Old Friends Chapter 4
By: Cadet Deming
I don't own the rights to Captain America or The Avengers, Marvel and Disney do, so please don't sue. Rated T for violence, language and adult situations. Thank you so much to those who read and review-)
Natasha pulled her Corvette up to the black SUV she and Steve had tracked. It was parked in a back alley in a run-down part of town. They approached it with wariness.
Steve asked, "What if it's booby-trapped?"
She watched him scan the area, frowning.
Natasha got on her knees and peeked under the car's body. "I don't see any bombs."
She stood up, put on gloves to avoid messing up any fingerprints and opened the door. It was unlocked. The car had been clearly hotwired.
Steve said, "Now what?"
Natasha brainstormed. "He could have been picked up by someone else and be long gone. He could be in hiding nearby alone. Or worst case scenario, he could be in the area and connected with more HYDRA cronies."
Steve said, "Which we're underdressed and outnumbered for."
"I miss my SHIELD cat suit."
"I miss you in the cat suit too."
She stared at Steve. Did he just try to flirt with her? It didn't seem like him.
He said, "I meant…because it provided battle protection. I'd rather be in one of my bullet proof uniforms out here."
Natasha could tell when Steve lied, because he usually was so bad at it. She tried to focus on the job at hand.
"There are flak jackets in the trunk and heat sensors to see if people are on the other side of the wall."
She handed Steve his tech. With SHIELD being disbanded and declared a terrorist organization, they were lucky to have any devices at their disposal.
He said, "I'll take the North and you take the South. Remember to look at upper floors and basements. Be careful. If there are any problems call me for backup. Don't engage without me."
If anyone could be a one man Army it was him, but she still added, "Ditto for you."
She watched his tall form walk away in the alley. His famous shield was slung over his back. In red, white and blue it looked like a giant target. She hoped he'd be safe.
Natasha aimed her machine and started to search the closest buildings. She tried to keep her ears open and her eyes on the sensor. It didn't reveal any people, but plenty of stray cats and rats.
She almost jumped out of her skin when her phone rang an hour later. At first she thought it was Steve and her heart raced that he'd found something. She was disappointed to see it was Clint Barton. She needed to talk to him, but not now.
"Hey Clint, thanks for calling but I'm in the middle of something. Can I get back to you later?"
"The first time we touch base since you broadcast my life on the internet and made us both jobless and you're in the middle of something?"
She tensed. "It's loose-ends work-related. I can't get into this with you now, Clint could you please…"
"Nat, you owe me to talk about this right f #$&ng now."
She took a deep breath. She could go into actress mode and play a role to placate him.
Natasha said, "I understand that you're upset. I had no other choice but to release everyone's information to stop HYDRA, including mine. I was just following Nick Fury's orders."
"You didn't even call me. You could have given me a warning before this happened."
"I'm sorry. I didn't have time. Everything happened so fast. We didn't know who to trust."
His voice rose an octave. "You didn't trust me. After everything I've done for you, after everything we've been through together you didn't trust me enough to make one phone call?"
"If the shoe was on the other foot, if you were in my position and discovered that the organization we devoted our lives to, our leaders, our co-workers, our friends were part of a 70 year old conspiracy wouldn't you have done the same thing?"
Clint's voice hitched. "No. No, I wouldn't. I would have put you first over the mission."
She had enough control to cry on cue, or avoid crying if need be, but Natasha felt trapped in an emotional limbo. She could cry to appear more sympathetic, but it would be a form of emotional manipulation and Clint knew her well enough to sense if she was faking it. If she didn't cry, she'd look like an uncaring ice queen.
She tried to retreat to rationality. Logic was so much simpler than the maelstrom of human emotions, "That would have been the wrong choice. The phone could have been bugged."
Even Natasha was shocked at how cold her delivery was. Silence greeted her on the other end of the line. She wanted to backtrack.
When it came to dealing with men on a seductive level, Natasha was an expert. She had literally been trained in how to wrap men around her finger to get them to do what she wanted in the beginning of meeting someone. When it came to actually maintaining a long-term relationship, to dealing with commitment and compromise, she could be as flustered as any other woman walking down the street.
Clint finally said, "The only wrong choice I made was falling in love with you. You're not a real woman, you're this sociopathic KGB-programmed robot."
It hit her that she was about to go through a break-up. Natasha Romanoff, the world-renowned femme fatale, literal superhero, and world-changing whistleblower, was getting dumped. Her pride bristled, and she realized that was immature, so she projected it back onto Clint.
She said, "You don't need to act like a child about this and resort to name-calling. What are you really upset about? That I released the facts that you have a criminal record and used to work in a circus? I volunteered y own history which is far worse than yours."
"There's nothing wrong with working in a circus! I'm upset because I've always loved you more than you love me. The past two years with us spending so much time apart made it worse. The crap with HYDRA was just the straw that broke the camel's back."
Natasha fingered the arrow necklace she wore as a tribute to him. It had been a security blanket for her. In a way her relationship with Clint had been a security blanket of sorts. It was an excuse to keep other men away. Being in a long-distance dying shell of a relationship was keeping her from being in a genuine relationship.
"Clint, I've loved you very deeply, deeper than anyone else before. I'm sorry if that wasn't enough. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry we just didn't work out."
With all of her apologizing, she was starting to sound like Steve.
Clint said, "After half a decade together, that's all you can say? I'm sorry?"
Natasha said, "Can't we just be frien…"
Clint hung up on her. At least he cut her off before the "Let's still be friends" cliché.
Natasha unclasped the arrow necklace and held it up in front of her. It glinted in the light and twisted around until it pointed its accusing arrow tip towards her. She wrapped it up and put it in her pocket.
She continued for an hour until her phone rang again. She hesitated to answer it, but it was Steve. She felt relieved.
Natasha tried to sound upbeat, "Any luck?"
"Three homeless crackheads asked me for my autograph."
She deadpanned, "I don't think crack cocaine is trendy in the inner city anymore. The in drugs are crystal meth and heroin."
"I wouldn't know about any of those. I did find two suspicious heat signatures in a basement at 334 South Martin Luther King Blvd. Can you come and bring any extra munitions from the car?"
"I'll be there as soon as possible."
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Grim Reaper warned Brock, "You know how they say cut off a head and two more appear? With HYDRA cells it's more like, cut off one head, four more heads will fight and kill each other for power in the background until two are left standing."
Brock thought about that. As a deep undercover agent he had worked for decades while being compartmentalized from the rest of HYDRA's other cells. His group didn't have a high turnover rate. They did have a strong sense of loyalty. It was something he clung to so he could overcompensate for being a mole. He needed to tell himself he was loyal to something.
Brock asked, "Is there anything else about the new Supreme HYDRA I should know?"
Eric looked at him appraisingly, as if he was sizing him up. "Yeah. Don't let him think you'd be a threat."
Brock frowned. It felt strange with the burnt skin on his forehead.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't let him know how smart you really are."
Brock said, "You mean, play the dumb thug who just follows orders?"
Eric nodded.
Brock asked, "Have you ever killed any cell leaders?"
Eric nodded and smiled his mysterious smile. "I take out who they tell me to take out. And the bigger they are, the harder they fall."
Brock wondered if his so-called friend would ever turn on him if ordered to do so.
He watched as the Reaper attached a flesh-colored robot hand to his stump and turned on a computer monitor. He spoke in German and Brock listened for his name. He made a mental note to learn German. Eric swung the computer around.
The man on the screen said in a German accent, "Welcome Mr. Rumlow. I am Baron Wolfgang von Strucker."
He appeared to be middle-aged and wore a green military style uniform. One of his eyes was covered by a monocle.
Brock performed the double fisted "Hail HYDRA" salute.
Strucker waved his hand dismissively. "There is no need for that. HYDRA as you know it is no more."
Brock feigned confusion. "I don't understand sir."
"We are going through what is called a rebranding phase. A rebuilding if you will. Were you loyal to Alexander Pierce?"
Brock pointed to his scars. "I lost my skin for that man. And I'd give my all for you. And the cause."
Strucker clasped his hands in front of his face. His right hand was covered in a red glove.
He said, "I like your enthusiasm, but will you cover your face. I just had lunch 15 minutes ago."
Brock tried to hold his temper. Eric handed him a box full of masks. Brock sifted through them. He passed over a black ski mask, a Spiderman mask, and a Richard Nixon caricature. He settled on a black one with a white skull across the front. The skull face formed a white cross, like a pirate's crossbones. He put it on.
Strucker said, "Much better. It fits with my new agenda. Pierce made a mistake. He focused too much on quantity. When HYDRA began, its members were so loyal that when caught they took a cyanide pill. But these new people, the ones being arrested? They are all spilling our secrets, the ones not posted on the internet. I prefer quality members. The organization must be, what do they call it in your America? Leaner and meaner."
Brock said, "Leaner and meaner I can do. Especially if I get another shot at Captain America!"
Strucker smiled. "Yes, Steven Rogers. It is good you have survived as you know more about his fighting style than anyone. And vengeance can motivate even the simplest of men. You can keep him…busy."
His monocle glinted.
Brock asked, "So are you like, a real baron?"
"My ancestors were barons in Prussia."
"Is Prussia, like, next to Russia?"
Strucker rolled his eyes and sighed. "No."
Eric gave Brock a 'tone it down' gesture from behind the monitor.
Brock said, "So, what's your new plan? Other than me killin' Rogers."
"A wise strategist plans to win no matter what the outcome. Project Insight may have failed to a lesser person's eye, but it was always meant to create fear. If the helicarriers had succeeded in killing off the 20 million threats to us to frighten the sheep of the world to submit to HYDRA'S rule we would have succeeded in one way. Instead by forcing SHIELD to expose all of its secrets, we have created even more fear. If the public thinks HYDRA was defeated, we can fight and influence from the shadows once again. We are a terrorist organization and will continue to be so. I am having my elite members change their cell names, use code words, hide any connection to my rule. From here on, I am just 'the Baron.' You will need to start using a code name."
Brock scratched his head through the mask. "How about….Crossbones?"
Eric said, "I like it!"
Strucker rolled his eyes. "Of course you would. How is your progress with the Winter Soldier?"
The Grim Reaper said, "I'm still working on it. The tracer signal in his arm went cold."
Strucker said, "So as of now you have failed."
Brock said, "Actually, I think if we want to get Winter Soldier, we can use Captain America as bait or, what do they call it, vice versa?"
He wanted to sound smarter but not too smart.
Strucker said, "What do you mean?"
Brock said, "It's a soldier thing, brother's in arms and all. Soldiers train together and we get loyal. I saw the fancy scientists pull Winter Soldier out of his ice box for years. Most of the time he acted like a robot. The first time he goes against Captain America, he freaked out about knowing him. It's like Rogers is the one thing that could break all the brainwashin' we did."
Strucker looked thoughtful. "Interesting. I want the two of you to team up and bring them both to me. Dead or alive."
To be continued
Author's Notes: Sorry I didn't post earlier, but I had a death in my husband's family and flew out of town for half of the week.
For Agents of Shield, I watch and like the show and love ho they tied it into the Winter Soldier movie directly, but I think it would be too confusing to do a crossover.