CRUEL INTENTIONS, bucky barnes

sixteen

April 12, 2016

HYDRA Base

Munich, Germany

A knock came at the door and it swung open before Savannah had a chance to give the sweating agent permission to enter.

"We have updates from Berlin."

Savannah rose from the edge of her bed and narrowed her eyes at the scrawny, wide-eyed man standing before her. She clenched her fists and jammed them into the pockets of her jacket.

Hold it together, King. No reason to kill him before you have all the information.

"Confirmed that it's Rumlow," the young man said, a slight tremble in his voice. He winced when Savannah stepped forward, hands still in her pockets.

"No shit, it's Rumlow. I didn't need confirmation that it was him, I need confirmation—"

"The Ramos intel was good. I don't know where she got it—"

"It's not important where she got it from. Don't interrupt me." Savannah stopped a few feet away from him, well within the range of her pistol. "I need numbers, body count, and a reason. Shoot."

He didn't hesitate another moment, but his eyes struggled to come to rest on a single point in the room.

"Fifteen dead, more coming in. The numbers aren't solid yet. All Ramos said was that the whole surveillance team was... was wiped out." He was trembling harder now, his eyes cast completely away from Savannah. He spoke to the floor. "We don't even know if all of them are dead. All we know is that he definitely did something with them."

"The surveillance team." Savannah blew out a long breath through her nose. There was nothing but white noise in her ears. If the agent had responded to her, she wasn't sure she'd have heard him. "The Asset surveillance team."

"Y-Yes, Agent King." He took a few slow steps backward, one hand already reaching for the door. "That's what... That's what Ramos told us. Told me. She sent me up here to tell you. I'm—"

Savannah moved her gaze back to the pathetic man trying to escape her judgement and tilted her head. A smile crawled its way across her face as her mind began to clear. The panic of losing control subsided and her anger reinstated itself in full force.

"Is this some kind of feeble, don't shoot the messenger cry for mercy?" She drew her weapon and crossed the room at a brisk pace, just in time to pin him against the door he was trying to open enough to escape through. He let out a whimpering cry and tried to slip away from her, grasped for his own weapon, but halted his movements when Savannah planted the barrel of her gun under his chin. "That's just not my style, Agent."

"Please! Please... You asked for information, I gave it to you! I told you everything she passed along to us!" He squeezed his eyes shut as Savannah pressed the cold metal into his trembling chin. "This isn't me! This isn't my fault! Rumlow is doing this, not us! If you keep killing agents, you're just—"

"God, you just can't shut up." Savannah jerked away from him and pulled the door open before he had even stepped away. He stumbled into her and she gave him a harsh shove. "Get out."

"Yes, Agent—"

He went tumbling into the hallway, onto his feet, and sprinted to the end of the hall. Just as he scrambled to turn the corner, she raised her weapon, cocked it, and shot him between the shoulder blades.

As he collapsed into a screaming heap on the stained, beige carpet, rage and calm fought for dominance inside Savannah. The release of tension that came with a gunshot always left her feeling simultaneously satisfied and wanting more. This time, there wasn't a very long deliberation.

She stepped back into her room only to retrieve extra ammo and a second handgun. Hysteria had broken out on the floor above her, likely coming from the unsuspecting hotel guests that hadn't yet been taken out.

Savannah stepped in the middle of the man's back that she'd shot as she turned the corner. He didn't let out more than quiet groan, but for good measure, she fired two more bullets into his head. When she turned to continue down the hall, two more agents were frozen a few doors down.

"King—" One of them started, raising his arms in defense.

The other reached for his own weapon a moment too late.

"Sorry," Savannah said. She'd already pulled the trigger. "Not in the mood for conversation."

There was more trouble for her on the stairs—two women waiting for an ambush.

One hurled herself over the railing above Savannah, gun in hand, and the other came barreling down the stairs with a knife. Savannah dodged the falling agent and caught her in a vice-grip before she could find her feet.

"Thanks," Savannah hissed, before she twisted the woman's neck at a fast and unnatural angle.

Savannah shifted the now-limp and gurgling agent in her arms, took hold of the hand that still gripped her gun, and fired four shots into the second agent before she made it to the bottom of the stairs.

She took what she liked from their bleeding bodies and moved on.

By the time she made it to the next floor, chaos had broken out. Guests and agents alike alternated between fleeing and confronting her. Three separate men tried to disarm her and met unfortunate ends by way of the knife she'd lifted off from the dead woman on the stairs.

She unloaded a few more rounds into the heads and torsos of panicked guests peeking out of their hotel rooms, reloaded, and took out three more of her own agents before things went quiet.

"King!"

Savannah stopped short of the doorway that would take her to the next stairwell. She turned with a smile on her face and raised her weapon.

"Savannah. Stop this."

"Ah, Ramos," Savannah uttered. She turned her full focus to the tall woman standing at the end of the hall. "Do me a favor, won't you?"

"What are you doing? This isn't the way—"

Savannah turned her head away and wiped a streak of blood from her hand onto her jeans.

"Get ahold of Malveaux."

"I've been trying." Ramos took a step toward her, trying to reason with her. No reason here. Only killing. Only justice. "Ever since we caught on to what Rumlow's after, we've been trying to make contact."

"Fine. Then try again." Savannah nodded slowly and wiped the barrel of her gun on the hem of her t-shirt and tucked it into the pocket of her jacket. She traded it for a knife, which she would happily use on the next person to get in her way. "And when you get through to her, let her know I'm on my way."