Aubrey moved the tied-up agent to the floor and searched the other rooms before plopping onto his chair. The agent had started nervously babbling, a distraction tactic. So instead of scaring him more, she shuffled around in the drawers and covered his mouth with tape. The silence made her tense body relax ever so slightly. Her wings folded and she turned towards the computer, trying to decide if it was worth it to snoop a little. Her curiosity won out and Aubrey scrolled through the agent's history, a small gasp escaped her mouth when she located several Hydra bases that were still in operation. Scrambling for a piece of paper Aubrey scribbled down the coordinates and the security around the bases. Turning to check on the agent she smiled at his glare. Briefly looking out the blocked window told Aubrey it was not quite yet sunset but she was restless. Standing she felt her wings flutter as the suit melted onto her. She watched quietly as she willed her nails to grow into the familiar talons. Once they had finished Aubrey hooked them onto the rope wrapped around the Hydra agent before making her way to the top of the building. A small burst of happiness bloomed in her chest at the thought of the wind in her wings. The agent's weight made it hard to level out at first but as Aubrey soared into the clouds she felt everything level out. It didn't take long to reach the Police station and even though Aubrey knew the cameras would see her she wanted whoever was watching to know that she was trying to fix her mistakes. Smoothly landing on the front steps Aubrey dropped the agent onto the ground and hissed into his ear
"You will cooperate. You don't want to get onto my bad side. I'll be watching" The agent, whose face had a green tinge to it nodded. Satisfied, Aubrey looked at the camera and tipped her head before turning and blasting back into the sky.
"Steve" Sam Wilson nervously stood at Captain America's doorway in the Avengers Headquarters, unsure how Cap would take this development. Looking up from the video he was watching on his computer Steve turned and looked at Sam, brow immediately furrowing.
"You found something..?" the hope in his face was unmistakable.
Sam sighed "It could be something, it probably is. But I want you to look at it" Cap nodded and followed Sam to the large command room he had been working in. Holograms were lit up and Sam swiped several away, revealing the security camera footage from a Police station in Sparta, Ohio. Pushing play, Sam and Cap watched as a winged person in a silvery-black suit landed on the steps, dropping a tied-up person onto the cement. Her ash-colored hair covered the side of her face but the terror on the person's face when she leaned down was unmistakable. She straightened up again and studied her nails as the talons retracted. Turning she looked straight at the camera, tipping her head towards it before whirling around, wings flapping and launching her out of view. Steve pushed a breath out of his lungs and looked at Sam. "It's her" when he nodded, Cap arched his eyebrows "Where's Bucky then?"
"That's where this gets complicated, the man she dropped off? He cooperated with the Police. 'Names Jonas Müller, he's a Hydra agent. Worked with them for a long time, and here-" Sam paused and pulled up another screen with Jonas sitting in a chair, a detective across from him "-is his interrogation" Sam pushed play and they watched in silence.
"Mr. Müller, please tell us what you did at Hydra."
"Certainly, I was involved with Project Eagle since the beginning.-" Jonas was cut off by the Detective
"And what is Project Eagle?"
"-Project Eagle was destined to be even greater than the Winter Soldier. For years we waited for our subject to come of age, she was chosen based on school tests and her...enhancements. After removing her from civilization she underwent vigorous training exercises before being deemed ready to step into her role at Hydra. She was wiped, her new name Der Adler, The Eagle, our Eagle. We implanted over 50 languages, 30 different fighting styles and numerous weapons training into her mind. We removed her fingernails and implanted metal plates that grow into talons. The plates grew themselves into her skin, they became a part of The Eagle. Her canine teeth were sharpened and infused with metal. We also infused her bones with metal weekly. The metal was a mix of Vibranium, Tungsten, and Titanium. We took her original wing-suit design and raised it to new levels." The Detective's face had paled when Jonas described the operations done on The Eagle.
"What was her...role at Hydra, did she cooperate completely?" The Detective seemed less interested in Jonas and more interested in The Eagle and her whereabouts. Jonas seemed to hesitate before speaking,
"Her role was to work alongside The Winter Soldier, to be better than him. When she was first brought to..our chosen facility. She was very uncooperative, kicking and screaming. Such a ruckus she made, but the Chair fixed that. Especially during the enhancement surgeries. For hours agents would complain about her screams."
"Why did you show up on our doorstep?" the Detective asked, his face sheet white. Jonas's shoulders seemed to sag as he continued.
"After the...unfortunate failure of Project Insight, I was tasked with locating the Soldiers. I almost had them but I made a fatal mistake, underestimating how healthy their minds have become. They were in the marketplace and when The Soldier saw me, he pursued me from the ground and I can only assume that The Eagle came from the air. I'm sure they have moved on now. The Eagle...made it very clear that if I uh..didn't cooperate then..-" Jonas paused and seemed to clear his throat "-she said she would kill me. Because unfortunately she recognized me and was….angered."
"Reasonably so-" the Detective concluded. "-Thank you for cooperating Mr. Müller." The interrogation ended and the hologram clicked off.
Sam looked at Cap, watching for his reaction, his face looked sad. Cap turned and looked at Sam, murmuring something under his breath.
"Where would they be now..do you think?" Sam could see that his eyes had turned glassy.
"You tell me. Strategically, if you were found out, what would you do?"
"Split up." Cap sighed, dragging a hand down his face. Sam puffed a breath out of his lips and pulled something else up.
"I..don't know if this is them but you know him better than me...I just wouldn't think that they would go anywhere." Cap immediately perked up as security camera footage from a bustling marketplace popped up. It played, and several moments later, two people waded into the crowd. Both looked extremely uncomfortable, their backs stiff and their clothes dark, their heads down. Yet Cap watched as their mouths moved, obviously speaking to each other. Steve stiffened as he watched the person he would know anywhere. "Bucky," he breathed, watching as they ventured closer to a stand with animals. Who he assumed was The Eagle rushed forward and crouched in front of something. Sam and Cap watched the whole exchange, from what Steve could tell. The Eagle wanted some sort of dog and Bucky seemed against it, in the end, she had gotten what looked to be the runt and the two had gone out of camera range.
"We'll find them," Cap declared, Sam nodding, even though he wondered, What if they don't want to be found?