Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 31 - Downfalls

Instead of targeting people, the count went down to three. The Helicarriers were targeting themselves. The weapons capable of mass execution would, in the end, destroy themselves. And they did. The big ships began firing at each other, fire and smoke erupting from them. It was poetic, really.

The four people in the room turned to watch the destruction. It was the end of an era. SHIELD would be buried, along with HYDRA.

Pierce had a sour look on his face, not at all pleased with the destruction of the Helicarries. "What a waste."

"So, you still on the fence about Rogers' chances?" Romanoff asked him sarcastically.

Pierce took this as his sign to move. "Time to go, Councilwoman. This way. Come on." He stressed. Even when having full control over the Black Widow's life, he was still wary of touching her, so he just gestured her towards the exit. "You're going to fly me out of here. And Topaz, make sure that he doesn't live to see the end of the day." He added, pointing towards Fury.

With shaking legs, she managed to stand up but not before grasping one of the guns that lay on the floor. Her arm was hanging limply by her side though and she doubted that she'd be much of a threat to the Director, even when the man had one arm in a sling, in her current state. It was amazing how much electricity tired out the muscles, and she felt weak. Really weak, and useless. She had failed to neutralize the Black Widow, not once, but twice now. And the consequences of her failure would be dire, she knew that.

Fury, however, didn't seem keen to just let Pierce slip away. "You know, there was a time I would've taken a bullet for you." He stated, not even turning around to watch as the party of two was leaving.

Pierce turned around for the briefest moment with a satisfied expression on his face. "You already did. And you will again when it's use-" The rest of the man's sentence was cut off as Romanoff went down to the floor with a sizzling sound, her pin breaking. Pierce looked at his phone in horror, realizing that his hold over the woman was gone.

Two gunshots echoed through the room, and Pierce was sent flying through the glass by the force of the bullets.

While Fury rushed to Romanoff's side, trying to revive her, Topaz stumbled over to Pierce. The man had a small cut on his cheek, and she quickly pressed her hands over the two bullet holes in the man's chest, the gun still between her fingers. "Orders, sir?" She stressed. She had no idea what to do if Pierce died. The man's mouth opened and closed, like a fish on dry land, but no words came out. She knew she couldn't let Fury escape, but what about Black Widow?

And what about herself? What would happen to her? Would she fall into Krieger's care again? Or would HYDRA decide they didn't need her anymore now when they were out of the shadows?

From behind her, she could hear Romanoff groan. "Ow. Those really do sting." It seemed like one of the discs was just enough to knock a regular human out.

With a last effort, Pierce managed to whisper two simple words. "Hail HYDRA." Topaz put two fingers on the side of the man's neck, but no pulse was beating. The man was dead. She withdrew her hands and watched the blood coating them. It was fascinating how the red liquid was one of the key elements to survival.

"Keira." The soft voice of Romanoff spoke from behind her.

Topaz turned around, still sitting by Pierce's lifeless body. "Why do you keep calling me Keira? That's not my name." She glanced out of the big windows, and destruction was a fact. The Helicarriers were falling out of the sky, probably causing disruption below.

She felt... conflicted. Her new orders were to make sure that Fury didn't leave the building alive, but to what end? Pierce was dead, and was there truly a point in obeying orders if her commander was dead? HYDRA's secrets were leaked, and who knew what damage had done to the organization at large?