Unknown Hydra Base
Winter - 2017
"Everything finally about set?" Henry Bradshaw asked him after the weekly meeting once the two of them were alone.
"Yes," Marcus answered, happier than he had been for the past three years. "I finally received word from the construction crew that the escape tube and hatch are finally in place. The explosive charges have also been set inside the hanger area and around the perimeter of the upper mountain. Once they go off, anyone on the landing pad and in the hanger will be crushed by the mountain coming down on them."
"Why not set more further inside of the base?" he asked.
"There is no telling when they might infiltrate, meaning there is no way to know where I'll be," Marcus pointed out, miffed that Henry hadn't taken that into account.
Or maybe he had.
"Very well," he said organizing the file in front of him. "How soon until you release the information for them to find?"
"Only a matter of days, maybe a week at most," he answered. "That will give me plenty of time to get the secondary expendable work crew together and have them reassigned to the base."
"You're costing me a couple of men with this stunt," Henry stated.
"I'm choosing from the less-than-mediocre remaining crop," he almost grinned. "Numerous reprimands on their records, failed missions, bypassed for promotion for too long. They'll see this transfer as a punishment, which it is. If anything, by the end of this mission, I'll have helped raise the standard of Hydra."
"Only if you succeed," Henry pointed out while standing up. "I expect results, Marcus. Getting Teagan is primary. Falcon, secondary. Get them and get out. Even if it means that the Captain and Widow are not dead. I've already had a higher up questioning my logic for even allowing this mission to take place. But they know the benefit that will come from having Project Cherry Tree back in operation."
"Trust me," he had to actively restrain his grin, "Having Teagan back is my main objective."
Chicago Safe House
Almost Two Weeks Later
Sitting on the couch after dinner, Teagan felt a strangeness in the room, almost as if she knew that something bad was about to be discussed. But then, Natasha never really called for group meetings with good news. Steve sat in the chair while Sam was close enough so that their feet were intentionally tapping at each others in a playful way. He had cornered her in the hallway not long ago and whispered promises of muffled pleasures once the others went to sleep. She'd been riding an anticipated high since.
"I received some intel early this morning that I have spent the day trying to research more, to confirm its authenticity," Natasha told them all with a weakly veiled sad expression.
"What kind of intel did you receive?" Steve asked. "I'm going to guess by the way you are acting that it's not just more terrorist to deal with."
It seemed that he noticed the same thing about her that she had. Natasha then took a breath before telling them.
"As you know, since Teagan first joined us, I've had a couple of feelers out there through some of my old contacts looking for anything they can find on Keeling."
Well, there went that major sexual buzz that she had going.
Teagan felt Sam stiffen a bit, now knowing what the information pertained to. His grip on her hand gave a reassuring squeeze. Especially after what she had told him about her time with Keeling, he would fully grasp how shaken she was going to be by this conversation, no matter what she found out.
"And?" Sam simply asked.
"It turns out that three days ago, a communique was intercepted by one of my contacts going to an older Hydra black market material's supplier. Part of it was a requisition request for a couple of specialized pieces of medical equipment used by geneticist when it comes to examining, manipulating, and storing genetic material. I spent the day looking into what he had found. It turns out that a group of Hydra scientist are being relocated to an older deserted base to set up a medical facility to begin experimenting with the 'genetic samples' that have been stored that were taken from a 'previous project'. A couple of Hydra agents have also been reassigned to become his test subjects. The Hydra agent in charge is Marcus Keeling."
As her mind wheeled around what Natasha was saying, Teagan tried to figure out exactly what she meant. Medical equipment? Genetic samples? Previous project?
"Are you saying that Keeling is now trying to use the testing that he did on Teagan…to what? Duplicate her powers?" Sam asked moments before she could.
"That's what my preliminary research on the equipment they've requested seems to indicate," Natasha answered.
By now, the chill that she had been feeling was a full-on freeze that penetrated all the way through her.
Standing up, Teagan began to shake her hands in front of her to try and get the blood flowing in them again so that the numb feeling would go away. She could feel her chest tightening as she took heavy breaths as her eyes became scratchy as the tears started to form. She knew that anyone looking at her would find her face as red as it would ever be. Walking around the couch towards the backside, her legs felt like they were thin twigs that were about to collapse under her. It was all that she could do to not openly cry in front of the others.
The only other thing she wanted to do right now was scream.
Keeling was trying to do duplicate her powers.
She knew that all of the testing that had been done to her had been to see if Hydra could determine exactly why her powers had manifested in the first place. As far as she knew, they never did discover exactly why it had. The closest they had ever gotten was the doctor's and Keeling's theory that the truth power could be manipulated into evolving into something more. That part had actually worked. Was it even possible to duplicate her powers?
Then there was whatever the doctors had discovered with all of the actually medical testing that they did to her. Even back then she didn't understand enough about medical procedures to understand the technical jargon that they used in front of her. There had been times when they seemed pleased with a sample or some small discovery, but none of that had been in the file she'd read. The medical reports must have been kept somewhere else. But could they use whatever they had found back then to copy the ability?
Thinking of a loyal Hydra agent just walking up to anyone and commanding them to whatever they wanted filled her with a special dread. During her time with them, they luckily had not gone that far with using her. Bracing both of her hands on the back of the couch to the side of Sam, she dropped her head as images of worst possible scenarios began to fill her head.
"What is the possibility of him actually being able to accomplish anything?" Steve asked, bring her back to the now.
"Depending on what kind of genetic samples he has in his possession…" Natasha started to say before Teagan interrupted her, not able to look them in the eyes as she gave them the answers they probably didn't want to have.
"Blood samples, hair follicles, skin scrapings, fingernail clippings, bone marrow, spinal fluid, multiple organs' tissue samples, and…numerous harvested eggs."
The other three sat there in stunned silence by her admission, the last one in particular which she knew they had to know about so that they would the severity of the situation. It wasn't just using volunteers to try and change their genetic makeup. Keeling could use the current medical technology to grow his own project from the eggs stolen right out of her own body. Those agents could be volunteering for something more along the lines of being sperm donors.
"Damn it," Steve mumbled while running his hands over his bearded face.
Whatever Natasha said was in Russian where she couldn't understand, but the tone was familiar.
Sam already knew that it was a possibility from a previous discussion in bed, but she was sure he did not like having to hear it aloud, especially in this circumstance.
"Then we definitely need to do something about him before he gets his operation up and running," Steve informed them with an authoritative declaration. "There is no way that Hydra can be allowed to gain access to that type of power. They could have an unknown agent walk right up to the President and have him order a nuclear strike, if they wanted."
Teagan now ran her hand over her forehead, wiping away some of the beaded sweat that had formed as she measured what she had learned. There was no other option but going in after Keeling. He had to be stopped and all of the samples that he had taken from her needed to be destroyed.
"Where is he going to be at?" Sam asked Natasha, a distinct anger present in his voice.
"I'm still working on the base's exactly location but they wanted delivery somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. It's my guess they are going to use one of the numerous ex-military bases there left over from the cold war. Most are bunkers that were made to house either missiles or supplies, in case they were needed. But they are not impenetrable, especially since it may not have any modern type of security. It's only a matter of finding out which one Hydra has set their eyes on."
"Any idea what type of resistance we are looking at so far?" Sam seemed ready to head out now to take care of Keeling.
"Not really," Natasha told him. "They were just looking to acquire the machinery and it seems that they are just in the initial stages of setting the location up. My guess would be less than twenty Hydra agents depending on the size of the location. If it's only going to be used to house this one new project, then there's a good chance that they'll keep their numbers low."
"But we are going to go after him, right?" she finally asked, needing to hear the confirmation aloud.
That was when all three of them began to glance at each other, some silent communication passing between them that gave her a gnawing feeling in her gut.
"What?" her voice was raised more than she intended. "I deserve to know everything about this after what that bastard did to me!"
"Teagan," Sam's voice drew her eyes to his, and they were filled with sadness and worry. "Yes, we are definitely going after Keeling. But probably not with you."
The only thing she could hear after Sam spoke was the hum of the refrigerator from the other room. None of them dared to say any more after that declaration. The chill she felt earlier was back in full force. Her arms felt like they were weighted down at her sides and her knees slightly buckled. Glancing between all three of them, she could not spot a single hint of shame at trying to take this moment away from her.
"No!" she forcefully told all of them. "There is no way that I'm getting left behind alone while you go after that fuck hole! I'm going to be there so that when he's taken down, I'll be the one to cut off his clackers!"
Natasha gave a single chortle at the term, even if she didn't agree with the rest of her statement. Both Steve and Sam seemed to squirm in their seats, their legs closing just a bit more at just the thought of what she wanted to do to Keeling.
"Teagan, I'm not going to allow any part of Keeling to be removed, no matter how satisfying that it sounds considering what he's done to you," Steve then comically told her trying to calm her emotions some. "I agree that you need to know that he has finally be dealt with but getting you into such close proximity to him…that's just asking for trouble."
"This will not be like when we went after the bomb," Natasha stated. "These locations that Hydra is considering using are underground facilities. We will have to take each level one at a time, from top to bottom. They will have more time to mobilize once the alarm goes off. The lower ones will be prepared for us after only a floor or two."
"And there's a good chance that I'll not be as useful at the location either," Sam pulled her attention to him. "If they are underground, I'll either have to go in with Steve and Nat, without the use of my wings, or stay outside and hope that just the two of them can handle whatever they find."
"Until I found out which base they are at, all we are doing is speculating. No real plans can be made until them," Natasha finished.
Hearing their logical assessment of how the mission might go put a bit more perspective on it for her. She had always assumed that the base she had been housed in was underground. The trips in the elevator to the level they secured her on gave her a sense of heading downward. There was a good chance that this base too would be the same. It made sense that it was more defensible that way.
"But, we will try and hit them before they have a chance to fully set up shop," Steve informed her. "If they are still moving equipment and people in, they should hopefully not be ready for an attack of any kind."
"Can I at least go with you? Even if I have to say in the jet like last time," she offered more calmly. "That way, once everything is over that I'll be able to see for myself that Keeling is either captured or dead."
There was more glancing between the three of them as they considered.
"Let us find out what we can about the location first. Once we have some sort of plan of attack, I'll let you know," Steve responded.
Putting a slight cocky smile on her face, she said, "You know, I could just make you let me go."
"But you are not going to do that. That's not the type of person you are," Steve shot back at her with a kind smile and she knew that he was right.
"Spoilsport," she gave a sad smile to him.
With the trust they had shown her over the past year and a half, he was right that she would never do that to them.
"I'll keep everyone informed of what I'm able to find out," Natasha told the group. "But be prepared to leave out of here at a moment's notice just in case. If I find out they are in a vulnerable position, we need to get there as quickly as we can."
"Should we head that direction, somewhere closer to Colorado? That way we'd be nearby?" Sam asked.
Natasha thought for a second before answering, "I think that Clint still has a safe-house somewhere near Pueblo. I can give him a call to make sure that it's in a ready condition. Would heading there by acceptable?"
Steve took a moment to think about it before he gave her a nod of acceptance.
Teagan then turned and began to head towards the bedroom, ready to pack her bag and get out of here the moment that Natasha had any more information. She could hear the footsteps behind her and knew by the gait that it was Sam following closely.
Reaching their bedroom, he closed the door once the two of them were inside. She reached into the closet to pull out the empty backpack only to have her hand stopped mid-reach by Sam's.
"We need to talk," he simply told her.
"Do I need to guess the topic of the conversation?"
Sam pulled her over to the bed and they sat down together on it.
"How are you handling hearing about finally having a lead on Keeling?" he started off.
"Well, I'd still be dancing a jig if Natasha had found his obituary."
"I'm a bit disappointed in that one myself," he told her with a honest smile. "But now we are going to get a chance to finally make sure that he pays for holding you prisoner all of those years."
"What about the others who he worked with? Why would they be moving him from the base where I was housed to somewhere new?"
"It could have to do with the possible dangers of this work, or they are trying to more securely protect it. We don't know where his initial base of operations is located. They may not have had the room to set up this type of operation. What can you tell me about where you were kept?"
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes as she remembered that horrible place.
"My cell was at the end of a long hall. Down another hall there were a couple of other small cells for agents or whomever to be placed into while waiting for their questioning, in the interrogation room. There was the medical room where they did…well, you know. Then there was the training room where the torture was done. If I heard the agents who worked for him right, there was an office or two for them to use. And even though I never actually saw it, I'm pretty sure that Keeling had some kind of living quarters there too."
Sam's brows furrowed as he considered this.
"So, Keeling never took you to his room when he…abused you?"
"No. He made sure that I was always locked up in my cell. He would never take the chance of being overpowered by me," she shook her head as she responded.
"It doesn't sound like there was much room there for him to set up the kind of facility that they would need to duplicate your powers. That's probably why he moving to the new location."
"There was more there than just him," she told him. "When they moved me around, I could hear other agents sometimes on the elevator that took us from my level to the ground one where we would leave from."
"So there are probably numerous levels," he nodded in understanding. "Once we can get him or any of the other agents into custody, we'll be able to question them in to giving up their main base's location. That's when your powers might come in very useful. You can get all the answers we need from them to take that Hydra base down too. Depending on what size we find out it is, we'll either go after it or have the information on it passed along to someone who can handle it, like Tony and his buddies at the U.N."
"Would they go after them? They seem to have been quiet for a while now. Natasha hasn't found anything linked to them for the past two years," she pointed out. "Would they even still consider them a threat?"
"They're Hydra. Of course they will go after them."
That did make her feel much better. She had heard a lot of the story about what had created the rift between Steve and Tony. Not once had she ever heard Steve actually talk bad or seem angry at him considering what he had done to his best friend. She knew that he hoped that over time not only would the two of them reconcile, but that the team would once again reform the Avengers. So it seemed like he would have no problem allowing the others take over the problem of Hydra if it became necessary, if they were too much for them to take on themselves.
Sam talked with her for a few more minutes about how stressful she might become as they waited for the information was searching for. He also mentioned that her nightmares might come back. Since they had started sharing a bedroom, the number of nights a week that she woke up frightened had dropped considerably. She could only hope that it stayed that way. They then readied their bags, leaving out only a change of clothes in case they needed to leave in the middle of the night.
Once they crawled into bed, Teagan ended up falling asleep in Sam's protective arms, hoping to get the chance to finally make Keeling pay for what he had done to her.
"Are you sure that it's a good idea to take her with us?" Nat asked him only after they heard the bedroom door close behind Teagan and Sam.
Steve sat back on the couch as he really considered the question. He agreed with what Nat had said earlier though. Until she found out any real information, everything was just speculation.
"I think that she needs the closure that would come from seeing Keeling, and Hydra, brought down. What they put her through…she needs to know that they are gone and that she is free to live her life without having to look over her shoulder, waiting for them to go after her again."
Nat's impassive face told him nothing of her own thoughts on his comment. Was even asking the question her way of telling him that she didn't agree?
"She did come in useful when it came to the bomb," Nat then stated as she leaned back next to him, propping her bent leg up on the seat so she could turn to face him. Now he suspected that she did agree with her going.
"We wouldn't be having this talk if she hadn't been there with us," he agreed. "I still don't like the idea of her being anywhere near Keeling, but she's not really a part of the team since that's not exactly what we are anymore. She's more of a friend that is traveling with us. I don't really have the right to tell her stay at home and wait to learn what happens."
"Yes, you do," Nat told him. "No matter what you want to call us right now, we are still a team. Years ago, if we had been the ones to find Teagan being held by Hydra instead of Ross, she would have been given the option of either returning home or learning to use her powers and work with us as an Avenger. She'll never be a heavy combatant, but she would have been one of us. A simple twist of fate had her locked away for two more years instead of already having decided whether or not to join us."
Steve knew that her reasoning was sound...
"But that doesn't give me the right to demand that she stay behind, any more than it gives me the right to demand that she join us on the mission as a participant," he pointed out to her.
He watched her eyebrow raise just enough to be noticed.
"Are you now arguing against yourself?" Nat's lip slightly curled up on the end.
"I'm just keeping both options open until you manage to get us some intel that will help me decide one way or another," he pointed out.
"Well, then, I guess I had better get to work," she told him before rising to head back to her laptop that she had set up on the kitchen table.
Steve sat on the couch, debating if what he had said was actually how he felt.
Just as he was not Teagan's captor, he was not her leader either. The same could be said for his current relationship with Nat and Sam. They had decided to stay with him after everything that had happened with Tony. But he was no longer the 'boss', as Tony had liked to sometimes call him. How he wished that he could have both Bucky and Tony at his sides when going after Keeling...but that was probably never going to be possible.
If Nat managed to get the location of the new base that Keeling would be occupying, he couldn't demand that they accompany him to take it out any more than he could Teagan. The only plan that he should consider is one where he goes alone…while hoping that the others joined, as he suspected they would. But did that include Teagan?
He knew that there was a chance that having her with them could be useful, even if they didn't know what for yet. No matter how much they might have interrogated that terrorist for the disarming codes, he was the type that never would have given them up. But a simple request from Teagan had been all that was needed to pry it from his lips.
What if they ran into a similar situation at the Keeling's new base? Maybe a guard that could give information on the lower levels' security…or even a security code that would open every door for them. Or even better, one that would lock everyone away so they could call in reinforcements to deal with them. Steve thought about back during the war how useful it would have been to simply ask a Hydra guard a question and be given the answer he needed.
Giving a heavy sigh, Steve decided that the best course of action right now was to not make a decision. He would give Nat the time she needed, they would investigate the location the best that they could, and then he would once again visit this topic. Teagan deserved to know that Keeling was behind bars. Who was he to deny her that satisfaction?