Winter is Coming (A Female Winter Soldier/Avengers Story)

Hunted

Five years later

    Logan was sitting in the Avengers' common room, his head in his hands. He had just woken up from a new nightmare. Well, not new. It had been another version of the one he had been having for five years now, since Raven left. It was very early in the morning, but he knew he could never sleep again that night. He set about making breakfast for the team.

    Ever since Raven disappeared, he and Victor had joined the Avengers team, as had Rebel. She was like Natasha, only not as skilled. Rebel requested to join because she wanted to save the world and save Raven, should they find her. Logan, Victor, and the Hulk had just come back from a mission the night before trying to catch the Shadow Soldier, a new HYDRA asset. He had popped a few months after Raven went missing. So far, they hadn't had any luck trying to catch him.

    "Up so early?" Victor's voice asked from the kitchen entrance.

    Logan jumped and nearly dropped the skillet of bacon. He turned around and glared at his brother.

    "Don't do that. You almost made me drop the bacon," he groaned in annoyance.

    "Oh, no! Not the bacon!" Victor faked gasped, looking horrified.

    Logan rolled his eyes. He was younger than Victor, though he acted older than him. Victor tended to act like pouting child every now and then. Logan tended to be more mature and logical.

    "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to get started on breakfast," Logan said, changing the subject.

    Victor's mock horror disappeared in a flash.

    "Another nightmare?" he guessed.

    Logan sighed and nodded, setting the skillet on the stove and turning it to the right heat. Victor walked over and put a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. Logan turned to look at him with tear-filled eyes.

    "I miss her," Logan whispered.

    "I know. So do I," Victor told him gently.

    The two brothers stood there, with Logan silently crying into his older brother's chest as Victor held him tightly and tried not to cry himself. The sound of sizzling bacon broke them up, and Logan returned to his task of cooking, this time joined by Victor. A few minutes after five thirty, Steve and James walked in, setting the table and getting everyone up.

    Tony came up, grumbling about the time, while Natasha and Clint smirked at him. Bruce was yawning every now and then, but he wasn't complaining like Tony was. Everyone got settled in and started eating, the room quiet. It was too early for them to talk lively. Shortly after breakfast, Nick Fury walked in, his face angry.

    "The Shadow Soldier has struck again, going for another SHIELD transport. Everything was destroyed, and everyone dead. We intercepted one of the transmissions. The only words in English were 'kill Captain America,'" Fury said.

    There was silence around the table. Steve paled slightly. The Shadow Soldier was someone to be feared, as he was strong and fast. He was almost invisible in the night, which is when he did most of his missions. He carried all sorts of weapons from knives to guns to bombs. He never failed.

    But they didn't know one small fact: the Shadow Soldier was Raven Howlett.