16
"No!" Leon screamed as the papers were rushed by flame and growing ash. "No, no, no! You stupid fucking girl! What have you done?!"
Ana smiled but didn't let herself enjoy the moment too much as the papers fell from her hands and she used her rod to strike the closet agent in the face, giving Wanda enough time to conjure her magic and blast the next one down and across the floor, her fingers brushing past Ana's in a fast, barely there motion.
Everyone moved at once, guns already firing.
Ana rolled to the ground, sliding up to her knees as she bashed in a man's kneecap so hard she heard them crack. He buckled and on the way down, she slammed the metal rod so hard into the back of his head the metal bent.
She used her broken weapon to her advantage as she got up and swung it around the neck of another hydra agent. She bent him backward, knocking her knee hard into his spine and did it two more times for good measure as he crumbled to the floor and she slammed the heel of her boot into his face.
Blood sprayed the ground at her feet, his nose broken and his front teeth bashed in and blooding his lips.
She looked up, grinning at the war that was ensuring. Ana had always loved the thrill from battle, from the crack of a gun or a hit, the constant echo of anger and brutality. She knew this was from the programming her brain had done to it but when she was in the heat of a mission, of a gun fight, of a war, she felt her blood tingle with anticipation.
Ana took off racing after Bucky, who had his gun up and attempting to fire at Steve, who already had his shield up and blocking. She launched herself at him but was knocked from the air by the force of another Hydra agent charging her.
The air was knocked out of her. They rolled to the ground and she lost hold of her rod, leaving her nearly defenseless besides the little gun tucked into one of her holsters at her hip.
The agent didn't waste time, sending a startling punch into her face and she tasted blood and smiled. Red and metallic and fresh, it reminded her of freedom. It reminded her of death.
Surging forward, she took hold of his head, pushing her thumbs into his eyes as she arched up. She always had more strength when Torrance was working with her inside her head, when there wasn't a pull or tug telling her to stop, to free herself. Only a little voice telling her how to move, reminding her of the enemies behind her, and encouraging her.
Ana even allowed a slip, sinking back to let Torrance take the reins, even for a moment as the girl took hold and swung her body up from the ground and around the man until she was on his back. Still, with her fingers plunging into his eyes as he sang with screams, Torrance gritted her teeth and Ana felt her smile once she stepped back and let her have control again.
Ana snapped his neck.
Fast and easy.
His body lulled to the ground and she went off on her original mission, picking up the baton the agent had strapped to his waist.
"Bucky!" she hissed and he froze for a moment because she knew he recognized that name. He would always recognize that name, even for a brief moment. He turned and she shoved the baton against his neck and he shook with the electricity before collapsing. His head hit the ground with a deafening smack. For good measure, Ana pulled his head up by his hair and slammed his skull back into the ground.
She looked up at Steve and he opened his mouth to say something but Ana stopped him, rushing out, "After this, he needs to go into hiding. I don't care where but has to be far from here, until the rest of these Hydra pricks are taken out or in prison."
Steve nodded, grabbing her arm as she began to stalk towards where Tony had opened the door to the stairwell as more men began rushing towards them in a blaze of bullets. "Torrance? Is she okay?"
Ana nodded, feeling his hand against her arm and she shuddered with what rushed at her.
I love her, I love her, I love her-tell me she's okay, tell me she made it through this. Did they hurt her? Did they hurt you?
She would never understand what Torrance saw in him. He was pure and righteous when Bucky was dark and savage. No matter how many times Steve said he loved her or how many times he promised something to her, he would never understand what was going on inside herself. He would never accept Ana, he wouldn't understand Torrance's fear and panic and that driven rage. He was too different from them.
"We're fine," Ana finally choked out and Steve nodded, taking a step back and removing his arm before a memory threatened to overcome her entirely.
Hands, everywhere. Groping, feeling, touching.
Ana smacked her head, feeling hands grab her from behind. Angry.
"I can't loose you again," the voices rang out in her head. "I can't loose you-"
"You've ruined everything!" Leon roared, yanking her back so hard that she was clutching her neck and gasping for air. She hit the ground and Steve barely had time to help her before two agents charged him with guns and all he could do was watch her get dragged away and towards the platform. "You took away my only chance at redemption! My only chance at proving myself! You ungrateful bitch!"
He tossed her forward and struck her, backhanded, across the face so hard she saw stars. She had forgotten he was like her, that he had the same serum running through his veins. He reached forward and with incredible strength, seized her by the neck and lifted her off the ground.
"You won't survive this," he hissed with a smile. "Your little regenerative powers won't save you from a fall this high."
He raised his foot, stomping hard against on of her boots and she cried out. Without one of her shoes working, there was no way the board would work. She let him hold her there by the neck, backing her up to the edge of the roof and she thrashed about in his hands but let her own hands work what little magic she had left.
She found the knife tucked against his chest and her small, pickpocketing fingers swindled it free. She ignored how the pressure in her head built up at how tight he was holding her, and she ignored the fresh wave of black dots that threatened her vision as she smiled.
Smiled so brightly that she felt her lips nearly split.
"Why the fuck are you smiling?" he spat.
"Because I won't be dying alone."
She shoved her hand forward, stabbing him hard into the side, twisting the blade up and continuing to push as he gasped and his grip let up. She let her toes touch the ground and he swayed on his feet but she knew it wasn't enough to kill him as he reached out, gasping and coughing, taking hold of her arms.
She looked back, Steve already beginning to race towards her as even Bucky began to stir on the ground. She hardly could see, through the haze of red and the flash of guns going off and Tony's blasters.
"Hydra will no longer have access to the serum," she hissed through clenched teeth as they teetered on the edge. "Hydra will no longer have you."
And with that, she let herself fall backwards with his arms still wrapped around her.
Taking the plunge into death together.
~
The air surged around her as they fell, Leon letting out wails so loud they burned her ears, even over the roar and rage of wind. She didn't let the decent stop her from acting out, using that little knife to stab and stab at him until she felt that little growing magic in her finally burst.
Red swirled around her and she used it to stop them.
Leon, limp in the magic's grip and near death, whimpered as she lifted them back up to the tower.
You're perfect, Torrance whispered to her sister. You're just brilliant.
Ana smiled and whispered back, "Only with you."
This could work, you know, Torrance murmured, like her lips were by Ana's ear as they floated. Us. Together, just like this. We could live like this, work together.
Ana smiled, but shook her head. "This would never work. We want different things."
But together can-
"We can't both survive like this," Ana countered, having already come to terms with what she will be asking for once this battle ends. "We can't have this type of knowledge within us because our enemies won't stop until they get the code. Because even without the files, they still have the all the information they want inside our head."
Ana...you're not thinking we...?
Ana nodded grimly. "I can't stay inside you like this and we both know I can't be taken from your mind and put into another."
Stop, Torrance urged. Stop talking, just stop!
"We'll talk about this later, okay?" Ana whispered back but she already knew Torrance was thinking it over, coming to the same terms she was.
She reached the platform and disposed of Leon's body, letting it thud to the ground in a wet plop. She let that magic continue to swirl around her as she felt Wanda's thoughts and memories pour throughout her.
Don't kill them, just stun, no death here-no more death-what will Vision think of this? Where is he? Does he-miss-miss-miss me, too? Miss him-miss him-I miss him.
Ana shot her hands forward, using the magic to shoot back the men grappling for Fury and Nat, who stood back to back. The three agents shot back and hit the wall, crumpling.
"Duck!" Tony shouted and she did. He blasted through the air and she heard a scream behind her and she caught glimpse of another agent who had been sneaking up behind her now streaked across the ground groaning.
Tony soared to her, landing as he hissed, "Just after I got this place cleaned they had to come here and trash it. Again."
"Just be thankful it's not rubble," she sighed and his eyes lit up at the thought and he grinned. She wondered what it would be like to be just another piece of his technology, floating around mindlessly, having the whole internet at her disposal.
She shook her head. No. She wouldn't let herself become just another voice in someones head. Not again. Not ever.
I know you want to be free, Torrance perked up, sparking some form of life through Ana's body like the warmth of the sun. But doing what you're thinking of, it won't free you, it'll kill you.
I no longer wish to be trapped in this body, this world, Ana said back, picturing the two standing across from each other as guns fired and the beautiful sounds of destruction were playing melodically around her. It's what I saw in Wanda's mind. Ultron. I no longer wish to have strings, Tor, I want to be free.
You can be free! You can be with me! We can both have control-
And if I want to take up a lover? A man different from the one you want?
Her eyes flickered to Steve and then to Bucky. It would never work. Not with the two of them.
It's not fair to them, Ana added, swallowing the emotion rising up her throat.
She pictured Torrance before her, angry, arms crossed, pleading. Can't we be selfish for once? Can't we just have what we always wanted?
And what is that?
Love! To be loved!
We can't love them with two of us in one body. We won't be able to live that way, she sighed, reaching up to rub her forehead. She blinked, flushing the picture of the two of them standing across from one another, identical forever, as she used her gun to shoot down an agent getting too close to where she stood frozen.
She sent another bullet whizzing towards Fury, nicking the exposed neck of an agent ready to fire into his back. Blood sprayed in the air like a molten red shower and the man have her a nod of thanks before turning and kicking back an approaching agent.
I know, Torrance said as Ana moved throughout the room, using the last two bullets in the gun to kill an agent dragging herself towards the stairwell. But call me foolish for wanting this, for wanting us to be able to live like we used to. Don't you want that?
Not with the code still inside us.
Then we have Wanda wipe it out.
She won't be able to get just that, you know that.
Ana knew the extent of control Wanda had with her power, hell, she could feel it even now with it flowing over her. She loved Torrance for wanting to keep them together but she knew what the girl was thinking, with their shared mind she knew everything.
Wipe us-wipe us-it's the only-only option. We have to die, we have to be killed-killed-killed. Kill us! Have her finally break us so we can be free, we need to do be free. I won't let you go without me, you can't do this alone-alone-alone-we've been alone for too long-
Soon, sister, Ana thought, smiling softly. We'll be together. One day soon.
Ana, please, Torrance cried, sobbing harder and harder and with each tear, Ana's body shook. Let me go with you, okay? I can go with you-
I won't strip you from the life you deserve. The life you can have without me.
Ana, god, please, don't do this, Ana please!
Ana smiled, wishing she could reach out and bring Torrance close. To have just one hug before everything ended. Let me do one good thing before I go. Let me be something other than a killer.
"Is everyone alright?" Steve called out from his position near a shredded couch. The Avengers Tour was a mess of broken glass, furniture, blood, and bullet holes.
Fury nodded, kicking one of the cushions out of his way. "Someone care to explain to us why the hell we just got ambushed by what felt like a hundred Hydra assholes?"
"And maybe why the building hasn't exploded yet?" Tony added, flicking his finger and his helmet disappearing. He sat down against one of the broken chairs, sighing.
"I tried to explain what you told me on the jet," Nat said, turning to Ana. "But I barely remember much."
Ana wasn't surprised. She had a nasty bump against her forehead. "Well, for starters, the building probably won't blow."
Tony sat forward. "Probably?"
"...yeah, uh, probably won't," she offered with a tight smile. "Leon, the man who orchestrated this, wanted to separate me and Bucky from the rest of you. He wanted to turn us both and then have us kill all of you, to wipe out the Avengers and any other super soldier not under his regime."
"But, why trust you?" Nat asked, settling across the room and at the shattered bar. "Because, from what big show you put on earlier, you're not Torrance. So, Ana, why go against Hydra? Why back off from everything that you're programmed to do?"
"The same as me," Bucky grunted, sitting up and resting on the floor. He rubbed his head. "We're tired of being weapons. Of being controlled."
Ana nodded, crossing her arms. Her muscles were sore, which was something she wasn't used to. "I always planned on betraying them. Running off and never coming back, but when they killed our--" She shook her head, correcting herself. "--killed Torrance's sister, it changed everything. I thought, for so long, that I was doing the right thing. Killing and hurting for them, stealing away lives until I saw them steal that girl from me."
It wasn't your fault, Torrance echoed and Ana shook her head and said back, I brought her to us and she was killed for it.
It had been like watching her own family slaughtered. She was still just a child, happy and free until she wasn't. Until she was dead.
Ana continued. "So, that was around the time Torrance and I created the code for the remaining information on the serum, incase it ever got into the wrong hands, they'd need us. Both of us. Well, specifically Torrance, but they didn't really know that. Not really."
"Did you know that they took the serum from the grave, then?" Nat asked, holding out a glass of what looked like whiskey to Tony as she sipped from her own.
"I knew everything."
"Then why not do something about all of this earlier?" Wanda asked, already beginning to move furniture back with her powers.
"That, is actually where you came in," Ana grinned, marching across the room to pour herself a drink like Nat had. "Since Torrance had been wiped, nearly completely I might add, there was only one way to bring it out and that was for you--" She motioned to the girl. "--to bring it out through fear, like your little powers can do on occasion."
"So...did you send those Hydra agents on Torrance?" Steve asked, vocalizing what they were all thinking. The great battle in the neighboring building.
Ana hadn't meant for sweet Santiago to get killed, that had never been part of her plan. It was an accident, him sitting there. The bullet was originally meant for Torrance, she would've survived the hit but Santiago, a mere mortal compared to Torrance and Ana, would never have survived a shot from an excellent marksman like that.
"Ah, you're finally catching on," she cooed back, sipping from her glass. The liquid burned, as did her skull as Torrance's confusion and anger was no longer caged.
"How, though? You said so yourself, Torrance was wiped, she couldn't have remembered you, you weren't there," Steve muttered, sitting on the armrest of the couch as Bucky struggled to his feet next to him.
"I was always there," Ana whispered back. "I was just pushed back, just a passing thought or image. When Torrance would sleep, I had a little more free range through dreams and through her body. It was simple, from then on, to contact Hydra. I just had to wait until you all were free, but especially her--" she pointed to Wanda and her drink nearly spilled. "--to be there."
It was all apart of some big plan, Torrance said and she imagined her face--their face--pink with anger.
To save us, Ana said back, smiling whimsically at how close her release was. To free us.
"Now what?" Tony asked, tossing back the rest of his drink without so much as a grimace. "You've gotten what you wanted, so now what do you want?"
"There's one thing I haven't gotten," Ana murmured, looking over the room as she leaned against the bar.
Steve, Torrance's Steve, looked at her with big wide eyes. He was afraid. Afraid of what she might do to Torrance but Ana couldn't hurt her, not ever again. Their bond was more profound than anyone could imagine, the horror they had witness was one only sisters could endure. Steve, brave and patriotic, would never understand the terroristic mind of Anastasia, how she had been programmed to kill and never stop.
But Bucky, Ana's Bucky, his eyes were knowing. He understood, more than the rest, what she was going to ask, even if it meant going against the raging in her head. He understood that they could separate the killing from the want and the need to please their orders. He understood the release she craved so deeply.
"It's simple, really." She placed her glass on the counter. She felt a tug on her brain and knew Torrance was pushing, forcing herself to the surface as she blurted in a strange calm, "You need to wipe us. Both."
__________________________
Notes:
LAST CHAPTER COMING NEXT!!!
and wow, more unedited content in two days???? shocking.
how do you guys feel about ana and torrance's relationship? and what they've both decided to do?
plsplspls give feedback BC I WILL LOVE U ALL FOR IT!!!!
xx day