Yakovna Family Home, Location: Novosibirsk, Russia
I pulled out my phone to see the little dot labeled 'Mom' on it. Currently, it was at home. Great. With a sigh, I swallowed the bile in my throat and approached the door, knocking. One of the cars was missing meaning my father wasn't home.
Good. I didn't want to have to speak with that bastard anyway. "Секундочку!" My mother called from inside. I fidgeted with the coin in my pocket as I waited for the door to open. The door creaked open, revealing my mother, who looked a lot different than the last time I saw her.
Her curly hair, which was always down and to her collarbone, was now longer and tied up in a bun. Her overall face just looked more tired, with bags under her eyes and lines around her face. Her eyes widened when she saw me, standing there looking pretty damn awkward on her front porch. "Iva?" She breathed. "Мать," I greeted, a slight edge to my voice.
"Oh, I thought you were dead! When we got home there was blood and we couldn't find you anywhere! Oh, you're so big!" She exclaimed, moving to hug me. "Hi, Mom. I heard about what happened to..." I trailed off, and she grimaced. "Why are you here? Why now? You've been alive all this time, and you never bothered to tell us!" She shouted, turning angry now. Yeah, that was the thing about my mom. She could go from ecstatic to livid in .2 seconds.
"Well, I was under the impression you didn't want me anymore! Don't think I didn't see that check, that big fat check, on dad's desk!" I snarled, and she looked stunned. "What check?" She asked, confused. "That check, from the Red Room, that was on Dad's desk the night before I was kidnapped. Or did he just lie to you, like he lies to everyone around him?" I snapped, before running a hand down my face. "Anyways, that's not why I'm here--I need a favor," I admitted, sticking my hand back in my pocket. "What do you need?" She asked.
"Do you still have Granddad's old gear?"
-
"Hey guys, sorry this took so long. My mom's real sentimental about Granddad's Howling Commando stuff. That and...we hit a few road bumps on the way," I said, pushing open the gate and walking over, gear in hand. "Asya and Trip were generous enough to offer up some of their granddads' old spy tech to help us out, so we should systematically take a full inventory of ev--oh, my god. Is that a handheld Hypno-beam?" Coulson asked, picking up one of the objects. "One of the original betas. See how it has the switch on the bottom?" I said, pointing at the activating switch.
"The production models moved it to the side. This is amazing. Almost as cool as a..." Coulson marveled. "Transistorized Blast Gun," we said in sync, looking at each other before laughing. "Ha, ha, okay. You three can get a room later, but we have a plane to catch," Skye said, as the back of my neck heated up. "Where did they buy this stuff, from the back of a comic book?" She asked, picking up one of the gadgets. "Come on, girl, that's not really a joy buzzer, that's a--" Trip started as she pressed the button, taking out the lamps.
"E.M.P. Knocks power out in about a ten-foot radius," Trip finished. "Yep. A lot of vintage S.H.I.E.L.D. spycraft was designed to look innocent in case a spy was caught. Like, um...okay. One of these smokes," Fitz said, pulling out a laser cigarette and activating it, pretending to smoke it. "Oh, Coulson, you're gonna love this one--this is the Zip-Line Gun my Granddad used when they raided that final HYDRA base in Siberia, and when they captured Zola," I said, pulling it out. Coulson took it, looking it over. "Yeah, he would spill these all over the carpet and tell me stories about the missions he used them on," I admitted.
"Thanks, Trip, Asya. This is a huge help. Gives us a fighting chance against these bad guys," there was a woosh, and the smoke alarm went off. Fitz had managed to set the curtain on fire, and he quickly turned off the laser cigarette. "Oh, Fitz," Simmons sighed. I went over, beating the flames out.
"Watch out, HYDRA. Here we come,"
-
"Score one for the Howling Commandos. Your grandpa's pin should help me locate Cybertek's mainframe," Skye said. "I didn't know they had Wi-Fi back in the day," Trip said. "They didn't. That's the beauty of the pin. It uses UHF to search for data. Nobody's even scanning those frequencies for potential leaks. That's weird. I'm not finding any digital data about anything, let alone a source. How is that possible?" Skye asked. "Maybe it's protected. Or...insulated somewhere inside?" I suggested.
"Guys, just keep them busy for a minute longer," I said, radioing Fitz-Simmons. "Here we go. Building permits Cybertek's filed in the city. There's something funky about the fourth floor. Only one way in or out. Extra-reinforced security door," Skye said. "That's gotta be it, right?" I pulled out my radio. "Coulson, May, can you get to the fourth floor?" I radioed. "Skye, I think I know why you couldn't find the mainframe. There isn't one," Coulson said.
"What do you mean, there isn't one?" I asked. "All the files are hard copies," he admitted. "Skye, Asya, Trip, get ready for a large file transfer," Coulson warned. "How large?" A window shattered, a filing cabinet thudding to the ground. Fitz-Simmons hauled it into the back while Trip secured a zipline that May and Coulson slid down.
I slid into the driver's seat, switching to drive, and as soon as the back doors were closed and everyone was secure, we peeled off onto the main road, fleeing the scene.
-
"Garrett started Project Deathlok way back in 1990. Look at this. He was Patient Zero," Coulson said. We were back at the motel, pouring over the recovered files. "We've been looking at all this backward. Garrett doesn't just want GH-325 for his Centipede Soldiers. He wants it for himself, so he can become whole again. And if he happens to create an army of programmed Super Soldiers for HYDRA along the way, it's a triple Yahtzee," I said, tossing my file onto the table. "How do we know Garrett didn't do that to Ward, too? Maybe he's being programmed," Fitz tried.
"Fitz, when are you going to stop clinging to the idea that Ward's the victim and not the perpetrator?" Simmons asked. "When I see something that tells me I shouldn't with my own two eyes. We don't know all the facts," Fitz defended. "You want a fact, Fitz? Ward murders people. I should have let Mike finish him when I had the chance. I'm stupid and...weak," Skye spat. "You weren't weak. You had compassion. That's harder. We'll find him," Coulson said. "Pizza delivery for Pablo Jimenez?" A pizza boy said, coming inside the fence.
"That's me," Coulson said, going over and accepting the food before pulling out his wallet. "Damnit, I'm a few bills short, Anyone have any extra cash on them?" Coulson asked, and I pulled out my wallet, looking inside to see Rubles staring back at me. "All I've got are Rubles," I admitted, snapping my wallet closed. Eventually, we tracked down a few loose bills and paid for the food. "Why do you have Rubles in your wallet?" Coulson asked, taking a bit of his food.
"Uh, I went to Russia to get the Commando gear. Would've gone to Huntsville, but I needed the gear, not its owner," I shrugged. "Huntsville? Huntsville, Alabama?" Trip asked. "The very one. My mom and uncle grew up there," I admitted.
-
Location: Havana, Cuba
"Because we had to fly in low, we'll have to search for our plane on the ground. Fitz-Simmons, you have the maps. Do not engage under any circumstances. If you find the Bus, call us and stand down or come back here and wait," Coulson ordered. "We'll be careful. Understood, sir," the two scientists said at the same time.
-
"We're too late. They're gone," Coulson said. "They knew we were coming," May said. "I'm not sure everyone's gone. Something's generating a lot of volts in there," Skye muttered as Trip got into the driver's seat. "Yeah?" Coulson said, picking up when his phone rang. "We're on our way. How far is that from our location?... Get out of there, right now. Do not engage, wait for us back at the Jump Jet. Garrett's leaving," Coulson said, snapping his phone shut. "We have to at least try and get over there," May said.
"Or not. We still have this little puppy. If there's a computer system in that barbershop, we don't have to chase him anymore. We just plug it in, we wake up the Trojan Horse, and we're off to the races," Skye said. "Worth a shot," Trip shrugged. "Let's go, then,"
-
"Skye, where are the computers?" May asked. "I'm working on it," Skye mumbled. "Trip, Asya, anything in your grandad's kits that might help us out here?" Coulson asked. "Always. Let me take a look," I said, holstering my pistol. I pulled off my pack, digging through it until I found a scanner.
Smirking, I turned it on and used it to scan the room, looking for a computer. "Over here. There's something behind this wall. Okay, I got something," I said, turning it off and setting it down. "Secret door? I got this. They're like my thing," I drew my pistol as a lock clicked and the door slid open. "Finally," Skye muttered. There was a trill, something glowing orange in the dark.
"It's a Centipede Soldier,"
a/n Since today is Tom Hiddleston's birthday, I decided to treat y'all to an extra update. The upload schedule will remain the same.