Code Name: Untraceable

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Line They Don't Cross

Val stood at the center of the command room like she was daring someone to breathe wrong.

Tablet in hand. Expression locked somewhere between deeply unimpressed and seconds from fury.

"Alright. Since none of you seem capable of telling me where Bob Reynolds is-"

Yelena raised her hand. "Alexei said he was pooping. he was honest."

Val ignored her.

"-I'll just trace his signal myself."

Ava stepped forward. "You can't."

Val's gaze shifted. "Excuse me?"

"He has a dampener on," Ava added coolly. "One of mine."

"Why?" Val asked sharply.

"Why not?" Yelena countered. "You're tracking all of us all the time. Bob deserves one day of peace."

Val turned to Bucky. "Barnes. You've got the highest clearance here. Where is he?"

Bucky didn't blink. "Nowhere you need to be."

Val's nostrils flared.

John cracked his knuckles. "If Bob wanted you to find him, he'd light up the sky like a firework. He hasn't. That's on purpose."

"He could be compromised."

"He's not," Ava said instantly.

"You don't know that."

"We do," Yelena said. "We're his team. You're not."

Val stared at them.

Five Thunderbolts. United. Standing between her and the one person they all underestimated until now.

"He's with someone," Val said slowly. "Isn't he."

No one answered.

But none of them broke.

"If you trace him," Yelena said, "you'll have to go through us first."

Val's jaw clenched. "You're protecting him from me now?"

John smiled. "Looks like."

Val stared at them one last time. Cold. Calculating.

Then she turned on her heel and left the room without another word.

As the door hissed shut behind her, Alexei exhaled and said, "She is terrifying."

Yelena nodded. "And Bob is worth it."