CRUEL INTENTIONS, bucky barnes

seventeen

May 6, 2016

HYDRA Base

Munich, Germany 

"Eleven Wakandans were among those killed in a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries..."

"Victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all."

"They are operating outside of an above international law."

"What legal authority does an Enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeria?"

Savannah let out a long breath and clicked off the television. The lobby was full of agents pretending to eat breakfast and sip their coffee, but all of their eyes flicked between her and the television, their food untouched.

"Brock Rumlow is dead," she said coolly. No one moved. If anything, the room somehow fell even more silent. "Good. No one cares."

She rose from her chair and moved to the middle of the room, twirling the remote in her hands as she paced.

"If we thought things were bad for these freaks after Tony Stark's Ultron fiasco, this is their worst-case scenario. This is their undoing." She let out a snort of a laugh and turned the TV back on to flip through news stations displaying footage of the Nigeria incident. "The world is turning against them. Talking about how they need to be regulated. Stopped."

Savannah turned to face the room, unable to hide her smile.

"Destroyed."

"People have always said that," someone muttered. Savannah turned toward the voice to see Agent Ramos sitting up straight in her chair. Unafraid, cold, collected. A complete contrast from nearly every other red-faced, sweating agent in the room. "Ever since the Battle of New York, people have blamed them. This isn't new, King. Whatever you're getting at, it'll fail. We're not strong enough to try this right now."

Savannah smirked and took a few steps across the room toward Ramos.

"That's where you're wrong, I'm afraid."

She twirled the remote control a few more times in her hand before she turned off the TV and gently set it on the closest table.

"People have always said these things. These ideas aren't new, you're right. But this..." She gestured to the blank television screen. "This is the first time the world is saying it. Collectively."

"HYDRA isn't strong enough to try to take them down," Ramos said. Her chin was cocked upward in defiance. A warm burst of anger blossomed in the bit of Savannah's stomach, but she didn't do anything more than clench her fists. "Because that's all we could do. Try. And we'd fail. Without Pierce, without Rumlow, without the Asset, we don't have any meaningful direction. We don't have purpose."

"Oh, I'm hurt," Savannah mused, leaning heavily on the back of another agent's chair. "We have great direction. We are burdened with purpose. Now that the base in Berlin has fallen apart, they'll flock here. We'll be stronger. Strong enough to take out the freaks and retrieve the Asset. Then—"

"Our purpose is the Asset, then." Ramos stood from her seat and crossed her arms. "What happens when he resists you? When we don't have the resources or facilities to keep him subdued? He kills us all?"

Savannah scoffed. The room shifted. One collective shuffle of discomfort washed over the room of agents. She could practically hear them screaming at Ramos to stop if she wanted to live. She reveled in it.

"I will handle the Asset."

"Will you? Because you've had plenty of chances and you haven't handled any of them very well." She spread her arms and shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry. I know this is something you wanted. I know the Asset and HYDRA mean the world to you—"

Heat rushed to Savannah's face. Her right arm twitched, but she restrained herself from reaching for her gun. So many agents had died already. She needed to wait for another wave of them to come in before she started killing more.

"Don't make this sound sentimental. It's not. This is about a bigger picture. A better world—"

"We're all on board with that vision. We are all just as loyal to HYDRA as—"

Savannah couldn't control herself any longer. She drew her weapon and aimed squarely for the other woman's forehead. There wasn't any shuffling. Not even the sound of breath. If Savannah didn't know better, she might've thought she and Ramos were the only ones in the room.

"Don't," Savannah hissed. "Don't you dare tell me we're all equal here! That you're all just as loyal. What is that bullshit? Half of these people were recruits from S.H.I.E.L.D. and a quarter of them have continued to serve those parasites!"

"Savannah—"

She took a step forward, chest heaving. Her vision swam with stars as her anger reached a rolling boil.

"I have been coordinating surveillance on the Asset for over two years! Alone!" She was screaming now, waving her weapon wildly as she did. That was the only thing that made the other agents in the room flinch. "Don't tell me we're equals here. I have been putting in all the work and you can't even make contact with Malveaux."

Ramos looked rocked for a moment, as if she were confused by Savannah's statement or the direction of the conversation.

"Her phone is out of service, King. There's nothing I can do short of going there myself and dragging her back here."

"No need." Savannah cocked her weapon and took a step closer. "I'll do it myself."

It was the first time Ramos faltered. A moment too late, she drew her own weapon. Savannah had already pulled the trigger. The gunshot sent a wave of panic across the room. The agents surrounding her finally broke out of their daze and fled.

Instead of chasing them down or shooting them where they stood, Savannah stayed planted in the middle of the room and watched blood seep from Agent Ramos—the last symbol of resistance to her leadership. Savannah had let her survive as long as she could. Truthfully, she enjoyed some competition, some arguing, but the confrontation in front of all of her agents had been the last straw.

Ramos had made the mistake of trying to humanize Savannah, sympathize with her, define her feelings toward HYDRA and Barnes as something that was sentimental rather than tactical. She had to be eliminated. Inaction would only reinforce resistance, and that was unacceptable. Ramos had to go.

Malveaux and the Asset would be next. She would bring them back to HYDRA, dead or alive, in pieces or in body bags. Whatever it took to regain control, Savannah King would do it.