Chapter One: Another One Bites the Dust
Oxfordshire, England
The small, two-story house was about the only thing that could be seen for miles in the English countryside. Otherwise, it was peaceful, rolling hills of grass and untouched land. The house itself wasn't very remarkable to look at from the outside, being little more than four walls of dull, gray bricks, some windows, and a roof nobody had painted in years. If one were to pass by it, they'd likely assume it belonged to some recluse that wanted to be away from everyone else in the world.
In a way, they were right.
The house had long served as one of Hydra's research facilities in the United Kingdom. Despite appearing small, the house had been built with a rather large underground basement, which Hydra used for weapons testing. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't one of Hydra's most important bases, being in the middle of nowhere and all, but its existence wasn't even hinted at in any database, meaning it was a good safe house in case the you-know-what hit the fan. Which was basically what had happened when Project Insight had failed, and most of Hydra's secrets had been leaked onto the internet.
That fact didn't help them now, as they were currently under attack.
The Hydra agents had attempted to seal the blast doors to the basement as soon as the alarm came through, but they were jammed open by a familiar red, white, and blue shield. An arrow tipped with a flash bang grenade came through the open entrance about one second later, and everyone inside was blinded. That gave the Avengers all the opening they needed.
Steve was the first inside, yanking his shield out from between the doors before hurling it into a thug, where it bounced off and hit another, and then another. One of the Hydra agents, who happened to have his eyes closed when the arrow detonated, tried to raise his weapon, a mix of a semi-automatic rifle and a Chitauri laser staff, only to be silenced by one of Natasha's bullets to the head. He crumpled like tissue paper.
Clint was next, rolling through and avoiding a bullet that zoomed over his head. As he went, he notched an arrow, and once he came to a stop, he fired in the direction the bullet had come from, hitting a Hydra agent with an electric arrow. Two more attempted to charge him from behind, but Natasha stepped between them, and rammed both taser batons into their stomachs. With a zap, they were unconscious.
"Thanks for the save, Nat," said Clint, firing another two arrows. "Though I would've been fine without it."
"Sure you would've," replied the redhead with her usual smirk. She grappled into another thug, shocking him with her widow's bite. "You'd be doomed without me and you know it."
"Stay focused, kids," added Steve, as he blocked another energy weapon with his shield. "We're here for a purpose, remember?". His smile betrayed his real feelings, though. He hurled his shield at the offender, both knocking her out cold and splitting her gun in half.
The head scientist, Dr. Grant, swallowed nervously as the three Avengers continued to decimate Hydra's forces. It didn't take a genius to figure out who was gonna come out on top. Grant decided to make his escape while they were busy, and began to run towards the emergency exit. Before he could reach it, a sharp pain pierced his right calf, he screamed, and fell forwards onto his front. A quick glance behind him confirmed that, yes, there was an arrow lodged in his leg.
"Sorry, pal," came Hawkeye's voice from across the room. "We need to have a little discussion with you."
Grant let out a long moan of agony, as another Hydra member went flying backwards into the wall, propelled by Captain America's fist. Hydra's luck had gone from bad to worse in the few months since the fall of Shield. Captain America and his allies had been steadily picking off Hydra's bases all over the world, and showed no signs of stopping. The primary base still remained unfound, but who knew how long that would be the case.
Finally, the last of Hydra's soldiers fell when Natasha gave him a roundhouse kick to the head, sending him into the floor. A quick glance around confirmed that none of them were getting up, so Steve, Natasha, and Clint all strolled up to Dr. Grant.
"Took us quite a bit of interrogation to find this place," commented the Black Widow. "As a result, I'm in an exceptionally bad mood. If I were you, I'd tell us exactly what we want to know, without making us push."
"I'll never tell you a thing!" spat Grant. "'Cut off one head, two more—'"
Clint notched another arrow, pointing it at Grant's other calf. "You want a sharp poke in the other leg, you finish that stupid saying."
That shut Grant up.
"Now," Steve began, "we're looking for Strucker's base of operations. We'd like to know where it is."
"I don't know, I swear!" insisted Dr. Grant. "He kept it buried in case you took down lower Hydra bases. Even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn't! You can check our computer network, I'll give you the password, but I bet it isn't in there, either."
"Natasha?" asked Steve.
The Black Widow reached down with one hand, seizing Grant by the neck. She pulled him upwards so she could look him straight in the eyes while he trembled. She narrowed her own eyes, digging into her brain.
"He's telling the truth," she finally announced. "Sorry, boys, but it looks like this is another dead end."
"Crud," added Clint. "Well, maybe we can get something off the computers, What's the password?"
Grant gave it (#tim6pw21), and Natasha shut his eyes with a swift punch to the forehead. Clint made a quick call to the proper authorities, letting them know the goons had been defeated and disarmed, and it was safe to come in and pick them up. Steve's ringtone went off, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. The caller ID didn't surprise him.
"Hey, Tony!" he said. "We already took care of the base. We're gonna do some digging to find out whatever they were trying to hide here."
"Lucky you, Cap," came the enthusiastic voice of Tony Stark from the phone. "The suits are almost finished, so Bruce, Thor, and I will be able to join you on the next one. Should make things easier. Any word on Strucker's whereabouts?"
"The head doctor claims they didn't know anything," replied Steve. "Natasha's sure he was telling the truth. We're digging into their files right now. I'll let you know if we find anything good."
"Sounds like a plan. Take care of yourself, Steve. Tony Stark out." Then he hung up.
"Did he say when our missing half will be able to join us?" asked Clint. Steve turned to see that the two former Shield agents had logged into the nearby computer console, and were going through the files.
"By the time we find another base, it seems," Steve answered, simply. "It'll be nice to have the whole team together for the first time since New York." He lifted his shield over his head and attached it to his back. "Anything promising in there? Maybe the location of another base?"
"Nothing we didn't already know, so far," Natasha confirmed. "They were experimenting with a lot of Chitauri tech, but most of it went to Strucker. No word on the location of Loki's scepter. Wait, hold on...there's something here." Her eyebrows shot upwards. "Looks like they were trying to track a potential meta down."
"One of their test subjects escaped and went rogue?" asked Clint.
"No, they just learned about this one. Looks like a lower agent witnessed someone with unusual abilities. No word on who or what, but they were definitely looking into it."
"Sounds like a good place to go next," said Steve. "Where's this supposed meta?"
"Arendal, Norway."
Arendal, Norway
The woman walking up the sidewalk was clearly trying her best to blend in. She wore a navy blue jacket with her hands comfortably placed in her pockets, sunglasses over her eyes, and a blue hat over her head, with only a few blond hairs emerging from beneath it. An ice-white scarf was wrapped around the lower half of her face, leaving it obscured. She looked straight ahead, not making eye contact with anyone, even through the glasses. If someone got in the way of the path she was taking, she simply walked around them. Most people recognized that she wanted to be left alone, and so extended that courtesy to her without complaint. This suited her just fine.
Elsa couldn't recall the last time she'd had a truly open conversation with somebody. Living for over one-hundred and fifty years tended to do that to people, especially when they hadn't expected to live that long in the first place. So, with practiced ability, she attempted to make herself invisible in the crowds as she approached her destination. It usually worked, although it pained her to be so alone. She couldn't think of an alternative that didn't put people in danger, though.
Finally, she reached the cemetery. It was a quant location, especially in the daytime, when there were no shadows moving about that would startle you. The wind picked up a little due to the lack of buildings around, but she didn't mind. The cold held no sway over her. Elsa walked up a short pathway, until she reached a particular tombstone, and took off her sunglasses. It was larger than most, befitting of a queen, and the words inscribed on it almost brought a tear to Elsa's eyes.
Queen Anna Hauge of Arendeelle
There was no quote or fancy epitaph, which was the way she would've wanted it. Anna was not one for big dramatic gestures. On the day that she'd died, Elsa had been in England, and she'd only heard of the death three days later. It broke her heart.
In the aftermath of the eternal winter she'd set off, then fixed, Elsa's first few decades as queen had been peaceful and happy. But then, people started to notice something. Namely, Elsa wasn't aging. It was like she'd frozen her body sometime in her twenties and never thawed it. Elsa herself noticed that her face was always the same when she looked into the mirror. No wrinkles, gray hair, or anything. Even at the age of fifty, she still hadn't changed.
At first, nobody seemed to mind. Then came the whispers of dark magic or some kind of anti-aging spell woven in Elsa's magic. Nobody could ever prove anything, naturally, but unrest and fear began to grow in the kingdom. There were claims that Elsa was sucking the youth out of her citizens, that she was a witch, that she had more powers than the ice ones she'd displayed so far. Nothing ever came of it, but Elsa could see the seeds of anger growing in her citizens. So she and Anna worked out a plan.
One night, Anna announced to the people that Queen Elsa had died in her sleep, and that she and Kristoff would rule from then on. Elsa created an icy duplicate of herself so they would have something to bury. Meanwhile, the real Elsa had boarded a ship bound for Spain, and had fled Arendelle. Since then, the Snow Queen had drifted from place to place, changing her name every few years. She and Anna had kept in touch through letters, though this had been slow. Elsa still had the letters, though she could hardly bring herself to read them anymore. She'd only returned to the place that had once been called Arendelle six months ago.
"Hey, Sis," she finally said. "I know I haven't visited in a while. I try to come as often as I can, but life gets in the way. I'm sure you understand. You were always so good at understanding me."
She looked down at her feet. Not for the first time, she wondered if coming here was a bad idea. It wasn't that she wanted to forget her younger sister. Quite the opposite, in fact. If she forgot Anna, she'd never forgive herself. It was more so that she didn't want to expose herself for what she was, and coming here made it harder for her to keep her emotions in check. That little stunt she'd done the previous night had been a risk, but she couldn't just walk away and let people get hurt.
"I saved someone again, a few nights ago," she continued. "Nothing Avengers level, just a mugging. I know what you're thinking. 'Elsa, why don't you talk to the Avengers? They'd be lucky to have you!'" Elsa smiled at the thought. "But it's not that simple. It never is for us. It's not like I'm unhappy. Still, maybe I should move again. I've been in town for six months, that's a record over the past five years."
A single tear dripped down Elsa's face, and it immediately froze and plummeted. Elsa flinched at the sight. She was no longer terrified of her powers inadvertently killing someone, but even after all these years, that habit was hard to break. She barely lost control anymore, so it frightened her when she did.
"What else has been going on with me? Not much, admittedly. Work at the bookshop has been going alright. Oh, and the whole 'Captain America and Black Widow Reveal that Hydra Infiltrated Shield Over the Past Seventy Years' thing. Part of me almost wishes I'd been in America to see that for myself." She lovingly touched the surface of the tombstone with one hand. "I have to go now, but I promise I'll visit again before I leave town. I love you, Anna."
Then she replaced her glasses over her eyes, turned on one heel, and walked away.