Chapter Eleven
Homunculus
"Shinigami is still a threat." Steve says it solemnly, eyes flicking over his team, stopping on Sonya and Pietro. The two are nestled on the couch next to Wanda, the healer fiddling with a strand of purple hair, and the speedster tapping his right foot at a nearly blinding speed. Other than that, they don't appear to be outwardly effected. "Our attack to retrieve Sonya and Pietro was a heavy blow, but they aren't handicapped yet. Later, we'll be going on a mission to take down another one of their bases."
Sonya sucks in a breath at that, her fingers tightening around the braid she was putting in her hair. Her gray eyes widen, and she bites her lip. Beside her, Pietro hunches his shoulders ever so slightly.
"We aren't going until Wednesday." Steve assures the two of them. "And you guys don't have to come."
Sonya shakes her head. "No. I'll be there. Staying behind isn't right when there are people who depend on your skills."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm sure."
But she gets increasingly agitated as the days pass, her hands almost constantly twisting through her hair. "It's called stimming." She tells Steve. "It has to do with my Autism. It keeps me calm and collected."
In the quinjet, she sits farthest from the door, tugging at her bangs. Pietro plops down next to her and takes her free hand. "Hey, it'll be okay." He says. "There probably won't be anyone there."
Sonya takes a deep breath, squeezing his hand. "Yeah, you're right."
"I can't sense any living thing within the immediate vicinity." Wanda says, "But be careful, guys." As soon as she says that, a strange, almost humanoid creature bursts out of the trees. Sonya would even go so far to call it a human, if not for the fangs in its mouth and the claws on its fingers. Nat fells it with a bullet through the head. Sonya jumps back, nearly colliding with Pietro when it collapses at her feet.
"That's so wrong." She murmurs, as black blood seeps out of the wound in its head.
"I thought there wasn't anything living in the vicinity." Steve says, glancing at Wanda. She shakes her head, mystified.
"There isn't. What ever that was, it wasn't living."
"It's not a robot or anything." Nat says, bending down next to it. "It's definitely organic."
"Heads up!" Clint yells. "We can talk about this later. We've got company!" Dozens more of the humanoid creatures burst out of the trees. Steve knocks one down, his shield nearly slicing off a leg, but it just struggles upright again.
"What the hell?"
Sonya is backpedaling away from the things, her eyes wide. "Homunculi." She whispers, when she bumps in to Clint. He peers at her.
"Hom-what?"
"Homunculi. Artificially made people."
"Fake people?"
"Not really?" Sonya says it like she isn't sure. "I can't feel anything from them. They're completely blank."
"Then we shouldn't have any qualms about killing them." Nat says.
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
"They're just… wrong! Completely disordered. They shouldn't exist!"
"Yes, what marvelous things you can do with just a few strands of DNA and modern science." A woman's voice comes from the building in front of them.
Sonya and Pietro freeze.
"It's good to see you again, Sonya, Pietro." Astoria wades through the ranks of homunculi, who stop moving at a wave of her hand. "You two were quite a treasure trove. The next step in evolution, the missing link, everything we needed to continue our experiments. So, thank you."
"These are the people you kidnapped." Sonya blurts.
"Of course. These are the successes. It's still a dangerous and difficult process, regrowing someone's entire DNA to your liking. We're working on engineering our own specimens. Test-tube babies, you know, with DNA grafted from all sorts of creatures. Of course, DNA like yours is the most desired."
Sonya shakes her head. "How could you?! These were people!" Her face is absolutely horrified. "They are nothing! You've utterly destroyed them!"
"All for the advance of science, my dear. For power and money and fame." Astoria drawls. "I dare say your friend Tony knows this well."
"That's not a part of my life anymore." Tony snarls. "That's no longer who I am."
"What? You gave up the power you had in your grasp! And you, Doctor Banner. Would you have denied the opportunity to take the next step in evolution, if it had arisen? Don't tell me you haven't though of it."
Bruce steps back, away from her, biting his lip.
"It's just so wrong." Sonya insists, tugging at her hair. "How could someone do that? Destroy someone's entire identity for their own gain?" She's staring at the wall, gray eyes haunted. "I can't even wrap my mind around it."
"You are far too naïve." Bucky say. "The world is a cruel place."
"Oh, I know. Believe me, I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." She clenches her fists. "I can't accept what these people have done. And the worst part? I can't fix it. I can't do anything!"
Pietro smooths his hand over her hair. "Hey, it's okay." He mumbles. Sonya shakes him off.
"It's not!" She leaves the room hurriedly.
The next raid finds Sonya struggling to hold off the homunculi, unwilling to go so far as to kill any living thing.
"Can't you set your morals aside long enough to save your life?!" Clint yells.
She shakes her head. "They wouldn't be morals, then."
Pietro nearly falls over from laughing. "She got you there, old man."
"Don't call me old."
The speedster cackles and zips past him. Clint sighs thunderously. "That boy will be the death of me."
"When you say things like that, you do sound old." Sonya says bluntly. Clint frowns.
"Aren't you supposed to by the nice one?"
"I'm just telling the truth!" Sonya whirls around and knocks several homunculi flying with well-aimed whacks with her force-field. Pietro skids to a stop next to her, smiling.
"That was lovely."
"Why, thank you." She winces as Clint takes a clawed hand to his upper arm. She claps her hand over the wound, humming a little as the pain fades. "There."
"Thanks."
"Steve wants you to check something out." Pietro says.
"What?"
"I… I don't really know." His eyes widen with concern when Sonya stumbles and clings to his hand. "What's the matter?"
She bites her lip, face screwed up. "Someone's hurt. Bad."
Pietro nods and lifts her up bridal style. "Got it." He smirks at Clint. "Keep up, old man!" With that, he speeds away.
They find Nat bleeding badly from several gashes in her abdomen, her face stoic, despite the pain that Sonya can clearly feel.
"What happened?" She asks, concerned.
"It was a homunculi. I think. But it was bigger that the others. And less…" Natasha pauses and sucks in a breath when Sonya touches her wounds. "Less… human…"
The healer frowns. "How do you mean?"
"I… I don't know. It happened really fast."
"Not too fast for me, huh?" Pietro breaks in, peeking over Sonya's shoulder.
Natasha sighs, but smiles a little at him. "No, not too fast for you."
"Nothing is too fast for me."
"You're gonna jinx yourself with that attitude." Sonya sighs. They're interrupted by a loud clang, a shout of "HOLY SHIT!", a crash, and a "Dammit, Tony!"
Peter drops down from the ceiling. "Hey, Nat, your weird beast thing almost ate Bucky." He grins.
"That's not very funny." Sonya frowns.
"It is if it broke a tooth on his arm."
Pietro lets out a snort of laughter. "Dude, really?"
"Uh-huh! Mr. Stark knocked him through a wall in a panic."
"I always miss the best things!"
The two Peters scramble to see the sights, just as Clint comes panting up. "You guys move around too fast." He complains. "You okay, Nat?"
She nods.
"I may have found a secret lab!" Tony calls.
"Yeah, by throwing me into a wall!" Bucky yells. There's a loud crash of metal on metal.
"That sounded bad." Sonya says, taking off towards the commotion. She rounds a corner to find Bucky and Tony tied up, courtesy of Peter.
"They were fighting." The boy explains.
"An effective way to stop them." Sonya laughs. "I approve."
She's knocked over as Pietro slams into her. A massive beast of indeterminable species barrels past them, nearly trampling them. "Peter! Catch!" Pietro literally throws her at the younger boy, who catches her easily. The speedster barrels after the beast, knocking it over. Sonya gasps as she feels pain slice through his side.
"Peter! Help him!" She yells.
Spidey nods and sets her carefully in a doorway, making an attempt to stop the beast with a net made of webs. The nets may slow it, but it doesn't stop it, not even close. Bucky and Tony have wriggled their way out of their cocoons, Tony pulling Sonya to safety, and Bucky literally throwing himself on top of the thing. Peter gives chase, but Pietro's clutching at his ribs. "Go after them!" Sonya shrieks at Tony, catching Pietro as he stumbles into her arms. Ironman nods and flies off.
"You hit that thing really hard." The healer tells Pietro. "You have to be more careful."
"Meh," He shakes it off, smirking, "I will be fine."
"I think you busted up every single rib!" She snaps, running her hands over his side. He laughs, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground.
"I think I may have busted more than that!" He chokes a little, spitting out blood. "I may have hit a lung."
"IDIOT!" Sonya twists his ear, and then places her lips against his. Pietro lets out a grunt as her healing warmth pours into his body from her lips.
"Thanks." He sighs.
"Mhmm."
Sonya pulls Pietro to his feet, he grins at her. "Good as new!"
"You are incorrigible."
"Thank you."
She's grinning at him, when he tackles her to the ground. A second beast, this one less massive than the first, barrels by them, pursued by Steve, Thor, Wanda and Vision.
"How many of these things are there?!" Sonya blurts as Pietro whisks her out of the way again.
"We should probably help." He says, still holding her bridal style.
"Yeah, definitely."
Tony and his crew have vanquished the first beast. Sonya and Pietro find them staring down at the body, which is stuck in an elevator shaft. "How did this happen?" Pietro asks, chuckling a little.
"Bucky." Peter explains, perched on a railing. "It was pretty impressive."
"Tinman did a fantastic job." Tony says, flipping up his facemask.
"Don't call me that." Bucky sighs. Tony ignores him.
"INCOMING!" Steve yells. Everyone turns and gapes at the second beast barreling towards them, taking up the entire corridor.
"Time to leave." Sonya quips, but Pietro's already gone.
They herd it on to a catwalk, high above the ground. "This is strangely familiar." Bucky mumbles. Steve raises an eyebrow.
"Seriously?"
"Maybe this one will rip off its face, too!" Bucky grins. "You still aren't able to do that, Steve?"
"No, that is weird and disturbing. I will not rip off my face, don't ever ask that again. Please and thank you."
"Uh, maybe you should get out of the way?!" Peter yells, jumping off the walkway as the beast nearly tramples him. The two super soldiers calmly jump backward over the railing.
They emerge from the darkness, carried by Sam and Rhodey. "I feel like I've spent the past several months catching Steve when he jumps off things." Sam sighs.
"This isn't my job." Rhodey insists.
"Yeah, but don't drop me." Bucky says.
"I won't catch you." Tony calls. "I don't like you."
"Oh no." Bucky replies with extreme sarcasm.
"Is anyone even paying attention anymore?!" Scott yells from his perch on Clint's shoulder.
"I am." Clint answers, nonchalantly firing an arrow. He and Nat seem to be handling the beast quite well. At least until he goes flying, and both he and Scott are nearly flattened by one massive paw.
"I saved Scott!" Peter says, holding the tiny man on his palm. Scott gives him a tiny fist bump.
"Thanks, Spiderkid!"
"Bug buddies!"
Wanda levitates Clint, stopping before he hits the ground. "Are you all right?"
"Never mind me! Why aren't we focusing on the huge-ass monster?"
Pietro grins. "I'm going to run into it again!"
"Don't." Sonya says. But he pays her no mind, colliding with the beast and throwing it over the edge. It crashes down on to the walkway three stories below, nearly taking Pietro with it. The speedster grabs on to one of the railings, just as the abandoned pack of homunculi pour on to the catwalk. He looks down, judging the distance, before letting go. Peter catches him, though, but they leave Sonya rather stranded. She makes a run for it, clattering down the rickety steps, the experiments hot on her trail. The others can't help her, because they're also engaged with fighting or catching someone when they jump off a catwalk. The first wave slams into her, bullying her right to the edge. Sonya looks over, eyes wide. She is not a fan of heights. She pays for the distraction, yelling in pain as one of the homunculi buries its teeth in her shoulder. The rusted guardrails shudder as Sonya fights the thing off her, nearly snapping under their combined weight. Her shoulder is pouring blood when she finally escapes. She jumps away, her back slamming into the already loosened rail, and it breaks…
And she falls…
A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Feel free to kill me. I am horrible. Also, this story will be ending within the next eight or so chapters!