It had been three weeks since the battle over the Potomac River had ended and Natasha had leaked all of Hydra and Shield's files over the internet. Steve had been hoping to find out more about Bucky from the leak as well as the mysterious Viper Assassin but he had come up empty handed. All he had was the file that Natasha gave him on the Winter Soldier but all of their leads had turned up cold. Steve had tried getting something from Natasha on the Viper Assassin but she had said that she gave him all the information she had…which was almost nothing.
Steve had decided to leave Washington D.C., tired of the reminder of Hydra and Shield, returning to New York to live in Avenger's Tower with the rest of the team. The team had all seemingly moved into the tower together which was a first for them. There were times when one or two of them occupied the tower but never at the same time. Stark had given Steve his own floor of the tower, a suite that was much too large for him, and a big bed that was equally as large but much too soft for his liking.
Everything had seemingly slowed down now that Steve had returned to the tower. Thor had returned from Asgard after the weird space elf incident in London and Tony had returned after the Mandarin attack. Steve had returned after the fall of Shield and Hydra leak but now he was finding it more and more difficult to return to normal. What was normal, anyways? Steve didn't think normal existed in his life. There was no room for normal. Steve was only a little regretful of moving all the way to New York which was a distance away from Peggy in D.C. He still visited her on weekends even though it broke his heart more and more each time he saw her, but it would've been nice to be closer to her.
Steve still remained in close contact with Sam who was now following up on a lead in Russia. Apparently in the search for Bucky, Sam was equally as devoted to finding him as Steve was. Steve couldn't be more grateful but he guessed that's what friends were for. Even Stark was trying to help locate Bucky and he didn't even consider them to be that close. Steve almost didn't know if he wanted him to help considering what happened with Tony's parents and Bucky's involvement in that. It seemed wrong but Steve didn't want to tell him. He was afraid that Stark would go looking for Bucky out of revenge rather than friendship.
"Captain Rogers." Jarvis called out. Steve was sitting in the living room, of his suite, on one of luxurious couches that Stark had placed in there. He was currently reading Brooklyn a book about an Irish immigrant moving to Brooklyn, New York during the 1950s. The book reminded him of the Brooklyn he used to know…A Brooklyn that was now long gone. Steve looked up from the book and stared at the ceiling. He needed to look somewhere because it felt weird just staring into space when he was being addressed.
"Yes, Jarvis?"
"A package has arrived for you in the lobby, sir." The British AI system told him and Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. A package? He didn't order anything. Sometimes he received fan letters or care packages from fans but that was only after Pepper looked them over, making sure that the letters or packages didn't contain any chemical powders. What was weird was that Jarvis was personally telling him that he had a package.
"A package?"
"Yes, sir. I thought the package looked much different than your usual mail so I took it upon myself to scan the contents." Steve swallowed nervously as he continued staring at the ceiling.
"Yes? And what did you find?"
"The package appears to contain a flash drive." Steve was dumbfounded. A flash drive? Honestly, Steve was a little tired of flash drives after the whole Hydra incident. "The package doesn't seem to contain any explosives or chemical powders. According to my diagnostics, it's completely safe."
"What's the return address on the package?" Steve asked.
"That is what's odd, sir. The return address is a location in the Andes mountain range in Argentina but I am unable to get any pictures of the location via satellite. I believe that exact location is Patagonia, Argentina." This was becoming all the more confusing to Steve. He shook his head before he got up from the couch, putting his book down on the coffee table.
"Never mind. I'll go retrieve the package…call the others in for a meeting." Steve told Jarvis as he began walking out of the room. "I have a feeling that this package is a whole lot bigger than just a simple flash drive. It's always is."
"So you've put together a meeting because someone sent you a flash drive?" Tony Stark questioned the captain, a smug smirk on his face. The billionaire in question was reclined in a relaxed position in his seat. The rest of the Avengers were also seated at the long table in their designated conference room that hadn't even been used yet. There was a first time for everything. "It's probably just porn. I bet that cute little nurse/spy sent you her good stuff…something to get the relationship kick started. Every relationship needs a good porno to get it started."
"I called this meeting because I believe we have a lead in the Winter Soldier case." Steve said formally but glaring at Tony as he did so. He also sent a glare towards Natasha because it didn't take genius to figure out who had told Stark that bit of gossip. "Today a package arrived in the lobby addressed to me with a return address that Jarvis has pinpointed from somewhere in the Andes mountain range, narrowed down to Patagonia, Argentina."
"Why would some mountain man from the Andes send you a flash drive?" Natasha questioned.
"That's exactly what I would like to know. There's no picture available from satellite imaging so the location is close to non-existent." Steve explained. Clint Barton spoke up next from his seat next to Natasha.
"Still…I bet Captain America has fans from all over the world." He commented and Steve nodded but not before shaking the package, causing the flash drive to fall out and land on the table with a quiet clattering noise. Steve held up the small flash drive to the light and pointed out a suspicious looking symbol on it. It was the symbol of Hydra.
"True but not all flash drives have Hydra symbols on them." He remarked before Tony snatched the flash drive away from him, analyzing the symbol.
"Hmmm…that's interesting. I can't imagine you could buy something like this from Target?" He said sarcastically and everyone just rolled their eyes at him. "Best Buy? Radio Shack? No?"
"Are we sure we want to plug that thing in?" Bruce Banner questioned with a doubtful tone. "What if it's some sort of virus? What if they're trying to hack into Stark Industries?"
"I don't think Hydra is the one that sent this." Steve told him honestly.
"That would never happen anyways." Tony added as he still analyzed the flash drive with curiosity in his eyes. "I don't care who Hydra has but they would never be able to hack into our system or upload any sort of virus. Even if they happened to have a genius that rivaled my intellect, which is impossible by the way, Jarvis would shut the program down before any damage was done."
"Then what is stopping us from facing our foes?" Thor asked, his voice loud and booming like always. "We shall plug in the tiny, odd contraption and see what this person has sent to us in the form of a message. We are prepared for anything."
It seemed like Thor's decision had resonated well with all of them although Natasha and Bruce still looked a bit concerned by what the flash drive contained. Tony reached for the USB port, much like the one in the underground Hydra facility that had housed Zola, and plugged in the flash drive without much more thought. Steve didn't know what he would see come popping up on the holographic screen when Tony plugged in the flash drive. Part of him expected to see Zola again and from Natasha's expression he could tell she was thinking the same thing. It only took a second before what looked like a file popped up on the screen. Dozens and dozens of pages flashed before their eyes, the pages filled with photos and video footage. Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he tried to decipher the pages but everything was popping up on the screen at a rapid pace.
"What is this?" Steve said, voicing his thoughts as all the Avengers watched the file pop up on the screen. They all shared similar expressions of confusion.
"It looks to be some sort of file." Natasha responded but she sounded just as confused as Steve was.
"Is it Bucky's file?" He questioned but Natasha shook her head.
"No, I gave you his file but this definitely isn't it. There's a lot more here." She stated. It was then that a familiar name flashed in front of their very eyes. It was the first time that something appeared on screen long enough for them to read.
The Viper Assassin.
"The Viper Assassin? Who's that?" Bruce asked as he stared at the screen, confusion in his eyes. Steve was left even more dumbfounded than before as he stared at the screen. He had been sure that Bucky might have sent him something to tell him where he was located but this didn't seem to have anything to do with that. He was absolutely sure Bucky sent this but why would Bucky send him a file on the Viper Assassin? Did he want him to find the Viper Assassin? Why?
"She's a ghost story." Natasha replied, filling them on the piece of information both her and Steve had left out when they enlisted in the other's help to find Bucky. The only other one who knew anything about the Viper Assassin was Clint but what he knew was only limited to what Natasha had told him. "She's just like the Winter Soldier, an assassin forced into submission by Hydra. I think she's a companion of his or something."
"So…" Tony trailed off, smirking again. "She's like the Winter Soldier's little girlfriend? Didn't think the guy had it in him." Steve glared at him, annoyed by his humor that always had to make a cameo in the worst situations.
"She's a girl, Tony."
"A girl?" Bruce asked, looking even more confused by this piece of information. Natasha sighed as she continued to explain.
"I met her five years ago just outside of Odessa, Iran while I was escorting a nuclear engineer to a safe house. The guy was a target and I guess the Winter Soldier and the Viper Assassin were ordered to assassinate him." Natasha paused as she looked at all the guys, glancing at each of their faces. "The Viper Assassin shot out all four of my tires and sent us over a cliff. I pulled both of us out and that was when I saw her there."
"I had already run out of bullets when their car drove by so I just had to hope for the best." Natasha swallowed as remembered the small girl. "She couldn't have been older than seven or eight. A child. She had the gun pointed right at me. I tried to talk her out of it… to get her to come with me and I thought she would. There was something holding her back though. She refused to leave but she still couldn't take the shot. "
"It was then that the Winter Soldier shot through me to get the nuclear engineer and he did. I was bleeding out in the desert and I thought I was going to die. I was so sure she would finish me off but she didn't." Natasha said, smiling faintly at the image of the girl helping her. "She got my panic button from my pocket and pushed it. She saved me."
"So what? She's an assassin with a heart of gold?" Tony asked, with a confused look on his face. "I don't know if it's me but I'm just not getting the moral of the story."
"My point is that she's just a child that's been brainwashed by Hydra. A casualty of a war that she has nothing to do with." Natasha stated as she sent a glare in Tony's direction. Bruce and Clint looked as though they didn't know how to feel about this while Thor just looked enraged.
"A child?!" Thor yelled furiously, throwing his fist down against the table. The table cracked underneath the force of Thor's strength, making everyone flinch from the sound. "What kind of world allows a child to kill for them?! Children are sacred, innocent gifts that are bestowed upon us from Valhalla! They are not meant to be corrupted by acts that are so evil and heinous."
"It's not uncommon, Thor. Child soldiers, I mean." Clint told the angered God of Thunder. "It still happens today although it's more common in countries like Columbia, Afghanistan, and Syria. Trust me…it's not exactly a well-liked practice."
"So why is the Winter Soldier supposedly showing us a file on the Viper Assassin?" Bruce asked as all the Avengers returned their attention back to the file on the screen. It was a question that was going through everyone's minds as they started going to work, flipping through the various pages and photos on screen.
There was a video clip that showed a small blonde girl watching every fight move that an older, taller looking man was showing her. It was the Winter Soldier. She watched the Winter Soldier closely as he showed her the different moves and techniques before he finished, gesturing for her to copy him. The girl seemed all too eager to do as he requested as she mimicked all the moves he made with nothing short of perfection. The video clip then switched to another one where it showed the very same blonde girl being questioned by an older Russian man. Steve narrowed his blue eyes as he looked at the face of the small girl. He hadn't been able to see her face in the last video. Just the back of her head. Why did she look so familiar? He knew that this was the Viper Assassin but something about her face told Steve that he knew her from somewhere else.
"Na kakom kontinente nakhoditsya strana Sokovia?" (What continent contains the country Sokovia?) The Russian man asked her in fluent Russian.
"What's he saying, Romanoff?" Steve questioned. He was fluent in French and German but Russian was beyond his understanding.
"He's asking her which continent Sokovia is located in." Natasha translated, her tone full of fascination. Tony snorted.
"What? They don't have internet or books in Russia? Can't he look it up himself?" He asked sarcastically and Natasha only rolled her eyes at him.
"I think he's teaching her." She replied shortly before they continued to listen in on the video clip.
"Sokovia nakhoditsya v Europe, Ser. Vostochnyy sektor." (Sokovia is located in Europe, Sir. The Eastern Sector.) The small girl replied, her voice soft and delicate sounding which made her sound very much like the little girl she was.
"She told him that it was located in Eastern Europe." Natasha translated again.
"Is she Russian then?" Bruce inquired but Natasha shook her head.
"I don't think so, Bruce. Her English was perfect when I met her. She might be Russian but she would have to be some sort of genius to speak English that fluently and at that age." Natasha remarked as she stared at the image of the small girl, undergoing geographical lessons. "Her Russian doesn't sound perfect. There's something off about it…it's her accent I think. I doubt that she's really Russian. She's more than likely American."
The group moved onto another video clip but this one was much darker than the other ones. This one showed some sort of laboratory that contained various medical and scientific equipment. This piqued the interest of both Bruce and Tony as they paid more attention to the video clip. A large glass tank sat in the middle of the laboratory as it was filled with water. Steve clenched his jaw in anger when he saw two familiar faces standing with the other scientists as they observed the tank. Pierce and Rumlow.
Pierce had thankfully been killed by Fury but Rumlow had managed to survive and was sent to a hospital which he also managed to escape from. That was only a week ago and Fury had contacts searching everywhere for the missing Hydra agent but the man was gone without a trace. Steve looked at the clip more closely, his eyes widening when he noticed that someone was inside the tank. It was her. The little blonde girl that looked eerily familiar to him. The Viper Assassin.
She was underwater and seemingly held down by constraints made by the very same plastic tubing that also seemed to be attached her skin. She struggled under the constraints desperately but the tubing automatically held her down. Steve watched in horror as a blue liquid starting moving through the tubing before entering her body. Nothing could be heard since the girl was underwater but the pain must've been immense. Bubbles escaped the girl's mouth from under a breathing mask as she struggled furiously. The constraints tightened more around her, refusing to let her go as the blue liquid entered her body.
All the Avengers watched in terror as the poor little girl suffered through what no person let alone a child should have to suffer. Thor looked furious at the very sight as he began to clench and unclench his fists, looking like he would very much like to punch something. Bruce even felt the other guy stir inside him as he watched the girl be tortured in such an inhumane way. Natasha bit her lip, knowing that what that girl went through was far worse than she ever imagined and she regretted not dragging that girl along with her that day in the desert. Clint glared at the screen, feeling the anger boiling through his blood because even though most of the Avengers didn't know it, he was a father himself. He had a little girl of his own at home and she could've ended up just like the girl on the screen. For all of Tony's faults and uncaring attitude, even he felt anger and sadness towards the girl in the glass tank…if he had known about the girl he could've done something to rescue her years ago. Lastly, Steve felt just like he did when he found out about Bucky. He felt like it was his entire fault and he could've found a way to prevent it.
"Stop the video." Steve said quietly and Tony immediately exited out of the video clip but stayed within the file.
"Does this mean that she's like you?" Clint asked Steve after they all fell into a period of silence that felt like it had lasted for an hour rather than a few short minutes.
"I'm assuming whatever they injected into her must be some sort of super soldier serum." Bruce said as he glanced at a part of the Viper Assassin's file on screen. The doctor adjusted his glasses before he flipped through the file, looking at what looked to be a diagram of the glass tank the girl had been in. "It looks like the glass tank was hooked to this mechanical device over here." Bruce pointed to the schematics for an odd looking mechanical contraption. "This seemed to house the serum or whatever they injected into her and pumped it in through her blood stream."
"So does this make her a super soldier jr.?" Tony inquired, trying to make light of situation. The billionaire hated tense situations. It reminded him too much of the fights his father and mother used to have.
"I could only assume. The schematics of the mechanism and tanks are all that's in here. There's nothing that gives any clue as to just what it was that they injected her with."
"I do not understand this." Thor stated, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why would these people pick a child to subject their horrors onto? A full grown being would be much more susceptible to their evil crimes."
"None of this seems right." Clint said as he took into consideration what Thor had said. "Thor's right. Why would they pick a little girl out of all people? I get that Hydra's full of evil assholes but wouldn't an adult be better for their experiment? Wouldn't an adult be stronger?"
"Hydra experimented on Bucky when his unit was captured back in '43." Steve commented. "There were no records of them ever experimenting on children. The only thing I can't understand is why choose to experiment on a child now? Why not back then if they were going to do it?"
"I told you, Steve, children are innocent…people don't expect them to kill in cold blood." Natasha said but Steve didn't seem convinced.
"It can't just be that, Natasha, there's got to be more to it than that." Steve argued. "The Viper Assassin wasn't there in D.C. Why is that? If she's one of Hydra's top assassins then why wasn't she there? What happened to her?"
"Maybe she died." Tony said, stating the obvious even though he didn't like the thought. She was just a little kid after all. "Hydra might have killed her off. From what you've told me, Hydra engineered super assassins seem to be a little on the temperamental side. Maybe Hydra thought she would be more useful to them dead than alive. She's bound to be more temperamental than your old war buddy if she's just a kid… especially a teenage super assassin. Those hormones must be crazy."
"I don't think Bucky would send me her file if she was dead." Steve told them, sending a glare in Tony's direction. Tony's sarcastic tone wasn't much appreciated by the super soldier in that moment. "What would be the point? No, Bucky's trying to tell me something about her…I think he might want us to find her."
"Uh…guys?" All heads turned to Bruce. The doctor had been quiet as they all discussed what the file could possibly mean to them. He was usually quiet but this time there was something different. Bruce stared at the screen with an expression akin to complete and utter shock. Natasha feared that he might start turning green with the way he was staring at the screen.
"What is it, Banner?" Steve inquired in a serious tone that was full of authority. Bruce tore his gaze from the screen and looked directly at Steve.
"I think I know why Barnes sent you this flash drive. Just take a look." Bruce had seemingly found a page of the file that told them just who the Viper Assassin was. The picture on the screen displayed the same girl from the videos but only this time she looked much older. The girl looked to be in her early teens at the most, her face a lot thinner although she still had some of that baby fat from her youth. The girl's skin had a striking pale porcelain look to it which highlighted the purple shadows underneath her eyes, something that someone that young shouldn't have.
Her eyes were a stunning ocean blue that looked all too familiar to the Avengers. There was a cold and tired look to them, almost as though the girl had given up. Her nose was thin and upturned, reminding them of a woodland fairy, and most of her other features were delicate as well. Her lips were a naturally rosy color and were pursed into a frown as she stared into the camera. The girl's jawline also seemed familiar to the Avengers as it looked to be firmly clenched…as if she were fighting the urge to attack whoever was taking her picture. The girl's hair was an almost golden shade of blonde. It seemed to go down to the middle of her back and was completely straight without a hair out of place. The girl had a slender and tall figure, making it evident that she could've been an athlete rather than an assassin. There was something about her that infuriated Steve because he felt as though he knew her. What was it about this girl?
"Look at her bio." Bruce whispered, his voice sounding hoarse. Steve began to read the biography of the Viper Assassin, the others did the exact same, and felt his jaw drop open as he read the information.
Name: Emma Margaret Rogers
Born: January 17th, 2001
Place of Birth: Rush Springs, Oklahoma(USA)
Mother: Margot Stephanie Rogers (Nee Pierce)
Father: Steven Grant Rogers Jr.
Biography: The Asset, formerly known as the Project, was taken from her home in the U.S. following the elimination of her parents and placed at the Hydra base in Siberia, Russia where she was raised. The Asset is the only child of Agent Steven Grant Rogers Jr., a retired agent of Shield and former deputy director. She is the last of the Rogers bloodline, inheriting Erskine's original formula from her grandfather Steven Grant Rogers, also known as the war hero Captain America.
The formula did not appear to be potent in her blood work but after injecting her with a new serum, we've found that her body has been much more accepting of the serum than past subjects. The serum has proven to be successful as it has enhanced the Asset in more ways than we thought possible. Her agility, strength, speed, and healing factor has seemingly rivaled that of her close companion The Winter Soldier. We believe, when she's reached maturity, she will be stronger than both the Winter Soldier and Captain America put together. Hydra's perfect creation. As the Viper Assassin she has successfully completed twenty four missions and twenty six assassinations. A true success after the incident in 2009 outside of Odessa, Iran. The Viper Assassin is Hydra's most powerful weapon and with the return of Captain America she will be our main defense against him and his team of misfits.
Abilities: Enhanced strength, enhanced speed, enhanced reflexes, enhanced agility, enhanced healing factor, enhanced intelligence, enhanced hearing, enhanced sense of smell, enhanced vision, enhanced survival instinct, and flight.
Report edited by: Agent Wolfgang von Strucker (Febuary 22nd, 2014)
Steve Rogers stared in shock at the face of the Viper Assassin. No, as the face of Emma Rogers stared back at him. He fell back into his seat from the shock of it all, his heart beat elevated as he tried to make sense of what he had just read. The other Avengers all had similar expressions of shock on their faces as they reread the file over and over again, not believing it the first time. While they all looked shocked at this new development of information none of them looked quite as confused, sad, and angry as Steve was...except for maybe Tony and Clint.
"Captain Rogers, I've detected an increase in your heart rate. Do you wish for medical assistance?" Jarvis asked as Steve struggled to maintain his composure. He didn't know if he wanted to cry or yell out in anger. Steve gritted his teeth as he looked scathingly towards the ceiling.
"I'm fine, Jarvis." He managed to say before staring back at the picture of Emma Rogers. "How is this possible? How is she not dead? Fury told me that they had all died in a house fire back in 2005." Steve asked, whilst taking deep breaths and trying to calm himself down. It was the first time any of the Avengers had ever appeared frightened of him. The look of pure rage was so shocking that not even Tony made a smart ass comment.
"Steve, you remember what Zola showed us…" Natasha told him in a calm tone. "They didn't die from a house fire. Hydra had them killed. We should've known that she wasn't dead when Zola didn't show us a picture of her."
"Is that why they're dead?" Steve questioned, trying to get a grasp on this new predicament. "They wanted her so they killed her parents and took her from her home. They placed her in some Hydra base and trained her to be an assassin…trained her to be a killer. God, twenty six assassinations? She's only thirteen for Christ's sake!"
"Why wasn't all this revealed when Shield fell? A lot of Hydra files were leaked, weren't they?" Tony questioned, steering the conversation from Cap's granddaughter. It didn't seem wise to let Steve's thoughts linger on his assassin granddaughter…no matter how shocked that even Tony found it that Emma Rogers was still alive. Someone he had thought was long dead.
"Most of the Hydra files were leaked but that's only the ones we were able to find." Clint replied, answering Tony's question. He was still reeling from this new information. Unsure of how to feel about Margot's daughter still being alive. Relief and shock seemed to be the two emotions he was feeling above all the others. "Hydra probably has a lot of files and projects that are buried deep. There's still a shit ton of stuff out there that we probably don't know about."
"This is what Barnes wanted, Steve." Natasha said, bringing the conversation back to the Viper Assassin. She stared directly at Steve as he looked up and met her gaze. "He sent you the flash drive because he wanted you to know that she's out there and she's alive. He wants you to find her…to help her."
"This is all my fault." Steve said as he looked down at the table, his gaze focused on the color scheme of the conference table. "I should've been there to protect them but I wasn't. I was stuck in the ice for all that time. Do you know what it's like? Waking up from decades upon decades of sleep only to find out that everyone you knew and loved were dead or that they moved on with their lives." He looked back up at his team mates as he spoke the next words. "It only felt like a night's worth of sleep."
"How about waking up and finding out that you finally had the American dream." Steve continued and all the Avengers looked at him with sympathetic expressions on their faces…even Tony. "A beautiful girl, one that you would've married the second the war ended, and a strong, healthy boy. He would grow up and marry a beautiful girl just like the one you married. They'd get a nice house, somewhere quiet, and have a little girl of their own. Then you wake up from that dream and realize that it was all real except that you weren't in it and your entire family was murdered…and that cute little girl was taken and made into a weapon because you weren't there to protect her. I couldn't even protect my own son."
"This isn't your fault, Steve." Natasha argued, causing Steve to glare at her. His blue eyes were brimmed with unshed tears, his face contorted in anger.
"Isn't it, Romanoff? I wasn't there to protect any of them not to mention the only reason they took her was because of my blood that runs through her veins. The serum, that I volunteered to be injected with, runs through her veins." Steve spat. The others were shocked, they had never seen the Captain in such a state before. Steve was normally the nicest, most understanding man around…a true gentlemen. It wasn't like any of them could necessarily blame him for how he was acting now. He had just found that his granddaughter was still alive and forced to be an assassin for Hydra. An organization that Steve thought he had sacrificed his life to end.
"Yes, you weren't there but it was only because you were frozen in ice. There is no scenario where you could have been there in any capacity." Tony stated, his tone more serious than it had ever sounded in the past. The other Avengers glanced between the two as they glared at each other. It was no secret that Steve and Tony barely got along. They butted heads all the time but they were still friends in a way. "When you let my dad and Erskine experiment on you with the serum there is no way that you could've foreseen the future. I don't believe that clairvoyance is an ability that comes with the super soldier serum. If it is then my father and Erskine were even bigger geniuses than we thought."
The two Avengers stared each other down, both of their glares unwavering. Bruce smirked at the two because it sounded like Tony really cared and he spent enough time with the billionaire to be able to read between the lines of Tony's sarcasm. Natasha and Clint eyed the two with caution as they prepared to stop the conflict if the need arose…if the two reached over the table and started choking each other to death. Thor didn't look the least bit bothered by the situation but instead had a rather serious, thoughtful look on his face as he looked at his teammates.
"This child is the Captain's relation…is she not?" Thor asked, his voice breaking the tension filled silence.
"Yes, she's Steve's granddaughter, Thor." Bruce told him when no one replied. Thor, however, completely ignored the one he knew as Banner, the other half of the fearsome beast known as the Hulk, and kept his gaze on Steve.
"Captain?" Thor asked, making it known that he insisted on Steve being the one to answer the question.
"Yes, Thor, she's my granddaughter." Steve glanced down at his hands as he thought about Emma, wondering what she was doing right at that moment. It chilled him right to the bone as he wondered whether or not she was being tortured by Hydra or sent out on another mission to assassinate some politician. "She's all I have left."
"We must rescue Lady Emma since she is the last remaining family member of the Captain. Family is of the most importance on Asgard." Thor declared both happily and fiercely at the same time before he reached out his hand, silently calling out for Mjolnir to return to him. The hammer flew through the air and Thor caught it easily in his hand.
"It's not that simple, Thor. For instance…we have no idea where she might be." Clint told him as he quickly flipped through the file on the screen again. "There's nothing here that indicates where she's located. I guess Barnes forgot to send us that part."
"Not necessarily." Natasha added as she glanced from Clint to the orange Manila folder carelessly strewn across the table. She picked up the folder and analyzed the return address. "Why would the world's greatest hide and seek player leave a return address if he's the kind of guy that doesn't want to be found?" Steve looked at the folder that the flash drive had been in. He gestured for Natasha to hand it over to him and she did as he requested.
"I thought that this was where he might be…that he might want to be found." Steve trailed off as he stared at the return address. "I think you're right, Natasha, if he wanted to be found then he would be here already. He left this return address because he wants us to find Emma and he knows exactly where she is."
"And where's that again?" Tony asked. His decision was already made whether or not he would help in this mission but he wanted to know the exact coordinates so that he could prepare to kick some Hydra ass and rescue Cap's kid in the process.
"Patagonia, Argentina…somewhere located in the Andes mountain range. It's not really that specific." Natasha answered.
"That's a very general location. Are we absolutely sure there's satellite imaging of this location?" Tony inquired but Steve shook his head.
"No, Jarvis said that there's nothing that looks like a base located anywhere within the Andes…especially in Patagonia." Steve said, stumped as to where this mysterious Hydra base could be.
"Didn't you guys say that you found that Hydra computer room, with the creepy dead scientist guy, in that old Shield facility in New Jersey? Maybe Hydra did the same thing…I can't imagine that they would have a base out in the open." Clint questioned as the thought came to mind. Everyone turned their heads to look at the archer. Natasha frowned as she considered his question and it was a good point but she still didn't think it had any relevance to the Hydra base in Argentina.
"Yes, but Clint…that old Shield facility stuck out like a sore thumb. There's nothing like that in the Andes." She told him but Clint didn't look convinced.
"In the 1970s Shield put out a bunch of stations within mountain ranges like the Himalayas, Appalachian Mountains, the Rocky Mountains…the Andes." Clint told them which drew everyone's curiosity. "They were small scientific stations which housed maybe one or two scientists at a time. The stations were definitely not big enough to be called a facility or a base…more like shacks really." Bruce threw Clint a bewildered look as he thought about what Clint had suggested.
"Wait…are you saying that Hydra might have built an underground base beneath a science shack?" Bruce asked incredulously and Clint only shrugged.
"It would be a smart move…the base would be undetectable and under radar because who really cares about a tiny, old science station in the Andes?" Clint said and the Avengers had to admit that he had a really good point. Tony glanced away from Clint with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Jarvis, search for any Shield science stations in the Andes. Narrow the location down to Patagonia, Argentina." Tony told the AI system. There was a brief moment of silence as the Avengers waited for Jarvis's response. There was a lot on the line now…this would dictate whether or not they could rescue Cap's long lost granddaughter. Steve looked impatiently eager as he longed to hear for some good news for once.
"Sir, it would appear that there is one Shield science station located in Patagonia, Argentina within the Andes mountain range." Jarvis told them and they nearly all sighed in relief. "The station was abandoned in 1991 due to unknown reasons." Tony raised a brow at that.
"Unknown?" Tony inquired.
"The information regarding the abandonment of the station has since been redacted." Tony frowned at the AI system's shady answer.
"Yeah, well, I think we can all guess why it was redacted." Tony commented as he looked at the other Avengers who all had thoughtful looks on their faces. It was obvious they were all planning out their next moves.
"Jarvis, send the coordinates to the Quinjet's navigation system." He told Jarvis quietly.
"Of course, Sir." Jarvis answered. The Avengers then took turns glancing at one and other. They were successful in retrieving the location of the mysterious Hydra base which really was where Barnes said it was. What was curious to them was why he was so hell bent on making sure that they rescued Emma Rogers. It only made them wonder about the closeness of the relationship between Steve's best friend and granddaughter. It was quite possible that the Winter Soldier hadn't been as emotionless as everyone thought.
"Then it is decided!" Thor announced jovially. "We must storm the mountain kingdom of Argentina and rescue the heir to the Captain's bloodline. This sounds like a most honorable quest."
"Yeah, I'm with tall and mighty over here." Tony stated, a grin forming on his face. "Let's go kick some Hydra ass and rescue Mini Cap." Everyone seemed to be in agreement with Tony and Thor except for Steve who looked saddened by the whole prospect.
"I can't ask you guys to do this. This is my mission and my mission alone." He said with a melancholy tone. All the rest of the Avengers looked at him in disbelief but Natasha understood him. Steve was so selfless that he didn't want any of them to risk their lives for what he deemed as his mess.
"Steve, you're kidding, right?" Natasha said. "We're a team, aren't we? This girl's the only family you have left and we can't just leave you to go to that Hydra base on your own. Besides…she saved my life. I owe her a great debt." She paused as she thought about the small girl who had turned out to be Steve's family. "I told her that she could come with me and my mistake was letting her go. This is me making up for that."
"We're with you, Steve." Clint told him with a determined look on his face before Steve looked at Bruce who looked slightly nervous but just as determined as Clint.
"She's just a kid…no one deserves what Hydra's done to her. She's already been there way too long." Bruce said and Steve finally met the gaze of Tony whose expression was soft for once without any trace of humor or sarcasm.
"Face it, Cap, we're all in this together." The billionaire told his friend. "Besides…this is like killing three birds with one stone. We get to rid the world of more Hydra ass clowns, rescue Hit Girl like a princess locked in a tower, and look for that nifty little glowy stick of Loki's." Tony glanced at Thor for confirmation. "Isn't that right, big guy?"
"That is correct, Man of Iron. Loki's scepter has mysteriously vanished and the universe could be in grave danger if it falls into the wrong hands." Thor confirmed and Tony nodded slowly.
"Right…what he said." Tony quipped before he glanced back at Steve. "See…it's not all about you and your long lost granddaughter so none of that guilt trip bullshit. We're going to be there on official boy band business whether Mini Cap's there or not." Natasha gave Stark a death glare which caused the billionaire to gulp.
"Right, right…boy band plus one super awesome cool chick on the guitar that totally makes the rest of us doomed without her." Tony locked eyes with Steve, giving the Captain a sincere look.
"Come on, Cap, let's go get her." Steve's answer was a quick nod which caused the rest of the Avengers to smile in relief. Steve then took back control of the meeting, beginning to make plans so that they could rescue Emma Rogers…his family. It was something that Steve thought he would never have again yet in the matter of an hour, he managed to have a chance to get back the part of his life that he thought he'd lost when he crashed into the ocean. Steve was adamant that he wasn't going to fail Emma like he had failed her parents, her grandmother, and Bucky. No, Emma was going to have a life away from Hydra and away from all the bloodshed and war even if that meant that he had to die in the process.
She was going to have a life…that much he knew.