Quinjet
Mid afternoon
The ramp lowered before Sam flew in, holding Bruce as he did. As Sam set Bruce down, Rhodey and Vision flew in as well.
"Nice to see you boys," Natasha quipped from where she and Steve stood watching as the ramp closed.
"Not just us," Rhodey said as he lifted his face plate. "Brought a little help."
From inside Rhodey's suit, Scott jumped out before enlarging himself and lifting his face plate.
"Hey guy," Scott said in greeting.
"Scott, good to see you," Natasha greeted.
"Thanks for coming, we could use all the help we can get," Steve said and Scott nodded.
"Yeah, from the sounds of its, it's time to deal with those Hydra assassins," Scott noted and Steve and Natasha exchanged a look. "What?"
"Has something else happened?" Vision inquired.
"Yeah. Yeah, you could say that," Steve said, wondering where to start. "Before we get to Siberia, it's important you know exactly what we're getting into."
In the cockpit, Clint and Wanda were sitting in silence as Clint headed towards Siberia. Finally, Clint spoke.
"So, you and Barnes," Clint said casually and Wanda rolled her eyes.
"Steve owes me twenty dollars. I bet you wouldn't bring it up until after Siberia," Wanda said and Clint chuckled.
"I'm unpredictable like that," Clint quipped before growing serious. "So…you like him?"
"I think so. I'm still getting to know him, and our conversations up until now have been me using my powers to take his mind of his nightmares. Hopefully, once this is over…we can really get to know each other," Wanda said and Clint nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Does he like you?"
"He says he does. But I don't know. I guess I'll see," Wanda said with a deep sigh.
"Well, just know if he hurts you, Winter Soldier or not, I'll kill him," Clint said seriously and Wanda smiled at him in amusement.
"So let me get this straight, Ross is Hydra?" Sam asked in disbelief as the Avengers stood in the main part of the Quinjet.
"Not sure why I'm surprised," Bruce muttered.
"I'm more worried about the fact he knows about the other Winter Soldiers," Rhodey pointed out. "Can he control them?"
"Even if Ross doesn't know, Zemo knew how to control Bucky, he might know how to control them too," Steve pointed out.
"How dangerous are these other Winter Soldiers?" Bruce asked uneasily.
"They were Hydra's most elite Death Squad, more kills than anyone else in Hydra history. And that was before the Serum. Whatever I did in my time as The Winter Soldier, I was nothing compared to them," Bucky said grimly. "They speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight. Infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize, they could take a whole country down in one night and you'd never see them coming."
"And now Ross might be able to use them. Great," Tony said sarcastically.
"Clint, how far out are we?" Natasha asked as she turned her head to the cockpit.
"At least another twenty minutes at top speed," Clint called back.
"We'll just have to hope that we get there before Ross has a chance to do anything. But if we're not, we need to do whatever we can to stop them," Steve said grimly. "But we need Ross alive. So Bruce, Clint, no kill shots. We have too much ridding on this."
Siberia
Not long after
After landing outside the bunker on a chopper, Ross watched as Zemo hacked away the ice on the door before opening the panel and entering the code. Once the door opened, Ross and Zemo entered the bunker. Walking down the corridor, they emerged at the end of the hall and entered the chamber with the frozen Winter Soldiers. Ross smirked before taking the book from Zemo.
"Unfreeze them, one at a time," he ordered.
Less than ten minutes later, the Quinjet set down outside the bunker, next to the chopper, which they all noticed immediately.
"So much for getting here first," Clint muttered.
"We knew this was a possibility. It doesn't change the mission. Bruce, you stay here. Without Hulk-"
"I'm a liability, I know," Bruce interrupted Steve with a sigh.
"No, you're the last line of defense," Steve said, surprising Bruce. "If we fail to stop the Winter Soldiers, use the Quinjet's weapon system to take them out. Even they can't survive a missile. The rest of us, time to move out."
And then it was time. Bucky grabbed a rifle as Natasha and Sam readied their guns. Tony and Rhodey put on their suits while Wanda clenched her hands into fists. Clint grabbed his bow as Scott shrunk down, climbing onto Clint's shoulder while Steve grabbed is shield, clenching it tightly as he narrowed his eyes, all of them knowing what was coming.
The group made their way into the bunker, slowly heading down.
"Picking up a few heat signatures," Tony warned.
"How many?" Steve asked.
"Seven."
"Well, we know he woke them up then," Bucky muttered. "Stay sharp. You have no idea what they're capable of."
"You're right, Soldier," Ross's voice rang out as they entered the chamber.
Light suddenly flooded the room, revealing Ross, Zemo, and the Winter Soldiers, all but Ross staring at the Avengers with a blank look on their faces.
"I'm afraid you're too late," Ross said with a smug smirk.
"We'll see about that," Clint said stonily, gripping his bow tightly as he glared at Ross.
"It's over, Ross. You're not getting out of this bunker with them," Steve said and Ross laughed.
"Unfortunately for you, you can't stop me, Captain. You'll be too dead," Ross said before turning to the Winter Soldiers. "Kill them."
The battle was on then. Almost faster than the rest could blink, the Winter Soldiers had rushed forward, intending on attacking them. Steve threw his shield as Tony, Rhodey, Natasha and Bucky opened fire, using missiles, repulse beams and bullets respectively. To the disbelief of all five, the Winter Soldiers managed to dodge the attacks.
Rhodey's missile hit a tank, which promptly blew up. Wanda used her powers, making sure the wreckage caused by the explosion didn't hit her or her teammates while one of the Soldiers threw the shield back at Steve. Steve caught it on the return as the Soldier rushed forward, attempting to strike Steve. Steve used his shield to block the blow before grabbing the Soldier, whirling around and tossing it away. Tony then fired two clips, which clamped around the Soldier's feet and hands.
While the fighting was going on, Ross directed Zemo to get them out of them, which Clint spotted. Clint notched an arrow and fired, the arrow exploding into pieces before it ever reached Ross.
But the arrow had done what Clint intended, as Scott, shrunken down, grabbed onto the back of Zemo's shirt.
Steve used his shield to block a blow from one of the soldiers, grunting as he was backed up before he ducked, removing his shield. As the Soldier stumbled forward, Steve emerged and struck the Soldier in the back of the head with his shield. Hard enough to knock him out, but not to kill. As the Solider went down, Steve turned, knowing it was unlikely the rest of the Soldiers would go down so easy.
Natasha was trading blows with a female Soldier, attempting to use her Widow's Bite when she was grabbed by the throat and slammed onto the ground. Natasha futilely tried to free herself, gasping as the Soldier tightened her grip, trying to break Natasha's neck when The Soldier was surrounded by red energy. She grunted, trying to free herself as Wanda forced her to release Natasha and backed her up before sending a powerful blast of energy that sent her crashing into the wall.
"Thanks," Natasha said as she got up, messaging her throat.
"Thank me when we beat her," Wanda said as the Soldier got back up.
Rhodey was using his Sonic Cannon to hold a Soldier at bay as, behind him, Bucky was engaging the last Soldier. Bucky tried to strike him but the Soldier grabbed his metal arm, pulling it down. Bucky grunted, trying to fight back but the Soldier was stronger. He smirked at Bucky, beginning to push Bucky to the ground when a repulsor beam struck the Soldier in the back. He let Bucky go; grunting in pain before Bucky swooped up, striking the Soldier in the face with his metal arm hard enough to send the Soldier flying.
"Thanks," Bucky told Tony, who merely nodded before shooting two clamps around the Soldier's legs and arms, restraining them.
Outside the chamber, Zemo was leading Ross out when suddenly, Zemo was wrapped in iron cables and dropped to his side, unable to move. Zemo and Ross were confused until Scott enlarges and pulled out a gun, aiming at Ross.
"Mr. Secretary, you're under arrest," Scott said and Ross smirked at him.
"I don't think so, Mr. Lang."
Before Scott could blink, Ross had disarmed him, grabbed the gun and Scott found himself on the ground, Ross standing over him and aiming a gun.
"I was trained in the military. You think some would be Robin Hood is going to stop me?" Ross asked smugly.
An arrow then flew out of nowhere, striking the gun and disarming Ross, to the surprise of both.
"I guess the military isn't up to the standards it was when I was in it," Clint said as he walked over, aiming an arrow at Ross.
Steve was trading blows with one of the remaining Soldiers when Sam flew up from behind, wrapping a wire around the man's body, restraining him. However, the Soldier easily broke free and grabbed the wire, pulling Sam like a doll. Sam was sent crashing into some debris as Steve rushed the Soldier, trying to strike him with his shield. The Soldier reached up and grabbed the shield, blocking it with a smirk. With a kick to the abdomen, the Soldier sent Steve flying into another pile of Debris.
Now with Steve's shield, the Soldier began approaching Steve when a wire shot out, attaching itself to the shield. Sam then flew into the air, attempting to take the shield. The Soldier yanked on the other end of the wife, yank and Sam was sent crashing into the ground but not before he gave another yank and the shield was thrown across the room, landing in front of Natasha.
Natasha picked it up, using it to block a strike from the female Soldier. Using the shield to block the Soldier's blows, Natasha then used her Widow's Bite, which struck its mark. As expected, it pained the Soldier but didn't take them down. But a beam of energy from behind them did, sending the Soldier flying. She struck the wall before falling to the ground, out cold. Natasha nodded at Vision before throwing the shield back to Steve, who caught it before using it to block another blow from his own opponent.
Using the shield to block any strikes from The Soldier, Steve sent a series of punches to the face, backing the Soldier up against some debris before smashing the shield against his chest. The Solider let out a grunt of pain before Steve grabbed him by his arm and slamming onto the ground before punching him in the face hard enough to knock him out.
"You really need that to take me? Go ahead, kill me. You just prove me right, that the Avengers need to be controlled," Ross taunted Clint, who smiled unpleasantly.
"Hard to believe we didn't know who you were before this," Clint said before, to the surprise of Ross and Scott, tossing his bow to the ground. "I don't need that to stop you. Scott, make sure Zemo doesn't get loose."
As Scott turned his attention to Zemo, who was still restrained, Clint rushed Ross, the two military men beginning to trade blows.
As Rhodey used his sonic canon to pin the last Soldier down, Wanda and Vision both sent a blast of energy at the Soldier, which sent him flying. The blow sent The Soldier crashing into the wall before he fell down to the floor, out cold.
"Well, that's all of them," Tony noted when Natasha noted something.
"Where are Clint and Scott?"
Clint and Ross were continuing to trade blows, Clint backing Ross up against the wall. Seeing a flash of silver, Clint only realized what Ross was about to do at the last second and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the knife. Ross tried to strike him with the knife once more but Clint dodged before grabbing Ross's arm and elbowing him in the chest. Ross let out an 'oof' as he loosened his grip on the knife. Clint disarmed him, taking the knife from Ross before tackling Ross.
They ended up on the ground, Clint pinning Ross down as he inched the knife closer to Ross's neck, rage blinding him momentarily, his only thoughts about how Ross had come after his family and Wanda.
"Hey, hey Clint! Stop! I thought the plan was to bring him in alive!" Scott shouted as he saw what Clint was about to do.
Scott's shout broke through Clint's rage. Clint paused, taking a deep breathe, refocusing his thoughts. Killing Ross would not solve anything but his vendetta. He needed to put aside his need for vengeance.
"You're not getting off that easy," Clint said gruffly, removing the knife from Ross's neck and tossing it down below. "You're finally gonna face justice for everything you've done."
"We'll see about that. Your family will never be safe as long as I'm alive, Barton," Ross egged him on and Clint stared at him for a long moment.
"Maybe, maybe not. But it's not just about me and family," Clint said with a sigh.
Clint forced Ross to his feet and Scott breathed a sigh of relief as the others exited the chamber, taking in the scene.
"The Winter Soldiers down?" Clint asked as he saw them.
"And out," Tony said and Clint nodded.
"Good. Let's get them back on ice and get out of here. Sooner we turn him over to Talbot, the better," Clint said gruffly, hoping he wasn't about to put his family in more danger.
The fight scenes were a bit difficult to write and I tried to include everyone, but hope they were enjoyed.
And now Ross has been beaten. We'll have one more chapter wrapping up the Ross arc before we finally move on to the big stuff: Thanos.