May 2016
Berlin, Germany
Shouts echoed all around the facility as soon as the power grid suddenly shut down.
The first thing they lost was a visual on Barnes. But not long after the power went out, as Everett shouted orders to find out what was going on, the comm units went mad as the guards outside Barnes's holding area reported that the Winter Soldier was on the loose. And unlike when he'd been brought in, he was definitely hostile.
"Evac all civilians, get me a perimeter around the building and gunships in the air." Everett ordered loudly as agents began to move and just as Talia ran into the surveillance room.
Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff and Arianna Rogers were already gone, likely rushing to stop Barnes personally. Agent Carter was also missing, and Talia silently approved: in her books, the more help they had the better. She'd seen all available footage of Barnes's recorded fights including the insanity on top of the Washington highway from a few years ago. The man was more than ruthless. He was a beast.
Everett turned to Talia as she sped to his side, his gaze hard.
"Get down there and find Barnes." He ordered, not as a father but as a leader.
Talia nodded and was about to leave when Everett caught her arm to stop her. Pulling her close, he added in a whisper meant just for her, "If you need to use extreme measures, do it. We can't risk people's lives."
Talia's eyes flew up to meet her father's. Everett was dead serious and so after a brief moment, she nodded in agreement. With a worried look, he let her go and Talia hurried out the way she had come. By now, agents were starting the evac while security had already gathered on the lower levels where Barnes had last been seen. But by the time Talia reached the third floor, which had a good view of the ground floor below, she could see that there was no point in going any further down. Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark and Agent Carter were sprawled alongside the security team amongst the debris while Arianna Rogers lay winded on a table where Barnes had apparently been choking her if the way she was massaging her neck was any indication. The Winter Soldier himself was nowhere in sight; but Talia had an idea where he might be going. With the entrances all blocked, there was only one place left for him to escape.
Turning on her heel, Talia went in the opposite direction she had come from, heading straight for the roof where an emergency copter was stationed. It was on days like this that she was thankful for the training she put in on a daily basis even if she hated herself for it at the time. She shuddered to think what it would be like to climb up over twenty flights of stairs otherwise, even with her superior stamina. As it was, she reached the rooftop helipad in record time but she came to a shocked standstill when she flung open the door.
For a second though, Talia was sure she was hallucinating. She even rubbed them to make sure she wasn't imagining what she saw although the wind whipping her short hair about lent credence to the sight before her. Still, she had to look again to really believe that Steve Rogers was hanging onto the edge of the building as he locked himself in place with one hand on the railings around the edge of the helipad… and held down a helicopter with his other hand.
It took seeing Barnes inside the helicopter's cockpit for Talia to finally shake off her shock; unfortunately, it was also at that timing that Barnes decided on a drastic course of action. Unable to shake off the strong (and stubborn) captain, Barnes turned the helicopter back toward the building. Talia yelled while Rogers leapt back onto the helipad, where he rolled around to safety before he was crushed by the crashing machine.
"Captain Rogers, look out!" Talia shouted as the helicopter tail spun around and went straight for him.
Rogers turned to see and he ducked just in time before his head was lopped off by one of the helicopter's rotating blades. Talia sucked in a breath as she lost sight of Rogers for a moment as the dust rose around the crashed helicopter. And then she let out a breath as she saw a figure uncurling itself from beneath the wreckage. Rogers painfully got up on his hands and knees, finding himself face to face with the cockpit window… and a metal arm smashed right through the glass to grab him by the neck.
As soon as she saw what had happened, Talia dashed forward while Rogers gagged as he was strangled by the shell of his best friend. The captain barely seemed to notice her approach, not that she blamed him. But Barnes's eyes darted to her instantly as he sensed the threat - and that eye contact was all Talia needed.
"Release him!" Talia commanded, her voice layered with warmth and sounding almost like heavenly music.
Barnes released Rogers immediately - and the helicopter tilted toward the edge of the building.
"Get out of there and jump onto the roof!" Talia commanded Barnes while Rogers fell to the ground, choking on his own breath as he fought to regain oxygen.
Barnes didn't need to be told twice, not when her voice was so lovely and her light, almost golden, eyes were fixed on his. He smashed his way out of the cockpit and leapt onto the roof right beside Rogers seconds before the crashed helicopter reached the edge of the roof. Already precariously close to falling, Barnes's push off of it was the machine's undoing and with an eerie squeal the helicopter toppled over the edge and down into the river below.
Talia felt like all her limbs turned to jelly the instant she heard the splash below just a second later. Indeed, her knees buckled, and she collapsed out of sheer exhaustion and pain in the middle of the helipad. Rogers looked up from where he and Barnes were at the edge, Barnes still poised and ready to do her bidding… for now. She could see his eyes flickering as her hold became strained and she forced herself to maintain eye contact again. She knew that if she failed now, he was going to slip from her control and return to whatever beserk mode he'd been in before.
"How… did you do that?" Rogers asked as he painfully got to his feet.
Talia raised a finger toward him, indicating for him not to break her concentration. Barnes was starting to shake and Talia ordered, "Sleep."
Barnes's eyes flickered and he started to take a step forward. Rogers tensed defensively but Talia repeated, forcing her voice to be stronger and the heavenly quality increased.
"Sleep!"
And like that, Barnes was out like a light. He collapsed dead away, making Rogers jump. Talia meanwhile slumped over tiredly. She had no idea why, but somehow Barnes had been able to fight her mesmerism better than anyone she had met to date. Talia wondered why that was, but she decided that was something she could ponder later. She had more pressing issues at hand.
"Captain Rogers." Talia addressed the blond man who stood staring at her with a mix of surprise and wariness. "I hope you're planning to bring him in."
Instantly, Steve was on the defensive again. "He wasn't himself."
Talia groaned.
"Look, Captain-"
"I know what it looked like, but that doctor? He said something and it made Bucky go crazy." Rogers insisted.
His words made Talia pause for a second. Her thoughts drifted back to the look in Barnes's eyes when he'd been fighting her mesmerization. The way they had seemed so… dead. And she realized he had the same look as he sat in the helicopter, even after almost crashing and killing himself. Was what Rogers was saying true? If so, was that why he'd been harder for her to control - because he was already being controlled?
But at the end of the day, none of that eased the danger Barnes represented: if anything, it just made him all the more dangerous. So after her brief pause, Talia shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Rogers."
Talia took a breath to speak again, preparing to take Rogers in as well; when Rogers pounced.
Much faster than someone who had almost died after holding down a freaking helicopter should be able to, he was on her. And Talia was too slow, exhausted from using her power. So she was left defenseless as Rogers held her down and brought his fist down against her temple in a carefully calculated maneuver.
And as quickly as Barnes had collapsed, Talia's mind slipped into darkness and her eyes slid shut before she could see the flash of regret that crossed Steve's face as he stared down at her.
Present
Busan, South Korea
The moment Klaue's man crashed into the casino table, people started screaming. Klaue meanwhile instantly pulled his gun on Everett, who hurried to shield himself with the suitcase of diamonds he thankfully still held.
"Wakandans!" Klaue yelled as he fired at Everett while people started to run away from the gunfight in terror.
Talia, on the other hand, moved in the opposite direction of the escaping crowd while throwing one wine glass at Klaue's gun. He let go in surprise and pain as the glass shattered against his hand while Talia threw her other glass at Klaue's guard, forcing him to drop his weapon as well. At the same time, she leapt over and grabbed Everett, pulling him under cover behind an overturned table. They ended up beside T'Challa, although they hardly paid the Wakandan any attention; he however glanced over and Talia saw the recognition that flashed through his eyes as soon as he saw her.
Oh well, she shrugged to herself. It was bound to happen sooner or later.
Without waiting for T'Challa to reacted, Talia darted out again, rolling across to grab Klaue's gun from the ground. The man and his men were a bit too distracted, taking down the rest of Talia's team like they were amateurs, to notice the Asian woman who blended into the escaping crowd. Talia used that to her advantage, grabbing a second gun that had fallen from someone's grasp - she had no idea who - and tossing it to her father even as she ducked behind another fallen table before she could be shot.
"And he said it would be simple!" Talia growled as she checked the bullets in Klaue's gun before she rose up from her cover and started firing at Klaue's men.
They dropped with cries of pain as her bullets hit true, injuring them enough that they wouldn't be able to move although none of the wounds were fatal. But Klaue was already halfway up the stairs and the exit; and Talia's gun clicked as the last bullet was fired and hit a man who had been about to shoot Everett as he quickly made his own escape toward the back of the casino.
Tossing aside the empty weapon, Talia spun in the air and kicked the nearest guard right in the head. Twirling expertly, she backflipped out of reach of another of Klaue's men and swung her leg out in a wide arc to trip up another who had been about to fire at the Wakandan women who had arrived with T'Challa. Spinning around to be upright, Talia grabbed one of the other men nearby and she tossed him bodily over her shoulder so that he smashed head first into yet another of Klaue's guards who had been trying to sneak up on her.
Okoye was suddenly beside her, wielding a metal spear and she cut another of the men who had been about to point his gun at Talia. In that brief moment's respite, Talia nodded once at Okoye in thanks. She would figure out where on earth the general had hidden the spear to be allowed entrance into the casino at a later point. For now, she focused on the Wakandan King himself as she heard his voice bellow from somewhere above.
"Murderer!"
Looking up, Talia saw T'Challa had hauled himself with superhuman strength up the side of the casino walls and across from Klaue on the upper level. But something happened where Talia couldn't see that made T'Challa suddenly reach for the nearest cabinet to use as a shield… And then suddenly he was thrown back as he was hit by a blast of some kind that apparently had the power of a small mining bomb as it completely destroyed the cabinet that had barely protected T'Challa. Alarmed, Talia watched as T'Challa fell with a crash not far from where she and Okoye were.
Quickly skidding across the floor and grabbing another dropped gun from the ground, Talia fired after the little bit of Klaue that she could still see. But the man easily ducked away and he disappeared through the doors flanked by the remainder of his personal guards. Okoye and her companion shot forward, chasing after the man as they raced up the steps. Talia was not far behind them but when she made it out of the casino's secret front door and into the fish market, it was just in time to see the Wakandans jump into their own vehicle to give chase to four disappearing jeeps.
Talia pursed her lips as she weighed her options; before she jumped as T'Challa's voice sounded from behind her.
"Shuri!" T'Challa barked as he dashed past Talia, who barely avoided being flattened by the man as he sped by at an inhuman speed.
Talia watched in surprise as a nearby car suddenly came to life and sped after the Wakandan king as he raced down the street and disappeared around the far corner. Apparently, the Wakandans were hiding more than just a cat suit if they could remotely activate a car. Her eyes narrowed but Talia's attention was drawn to another silver car that sped around the corner and came toward her.
This one was familiar and Talia was opening the passenger door before Everett had even fully stopped beside her.
"You okay?" He asked as Talia slid in and shut the door behind her.
"Of course, now drive."
"You do realize I'm your boss as well as your father?" He questioned even as he shifted his foot from the brakes to the gas and he took them off after the others.
"And if you were just my boss and not my father, you wouldn't have stopped for me." Talia answered smoothly as she pulled out their surveillance tech.
It took longer than it should have to track the Wakandan cars; in fact, Talia ended up finding Klaue's vehicles first. They'd split up and, based on security footage from the traffic cameras, so had the two teams of Wakandans chasing them.
"Which way?" Everett asked as he reached the same crossroads that the others had reached and Talia shook her head.
"They split up, I think they're trying to lose the Wakandans. But the right leads to the pier."
"Then we'll try the right side too." Everett muttered as he drove them down the right lane.
They sped down the streets that Talia directed Everett through, sticking closely to the main street that Talia noted that the other three cars hadn't strayed too far from. But as they passed another intersection, Talia frowned - she could have sworn she saw one of Klaue's jeeps crashed on the side of the road. Glancing back in the rearview mirror, Talia saw a flash of metal from where a spear was apparently embedded into the road and which had crashed the jeep.
Shaking her head, Talia turned her gaze forwards again. And to think she had thought she had seen it all…
As if in answer to her thought, Everett turned them onto the road Talia directed… in time to see Okoye skidding down the road on the remains of what had been the roof of her car, using her spear to bring the metal to a screeching halt as it dug into the very earth beneath the tar road. All around her, the remains of the car scattered from the force of the explosion that had hit it. And beside her, still holding the car handle ahead of her, came her companion as what had been her car seat skidded across the ground before finally coming to a halt. Most impossible of all, other than the minor shock and mild annoyance at having lost their prey, the two Wakandans were completely unharmed.
Everett deftly brought their car around to a stop right before the two women who eyed the two Americans warily.
"Hop in." Everett called impatiently, waving them toward the backseat.
The two Wakandans exchanged looks before moving toward the back of the car and Everett added, "Put that… spear in the trunk."
Okoye ignored the request as she retracted the spear instead; Talia noted this and she exchanged a glance with Everett as the Wakandans climbed into the back of their car. But their questions could come later; for now, they had a bigger fish to fry. Everett took them off again as Talia directed him toward the pier where the Korean branch of the CIA had tracked Klaue. And, it seemed, so had T'Challa.
By the time they arrived, T'Challa had Klaue held by his throat against the side of his jeep and his claws were raised to kill much like the panther he dressed as.
"King!" Okoye yelled in alarm as she hurried out of the car before Everett had even fully stopped the vehicle.
Her companion was right behind her, and Talia and Everett hung back to let the Wakandans handle it first between themselves as T'Challa seemed to react to his people's calls.
"The world watches." Okoye's companion hissed warningly.
T'Challa seemed to deliberate, and Everett called tightly, "Come on, guys. Let's go, huh?"
It seemed to take an age but T'Challa finally lowered his claws reluctantly. Talia let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. At least there was one less potential mess they'd need to clean up after this recent fiasco. She was really getting tired of the so-called Avengers' theatrics - it had been bad enough working with them once.
May 2016
Berlin, Germany
It was her worst nightmare come to life.
Talia was trapped in a room just off the Berlin airport runway with a bunch of wannabe-superheroes and expected to stay there for an as-yet undetermined period of time. And she said wannabe-superheroes because most of them either didn't have powers that made them super or they weren't exactly heroes no matter what dubious power they might have. And absolutely worst of all, among them in that small space was Tony Stark. If arrogance and sarcasm had a child, it would be this man-child who apparently couldn't remain silent for more than half a minute at a time.
The only reason, as Talia kept telling herself, that she was on this mission was because Everett had suggested her to Secretary Ross as a valuable addition to the Avengers team to act as a continued liaison with the CIA. Ross had been happy to sign off, particularly after they learnt of the defect of Agent Sharon Carter. It had been the last straw after already losing Barnes, Rogers and Wilson. Secretary Ross had wanted a semblance of control again; Everett wanted Barnes back in custody. And while Talia couldn't care less what Secretary Ross wanted, she would never let her father down.
And that was what she kept reminding herself. She had to; otherwise, Stark was going to drive her mad.
"Okay, everyone good with the plan?" Stark checked, again. It seemed that the news of Maximoff's escape from the lockdown he'd enforced on her had made him even more insufferable than usual. He hadn't been this bad when she'd first met him two or so days ago when they had been looking yet again for Rogers and Barnes.
There were general murmurs of agreement and Stark turned to Talia.
"Yo, Sweet Sixteen. You sure you can handle this?"
The twenty-three year old narrowed her eyes at Stark, but otherwise Talia's expression didn't change.
"Yes, Stark. Like I said when you asked five minutes ago, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."
"Against like tin soldiers, maybe, paper ballerina." Stark looked Talia up and down a little skeptically, clearly doubting the skinniness of her limbs. "You do realize Steve's called a supersoldier for a reason, right?"
It was ironic, really, how little faith he had in her based on her appearance and age when Talia was almost certain the male in the red and blue outfit marked with a spider symbol was little more than a teenager. At least, if the way he kept fiddling with his phone and whispering as he made apparently a blog of their mission was any indication, he was. Then again, Stark apparently had video proof of what the kid could do while Talia was, so far, just a big mystery to him. And she had no doubt he was curious what she could bring that the CIA had all but forced her to join the mission.
Her eyes became a shade colder as Talia answered acidicly, "Again, worry about yourself, Stark. After all, I'm not the one who will be a sitting duck if my tech goes awry. Do you even know how to fire a gun without your suit?"
He raised a brow at her retort, but apparently he liked her attitude. Which was unfortunate for Talia. Because Tony then set about sitting next to her and chatting her ear off about some new design on his suit and how he was working on using his 'simple tech' to map the movements of opponents and fight back against them efficiently. Or perhaps he didn't like her and that was why he was making her suffer.
At last, just when Talia was ready to rip Stark's head off, Romanoff reported seeing Rogers on the premises. Instantly, Stark's easy manner changed and his expression grew grave just seconds before his mask snapped shut and he took off. Colonel Rhodes was right behind the billionaire as the two flew off to cut Rogers off while the rest of the team moved out on foot.
Talia followed T'Challa as they'd planned, although he moved a lot faster than her in his impatience to get to Barnes. Even though, based on Stark's banter through their comms, it sounded like it was just Rogers standing on the airport runway at the moment. Romanoff meanwhile fell behind the two faster agents while 'Spider-Man' kept to the shadows and out of sight per Stark's instructions as Stark and Rogers exchanged words.
"Hear me out, Tony." Rogers was pleading as Talia reached the edge of the buildings that lined the side of the runway. "That doctor, the psychiatrist - he's behind all of this."
Rogers broke off as T'Challa leapt over, landing in a crouch much like the animal he dressed as. But the king was still fairly polite to the other man as he addressed Rogers.
"Captain."
"Your Highness." Rogers inclined his head. His eyes then slid over to Talia as she stepped out behind T'Challa.
"Agent Ross, wasn't it?"
Talia just gave a cool nod but stayed silent. Rogers was eyeing her just slightly to the left, not quite meeting her eyes. Clearly, he didn't trust her not to try to control him like she'd done with Barnes earlier. He was right not to, Talia thought grimly as she used the moment instead to scan around the empty airport once before she looked back at Rogers.
"Anyway," Stark called Rogers's attention back to himself. His mask was up to face his fellow Avenger straight on as he explained, "Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"
"You're after the wrong guy." Rogers answered firmly. Stark's jaw set.
"Your judgment is askew. Your war buddy killed innocent people yesterday-"
"And there are five more super soldiers just like him." Rogers interrupted.
Talia's eyes flickered over to him at that; was this a ploy to avoid capture? Or was Rogers telling the truth? If it was the truth… And yet, it didn't add up in her mind. Why would someone send Barnes into Winter Soldier mode, just to try and create a diversion? Why risk getting caught by setting up an elaborate plan that involved sneaking into the CIA, just to leave without Barnes and with nothing taken? Talia shook her head; this was not the time to fall for mind games. There would be plenty of time to check Rogers' claims after he and Barnes were in custody where they couldn't hurt anyone. Because if Rogers was wrong and Barnes had simply lost control of himself (or worse, pretended to), he was far too dangerous to let go.
"I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."
Stark pursed his lips in response to Rogers' plea but it was a female voice that spoke up next.
"Steve." Romanoff stepped out behind the Captain, who was unsurprised to see his friend. Even if he clearly regretted that they were on different sides. "You know, what's about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?"
Rogers didn't answer; and Stark, impatient as always, cracked.
"All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!" He called.
Spider-Man swept in at the signal, his webbing catching Rogers' shield and pulling it away at the same time that another jet of webbing wrapped around Rogers' hands and bound them together. The webster himself landed in a perfect crouch on the top of a luggage truck behind Stark, Captain America's shield balanced in his right hand.
"Nice job, kid." Stark nodded his approval while Rogers looked surprised by the new face.
He was in for a greater surprise as the teenager piped up enthusiastically, "Thanks. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just… the new suit... Well," he quickly cut himself off hastily, "it's nothing, Mr. Stark It's-It's perfect, thank you."
"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation." Stark deadpanned.
"Okay." Spider-Man glanced around nervously and gave a small salute toward Rogers. "Cap-Captain."
Rogers nodded back as Spider-Man added awkwardly, "Big fan, Spider-Man."
"Yeah, we'll talk about it later." Stark tried to silence the boy. "Just-"
"Hey, everyone." Spider-Man gave a little wave at the group and Stark seemed to give up.
"...Good job." He mumbled, and the boy finally and mercifully fell silent. Rogers seemed faintly amused as he turned back to Start.
"You've been busy."
"And you've been a complete idiot." Stark snapped back sharply. "Dragging in Clint. Rescuing Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave. A safe place. I'm trying to keep-"
He broke off, breathing heavily. Taking a moment to compose himself, he continued in a more neutral voice, "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."
Rogers' tone became a shade colder then. "You did that when you signed."
Talia's shoulders tightened at Rogers' words - at the conviction he held in them. This was why Rogers was dangerous, she reminded herself. Because he truly believed he was doing the right thing. Even when it was dangerous and completely illegal, he stuck by his own set of rules. No matter the consequences for those who were trying to maintain the order that kept the world turning even if it wasn't a perfect order.
Stark seemed to agree with her as he said sternly, "Alright, I'm done. You're gonna turn Barnes over and you're gonna come with us. Now! Because it's us, or a squad of JSOC guys, with no compunction about being impolite."
His voice wavered and it was clear that beneath his attitude, Stark was genuinely worried. And when Rogers turned his head away resolutely, Stark whispered almost pleadingly, "Come on."
Suddenly, the Captain raised his arms - and that was the signal.