Chapter 42: Victor Creed
We were sent out to target a facility just inside Germany, a small textile factory that had been converted into a weapons depot for HYDRA. It was larger than our usual fare but I was confident we could take it, especially considering that it was on a skeleton guard at the moment.
"Ready?" Bucky breathed from next to me.
"As always," I smiled. He reached over, caught my jaw, and placed a bruising kiss on my lips as Steve gave the signal.
"Up and away!" Yori laughed wildly as she scooped me up and dragged me into the air. Below, Dernier gunned the engine of our truck. The others were probably clinging on for dear life in the back as they careened towards the gates of the factory, Steve following on his motorcycle. There was a great crashing and screaming of metal as the truck tore through the gate. Tires squealed as Steve shot past them and swung the bike into a tight turn, screeching to a stop and hurling his shield at a nearby HYDRA soldier taking aim at the men piling out of the back of the truck.
"Bombs away!" Dernier shouted, and hurled a grenade at an outbuilding. Dugan pulled the pin on one of his with his teeth and chucked it and a group of soldiers lounging outside of the main building. The grenades went off, taking out both targets in a burst of fire.
"Yori, go!" I shouted as she dropped me on top of a guard post. Yori gave a menacing shriek and dove for the ground, hands glowing. She shoved her fists through the chests of two soldiers before withdrawing, pulling her katana, and taking the head off another.
"Fancy meeting you here."
I could see the adrenaline and amusement lighting Bucky's eyes as he scrambled up next to me on the guard tower, pulling the M1941 Johnson off his shoulder. He threw himself down on his stomach next to me and started firing, picking off HYDRA snipers and any soldiers that seemed like they were about to get the drop on one of ours.
I served the same function on this raid. I stood tall, firing bone bullets from my fingertips in wide swatches, covering doors and windows. The blast from Bucky's gun make my teeth rattle and my ears throb but I bore it as I saw a window break on the top level of the factory and a gun barrel poke out.
"Gotta go!" I said, and moved to the edge of the guard house roof. I fired a wave of bullets at the window to make the man hesitate in his shot before running forward and leaping off the edge of the guard house. I caught the edge of a window sill and flipped up, fighting gravity with all my might as I ran on all fours across the side of the building to the window where the gun barrel was poking out again.
I seized the weapon and wrenched it from the man's hands. He gave a surprised shout as I turned it around and fired. The bullet blew out the front of his face and the recoil knocked me off the wall. I hit the ground hard on my back, briefly winded, before I regained my breath and leaped up.
For a moment the battle froze as a shriek cut over everything. It was feminine, high-pitched and piercing, like the call of a bird of prey. I watched as Yori fell to her left, clutching her side. Behind her, Steve whipped around. His eyes widened in horror as he realized that Yori had just taken a bullet meant for him.
"Yori!" I screamed, infuriated and concerned. I found the shooter and fired a full-length knife from my palm. It pierced him through the throat, the tip burying in the wall on his other side and holding him up grotesquely as he gurgled his way into death.
The bullets were starting to slack off as the HYDRA soldiers were drawn out and we took them down. Steve had Yori in his arms, his shield raised to protect her. It would have been a touching scene if I couldn't hear Yori screaming at him to quit being an idiot and fight, she'd be fine.
"You okay?" I demanded as I tore over to them, skidding to a stop. A bullet hit the ground not far from my foot. I glared around and pulled my sidearm, shooting the HYDRA soldier in the forehead without flinching.
"Damn it!" Steve shouted as more bullets rattled off his shield, quickly shifted to cover Yori's head.
She was thrashing and hissing and cursing in his arms. "Get off of me!" she shrieked. "I'm fine, baka!"
"You're been shot!" Steve disagreed.
"This is hardly the first time," she said, and aimed her tail for his eyes ruthlessly. Steve had no choice but to jerk back and Yori pulled herself away from him, hissing and cursing as she looked around at the final few soldiers attempting to surround us.
"Everybody drop!" Yori yelled over the gunfire, her hand glowing brilliantly. My eyes widened and I dove on Steve, knocking him flat on the ground and rolling off to press flat on my stomach. A whip the radius of the field around us uncoiled from Yori's fingertips. She went up on the toes of one foot and raised her hand. She kicked off and began to spin, lines of green crackling light tearing through the air around her. The whip cut through the remaining soldiers, shredding them with every revolution. When the only sound was the faint hum and crack of Yori's whip she stopped and sagged, panting and pressing her hand over the bullet wound.
"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Dugan protested, appearing from behind a barrel that had been sheared in half.
"Merde," Dernier whistled, staring around at the smoking lines etched into the stone of the building.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Bucky said, leaping off the building and landing in a crouch. He straightened up and tossed his rifle over his shoulder again.
"Never get on my bad side," Yori grit out, still holding her side. She turned towards the main building. "Let's go."
"Hold on!" Steve said, darting forward and catching her shoulder on her uninjured side. "You're hurt; you're going to wait for us in the truck and take care of that wound."
"The hell I am!" Yori protested hotly.
"I'm not going to let anything else happen to you, especially seeing as you took that bullet for me!" Steve argued, staring down at her. Yori glared back up but I saw her redden a few shades as she realized Steve had noticed that she'd jumped in the bullet's path for him.
"You think too much of yourself," Yori sneered, turning away from him. Or trying to, at least. Steve threw up his hands in frustration and grabbed Yori, picking her up bridal style.
"Put me down!" Yori shouted, her face flaming with rage an embarrassment as we all watched in mixed amusement and concern. "I am fine! You are not my mother, so stop acting like it! Put me down, taichō! Taichō? Steve, set me down!"
Steve set Yori down in the back of the truck, pulling a first aid kit out from under one of the bench seats and shoving it at her. He beckoned Jones over.
"Watch her, make sure she takes care of herself and doesn't charge in after us," he instructed.
Jones was stifling a grin as he said, "Got it."
Yori was muttering something very unflattering about Steve's parentage as we all walked into the factory, guns raised and ready for any HYDRA soldiers who hadn't joined the initial charge.
"You and Morita look for information," Steve said, pointing to Dernier. "Bucky, you and Josie look for survivors."
"No pit stops, you two," Dugan teased.
"No promises," Bucky shot back instantly. There was faint laughter as Steve turned to Dugan and Falsworth. "We'll start a search going up floor by floor."
With our assignments in mind we all split, Morita and Dernier to find some offices and Bucky and I to look for survivors.
"You hear anything?" Bucky asked as we crept down a hallway, peering in open doors.
"Yes, actually," I admitted, pricking my ears as I heard whimpering coming from a door two down on out right. I approached the door and cautiously stuck my head in. The whimpering was definitely coming from in here, and I could see a highly-polished shoe poking from behind a filing cabinet in the corner. Raising my gun, I fired into the wall.
The man hiding behind the filing cabinet shrieked and shot out from behind the filing cabinet for the door. I caught him by the shirtfront, aiming a bone from my wrist at his neck to keep him from struggling. His eyes widened and he began to speak in German too quickly for me to understand. I shook him roughly to shut him up.
"Ist hier noch jemand wie wir hier?" I demanded of him. His eyes darted away.
"N-Nein," he stammered.
I jostled him once more. "Du lügst!" I snapped. The man whimpered once more, his eyes fixed fearfully on the bone blade at his throat. Not that I blamed him, I sure it was very intimidating on the other side.
"I-im Keller! Ein Monster!" he yelped.
"Ein Monster?" I repeated.
"Ein Mann mit Zähnen und Klauen. Ein Werwolf!" he sobbed frantically.
"Werewolf?" Bucky repeated. "I know that one."
Pounding feet announced the arrival of the rest of our team.
"We heard a shot," Steve said in explanation as they crowded into the room. He looked at the sobbing man at the end of my spike.
"I was trying to draw him out," I explained. "He says there's someone here, a mutant," I summarized, and turned back to the HYDRA scientist. "Ein Werwolf?" I dropped my grip on him but kept my blade pointed, jerking my head towards the door in a gesture for him to show us.
The man paled and looked like he might wet himself, shaking his head frantically. "Geh nicht da rein, er wird dich in Stücken zerreißen! Er hat schon fünf Männer umgebracht!" he warned, begging me not to make him take us down there.
Werewolf, teeth and claws, male, killer. It was starting to sound very familiar. A sneaking suspicion crept over me and I smirked. "Ich glaube nicht, dass er mich umbringen wird... Er ist ein alter Freund."
"Friend?" Falsworth repeated, easily translating the last word. "You know the guy they're calling a werewolf?"
"I think so," I admitted. "It certainly sounds like Creed."
"Creed?" Dugan repeated blankly. "What kind of name is that?"
"Victor Creed," I added. "Jimmy's half-brother."
"Jimmy with the bone claws, Jimmy?" Morita confirmed, raising his hand in a fist. I nodded.
"That's the one." I jerked my head towards the door again. Steve, Bucky, and Dugan came down with us, the others going to complete the other tasks at Steve's behest. I pushed the scientist forward. He whimpered and whined still but he had an entire group of us at his back now and he had no choice but to guide us down a stairwell and to a heavily reinforced door at the bottom. The man was sobbing and shaking as he pulled keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, pushing it open and stepping side.
"Well well… back for more, doc?"
I snorted at the familiar voice and followed the scientist in, unafraid.
"Victor, have you been scaring people again?"
The others followed after me and Bucky scrambled on the wall for a light switch. He found one. A couple of hastily-rigged industrial lights flipped on, illuminating the shelving units lining the walls and the chairs stacked in one corner. There was figure with long, dirty blonde hair and prominent canines that had been chained to the back wall with extreme prejudice.
Victor's eyes widened and he bit out a laugh. "Well, look who it is! What are you doing here in the blood and shit with the rest of us, pussy cat?"
I made a face and glared. "Nothing, kitty."
Victor roared in protest at the nickname and I snarled back, pulling back my lips and flashing my teeth. The sounds faded and we both smirked at each other before Victor started laughing darkly.
"Good to see you. You gonna get me out of these chains or what?"
"She has the weirdest friends," Dugan muttered as I moved forwards and forced out a bone harder than steel and got to work hacking through the chains. Dugan nudged Bucky and muttered,
"Imagine her half of the church at the wedding, eh?"
"Much better," Victor said as the last chain fell free with a clatter and he stood up, flexing his arms and rolling his shoulder. Jimmy was small but well-built while Victor was all bulging muscle. They looked nothing alike despite sharing a parent. That was also part of the reason I suspected there was more to their past than they'd ever told.
"This the only one of those bastards left alive?" Victor asked with a feral smile, gesturing to the scientist, who moaned and collapsed back against the wall weakly. "You kill all the rest of them? Ah, what am I supposed to do for fun now?"
I put a hand on his shoulder warningly. "Victor…," I said slowly as Steve and the other Commandoes tensed. "Don't."
Victor shrugged and I pulled my hand off. "Ah well, he's not the one that tied me up anyway." Foolishly I relaxed. "But he'll do."
Victor lunged with a roar. The scientist screamed as his head hit the wall behind him with a sickening crack. I reacted in a blur but it was still too late. Victor was capable of lifting and throwing a car even on his bad days. Crushing a human trachea was nothing. The moment his hands got around the scientists throat it was all over.
"Victor!" I cursed him, and lunged, wrapping an arm around his throat and heaving him back. I put a little more force into it than I meant to. Instead of just pulling him away from my teammates, I threw him into the opposite wall. Brick and plaster cracked with the force and I winced. Oh dear. This wouldn't be good.
"Stay back," I said darkly, stepping in front of Steve, Bucky, and the others.
"Josie?" Steve asked uncertainly.
"I didn't mean to, he'll be angry now," I murmured. "He could take you all apart, and yes, I'm including you there Steve."
"Angry? You just threw me into a damn wall!" Victor roared. I heard the click of a gun over my shoulder. I turned around. Of course, Bucky had raised his sidearm and had it trained on Victor. I smiled at him kindly.
"Sweetheart, that won't work on him," I explained gently, and Victor lunged with a roar, claws extending from his fingers. I kicked off and we crashed together with a loud bang. He grappled me to the floor and I twisted and writhed out from under him, locking my legs around his neck and jerking. I knew better than to stay close to him though – in a contest of strength Victor would take me apart. I was faster, more agile, more flexible. I also healed ever so slightly faster, which might be my saving grace here.
Victor grabbed my arm and wrenched it up, biting into it deeply. I snarled in pain and ripped my arm free. He spat out the chunk of my arm still in his mouth, my skin already knitting back together. I swung a kick at him and scrambled away. Victor shot up and charged at me. I sidestepped, but he grabbed me around the throat and hurled me into the wall. I hardened my skeleton at the last second. The whole room shook as bits of brick and mortar rained down around me. I slid down the wall, shaking my head to clear it.
"Don't get involved!" I snapped at Steve when I saw him raise his shield.
"We're just working out some anger, right, pussy cat?" Victor sniggered as he stood over me.
"Right," I agreed, and kicked off the wall, sliding between his legs. I swung my arms around and hamstrung both of his legs as I passed. Victor howled and dropped as I caught myself and flipped upright. In a minute his tendons were healed and he picked himself up. I leaped up and caught a pipe protruding from the ceiling. Victor ran at me once more and I kicked him in the face, using the added momentum to flip myself up and perch on the two-inch wide pipe in a crouch. I tilted my head and smirked.
"High ground's mine."
Victor grabbed one of the shelving units and ripped a shelf out. He smirked back. "Not for long." He hurled the board at me. I hooked my knees over the pipe and swung down, the board cutting through the air where I'd just been and splintering against the opposite wall.
Victor seized my around the neck and I did the same. He ripped me from the pipe and slammed me face-first into the ground. I gasped as I hit, my nose breaking – that was cartilage, not bone, so I couldn't harden it. Eyes watering, I rolled to avoid what would have been a kick in my side.
That's when the gun went off.
Ist hier noch jemand wie wir hier? – Is there anyone else like us here?
Nein – No
Du lügst! – You lie!
I-im Keller! Ein Monster! – In the basement! A monster!
Ein Monster? – A monster?
Ein Mann mit Zähnen und Klauen. Ein Werwolf! – A man with teeth and claws. A werewolf!
Ein Werwolf? – A werewolf?
Geh nicht da rein, er wird dich in Stücken zerreißen! Er hat schon fünf Männer umgebracht! - Don't go in there, he'll tear you apart! He's killed five men!
Ich glaube nicht, dass er mich umbringen wird... Er ist ein alter Freund - I don't think he'll kill me. I think... he's an old friend.
