A/N: Hi again, guys. So this is the highway we all absolutely love because it's just so awesome. I've probably not done it justice, but hey, we can only do our bests, right?
Big thanks to: JackSparrowWench92, Catwoman2518, Bonnie Celt, sabrina. fields (sorry about the space - it wouldn't let me put your name in properly), midnight03, Nymeria Malfoy, Lady Kato, Hannah-Rampage, Blue Wolf29, Ashl3yra, Angel Of Music101, hope. hale (again, sorry about the space), DeathIsNotCool, rlapham, Katelynn Snow Fox, camsam17, Shopaholic-Pixxie, ArtChild96, Lyric Dreams, JasmineChyanne, mrssamwinchester93, PoisonPen19 and Kol's beloved Liliana for following/ favouriting. WOW, that was a long list. Thanks guys :D
Review Response(s):
Lara Barnes: Haha, thanks. Yeah, it's gonna be fun, that's for certain.
NESSAANCALIME6913: How did you like the movie? :)
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Guest (x9): Wow, thanks for all those reviews! And I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it as much as you are :3 Your fangirling is super cute, by the way XP
11 - Target: The Grey Car
"You sure that's them?" a nameless Agent asked in Russian, staring at the grey car the Winter Soldier and I had picked out from the crowd.
"You'd be wise not to doubt us," I growled, smirking slightly when he flinched. Even amongst Hydra Agents we were feared. I turned to the Winter Soldier. "I'll let you have first pick," I murmured quietly, chuckling when I sensed him rolling his eyes. He was back in his goggles and face mask. The Winter Soldier moved onto the bridge and started sprinting towards the car, launching himself at it and landing heavily on the roof before thrusting his left arm into a side window and pulling out a suited man - Sitwell; I should have guessed. With what I knew to be barely any effort at all, the Winter Soldier threw Sitwell into the path of an oncoming lorry.
I cringed. "That's gonna hurt in the morning," I muttered under my breath.
The black man behind the wheel slammed on the brakes, throwing the Winter Soldier off the roof. He used his metal arm to slow himself, leaving a few finger-shaped grooves in the tarmac. He stood up, and I could tell there was a vicious glare under those goggles as he simply stared at the car, which had come to a halt several metres in front of him. Of course it was then that the other half of our team used their brutish vehicle to smash into the heroes' car.
As the smaller car was forced forward, the Soldier leapt over the car and gripped onto the roof, smashing the rear window.
"Shouldn't we be helping now?" the same Agent from before asked, looking twitchy.
I shot him a harsh look. "Hold your ground," I ordered. "We move when I say; until our targets are out of the car, they're only to see the Winter Soldier." He nodded quickly.
I turned back to the action just in time to see the Winter Soldier get to his knees on the roof, smash through the windscreen, and literally rip the wheel from the car. The Winter Soldier jumped onto the Hydra car and then clung onto the bonnet of the vehicle as it smashed into the front car again. Without the wheel, there was nothing stopping the smaller car from careening wildly out of control.
I watched with raised eyebrows as our targets - and their plus one - used the door to save them from getting crushed by their own car.
"We're up," I said, launching myself over the edge of the bridge and moving towards the Winter Soldier and the heavily armoured Hydra vehicle. I moved to stand beside my partner just as he shot a single grenade towards Steve Rogers, who used his shield to stop the most of the impact - though it simply resulted in him flying off the bridge (after smashing into another car first). I heard a few blaring horns from down below, but was distracted when the Hydra soldiers started shooting at our targets, causing them to split up and take covered behind a few of the halted cars.
Romanoff immediately started shooting back, but I pulled my bow off my back and fired an explosive arrow towards her without even having to bat an eyelid. She darted onto the other side of the highway, once again taking cover as bullets were continuously raining down around her. The Winter Soldier raised his gun again and shot the car she was hiding behind, throwing both woman and car off the bridge in a fiery explosion.
Everyone stopped fighting, and I put my bow away before grabbing a machine gun from the closest man. The Winter Soldier copied me, and we both moved to stand at the edge of the bridge, waiting for Romanoff to reappear. For several seconds, there was nothing. We both started to relax a little bit, but some gut instinct told me to look down. I did so just as two shots sounded. I let out a loud curse as a bullet ripped through the bare skin of my left arm, ducking down behind the edge of the bridge. The Soldier did the same, and I saw that one of the bullets had hit his goggles. It was a good thing they were bullet-proof, otherwise he would be dead. As for me, the serum I'd been given increased my healing speed. I'd be good as new within half an hour.
The Soldier pulled off his goggles, sending me a look that so obviously promised revenge I couldn't help but grin, before he grabbed his gun and started shooting directly downwards. I used the chance to sneak away, as my weapon choice meant close-quarter fighting was more my style.
I listened with keen ears to the sounds of bullets being fired and bullets ricocheting off metal, but I knew the Winter Soldier had Romanoff covered. I went looking for Rogers.
The thought that Steve Rogers was our ticket out of Hydra was the thing that caused me to stop whilst halfway to the tipped-over bus that I was certain he was still inside. He would be one of the key players to participate in Hydra's downfall, this I knew. So how the hell could I kill him? So, instead of going up to the Captain and effortlessly slicing his throat - as was my original plan - I instead kept to the shadows, dumped my heavy machine gun on the ground and drew my pistol. I then lifted my arms and shot one of Hydra's men. The bullet made a hole at the base of his neck, snapping his spine. He was dead before he hit the ground, and the suppressor on the end of my gun meant my betrayal was not noticed by anyone.
A loud smash alerted me to the fact that the Winter Soldier had jumped off the bridge. I joined him just as he landed on the tarmac, having initially landed on a car (the smashing sound was apparently the sound of shattering glass).
"I do so love it when they fight back," I drawled, and he rolled his eyes at me.
"We're going after the woman," he told me. "I instructed the rest to go after Rogers."
"Isn't two on one a little unfair?" I asked, putting my pistol away.
He sent me a flat look. "It was you who told me she was the Red Room's best."
I hummed. "Yes, that's true."
We walked calmly into the next street, although I was momentarily caught off guard when the Winter Soldier fired his grenade launcher again. It took only a brief glance for me to work out the reason - the police had finally decided to show up.
The two of us slowed our pace as we reached a cluster of cars, the Soldier grasping his gun tightly, while I drew my blades and pressed their buttons. Both swords sparked to life - one literally, one figuratively. I could feel the heat coming off both blades, but it wasn't unbearable. I watched with narrowed eyes as my partner stopped and pulled out one of his favourite little trinkets - a rolling grenade. I finally heard what he had heard; Agent Romanoff was trying to call for backup. We waited, expecting her to jump out from behind the car when she detected the grenade, but she didn't. The car simply exploded.
A shuffle to my left caused me to instinctively lift my blades up in defence, and a knife bounced off my red-hot right blade. The resulting sparks caused me to be momentarily blinded, and when my vision was clear again I noticed that Romanoff had thrown herself onto the Winter Soldier's back and was attempting to choke him. I dropped both my swords on the ground and then grabbed a throwing knife and threw it with expert precision, the knife slicing cleanly through the chord that Romanoff was using as her weapon, whilst also causing her to lose her grip on him and go tumbling into the car behind her.
I grabbed her by the jacket and pulled her close. "No one touches my partner," I growled in Russian, before throwing her at another car with all my strength. The car caved in under her weight.
Romanoff let out a loud groan, before throwing two electrical discs and the Soldier and I. While one disc simply disabled the Soldier's arm, I had nothing metal for it to touch, so when it hit me it caused my nerves to go crazy. I let out a cry as my whole body shut down and I went crashing onto the asphalt beneath me. With another growl I ripped the disc away, hearing the distinctive clang of the Winter Soldier's arm recalibrating.
I felt two pairs of hands gently lift me up, before I was roughly hit across the face, effectively snapping me out of my electricity-induced haze.
"You okay?" he asked me, and I nodded before picking my blades off the floor,
"Let's gut the son of a bitch," I murmured, my irritation overriding the thought that Natasha should probably be kept alive if we wanted to escape Hydra's grasp. But they'd trained me too well, driven their training too deep into my mind. Now she was back to being just another target.
We sprinted after Romanoff, our serum-enhanced limbs driving us at least twice as fast as her. The Winter Soldier stopped only to fire a bullet at her, which I watched shatter a window then plant itself securely in her left shoulder.
I grinned, launching myself onto the roof of a car, seeing the fear in her eyes as I started towards her.
Then a cry was let out, and I automatically swung both my swords, the red-hot metal and the electrical metal clanging with the famous vibranium shield of Captain America. I immediately shot out my leg, kicking him away from me. He rolled away, lifting his shield just as the Winter Soldier came to a stop beside me. He shot five bullets at the shield, but then his gun made a tell-tale click that told us both it was out of ammo. While the Soldier was picking out a new weapon I advanced on Captain America, my mind still blinded by rage.
I slashed with both my swords, moving them so quickly he could barely keep up with me, moving his shield around to deflect the blows. I knew it was only a matter of time before I landed a hit on him.
Before I had the opportunity however, a grenade landed right next to us, throwing the Captain into the car behind him while sending me sailing through the air. I landed in a heap on the solid ground, cracking my skull against the tarmac.
Dizziness assaulted me viciously, and for several minutes I could only watch the Winter Soldier fighting Captain America, barely comprehending what my eyes were seeing. The blow to the head did clear me of my rage though, and I remembered that I didn't want the Captain dead at all. He was our ticket out of here. So I scrambled to my feet, swaying unsteadily for a moment before moving forward with the intention of separating the two, but then I noticed they were still.
The Winter Soldier had somehow lost his face mask, and he was sending a stony look at Captain America, who appeared completely stunned.
"Bucky?" I heard him ask.
The Winter Soldier's brow twitched. "Who the hell is Bucky?" The Winter Soldier lifted his gun, but then the black man from before, now somehow possessing wings of all things, flew into him, knocking him off his feet. The Winter Soldier rolled and tried to aim at Rogers again, but then a grenade flew towards him, exploding the car he'd been standing next to.
I felt my eyes widen, only to then breathed a sigh of relief when the smoke cleared and revealed that he had managed to escape.
Sirens blasted through the air, and in seconds several black, standard issue SUVs surrounded Romanoff, Rogers, and their winged friend. Many S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents (who were probably actually Hydra Agents) crowded out of the cars, pointing their weapons at Romanoff, Rogers and... the other guy.
I sheathed my swords (both of them remarkably cool), whilst walking calmly towards them, noticing how Romanoff eyed me with more curiosity than hostility. I wondered briefly if she knew that I'd not killed Fury. Or maybe she recognised me - while I myself had never visited the KGB, they were a key source of contracts in and around Russia. They probably had my details, so it was possible Romanoff knew who I was.
"Silverthorn," Rumlow greeted whilst putting cuffs on a clearly shell-shocked Steve Rogers. "I would have thought you would go running after the Soldier. You usually do."
"Not today," I said lowly. "Pierce instructed us to make confirmed kills. Which means I'm hanging around until I know for certain our targets are dead. The Winter Soldier can report to Pierce without me."
Rumlow stared at me, narrowed his eyes, then let out a sigh and nodded. "Fine. You can go in the rear car with them - make sure they don't try anything."
I smirked. "If they so much as breathe wrong I'll make sure to put my blade between their ribs."
Rumlow flinched slightly at my harsh words, before nodding. "Good."