Wanda walked the streets of the Iron Kingdome, like any ordinary woman. But there was hatred in her eyes as a fine scarf covered her head.
"May I offer some flowers?" a little girl came closer and smiled.
"How much?" the witch smiled back and reached into a pocket.
"A copper?" the girl said hopefully, before Wanda handed her two silvers and took three flowers.
"AH Thank you!" the girl smiled before Scarlet headed to the graveyard.
"Hello brother… Mother… Father…" she whispered, kneeling down at the three sets of crosses put in the ground, and gently laid a flower next to each one.
The church's bells were ringing, signaling the end of the mess. The Barton family left the house of god, some eager, some normal. It was a typical Sunday morning. Clint had accompanied his wife and their kids, even though he didn't really believe in God. Not after what he had seen when he still was in duty (he once was a soldier too - not only an archery teacher). The family made a beeline to the cemetery, where Laura's parents were buried next to each other. Another habit they had developed over the years: every Sunday they would pay them a visit after church. "Look! Pap! Someone left flowers to the neighboring grave!" Lila pointed out, not really being accustomed to all those things people did on cemeteries.
"Yeah. Seems like someone paid them a visit. I heard it was quite tragically how the Maximoff's died."
"Can you tell us, Papa?"
"No, Cooper."
"But why?" His eldest son whined a bit.
"Because you didn't do all the chores yesterday."
"But- who told you that?"
"I've got eyes everywhere. Besides, you're not old enough for that story. And some things are better kept private too. Also, i don't know the whole story." The family soon left the cemetery, after Laura Barton had put some fresh flowers from their own garden on her parent's grave and prayed for them.
"So, ready to talk yet?" the Black Widow sat on her hells, looking at the bloody captive.
"I think I broke his jaw," the Winter Soldier held his human hand and moved the fingers to get the numbness out.
"I… I give…" the Red-y managed, blood dripping from his whole face.
"Good," Widow smirked and rose up.
"What can you tell us about Skull getting information?" as she asked, the male leaned on the support pillar, watching.
"He… has someone… on the… inside…" the two quickly checked anyone they knew from the Kingdome who that might be.
"Why is he here? In our parts?"
"…Land… He wants… to trap the Iron…"
"How many are there?"
"..M…many…"
"I asked how many!"
"…thousands…" that was the last word the captive spoke before he died.
"Shit!" the woman ran a hand through her hair.
"Calm down Natalia…" as she heard her name, she took a deep breath.
"I know James… but this is bad…" the two only used their names when they were being really serious.
"I know… and you know there's only one thing we can do…" he looked at her.
"Yeah… even if I don't really like it…" the two nodded and left the tent, seeing Wanda was back and sitting next to Sam.
"Hey, you okay?" Nat asked, put a hand on the Maximoff's shoulder.
"I am fine, thank you," Scarlet looked up and smiled.
"So, what now?" Wilson asked just as Brock arrived.
"Now," James started and looked at the three.
"We head to the Iron."
"Wow – wow – wow!" the Falcon jumped on his feet, hands in the air.
"By us you mean-"
"You, me, Wanda and Winter here. Rumlow, you in charge of the camp while we're gone. Don't do anything stupid," Natalia explained and looked at the third man.
"Why?" Sam asked, eyebrow raised.
"To warn them of the traitor they have."
Steve was back with some minor wounds, had given his report and got a scolding from Stane himself.
Apparently he hadn't done enough, he should have killed the rebels too.
That was easier said than done. First of all, the rebels were known for suddenly appearing and equally suddenly disappearing. It would always be difficult to get them. And then, quite a bit more important to Steve than the other point, they saved his life, and that of his men. He owed them his life, and couldn't just kill them now.
Quite a difficult style of life, he knew that. But he kept his style anyway.
Right now however, he was sitting in a sort-of-office, thinking about the next offense against...well, that wasn't clear to him right now, so he planned for both: rebels and Red. He had spoken with Sir Fury before, but gained nothing but misted words. Why that man did always speaks in secrets when he's not lecturing anyway...
That was when Thor made his entrance. "Ah, my friend. I am happy to see you are back."
"Thanks, Thor."
"How did it go, my friend?"
"Could have gone better. There were so any Red Soldiers, and the rebels appeared too, fighting against Red for a moment long enough to alert us, but then vanishing again. I don't get it. Why would they help us when they are so clearly against the current king - or ruler - of Iron? Why didn't they just let Red do all the work? Wouldn't that be simpler?"
"The Rebels seem to have their own goals."
"That they do. Anyway, Thor. How are you?"
"Good. I just had a lengthy conversation with Lady foster about herbs and herbal medicine."
"That's good. Maybe you could try and work on some...balm or something for on the way? Maybe against slashes or other bleeding wounds. To stop the bleeding. That would be good. I've seen too many people die out of blood loss..."
"I will see what i can do my friend. It's getting late. You should rest."
Steve sighed. "Yeah...i would, but this offense..." Another sigh, Thor nodded in understanding. "Try at least to rest at one point. You are a captain, you need a clear mind, not the foggy state of sleepiness." And with that Thor had left the sort-of-office.
"This is insane!" Sam muttered through gritted teeth as he, Wanda, James and Natalia checked the entrance to the castle. The wall was rather high and they couldn't all get past it.
"Just stick with the plan, stay quiet, and you'll be fine," James glanced back at him before seeing it was all clear and motioning the others to follow.
"Says the master assassin…" the Flacon mumbled, quickly following his friends.
"Halt! Who goes there?" a guard made the four stop and the men curse quietly.
"Oh, excuse me," Nat turned around, the scarf around her head also covering her face.
"We are foreigners - from the Russ Kingdome. We hear this one has a lot to offer," her sexy voice quickly enchanted the guard.
"…Well alright…" he was red in the face and quickly moved past them.
"Well played," Wanda smiled at her female friend.
"You'll get it with practice."
"..Okay… now where do we go?" Wilson asked, looking around.
"Didn't you work for the Iron?" Natalia raised an eyebrow as the four quickly melted into the crowd.
"Yeah, but I don't remember much of anywhere…" Sam answered, keeping his head low.
"This way… We need a King's audience," James said, pulling the hood a bit further down his head.
"It's towards the graveyard, only you turn left not right," the male assassins added, walking a bit more quickly, but the others followed none the less.
That's when Wanda and Sam accidentally bumped into a man and woman who were leaving the Cemetery.
"Pardon me!" they both gave quick nods, not really looking who they hit, but hearing some kids not too far away, before quickly going after their assassin friends, who were too good to bump.
"Told you to keep it low," they both muttered and arrived before the gates.
"Hold!" four guards held their weapons at the ready.
"We need an audience with the current ruler!" Nat spoke, taking a step forward.
"What is your business here?"
"We come bearing news of the Red Skulls plans," James put in and that clearly set the guards off.
They looked among themselves unsure, before slowly backing away.
"Prince Stane has given us allowance to bring any with knowledge of the Red Empires plans to him," they opened the door and allowed the four to come in, but followed them as well.
Laura and Clint looked after the two people who ran into them. They seemed to be in quite the hurry.
"Do you know who they were?" Laura asked her husband, who just shook his head. "No. Cooper, Lila! We're going now and leave you here if you don't catch up" he called for his kids, a light joking tune in his voice. Said two children came running towards them, and so the family made her way home. Well, first to the small, old and open carriage, and with that vehicle then home.
"Are you going to help me later with the wood, Cooper? Winter isn't that far away now. Oh, and we need to get the bundles of corn off the field. We can start threshing it tomorrow or something." Cooper nodded.
"And what are we going to do, Mama?" Lila asked. "Well...we could bake a pie. Apple or plumps?"
The answer of the family was in sync. "Apple."
Laura laughed.
They continued as they had planned: Cooper and Clint doing some work - getting bundles of corn on their wagon, bringing said wagon home, emptying it before leaving the farm again, this time to the forest, to get some firewood.
Steve had fallen asleep on top of some papers and a map. The soldier who was sent to wake him up, seemed quite frantic when he did so. "Captain Rogers! Captain Rogers! You've been ordered to go to the throne room immediately, apparently someone is about to announce important information about Red Skull!"
"I'm up- give me a second..." Steve honestly didn't knew he was that tired, but managed to get up and to the throne room in no time, where he saw the 'informants from Russ', ready to listen to whatever they could tell them.
"Greetings!" Stane smiled and looked at the four new people who arrived.
"Hello, your majesty," Nat bowed as the others half-assed it in a way.
"If I may-" she started but the ruler put a hand in the air.
"A moment please. I simply must await the arrival of a man who needs to hear this."
"Of course," it didn't take long for Rogers to arrive and when he did, the rebels' chests tightened while James pulled more on his hood and Sam turned his gaze to the ground.
"Now… as you were saying," Obadiah motioned to the female.
"My lord, we believe the Red Skull has one of his own in your midst," she started, looking at the 'King'.
"And… what proof do you have to that?"
"We intercepted a messenger bird by luck. On it, a letter of new orders to the mole," Stane lightly nodded his head and stroked his beard.
"And… how do we know you aren't spies?" he changed the question and took them by slight surprise.
James wanted to speak, but couldn't, as Rogers was there and would likely recognize him.
"Would we risk coming here if we were?" Nat knew how to play, but she didn't know everything…
"Perhaps… I could all very much be part of the Red's plan…" the guards already had their hands on their swords.
"Tell me… What do you think Captain Rogers?" the Lord turned to Steve, an expecting look on his face.
While listening to what the informants told him, Steve also counted the hours he had slept in the last three days.
Wasn't hard. Really. He could count them on one hand. It was a miracle he could still walk and see...However, he quickly focused back on the task at hand, a thoughtful look on his face. "I think we should hear them out. We can always search for proof later, but right now every piece of information can be helpful, my lord." He finally stated (addressing the current ruler with a fitting title. He was taught manners, and it was better to keep them if you want to keep your head). Something about these people seemed familiar, though. Two of them, to be more precise. He just couldn't put his finger on it, so he let it slide.
"Well… you seem to have the Captains favor…" Stane nodded and turned back to the woman.
"Where did you say you were from again?" he blinked, a small smirk tugging at his lips.
"From Russ my lord," Nat answered, still playing well.
"Aha," Stane nodded, thinking about what to say next.
"I hope you don't mind if I try and get proof you are who you say," he stood up from his throne and slowly walked down the stairs.
"Of course not," she gave a small smile under the scarf.
"The Maximoff's were from Russ if I remember correctly," he began, and saw how the other female tensed up.
"Do you know why they came here?" he started circling them, but none of the four moved.
"For shelter, food and work. Russ was never a kind place to those who saw the world differently," Nat kept talking, moving slightly closer to Wanda.
"Then you also know they were refused."
"…Were they not accepted and then killed because they were deemed a threat? The Iron was at war with Russ at that time…" she knew this – a trick question.
"Indeed… and supposedly, two children escaped…"
"That is merely a legend is it not my lord?"
"Oh no… We found one of the children – a boy," James was reaching for his dagger as he saw Scarlet shaking slightly, and made sure no one saw him, while Sam checked the windows for a quick escape.
"Really?" Natalia used all her strength to keep talking.
"Yes… and you know what we did to him?" Stane stopped right in front of the Widow.
"What?" she played dumb, and licked her lips.
"We burned him alive," at those words, all hell broke loose as Wanda screamed, anger and hatred burning greatly, but before she could actually release any of her power, Nat knocked her out.
And while that happened, James took out the knife and tossed it at Rogers, not aiming to kill but to distract before Sam moved in and grabbed Maximoff.
With the quick movements, their hood and scarfs fell off, showing their faces. They didn't ponder long on that, before Nat and James quickly knocked out the guards and covered Sam as he carried the witch to the window, before jumping and landing on the tents they opened above entrances.
The two assassins followed quickly, and before anyone could really follow them, vanished into the crowd and into the many streets of the Kingdom.