Steve was not materialistic. Almost. Not having a lot of luxuries growing up and thrown decades forward in the future, one tends to lose the value of things one might own.
But the suit Rose had made for him, well, he fell in love with it.
It was all black with a leathery texture with slight accents of his traditional colors of red, blue, and white. Instead of having the stars and stripes on the chest as he did before, the new suit had them on the biceps. And there was a glossy Avengers logo at the shoulder of the suit.
"How come he gets one and we don't?" Nat asked as soon as she saw the suit.
Rose looked at her as she made the final tinkering to the gear in the suit, "Your's in production and I ran out of materials, so Clint's only half-finished."
Sam picked the suit and ran the material between his fingers, "What is it made of? Leather?"
"Kind of. It's dragon leather mix."
"Dragons aren't real."
Clint clapped Sam on his shoulder, "Now that you signed up for this mission, you are in for a rollercoaster ride. And yes, dragons are real. Her brother works with them."
"And you are pulling my leg?"
Rose looked at him and shook her head, "Get me your wings. I should be able to tweak it a little more with what I have right now."
Sam quickly rushed to get the wings.
"Why don't you two grab some shut-eye?" Steve asked the spies, who shared a look and eventually agreed.
"Wake us up if anything comes up," Clint said
"Sure," Rose nodded and the two left to get some rest.
"You should get some rest too," Steve sat in front of her
"Oh yeah? and then who's supposed to do this and Sam's wings?" she asked, focus back at the suit
Steve looked at her as her most focus was on his suit and fixing it. She blinked a lot and held things at some distance, but Steve chalked it up to working without her glasses. Her tongue was slightly peeking out as her hands worked swiftly.
"Take a picture. It'll last longer."
Steve blinked, finally zoning in, and found Rose smirking at him.
"What?" he asked
"Stop staring at me. You are making it hard for me to work."
"Sorry"
"As you should be" Rose muttered
Steve took a deep breath, "About what happened earlier, lo-"
"Nothing changes, Steve." Rose deadpanned, "Just 'cause I'm giving you a new suit and we are back to joking and bickering doesn't mean that I'm over what happened or that I'm going to back down for what I've planned and decided. I have a long and strong score to settle with Winter Soldier. And I'd still suggest that you shouldn't come in the way."
Steve looked at her, "Revenge is not an answer"
"Oh no. Revenge is the question and the answer is yes, almost all the time." she scoffed
"Really?"
She sighed and looked at him, pausing her work on the suit, and crossed her feet, "Okay, I want to make a few things very absolutely clear for tomorrow and the future. I'm not some pacifist heroine. I don't give two fucks about what people think about me. I'm way, way over that. I like giving people second chances as much as the other person but here, the case is a whole lotta different. So, here, I don't have to play this 'I have a noble personality that's why I'll give a second chance to redeem yourself'. No. This situation is different and not something anyone can get used to.
"This is my family, Steve. Yes, I hate Howard with 90% of my very being but I can't deny that he was my grandfather. I'm his blood. Blood is thicker than water. Winter Soldier and HYDRA wronged me in an extreme way. They killed my family and put the people I love in jeopardy. On top of killing my grandparents, they hurt Nick. Almost killed him. It's not something I can overlook.
"You wanna go toe on toe with me, I'm down for it. All down. But you do not mess with my family and close friends. You do that and I'll kill you, revive you, and then kill you again. On repeat loop, until I feel that it's even." She took a deep breath, "I'm not trying to convince you to do anything you don't want to do. But, Steve, this fight is as much mine as it's yours. I've paid more in this fight with HYDRA than you have." She opened her mouth to say something but stopped and took a breath instead, "Neither of us is wrong. I respect your decisions and actions and all I expect is the same. "
She reached and picked the suit and handed it to him, "You want to destroy HYDRA, partly for what they did to Barnes and you. I want to destroy Winter Soldier, partly for what he did to me and Dad. We are not that different. Avenging the people we love."
Steve looked at her. Without a word, he just stood up with the suit.
"Don't stay up too long," he said finally
"I'll be fine. You need to be on your peak," she muttered back
"Hey," Sam walked in, his wing pack in his hands. Steve and Sam shared a smile and a quick nod before Steve walked away and Sam took Steve's former seat.
"Oh, it's been so long since I've seen you," she muttered when Sam handed her the wings, "Have they treated you well?"
"That's a machine." Sam piped, sitting down.
Rose glared at him as she held the pack closer to her, "She has feelings. How dare you?" she looked back at the wings, "He didn't mean it."
"I can't really tell if you are being serious or just pulling one on me," Sam leaned back
Rose chuckled, "Well, then you'll fit great here," She took a deep breath, opening a panel of the wings and checking things.
"I don't mean this as an offense in any way, but you do know what you are doing right?"
Rose nodded, "My dad designed the prototype. I made small upgrades before he made the final product. I know my dad's work." she smiled at him softly, "I'll increase the efficiency so if you are feeling adventurous, you can do crazy parkour in air. If I had the proper equipment, I could improve this so much."
Sam just looked at her. She looked, unlike the billionaire CEO he had seen on TV and read about. Nor did she look like the vengeful crazy-mad woman he had seen a few hours ago. She looked like a super excited kid who got a very interesting toy to play with.
"You are dead set on killing Barnes, aren't you?"
Rose took a deep breath, "It goes a lot deeper than what you are seeing. And complicated as fuck."
"Tell me about it. Talk to me."
Rose gave him a look.
"You are working on the wings and I'm bored sitting here."
Rose chuckled, "I have a shrink, you know. This psychology thing, she uses frequently on me when I won't open up to her." she went back to the wings, "Besides, my shit isn't everyone's cup of tea."
"Magic and dragons? Yeah, I can see how not every shrink won't be on board with that."
Rose chuckled, "Magic, dragons, witches, unicorns, werewolves, vampires, and much much more. I suppose all of this would remain a secret?"
"Yes, of course," Sam nodded and leaned in a little, "So, what score do you have to settle with Winter Soldier?"
"What do you mean?" she asked
"You are a businesswoman-scientist. He's an international assassin."
She took a deep breath, "It's complicated. But bottom line, he killed people I cared about."
That seemed enough of an answer to him as he shut up.
"Can I ask you something?" she spoke up after some time
"Sure. It's only fair that way."
"How did you meet Captain Arsehole?"
"Funny you should ask." He chuckled, "We met while jogging. He's got some stamina and lungs."
Rose scoffed and handed a piece.
"What's this?" Sam asked
"Hold onto that part. If I can..." she muttered and working. After a few minutes, she extended her hand back towards Sam, who handed her the piece back, which she put inside the panel again.
"I didn't think he had it in him to pull pranks on regular people," she muttered
"Yeah, well maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do."
Rose gave him a look, "That man graffitied my entire wardrobe, worth nearly $25000, during the prank war on April fool's day. Trust me, I'm well aware of how far he could take his pranks." she diverted her attention back onto the wings, "I was just surprised that he would do it this quick."
"How long has he been back? A year?"
"More than that. Nearly 18 months. I thought he'd need more time to adjust before he starts acting...you know...freely."
Sam nodded.
"He needs counseling, though," Rose added
"Captain America needs counseling?"
"No. Steve Rogers does. The things that have happened with him in the last 2 years did a number on his psyche. He doesn't hide it well, though. I tried talking to him, but in vain."
Sam gave her a look. Rose did a double-take at him before rearranging the insides of the panel.
"What?"
"You seem quite concerned about the mental health of a man you threatened to kill if he stopped you a few hours ago."
Rose sighed, "Whatever shit happens between us, he's still my friend. One of my closest friends, in fact. And you heard what I said earlier. I'm not pissed at Steve. It's the Winter Soldier."
Sam looked behind him, where he was hiding, and then back at her, "How did you know I wa-"
Rose smiled at him as she closed the panel and started screwing it back, "I have magic, dude. It can do more than just stopping bullets and throwing people across the room." she looked back at the wings, "Steve doesn't know. For a super-soldier, he can pretty oblivious."
"Why didn't you tell him?"
"He trusts you. And Steve doesn't trust easily. A little paranoid, that bloke. I didn't wanna ruin whatever friendship you have with him."
"What about you?"
"What about me?" she asked, unfolding the wings and checking them.
"Do you trust me?"
Rose looked at him, studying for a solid minute, "I haven't quite made my mind."
Sam nodded and leaned back. Rose finished checking everything and folding it back, handed it to Sam.
"Hey, just so you know, I'm here if you ever want to talk"
Rose took a deep breath and smiled, "I have a shrink who gets paid quite a number of zeroes for that very reason. Besides, as I said before, my shit ain't everyone's cup of tea." she stood up, "I'll keep the offer in mind, though."
"Thanks," Sam smiled softly, "You gonna grab some sleep?"
"No, actually. I mean not now. I have to check a few things. I'll get some shut-eye eventually."
Sam nodded with a good night, walked away. Rose stretched, worked out some knots, and then settled back and pulled out her laptop. She took out NYX's drive.
"Let's see what you got, girl," she muttered and plugged in the drive.
After a few minutes, she started getting a headache, which made her rub her temple. She had to get her eyes checked again; most probably the power of her glasses had increased.
She went through as much as she could before the headache became stronger. She sighed made some quick emails. Most files weren't super important but had information that might be vital in understand other documents.
She closed her laptop's lid and sighed, rubbing her temples. She took off the rubber band and loosened her long hair and ran her fingers through. They needed a trim.
She stood up, detangling her hair, and walked outside to the bridge. She reached for her pocket and took out another cigarette. Pepper would be mad if she ever found out that she smoked twice in one day. Well, technically it was past 12 AM, so she had two smokes two consecutive days.
She took a deep whiff, thinking the whole thing once again. In less than 10 hours, they'd be raiding one of the most secure buildings in the world. And that was enough to give her anxiety, especially when it reminded her badly of the time she raided Gringotts with Ron and Mia. Oh, those old days.
She felt a vibration and then Iron Man started playing. She took out her phone as she snubbed the cigarette on the concrete rail to extinguish it. She took a couple of deep breaths and then answered the call.
"Hey daddy"
"Hey. I just wanted to check up on you."
"I'm fine."
"You have your suit with you?"
"Hmm-mm," she nodded, "Hey, do you remember Sam Wilson?"
"Sam Wilson...air force guy right?"
"FALCON program."
"Yeah! Yeah, I remember him. And his wingman, what was his name? Rory, was it?"
"Riley."
"Yeah, that guy. What about him, now?"
"Apparently he's friends with Steve. And he's the one who's helping us."
There was a three-second silence, before, "So is it safe to assume that the last pair of wings that were stolen from Fort Meade had something to do you lot?"
"Spy twins. Uncle Rhodey?"
"Rhodey."
They both chuckled
"But honest question. How's everything?"
"Tense. Stressful. Steve and I right are at each other's throats on and off."
"Yeah, I can believe that. If you want, I can be there in a couple of hours, you know. Make sure HYDRA is being treated fairly."
"We got it, Dad." she chuckled, "It's me, wonder twins, Capsicle and Wilson. We got things under control here."
"Okay. That sounds good. But in any case, if you ever ne-"
"Dad. I'll be fine. You finish that property deal and then get to Malibu, as planned. No detours."
"You watch your back, darling."
"I got it here." she took a breath, "But if you really wanna be a part, NYX picked up some stuff from HYDRA archives. I've emailed some of them to you. Think you can go through them?"
"Yeah, no problem. You aren't doing that?"
She heard a soft click and realized that Tony must have opened his laptop for the same.
"I started but then got a headache." she rubbed her temples
"Headache? Why don't you have your glasses?"
"I forgot them in London. Or Somerset. I don't really remember right now."
"Other pair?"
"Manhattan."
"Rosie, y-"
"I know. I know. I'll be careful next time." she muttered, "Take care. Good night."
"Well, it's nearly 6.30 AM here. "
"Good morning, then."
"I love you, pumpkin"
"I love you too" and then she hung up.
She sighed again and ran her hand through her hair and down her face. she leaned and looked down at the dark water. She then held the railing and hopped to sit atop of them, legs dangling as she swung them.
"Unable to sleep, huh?"
"You are supposed to be resting."
"I rested enough."
She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Nick, "I know you own badassery, but you need to rest before you give Pierce the shock of his lifetime."
"I'll be fine. I've been through worse."
"I'll take your word for it. What are you doing out here?"
Nick gave her a look.
"What? I'm not your spy. I can't read your eye messages."
"I could ask the same. Why aren't you sleeping?"
She looked back at the pitch-black scenery in front of her, "Fucking anxiety."
"Did you talk to Tony?"
She nodded, biting her lower lip.
"He did not take it well, did he?"
She shook her head. "I asked Mia to check up on him once she gets her family safe."
"Good idea" Nick nodded, "And what's your plan about Barnes?"
"While I have no second thoughts about killing him, I let Steve take his shot at saving him first. He fails, I get my shot."
Nick looked at her, "I surprised you made that decision. What happened to 'holding a grudge'?"
"Oh, I'm grabbing onto this grudge. But Steve's constant whining started getting on my nerves." she took a deep breath, "Besides, death is too simple of retribution for what he did to me and many others. He deserves much more, much worse." she took a deep breath, "Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt." she looked at Nick, determination shining in her eyes.
"Okay, what's the plan?" Fury demanded
Rose took a deep breath, nodded, and looked at the team,
"Nat, Clint, security council. Do not let Pierce out of sight. The worst we can do to bring HYDRA down is getting them out in the real world. Nat, getting the files out in the world for everyone to see it's your job. Clint, make sure Pierce won't use Security Council as a bargaining chip. The odds are small but cannot be overlooked. You got the drive?" she asked Nat
Nat nodded and patted her pocket.
"It'll breakthrough every single SHIELD firewall and will give you easy access, except the Final Firewall. That has retinal scan locks only Bossman and Pierce can unlock that. Nick, well, I can't really tell you what to do."
"Should we ask how you got that drive?" Hill asked.
"No, you shouldn't." Rose replied, handing them all their comms, "Rest of us, we are raiding the INSIGHT tech center. If we got there in time, we can abort the launch and then destroy the helicarriers, later, when we feel like blowing stuff to vent out. But once they are launched we have a limited time. After a certain ascent, they cannot be brought down, so have to be destroyed using the chips. Sam and I are on sky support."
Sam nodded.
"Good. Any questions?"
None came.
"Let's get it, people."
It wasn't hard for Rose to momentarily hack into the SHIELD server and get Pierce's schedule. And from there, all she had to do was send an email to two of the people on the security council that the meeting was canceled due to an increase in threat from Captain America being a fugitive as SHIELD was sure Avengers were a part of this whole scheme as well, and it would be best if they didn't visit until a security clearance was given. She made sure to provide evidence to back up that email.
And then she got a response that they agreed.
Now, Clint and Nat were to pose as the two canceled Council-people and get in.
While the four of them drove to the INSIGHT HQ.
"We only have 5 hours. Can we floor the pedal?" she asked the driver
"Unless you want me to have several traffic violations and get pulled aside by cops which would cause further delay, no," Hill replied
"Geez, you don't have to grumpy about it," Rose muttered and pulled back and looked outside
"So, I'm just asking, what are the odds of this whole mission going south?" Sam sked
Steve gave him a look from the passenger seat. Maria glared at him from the rearview mirror. Rose was still looking outside the window.
"17.83% that we'll miss the launch and they will achieve their elevation." she deadpanned
"Less than 20 sounds good." Sam muttered and he looked back at her, "Thought you were getting your suit?"
"This is my suit" she replied and looked at him, "It's easier to carry this way." she tapped the black-purple vest she was wearing.
"where's the rest of it?" Hill asked
"This is all of it. It's tech combined with magic. It will become the whole suit and in a way, can be folded into a vest."
"Tony's suit can't do that, can it?" Steve asked
"Nope," Rose popped the 'p'. "Dad's and my suit are made of two separate materials. Well, I'm kinda still working on that, actually."
"Granger's report didn't mention a different metal," Hill noted
Rose shrugged.
"Why would you need a suit when you are quite powerful with your magic alone? Your father, I understand." Sam asked
"You ask too many questions," she muttered to herself and then looked at him, "My magic can do a lot but it doesn't make me bulletproof." she tapped the vest, "Bulletproof."
Thankfully Hill pulled out of the INSIGHT HQ in another 20 minutes. They quickly got out and walked closer to the building. Iris took out a signal jammer from her pocket and pulled out the antenna.
"Let the party begin."
She pressed the button and quickly hid the jammer in the bushes. She reached and touched the wall, casting a quick Homenum Revelio.
"Now!" she whispered and the four moved to the door.
The door opened and Sam and Hill pointed their guns at the tech people.
"Excuse us."
Steve walked in, followed by Rose and then the other two. She looked around. Exact 7 techs. She cast a quick bewitched sleeping spell on the techs and all of them fell on the ground.
"Good night. Good riddance," she muttered and walked to the PA system and pressed a few buttons. She turned to look at Steve over her shoulder.
"Wanna do the honors or should I?"
"Uh...Did you just kill them all?" Sam asked
Rose narrowed her eyes at him, "They are sleeping." She looked at Steve and raised a brow. He walked to her and pulled the mic towards him.
She pressed a couple more buttons. "And...now."
"Attention, all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth."
He sneaked her a quick glance before continuing, "SHIELD is not what we thought it was, it's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and INSIGHT crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."
He nodded and she turned off the system.
"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" Sam asked, amused
"You smug son of a bitch." Rockwell snapped
Two agents entered the room. One of the other councilmen, Singh looked at them.
"Arrest him."
Instead, the agents turned their guns towards the Council
"I guess I've got the floor." Pierce chuckled
"They've initiated launch."
"Fuck!" Iris jumped into one of the vacant seats and started typing some code.
"It's locked from another level. I can't abort it from here." she looked at them, a slight panic on her face and voice.
"Then we'll do it the other way." Steve nodded at her.
She looked at Hill.
"Go. I'll handle it here. Besides," she looked around all the sleeping techs, "I don't think they are gonna be waking anytime soon."
Rose smiled and got up as the trio made their way to the helicarriers.
She pressed a button on the center of her vest and soon it began expanding and covering the rest of her body.
"Hey, guys, how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?" Sam asked
"If they're shooting at you, they're bad," Steve answered
Sam opened the wings and took off. Rose looked at Steve and found him looking back at her via his cowl.
Her helmet closed around her face and she gave him a nod before she took off.
She heard the firing both in her surroundings and via her comm.
"Hey, I found those bad guys you were talking about," Sam said
"You okay?" Steve asked
"I'm not dead yet."
"Let's keep it that way," Rose responded, maneuvering to dodge the bullets herself before she dived into the river.
"Let me ask you a question. What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew that they were gonna drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution?" Pierce handed Councilman Singh a glass of champagne, "And you could just stop it with a flick of the switch. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you all?"
"Not if it was your switch." Singh tossed the glass aside.
Suddenly one of the HYDRA agents handed Pierce his gun, which he proceeded to point at Singh.
Taking the moment, Nat pushed Singh away, took down the HYDRA agents before grabbing the gun ad pointing it at Steve. She tilted her head and removed her disguise.
"I'm sorry. Did I step on your moment?" She asked
She tried to find the opening into the steadily rising carrier. Nope. She swam back a little and blasted the window with laser and got in just in time as the carriers surfaced out of the water.
Rose took a deep gasp for breath. Fucking anxiety.
She then quickly got up and ran towards the central controls.
"Satellites in range at three thousand feet." She heard someone say
Already? Hadn't they just surfaced?
With the grunt, she opened the panel and changed some buttons and switches before she removed the previous chip and placed the new one. The chip would have worked without the extra switches, but she just wanted to make sure that this went down.
"Falcon, status?" Hill asked
"Engaging."
"Stark?"
"Yeah, I'm done here." she turned around and flew off, "Alpha locked!"
"Alright, I'm in," Sam said which was quickly followed by firing. "Shit!"
"I'll draw fire. Wilson, get the chip!" Rose said, tossing a laser cutter at Sam. She then laser blasted the people who were firing.
"Eight minutes, Cap."
"Working on it."
Iris clenched her jaw, blasting the ground near the HYDRA agents. Cap better work fast.
"What are you doing?" Councilman Yen asked Natasha
"She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the Internet," Pierce answered
"Including HYDRA's," Nat added
"And SHIELD's. If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden. Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?"
Nat spared him a quick look, "Are you?"
"Holy shit!" Iris muttered, turned around, and took off.
HYDRA had just shot two fucking heat-seeking missiles at her.
"Falcon, where are you now?" Hill asked
"Just a second."
Rose maneuvered the sky, but the missiles were, of course, cutting-edge tech and were able to keep up with her stunts.
"I'm in. Bravo locked!"
"Two down, one to go."
"Disabling the encryption is an executive order, it takes two Alpha Level members," Pierce noted
"Don't worry, the company's coming," Nat answered
Impeccably on cue, a helicopter appeared outside and Fury stepped and walked in
"Did you get my flowers?" Pierce asked, receiving nothing but a cold deadly stare I return. "I'm glad you're here, Nick."
"Really? Cause I thought you had me killed." Fury asked
"You know how the game works."
"So why make me the head of SHIELD?"
"Cause you were the best and the most ruthless person I ever met."
"I did what I did to protect people."
"Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder, war. It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago. Diplomacy? Holding action, a band-aid. And you know where I learned that; Bogota. You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. It's the next step, Nick, if you have the courage to take it."
"No, I have the courage not to." With that, Fury grabbed Pierce and pushed him towards the retinal scanner with Nat pointing a gun at him.
Retinal scanner active.
"You don't you think we wiped your clearance from the system?" Pierce chuckled
"I know you erased my password, probably deleted my retinal scan, but if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary..." Fury removed his eyepatch to reveal his scarred dead eye, "You need to keep both eyes open."
They both looked into the retinal scanner with Fury using his dead eye.
"Alpha Level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed.
Rose tried to make a cloud of her laser and divert, but nope. Didn't work.
She looked over her shoulder and grunted. She was running out of ideas!
"Wilson? Could use a hand here!"
She heard a whoosh and the next time she peeked behind her, there was only one missile.
"In front."
She looked in front and Wilson was heading for her, the second missile after him.
They kept on flying until they were a few meters apart and then Wilson turned up, but Rose continued. And then she ducked and flew right under the second missile. The two collided. Unfortunately, she was flying too close to the ground, and thanks to the strong shockwaves from the blast she got thrashed to the concrete ground.
She groaned, trying to stand up. The way she felt a shooting pain, well, it looked like something was severely damaged in her body. But she could check that later.
"You boys got it here?" she asked, readying herself to take off once more.
"Yeah..." grunt, thud, slam..."We got it." Steve answered.
"Charlie Carrier's forty-five degrees off the port bow," Hill noted. A couple of gunshots and then, "Six minutes."
"Hey, Sam, I'm gonna need a ride."
"Roger! Let me know when you're ready."
Steve just managed to jump off the edge as a HYDRA agent shot a missile at him, which Rose deflected with her magic. Now with only one helicarrier left, she could risk using her magic in excess. And just to let you know, it takes quite a lotta magic to destroy a cutting-edge heat-seeking missile.
"I just did!"
Sam flew in just in time to catch Steve, both making way to the third helicarrier.
"You know, you're a lot heavier than you look."
"I had a big breakfast."
"Mission first. Flirting later." Rose piped in
"Steve!"
Rose halted mid-air and made a quick turn. She quickly passed Winter Soldier on Sam's back. But she ignored that for a moment and flew towards the carrier where Steve was dangling on the side.
She landed inside and grabbed his arms and pulled him in.
"Cap? Cap, come in. Are you okay?"
"You good?" she asked, as they both panted
"Yeah, I'm in! Stark got me." he stood up and picked his shield, "Where are you?"
"I'm grounded, the suit's down. Sorry, Cap."
"Don't worry, I got it. Go."
He looked at her and nodded before jogging in. She took off and looked around, spotting Winter Soldier.
A part of her told her to take the shot and just end this, once and for all. Another part reminded her of a promise she made to Steve- one shot.
She took a deep breath, hovering mid-air.
"You better take the shot, Rogers," she muttered and flew to the HQ. "I'm gonna do a sweep around"
"Got it. Falcon?" Hill asked
"Yeah?"
"Rumlow's headed for the Council."
"I'm on it."
"Save some for me, Wilson. I owe that guy more than just a fracture," she said
"Done." Nat muttered and looked at her phone, "And it's trending."
Just then Pierce took out a small remote and pressed a button.
Nothing happened.
"Yeah, I don't think so, bud." Rockwell stepped forward and punched Pierce in the face. And then proceeded to remove his mask to reveal Clint.
Pierce chuckled, holding his nose, "Let me guess. Stark."
"Doesn't matter." Fury deadpanned
"So the Avengers were in on the plot."
"To stop fucking assholes like you, sure."
"You have quite a list of people you have scores to settle with, don't ya?" Sam asked
Rose chuckled, neutralizing some shoot-outpoints, "I'm rich. I'm smart. I'm famous. And I'm a superhero"
She grunted and flew off to another spot when another round of gunfire began at her.
"You know what? You do the honors on my behalf," she said, doing a barrel roll and attacking the people attacking her.
"Got it."
"I'm gonna do another sweep around. Keep 'em busy. "
"Lieutenant, how much longer?" Pierce asked
"Sixty-five seconds to a satellite link. Targeting grid engaged. Lowering weapons array now." he got the reply, which only tensed Fury, Nat, and Clint.
"One minute." Hill reminded
"Cap?" Rose called, "Steve?"
All they got was a pained grunt.
"Thirty seconds, Cap!"
"That's it. I'm coming" Rose snapped, taking a sharp turn.
"Stand by!"
She halted mid-air.
"Come on! Steve! Be reasonable!" she snapped
He just grunted in return.
"Steve! Steve! STEVEN!" she yelled and there were short shallow breaths on the other side.
Rose was beginning to panic. While on one hand she desperately wanted to go help her friend, on the other, she was the team captain and she respected his orders.
"Any second now," she said through gritted teeth.
"Charlie locked."
Rose exhaled the breath she had no idea she was holding.
"Okay, Cap, get out of there," Hill said
Rose saw the Helicarriers weapon targeting to open fire upon each other.
"Fire now," Steve ordered
"But, Steve..."
"Do it! Do it now!"
Rose could see some hesitance and it was well understood.
"Hill, do it," she added. Steve wouldn't have said that if he didn't have an escape plan in his head. She trusted him to have one.
The next moment, the Helicarriers open fired on each other.
"What a waste." Pierce chuckled
"Are you still on the fence about Rogers' chances?" Nat asked, removing the safety of her gun. Clint and Fury followed suit.
"You know, there was a time I would have taken a bullet for you." Fury muttered
"You already did. You will gain when it's useful." Pierce reached for something and at once, the three open fired at him.
"Hail HYDRA," Pierce whispered in his last moments
Clint just walked forward and shot him a third time, point-blank.
"We'll take care of HYDRA. I promise."
Rose grunted, picking as many as she could before flying off. One of those damned helicarriers had crashed into the dam beneath the Triskelion, which weakened the structure of nearby architecture. Hence, endangering the lives of civilians and innocents.
She dropped off the people in the safe zone and then looked back at the building.
"How many more?" she asked
"I can spot 6 more, Miss" NYX answered
"Alright. 6 more," Rose muttered before she took off
"Sam, where are you?" Nat asked, commandeering the chopper
"41st floor, north-west corner!"
"We're on it, stay where you are."
"Not an option!"
The destruction was happening at a fast rate.
"I think we need to go a level up!" Clint piped in
Nat followed just as Sam jumped out a window. Nat barely flew at the right spot and Clint grabbed him, pulling him in.
"41st floor! 41st!" Sam panted
"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!" Fury replied
"We should do that," Clint added
"Hill, where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers? Nat asked
"There you go. Everyone safe?" she asked, getting affirmation in response.
"Hill, where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?" Nat asked
Rose smiled and turned around and walked to a distance, her smile turning into a frown.
"Hill? Do you have a location on Steve?" she asked
"Not one as of now,"
"Fucking dammit! I'll look for him." she let the helmet cover her face and she took off to find him.
She didn't have to look for long as her Point-me spell pointed just where he was. She landed behind some bushes and let the suit dissolve before she slowly made her way ahead. One can never be too careful.
What she saw momentarily shocked her. Winter Soldier was pulling Steve, who seemed unconscious ( he better be fucking alive!), and dropped him on the bank.
He was panting.
Rose's eyes soon went back to the Winter Soldier from her team captain. She had given him his chance. His shot. And as per their deal, it was time for her to take her shot.
So, she did.
She took her shot.
Alright. Before anyone says anything, just letting ya all know that I know I tried my level best here with the helicarrier scene. Further chapters will be coming soon.
Hope ya all have a great time ahead. And ya know the drill.
Ciao
