Chapter 25: Revelations
When Sam Wilson answered his door that day, he can safely say he was not expecting who was waiting for him. He had just recently gotten back from his morning jog and was just about to get a drink when someone had knocked. At the door was Steve, Natasha, Adora and Catra, looking like they had been run through the wringer. "Hey." Sam said in confusion.
"Hey.. I'm really sorry about this, but we need a place to lay low for a while." Steve replied, looking rather guilty that he had to ask Sam this.
Natasha chimed in next. "Everyone we know is trying to kill us…"
Sam looked at the four, and even noticed Adora seemed to have been crying recently. He knew what the right thing to do was. "Not everyone." He told them, before letting them in. HE made sure to check if anyone saw them enter before he shut the door.
Steve and Natasha had walked into another room to go get cleaned up. Adora however, just sat quietly on Sam's couch in thought. Catra walked over to her, "You okay, Hairpoof?" She asked quietly.
"Catra...I just found out I've spent most of my life unintentionally helping the biggest terrorist organization in Earth's history." She replied, burying her face in her hands. "I though when I left the Followers...when I saved you from them...we'd be better. Turns out we've been HYDRA's little puppets the whole time…" Her voice cracked into sobs again. "We've never been free of them."
"Adora-" Catra tried to interject, but she continued her tirade.
"Then I find out that the one thing I was supporting, that I thought could genuinely save the world…" She wiped at her eyes. "I've basically just helped give HYDRA the deed to the entire fucking planet!"
Catra put her hands on Adora's shoulder...and gave her a sudden slap across the face. "Adora, stop blaming yourself." She told her sternly. "You couldn't have known. Yeah Project Insight was fishy, but there was no indication that HYDRA was inside SHIELD." She looked Adora directly in the eyes. "Even I thought they were done for when they lost us, and mom." She pulled Adora into a hug. "Instead of focusing on how bad things are now, how about we figure out what we're gonna do to fix it." Adora could tell from her voice that Catra was serious, and focused. The last time Catra sounded so serious was when they were still fighting, when they had their final battle.
"Well...I guess we've got to find two more heads then." Adora commented, trying to smile. Even Catra admitted her quip was good and chuckled a bit.
"If you two are done?" Sam's voice chimed in. "I made breakfast, you two gonna join us?" Adora and Catra both blushed slightly, embarrassed, and decided to join the others.
"So the question is…" Natasha begin, sipping a coffee, "Who at SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?
Steve sat in thought for a moment, before he and Adora came to the same conclusion. "Pierce."
"Never liked that prick." Catra deadpanned, nibbling on some toast.
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure location in the World." Natasha continued.
"But he's not working alone." Steve interjected. "Zola's Algorithm was on the Lemurian Star." He noticed the confused look on Adora's face. "My mission with Natasha."
Natasha got a look on her face as she realized another point about that mission. "So was Jasper Sitwell."
"So we've got a name, let's go get the dick. He'll talk." Catra commented.
"So," Steve sat up a bit. "The real question is how do the four most wanted people in the Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"
Sam stepped forward, dropping some files on the table. "The answer is, you don't." He told them. Everyone leaned in as Steve looked over the files.
"What's this Sam?" Adora asked, looking at the photo on the front.
"Call it a resume kid." Sam responded.
Natsaha took the photos and her eyes widened in recognition. "Is this Bakhmala?" She looked between the photos and Sam. "The Khalid Khandill Mission, that was you?" She looked over at Steve and shows the Photos to him, Adora and Catra. "You didn't say he was a Pararescue." The photo included Sam standing next to another man, both in flight-suits.
"Is this Riley?" Steve asked, and Sam replied in the affirmative.
"I heard they couldn't bring in Choppers because of the RPGs." Natasha continued.
Adora looked up from the picture. "You guys use some kinda Stealth Chutes or something?" She asked, amazed that Sam managed to accomplish such an, at a glance, impossible task.
"Nope." Sam picked up another file and handed it over. "We used this."
Catra smirked as she saw the picture. "Pilot my ass. That's fucking awesome."
"Well, I never SAID I was a pilot." Sam admitted.
Steve was speechless, before finally finding his voice. "I can't ask you to do this Sam." He said, looking up from the pages. "You got out for a reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help." Sam replied, "There's no better reason to get back in."
As Catra Chuckled, even Steve couldn't help but smile. "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" he asked pointedly.
"The last one's at Fort Meade." Sam began, arms still crossed, but cracking a smile at the irritated pout Catra was making. "Behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall."
"Oh is that all?" Adora quipped, leaning on the table as Catra casually examined her claws with a smug smirk.
"Right then, let's go get it." Steve said, tossing down the files as the five of them began to plan their heist.
Senator Stern was an annoying prick. That's all Sitwell could think as the man spoke to him. He went out to lunch with the Senator, but didn't have to like it, they just had mutual aquaintences. He simply smiled and nodded, agreeing with whatever he said. He was glad when the Senator finally left, only to be greeted by a phone call from Pierce. He took a deep breath, expecting bad news, and sent his men away. When he answered the phone though, he didn't hear the voice of his boss, but someone else.
"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious."
"Who is this." He asked with a touch of anger and worry in his voice.
"The good looking guy in sunglasses at your 10 o'clock." The voice replied. Jasper turned around to look for the caller, not seeing anyone. The voice sounded almost amused next. "Your other 10 o'clock." He turned a bit more to see Sam sitting at a patio table, raising a drink and smiling. "There ya go."
"What do you want." Sitwell asked, on his guard. This man had managed to call him disguised as the head of SHIELD, so he clearly meant business.
"You're gonna go around the corner to your right." Sam began. "There's a gray car two spaces down. You and I are gonna take a little ride."
Japser smiled smugly. "And why would I do that."
"Because that tie looks really expensive." Sam replied, shaking his head. "I'd hate to mess it up." Jasper looked down in time to see a red dot appearing on his tie and began to sweat. He couldn't see where the sniper was aiming from, and decided it would be wise to listen to Sam.
Quickly he made his way to the car Sam had told him about. Once he arrived, he froze in place seeing Adora and Catra waiting for him. "Sup." Catra deadpanned, opening the door. "Get in, asshole." He didn't have a choice but to agree. Especially considering Adora grabbed him by his shirt and threw him into the car.
"Tell me about Zola's Algorithm." Steve demanded as Jasper was tossed across the rooftop.
Jasper adjusted his glasses, backing away from the four pissed off ex-SHIELD Agents. "Never heard of it-!"
"Don't bullshit us Jasper…" Catra deadpanned, swiping her claws at him to make him flinch.
"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star." Adora asked next, her face more coldly furious than Jasper had ever seen.
"I was throwing up, I get seasick." He lied, being backed right up against the ledge. Steve grabbed onto his collar and glared at him. Jasper on the other hand, wasn't dazed and scoffed. "Is this little display meant to insinuate you're going to throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style Rogers."
"You're right." Steve admitted. "It's not." He let go of Jasper and stepped aside. "It's theirs." Natasha and Catra walked up with a grin, each grabbing an arm and throwing Jasper off the rooftop as he screamed in terror.
"God that felt cathartic…" Catra quipped as Adora rolled her eyes.
"Oh hey Steve, what about that girl from accounting, Laura…." Natasha almost casually asked.
"Lillian. Lip Piercing?" Steve replied, just s casually.
"Are...are you two seriously discussing Dating after we just threw a guy off a roof?" Adora asked in disbelief.
"Hey let the old man try to find love, Adora." Catra laughed. Adora just shot her a look, when Sam flew up to the rooftop. He was wearing the prototype Falcon suit he'd shown them at his house, and tossed Sam back onto the rooftop, who amusingly was still screaming. "Hey look who's back. Got something to tell us, or do I get to give you another flying lesson?"
Jasper was trying to catch his breath, and finally cracked under the pressure. "Alright Alright! Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets!" he yelled.
"What Targets." Steve asked coldly, noting Adora's discomfort at Insight being mentioned again.
"You!" Jasper replied. "A TV Anchor in Cairo. The Under Secretary of Defense. A valedictorian in Iowa City. Bruce Banner, Stephan Strange. Anyone who's a threat to HYDRA's leadership!" Adora's fists clenched. Insight wasn't meant to kill criminals, it was meant to kill innocents out of HYDRA's paranoia. "Now or in the future."
"In the future." Adora said quietly. "How could it possibly know that?"
Jasper started laughing and slowly getting to his feet. "How could it not?" He retorted. "The 21st century is a digital book! Zola just taught HYDRA how to read it." He looked at the people surrounding him and continued. "Your bank records, medical histories, Voting patterns, emails, phone-calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola's algorithm evaluates peoples' pasts to predict their future."
"And what then?" Steve asked.
Jasper suddenly looked horrified and looked at the ground. "Oh god, Pierce is gonna kill me."
"And if you don't answer, I'll do it right now!" Catra yelled, putting her claws to his throat. "What. Then!?"
"Then the Insight Carriers scratch people off the list." Jasper admitted, his voice trembling from the claws at his next. "A few million at a time."
Sam, Steve and Natasha took Sitwell in their car along the highway while Adora and Catra followed on a motorcycle. Catra clung to Adora as they drove along, and she could tell Adora was tense. "You gonna be okay?" She nervously asked.
"When we bring down Hydra, I will be." Adora replied, coldly. "We have only 16 hours until Insight's supposed to be launched."
"Good lord, that fast!?" Catra asked in disbelief.
"That's assuming Pierce hasn't sped things along because of our actions." Adora responded, before she sighed. "And I helped it along." Catra tightened her hold on Adora, hugging her. "Still, we can use Jasper to bypass the DNA scanners and get direct access to the helicarrier-" She couldn't finish s she saw their mysterious assailant leaping off a nearby vehicle onto the roof of Steve's car. In a quick motion, the Soldier punched out one of the car's windows, dragged Jasper out and threw him in front of an oncoming truck.
"Oh fuck me, that's him isn't it!" Catra yelled, the Soldier trying to shoot at Steve and the others in the car. Sam slammed on the brake, throwing him off, but he managed to catch himself and get to his feet. Before the two could catch up to the car, a Hummer sped passed them and slammed into the back of it, allowing the Winter Soldier to get back on the roof.
"Catra." Adora said, speeding up. "Take over!" She drove up next to the hummer, just as the Soldier ripped the wheel out of Steve's car. She leapt onto the rooftop and cocked her pistol, taking aim at the Winter Soldier, while Catra sped up to catch up to the others. The Winter Soldier quickly wheeled around and grabbed Adora's gun hand with his Cybernetic arm, and with a quick twist, disarmed her. "ARGH! MOTHERF-!" She yelled out, throwing a punch at his face. HE caught the punch and the two grappled only briefly before the Soldier threw her off the overpass. Adora only barely managed to catch herself on a streetlight, but her grip slipped and she hit pavement hard. Catra ramped the Bike over the edge to jump down and check on Adora, while the soldier kept up his attack on Steve's group.
Catra ditched the bike and ran over. "Adora! Are you alright?" she asked in a panic.
Adora slowly got to her feet, clutching her wrist and wincing. "I'm fine Catra, you should have stayed with the others." She replied.
"You went flying off an overpass! I had to make sure you weren't dead!" Catra retorted. The two would have continued arguing if they hadn't heard gunfire from ahead. "We have to move."
"No kidding." Adora said, wiping the blood off her face. "Lost my gun, you?" Catra simply replied by clicking the safety off her pistol. "Alright. I'm better in CQC anyway." The two ran on ahead as fast as they could to get involved in the battle. They arrived just in time to see Steve taking down a Minigun wielding assassin. Catra rolled into cover and began exchanging fire with another hitman, one that Sam was firing at from the overpass.
"Go on, We can handle this!" Sam yelled to Steve and his daughter. "Adora, Nat's gone off that way. The Soldier's after her!" He cocked his head in the direction the two had run.
"We can handle this Adora, Hurry." Catra reiterated. The Two rogers exchanged a glance and nodded, rushing after Natasha. They arrived just in time to watch Natasha take a bullet to the shoulder. Adora ran over to cover Natasha while Steve charged directly for the Winter Soldier.
Adora immediately began basic first aid on her wound, the sounds of Steve and the Soldier's battle raging behind them. "I should have gone with you guys in the car…" she grumbled as she did her work.
"Adora it was too dangerous to stay in one vehicle-"
"Jesus Christ Nat, I'm a damn soldier!" Adora finally snapped. "I don't know why you've been trying to keep me out of things but like it or not, this is my goddamn JOB!" She started to bandage the wound.
"Not only that but I'm an Avenger, like you. We fought an Alien invasion together. So why the hell are you still trying to keep me out of a fight?! I'm not a kid anymore!"
"Adora you have no idea what the Winter Soldier is capable of." Nat replied. "Steve's having trouble with him right now."
"Natasha-!"
"Don't Natasha me Adora. I'm trying to keep you safe!" Nat replied, getting frustrated.
"You're not my Mom!" Adora finally snapped at her.
"YES I AM!" Nat replied, and Adora went completely silent, staring at her. "Fury ran another blood test on you, and found out my DNA was mixed with Steve to create you…"
Adora was left at a loss for words, even as gunfire and metal striking metal continued to fill the air. She began to realize the signs, how differently Natasha had begun to act recently. When she eventually found her voice, she quietly choked out "Natasha...why didn't you say anything…?"
"Adora, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to end up like me." Natasha admitted, looking regretful. "You try so hard to be like Steve, and I'm the last person you should look up to."
"Nat...mom...no offense? But I am you." Adora replied. "More than either of us would care to admit." Only then, did the two notice the fight had gone silent. Adora peered around the car they'd been hiding behind as Natasha went to grab the discarded Rifle the Soldier was using. What she saw was Steve staring in disbelief at the now unmasked Winter Soldier.
And then, Steve spoke.
"Bucky?"
The soldier looked confused for a moment, and Adora was left horrified. "Who the hell is Bucky?" He replied, before attempting to shoot Steve. This attack was stopped by Sam kicking him. Another attempt at finishing the job was interrupted when Catra pounced on Bucky's back, and got thrown into a nearby car.
Bucky or not, Adora was furious at seeing Catra hurt, and charged at Bucky as well. She couldn't even land a hit before Bucky delivered a brutal punch to her face from his metal arm, knocking her to the ground and concussing her. Bucky was only driven off when Natasha fired a grenade from Bucky's own rifle. The last thing Adora remembered before losing consciousness was the sounds of Sirens, and SHIELD vehicles approaching.
Adora began to slowly wake up in the back of a Van, Catra seated next to her, and both of them in cuffs. Steve, Sam and Natasha were also arrested. "You alright Adora?" Catra quietly asked.
"You mean aside from the throbbing headache…" Adora deadpanned back. "I'm more worried about dad..."
Steve hadn't spoken for most of the ride. "It was him, the whole time…" He finally said. "He looked right at me, like he didn't even know me."
"How is that even possible." Sam asked. "That was what, 70 years ago?"
"Zola." Adora replied, looking directly at Steve.
Steve nodded. "Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did must have helped Bucky survive the fall. Then they found him afterward." He looked over at Natasha.
"None of that's your fault Steve." She told him reassuringly.
"Yeah, it's that Nazi prick's." Catra added.
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky." Steve replied.
"Hey, we need to get Nat here a Doctor." Sam quickly added. "That first aid she was given won't be enough. We don't put pressure on the wound she'd gonna bleed out her in the truck."
"I did what I could without the right equipment…" Adora muttered as one of the guards threatened Sam with their Stun baton. And then proceeded to drive the baton directly into the chest of the guard beside her, much to everyone's surprise. She then proceeded to kick her partner across the face, and removed the helmet to reveal that she was actually Maria Hill.
"God that thing was squeezing my brain…" she deadpanned, looking from Sam to the others. "Who's this guy?" By the time the vans reached their objective, and the Agents prepared to dispose of their prisoners, everyone had already escaped.
Within moments, they were rushing into a secured bunker, and Maria was calling out for medical help. "GSW, she's lost at least a pint. Might have been two if Adora hadn't worked fast!" She called out. A doctor ran over and offered to take care of her, to which Maria responded. "She'll want to see him first."
"See who…" Adora asked. As they entered a room in the bunker, everyone present was stunned to see none other than Nick Fury, somehow still alive and well. "D-Director Fury…?"
"About Damn time…" He deadpanned. Soon, everyone was gathered around and the Doctor was treating Natasha's bullet wound. Fury began to list off all his injuries to those present. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache."
"Don't forget the collapsed lung." The Doctor added.
"Yes let's not forget that." Fury said. "Other than that, I'm fine."
"No offense Director but how the hell are you alive…?" Adora asked, still stunned.
"They cut you open, your heart stopped." Nat added.
Fury chuckled a bit, "Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat per minute." He explained. "Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."
Steve then pointedly asked what everyone was thinking. "Why all the secrecy?"
"You could have just told us Nick, I was devastated." Adora admitted.
Maria took over with explanations. "Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful."
"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury added, "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."
"I'm deeply hurt Nick." Adora grumbled.
"You're also one of Insight's biggest supporters. Once things started getting suspicious around it, I had to make sure." Nick replied. "I'm sorry Adora." Adora sighed deeply and ran her hands through her hair, long since having lost its ponytail.
"I hate to admit it, you're right." Adora said, slumping in her chair.
"Well, once I'm able to stand, we have a lot to discuss. All of us."
"This man," Fury began, holding up a picture of Pierce, "Declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said Peace wasn't an achievement, it's a responsibility." He tossed the photo back onto the table in front of him and leaned forward. "See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."
"We'll have to stop the launch." Natasha stated firmly.
"I don't think the council's accepting my calls anymore." Fury said sarcastically, as he opened a briefcase in front of him to reveal three circuit boards.
"What's that?" Sam questioned, looking the boards over.
"Once the helicarriers reach 3000," Maria began, turning around her laptop to show a simulation of Project Insight, "They'll triangulate with Insight's satellites, becoming fully weaponized."
"We need to breach those carriers, and replace their targeting blades with our own." Fury explained.
Maria continued, "One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational-"
"Lots of people are going to die." Catra finished, glaring daggers at the simulation.
"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is going to be HYDRA." Fury stated, "We have to get past them, and insert these service blades. And maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left-"
"We're not salvaging anything." Steve interrupted sternly. Everyone turned to look at him, and even Fury began to look concerned. "We're not just taking those carriers down Nick, we're taking down SHIELD."
"SHIELD had nothing to do with this." Fury countered.
Adora wasn't having any of it though. "Didn't they Nick? They're the ones who took in people like Zola."
"You gave me this Mission. This is how it ends." Steve argued. "SHIELD's been compromised. You said so yourself. HYDRA grew under your nose and nobody noticed."
"Why do you think we're having this meeting? I noticed." Fury retorted.
"And how many people paid the price before you did." Steve pointedly asked him. Fury was silent a moment, before trying to argue his point.
"Look, I didn't know anything about Barnes."
"Even if you had, would you have told me?" Steve questioned. "Or would you have compartmentalized that too?" His glare never left Nick. "SHIELD, HYDRA….it all goes."
"He's right." Maria chimed in, shocking Fury.
"The corruption runs far too deep." Adora added. Catra just nodded in agreement, as did Natasha.
Fury looked up at Sam as well, who just deadpanned. "Don't look at me. I just do what he does, only slower."
Fury seemed genuinely upset at this turn of events, and took a deep breath. "Well…" he began, sighing heavily, "Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."
Adora smirked, looking over at Steve. "Alright dad, what's the plan."
To Be Continued…
This one was a long time coming. I initially intended for Adora and Catra to have a longer fight with Bucky, but eventually realized it just would not fit into the story. I did however fully intend to have Natasha reveal her relation to Adora this chapter, and I hope I did the scene justice.
We're almost done with Winter Soldier. Only one chapter to go.
I do not own She-Ra or the MCU
Please don't hesitate to leave a Review if you enjoyed the chapter.
NEXT TIME: Broken Shield