They could all feel the cold air before they even landed, knowing that soon enough they wouldn't be worried about the cool breeze that would blow against them. They would be running in a moment, fighting against the organisation they had spent so long taking down. This would be the biggest one yet, and the most important.
"Landing in two minutes," Clint called from the pilot's seat.
Tony was suited up in his armour, all but his helmet, as he looked over at Riley standing by the exit ramp. They were landing just outside Novi Grad, just before all of Strucker's defence units. The satellite had picked up movements in the woods they would be travelling through, and they all knew that getting through the waves of Hydra guards would be difficult. But not if they were all together, working as a team, just like they had been.
Except Riley would be on her own.
Steve watched as the girl reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a half-empty pack of cigarettes and slipping one between her lips. He could see her hands shaking, her feet tapping, her whole body trembling with fear and anticipation.
"Hey, you can't smoke in here," Steve called out, folding his arms as he leaned back onto his motorcycle.
Riley rolled her eyes and pulled out her lighter, ignoring the man's warning.
"Give me a break, it might be the last one I get," she countered. "Want one? Looks like you could use one, might take your edge off."
"I'm not the one on edge," Steve retorted.
Riley just stared back at him as she puffed out the grey smoke, knowing she was getting under Steve's skin. Tony watched on with a small smirk, pushing away the temptation to laugh as he wandered over.
"Do you have a game plan here?" Tony asked.
"I'm getting my friend out, that's my plan." Riley shrugged, taking another drag of the cigarette.
"Right, but how are you actually going to get in the place? We've already picked up an army waiting for us out there," he explained.
"They're waiting for all of you, not me."
Tony felt anger rising inside him, defensive of his team.
"So we'll take all the fire and you'll just go on ahead, is that it?"
"I did tell you I wasn't here to join the team," Riley reminded. "And you did say you all work better with just the six of you."
"It'd be a lot easier for you too if you worked with us to push security back," Tony continued. "We've all got the same goal here."
"No we don't," Riley argued.
Tony fell silent in anger as he watched the girl continue to stare out the small glass panel, noticing they were nearing the ground faster than she thought. It wouldn't be long now until her boots were crunching on snow, stepping out in the battlefield. HYDRA's defence units were going to be everywhere, and she couldn't deny that Tony was right. It would make it much easier to push through the security if they all stuck together. Once they were inside, she would break away just as planned.
Last minute decisions never really panned out well for Riley, but she hoped this one would be different.
"I'll push them back as far as I can until I get a clear way in," Riley told him. "Deal?"
Tony had a small grin pulling at his lips, turning to look over to Steve who looked less than amused about the idea. They could use the help, he wasn't denying that, but he still didn't trust Riley.
"Deal," Tony nodded, the helmet of the suit beginning to assemble around his head.
Steve was sitting on his motorcycle as they landed, the exit ramp opening as he sped off. Clint and Natasha grabbed the last of the gear they needed, beginning to run out behind the Captain, Thor beginning to swing his hammer and speed off as well. Then Tony was stepping out too, flying up into the air to immediately start scouring for threats.
Riley looked back at Bruce who didn't seem like he would be following, still sitting in the seat by the pilot bay and looking over their satellite feed.
Then it was time to go.
Riley marched out of the jet, feeling the light burn in her eyes as they turned to glowing orange. Her adrenaline was rushing, and all that was on her mind now was getting inside the HYDRA base. She could see Natasha and Clint running off to the side, their weapons drawn as gunfire sounded in the distance. Riley began running too, readying herself.
Holding her arm out in front, Riley sent a powerful blast toward a small bunker just behind a cluster of trees. She could see their machine guns poking out around it, and before they could fire toward the two agents and Riley, she crushed it to pieces. Stopping her pace, she reached down to put both hands against the snowy ground before she felt the powerful blast coming out of her hands, shooting her up into the sky and giving her a birds-eye view of the path they would be taking.
Riley could see where Steve was heading, speeding away on his motorcycle, and she could also see the crowd of HYDRA agents waiting at the other end of the trees. He would be able to handle them, even if they did manage to get a shot at him. This was his job, and protecting them was not what Riley had agreed to. This was their job, and no matter how many times she reminded herself of that, she couldn't help the feeling her in chest that made her want to take them out before they got their chance.
As she began to fall through the air, she aimed herself toward the road just up from Steve. When she landed, the ground shook beneath her. She looked up to see Steve riding directly toward her, a look of fear in his eyes. Riley knew Steve didn't trust her, and she knew he was probably thinking she was here right now to attack him instead of HYDRA. But she just turned where she was, pushing both her arms out and blasting a clear path through the woods for Steve to ride.
As the trees blew back and snapped in half from her force, the agents on the other side were knocked down and buried by the heavy wave she had sent toward them. A moment later, Steve rode past with a nod of appreciation. Then Riley was back up into the air, looking around for the easiest way toward the base. She could see Tony flying ahead of her, heading toward building. A flash of green behind her made her turn, seeing the Hulk smashing his way through the woods and into the fight.
Soaring back to the ground beneath her, Riley looked up to see another bunker buried beneath the white snow, agents spilling out with their weapons, ready to fight. She could see Clint off to the side shooting arrows, watching a few fall to the ground after being hit. Natasha was fighting three of the agents on her own, and Riley hurried into the middle of the clearing.
Two men came at her, and without a thought Riley snapped their arms with an effortless wave of her hands. With so many around, there was no point combatting them all individually. So instead she hunched herself down, took a deep breath and shot out blasts from both hands, spinning to make sure the entire fleet of agents felt the force. When she stood up, the woods looked almost flattened by the waves she had sent out. Natasha looked over, throwing the unconscious agent off her body before continuing on.
Riley began running once again, picking up speed before launching herself back into the air to gain some distance. Tony was right beside the building now, and just as he began lowering his flight to enter, he was shot backwards by a forcefield surrounding the base. A feature that was not present back when Riley had escaped.
Landing once again just by the base perimeter, Riley waved her hand up to rid the agent that began to surround her. She looked down at the blurry force around the building, watching as it brightened with each step she took. This wasn't just a forcefield to stop people getting in, it was stopping people. getting out.
"A head's up would've been nice," Tony panted as he flew by, landing by her side. "Any idea how to get through this thing?"
"It wasn't here before," she told him, looking away from the forcefield.
Then Tony was gone once again, blasting rays toward the forcefield to weaken it. Riley stayed where she was, waiting to gain entrance to the base. Her heart was beating out of control now, her adrenaline spiking. The ground beneath her was shaking with the power she was holding in, and before she could let it all out, she felt something fly right by her.
It was a flash, barely noticeable. But it was there. She turned to see Steve in the distance, knocking down by the same flash she had just witnessed.
"We have an enhanced in the field!" he called out.
"Clint's hit!" Natasha called back.
But all that Riley's eyes were chasing right now was the flash, the blurring person that kept running by everyone.
It was like she was frozen as she watched the blur, her mind running wild. It couldn't have been who she thought. It couldn't have been. They were barely alive when she left, she was sure they would die days later. They couldn't have survived.
"Pietro!" she called out, eyes scanning the woods.
A moment later, she was whisked off her feet and taken into the woods, among the broken and flattened trees she had left in her wake.
The boy was staring right back at her, his eyes wide, his chest heaving. He was alive. Right in front of her.
"Y-you're alive?" Riley whispered, unable to believe her eyes. "W-what about Wanda?"
Pietro nodded, a small smile on his lips.
"She's okay," he assured. "We thought you died."
"I thought you died," she sighed, a relieved grin on her lips. "I thought you all died."
There was a beat of silence between the two before Riley stepped forward, throwing her arms around him. Pietro hugged her back immediately, lifting her off her feet. There were more survivors.
When Riley made it to the second stage of the experimentation, she was moved to a holding cell right next to Pietro and Wanda. The only other two who reached the same stage. For weeks, it was just the three of them down in the basement of the labs. Their powers growing, shifting, taking control of their bodies.
"You are with these...Avengers?" Pietro asked once he sat her back down.
"No," Riley shook her head. "I caught a ride."
"You caught a ride?" he asked, amused. "Where did you go?"
Riley's smile slowly faded.
"Away from here," she sighed. "You know I didn't want this."
"They trained us, showed us how to control it," he explained. "They helped us-"
"I don't care about controlling it," Riley snapped. "I didn't want it in the first place. And I would've rather died than be trained by these assholes."
Pietro's jaw clenched at her words. Maybe Riley didn't agree to these experiments, but Pietro and his sister did. They had their reasons for wanting power, for wanting to be able to fight back against the people who had caused their. country and their family so much pain. The people who Riley had shown up alongside.
"Why did you come back?" he asked.
"I came for Claire," Riley told him, looking back to the building. "Is she...is she still in there?"
"We haven't seen any others," he told her. "You were the last."
Riley could feel her stomach churning, but she knew she couldn't take that as an answer. She knew that HYDRA's labs were deeper than they appeared, and if her friend was in there, there was not a chance of Riley leaving her.
"You're not coming back to fight with us?" Pietro asked.
"No," she told him firmly.
"But you will fight with them?"
"I'm finding Claire and getting as far away from this shit show as I can," she told him.
She stared back at the building, noticing the forcefield was down and the team was all but gone from her sight. She looked back at Pietro, leaning down to shoot herself up into the air and aim toward the entrance. She could see Pietro's body following, ahead of her now in a flash.
Once her feet hit the ground, Riley was running through the doors. Just seeing the dark halls of the lab was enough to make her body tremble with fear and anxiety, but it was nothing compared to the feeling she had when she stepped into the stairwell where Strucker's unconscious body lay.
Steve was lying not to far away, picking himself up as if he had been knocked down.
"There's another enhanced in here," he told her. "Two, actually."
Riley couldn't hear his words, instead she was staring down at Strucker. Her eyes were glowing and her body was trembling, her hands forming fists at just the sight of the man. This was no hologram or picture. Strucker was right there in front of her, alive.
"Hey," Steve called out cautiously. "It's okay, he's not going anywhere."
Riley squeezed her eyes shut, turning away from the man. Steve stayed silent as he watched on, waiting for her to calm down. But Riley didn't stay once she caught her breath, instead she took off toward the labs. She could remember being escorted around the halls everyday, feeling weak and barely able to stand, and she remembered every turn she needed to take.
"Claire?" she called out, reaching the ward her friend was last in. "Claire!"
But there was no one in sight. In fact, the labs looked like no one had been in them for months. The beds were empty, unmade, and rats crawled around the floor as if they were the only ones who had been living down here for a long time.
She continued on, clearing holes in walls and blasting her way through doors. Whatever room she could have been in, Riley was going to search. But they were all empty, one after the other, completely abandoned. Every door she went through, each floor she climbed down, nothing.
Riley knew finding Claire was a long shot, it was like she didn't even survive the first stage, but she still felt like her chest was about to burst. She was full of pure anger and grief, and that tiny bit of hope she had for her friend was finally gone. She could remember first getting off the plane with Claire, no plans and very little money, and she felt like the whole world could be hers in any way she wanted.
They were on their semester break, they were going to go back and finish their degree and look back on their wild Europe trip together, and yet they never even made it back to the airport. They were only twenty one, and now Riley felt like she had the burden and stress of an eighty year old. But at least she was still alive, and she couldn't even be happy or thankful for that.
Steve had followed Riley after she disappeared, listening to walls being broken down further and further into the lab. She knew this facility more than any of them, and if she was heading somewhere deep into the labs, he wanted to know what was there. Tony had his hands on the Scepter and they would be evacuating any minute now, but his curiosity and distrust got the better of him.
But instead of discovering more weapons or Chitauri wreckage, all Steve found was Riley crouched down on the cold floor. Her face was in her palms, her body trembling. He watched her sadly, knowing that she hadn't found her friend. He couldn't help thinking back to when he went into a HYDRA facility searching for Bucky, and how he dreaded the idea of not finding him in there. Now Riley lived that fear.
"Is there some sort of rule where you assholes can't leave me alone?" Riley groaned.
Steve's jaw clenched in annoyance.
"I'm sorry about your friend," he began. "We're getting intel on all of this lab's experiments sent back to our facility. Maybe we can find what happened to her."
"It's obvious what happened to her," Riley muttered, standing. "She's dead. Buried out in the woods somewhere, probably."
"Maybe not," Steve offered. "There's a chance-"
"There's no chance. If she made it through, she would have been sent out to kick your asses like the others were," she snapped.
"Or maybe she escaped, just like you did," he argued.
Riley stared back at him, shaking her head. There was no way Claire had escaped, she was sure Strucker would have put in place extra security on the labs after Riley got away. But there was something enticing about knowing exactly what happened in the experiments, knowing what actually happened to her friend. And to everyone else, including herself.
"You have information on all the experiments?" she asked after a few moments of tense silence.
"We'll have it all once we're back," he explained with a nod. "And everything else Stucker's using the Scepter for,"
Riley thought for a moment.
"Well, me coming back was never part of the deal," she reminded, folding her arms.
Steve let out a small sigh, hands on his hips.
"It wasn't part of the deal for you to have our backs out there either," he shrugged. "But you did."
"It was more about saving time, otherwise we'd still be out there," she quipped.
"Whatever you want to call it, you helped us out. The least we could do is bring you with us and give you that information," Steve suggested. "If that's what you want. But I really wouldn't recommend staying here."
"Steve! We've gotta get out of here!" Natasha called over the comms.
Looking over to Riley, Steve waited for her answer. But Riley didn't want to say it aloud. She didn't want to accept any help from them, but she didn't exactly have a life waiting for her at home, if she even still had one. The security footage from the bar would have been enough to have her evicted from her crappy basement apartment, and she doubted she would be able to walk down that street without people know what she had done.
Riley stepped forward, gesturing for Steve to lead the way up the stairs. This would be the last time she dealt with these people. Whatever came from what happened here today, they would be on their own. This wasn't her problem, it couldn't be.
As they both climbed the stairs and wound around the corners, following back through the destruction Riley had created, she could feel eyes on them.
Wanda and Pietro lurked carefully around a corner, watching as Riley walked out of the HYDRA base with Captain America. Pietro could feel his body shaking with the urge to run and grab her, to show her these people were the enemy, but he stayed put. Wanda watched on with red, angry eyes, feeling nothing but betrayal.
Surviving the experiments may not have made them friends, but it did create a bond. The three of them were confined together for months, going through pain after pain in each other's presence. All for the purpose of fighting against those who wanted to harm them and their people. Fighting against the people Riley has shown her allegiance to.
"You let them take the Scepter, and now you let them take her," Pietro whispered angrily to his sister.
"She has made her choice," Wanda shook her head.
"We can bring her back,"
"No," the twin argued. "Let her go."
Thanks for the kind words for my story guys, and thanks so much for reading. Please do leave a review/comment for me, I would love to hear any thoughts. x