Bucky and Erik carefully moved through the corridors, guns in their hands. Wordlessly, they walked from room to room. Bucky went first while Erik followed. Suddenly, Bucky stopped, raising his right hand. Erik instantly stopped and squinted his eyes.
Bucky moved his hand and held two fingers up, and then turned his hand upside down. Two people are in the next room. Putting down without killing. Seemed like the American soldiers were trained equally to the Norwegian.
Erik nodded. Bucky counted to three, and together, they barged into the room. Erik ran to the man closest and ripped the gun away from his hands before he had the chance to shoot. He grabbed his head by his hair and smashed it to his knee. The man sunk to the ground, unconscious. Erik bent down and pressed two fingers against his neck before he nodded. Not dead.
Bucky mirrored him before together they got ready to move into the next room.
"Position, captain?" Fenris whispered.
"We lost Arne," Steve's voice came back. Erik cursed under his breath. When Arne managed to hide away, he could be anywhere. After all, he was one of their best active spies. Even back then when he was under Lokis control. Erik turned his head to Bucky, and together, they worked from room to room.
〰〰〰
Fenris and Katta quietly went through one corridor. He'd figured that it would be best for them to exit the building. It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Fenris touched his earpiece.
"Report," he said, turning around. Katta stared at him with a blank expression. He would never get used to that. Nobody answered.
"Report," Fenris repeated. His palms began to sweat. Slowly, he took out his earpiece and looked at it. It blinked yellow - maintain mode. But that was only possible when one of them activated the respective function with the chip in their arms.
"We got hacked," he whispered to himself. A shadow moved by, and Fenris spun around. He pulled out a gun and got in position.
"Soldier," he said to Katta. She looked at him.
"Mission. Leave the building. Don't take commands from anybody but me. Confirm."
Katta nodded her head. "Mission confirmed." She turned around and began sprinting away when a person appeared in front of her. Fenris cursed as he saw Arne blocking her way. Katta raised her hands, but he had already lashed out and heavily slapped her head with a gun. She reluctantly sunk to the ground, groaning. Arne stepped over her barely moving body and Fenris's way.
〰〰〰
Katta blinked, looking around. She shook her head, trying to get rid of her spinning head. A nauseous feeling cramped up to her throat and bile rose. Katta bent forwards and vomited, coughing heavily. She stood up, inhaling deeply to fill her lungs with air. It felt like she'd just emerged from underwater. Her head spun with information, trying to piece together what was happening.
"KATTA."
She turned her head and wiped her mouth. Fenris had his teeth clenched as he tried to hold Arne in place, who struggled against him. Arne roared, bringing his elbow back into Fenris's guts. Katta stumbled their way, groaning as another sharp pain went through her head. She bent, holding her head.
Fenris again yelled for her but was interrupted by Arne breaking from his grip. He kicked against Fenris's knee. Another strike to his face sent him flying to earth. Arne's countless years as an active assassin made him superior against his cousin - super soldier or not.
Katta collected herself and examined her pockets and clothes for present weapons. Not a single one. Arne sat on Fenris's chest, his hands firmly wrapped around his throat, pressing. Katta sped up, jumping on his back. The impact sent them to earth while Fenris gasped for air, coughing.
Her back hurt severely. Katta tried to touch it and noticed that the clothes on her back were ripped. Her fingers felt something wet. As she looked at it, she groaned. Blood. As soon as Arne came back on his feet, they began circling each other.
"Arne?" Katta asked, hoping for a reaction. His face remained blank.
"Bror?" she asked again, her voice shaking. It was his eyes. Cold and expressionless. Pictures of her old Hydra time emerged from the depths of her memories. Katta brought her fists up and inhaled.
"Step back and give up," she said. She couldn't hide the begging in her voice. It wasn't actually Arne. Not the Arne of her time, at least. But he looked just as she knew him—her younger brother.
He didn't answer. Instead, he began marching in her direction.
"P-Please," Katta said. Her lips trembled. In a swift movement, he grabbed her throat and smashed her to the ground. Katta screamed in pain as her already bloody back scraped over the hard concrete. She grabbed for his fingers, but they enclosed around her neck, taking away any possibility to breathe. Katta struggled against his grip, her body already reacting to air loss.
"S-Sto--"
He pressed harder, and his expression was unwavering. A tear trailed down the side of her face, falling to the ground. At this moment, Katta was sure that she would die at the hands of her brother. Black dots appeared in her view, dancing and moving around. More tears escaped from her eyes. For the first time in years, she felt sincere and deafening fear. The yelling around her became quieter, and the overwhelming desire to close her eyes was almost unbearable.
Then, suddenly, the grip around her neck loosened, and if she had been electrocuted, Katta opened her mouth and aggressively inhaled the air her body needed so desperately. Immediately, she began coughing, trying to pump more oxygen into her lungs. She raised her head and saw Arne standing a few feet away. He glared at a point behind her, digging into his pocket.
He now held a knife in his hands. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. His handiwork with blades was even better than Katta's. She came back to her feet, not even realizing who Arne was aiming at when he raised his arm. Out of pure intuition, she jumped forwards and into the way of the knife.
She closed her eyes in reflex, waiting for the pain. But it never came. Instead, she was grabbed by her arm and pushed back. Katta opened her eyes to see Steve standing in front of her. He pulled Arne's knife out of his shield and gave it to Katta.
She tightly grabbed it, glaring at him with a dropped mouth.
"Go," Steve commanded, still watching Arne.
"W-What? No!" Katta exclaimed, trying to stand next to him. He energetically pushed her back.
"No discussion. Go find Bucky. We'll come after you." Steve aimed at Arne and began running in his direction, his shield ready to block further knives.
Katta curtly looked after them before she turned around, looking for Bucky. A heavy smoke wavered in the room, making it almost impossible to see through it. She let her gaze wander, trying to concentrate on her surrounding, but her head still hurt. Scene fragments emerged and disappeared again. A strong hand grabbed her neck from behind, rising her. Katta shrieked, trying to kick the person behind.
"You thought--," Loki.
"That I would just let you go? See, this is where you are wrong. I'll never let go of fighters like you. Never."
Katta still clamped his hands, trying to loosen his grip.
"You are mine to own," he seethed in her ear. "And always will be."
She winced, lashing out, but Loki was out of reach. A cold feeling nagged on her mind. "No," she begged desperately. She had never begged. Until now.
"Weak," Loki hissed, pushing harder. "I don't want weakness."
Katta clamped around his hands, which held her in an iron grip. "I don't want to be like that," she cried, panicking. "I don't-"
Just as she felt her conscious slipping for her soldier being, she felt herself flying to her side.
The heavy impact on earth made her groan. She rolled to her side, holding her ribcage. Loki laid a few meters away, Thor's hammer on his chest. Two hands pulled her around. Bucky kneeled beside Katta, examining her for wounds.
"Katta," he exhaled. The relief in his voice was grabbable. She nodded, trying to prop herself up. The sharp pain in her chest made her yelp.
"Come on," he said. He grabbed around her waist, helping her up. Suddenly, her inners were on fire. Katta screamed, clutching her head. She opened her eyes for the split of a second, spotting Loki. He had his hand stretched out in her direction, a green glimmer building around it.
"Barnes," Katta whimpered. He looked at her, concerned.
"Let go."
"No," he replied sharply, carefully dragging her further. A numb feeling crept through Katta's head, and she ripped away from him.
"I said let go," she exhaled, shaking her head. "I can't." Her brain short-circuited as it tried to restart. Scenes of her H.Y.D.R.A time flashed before her eyes.
"You must leave. Now."
Bucky shook his head and stepped forward, reaching out his hand. And then, it seemed like everything happened in slow motion. She heard a yell from the side and saw Arne ripping away from the others. He raised one of his knives and threw it, aiming at Barnes. But he didn't see it coming, still trying to pull her away. Katta jumped in front of him, grabbing his shoulders.
The voices came back, yelling and cursing. Katta looked up and met Barnes's eyes. He stared at her in surprise. Then, she felt it. Agonizing pain. It raged through her body like a hungry fire. Katta stumbled back, clutching her stomach. The knife must have gone through her back and once completely pierced her, its tip coming from her stomach.
Wetness spread over her lower belly as the blood poured out of the wound. Katta raised her hand, glancing at the red liquid on her hands. Her knees buckled under her weight, which seemed to become heavier by the second. Katta looked back at Barnes, realization downing onto his face. He closed the distance between them and caught her while she was falling to her knees.
"What - W-Why?" he stammered, touching the wound.
Katta coughed, scrunching her face. Why? It had been an instinct. But did she regret it?
No.
Turning her head, she saw Loki glaring at her, enraged. He was in Thor's tight grip. Good that. At least he couldn't use her anymore. She shot him a foul grin.
"You need to stay clear," Barnes commanded, snipping his fingers in front of her face. His voice trembled.
"You don't tell me you care," Katta said, offering Bucky a weak grin. The taste of blood ran over her tongue. "We can't live forever."
"You stupid woman," he muttered, gazing at the wound.
She laid her hand over his as he tried to put pressure on the wound. "It's over, Barnes. Let me die in peace."
His face distorted in despair as he looked up. Katta tilted her head. "Are you crying for me? Don't cry. I don't deserve--"
A flash of pain cursed through her body. Probably an organ, quitting its service. Katta whimpered, squeezing her eyelids together.
"Stop talking," he said through gritted teeth, looking around for help.
"We got it," Fenris yelled. He had the mind stone in his hand, grinning. It was over. Finally. Katta blinked at him. Then, her head fell back. Everything was getting blurry.
"Katta," she heard Bucky's faint voice. "KATTA."
Fenris looked up. His grin fell as he saw Katta lying on the ground, Barnes next to her. Now he noticed the knife sticking in her stomach.
"No, no, no, no," Fenris murmured, running over to her. He knelt down and inspected the wound. Too much blood. Even though Arne hadn't hit a vital organ, the blood loss was too much. She wouldn't live another fifteen minutes if they didn't react.
"WE GO NOW," Fenris yelled, making the others peer up to them. "Thor, how we use the stone?"
He felt a grip on his hand and looked at Katta, clutching his fingers. "It's fine," she muttered, shaking her head.
"NO IT'S NOT," Bucky yelled instead of Fenris. His face was flushed as he shook his head. "THOR," he roared. "NOW!"
Bucky grabbed under Katta and carefully hoisted her up, trying to not put pressure on her wound. Fenris got up while the others came their way. The Arne from this time laid unconsciously on the ground. Seeing this now, Fenris recognized the wounds Arne had brought back four years ago. It made all sense now.
Erik looked at Katta in concern, murmuring a few incoherent words.
"Do it," Thor demanded from Loki. Loki glared at him but yielded as Thor raised his hammer. A green shimmer engulfed the group, and in the split of a second, they were gone.