Chapter 3: Flock Together

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Marvel just my oc woodpecker.

Getting out of New York wasn't as hard as she thought. It cost her a few dollars, but thanks to some smugglers she knew through telepathic means she was able to slip on a plane and on her way to Moscow. Only problem she had to spend the majority of the flight in a coffin and an oxygen mask rigged to her face. They worked as a transport for sending their relatives back home overseas so they can be buried in their family plots. A good legitimate business for a group of shady bastards, but she couldn't dwell on that now. She had her own shady bastard to take down.

After finally making it to Moscow she managed to hop on a bus and make her way to Brainwave. The company where Mr. Owl worked. She was smart to keep her distance from the building and with her hat, coat, and camera she was able to blend in with the tourist to avoid being spotted by the security cameras. She wasn't going to take any chances with her new agent friends, she knew they would be using that facial recognition software all over seeing as she was a high priority target.

She spotted the bastard pull up in his luxury car, followed by four black vans with his company logo on it. She held up her camera and snapped some pictures. Multiple men in full black body armor and armed with assault rifles stepped out and surrounded the car. One of the soldiers opened the backseat passenger door and Woodpecker watched as a young beautiful woman stepped out wearing a blue pencil skirt business suit. Her long black hair shined in the sunshine and flowed in the breeze.

"Damn, he's got a supermodel working for him." Woodpecker grinned, snapping more than a few pictures of her. That grin soon turned into a scowl when she spotted her primary target, Mr. Owl.

"No, his name is Victor Fyodor." She thought to herself as she took some photos of him. He was dressed in a purple suit with a black shirt and white tie and his long graying black hair was tied in a ponytail which almost made Woodpecker yack. "What a douche."

She watched from afar as he and his secretary entered the main lobby of the building, followed by his private army. The building was thirty-stories tall and from what she saw it was highly protected. This wasn't going to be easy.

In the past the people who wronged her were small time crime bosses. They had armed thugs for protection and had set up shop in a nightclub or an old abandoned building. This guy was a millionaire with a private army and thirty floors between her and him.

She was going to have to really plan this out.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Clint and Phil were going through the files on the people in charge of the superhuman project and the search was going slow.

"Clint, we have nothing to compare anything too. All these names are listed as birds." Phil tiredly stated as he ran his hands down his face. "I mean we have 'Mr. Eagle, Mrs. Pelican and Mr. Flamingo.' The head of this project was silly as he was clever."

"What about, Mr. Peacock?' Clint asked rhetorically. "Did we manage to get anything off of him?"

"Actually, yes." He typed into his keyboard and on the screen popped up numerous pages and pictures of Peacock's private accounts. "His dirty money goes through numerous accounts and investments, one of which we had our eye on for a while." Clint looked at the stock account and read the name of the stock page.

"Brainwave?"

Back in Moscow, Woodpecker was currently sharing drinks with the secretary she saw with Victor that morning. She had staked out the building from morning till evening until she spotted her exiting the building. She managed to grab a cab and follow her to a nice restaurant and caught her sitting at the bar. She took a gamble and whether or not she was gay she had flattered her to the point where they were now knocking back shots.

"For a business woman you sure know how to let your hair down." Woodpecker giggled.

"Well, I've had a long day and my boss has been having some major problems and since I'm his secretary, his problems are my problems." She said as she swiveled in her bar stool.

"Poor thing," Woodpecker playfully cooed as she grabbed the young woman's hand and gently stroked it the back of it. "Sounds like you need to unwind."

"Maybe…we could go back to my place?" The secretary asked bashfully. Woodpecker raised an eyebrow and decided to play hard to get.

"Hmm, I didn't know you were that kind of girl."

"Really, then why did you sit next to me and buy me a drink?" She asked back just playfully.

"Okay, you got me." She raised her hands in surrender. "I just didn't want to take advantage or offend you in some way."

"Nonsense, like you said I need to unwind." She said with a wink.

Woodpecker was getting butterflies in her belly. She felt bad she was going to use her for information, but it was a small price to pay to get back at the people who wronged her. Right before the two could leave the bartended came over and put down two more shots of vodka.

"Happy Hour, these are on us." The bartender smiled as he walked over to his next customer. Woodpecker glanced at him as he looked back at her.

That kind hearted smile with those piercing blue eyes. There was something off with him. Her thoughts were interrupted when her date had raised her glass.

"Come on, last one and we'll head over to my place."

Woodpecker nodded and took her glass, clanking it with hers before downing it. She savored the burn for a second before asking the bartender for the check. He came back and told her, 'The bill has been paid for.'

"What do mean, who paid for it?" She asked.

"I did." A familiar voice said from right next to her. Her eyes went wide when and she immediately turned to see Hawkeye smiling and holding up a beer. She shot up from her seat ready for round two, but her vision started to blur and her limbs went limp. She looked over and spotted the bartender smiling at her and that's when it hit her.

'Phil Coulson!' She thought as she watched one of the bar patrons drag her unconscious date away.

'Dammit!' Was the last thing she thought before falling unconscious on the floor.

(Meanwhile)

Victor Fyodor, also known as, Mr. Owl had been pacing around his office for the last hour wondering what he was going to do next. He had heard what had happened to his associate in New York and he knew it wasn't a gang robbery or even the agent's raid. It was her.

He had known for years that this girl was going to come for him, that's why he set himself up as a man of the people promising better tomorrows. Now he may not live to see tomorrow.

He had confirmation that his secretary, Estelle had made contact with the young woman, but he had heard no word since. Fatigue had finally set in and he had plopped himself in his chair behind his desk. He swiveled around and stared out into city night life.

He knew there was one person he could call that may help, but would he help him kill the girl or help the girl kill him?

He was insane when it came to her, but he didn't see any other choice.

He pulled out his phone and dialed up his number. It rang once and Victor cringed at the sound of his voice.

"Mr. Owl, it's been far too long." The voice chuckled on the other end.

"Mr. Crow," Victor stated. "I am sorry to call out of the blue like this, but I am in dire need of your help."

"Oh, has a little birdie been pecking away." Crow snickered.

"Be serious," Victor snapped. "She has been spotted in Moscow and is probably on her way to kill me right now."

"Mr. Owl, do not insult my intelligence I know you have your men secured on every floor of the building. Woodpecker may be crazy, but she is not stupid. She knows she cannot take on your troops head on, she will have to be discrete."

"You and I both know she has grown stronger over the years. I need your help. How can I stop her?" Victor pleaded.

"You could try shooting her, she isn't bullet proof." Mr. Crow chuckled.

"Enough!" Victor snapped. "What can I do to stop her?"

"Like I said she isn't immortal. Use your head for goodness's sake. Her power isn't limitless just force her into a position where she has to constantly use her power and she will wear herself down to the brink of exhaustion. I'm looking at your records it says you have security on every floor."

"Yes and of course there's my personal guards." Victor mused.

"You mean your side project, Project Frankenstein?"

"Thanks to the drugs Gruber has been selling I've had a numerous amount of test subjects. It's been difficult but I managed to get a small handful of successful candidates."

"Then what are you afraid of, send in your golems as a last resort and she will be back in my care before breakfast." Mr. Crow reassured. This took Victor by surprise.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh yes, I want her alive." He stated. "That girl has a very important role to play in the long run. I will be needing her rendered unconscious with all her fingers and toes in place. Not blown to pieces and un-alive."

"Mr. Crow, I understand that you have some strange feelings towards this girl, but—"

"And if she does wind up dead, I'll kill you so slowly that the only sentient part of you left will be your brain and eyes left in a jar on my mantle for the rest of my days. You have twenty-four hours. Oh, and S.H.E.I.L.D may have made contact with her, so expect company. Ciao."

Victor let out a heavy sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. He just sat at his desk contemplating why he ever thought he would get help from the devil.

(Meanwhile)

Woodpecker woke up in a bed with a light shining down on her. She raised her hand to block out the light when she noticed that her hands were not restrained. She shot up from the bed and reached her hands out to her neck and to her relief she was not collared.

"Relax, you're not collared. I knew it would be a big shock for you."

Woodpecker looked over at the corner of the room and spotted Hawkeye sitting in a folding chair. She shot up from the bed ready for a fight, but he simply raised his hands.

"It's okay, no one is going to hurt you." He reassured.

"So, you say." Woodpecker snapped. "Where am I and how did you find me?"

"We're at an apartment building that our agency owns and we found you through your bread crumbs." Woodpecker gave him a questionable look to which he rolled his eyes. "Your list. The people who wronged you. We managed to narrow down the survivors and lucky for us we had eyes on that Brainwave company for a while and when we found out that Peacock had a share in that company, finding you was a breeze."

"How did you find me specifically?" She asked.

"We have eyes and ears everywhere kid. You avoided the street cameras well enough, so we had to widen our search. We knew legal means of travel were out, so we went to illegal means and that's when we found your friends who shipped you here. We had eyes on Victors company and his secretary which led us to right to you."

"Yeah, thanks for screwing up my night. I could be sharing a bed with her right now." Woodpecker chuckled.

"Really, come with me." He got up from his chair and Woodpecker soon followed after him. She was taken back by the multiple agents that had taken up residence in the apartment building. They had already set up their systems, one guy was prepping the guns and the agents were getting dressed in tactical armor. The apartment was so crowded that she noticed they had knocked the walls down to make room for it all.

Hawkeye opened a door and allowed Woodpecker to step into a bathroom where Phill Coulson was sitting on a closed toilet seat with the secretary tied up and laying in the bathtub. Her hands and feet were bound and she had a strip of duct tape over her mouth, but her eyes were staring daggers at Woodpecker.

"Kinky, you guys are into some weird shit." Woodpecker mused, causing Phil to chuckle.

"No, her name is Estelle Shire. She is a former Hydra operative who doubles as security and secretary for your friend Victor." Phil explained as he pulled out jet injector. "This is a strong sedative she was going to use on you. My guess is she was gonna lure you back to her place and stick you with this." Woodpecker let out a fake gasp.

"We could have had something special!" She snapped.

"We're planning on taking down Victor later tonight, after apprehending the two of you last night and the mess you made in New York he is definitely going to be expecting someone to go after him." Phil explained.

"Okay, and this is where I come in right?" Woodpecker asked.

"What are you talking about?" Phil asked.

"You want me to help you take down Victor." She shrugged. "Not gonna happen. I work alone."

"Actually, we brought you here to keep you out of the way." Phil stated. "It was my decision to cuff and collar you, but Clint persuaded me not to, so we compromised that you would stay out of the way and let us take care of Victor."

Woodpecker glared at him for a minute before she slowly stepped up to him. The two of them were nose to nose as she stared him down.

"You must think pretty highly of yourself if you don't think I won't crush this building down into the earth with all of you inside of it." She said in a low menacing voice. "I don't know what made you think that I owe you something or that you owned me, but I don't take orders from a smug bastard like you. Don't cross my path again."

"Whoa, let's take a minute and calm down." Clint said standing between the two. "Look, we know that you have a grudge against Victor—"

"A grudge, a grudge?!" She snapped. "That man and his crew made me a monster. Do you know what it's like to go to sleep every night and reliving the same hell over and over again. Or how I can still feel the needles in my head, the wires burning into my skin and Crow and all of his flock standing over me as they laughed and snickered their remarks and all their bullshit!"

The building shook with every word up until her final outburst where she mentally shoved everyone back. Not enough to hurt them, but enough to get them off balance. Clint quickly stood up and stood between Woodpecker and the agents that had burst through the door, guns in hand.

"Put them away, now!" He shouted at the agents who had lowered their guns, but not by much. He looked to Woodpecker who was still seething. "You, come with me."

Clint pushed the agents out of the way as he escorted the young girl out of the apartment and led her to the rooftop. From there they had a pretty good look at the city, but a great view of Victor's building.

"Nice view." Woodpecker commented.

"We've been mapping out where to strike at his building. The only way into his office is through the elevator on the top floor. I figured we could get on the top floor of the neighbor building and I could run a line between the two buildings and get somewhere on the eighteenth floor."

"Why are you talking like you and I are the only ones doing this?" She asked.

"Because we are."

Woodpecker looked at him in shock. Why was one of Shield's finest break protocol to help her a wanted, mutated fugitive who had a bloody trail leading up to this moment for the last ten years. Something felt off.

"Why, why would you help me?"

"Well to be fair I'm not helping you. Shield has been looking into Victor and his company for a long time now. A lot of John Doe's from hospitals all over have been taken from their morgues and off of army bases themselves. We couldn't figure out who was taking them away, but we were able to track them down."

"Moscow."

"And thanks to you we were able to confirm that lead." Clint chuckled. "Victor has been having the corpses shipped into the private docks beneath his building. Another weird thing about the building is that despite being forty stories tall, there are only sixty total employees with a record of ever working here. Mostly janitors, secretary's and receptionist. But there is an untold number of personal security guards who are armed and prepped like a private army."

"I saw them, so that is why you are helping me help you. You want to get the drop on them instead of going through the proper channels." Woodpecker stated.

"Exactly, catch them with their pants down. What exactly did Victor work on with you anyways?" Woodpecker let out a shaky breath as she turned her gaze towards the building, more specifically the top floor where Victor would be lurking.

"Brainwaves, basically whatever makes my powers tick." She explained. "He would have wires stuck in my heads and he would force me to practice my powers from lifting tennis balls to stopping bullets. He was obsessed with trying to understand the power of the human mind. I don't know what he has plans for those bodies, but my money is on him poking and prodding their brains if they are still intact."

"Okay then, let's get started then." Clint walked over to the corner of the rooftop and grabbed a large crate. He grabbed the handle at the end and dragged it over to Wood Pecker. He unlocked the clasps and lifted up the case revealing a small variety of weapons and body armor.

"Cool." Woodpecker mused.

"Gear up, we're out in five."

The young woman nodded as she took off her leather jacket and started to arm herself. First the bullet proof vest which she slipped over her head and fastened it to her chest. Then a pair of twin two-tone Sig Sauers P226 hand guns she holstered along with some additional clips onto a belt which she fasted around her waist. She then equipped herself with a spartan machete and some throwing knives along with arming herself with a MP7 submachine gun. She threw her jacket back on and slipped her hood over her head before turning towards Clint.

"You never gave me an honest answer." She told him. "Why are you helping me, you could probably take down Victor yourself." Clint let out a small chuckle and shrugged.

"You remind me of a friend of mine. She had some red in her past just like you." He told her. "I know life dealt you a bad hand, but I don't see you wandering around aimlessly. You want to stop running I see you want a future."

"How do you know what I want?" Woodpecker asked a little to defensively.

"It's what I wanted."

"Wanted?" She asked, but he waved her off.

"Times up, let's go." He said, walking over to a nearby fire escape. Woodpecker was still very skeptical, but what choice did she have.

She was surrounded by enemies on both sides and had no one to rely on. This Clint guy, who went by Hawkeye, he seemed to have her back and wanted to take down Victor, but she wasn't letting her guard down. It didn't matter if it was Shield, Hydra or Mr. Crow. Everyone and anyone who knew her and what she could do wanted her for their own gain.

She told herself that she would wait until Victor was dead before making a move on Shield. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, but she was close to the end and she was not going to let anyone get in the way of her revenge.