky killed his father when it was actually Zemo. He was also referring to Killmonger trying to avenge his dead father at the hands of T'Challa's own father. T'Challa was more so speaking in general about people seeking vengeance and it only bringing them pain.

glagla60800: Yes, I have seen Crazy Rich Asians. It was a while ago but I really enjoyed it. It was really funny. I'm really happy that you read 'Affinity War' because that's my new favorite fanfic on here. There's not many Peter stories I like and normally I don't read Peter/MJ but I just really love that one. Something really amazing and exciting happened last chapter too so I'm really happy and it gives me a lot to think about regarding this story with something that's going to happen in a few chapters. I'm kind of hinting at something major here but only people who are reading 'Affinity War' will get it, I guess. I know the story isn't very long yet but the author hasn't been writing it for long. My story wasn't always this long either. I think it just builds the anticipation whenever a new chapter is about to drop. The author always updates on Saturday so Saturday is my new favorite day. Friday is also my favorite day because that's the day emmagnetised updates 'The Wyvern'.

Thank you! Another random account drew that picture of the upside down Spider Viper kiss which has to be one of my favorites from all the fan art she's sent me. They haven't kissed like that yet but I have plans for it. That's all I'll say for now.

Thanks! I can't believe the story's gotten to be that long. It's really crazy.

I started reading 'Sins of the Father' a while ago but I never finished it. I should really pick up from where I left off because I remember really loving it. I'm also a huge fan of Peter and Tony's father and son moments but there will be plenty more of that to come. Probably some more fluffier bits towards the end of the story since after this chapter we'll start to move past a lot of the darker material.

I have to be honest. I really only created Susan all those chapters ago but I didn't want there to be an awkward kiss between Sharon and Steve in Civil War. It's almost incest in this story since they're related through Emma with Steve being Emma's grandfather and Sharon being Emma's somewhat distant cousin on her grandmother's side. I'm not sure if I'll keep Susan in the story since I'm kind of bored with her character and I also like the idea of Steve being single.

The new Cap suit was inspired from the comics by the way. I was looking through different Captain America suits and noticed that suit and really liked it.

bonitalito: There's definitely going to be a little bit of awkwardness between Bucky, Emma, and Peter in this chapter. You'll see just what I mean.

diamond moon: I didn't know that was almost an actual storyline for Peter in the comics. I could see how that might be weird.

tetsuyacchi: You have no idea how excited I am to write Emma and Loki interacting. It's going to be so fun and I'm just so pumped for it. I won't say much in regards to the Winter Viper thing but Emma deleting the file wasn't the end of it. Thanks so much for supporting this story. Your review means so much.

JustJoyce: There's another instance in this story where Emma was totally Peggy. If you can guess it then you score major cool points with me. Steve will mention it in a couple chapters anyways. I'll just hint that it happened after a fight between Emma and Peter. Yeah, Emma pretends to be more responsible and grown up than Peter but they both get into a ton of trouble together. Emma and Peter are definitely going to cause Tony, Bucky, and Steve to go gray. Those two would stress out any parent.

anonanon: I did the foreshadowing bit on purpose by the way. I did it once before in the story and I even kind of do it a little bit in this chapter too. As far as the AU's go, I'm thinking of doing 'Baby Avenger' last just because it would be the longest one. I might do 'Spider-Brat' second or third but don't worry. It's not going to be dramatic at all. It's actually going to be more like a comedy with lots of fluffy moments. Probably a lot of the Avengers baby proofing the compound while Emma and Peter are forced to come to terms with becoming young parents. Something tells me that Peter would be weirdly excited after getting over his initial shock. I'm thinking of doing 'Her Name is not Viper' since that one's been getting quite popular and I've always wanted to write a villain version of Emma. I think Bad Emma and Good Peter would be really fun to write. 'Man out of Time' is one I might do second or third. I'm torn between doing that one or 'Spider-Brat' first. I'm not sure yet. I still need to develop more ideas for 'Spider-Brat'. 'Me and My Husband' would either be last or next to last. I know 'Spider-Brat', 'Man out of Time', and 'Me and my Husband' wouldn't be very long fics. They'd be relatively short. Probably under 60,000 words. 'Spider-Brat' would probably be 45,000 to 50,000 so not long at all. I'm still deciding about the AU fics but I'm not going to start writing one until I'm a few chapters into the sequel.

993TheOneEyedKing986: I'm not totally sure how many chapters until the sequel. I don't want to give a definite number until I'm one hundred percent sure. I know that it's definitely under ten at this point. I'll have a more exact number after the next chapter.

ChanceToBeImmortal: Thank you so much for your review! It really means a lot. I also want to add that T'Challa was completely right in what he was telling Emma. You'll see that in this chapter. Emma was in the wrong because T'Challa did recognize something in her that told him that she was hellbent on getting revenge so he was correct.

Thanks for all follows, favorites, and reviews. Sorry if I didn't answer them all but I did read them and cherished every single one so just know that. I just really wanted to finally get this chapter out to you. Anyways...thanks and let me know what you think.

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They had only been up in the air for around an hour but the Quinjet couldn't get there fast enough for Emma.

Natasha and Clint were piloting the Quinjet. Their skills weren't much needed with the autopilot feature but Emma figured they probably wanted the distraction. Everyone else was broken off into small groups as they awaited the arrival at their destination.

Some of it even felt like how it did back in the days before the accords.

Steve and Tony pouring over an old blueprint of Hydra Headquarters as they both debated on how to best approach this situation. Wanda was towards the front of Quinjet, her hands gripping the back of Clint's seat as she chatted with both him and Natasha about something.

The only difference in this scenario was the fact that T'Challa, Peter, and her father were there with them.

Her father was in another corner of the Quinjet quietly talking to T'Challa. Emma expected that they must've been something of friends. The man had been secretly harboring her father in his country for over a year. Emma might've even felt a little bad about snapping at him before like that but maybe T'Challa was right. She was in an emotional state right now even if she wouldn't admit aloud.

If anything, his words were a sign that she needed to get ahold of herself. It would do anyone any good if she got emotionally compromised right before she faced Rumlow. Emma needed to be in a clear and present state of mind if she was going to do this. Otherwise, it might end up costing her everyone else's lives along with her own. Emma couldn't afford to be emotional in other words.

There was no time for it.

"So this is it, huh?" Peter inquired as he took a seat next to her. Emma broke out of her thoughts as she looked at him. She had been seated towards the back of the Quinjet and had ignored Peter along with everyone else for much of the journey.

Emma knew that Peter had been building up the courage to speak to her ever since he got on the Quinjet. She knew it from the way he paced behind Steve and Tony, his arms swinging at his sides while he stole a glance at her every now and then when he thought she wasn't looking. She always knew when he was looking though.

Even if he didn't know it himself.

Emma didn't blame him for being nervous. They hadn't spoken since she stormed out of the conference room a few hours before. He had been giving her some space to figure things out for herself and Emma really appreciated that. She knew how difficult it must've been for him.

"I really wish you hadn't come," Emma told him sincerely and Peter raised his eyebrows at her.

"How could I ever stay behind knowing that you were out here on this mission with that monster so close to you?" Peter questioned and Emma sighed heavily before nodding.

"I know but I still wished you hadn't come. This is my mess, not yours," She said to him and Peter shook his head before he reached over, subsequently taking her hand into his. He fixed her with a reassuring smile, his brown eyes lit up with hope and adoration. It was enough to make Emma's heart race but it was also enough to remind her of what she was fighting for.

"When will you ever accept the fact that you're not alone?" Peter told her and Emma smiled softly before looking down at her lap...looking at how he held her hand in his. "We're in this together, Emma. You should know this by now."

"Partners, right?" Emma said softly and Peter nodded.

"Partners," Peter confirmed. Emma then looked back up at him, her gaze softer than it had been before.

"Do you think I'm a freak?" Emma asked him and the question seemed so random that it completely threw Peter off. He frowned as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not at all understanding what she was trying to ask.

"What?" He questioned and Emma chewed on her bottom lip nervously, a very rare nervous habit of hers, but one Peter recognized nonetheless.

"You heard what Hydra injected me with. You saw what Howard Stark did with the Tesseract," Emma told him before explaining what seemed to be troubling her. "Peter, Thor told everyone what was inside that thing. He said it was one of six Infinity Stones and that they were from space. Something that was once thought as the stuff from legend but now the power from one of those is resting inside me because Howard Stark couldn't resist the temptation to play god."

"Emma, I know you're scared but it's going to be okay," Peter told her despite being scared of what this could mean for Emma too. Of course, he was terrified at the idea of something like that flowing through Emma's veins. Not because he was terrified of her but he was terrified of what it could mean for her. However, he wanted to stay calm and comfort Emma instead of scaring her.

"How can it be okay, Peter?" Emma questioned in a hushed voice so no one else would hear them. "The Tesseract is what opened that portal into space five years ago and somehow the power of that is inside me. What does it even mean?"

"You're not a freak, Emma," Peter told her firmly, answering the question she asked him a couple minutes ago. "You're going to be fine too. Okay?"

"How can you know that?" She asked him and Peter swallowed hard before answering.

"Because Wanda was experimented on with the Mind Stone, right?" Peter threw back at her as Emma watched him intently. "And the Mind Stone is one of these Infinity Stones?"

"Yeah," Emma answered and Peter nodded, maintaining his calm demeanor so that he could make Emma feel calm as well.

"And she seems to be okay, right? Aside from how annoying she is, I mean," Peter said as he added the last part jokingly. Emma smiled in amusement before nodding.

"Yeah, aside from the annoying part," Emma said in response and Peter smiled, glad that he was getting her to calm down a bit.

"Then you're going to be fine too," Peter told her, sounding very sure of himself and for some reason that made Emma feel safe. She knew that if anyone else would've said these things to her, she wouldn't believe them for a second. It seemed to be the magic of Peter Parker though. He could make her feel better in an instant. A quality he seemed to share with Steve. "You know how I know?"

"No," Emma said quietly and Peter maintained his reassuring smile as he ran his thumb over the back of her hand gently. The soothing gesture gave Emma a lot more comfort.

"Because you're the strongest person I know, Emma. If Wanda could survive something like that then you could survive it a hundred times more than her," Peter stated and Emma felt another wave of calmness come over her. Peter made sense when he said that. Wanda survived this thing and she turned out alright. Maybe Emma would be alright too.

"If it makes you feel any better, after this whole thing is over, we can figure all this out," Peter promised her. "We can have Dr. Cho, Tony, and Shuri run some tests. Dr. Selvig is pretty much an expert on the Tesseract at this point so he could help too. I'm sure Susan and Jane could help in some way as well."

"My point is that we'll figure something out," Peter said as he finally finished and Emma swallowed hard as she stared back at him with those beautiful blue eyes of hers that he loved so much.

"What if there's something wrong, after all?" Emma asked him softly and Peter gave her a determined look as he squeezed her hand in comfort.

"Then I'll find a way to make it better myself. I don't care what I have to do but I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you, Emma."

Emma felt that familiar fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as she stared back at him. His brown eyes, the ones that always made her heart skip a beat, were locked onto hers as he made sure not to break eye contact.

Peter was making a lot of promises.

Promises that Emma didn't know if he or anyone else could keep but she knew he meant it when he said he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.

Emma didn't really know if she would make it out of this Rumlow thing alive but she knew she could die happy because she knew what it felt like to be loved like that. To be loved so much by someone that you could feel invincible and capable of anything because it made you feel like you were flying so high you could touch the clouds. Emma knew what flying felt like so she knew exactly what she was talking about. She would be forever grateful to Peter for loving her like he did. He didn't have to but he still did and Emma could keep that feeling with her forever.

"Thank you," Emma whispered to him. Peter didn't know it but she was thanking him for so much more than just his promise.

She was thanking him for everything.

"You don't have to thank me," Peter told her and Emma nodded solemnly.

"I know...but I still am," Emma said in response and she felt like kissing him right then but she also knew they weren't alone. Everyone was on that Quinjet and Emma was also a little too aware of the fact that her father's eyes were on them whenever he thought she wasn't looking. She didn't want to add fuel to the fire now of all times. Emma didn't feel like fighting with her father right now either even if she still held a bit of a grudge against him for trying to strangle her boyfriend. She didn't want to make this whole thing harder than it had to be.

"You'll be fine, Emma," Peter told her once more and she nodded silently. The blonde didn't say anything else as she slowly turned and rested her head against his shoulder, allowing herself to relax a bit before they started to reach their destination. Peter swallowed hard before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer.

"I'm sorry for storming out of the conference room earlier. That was irrational and I wasn't thinking clearly," Emma whispered her apology and Peter just nodded.

"It's okay. I know that it was a lot to process so I get why you had to leave," Peter told her quietly, assuring her that there wasn't a need to apologize. "If it were me, I don't know what I would've done."

"Well, I'd be there to help you through it. Just like what you're doing with me," Emma promised and a small smile crossed Peter's face.

"Then I guess I'd be just fine," Peter said quietly and a small smile also came across Emma's face despite the seriousness of the situation. She supposed it was nice to know someone had your back no matter what situation you were in.

Emma then took the time to watch the others as she kept resting her head against Peter's shoulders. Everyone seemed too busy to notice them. Except for her father, that is. Her father who didn't look quite angry at her and Peter's close proximity but who actually had an unreadable look on his face. That struck Emma as odd because usually, she found her father quite easy to read.

At least to her anyways.

The blonde then chose to move her gaze to Tony. She wondered how he was feeling about all this. He seemed oddly calm and quiet ever since they took off for the mission. She had watched earlier when Pepper bid him goodbye with a tender kiss and he promised her his return with a much softer look in his eyes. Emma never said this but she was glad he had someone like Pepper to take care of him. She tried to act like she didn't care about him but she did.

Emma found it even more odd at how calm and less tense Tony seemed to be around Steve. That was different, Emma thought to herself. While Emma knew that Tony tried to put his feelings aside with this Hydra thing on the horizon, she still knew there was a lot of hard feelings he had towards Steve and some of the others. However, she wondered if there was a conversation between Steve and Tony that she didn't see because something seemed different now. It didn't feel like they were going to have to walk on eggshells around them like they had been doing lately.

"Okay, guys, ready to get this little game plan of ours together and kick some evil Nazi ass?" Tony announced, signaling that it was time that everyone got around the table in the center of the Quinjet as they prepared for their arrival.

Emma lifted her head from off Peter's shoulder.

Her boyfriend gave her an encouraging smile before they both got up from their seats and headed in the direction where everyone else was already taking position. Clint and Natasha seemed to have vacated their pilot seats, putting the Quinjet on autopilot mode, while Wanda, Bucky, and T'Challa also gathered around the table. Tony immediately brought up a holographic blueprint of Hydra Headquarters as Emma and Peter approached the table.

"This is the layout of Hydra Headquarters," Steve said as he went into Captain Mode and began to set up the plan for everyone. Everyone listened quietly. "It's the same Headquarters that Red Skull had back in Hydra's earlier days. I expect it's not as functional as it was back then since Hydra's resources have been very limited as of lately."

"It still doesn't mean we should underestimate them," Natasha pointed out. "Rumlow might have something up his sleeve as Emma mentioned before. They probably have a large supply of those Tesseract-powered weapons too."

"Of course," Steve said as he nodded in agreement. "Natasha's right. Hydra is not meant to be underestimated under any circumstances. While their resources might be low right now, they're very good at getting the upper hand when the occasion calls for it."

"We'll need to retrieve their data files," Tony added as he looked around the table. "Someone's mission will have to be different than the rest of ours."

"Tony's right about that too," Steve informed everyone. "There's no telling how much Hydra knows about Emma or any of us. We also need to find out if this really is the last Hydra base so someone will need to infiltrate wherever Rumlow has his computer and retrieve those data files."

"I'll do it," Natasha said as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall before giving Steve a pointed look. "It wouldn't be the first time I had to retrieve data files under shady circumstances."

"Great, that solves that problem," Tony said as Steve nodded in agreement. "Romanoff is in charge of collecting those files. What else?"

"Clint, you get yourself up to a vantage point and be our eyes and ears for the mission," Steve told the archer who nodded in response.

"I'll get right on it, Cap," Clint said in confirmation before Steve turned to Wanda, T'Challa, and Bucky.

"Tony's going to circle the perimeter once we arrive at Hydra Headquarters," Steve started to say as everyone continued to listen intently to him. "The four of us will be on the ground. I think it's safer if we team up in pairs. Wanda and I will cover one half of the building while T'Challa and Bucky will cover the other half."

"If you take a look at the layout of the Headquarters you can see that Hydra will probably put all their forces into the front of the building," Steve said as he pointed at the hologram on the screen. "It's best to assume that they'll be waiting for us. Our attack on Ugalde's compound might've alerted them."

"How many do you think we're going up against?" Wanda inquired curiously. Steve shrugged.

"I don't think their numbers are as large as when we infiltrated that Hydra base in Sokovia but it's never safe to assume anything," Steve told her honestly and Bucky nodded.

"Hydra might be low in numbers this time around but I'm willing to bet that Rumlow has something big under his sleeve," Bucky said as he gave his input into the plan.

"He's waiting for the right time to reveal all his cards. That's why we haven't seen him until now."

"Bucky's right," Steve said as he agreed with his best friend. "There's no telling what Rumlow's planning so we need to proceed with caution. Don't get cocky."

"Cocky's my middle name, Capsicle," Tony said jokingly and Steve gave him an unamused look. Maybe things really had gotten back to normal, Emma thought to herself as she looked between the two Avengers.

"Captain," T'Challa said as he brought the conversation back on topic. Everyone looked at the Wakandan king. "Are we to arrest these Hydra agents or are they to be put down?"

"Wow, way to get all dark on us, Bagheera," Tony said sarcastically. Peter's eyes widened at the suggestion of shooting to kill and not to injure. It suddenly occurred to him that this might be the biggest mission he had ever gone on...or the hardest one, at least.

When Tony recruited him for the mission against Captain America and his faction of Avengers, Peter was ordered not to kill anyone. He was simply supposed to injure and use non-lethal force which was easy enough for him. Peter didn't want to kill anyone anyways and the same went for the stuff with Toomes. Emma's and his mission in stopping the Vulture was their own mission so they made the call of not killing anyone.

However, this was different.

This was a matter of life and death but suddenly everything was a little too real for Peter. Sure, he knew he'd do what he had to if it meant protecting Emma but the concept was still overwhelming.

Peter was about to ascend into a deeper level of panic when he felt Emma's hand slip into his. He caught her sending him a reassuring look before she squeezed his hand in comfort much like he had done with her earlier. Peter seriously wondered how she could sense whenever he was panicking. She just somehow knew how he was feeling and sought to make him feel better. He could sense the same thing with her and Peter just supposed after going through so much together, they were very in sync with one and other. It was like they were on the same wavelength.

"Sam already coined that nickname, Tony. You're a little late to the game," Emma said, breaking Peter out of his thoughts. Her hand was still in his but her attention was now on the famous billionaire who sneered at her.

Peter knew then, from the sight of her hand in his, that he definitely wasn't going to let Rumlow get his hands on her. Even though they would be stuck on the Quinjet as back-up, Peter knew that he would kill Rumlow before he let that evil monster get anywhere near Emma. Uncle Ben always told him to stick to his convictions but Peter was willing to make an exception this time around when it came to not killing people. Besides...Uncle Ben never knew Emma and he also never knew the evil things Rumlow did to Emma. That being said, Peter was going to make sure that man never laid so much as a finger on his Emma.

Never again.

"I can definitely afford to buy him out," Tony bragged, causing the blonde to roll her eyes. She was oblivious to the dark thoughts circulating her boyfriend's head as she tried to remain calm in the minutes leading up to their arrival at Hydra Headquarters.

"To answer T'Challa's question," Steve started to say but not before giving Tony a pointed look for actually arguing with a sixteen-year-old girl. Now wasn't really the best time, after all. "We'll only take prisoners if they surrender. Otherwise...shoot to kill."

"I like the sound of that," Emma said after an awkward pause of silence amongst the group. There was a darker, more ominous tension in the room after Steve's order. Steve then turned to look at both Emma and Peter with a serious look on his face. Peter gulped because it was the same look Steve gave him during his little overprotective grandfather talk.

"You two will be staying on the Quinjet for the entire mission," Steve ordered, his tone clear and even. "I don't want to see either of you so much as step a foot into that building."

"I thought we were back-up?" Emma questioned, a certain glint of mischief in her eyes. Steve gave her an unimpressed look.

"I want you to keep guard of the Quinjet while we're gone and keep a line open with the others back at the compound to let them know what's going on," Steve informed her in a no-nonsense tone of voice, completely ignoring her comment about being back-up. "Got it?"

"Yes, Sir-I mean, Mr. Rogers-er, Captain America or-" Peter said as he stumbled over his words.

Bucky rolled his eyes at the awkward teenage boy while Tony just smirked. T'Challa looked at Peter as if to question why he was even there at all while Wanda, Natasha, and Clint just looked at him in amusement. Steve raised an eyebrow at him before looking back at Emma who looked like she had something to say.

"Are you sure you don't need us, Steve?" Emma questioned. She wasn't asking him this to try and convince him to let her go with them willingly.

Emma wasn't stupid.

She knew a lost cause when she saw one so she knew there was absolutely no way Steve would ever let her go with them. However, Emma knew that it would also look weird if she didn't, at least, try to convince him to let her go. The former assassin had to look like she was trying or else Steve wouldn't buy it.

"I'm just as versed in all things Hydra as Papa. I could be such a help-" Emma started to say but Steve cut her off with a glare.

"You and Peter are to stay on the Quinjet and wait for us here," Steve said in an authoritative voice. "That's final."

"Whatever," Emma grumbled, feigning a bitter look as she pretended to be disappointed with his decision. It's not like she was surprised he said no.

In what world would Steve say yes?

This was the same Steve who refused to let her do anything useful because he feared she'd get hurt. Emma knew it was stupid since she spent nine years of her life doing absurdly dangerous things but Steve seemed all too willing to forget that. He was still coddling her like some kind of toddler which could be annoying at times. At least her father didn't seem to mind her doing dangerous things like fighting Hydra agents and risking her life numerous times. He was even proud of her because of those things and praised her for the assassin skills he taught her. It was just the fact that he caught Emma in bed with her boyfriend that seemed to bug him.

Emma fully recognized that she had a couple of warped individuals for parents.

"So Wanda and I will come in from the front of the building while Bucky and T'Challa will infiltrate the building from the back," Steve said as he went back to laying out the plan. "That way we can round up all the Hydra agents and trap them somewhere in the middle while also making sure they won't slip out the back."

"Cut off all their exits, right?" Clint summarized and Steve nodded.

"Exactly," Steve confirmed before a deadly serious look came across his face as he looked at everyone standing around the table. "Anyone gets sight of Rumlow, do not proceed alone. Alert everyone though the earpiece and we'll figure it out from there. Rumlow has something planned and until we know what that is-no one faces him alone."

"Got it?" Steve asked them and everyone, Emma included, nodded their heads in response.

"Sounds good, Cap," Tony said, speaking for the rest of them. Steve nodded to himself before looking at the time on the holographic screen.

"Great," Steve said before taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Because we land in fifteen minutes."

"Nat and I will prepare for the landing," Clint said as Natasha nodded in agreement before the two former Shield agents went back to their pilot chairs. Everyone else seemed to depart from the table after that as they prepared themselves for the mission. Whether the preparation was mental or physical, it was up each individual to decide.

T'Challa positioned himself near the exit of the Quinjet, more than eager to finally arrive and retrieve the Hydra weapons that were made using vibranium from his country. Wanda seemed to follow him as she also felt a certain amount of eagerness for the mission wash over her. Hydra was certainly no friend of hers, after all. Especially with all the inhumane experimentation they did to her and her brother. Peter seemed to leave her side quietly as he struck up a conversation with Tony who was getting suited up. Steve seemed to have drifted over to where Clint and Natasha were, anxiously looking out the window as he waited to see the same building he faced Red Skull at over seventy years ago.

That seemed to leave Emma alone with her father. Something she hadn't really wanted but it looked like she wasn't going to get a choice in the matter.

Emma and her father just stood there in an awkward silence, both refusing to meet the others' eye. They were never the talkative pair. Something that seemed to follow both of them from Hydra.

There was so much that Emma wanted to say to her father but she couldn't let the words come out of her mouth because of pure pride. He really hurt her when he told her that he thought Peter wasn't good enough for her. Emma considered Peter to be one of the most important people in her life so it really sucked when the other important person in your life refused to accept the person you really wanted him to like. Her father hadn't even apologized for that incident either. Of course, there hadn't been much time for apologies but still.

"Please be careful," Emma told him quietly, looking at him from under her lashes. Even though Emma was pissed at him, it didn't mean that she wanted him to get hurt. She loved him with all her being and hoped that he would be safe.

"I will," Bucky told her in a voice that was just as quiet. His eyes rested on her tense stance. He knew more than well that she was still pissed at him over the Peter thing. "You be careful too."

"Okay," Emma said shortly. She then looked up at him, waiting for an apology or something similar. The look in her eyes could even be described as hopeful.

Bucky opened his mouth to speak but the words didn't seem to come out. He didn't really know what to say because he still couldn't accept the fact that she had a boyfriend. It scared him more than anything because he was afraid of losing her but Bucky just didn't know how to put those feelings into words. He didn't know how to tell her that he was terrified of Emma forgetting about him and leaving him behind. It seemed like he disappointed her anyways when he finally closed his mouth without giving her an apology or even the acceptance of her relationship that she so desired.

"Emma, I love you and I just want you to be careful, okay?" Bucky said to her softly as he gently pushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. Emma just looked up at him in disbelief and disappointment. Especially when he leaned down to kiss her forehead affectionately.

Right before he was even able to press his lips against her skin, the blonde yanked away from him as if he had burned her. Bucky watched in surprise and hurt as Emma glared at him. The teenage girl then briskly turned around and walked over to where Steve was without saying another word to him. Bucky watched her leave, a painful feeling in his chest because he knew he kept screwing things up with her.

Bucky never meant for it to be like this.

When he was on the run, Bucky always had this fantasy of him and Emma together again as father and daughter. He imagined them picking things up where they left off but he also still pictured her as the little girl he left behind. It was clear to Bucky now that she wasn't really a little girl anymore.

She was nearly a woman now with a life of her own...a boyfriend of her own, actually. Bucky's main problem with Peter, aside from the fact he caught the horny kid dry humping his daughter and shoving his tongue down her throat, was that he was proof that Emma was all grown up. It was a hard concept to face but Bucky supposed he was just going to have to accept it.

He no longer had a good excuse for denying Emma her happiness.

Bucky sighed heavily.

It just looked like he was going to have to wait for this whole thing to be over for him to finally tell Emma that.

He seemed to be incredibly good at pushing her away because she refused to even look at him right now. His talent for creating distance between them was never more obvious than it was in that moment. He just hoped that she forgave him.

She probably would.

If she could forgive him for her childhood then she could forgive him for anything. It was just a matter of making a suitable apology. Bucky was never good at apologizing but he'd try for Emma.

He, at least, owed her that much.

---

"Cap, you've got three incoming!" Tony said through the earpiece as he did a scan of the building from up in the sky.

Steve gritted his teeth as he threw his shield and hit two Hydra agents, knocking the men down in an instant.

"I can see that, Tony," Steve uttered before dodging an incoming bullet from one of the described Hydra agents.

"Do you think you could actually get your ass in here and do something useful for once, Stark," Clint told the billionaire from his position on a balcony overlooking the main floor. He pointed his bow at a Hydra agent and subsequently released an arrow, smirking when he heard the targeted Hydra agent grunt and hit the ground.

"Anything to get you to shut your mouth," Wanda replied as she projected red energy from her hands and hit a couple Hydra agents with it. The Hydra agents went flying backwards before roughly hitting a wall.

"Aw...just when I thought we were becoming friends, Maximoff," Tony said sarcastically.

"Perhaps we should stop talking and focus on our fighting," T'Challa suggested as he dodged a punch from an agent before coming back at the agent with a punch of his own which instantly knocked the man out.

Steve grunted as he kicked a Hydra agent, dodging another punch, before retaliating with a thrown fist of his own without holding back in the slightest. At this point, Steve felt zero sympathy for anyone in Hydra.

Not after all the pain they caused his family.

"Watch it, Steve," Bucky told him as an agent pointed a Tesseract-powered gun at the super soldier. The former assassin didn't waste any time disarming the man. He yanked the man's arm out away from Steve, a sickening crack being heard through the air, before Bucky tore the gun out of his hand and shot the man point blank with a blast of blue energy, from the gun, flashing through the air.

Bucky's eyes widened for a second as the man was reduced to near ashes.

Wow...he kind of liked this gun.

Bucky then turned the gun, with zero hesitance, on a couple incoming Hydra agents and unloaded on them.

"Barnes looks like he's having fun," Tony remarked as he finally landed on the ground inside the building. He threw his palm out and shot out a repulsor beam at an agent who came charging at him.

"Where the hell is Rumlow anyways? All I see are his lackeys," Clint remarked from above them, releasing another arrow at yet another Hydra agent.

That seemed to be the million dollar question, didn't it?

The Avengers had invaded Hydra Headquarters almost half an hour ago and there was still no sign of the man each one of them wanted to get their hands on. All the Avengers had been faced with was his workers.

Everyone already knew at this point that Hydra had been expecting them.

They had been clearly waiting for them at both entrances of the facility. Although, none of them stood much of a chance against the Avengers. Even with their advanced weapons.

"How are you coming with retrieving those data files, Nat?" Steve inquired as he hit a man over the head with his shield, admiring the way it electrocuted the man the second it made contact with his head.

Maybe Tony really had gone beyond his expectations with this new shield.

The other one certainly hadn't done that.

"I'm on the second floor right now. Still no sign of where Rumlow keeps his computer's," Natasha said through the earpiece. "God, this place is one fucking big maze."

"Well, just keep looking," Steve told her as he kicked a Hydra agent into Bucky's direction and the former assassin threw the agent down to the ground with his vibranium arm.

Steve didn't even bother to scold Natasha for her language.

He was a little tied up with things at the moment.

"Traitor," The agent hissed and Bucky smirked.

"Damn right," He then reared his vibranium fist back and punched the man with as much force as he could muster which, as you could imagine, was a lot.

"Make sure you do a full sweep of the second floor. It's gotta be there somewhere," Steve told Natasha as he kneed another agent in the stomach before hitting him upside the jaw with his shield. He took a deep breath before continuing. "If not then it could be on the third floor."

"I only have a couple rooms left on the floor," Natasha told them. "I'll keep looking and let you know what I find."

"Keep an eye out for Rumlow. If you get any sign of him, alert us," Steve said in a very Captain-like fashion. "Something about this doesn't feel right. It feels like we might be walking into a trap."

"I'll keep an eye out, Cap. Don't worry," Natasha reassured him and Steve focused his attention on an agent who came charging towards him. He didn't have to react since Tony shot another repulsor beam at the agent and took care of the problem.

"Trap or no trap, there's still a lot more of these Hydra assholes than I intended on seeing today," Tony told him as he stepped over a couple bodies in his Iron Man suit.

"You don't think this means Rumlow will use this as a diversion to make his escape, do you?" Wanda inquired as she shot an energy blast from her hands, causing a couple agents to go flying back.

"Rumlow wants us here for something so he's not going to run this time," Bucky stated seriously as he grabbed one Hydra agent and easily threw him at another one, knocking them both to the ground. "That much I know."

"I agree with Barnes," T'Challa said fiercely. A Hydra agent punched him in the stomach, probably breaking his hand on contact, and T'Challa punched him in the jaw. He then delivered a kick to the man's stomach and the man fell limp to the ground.

This does feel like a diversion, Steve thought to himself. Maybe not a diversion for Rumlow to escape but definitely a diversion for something. He just didn't know what yet and that bothered him more than anything.

"Let's not panic too much," Tony told everyone. "The kids are still on the Quinjet and the fight's here in the room with us."

"Tony's right," Steve said despite his gut feeling. "Let's get back on track."

"Already on it, Steve," Bucky told his best friend loyally as he punched another Hydra agent. The others seemed to echo the same words as they proceeded in their fight against Hydra.

It was obviously very suspicious to everyone that Rumlow was still a no show.

This was the same man who seemed to be dying for his revenge against Captain America for reducing him to nothing but a mess of scars and damaged nerves. Now Rumlow was nowhere to be seen and the whole thing seemed odd to the Avengers. This was Rumlow's chance at revenge so why wasn't he here? Or better yet...

What was he planning this time?

---

Emma drummed her fingers against the armrest of the pilot's chair she was sitting in at the front of the Quinjet.

Usually, it wouldn't be something one would consider weird but this was Emma Rogers, after all. She wasn't known to have many nervous habits but right now Emma felt a lot more nervous than she usually felt. The blonde could probably count the number of times she felt nervous on one hand. Maybe two if she thought really hard about it.

This was different from those other times.

This wasn't butterflies in her stomach from Peter looking at her a certain way or worrying about telling Steve and her father about one of her deepest, darkest secrets.

This was fear, rage, shame, and anxiety tangled up into her nerves. It was a feeling that seemed to encompass her ever since they landed on that mountain and the others departed from the Quinjet.

Emma and Peter were alone now on the Quinjet.

Just the two of them and Emma really wished that Peter hadn't come with them on the mission at this point because she was going to have to think of a way for him to let her go to Rumlow but another way to keep him safe too.

She was pretty stumped at this point.

"What's going on inside that building?" Maria Hill asked through the holographic screen on board the Quinjet. Fury, Vision, Rhodey, Sam, and Okoye all seemed to be seated around a table within one of the conference rooms back at the compound as they stared at Emma and Peter through the hologram.

"They're in the main hangar of the building. It sounds to me like they're seeing quite a bit of action," Emma answered as Peter nodded in agreement. "Natasha's searching for Rumlow's computers to find any Hydra data files. Everyone else seems to be handling things okay thus far."

"They seem a bit overwhelmed from all the Hydra agents. There's more than what we were expecting," Peter informed everyone honestly. "We think they're doing fine since they haven't called for back-up yet."

"No sign of Rumlow yet?" Fury inquired, looking very suspicious as usual. Emma and Peter both exchanged a look before Emma sighed heavily and shook her head.

"Not yet," Emma said quietly.

"No doubt he's waiting for the right moment," Sam said to himself before everyone seemed to be in agreement over that.

"Sam's right. The others should tread carefully from here on out," Rhodey told Emma and Peter. The teenage boy nodded.

"Everyone seems to be doing exactly that," Peter said in response and everyone nodded approvingly at that small piece of information. Maria decided to wrap up the conversation at that point.

"We'll check back in with you guys within the hour then," Maria said seriously. "Let us know if anything changes."

"Will do," Emma told her and Maria gave the two teenagers a curt nod.

"Stay safe," The dark haired woman said before they ended the call.

Emma swiped her fingers across the holographic screen and exited the call page.

Silence filled the Quinjet after that as she still processed the fact that Rumlow was more close to her than he had been in years. It was a lot to come to terms with but if anything, Emma felt an eagerness to finally end this.

Yes, she was nervous and anxious but she was also eager to get the revenge she so obsessively sought for the past twelve years of her life.

"Do you think it's weird?" Peter questioned, breaking Emma out of her thoughts. Emma seemed to be often lost in her thoughts these days. There was a lot on her mind, after all.

She blinked before looking over at him.

He was sitting in the co-pilot's chair, the same one Natasha had been sitting in earlier, and Emma was sitting in the chair Clint had since vacated. Emma discreetly observed the troubled look on her boyfriend's face. She knew he was troubled from his furrowed brow and the way he was chewing on the inside of his cheek. His two most famous nervous habits.

"What's weird?" Emma said in response. Peter finally looked at her, his brown eyes filled with concern.

"That the others have been pulled into this huge battle yet there's still no sign of Rumlow," Peter told her and Emma swallowed hard. "I mean, unless he's not even there. Maybe that Ugalde guy was lying. Maybe Rumlow isn't even here."

"I don't think it's weird," Emma said quietly, confusing Peter further.

"What do you mean?" He asked her and Emma sighed heavily before she took out her earpiece, switching it off so the others wouldn't hear. She then gestured for Peter do the same. He seemed unsure at first but he was dying to know what Emma meant by her vague statement. Eventually, he did the same and took his earpiece out before switching it off much like what she had done.

"What I meant to say is that I know why he hasn't shown his face yet," Emma finally said as Peter watched her with wide eyes. "It's because it's not them he wants. He's just waiting."

"For you, you mean?" Peter inquired even though he already knew the answer. Emma solemnly nodded as she locked eyes with him.

"It's me he wants," She said rationally, making a lot of sense to Peter and forcing him to look at the situation in a new light. "Don't you think if he really cared about keeping his secrets secret that he would've given Ugalde more protection? Or that it wouldn't have been so easy for us to capture Ugalde?"

"I guess," Peter said, sounding uncertain.

"Ugalde was a weak link. Rumlow must've known that it wouldn't take much for us to lean on him," Emma said, elaborating as she explained everything to Peter.

"Rumlow wanted us to get Ugalde. He knew Ugalde would lead us here."

"So you're saying Ugalde was bait?" Peter questioned and Emma nodded.

"He wanted us to come here," Emma finally said before saying the one thing that struck fear right into Peter's heart. "More importantly, he wanted me to come here."

"Emma…"

"It was a long shot that Steve and the others would let me come but maybe he was counting on my persuasiveness," Emma said, ignoring the worried look on Peter's face. "He'd have to know that I would've found a way to come."

"Emma, are you saying you knew all this before we left?" Peter asked darkly, not liking the fact that Emma had been keeping things from him. Especially things that could get her hurt.

"I had my assumptions," She told him and Peter gave her a look of disbelief. He looked like he wanted to say something but Emma stopped him before he could. "I knew him for nine years before the Avengers rescued me. He trained me for a lot of those years too. I know his mind and I know how warped he is."

"If this is true then you shouldn't be here. This is the last place you should be right now," Peter told her seriously and Emma had to resist the urge to scoff and roll her eyes at him. He sounded so much like Steve in that moment. However, Emma knew that she needed to find a way to convince him to let her walk into that building and face Rumlow.

"This is the only place I should be right now," Emma argued as she locked eyes with Peter once more. "Don't you see? This is where I'm meant to be. It started with my parents but it ends with me. I'm the one who finishes this."

"Emma, you can't just-" Peter started to say but Emma interrupted him before he could finish.

"When we went up against Toomes last year I let you go alone because I knew you were ready but I also knew that it was your fight," Emma told him, causing Peter to look at the situation in a new light. His previous look of refusal faded into one of deep contemplation. "Can't you do the same for me?"

"You're asking me a lot right now. You know that, right?" Peter said softly. Emma took a deep breath before taking his hands into hers. She nodded, an intense look in her eyes.

"I know."

"I can't let you go alone. I'd never be able to do that. Not in a million years," Peter said and Emma's heart raced in her chest because she knew he was going to let her do this. She knew he'd never let her go alone but she thought she might have a chance if she could convince him to let her go in the first place. If she could she would've knocked him out and left him on the Quinjet while she went and took care of business with Rumlow.

She wasn't stupid though.

Emma knew she'd never be able to overpower Peter that way. He was too strong.

However, she could still manipulate him.

Emma hated doing it and she felt guilty but it was for his own good. She'd never forgive herself if anything bad happened to him.

Emma loved him more than he'd ever know.

"But…" Emma trailed off, hoping that he'd continue. Peter swallowed hard as he finally came to a decision.

"But if I went with you and if we could do this together instead of just you alone then I agree with you," Peter said much to Emma's relief. "I think we should end it."

"Everyone's going to be pissed at us," Emma said softly and Peter smiled at her.

"When are they ever not pissed at us?" He said rhetorically. Emma smiled back at him before nodding to herself, getting up from her seat.

"I guess we should get going before the others realize what we're up to," Emma stated as Peter also got up from his seat.

"What's the plan this time then?" Peter asked her as she went over to grab her mask from off the table in the center of the Quinjet. Peter followed suit as he did the same thing.

"Well, all the fighting is taking place in the main hangar of the building which means that Rumlow wants there to be a clear path to him," Emma explained to Peter as she attempted to inform him of Rumlow's warped mind. "He's likely away from the fighting. In an abandoned room or lab."

"Seems to make sense," Peter remarked as he put his Spider-Man mask over his face. "I mean, for a sadistic fucker anyways."

"Peter Benjamin Parker," Emma said, feigning a shocked look as she put her own mask over her face. "Are you actually swearing? I'm appalled."

"He's evil and he deserves it," Peter said, not looking sorry for his rare use of curse words. The amused look faded from her face as she looked back at him. A more sincere one took its place and she suddenly wished she could see his face right now. "I'm ready for him to be gone...in whatever way that means."

Emma knew what way that had to be but she refrained from telling Peter so. She instead settled for a simple nod and glanced away from him.

"Me too."

---

"McConaughey, are the others still in the hangar?" Emma asked her AI system as she and Peter walked down a deserted hallway. They had only infiltrated the building a few short minutes ago. Despite the fact that it was summer, there was a noticeable chill in the air.

It made sense.

They were well up in the mountains, after all.

"Yes. It seems like they're still occupied as well." McConaughey informed her. Emma just nodded to herself as she and Peter continued to stride down the hall, careful not to draw any unnecessary attention to themselves.

They didn't need any distractions.

The plan was to find Rumlow and end this.

"Have they noticed that we've disconnected our earpieces?" Peter asked his own AI system.

"Not yet, Peter," Karen told him, giving Peter a bit of relief. At least the others wouldn't be on to them yet. There was still only a matter of time nonetheless. "I should remind you that you and Emma are expecting another call from Maria Hill soon with an update on the mission."

"Yeah, just ignore all calls from Maria and Mr. Stark for now, would you, Karen?" Peter asked as he kept an awareness of his surroundings. He felt on edge now that he and Emma were trekking down the dark hallway.

Peter didn't know how to describe the feeling.

It was the same sensation he felt before the attack on the compound all that time ago. Well, in reality, it hadn't been that long since the attack but it felt like it was.

"Of course, Peter," Karen said loyally.

"Thanks," He murmured and it didn't take Emma long to notice how tense he was. She raised an eyebrow under her mask. The lenses were down so all she was seeing was Viper Vision which also meant thermal heat vision.

"You seem nervous," Emma observed. She knew a circumstance like this would make anyone nervous but there was something about Peter that felt off in that moment.

"I don't know. I just have a weird feeling," Peter said as he shrugged nonchalantly but he felt anything but nonchalant. "I've been having a lot of weird feelings lately."

"Feelings?" Emma inquired, grateful for a distraction from the feeling of nervousness coming over her. The hallway on the third floor was feeling a little ominous for her at this point too. Anything would've been a welcomed distraction now, really.

"I mean, I've had these feelings ever since I got my powers but I never felt them as strongly until the attack on the compound," Peter said as he nodded. Emma suddenly looked very interested as she recalled that night.

"You knew what was going to happen that night," Emma said as she put the pieces together. There had been so much going on then that she hadn't really put much thought into that night. She could vaguely remember the way Peter had woken up that night before the attack. Emma thought he had been sick but he hadn't been for some odd reason.

Then the attack happened and she forgot all about it.

"Right before it happened. You knew."

"I can't really explain it," Peter told her as he confirmed her observation. "My senses have always been heightened since the spider bite but whenever something's about to happen...well, they're just dialed to twenty instead of eleven."

"And you're getting that feeling now?" Emma asked him, wondering if she should be more on edge than she currently was. Peter shrugged.

"Not as bad as before but more or less," Peter told her before offering her a sheepish grin. "I call it my Spidey Senses."

"That sounds stupid," Emma remarked, shaking her head at her boyfriend in amusement. However, before he could respond he felt that familiar tingling sensation and on pure instinct grabbed Emma, quickly moving them behind a wall. She gave him a confused look but it was only when she heard sudden hurried footsteps echoing down the hall that she understood.

"Spidey Senses, huh?" Emma said curiously once the footsteps disappeared and they were left in the quiet once more. Peter nodded.

"Pretty much."

"Good to know," Emma told him with a raised brow before the two subsequently re-entered the hallway. They started back down the long, dark hallway. It was deathly silent again and Emma was once more left with an eerie feeling.

"I think he's close," Emma whispered. She didn't know how to explain it but she felt like he was near. It wasn't like the Spidey Senses Peter mentioned but it was more of a bad feeling.

"I think so too," Peter whispered back.

The two teenagers came across another threshold that led into another sector of the building.

Emma didn't fail to notice that the door was old.

Reinforced steel that probably weighed a ton. There was a large wheel on the inside of it. It was an old fashioned sort of locking mechanism that forced you to crank the wheel several times to lock it from the inside. The door was old looking but strong which made Emma realize that this just had to be where Rumlow was hiding. This was the secret quarters of the building more than likely which meant that he was likely nearby...waiting.

An idea then popped into Emma's head.

She had been trying to devise a plan for this but nothing came into mind until now. This was an opportunity if she ever saw one and it wasn't likely that she'd get the chance again. Emma didn't want to do this but she didn't see any other way. It didn't matter if Peter got mad at her for it but it had to be done one way or another.

For his own good, she reminded herself.

"Peter, do you hear that?" Emma asked, feigning a look of confusion and allowing a trickling of fear to enter her voice. Peter gave her a look of confusion.

"Hear what?" He asked her and Emma nodded in the opposite direction.

"I think someone's coming this way," She lied to him and Peter took a couple steps in that direction, turning his back to her, but didn't cross the threshold like she wanted. Emma eyed his stance closely, waiting for him to get on the other side of the door but he didn't.

"I don't hear anyone," He told her, still sounding very confused and she knew what she had to do. Emma swallowed hard before doing the unthinkable. She wished there was another way but there wasn't. This had to happen if she was going to take on Rumlow.

Peter wouldn't get hurt on her watch.

The blonde took a step forward while Peter's back was turned and acted very fast. With all the strength she could muster, she harshly shoved him forward and sent him falling over the threshold. He landed on the other side of the door and Emma quickly shut the heavy door before moving to crank the wheel forward as fast as she could.

There was no hesitation in her actions because she knew hesitation meant that there was a chance Peter could stop her.

Emma had to use all her strength to quickly lock the door and it was a good thing she did because it didn't take Peter long to get up from the floor.

There was a small window in the door that Peter immediately looked through as he realized what Emma had done. He tried to meet her gaze through his Spider-Man mask but Emma ignored him.

"What the hell are you doing, Emma?! This isn't funny!" Peter yelled at her, not caring if the whole building heard him at this point. She was really scaring him.

"It's not a joke," Emma told him as she finally finished locking the door, only stopping spinning the wheel when it couldn't move anymore.

"What are you doing?!" Peter hissed as his hand moved down to open the door. It was only to his surprise that there was no handle. His eyes widened.

It only opened from the inside.

"I'm sorry, Peter, but I won't let you get hurt. This is my mess. Not yours," Emma said in a serious and sure tone, finally meeting his gaze through the window. Panic began to rise in Peter's chest as he realized she locked him out. He couldn't open the door which meant that Emma was alone on the other side.

It was basically open season for Rumlow.

"Emma, don't do this. Open the door. Please," Peter started to plead with her, his eyes flooding with unshed tears from the inside of his mask as he became scared.

"Just open the door and we can talk about this. Whatever you want. Just please open the door."

"I love you, Peter," Emma said tearfully to him, finding it incredibly difficult to do this but still necessary. "I love you so much but I have to do this. It ends with me."

"Emma, don't," Peter begged her, a tear rolling down his cheek. The fear and desperation in his voice tugged at Emma's heart strings but she knew this was the only way. She had to do this on her own and Peter couldn't get in the way."I'm begging you not to do this. Please don't go to him alone. I'll do anything you want. Just don't go to him."

"I'm sorry," Emma finally said before she abruptly turned around and started walking down the hallway in the opposite direction. Peter immediately protested as he banged his fists against the heavy door.

"EMMA!" He yelled at her, willing her to turn around and come back to him but she didn't. Nothing felt worse than watching the love of his life walk into danger while not being able to do anything but watch. "Don't do this to me!"

"Emma, please come back! Please!"

Emma didn't look back at him as she continued down the hallway. She knew if she looked back then she'd unlock the door and she really couldn't do that.

So Emma ignored his pleading voice and continued down the hallway, wiping away a few fallen tears from her cheeks. Eventually, his voice grew distant as she entered a new part of the building.

It was even darker than the rest of the building.

It was only then that Emma came across a room at the end of the long and empty hallway. The door was wide open but unlike the rest of the area, it wasn't dark inside the room. From where Emma stood she could see a light from inside the room. A light that signified what she had both been dreading and anxiously waiting for.

Him.

---

Redwood. Knox. Pecan.

Redwood. Knox. Pecan.

Redwood. Knox. Pecan.

Emma repeated the words over and over again in her mind.

Jessica always said it helped, and sometimes it did, but not necessarily this time. Emma didn't think anything would help her right now. Not with what she just did to Peter and not with what was coming her way as she walked into the room where everything within her was screaming at her to run away. It wasn't often that Emma listened to her conscience and this just seemed to be another time when she ignored it.

The room wasn't dark like the hallway outside. A large window, showing an incredible view of the Swiss Alps outside, took up a massive part of the left wall and illuminated the wide and open room. There was a tile floor which indicated that this must've been a lab at one point in time. Old lab equipment was also strewn across the place in disarray.

The room looked very abandoned but it also looked very lived in...if that made any sense.

As if McConaughey could read her mind, the red eye lenses of her mask lifted up and allowed her to see everything in full color.

For a moment Emma was slightly transfixed by the very beautiful view of the snowy white mountain tops which were covered in snow even in the summer. It was hard for Emma to tear her gaze away from the view, in fact. There was something oddly tranquil about it which was ironic considering that Hydra Headquarters was right in the center of it all.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" A voice said from behind Emma. Her eyes widened in surprise and terror at the sound of the all too familiar voice.

It was the voice that haunted all her nightmares and a voice she could sometimes hear inside her head. The dark and low masculine tone of his voice whispering dark thoughts into her head. His voice biting out words so sharply that it always caused the hair on the nape of her neck to stand up. Sometimes he growled out words much like how she imagined the wolf in Little Red Riding to talk. Emma thought that's where the "Man with the Wolf Like Smile" name came from.

He reminded her of the wolf from the book of fairy tales her mother used to read to her.

The wolf who ate Red Riding Hood's grandmother before masquerading as the little old lady to trick Red Riding Hood.

She fell for it too.

The silly little girl bought it even with everyone reading the story who screamed at her to get away from him. Red didn't listen and she leaned in closer and closer, thinking that he was someone else. She moved closer to him because she thought she was safe.

It wasn't her fault though.

Red had been sheltered her entire life. She was oblivious to the darkness in the world she lived in so he ate her too. He consumed her until there was nothing left. Just her and her grandmother in the bottom of the wolf's stomach as he sat there rubbing his belly and licking his chops.

Emma likened herself to Red Riding Hood.

Rumlow, like the wolf, had also killed someone important to her too before he stole her away and brought her to Hydra where she was made into a weapon. And also like the wolf, Rumlow consumed her until she was just a shell of the innocent girl she used to be. Someone who hadn't quite woken up to how sick and sadistic men could be. Just like the wolf, Rumlow stole her innocence and she would never be able to get it back.

Not ever.

The Huntsmen, in the story, came by later and killed the wolf, saving both Red and her grandmother from spending eternity inside the wolf. He split the wolf in half and they were free. Red had learned her lesson and with that lesson came the knowledge that there was darkness in the world that came in the form of strangers who pretended that they weren't strangers. Red then grew up and gained the knowledge that trust wasn't something to be given out freely.

Trust was something that had to be earned.

That story wasn't like this one though.

There were no Huntsmen to come to kill the wolf and save Emma. She was her own Huntsmen.

This was the way it had to be...the way it was meant to be. He was her wolf and she was his Red. This was a long time coming but Emma thought it had been long enough. It was time to say goodbye and move on.

So she took a deep breath and pushed aside all her feelings of fear and anxiety.

Emma put on a brave face.

Why should she be scared anyways? He was just a man. He was a man who no longer held any power over her because she wasn't the scared thirteen-year-old girl he remembered. The girl he left shivering in bed with blood smeared between her legs and the girl she currently was were two completely different people. He just didn't know that yet.

Redwood. Knox. Pecan.

Redwood. Knox. Pecan.

Redwood. Knox. Pecan.

"I guess it is," Emma finally said as she turned around to face the ghost who had been haunting her ever since she left Hydra.

She didn't know what she had been expecting when she finally faced him again but it certainly wasn't this.

The person in front of her was a mere shell of the man who he used to be. Weaker, paler, and more rotten looking than he had ever looked before. He looked more like a zombie than a human being.

Although he looked bigger, more muscular, which might've Emma's suspicion of him trying to use a blood sample of hers to make a new super soldier serum, he looked very sick. His skin was an alarming pale hue which contrasted against his dark, bloodshot eyes that looked sunken in much like a skeleton. His hair seemed to be falling out which was a contrast to the head full of thick dark hair she remembered. His own skin seemed to be rotting as she saw spots were pieces had fallen off, giving him the look of a zombie while there was massive scaring and severe burn wounds underneath the decay. Emma figured this was more than likely due to the building falling on top of him during the first fall of Hydra.

Emma now knew where the scent of decay was coming from.

There was a large scar that ran across his face but that was the only thing Emma recognized about him. It was the scar her mother gave him with a shard of glass before meeting her demise. It was evidence that Margot Pierce had existed at one point in time and had even almost bested Rumlow.

Some things didn't really work out that way though.

He grinned at her and she could see that his teeth were rotting. The sight almost made her wrinkle her nose in disgust if it hadn't been for the fact that she remembered that she had a part to play.

"Look at you. You're all grown up," He whispered darkly, his eyes glancing over her body in a way that made her want to throw up. His eyes then paused once they rested upon her face. "Your face. I can't see your face."

"What?" Emma questioned, still frozen in fright and surprise that it didn't quite register to her what he had said. It was only when he pointed at her face that she remembered her mask. "Oh, right."

The blonde, going along with her own plan, took the mask off, revealing her face underneath it much to Rumlow's delight. She subsequently tossed the mask to the other side of the room carelessly as she knowingly cut off any communication with McConaughey or the others. Especially Peter who she knew was probably going crazy out of his mind with worry. She knew she'd be worried beyond belief if she was in his position. Emma just hoped he would forgive her for this.

"There you are," Rumlow said softly as he stared at her flawless face.

He thought she wouldn't look the same as she did when she was younger. That maybe he wouldn't like the way she looked now but he could see that he was wrong. She was even more beautiful now than she was then.

While she still had some of her baby fat around her cheeks from her youth, her features were sharper than they had been back then. Her body had filled out more as well. No longer the skinny and gangly thirteen-year-old but she had filled out with more womanly curves that made Rumlow's mouth salivate as he kept looking her up and down.

There was traces of Margot in her. Rumlow could already pick out where he saw Margot in her.

While he could definitely see Rogers in her hair, blue eyes, and jawline, he could clearly see Margot present in the shape of her lips, her cute pert nose, and the innocent, unsure look in her eyes. It was enough of Margot that Rumlow could ignore all the obvious signs of Rogers in her.

It won't be a big deal, he told himself, I can dye her hair red and those eyes are better than Margot's eyes were anyways.

Either way, it became known to Rumlow that she wasn't a girl anymore. She was nearly a woman now and nearly was good enough for him.

His grin widened much to Emma's disgust as he looked back up at her face, meeting her gaze which was focused on nothing but him. He obsessively analyzed every detail of her flawless face as if he were afraid that he'd forget.

"You're so beautiful," Rumlow told her and Emma forced herself not to flinch or run away in fear.

"You're so beautiful," He whispered into her ear as he thrust into her. Tears streamed down Emma's face silently as she stared at a flaw in the ceiling. Anything to distract herself from what was he was doing. "So beautiful, Princess. Just like...her."

Emma swallowed hard as she forced herself not to get triggered by the words and lash out in anger or fear. She couldn't afford to slip up now of all times. Emma needed to see this through if she wanted to finish this.

"God, I had this memory of you but it can't even compare to the real thing," Rumlow said as he reached out a hand towards her. Emma forced herself not to flinch or recoil in disgust.

His fingers caressed her face, tracing an invisible line down from her cheek and then to her lips. Her skin felt like it was on fire and Emma resisted the urge to bite his finger off as his finger brushed across her lips.

"I know I look different than how you remember," Rumlow said as he pulled his hand away and then gestured down towards himself.

Yeah, no kidding, Emma thought to herself, you look even more fucked up than I remember.

"You look nice," Emma said quietly, keeping her façade of the fucked up girl with Stockholm Syndrome he probably thought she was.

"I know you're just saying that Princess, but I know what I look like," Rumlow said as he grinned at her. "All things considering, I don't think I look half bad. It could be worse."

"I missed you, Brock," Emma murmured as she shyly looked up at him from under her lashes.

This is where the hard part was going to come in.

She nervously fiddled with her fingers and he looked down at her.

"Did you?" Brock questioned, looking a bit doubtful.

His demeanor then changed a second later as he turned angry. Emma was used to this though. She was trained by him, after all, so she knew Rumlow could be happy and calm one second but then angry and upset the next. It was never a sure thing with the Hydra agent.

"You missed me?"

"Of course, I did," Emma said as if she were surprised he'd believe otherwise. Rumlow scoffed.

"Then how come you never left that tower full of fucking Avengers? Huh?" Rumlow said, almost sounding something like a jealous, petty child. "How come you never left?"

But Emma was convincing.

"How could I have left, Brock? You know what the Avengers are like," Emma said, looking desperate to prove to him that she was telling the truth. She only needed to get herself in close proximity to him. If she got in close proximity then she would be right on track. "They watched me like a hawk. I couldn't leave. It was impossible...even for me."

"You're telling the truth?" Rumlow inquired and Emma nodded. A glare then came across his face as he roughly grabbed Emma's arm before dragging her over to the opposite side of the room. Emma really want to rip his arm out of it's socket at that point but she managed to control herself. There was no way she was going to blow this just because Rumlow was acting like a complete psycho.

Well...he was a psycho but that was beside the point.

It was only when they stopped that Emma saw what he wanted her to look at. She forced herself not to reveal her true shock and horror at what she was seeing.

There were pictures of Emma everywhere across this large corner of the room.

The wall was basically plastered with pictures of Emma. It was like a collage of Emma's worst nightmare coming to life. There were pictures of her from everywhere and pictures of her doing countless things, completely unaware of herself being photographed.

Pictures. Pictures. Pictures.

Emma walking to school, listening to music on her iPod while oblivious as ever.

Studying at a nearby coffee shop with Michelle.

Emma on her decathlon trips to Washington D.C. and London.

She and Darcy shopping at a department store for clothing.

Happy ushering her into the back of the car.

"Explain what the hell this is!" Rumlow said as he raised his voice at her before pointing at another collage of pictures.

This time Emma didn't hide her shock from the pictures that had been taken of her.

She saw what Rumlow meant by the pictures.

Emma and Peter holding hands as they walked home from school with her laughing at something ridiculous he said.

Peter and her staring deeply into each other's eyes on a park bench with Peter's hand resting suggestively on her knee.

Emma and Peter kissing on that bridge in London.

The two of them locked in a passionate embrace on her doorstep with the both of them sharing a heated kiss while Peter's hand noticeably drifting underneath her shirt.

Emma suddenly felt severely violated by the pictures on the walls. These were very private moments between her and Peter. They were never meant to be seen by anyone let alone Rumlow's disgusting prying eyes.

Peter was hers and hers alone.

Rumlow didn't get to have any part of this.

The fact that he had been watching her this long filled her with anger beyond belief. She wanted to grab ahold of his throat before squeezing and squeezing until she crushed his windpipe under her grip.

This belonged to her. Not him.

She wanted nothing more than to lurch forward and kill him with every fiber of her being. However, Emma restrained herself. She was much too smart to get emotionally compromised right when she was so close. Emma wanted to do this in a way where she would hurt him the most. It was the only thing that would satisfy her need for vengeance.

So Emma instead burst into tears.

He should've known that she was faking it. He and everyone else at Hydra had trained her to be a gifted manipulator, after all. They always said a man's greatest weakness was a woman crying. She never quite understood why that was but it was further proved to her by the men she acquainted herself with. Steve and her father never could quite handle her tears, even when her father was the brainwashed version of himself he was back then, and Peter would do anything to make her stop crying and put a smile on her face. Tony, a once thought cold-hearted billionaire, even seemed to share in this weakness during the many times he made Pepper cry because of some mistake on his part.

Emma didn't understand why but also didn't really care why at the same time.

"I'm so sorry, Brock," Emma cried as she feigned a look of remorse, pretending to be sorry that she betrayed him in whatever delusion he had of her. Tears streamed down her face as she put on a show for the Hydra leader, hoping that he'd buy it. "I-I don't know why I did it."

"Then why did you?!" Rumlow growled, jealousy present in his dark eyes. "All this time I've been waiting patiently for you and you're over here spreading your legs for that little circus freak. I know all about him by the way."

"All your crime-fighting adventures and your alleged journey in becoming a future Avenger. The public is so fascinated by the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man," Rumlow continued to say bitterly as he looked at her in disbelief. "Did you honestly think I'd never hear about it?"

"I never slept with him! I swear!" Emma said as she continued to plead with him, her cheeks wet with tears. "He means nothing to me."

"Then why did you do it, Princess?" Rumlow asked, looking desperate...almost as if he were going crazy over the pictures of Emma and Peter together. It was true in a way. He had been driving himself crazy during the past few months as he poured himself over all the pictures obsessively. "Huh? Why were you even with him in the first place?"

"The Avengers never trusted me," Emma lied as she stared up at him, her blue eyes still brimmed with tears. "Deep down they always knew that I was still loyal to Hydra...to you."

"But they trust him. They trust Spider-Man," The teenage girl said convincingly, keeping a balance between her tears and rational words. "I knew if I could make them believe that I was like him then I could also make them believe that I could leave Hydra behind and be one of them."

Emma bit her lip as if she were nervous and she took a step forward. Rumlow watched her carefully and Emma knew that this would be the real test. She only had one chance to get this right. Emma would be putting everything she learned at Hydra to the test in these next few minutes.

The blonde then took the much older man's hands in her own.

You'd never know by looking at her how revolted she truly was by this.

"I missed you so much, Brock," Emma said quietly, playing the part of the nervous, naïve young girl. "I always knew that I had to come back to you. I didn't care what I had to do or how long it took, I always knew I'd find my way back to you."

"They never let me come back to you until now," Emma told him, a sincere look on her face despite all the tears. "And I brought you them, didn't I? Don't you see, Brock?"

"We can finally end the Avengers. The two of us," Emma said, gently rubbing her thumb against his rotten and decaying skin as she continued to hold onto his hands.

"They can't stand between us anymore."

"You mean that?" Rumlow asked, a crazed look in his eyes. Emma gave him a small smile and nodded.

"What you and I have is just too...too...special for them to understand," Emma told him and she was being honest in a sense. What she had with Rumlow really was too difficult for the others to understand. They would never understand the exact amount of trauma that she had experienced from the rape. No one but someone who was raped could understand that kind of trauma. "We can end the Avengers and start our lives together. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Yes," Rumlow said quietly although there was a certain obsessive glint in his eyes as he looked down at the innocent expression on her youthful face. He felt a smile begin to form on his face because he was starting to realize that he might get his happy ending with Margot that he always wanted. Emma was better than Margot anyways. She understood him better and she didn't take him for granted like Margot had.

"I just hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me for everything," Emma said as she gave him a hopeful look. "I know I hurt you a lot but I'd just like to start over if you don't mind."

Rumlow then took Emma by surprise by removing his hands from hers and then placing them on either side of her face. Emma's heart froze in fright but she maintained her composure as she held his gaze without an ounce of fear to be detected. There was almost a smirk on his face as he abruptly gripped her face so hard that it almost hurt. He held her there so that she was unable to look away as he stared into her eyes.

"Are you lying to me?" Rumlow questioned and Emma's eyes widened in surprise.

"Lying?" Emma asked as if she was appalled that he would ask such a thing. Rumlow nodded.

"Are you lying to me right now? Because I can't take being hurt again by you, Princess," Rumlow said and Emma wanted to sneer at him. She wanted to tell him that he was incapable of having hurt feelings because he was a psychopath. However, she refrained from making those remarks.

"I'm not lying to you, Brock. I swear," Emma told him in a steady tone.

"Look me in the eyes right now and tell me that he means nothing to you," Rumlow said in a low tone of voice as his dark eyes remained locked onto hers. "Tell me that you don't love him...that you never loved him."

There was a brief pause of silence before Emma responded to Rumlow. The older man stared at her, eagerly waiting for her answer. Emma knew this would either make her or break her. He would either believe her and buy her little act or he would know that she was lying and punish her for it. She hadn't been as good of a liar when she was a child. He used to be good at picking out her lies and punishing her for them. Emma just hoped that she was much better at lying to him now than she was then.

"He means nothing to me," Emma lied as she looked into his eyes without the slightest falter. "I don't love him. He's just some silly little boy. How could I choose him over you? You're everything to me and he's nothing."

"Then all is forgiven," Rumlow said softly a moment later as he then swiftly let go of her. If Emma was in a different situation she would've let out a sigh of relief. Even so, she couldn't really afford to do that right now. So she took a step back and smiled at him.

"Thank you. When I came here today, I was afraid you wouldn't forgive me," Emma said as she looked at him a bit shyly. "I feel so silly now."

"You did what you had to so that you could survive. It's what we taught you, after all," Rumlow said, sounding like the rational person he wasn't. It irked Emma at how normal and kind he pretended to be. She only knew him as the monster within and she wanted nothing more than for him to finally show his true colors. "I can't blame you for surviving."

"And look at what those idiots did. All those years the Avengers had you and they wasted your true potential," Rumlow said as he shook his head in disappointment. "It's a real shame."

"I know. I just can't wait for things to go back to the way they were," Emma said as she smiled at him again. Rumlow returned her smile, reaching out and caressing her face once more.

"Don't worry. Things will return to how they used to be soon enough," Rumlow said as he made a promise to her. "I always think about us, you know."

"Think about us how?" Emma asked, feigning curiosity because she really couldn't care less about what he thought. Rumlow smiled before shrugging his shoulders.

"That last night we spent together back at that base," Rumlow said as if he were recollecting a happy memory. Emma continued to smile at him when she felt nothing but pure rage inside. She wanted to pounce on Rumlow and rip him from limb to limb but she withheld herself. "When we fucked. I replay it over and over again in my head."

"Really?" Emma asked him, her smile unwavering. Rumlow nodded.

"I think about you when I'm alone and I think about what it'll be like when we're finally reunited like that," Rumlow said and Emma felt revolted. The same thing that gave her nightmares most nights gave him pleasure. It sickened Emma to the core. "It makes me happy for tonight."

"What's going to happen tonight?" Emma asked him and Rumlow grinned at her, smirking at her almost in a flirtatious way.

"I'm going to make you scream my name more times than you can count. You won't be able to walk straight tomorrow," Rumlow told her confidently and Emma bit down hard on her tongue until she tasted blood.

This sick fucker was going to be lucky if she didn't cut off his tiny dick today.

"I'll ruin you for all other men by the time I'm done. Just like last time."

Last time.

Last time when he forced her onto the bed and took her more times than she could count. She knew it must've been hours before he finally stopped. He did whatever he wanted and broke her in a way she had never been broken before. She tried to be strong but there was only so much she could take.

"I know how you liked that. You could cry and beg me to stop all you wanted but deep down I knew you were begging me," Rumlow said as he continued to stroke her cheek with his thumb almost tenderly.

The same gesture Peter did whenever they were lying together in bed or when he was trying to comfort her. The gesture pissed her off because Emma felt that Rumlow didn't have the right to do what Peter did. He wasn't allowed to touch her like Peter. Only Peter could do those things.

"You'd tease me all the time. Talking back to me and laughing at me behind my back. I knew what you wanted deep down. What you needed. I had to straighten you out that first time and teach you to be more respectful of your superiors but I'll be more gentle this time. I promise."

I promise.

Yet another thing he whispered to her that night as he took her apart in a way she could never be quite fixed of. Three years later and Emma was still trying to put all the pieces together. She wasn't completely sure she ever would.

She hated him.

She hated him. She hated him. She hated him.

She hated him more than she had ever hated anything. Emma wanted him to suffer and she wanted him to hurt. She wanted him to feel the things she felt when he raped her repeatedly. Emma wanted him to feel that same loss of dignity, humiliation, fear, and pain. She wanted to make him beg her for his life. Those were the only things that would give her satisfaction.

"I can't wait," Emma said, feigning sincerity. She didn't believe him when he said that she liked it. Emma didn't believe that he actually thought she enjoyed any of it. Deep down he knew that she hadn't wanted it and he had gone ahead and done it anyways. He liked how scared she was. It gave him power and he relished the feeling.

"Nothing will be able to stop us now," Rumlow said to her as he moved closer to her. Emma looked back at him with a smile on her face, her eyes conveying happiness but her heart conveying something much different. "This is a new beginning for the both of us."

The grotesque looking man then closed the distance as he wrapped his arms around Emma in an embrace. She let him do it too, knowing that she had to let him think that he was in control. That's the only way she could get close to him without retaliation and the only way she could make it hurt more. Emma visibly relaxed in his arms as he pulled her close, inhaling the scent of her hair.

He didn't seem to notice the knife Emma slipped from under her sleeve.

"I think I might love you," He told her softly as he held there, his voice almost trembling as if he were a child. Emma rolled her eyes from over his shoulder.

Pathetic.

"I've waited so long for you and to finally have you in my arms...I can't even describe it, Princess," He practically gushed, further disgusting the teenage girl.

"And what about you? Have you felt the same?" He asked her and he was about to pull away to look at her when he felt an odd sensation in his abdomen.

Rumlow's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the sensation. He was about to open his mouth to question Emma when he felt the stabbing sensation once again. And then again.

And again.

Rumlow stumbled back, grunting in surprise, and looked down at himself. His eyes widened in shock when he saw where the sensation was coming from. There were a couple of red splotches on his combat suit growing in size the longer he stared at it. He reached his hand down to touch his abdomen and watched in disbelief as blood covered his hand.

He couldn't feel pain anymore because of nerve damage, no thanks to the great captain himself, but he knew what this meant.

Rumlow stumbled upon the realization that he had been stabbed.

It was only when he looked back at Emma, who had a knife in her hand and a glare on her face, that he realized what had happened.

The knife was still dripping with his blood.

"W-Why?" Rumlow stuttered, looking at her with an expression akin to shock and betrayal. Emma scoffed. She couldn't believe he was actually this stupid. Well, maybe she could on second thought.

"Why not?" Emma retorted as she kept her glare focused on his face. She circled him almost like a shark would circle its prey. "You think I actually ever gave a fuck about you, Rumlow?! You think I actually enjoyed it when you tortured me...when you raped me?! You killed my parents, you fucking psychopath! The only thing I feel for you is hate!"

"I never raped you. You wanted-" He started to say, still in a state of shock from Emma stabbing him. If anything his response infuriated her more.

"I was thirteen and you were an old man! Why would I want to have sex with you?!" Emma hissed, her blue eyes cold with fury. "You threatened me and you threatened my father. I didn't have a choice."

"If you were stupid enough to believe that Hydra would've permitted me to kill your precious Winter Soldier then that's your own stupid fault, you silly little girl," Rumlow said angrily as he continued to hold his abdomen in an effort to stop the bleeding. Emma stiffened at his words but the rage in her eyes was unrelenting.

"I've wanted to kill you since that day you came to the base," Emma finally admitted and the coldness in her voice could not be ignored. "When you took over my father's training after he had that breakdown. I remembered who you were and I remembered what you did to my parents. Since that day I promised myself that I would make you pay for that."

"You ungrateful little brat," Rumlow said as he shook his head in disappointment. "After all Hydra gave you. Your powers, your knowledge, your training...everything. We gave you everything and you turn around and use it against us. You really are a little traitor."

"Hydra's given me nothing. You've given me nothing," Emma said in a low and dangerous tone. She then laughed humorlessly. "You talk about the night you raped me as if it gives you great pleasure. Well, it's given me nothing but nightmares and especially with your ugly mug looking down at me. I used to think you were ugly before but now you're even more fucked up looking than I remember."

"You're just like Margot," Rumlow told her, hurt by Emma's betrayal and hatred. "You never appreciated me. Margot and you were always looking for something better."

"Well, anyone's got to have you beat, asshole," Emma said bitterly before she whipped around in a quick turn, spinning out in a move akin to the grace a dancer would have, before Rumlow could blink his eyes.

She stuck her knife in his shoulder.

He grunted from the force of impact. She then pulled the knife out, blood spraying in her face but she didn't care.

Before Rumlow could react, Emma struck him again with the knife. He stumbled back once more from the force of her attack. Emma didn't give him any time to defend himself. She stabbed him in the abdomen once.

Twice.

Three times.

Emma wasn't really counting. She just wanted to end him at this point and she didn't care how many times she had to stab him. She didn't care if she had to gut him like a fish at this point either.

There was a wild look in her eyes as she drew and withdraw her knife over and over again, the feel of it piercing through his skin and then pulling back into the air gave her an inexplicable high like no other. It wasn't because she was enjoying the pain she was inflicting.

It was because she was enjoying the pain she was inflicting on him.

The temper, she so fought to control back in her younger days, started to resurface in that moment as she lashed out against Rumlow, letting years and years of rage and turmoil rain down on him. Rumlow watched with wide eyes as he looked at the pure rage in her eyes. It occurred to him that the innocence she had earlier portrayed in her eyes was all an act. No such innocence existed.

She wasn't like Margot at all.

It was all a trick.

"You're not so smug like you were that night," Emma hissed as she slashed the knife towards him, managing to slice the skin on his forearms as he shielded his arms in front of his face defensively. It was difficult to defend himself against her quick movements with the knife. She was always gifted with her knives, after all. The silly girl had always been so hellbent on impressing her precious Winter Soldier that she focused all her attention on those damn knives. Now it seemed like Rumlow was finally paying the price.

"I heard you can't feel pain anymore," Emma said as she quickly inflicted another slash on his forearms.

She then swung her leg out and landed a hard kick to his side, surprising him and sending him to the floor.

"I plan to change that," Emma finished, smirking at him.

He gritted his teeth, furious at her insolence. The little brat thought that she was so smart.

Well, he was going to show her.

Emma climbed over his weak and pathetic looking body. Probably an action that would give the pathetic horny psychopath a boner in any other situation.

She straddled him and there was a certain amount of irony in this situation. Years ago the roles were reversed and it was she who was at his mercy but now things were different.

"I thought I might give you a few more scars with this knife," Emma remarked as she looked down at him with a condescending look on her face as she held the knife out in front of her. It almost seemed like she was going to ponder what she was going to do next. "I thought a lot about it on the ride over here."

"Did you?" Rumlow questioned quietly, his eyes searching her eyes for any trace of her mother there.

He couldn't find any.

"Yeah, but now that I see you in front of me I realize that I can't possibly fuck you up any more than you already are," Emma said bitterly before shaking her head. "It's a shame."

"You gonna kill me, Princess?" Rumlow asked her as if he didn't actually believe that she would. He obviously didn't know how much she hated him.

"Without hesitation," Emma told him sincerely like she was making him a promise.

"I didn't think you would with that self-righteous grandpa of yours," Rumlow told her and Emma hated how smug he looked. She wished he'd look more scared or desperate. "I thought you'd be more merciful."

"I'm not him," Emma said, the expression on her face growing darker and more serious as she stared down at him. Her blue eyes hardened as their eyes met. If Rumlow was a smarter and less delusional version of himself then he would've been afraid to see his own reflection in those pretty blue eyes that had since gone cold. "Don't worry, Rumlow. I'll show you the same amount of mercy that you showed my parents."

The room grew more tense and almost deadly silent as the blonde lifted the knife up into the air, Rumlow completely at her mercy. She then brought the knife back down in one sharp movement, going for his heart.

However, a quick and unexpected action stopped the knife from hitting its target. Emma stared down in confusion as Rumlow's hand reached out and stopped the knife right before it pierced through his flesh.

She tried to force the knife past his grip but found that she was stuck.

They were like two magnets, one trying to move past the other.

Their eyes met in that moment and a realization hit Emma as a smirk began to form across his face.

He was stronger than before.

Rumlow then took advantage of her brief moment of shock, slapping her harder than Emma had been slapped in her life. She grunted from the pain and he knocked the knife out of her hand, sending it skidding across the floor.

Emma was about to counter by going for his throat but he blocked her and threw her off him abruptly. The blonde teenager was sent skidding across the floor much like her knife before her.

She groaned in pain, a bit winded from his counterattack, as she came to the conclusion that she had severely underestimated Rumlow. All these years she berated him for being just a simple man who she somehow let rape her. She thought he'd always stay that way, at least in her mind, so this was definitely new to her.

Emma had noticed that he looked a bit more muscular than before. She admitted that she suspected that he was hiding something. Emma suspected that it might've had to do with the many blood samples she left behind at Hydra. From all the poking and prodding they did for all those years. Emma just assumed that Rumlow's body wouldn't have been able to accept anything containing her serum in it.

Well...now that she looked at his rotting flesh and sickly appearance, maybe she was right. Maybe his body hadn't accepted it, after all.

"You left a lot behind when the Avengers took you, Princess," Rumlow said as he stood up from the ground much to Emma's disbelief. He flashed a big grin in her direction. "It wasn't easy for Dr. List to recreate Stark and Erskine's serum but he worked out the kinks eventually."

"It looks like he fucked up," Emma noted as she glared back up at Rumlow, slowly getting up from the ground. She still felt a pang of pain in her side. He definitely caught her off guard. That was for sure.

"I'll admit that there was a lot of side effects," Rumlow said, ignoring her obvious anger and disgust. "But I've never felt better."

"Good for you," Emma spat.

It was poetic in a way.

Dr. List created a new serum using Emma's blood. The girl, Rumlow was so obsessed and delusional over, but it was her blood that was making him sick from the inside out. Her blood was making him stronger at the same time as it was making him weaker. His body was trying to heal from the poison in his veins but he could only heal so fast.

It seemed like Emma had been slowly killing him all this time without even knowing it. He probably didn't have much longer but Emma could tell that he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

They rarely ever did.

"I did this all for you," He said softly, suddenly visibly upset with her. Emma didn't feel bad for him though. "I'm stronger now and better in every way than that circus freak. You know it too, don't you?"

Emma thought carefully about how she would proceed next.

She could either calmly talk him down and manipulate him like before. Emma could get close enough again and just finally kill him this time, going for the heart unlike before. She knew she could manipulate him again. Rumlow was so delusional that he could quite possibly be the easiest person that she ever had to manipulate.

No.

This wasn't good enough.

Emma had come too far and had waited far too long to end this quickly. She wanted to draw it out and she wanted to make him suffer. The sixteen-year-old girl knew the others would never approve of this sort of thinking but Emma didn't care. She was the one that had been raped with her whole entire childhood stolen from her. So it was Emma who would get the final say. This was already decided.

She would provoke instead of coax.

Her father always used to tell her she had a big mouth and someday it would get her in trouble. He was right about that too. This had been proven to her on numerous occasions.

"You're wrong," Emma said quietly as she looked back up at him with an unreadable expression on her face. "You're not better."

"I'm not?" Rumlow questioned with a raised eyebrow. He almost seemed amused, in fact. "You care to explain how he's better."

In all honesty, Peter was better in a million ways. Rumlow couldn't even stand in comparison to Peter. It was an insult to everything Peter was. Emma could've said a million mushy things about how good of a person Peter was...how he was as dorky as he was kind. Emma could probably spend all day and night talking about how Peter was her favorite person in the world.

However, she knew that wasn't the way to go.

None of that would provoke Rumlow and Emma needed to provoke him.

No, she knew just the way to piss off Rumlow.

Now, if there was anything Emma was good at, it was knowing where to hit a man where it hurts. She wasn't just talking in a literal sense either.

The young girl smirked.

"Well, for one his penis is huge," Emma said smugly, her smirk unwavering but her eyes as innocent as ever. The amused look immediately fell off Rumlow's face before Emma could blink.

She had him right where she wanted him.

"What?" Rumlow questioned, thinking he misheard her even though he hadn't. Emma internally beamed at how pissed he was starting to get.

"It's a lot bigger than that tiny, pathetic dick of yours," Emma taunted and Rumlow started trembling with anger. This only seemed to fuel Emma's confidence.

"You let him have you?" Rumlow said darkly, clenching his fists in anger.

Oh, yes...this was far more enjoyable to Emma.

Destroying Rumlow's male ego was her new favorite hobby.

"More like I had him," Emma bragged, knowing that Rumlow was two seconds from losing it. She just needed to brace herself for an attack. "He knows how to show a girl a good time which is more than what I can say for you...stubby."

Then all hell broke loose.

"You ungrateful bitch," Rumlow growled before charging at her.

Emma waited for him to make the first move. She knew when your opponent was angry, their movements became sloppy.

He threw a fist in her direction and Emma quickly blocked it with her arm.

The blonde countered it with a kick to his side.

Rumlow didn't falter. He delivered a strong punch to her jaw which knocked her off her feet.

Emma fell to the ground, wincing in pain which she hadn't felt in a while. It was quite obvious he was strong now.

However, she didn't allow herself to stay on the ground long before she quickly jumped up to her feet. She barely had time to dodge his next punch as he went for another punch to her face.

Emma moved to the right before landing a punch of her own to his scarred looking face.

He stumbled back and she landed three more punches to his ribcage with inhumane speed. Emma was fairly sure she heard ribs cracking but Rumlow didn't let that get him down.

The older man roughly knocked his head against hers, taking her by surprise, before managing to get his arm around her.

He immediately twisted her arm around and locked her against him, her back against his front. Emma struggled in his grasp, noticing how difficult it was to break free. The very fact that she was struggling to get out of his grip was entirely frustrating.

"You have a big mouth, you know that?" Rumlow whispered into her ear as she continued to break free. "Looks like I'm going to have to teach you another lesson. Just like last time."

Emma finally found the willpower to break free, his heated words further fueling her anger. She elbowed him in the ribs hard before spinning out from him.

She was just about to untangle herself from him when he caught her by the wrist. Emma glared at him before rearing her hand back to hit him and break his hold on her. It was then that he pulled her so hard that she was yanked back towards him.

Rumlow immediately slammed Emma onto the ground, her head hitting the hard floor harshly.

The blonde groaned in pain as she felt a mild case of whiplash come over her.

"You think you're so damn smart. Talking down to me like that," Rumlow hissed at her as he kneeled down and loomed over her, his giant shadow encompassing her. He reminded her so much of the nightmares in that moment. The ones where he was the wolf to her Red Riding Hood. "You've forgotten that you belong to me."

"I belong to myself," Emma said defiantly and this seemed to piss him off even more. He backhanded her hard across the face.

She admitted that she had severely underestimated him upon arriving here. Emma was just so hellbent on getting revenge that it blinded her to anything else. She should've been more aware of her surroundings but even Emma made mistakes.

Emma had faults.

She wouldn't deny that.

"Get away from me, Pedophile," Emma said venomously and he slapped her again.

"Say you belong to me and I won't hurt you anymore," Rumlow said to her threateningly. "Say you belong to me and I'll forget everything you did. We can leave here in peace."

"Fuck you," Emma spat, glaring daggers at the severely scarred man. "I'd rather suck Ultron's robot dick than go anywhere with you."

Rumlow didn't say or do anything for a moment as he stared silently at her. Even though he didn't say anything, Emma could tell he was angry. His breathing had gotten heavier and she knew she had pushed him too far. She didn't care though. It was all worth it because she was finally confronting him for everything he had done to her in the past.

"You little bitch," Rumlow growled as he then abruptly grabbed her by her throat and lifted her off the ground. Emma choked under his grip which was painfully strong. Much more than before.

"I've done everything for you and you just threw it all away," He said angrily as her feet left the ground and he held her up in the air. Her feet kicked as she struggled to set her feet back down on a surface. Her air supply seemed to be a little short even for her.

"You don't look so arrogant now, do you, Princess?" Rumlow questioned as he smirked at her evilly. "I always told everyone at the base that they should've given you more beatings. They should've instilled more disciplined and instead, they let you walk around that base for too long like you owned the whole goddamn place."

"Now you've been in that fucking superhero mansion where they let you do whatever the fuck you want," Rumlow said as a more gleeful expression came across his face. "It'll take a while to instill that discipline back into you but I think I might know a couple ways."

Emma tried to pry his hands off her throat to let her go but she was feeling weak from having her head banged into the hard ground. She struggled for breath as he continued to hold her there in the air, taking great pride in having her under his mercy.

She knew he wouldn't kill her but that did little to comfort her.

Just when she was thinking that she might've lost this battle and might even risk herself being taken by him, something odd occured.

Rumlow stumbled slightly, immediately dropping Emma.

The teenager groaned in pain again as she hit the floor.

Rumlow looked down at himself in surprise and disgust when he noticed an odd looking white substance attached to his combat suit.

What the fuck...

"Get away from her," A young sounding voice said angrily and Rumlow quickly whipped around to look at the assailant.

The person he hated most in the world was standing in the room dressed in his ridiculous looking red and blue spandex.

Hatred filled Rumlow's entire being as he stared at the figure standing at the opposite end of the room. Hatred because this was the person who stole her from him.

The little spider.

"Peter, no," Emma said, her voice sounding hoarse as she tried to catch her breath. She was still on the floor, feeling very winded from Rumlow's most recent attack on her. "Get away from here. Go back to Tony."

The teenage boy, however, ignored his girlfriend.

He had just spent the past twenty minutes breaking through the very large and heavy steel door which had been alarmingly difficult to get through. Peter assumed that it was because his Spidey Senses were causing all his instincts to go out of whack. His newfound Spidey Senses were warning him of danger just beyond that heavy reinforced door but Peter didn't care about the danger. Not when Emma was locked on the other side of that very same door.

The others didn't know where he or Emma had gone off too. He knew Mr. Stark had been trying to contact him through his suit but he declined his calls. Peter knew Mr. Stark would've just told him to wait back on the Quinjet while Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes rescued Emma but he wasn't going to wait around while she was in danger.

How could he sit back, knowing Rumlow might hurt her or worse?

Still...nothing prepared him for the unbelievable fury he felt as he entered the room and saw Rumlow choking Emma, her feet dangling just a bit above the ground.

Peter didn't think.

He just acted because this was Emma, after all.

This man did all these terrible things to Emma and this man even thought he could keep on doing terrible things to her but Peter wouldn't let him. This monster was going to learn that Emma wasn't alone anymore. She had him now and he was going to make sure Rumlow never got his hands on her again. He didn't care what he'd have to do ensure that but he would do whatever was necessary.

Rumlow didn't look how he expected him to look either.

Peter had seemed pictures of him before and had always been disgusted by how old the man was. He couldn't wrap his mind around why someone that old would do those things to someone as young as Emma. The only conclusion Peter came across was that the man was severely evil.

Now he looked just as evil as he was on the inside.

Never before had Peter seen someone so grotesque and deranged looking in his life.

However, Rumlow then surprised him in that moment. He didn't glare at him like Peter thought he would or even come charging towards him.

The monster actually had the gall to grin at Peter, displaying his rotting teeth.

"The spider," Rumlow stated as he looked at the webslinger. Peter swallowed hard as he carefully eyed the man's movements. "I should've known you'd come running to her rescue."

"Stay away from her," Peter said warningly as he stood his ground.

Emma's eyes flooded with worry as she watched her boyfriend and her abuser face each other for the first time ever.

Why couldn't he have stayed away like she wanted him too?

"You wouldn't be the first one to get trapped under her spell, Little Spider," Rumlow told him as he casually strolled about the room without coming close to Peter or Emma. It was almost like he was putting on a performance. "She's quite good at seducing men. She bats her eyelashes and we're all goners. First, there was Barnes, then me, and now you. I'm sure she has all the other men at the superhero mansion wrapped around her finger too. She plays the victim card a little too well if you ask me."

"You're sick," Peter spat as he clenched and unclenched his fists in anger. "I know what you did to her. Everyone knows. You're a rapist...a-a monster."

"Rape?" Rumlow said in amusement before scoffing. "How could it be rape? She didn't even try to fight me."

Emma could tell from Peter's demeanor that he was two seconds from snapping and attacking the man. It was also clear that Rumlow was purposefully provoking him, attempting to get the upper hand in catching the younger man in an emotional state.

"Peter, don't," Emma said pleadingly from her position on the ground. "He's trying to provoke you. He's not of average strength like he used to be. Dr. List made a new serum using my blood. He's stronger now."

Peter didn't care if Rumlow was stronger or not. He didn't care if Rumlow was stronger than the whole team of Avengers. Peter would still make him pay for he did to Emma.

"I took her over and over again yet she didn't even try to stop me. She was as quiet as a little mouse...other than her little cries and whimpers of pain, of course," Rumlow taunted smugly and Emma could practically see the steam coming out of Peter's ears. Emma glared at the asshole who seemed keen on making her entire life miserable.

"Shut up, asshole!" Emma yelled at him, more than annoyed with him at this point. Now she really wished she killed Rumlow from the start instead of drawing it out like this. Just for the sake of shutting him up for good.

Once again, Emma went ignored by both men.

"It's not uncommon for it to hurt the first time though. It's pretty normal," Rumlow said and Emma could tell he was enjoying this. He was enjoying tormenting Peter like this. "You should actually thank me for loosening her up for you. She was so tight that first time. I could barely fit."

It seemed like that did the trick.

Peter in all his usual calmness and politeness, even when dealing with criminals, was unable to hold back in his rage at Rumlow's taunts. The teenage boy let out a fierce growl of anger which Emma had never heard before and immediately flung his wrist out, aiming his webshooter for the ceiling and shooting the webbing out.

Peter then grabbed onto the webbing and swung himself feet first towards Rumlow. He was so unbelievably fast that Rumlow didn't have quite as much time to process his movements.

As soon as Peter's feet connected with the older man's chest, Rumlow fell backwards onto the hard floor.

Peter then landed in his iconic crouched position, the white eye lenses of his suit narrowed into a glare as he looked back at the man on the ground. Never before in his life had he felt such utter hatred towards someone. At least, the man who killed Uncle Ben seemed apologetic and guilt-ridden. However, Rumlow was the opposite. He obviously took great pride in the pain and suffering he inflicted on Emma. This is what fueled Peter's hatred towards him.

It didn't take long for Rumlow to recover from Peter's attack. The man quickly lifted himself off the ground but only to be met with more webbing. Peter was unrelenting in his attack on the older, grotesque looking man.

Usually, there would be quips or a couple smart-ass remarks on his part but Peter found that he had no patience for any teasing. He was too angry.

"You're out of your league, kid," Rumlow told Peter as he swung a fist at Peter which the teenage boy narrowly dodged.

Rumlow's combat skills were, of course, much more graceful and experienced than Peter's were. Peter only knew what Emma taught him in the training sessions they had. He usually just relied on his strength and agility as well as the mysterious instinct within himself that always seemed to kick in during situations like these.

However, he could also see the benefit from being more experienced in combat.

Peter managed to twist around and land a kick to Rumlow which sent him stumbling back a ways but not enough to knock him off his feet like before. He could see what Emma meant about him being stronger.

Rumlow countered his attack with another punch which Peter dodged again but the teenage boy was thrown off guard when Rumlow caught him in a distracted state.

Peter would admit that he wasn't thinking clearly in the midst of his anger so he was surprised when Rumlow managed to knock him off his feet with a swing of his leg.

Peter grunted as he hit the floor.

Rumlow smirked as he moved in for another attack.

He didn't seem to notice that Emma wasn't indisposed anymore. She took the older man by surprise when she jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck before trying to tighten her hold on him.

Rumlow immediately tried to pry her grip off him, giving Peter enough time to hop off the ground and assume position. The grotesque looking man finally managed to throw Emma off his back.

She fell back on the ground but quickly hopped back to her feet and prepared herself for another attack. Emma was ready for anything at this point.

Rumlow stumbled as he regained his footing but now noticed that the two teenagers were circling him.

"Give it up, asshole," Emma told him heatedly as she gave him a look full of hate. Peter happened to have a very similar look on his face as well. "You're outnumbered. There's two of us and one of you. Do the math."

"Not for long," Rumlow told them smugly as he smirked. He seemed to glance behind them at something Emma and Peter couldn't see.

It was then that the hair began to stand up on Peter's arm again.

There was something, or someone, standing behind them.

Everything in him seemed to tell him to move and get out of the way but instead of following his natural instinct, he fought against it.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that.

Peter immediately rushed over to Emma, without giving it a second thought, and grabbed a hold of her. He could've thrown them both to the ground if there had been more time. He held on tightly to her instead and she was about to question what he was doing when three loud shots rang out through the air.

One.

Two.

Three.

Peter flinched but his grip on Emma was unrelenting.

It was only when the room had grown quiet again that Peter's hold on her seemed to loosen and he allowed himself to feel the pain of what he had done. The pain was unbearable as Peter felt himself practically melting to the floor. The shocked and confused look on Emma's face spoke volumes as she watched him sink to the floor, the problem of Rumlow momentarily forgotten.

"Peter?" She whispered in a frightened tone, not understanding what was wrong with him.

Then she saw it as he fell to the ground.

The three growing spots of red staining his abdomen.

He had been shot.

Emma's eyes widened in horror as her mind finally seemed to wrap around what was happening. The blood continued to stain his Spider-Man suit as it poured out of the three wounds. It was the very sight that she had always feared in her darkest nightmares.

Now it was coming true.

Emma immediately sank to her knees on the floor next to him, not caring what Rumlow would do at this point. She quickly wrapped his mask off, revealing his face.

Peter's gaze was still on her but he seemed slightly in a dazed state. His eyes were on her but they weren't at the same time. It occurred to her that he was very weak which scared her. Peter was never weak. Not like this.

"Peter, why-" Emma questioned as worried tears seemed to flood her eyes. Peter swallowed hard as tears started to flood his own eyes as well but from the pain.

"I had to," He told her in the strongest voice he could muster. Emma pressed her hand against the wound, knowing that it was the only way to try and keep him from bleeding out. He may have been Spider-Man but Emma knew he wasn't immune to bullets. He could very well bleed out and die on this floor if he didn't get proper medical attention.

Rumlow could be seen leaning against the wall calmly as he watched the two young lovers.

Now he would watch the world burn and crash around him.

A clunking sound then took Emma's attention away from Peter. Her eyes drifted to a gun on the ground. Her gaze then shifted to the culprit who had dropped it.

The culprit who shot Peter.

A nervous looking man stood there just a few feet from them. He had a wide-eyed look on his face as he looked between Emma and Peter.

Emma couldn't describe the amount of anger and rage that filled her veins in that moment. Even more so then when she faced Rumlow. This pathetic excuse of a man just shot Peter.

Her Peter.

Peter who took three bullets that were meant for her.

Something seemed to ignite within Emma in that moment.

A power and darkness, unlike anything she had ever felt before.

It stemmed from a wide range of emotions pouring out of her. Anger, fear, and sadness. All those things seemed to pool together as she fixed her gaze on the scared looking man who hurt Peter. He was the man who threatened to take everything from her and caused Emma more anguish and fear than she had ever felt before.

The man then raised his hands defensively as if he were surrendering to them, "I'm sorry. I-"

He was cut off by a large blast of blue energy that seemed to come from within the Viper Assassin herself.

The bright blue energy came right towards him, hitting the man and sending him flying back against the wall. His head hit the hard concrete and a sickening crack could be heard throughout the room.

Jorgen Nygard died before he even hit the ground.

Emma's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the now limp body on the floor.

What that-how could it be-was just happened…

The blue mass of energy couldn't have come from her?

Could it?

Impossible.

"Unbelievable!" Rumlow exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. Emma was still staring at the dead body as she continued to keep her hand pressed to Peter's side.

"All this time we all pushed you to showcase more abilities. To prove that you were more powerful than Barnes and Rogers put together. We thought we reached the extent of your powers but we were wrong," Rumlow said almost gleefully. "We tortured you and pushed you but nothing brought any of that out. Who knew all it took was for your precious little spider to spill a little blood."

Emma finally tore her gaze from the dead body on the floor as she then looked back at Peter. She noticed that his eyes were closed. A swell of panic came over her as she shakily checked for a pulse. Relief washed over her as she felt a weaker but still present pulse.

He was okay.

At least, for now.

Peter had probably just passed out from the pain. However, if she didn't get him out of here soon then he wouldn't be okay. He needed to see a doctor really soon. Especially considering that she was fairly certain that the bullets hadn't gone straight through him. They were probably still inside him which made his condition even worse.

"He doesn't look too good, does he?" Rumlow said tauntingly as he observed a silent Emma and a passed out Peter. "Poor bastard. He wouldn't be the first to fall prey to your charm. It'll probably end up killing him too."

Suddenly Emma didn't feel angry anymore. Not towards Rumlow, at least. Those previous feelings of anger and fear were no longer present as she sat there staring at Peter's weakened form. She could hear Rumlow talking in the background but she found she no longer cared about what he had to say.

All she felt was numbness.

Why had she really come, after all?

To kill him?

Because that would make her feel better, right? That would end all the nightmares and allow her to put him in her past. Killing him was the key…at least that's what she thought before. Before her need for vengeance had injured Peter.

Peter was now paying the price for her need for vengeance. She had selfishly gone after Rumlow because she desired revenge that much that she hadn't even stopped to think about the people who she might hurt in the process. T'Challa's earlier words echoed through her mind.

Vengeance will only consume you until there's nothing left but pain and suffering.

He was right, Emma realized.

Killing Rumlow wouldn't do anything. Killing him wouldn't free her from her pain. Only she could do that. Only Emma could move on and she had in many ways. She had a family now, hobbies, school, friends, and she had even fallen in love. Emma had already moved on in her life and Rumlow didn't have a part in making her move on.

Emma did it on her own with the help of people who loved her.

So why should she ever give him any credit in her moving on from her past in Hydra?

Emma didn't feel anything for Rumlow anymore because the fear of losing Peter, and everything she had built with Peter, outweighed any need she had for vengeance.

Peter was more important to her than Rumlow. He was everything to her. The idea that Rumlow could be more important to her than Peter was a joke. Even killing him wasn't worth the risk of losing Peter. Nothing was worth that risk.

Rumlow was nothing to her.

"I won't let vengeance consume me," Emma whispered to herself as a lone tear fell from her eye. Peter's chest was rising and falling with every breath he took and Emma was going to make sure he stayed that way. That he kept breathing and never stopped. "It's over."

"What was what, Princess?" Rumlow asked her, raising his eyebrow in amusement. "Are you mumbling something?"

Emma swallowed hard before she looked away from Peter and fixed her gaze on Rumlow. There was no anger or hatred like there had been before when she looked at him.

Just determination.

"I said I won't let vengeance consume me," Emma finally told him much to Rumlow's confusion. He didn't seem to understand what she was saying but Emma didn't care. "I've let it consume me my whole life but I'm done."

"Are you now?" Rumlow questioned, still not quite understanding her. Emma nodded.

"I've hated you for almost my entire life and it's gotten me nowhere. You're like a disease, a tumor, that's greatest joy is holding me back," Emma told him heatedly as she tried to muster up the same emotions she felt before when that man shot Peter. "Well, I'm finished with you now. I don't care what happens to you but I just know that you don't have anything to do with me anymore."

"Really?" Rumlow spat, an angry look entering his eyes. "You think you can just be rid of me so easily? After all this time, you think you can just-"

"You're nothing," Emma interrupted with a cold look on her face.

Before Rumlow even had the chance to respond, Emma shakily raised her arm up towards him. In any other circumstance, she would've felt foolish or ridiculous but not this time.

It was like there was an urge or something within her pulling her to do so.

Emma poured every emotion she had ever felt towards Rumlow into that moment as she locked eyes with him.

The pain, suffering, anger, sadness, disgust, and shame.

It was every feeling Rumlow had ever made her feel. From the nightmares, the torturing, and then to the rape. It was over a decade's worth of emotion as she allowed all the emotions to pool together in that one moment.

Then she simply let go.

The blast of blue energy was much more powerful than it had been before as she finally let go. It shot out of her palm, resembling something like a stream of blue light.

The glow of the blue light shone on Emma's face as it went flying out towards Rumlow. The energy from it didn't feel dark or evil. It felt pure...kind, even. Nothing about it seemed wrong. Emma was left basking in its power for those few seconds as it seemed to pour out of her.

When it made contact with Rumlow's chest, it sent him flying back with a large amount of force. The older man yelped in surprise and pain for the first time in forever.

He didn't stop until he flew back and hit the ceiling.

Emma watched him fall down from the ceiling gracelessly as the blast of blue energy from the palm of her hand ceased.

The grotesque looking man hit the floor with a thud. Several pieces of the ceiling fell down with him. He laid there motionlessly on the floor in the midst of various debris and Emma didn't care.

She didn't care if she had killed him or not.

His existence bore little consequence to Emma.

The blonde stared emotionlessly at his body for another moment before she looked away. Her gaze then softened as her eyes landed on Peter's weak form. She really needed to get him out of here and fast.

Emma scooped him up into her arms, her enhanced strength making the action quite easy, before getting up from the ground. She swallowed hard as she stared at his still unconscious state. If her hands were free she might've brushed his hair out of his face a bit or stroked his cheek comfortingly.

"It's going to be okay, Peter," Emma whispered softly, realizing that she was trying to convince him of this just as much as she was trying to convince herself. The blonde then carried her boyfriend out of the room where two bodies were still limp on the ground.

One limp and one just unconscious.

There was a certain amount of freedom that rested upon her shoulders, freedom that hadn't been there before, as she carried the teenage boy in her arms with much more care and gentleness than what she was known for. Emma was dealing with precious cargo, after all.

The young girl kept trying to reassure herself that it would be okay because it had to be okay. He had to be okay. Emma would never recover if he wasn't okay.

Hopefully, he could forgive her when this was all over. Emma knew that she didn't deserve it but she could still hope.

---

Emma ran back onto the still empty Quinjet with Peter in her arms. She assumed that everyone was still in the building taking care of the other Hydra agents. Emma hadn't run into many Hydra agents on the way back so she assumed they were being taken care of by the other Avengers.

The blonde didn't waste any time before carefully setting Peter down on one of the hospital beds in the aircraft. The teenager was vaguely aware of the basic steps in treating someone with bullet wounds. Hydra had forced her to read a couple books on medical procedures in case she or her father ever got injured in the field. It came in handy a couple times and it seemed to be coming in handy right now too. She obviously wasn't going to be able to perform surgery since she wasn't a trained doctor but she could help him in the meantime.

First, Emma was going to have to make a call so they could get this Quinjet back to the compound as soon as possible.

The Quinjet was known for its fast speed, she suspected it could reach the compound in forty-five minutes if they were going at top speed, but Emma just hoped it was long enough for Peter.

Emma made sure Peter was settled onto the bed before she went racing back to the front of the Quinjet. She immediately brought up the holographic screen, ignoring the fact that there was a large assortment of missed messages and calls from the compound as well as Steve, before quickly contacting the one person she knew could help with this. Emma didn't know how she was going to explain any of this but she knew she would manage for Peter.

"Hello? Mini Cap?" Emma heard Tony's worried voice say as he appeared on the screen. He was probably still in his Iron Man suit given how dark it looked in the background. "Where the hell have you been? We've been trying to get in touch with you for the past hour."

"Tony, you need to get on Quinjet right now," Emma told Tony as she tried to keep a brave face on and not break down. She was still extremely worried about Peter but she needed to remain strong so she could get Tony down here.

"What?" Tony questioned in confusion and Emma swallowed hard before nodding furiously.

"Tony, you need to come right now," Emma said hurriedly. She didn't have time to explain this in incredible detail, after all. "Peter's hurt and it's really bad. We need to get him back to the compound."

"What do you mean he's hurt?" Tony asked her and Emma felt herself begin to lose her temper at that point.

"He got shot," Emma snapped but she didn't look angry. She just looked frustrated and completely worried out of her mind. Scared too for that matter. Tony's eyes widened in horror at what she just said. A crestfallen expression then crossed her face as her shoulders began to sag. "Please just come here. He's losing a lot of blood."

"I'll...be right there," Tony said slowly, still trying to process what she was saying. Emma nodded once more before she ended the call.

The teenage girl ran a hand over her face as she tried to take a deep breath. She was going to have to stay calm for Peter if no one else. Emma couldn't lose her shit right now. Not with Peter's life on the line.

Emma then walked back over to the hospital bed where Peter was still lying, looking quite peaceful if it wasn't for his wounds and how pale he was starting to look. She, as calmly as she could, brought out the medical supplies from under the bed and worked as fast as she could while maintaining her cool. It was kind of hard to do with her boyfriend bleeding as profusely as he was.

The blonde put out on a pair of latex gloves, from the box of medical supplies, before getting to work. She knew this wasn't going to heal Peter but it might stop him from bleeding out.

Emma quickly yanked his Spider-Man suit off from the shoulders down to the waist, exposing his chest and abdomen where the wounds were. She winced at the sight of the brutal looking gunshot wounds and all the blood. Not because she was squeamish around blood. No, it was because he was Peter and he was injured badly.

Emma slightly leaned him over to the side so she could look at his back.

The teenage girl swallowed hard when she saw that it just as she feared.

No exit wounds.

This wasn't a good sign.

Not completely satisfied with this observation, Emma moved him back onto his back which was really the best position for him in this state. There wasn't much she couldn't do about the bullets anyways. Only a doctor could perform the surgery and remove the bullets. Emma would just have to settle for making him as comfortable as possible as well as making sure he didn't bleed out on the way back to the compound.

It only took Emma a moment before she decided what she had to do.

She knew there wasn't much she could do other than apply a pressure bandage. The young girl immediately, but gently, pulled an unconscious Peter into an upwards position as she began wrapping the bandage around him. She made sure the bandage was tight to add to the pressure and keep him from bleeding too much. Emma then carefully laid him back down on the bed.

The sixteen-year-old disposed of her gloves in a garbage can before hurrying back over to his side.

Ocean blue eyes full of desperation and fear fixed onto the face of a still unconscious Peter Parker. Emma's heart pounded in her chest as she stood over him, anticipating the arrival of Tony. The sooner they were able to get out of this place, the better.

"I'm so sorry, Peter," Emma said as she finally allowed herself to cry. The tears seemed to be coming out of her nonstop as she continued to stare down at him. "This is all my fault."

It was the first time Emma genuinely feared losing him.

Sure, she had nightmares about losing him from time to time but she never faced the possibility of actually losing him in real life. Now she knew what she feared more than anything.

It was never Rumlow.

It was losing Peter.

This was all her stupid fault. If she had never gone after Rumlow then Peter never would've followed her and gotten himself shot. If Emma had let go of Rumlow sooner then none of this would've happened. They'd still be on this Quinjet bored out of their minds.

"Please be okay," Emma begged desperately, not knowing who or what would listen. It was an odd sight to behold since Emma Rogers wasn't known to beg for anything. Peter Parker seemed to be an exception to that.

He seemed to be an exception to a lot of things.

"Please be okay and I'll be better to you. I promise," Emma continued to plead. With Peter or someone else, Emma didn't know. She just wanted him to be okay. She didn't care what it took. Emma would probably beg God to let him be okay and she didn't even believe in God.

"Please wake up, Peter," She said as she continued with her begging. "I love you so much. Don't do this to me."

Only time would tell if Peter would listen to her.

---

"What's going on?" Steve asked the billionaire as everyone stood in the hangar of the building. The mission had been a success so far. They had either apprehended or killed a great number of Hydra agents and Natasha had retrieved the flash drive they had been looking for. No one seemed to be injured either.

At least until now.

"I don't know. Emma said that the kid's been shot," Tony said and it seemed like he was in a dazed state as he tried to process this news. There was no doubting the worry and panic that filled his entire body at the news that the kid was injured bad. Tony couldn't remember ever feeling this panicked before. Maybe when he thought Killian had killed Pepper during that Extremis fiasco all those years ago. He couldn't really think of anything else to compare this feeling to.

"I heard what she said," Steve said, realizing that Tony must've misunderstood him in his state of panic. "I mean that I don't understand how he got shot. They're supposed to be on the Quinjet."

"Grow up, Steve," Natasha told him as she walked into the hangar. "Those two didn't stay on Quinjet. They probably went looking for Rumlow the first chance they got."

Bucky swallowed hard as he turned to look at his best friend.

"I told you that we shouldn't have let Emma come with us," Bucky told Steve and the super soldier didn't even argue with him at that point. He just looked crestfallen as he stood there in silence, trying to find something to say to that.

"Let's not play the blame game right now, guys," Clint said sternly with a serious look on his face. "We've got more important issues to deal with."

Wanda nodded in agreement with her mentor/father figure.

"Yes, how are we going to send the Quinjet back with Peter if we're still not done with things over here?" Wanda asked and she posed a very good question. Steve also had to commend her for getting things back on topic because they didn't really have a lot of time if Peter was injured like Emma said he was.

"Wanda's right," Steve finally said as he looked around the group. "We're going to have to figure out what to do."

"And what are going to do?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow. Steve nodded to himself before answering her question as everyone watched him carefully for his answer. Even Tony listened in the midst of all his worrying about Peter.

He really couldn't get on the Quinjet any faster either.

The anticipation and his worried state was killing him.

"Emma and Tony will take the Quinjet back to the compound with Peter as soon as possible," Steve said in his captain-like tone of voice. "The rest of us will take care of business here as we get everything sorted. We still need to ransack this base and see what we can find. Not to mention Rumlow's still somewhere here. Dead or alive, we need to find him."

"How will we get back to the compound if Emma and Tony are taking the Quinjet?" Wanda inquired. Natasha answered this time.

"Someone will go with them so that they can bring another Quinjet back to us," Natasha suggested and Steve nodded in agreement. "It seems like it might be the only option we currently have."

"I'll go with them," Clint volunteered willingly. "Then I'll bring another Quinjet back."

"Great. So we're in agreement about this?" Steve asked as he looked around at everyone. "Clint will go with Tony and Emma as they take Peter back to the compound and then the rest of us will stay here to clean things up?"

"It sounds like a logical plan, Captain," T'Challa said solemnly and everyone else seemed to nod in agreement. Steve looked back to Tony who still had a blank look on his face, clearly lost in his own thoughts.

"You okay with this, Tony?" Steve asked and Tony finally broke out of his thoughts.

He blinked and looked up at Steve. It looked like the billionaire was scared out of his mind.

Tony nodded furiously.

Steve understood the feeling. He would feel exactly the same as Tony had Emma been the one to get shot.

"Yes," He said quickly. "I'll get back to the Quinjet immediately." Tony then looked to Clint, "Ready, Legolas?"

"Just like old times, right?" Clint retorted and this time Tony didn't have a witty comeback like he normally did. He was usually the person to have the last word. However, Tony had a lot on his mind. Mainly Peter.

Was Peter alright?

How bad were his wounds?

Why did he have to go and get himself shot?

God, this was all his fault for letting him come on this mission. Tony knew he wasn't ready for an Avengers' mission, yet he let him come anyways. He let both him and Emma come on the mission when they should've been the furthest away from this godforsaken place. If anything happened to Peter, Tony knew it was going to be on him.

But Tony voiced none of his worries.

He just grabbed Clint and flew them both out of the hangar, racing towards the closest exit. Hopefully, they would be able to get Peter back to the compound in time. If not then Tony didn't know what he was going to do.

Once Tony and Clint were out of sight, Steve turned back to the others. He noticed all their expressions were a little grim but that was to be expected. Everyone was worried about the kids. Steve was too but there was a lot they had to take care of before they could leave.

Believe him.

As soon as they were finished combing through the base for Rumlow, Steve would be right on his way back to the compound. A part of him wanted to be mad at Emma for taking off on her own like that but another part was worried about her. Was she injured too like Peter? Was she frightened? Steve hated to think so.

"Steve, maybe I should go with Stark and Barton," Bucky said with a desperate look in his eyes. He looked worried just like Tony but Steve suspected that it was Emma he was worried about above everything else. "What if she's injured too?"

"Tony didn't say anything about her being injured after she contacted him," Steve said reassuringly but it was more like he was trying to reassure himself. Bucky just shook his head.

"Then she must be scared out of her mind right now. She shouldn't be alone," Bucky argued and Steve just shook his head.

"She has Clint and Tony. I'm worried too, Buck, but she'll be safer at the compound," Steve said as he reasoned with his longtime friend. "We've gotta find Rumlow before it's too late. He might try to escape like last time."

A crestfallen expression came over Bucky's face as he realized that Steve was right. Emma would be safer away from this place and away from Rumlow. She would be safer if he killed Rumlow too.

That actually sounded like a good idea.

Bucky finally nodded, "You're right." Steve gave him a short nod before looking at all the others.

"T'Challa and Maximoff, you take care of things here in the hangar. Gather all the apprehended Hydra agents and find all the Tesseract-powered weapons you can," Steve said although he was kind of hesitant about giving T'Challa any orders. It just felt weird to him but T'Challa didn't seem to mind. He just wanted to get all those weapons accounted for.

"I'm already scanning the area for the weapons," T'Challa said and Wanda nodded as she went to gather up all the Hydra agents who hadn't been killed in the massive battle in the hangar.

"Romanoff, scope out the basement for any sign of Rumlow. The first whiff you get of him, alert me right away," Steve told her and Natasha nodded.

"Already on it, Cap," Natasha told him as she hurried off to investigate the basement of Hydra Headquarters. Bucky then turned to look at Steve.

"Where are we off to then?" He asked him and a determined look came over Steve's face.

It was clear what he was hoping to find.

Steve was really hoping to find Rumlow. Bucky just didn't know what Steve intended to do with Rumlow when he found him. Knowing Steve he'd want to do the right thing and have him taken to Raft but Bucky didn't think he could stand by and let Rumlow just go to prison after everything he had done. Knowing him, he'd probably be more than happy to sit in a cell all day and brag to the guards about what he did to Emma. No, Bucky wanted to silence him forever.

He didn't care what Steve had to say about that.

He didn't care about Steve's nobility either.

Bucky was going to make sure Rumlow paid for what he did.

"The third floor. That's where all the labs are and where Schmidt mostly kept to way back when. I suppose Rumlow might take some kind of sick pleasure from taking over Schmidt's hangout," Steve told him as they began walking in the opposite direction of Natasha, T'Challa, and Wanda. "Natasha already checked the second floor so there's a good chance he's somewhere on the third."

"Makes sense," Bucky stated, keeping it as vague as possible.

"We should be careful. Emma seemed to think that Rumlow might've used old samples of her blood for something...possibly human experimentation," Steve informed him and Bucky nodded. "The only question is if he used it on himself or not. If he's enhanced now then it could spell trouble for all of us."

"I don't care. The bastard's dead meat either way. Just wait until I get my hands on him," Bucky said, sounding almost excited to cause pain to Rumlow. Steve gave him a sharp look.

"We're only to apprehend him, Bucky," Steve said accordingly and Bucky clenched his jaw. He clearly didn't like the sound of that. "We'll only put him down if we have to."

"Steve, you know what that fucker did to Emma-"

"I know very well what he did to Emma!" Steve snapped which was unlike him. He paused in his steps for a moment as Bucky stared at him. The super soldier then closed his eyes, taking a deep calming breath as he collected himself. Steve suddenly opened his eyes and started moving once more. Bucky followed suit.

"Rumlow might be able to give us intel about other criminal activities and if there's any more Tesseract-powered weapons circling the black market," Steve said, more calmly this time. "He might also be able to tell us if there's any more samples of Emma or your blood out there. Killing him would be stupid and not to mention irresponsible...wrong. He'll get sent to Raft where he'll spend the remainder of his pathetic days with no human contact whatsoever."

"I don't care about weapons or blood samples," Bucky said darkly as he challenged Steve. "After what he did to Emma he'll be lucky if I let him die quickly."

Steve just stared at him. He wanted to tell Bucky that he wasn't going to do any such thing but Steve didn't want to waste any more time arguing with Bucky. So he just changed the subject, ignoring the murderous look in Bucky's eyes.

"Let's find him first," Steve said quietly as they continued in their walk up to the third floor of the building. Bucky didn't say anything as they started looking for Rumlow. He was just silent but Steve knew what he was planning. He just didn't know how he was going to stop Bucky from killing Rumlow.

More importantly, he didn't know how he was going to stop himself from letting Bucky kill Rumlow.

---

Steve and Bucky hadn't spoken a word since they walked up the stairs to the third floor.

They didn't want to give themselves away to Rumlow who could've been anywhere in the vicinity. It didn't help that they were annoyed with each other over their difference in opinion on how to handle Rumlow. That might've also explained their silence.

The duo had already checked most of the rooms on the floor.

Most of the rooms were just old abandoned labs. Some of which hadn't been used in decades. They hadn't found anything so far but they needed to make sure they checked everything out. That they were very thorough in their search.

Steve with his shield and Bucky with his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.

It was a little too quiet on that second level if Steve and Bucky were being perfectly honest. This didn't give them any reassurance. Especially with Rumlow somewhere on the loose in the building.

For once, Bucky didn't like the silence.

Neither did Steve for that matter.

"You find anything yet, Romanoff?" Steve said over the earpiece. It only took the former Russian spy a moment to answer.

"Not yet, Steve," Natasha told him. "I've done a full sweep of the basement level but I've found nothing. I'm going to circle back around but I don't think he's down here."

"He must be up here with us then," Bucky murmured. Steve only spared him a glance before responding to Natasha.

"Keep an eye out then," Steve said before going about his way in checking all the rooms on the third floor.

"Look at this," Bucky said as he nodded towards the direction of a reinforced steel door.

The door was lying on its side against the wall, looking like it had been ripped off the doorway by someone very strong.

"Emma and Parker, you think?" Bucky inquired even though he knew the answer. Steve swallowed nervously before nodding.

"I wouldn't doubt it for a second."

"This is the way to Schmidt's lair," Steve whispered to Bucky as they went through the doorway and passed the broken looking door. "He's gotta be hiding in there. We already checked everywhere else."

"Unless he escaped already," Bucky said cynically and Steve took a deep breath before responding.

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Steve told him before he noticed a trail of still wet blood on the ground. Bucky noticed it too.

Peter's blood.

"We're definitely getting close," Steve said grimly as he then focused his attention ahead of them. Bucky tore his gaze away from the ground and also looked straight ahead.

There was an opened door at the end of the hallway.

Bucky clenched his jaw, narrowed his eyes, and rested his finger firmly against the trigger of his gun. Even though Steve claimed that he had a responsibility to carry out, not having the luxury to just spin out of control and murder Rumlow, he also felt a certain amount of darkness wash over him.

Here they were approaching the man that caused so much death and pain in his family. From murdering his son and daughter-in-law to torturing and raping his granddaughter. There was an internal struggle coming over Steve as he felt torn between what he should and shouldn't do. On one hand, he knew Rumlow could have useful intel and the responsible thing to do would be to apprehend him before turning him over to Tony, Vision, and Rhodey.

That was the thing Captain America would do.

However, Steve didn't know if that's who he was anymore.

"Let's just take this one step at a time, Buck," Steve said in a low tone as they grew closer to the doorway. Bucky didn't respond as they finally walked into the room, no doubt facing the very person their anger was directed at.

Bucky didn't plan to take this one step at a time. He wanted to find Rumlow before torturing him slowly and finally killing him. Emma would finally be at peace while Bucky would feel satisfied in knowing the deranged man ceased to exist and had suffered for everything he did to Emma. Bucky's thoughts were then put on pause as he finally took in his surroundings as he and Steve entered the room.

The room was full of light...which was the first thing Bucky noticed about the room. Not from any electricity but from the massive window on the left wall. It brought a large amount of light into the otherwise dull and drab looking office/lab.

Steve clenched his jaw as he looked out the massive window and saw a view that was only a little too familiar to him. It was the same view he saw over seventy years ago when he faced Schmidt in this very same room. Everything felt a little too Deja Vu all of the sudden.

The place was a real mess.

You could tell there was a fight that went on in here which only confirmed what Steve and Bucky thought they knew. Emma made the severe mistake of facing Rumlow alone and somehow Peter got himself dragged into it. The puddle of blood told them this much as well as a small man lying on the floor next to a wall with a large looking dent in it.

Steve stooped down quickly to check the man's pulse and noticed that no such pulse existed.

The man was dead.

It didn't surprise Steve that much. The man was strewn across the floor like a ragdoll. His limbs bent in a disturbingly inhuman fashion for someone who was a normal looking human-being. His uniform was charred for some reason too as if he were burnt but Steve didn't smell any smoke.

"Dead?" Bucky questioned and Steve nodded before standing back up. There was a grave expression on Steve's face as he nodded once.

"Looks like it," Steve said as they both returned their attention to the rest of the room.

Tables were overturned, papers scattered the floor, and there was even a knife lying in the midst of it all. Steve's eyes widened as he recognized the knife he could tell was covered in blood.

It was Emma's knife.

He only knew this because it was the knife she carried around with her everywhere she went ever since they rescued her from Hydra. Emma only held it in such high regard because it was the knife Bucky made for her when they were in Hydra. The only gift she had ever gotten, Steve remembered her telling him. Bucky seemed to recognize it too despite making the knife when he was in a much different point in his life.

"Emma's knife," Bucky murmured and it wasn't the only thing strewn about the floor. They both spotted both Emma and Peter's masks lying on opposite sides of the room. The struggle that went on in this room became even more apparent.

However, before Steve could reply to Bucky, they both heard a groaning sound coming from the other side of the room. The former assassin held his gun back up, his eyes focused as he and Steve searched for the source of the noise.

It didn't take them long.

The two men's gazes then landed on an unfortunately familiar looking individual. Not unfortunate for them though.

Unfortunate for Brock Rumlow.

The man looked nothing like the man they both remembered. Rumlow looked almost like a zombie version of his old self with his decaying skin and weak form. It was pathetic, really, watching him moan and wither on the ground as he struggled to get up. Even with any enhancement, he may have his received, it still wasn't enough to get him up off that ground.

Truth be told Steve and Bucky were disappointed.

They were disappointed that they wouldn't be able to fight him and make him pay for Emma. Rumlow was clearly in no state to even fight back. Steve might've even felt sorry for him if he was someone else. Someone who hadn't murdered his son and daughter-in-law...someone who hadn't hurt his granddaughter in ways that caused Steve great pain to even think about.

"Get up, Rumlow, you piece of shit," Bucky said darkly as he kept his gun pointed at the man on the floor. Rumlow spat up quite a bunch of blood as he remained hunched over the floor, his breathing labored. Whether it was Emma or Peter, Rumlow had obviously taken a severe beating.

"Bucky-" Steve started to say but Bucky cut him off.

"Don't worry, Steve," Bucky said bitterly without even taking his cold, steely gaze off Rumlow despite the hate brewing in his heart. "I won't kill him. He's weak and pathetic. Killing him now would be merciful and it would give me absolutely no pleasure."

"You two are going to arrest me then?" Rumlow asked sarcastically before letting out a laugh much to their annoyance. "You're both fugitives yourself. Don't you see the irony in it?"

"You'll be facing the rest of your life in Raft," Steve said coldly, his face void of any emotion even though he could feel his blood practically boiling with anger. "No human contact, a cell all to yourself, and barely a pot for you to piss in."

"You're not going to read me my rights, Cap?" Rumlow said as he smirked at him. Steve just continued to stare at him blankly, fighting with all his might to control his anger. Bucky gave the deranged man a disgusted look before he subsequently grabbed him and pulled him up to his feet roughly.

"You're coming with us," Bucky growled as he then pushed the man forward, causing Rumlow to somehow stumble yet he still managed to regain his balance before falling.

It was too bad.

Bucky would've liked to see him fall.

They had only just begun walking to the door when he spoke.

Steve was leading them towards the door while Bucky stayed a distance behind Rumlow to make sure the man didn't try to run off or attack him. Although...Bucky thought he was much too weak to make such a bold move.

"I still remember that day, Captain," Rumlow said in a low voice. Steve didn't pause in his steps and neither did Bucky. They both knew Rumlow was only going to try to rile them up. "The day I killed your boy...Steven Jr."

Steve didn't say anything, forcing himself to ignore Rumlow as he clenched his jaw and tried his best bury all feelings of anger.

"You should rest well knowing that I made it quick. He didn't even see it coming," Rumlow continued to speak when Steve and Bucky didn't say anything. "Steven Jr. was never as bright as you and Emma. He was a little dumb now that I think about it. I'm surprised he didn't get himself killed sooner."

Rumlow then frowned when he realized that he wasn't going to provoke Steve with the re-telling of his son's death. The self-righteous captain seemed to have incredible control over his anger. He was always so calm and professional. That's what annoyed him most about Rogers during their days on the STRIKE team together. However, it was then that Rumlow thought of something that actually might provoke Steve.

As soon as the idea popped into Rumlow's head, he couldn't help but smirk.

Let's just see how much Rogers can play the nice guy now.

"You know, she was crying when I took her from her home," Rumlow said darkly which caused both Bucky and Steve to stiffen. They knew exactly who he was referring to. They didn't even have to wonder about it. "She was so scared that she pissed herself and begged her mommy and daddy to save her. The silly girl didn't realize they were dead."

"She didn't even know what death was but we taught her all about death, didn't we, Barnes?"

Bucky tried doing what Steve asked him to. He knew that Rumlow was only trying to provoke them and he didn't want to give the bastard the satisfaction even though this was overwhelmingly difficult. He cast his gaze over to Steve who still continued to walk ahead of them but Bucky noticed a tenseness in his best friend's shoulders.

They still didn't say anything so Rumlow continued.

"I'll never forget that night as long as I live," Rumlow finally said, taking the conversation a step further. "What's funny is that all those times we were on STRIKE team together and you had no idea that I fucked your granddaughter. You were completely oblivious. I have to say that gave me the greatest pleasure of all...that I knew something you didn't."

Steve finally stopped in his steps causing both Rumlow and Bucky to stop in their steps too. Bucky forced himself not to bash Rumlow's head in with his vibranium arm. He obviously knew what Rumlow was referring to but Bucky had to fight to control his anger. It might've been easy for Steve to control but not so much for him. The only thing holding Bucky back was the fact that Rumlow wanted this.

"She begged me to stop...many times. Cried in pain when I took her but I knew she wanted it deep down," Rumlow said tauntingly. "She was so smug up until that point. Always laughing at me behind my back and bragging about her precious Winter Soldier but I taught her a lesson more valuable than any lesson you would've ever taught her."

"The little bitch didn't have any snide remarks after that. Hydra wanted to save her for Barnes over here but I couldn't have that," Rumlow bragged as Bucky's anger was at a boiling point. He didn't think he could handle Rumlow running his mouth for much longer. "It doesn't matter if you send me to that high-security prison...because I'll have that memory of her for as long as I live. I'll play it over and over again in my head and there's nothing you can do to stop me. That memory is mine forever."

Bucky growled as he took a step forward, one second away from pouncing on Rumlow and beating him to a bloody pulp before gutting him like a fish.

However, he never got the chance.

Steve, who seemed so calm and collected before, dropped his shield.

It clanged as it hit the floor which seemingly caused Bucky to pause in his anger and look up at Steve's back in surprise.

The super soldier then suddenly turned around so abruptly that neither Rumlow or Bucky could blink before Steve had the deranged man on the ground. Rumlow grunted as his back hit the ground while Steve hovered over him with a furious look on his face that looked completely unlike the fair, nice, and respectful Captain America the public had come to know and love for the past seventy years or so years.

Bucky could only watch Steve in shock.

Rumlow didn't know it but Steve had changed a lot while on the run.

Steve had been apart from Emma, his only blood relation left, for over a year but only to come home to find out the truth behind her distrustful and at times hostile behavior. Rumlow was no longer dealing with the Captain America the world looked up to. He wasn't the same Captain America that smiled at the camera during all those educational videos he did for schools across the country. Not the same one who used to believe that monsters didn't exist and people were just bullies.

This Captain America had been beaten and worn down for too long now. The tragedy of his granddaughter's childhood becoming a huge weight upon his shoulders because he knew it was all his fault. His fault because he hadn't been there when she needed him the most. Nothing could ever change that but he'd be damned if this man continued to torment her for the rest of her life. He had already failed Emma one too many times and he wasn't going to let it happen again.

Especially when Rumlow so smugly rubbed it in his face at how much he failed to protect her from the evil of some men in this world.

"Are you going to kill me, Rogers?" Rumlow asked smugly, his voice hoarse but a huge grin on his face as he looked up at Steve as Steve continued to stare down at him. The blonde and bearded man looked enraged but his eyes were filled with a combination of anger, sadness, and guilt. "You wouldn't do that. Not Captain America."

"I'm not the same man anymore," Steve whispered dangerously but it didn't seem like Rumlow cared because he smirked further before uttering the one sentence that made Steve snap.

The one sentence that finally allowed Steve to unleash all the rage he had been feeling ever since he woke up from the ice and found out about all that he had lost. It had been building up ever since then and now Steve's dark side finally came to light.

"I thought you should know, Cap…" Rumlow trailed off tauntingly before continuing his sentence and unknowingly sealing his fate that day. "She was good."

Steve let out a roar of anger which shocked both Rumlow and Bucky.

It seemed like Rumlow had overestimated Steve's need to do the right thing while he had underestimated just how much Steve cared for his granddaughter in the same instance. His eyes widened as Steve reared his fist back and before he could even fight back, the super soldier's fist connected with his face.

Steve didn't stop with one punch either.

Once he started, it was like he couldn't stop.

Steve landed punch after punch following his first one and he wasn't pulling his punches either.

Steve Rogers, always the fair fighter, was known to pull his punches against men much weaker than himself but Steve didn't seem to bother himself with fairness against Rumlow. He delivered a repeated pattern of punches without holding back and slowing down.

Bucky could only stand there and watch in surprise at the look of pure madness on his best friend's face. A look that was so unlike any look he had seen on his face before. Nothing like that small happy-go-lucky kid from Brooklyn. The same kid who was always looking for a fight.

This was so much different than just looking for a fight.

For a moment the look of rage on his face even reminded Bucky of Emma whenever she threw her temper tantrums in her younger, more reckless days.

Rumlow struggled underneath Steve as Steve beat him so bloody that his fists soon became stained with Rumlow's blood. The deranged man attempted to throw Steve off but his attempts were futile. He was weak and Steve was not.

Bucky thought Steve would stop but he didn't. Bucky also didn't feel quite so inclined to stop him either as he just stood there and watched Steve beat the man to death.

He'd be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy it.

Steve only paused in his violent fit of anger long enough to fix Rumlow with one last furious glare. He pulled Rumlow up by the throat so the barely breathing man could look him in the eyes.

"You don't get to exist in the same world as her," Steve growled and Rumlow tried to reach his hand out in a pathetic attempt to beg for his own life but he never got the chance.

The super soldier then slammed his head back against the ground, a sickening crack being heard through the room as his skull broke like glass under Steve's strength.

Bucky thought that it would be the end of it but Steve didn't cease in his heavy-handed punches.

The angry and hateful look on Steve's face was just as present as before as he delivered another round of punches. Bucky was completely certain that Rumlow was dead at that point but Steve didn't seem to care or notice. Steve flattened the man's head like a pancake, leaving him unrecognizable. Even when there was barely anything left of Rumlow's face other than blood, bone fragments, and brain matter, Steve still didn't stop in his anger.

It was then that Bucky realized that he was finally going to have to intervene. There was no other way other than finally stopping him. Steve obviously wasn't going to stop himself.

The former assassin then carefully reached out to Steve, dropping his gun on the floor.

"Steve," Bucky spoke softly but Steve still didn't stop.

"Steve," Bucky said louder and Steve was no closer to stopping.

It was like he was in his own little world so Bucky realized that he was going to have to approach this like he used to with Emma. If he didn't then Steve wasn't going to stop until he beat his fists into the ground and hurt himself.

Bucky, without any further hesitance, reached forward and roughly pulled Steve off Rumlow, bringing the super soldier to his feet.

Steve resisted him for a moment as Bucky kept his arms wrapped tightly around him, refusing to lessen his grip on his friend.

"He's dead, Steve. He's dead," Bucky said harshly, trying to get him to snap out of whatever state he was in. "You killed him. He's not getting back up."

Steve's chest heaved with anger before he finally began to calm down from his fit of rage. His gaze was fixated on the unrecognizable man on the ground. His surroundings slowly came back into his focus as he remembered where he was.

Swiss Alps.

Hydra.

Emma.

Bucky.

Rumlow.

"It's over, Steve."

Bucky's voice finally brought Steve back into reality. A lost look came over his face as he looked from Rumlow's limp body to his own fists which were now covered in blood that was not his own. Blood that had also sprayed onto his face during his frenzied rage while beating Rumlow. Steve was fairly sure he was covered in blood at this point.

Hardly any of it his own.

"Wanda, Romanoff, and T'Challa have already retrieved all the other agents and weapons. Barton's almost here with another Quinjet," Bucky told him calmly as he finally let go of Steve once realizing that Steve had finally calmed down. "Let's go home. Stark will take care of the rest."

They both knew home meant Emma.

Steve didn't say anything except for nodding as Bucky started to lead him away from Rumlow's dead body. He might've picked up Emma's discarded knife from the floor as well as her and Peter's masks but Steve hardly noticed. He was still in an odd sort of state after his fit of rage.

Tony had once questioned whether or not Steve had a dark side, believing that Steve was immune to anger and darkness. The billionaire was more wrong about that than he had ever been wrong about anything before. Because Steve did, in fact, have a dark side and it was far more ugly than anything he ever could've imagined.

"I don't trust a guy without a dark side. Call me old-fashioned."

"Well, let's just say you haven't seen it yet."

It was true.

Tony really hadn't seen his dark side yet. Maybe he caught a glimpse of it in Siberia but that was different. That didn't involve Emma and this did.

Steve, unlike Tony, kept his anger bottled up inside until he reached a boiling point and his anger erupted like some kind of volcano. Of course, this was the first time in his almost one hundred years of existence that he had ever let his anger go this far. And it was always going to have something to do with Emma because Steve never loved anyone as much as he loved her.

He loved Bucky like a brother, he loved Peggy like a lover, and he loved all his teammates too but Emma was different. She was his whole universe and he would do anything to keep her from getting hurt. He felt as though he could lose everyone in the entire world but he would make it out alright if he still had her.

But it begged the question…

Did Steve feel guilty for so easily losing control?

He looked over his shoulder at Rumlow's corpse as they began to leave the room. The super soldier then quickly turned his head back around to look forward as they entered the hallway.

No, he didn't feel guilty at all.

In fact, he felt a wave of relief that washed over him. A feeling he hadn't felt in quite some time and it was all because of one simple fact.

Rumlow would never have any kind of memory of her again.

She was free.