( captain america: civil war )
★
ONCE CHLOE FOUND Steve and an unconscious Bucky, she dragged them (quite literally) to a wall, instructing them to stay hidden until she came back.
On her way to borrow a car, she ran into Sam, instructing him to the other two. A few words were shared, but Chloe was in a hurry. She really didn't need anyone slowing her down.
The Assassin looked around, observing the area for any prying eyes, before she lodged her blade into the car's handle, twisting the lock and unlocking said car.
Plopping down into the driver's seat, she reached down below, silently thanking Rebecca for teaching her how to hot-wire a car. She mentally cheered when she heard the rumble of the engine, pulling out to the streets to pick up the three men.
Chloe flinched slightly when she felt a small buzz come from her ear. "...Chloe? ...there?"
Lifting a hand to her ear, the teenager sighed in relief, partially in the fact she had contact with base, and in the fact that she had her eyes on the three men who were hiding against a wall.
"Chanel Eight, do you copy?" she tried, pulling up to the curb and unlocking the doors. "Alex, you there?"
"Chloe?" she heard, a sigh escaping her mouth. The trio piled in, Sam and Steve making a conjoint effort of shoving Bucky into the back of the car. "You there?"
"Yeah, I'm here." she glanced to the back, seeing Steve close the door behind him. Sam sat in the passenger seat, giving her a nod. "Listen, are there any compounds nearby? Anywhere good to lay low for a bit?"
Fingers were typing on a keyboard. "The closest one on record is about five hours out. However, there is an abandoned about six miles from your position. That good enough?"
Chloe glanced in the rearview mirror, making eye contact with the blonde man. "Yeah, that's fine."
"Okay, sending directions to your phone. Be safe."
★
Chloe glanced back at a sleeping Bucky as she pulled up into the old, abandoned Assassin's compound. The roar of the engine died, leaving the four to clamber out of the car. An unsettling feeling settled in the Assassin's gut, leaving her to take a long look at the building.
"Stay here," she muttered. "I'll be right back."
The Frye pulled up her hood and balled her hand into a fist. The building was old, yes, but that never meant the Assassins of the past left behind any defenses.
Chloe heard footsteps behind her, eager ones, and she rolled her eyes. Why couldn't they take orders?
She turned around, stopping in her path, watching the two alert Avengers look around the area, both supporting an unconscious Bucky. She sighed, her foot tapping irritably. "Did you hear me? I told you to stay in the car."
"When have we ever listened to you?" Sam mused, a half-smirk on his face. "Besides, Sleeping Beauty over here is heavy."
Turning away from the men, Chloe walked up to the door, a sliver of hope blossoming in her chest. Her hand made way for the doorknob, turning it and jiggling it. Locked, of course.
Her trained eyes observed the frame and the stone wall surrounding the door. No keypads, no eye-recognition, no key under the mat. Chloe realized she would have to do it the hard way.
Sensing her unease, Steve spoke from behind her. "Can you not just kick down the door?"
Chloe almost snorted before reminding herself these two didn't even know the Assassins existed before two years ago. "Defenses in active compounds are tough to get by, much less abandoned ones. No, I'm going to have to do this a different way."
"You're going in alone?"
The worried voice of the Captain drew Chloe's attention to the three men. If the seriousness of their predicament wasn't resting on their shoulders, she would've laughed at the trio. She turned around, her attention still on Steve. "I don't care that you both were in the Army at some point in your life, I don't care that you had special training. This is an Assassin's building, meaning you're in my territory. There's a chance high defenses are in there, and I'm not putting you three in danger. So yes, I'm going in alone. If you have any complaints, I really don't care."
Not leaving them any time to argue, Chloe scaled the building and disappeared through a window.
★
Chloe slowly made her way down the compound, testing footsteps, looking for trip wires, and cutting off alarms. She cut off laser security, disengaged security cameras (after giving them a quick wave), and snatched the leftover smoke bombs for later use.
She finally reached the front door. The Assassin stood alert in the building, her ears perked for any possible intruders. All was clear in her mind, and she allowed herself to relax slightly.
Until her foot stepped on a pressure plate.
The sound of something tearing through the air made Chloe's reflexes step in, giving her time to duck out of the way. A dart struck the wall where her chest would've been. Her adrenaline spiked, and her eyes focused on the small, indistinct dispenser right on top of the door frame.
The Frye sighed through her nose, and looked up, seeing metal support beams above her. An idea formed in her mind. Chloe ducked down again and jumped as high as she could, her fingers just grabbing hold of the railings. She swung her legs out of the aim of the dispenser that triggered after her foot left the plate.
Chloe swung through the railings and finally reached the dispenser. Maneuvering around the railing, she found herself hanging upside-down, her knees and legs secured to the railings. The Assassin knocked on the wall around the machine, listening for a higher knock.
Her hand froze when she found a hollow knock, a smirk forming on her face. She triggered her blade, and slipped it through the dry wall, and snipping the chords inside.
Believing it to be safe, the teenager pulled an arrowhead from her pocket, tossing it down onto the plate. She waited for anything to go off and sighed in relief when nothing did.
She slipped down to the ground and stuck her blade through the front door's lock, smiling in relief at the barely audible click. She swung the door open to see the two Avengers standing patiently.
"Well, it's about time."
The Assassin scoffed and let them through the door, a smile still visible on her face. "Like you could've done any better."
★
Chloe stood in the shadows and leaned on a pillar, watching Bucky slowly wake up. He rolled his head around, looked at his arm that was trapped in a device the teenager really didn't know what to call and met the eyes of the teenage Assassin.
She nodded to him and called to Same, who in turn called Steve. "Hey, Cap!"
Chloe saw the two jog in, letting her slip into the background. She heard Bucky groan, an ounce of pity sparking in her mind. No one should have to go through mind control; she couldn't imagine the aftertaste.
"Steve," Bucky called.
"Which Bucky am I talking to?"
"Your mom's name was Sarah." he chuckled. "You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."
Chloe smiled softly and watched as Steve slowly smiled. "Can't read that in a museum."
"Just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" Sam asked, still on guard.
Bucky's smile quickly turned into a grimace. "What did I do?"
"Enough."
"Oh, God," the trapped man sighed. "I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words."
"Who was he?" Chloe asked, her voice soft yet stern.
"I don't know."
"People are dead," Steve confessed. "The bombing, the setup... the doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than "I don't know."
"Steve," Chloe warned. She knew the desperation of the situation, but the teenager knew how to handle situations like these, situations where the culprit was the victim.
Bucky paused, forming the words on his tongue. "He wanted to know about Siberia... where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."
"Why would he need to know that?"
"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."
Wincing slightly, Chloe tilted her head, her eyes filtered on the broken man. "Shocker."
"Chloe." Sam and Steve turned, giving her a look. She chuckled dryly, letting the conversation drift back to the three men. Chloe tuned out of the conversation and left the room. She didn't really want to hear about HYDRA. With HYDRA came Templars, and Chloe didn't want to hear if they played a part with the other Soldiers.
Plus, those five soldiers brought back bad memories. She really didn't want to bring those memories back.
However, Chloe forced herself to stay within hearing distance. If the Templars did play a part in HYDRA, she would have to know.
"Who were they?" Steve asked, his voice hard.
"Their most elite death squad," Bucky answered. "More kills than anyone in HYDRA history, and that was before the serum."
"They all turn out like you?" Sam questioned.
"Worse."
Chloe closed her eyes, forcing herself to stay calm. She didn't need to hear this. The memories started playing through her head, and her fists clenched through the pain.
"The doctor," Steve mentioned, "could he control them?"
"Enough. With these guys, he could do it. They speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight... infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They could take a whole country down in one night, you'd never see them coming."
Wiping her face, the Assassin cleared her throat and let her face morph into one of zero emotions. Her anger and sadness was her fuel, the only reason she was in this damn fight.
Chloe grabbed her knives and stepped to the side, seeing a perfect wall that was just asking for it. Not caring if any of the men could see her or not, the teenager set to work on her aim, throwing the knives at the innocent wall that stood in front of her.
She turned around and watched as Sam left the building, a phone in hand, and Steve trailing after him.
The Frye glanced at the floor and nodded to herself. Now is the time to ask the questions.
Chloe's silent form made its way into the room Bucky was seated in and watched as he refused to make eye contact with her. She nodded and sat across from the defeated man. She took a deep breath and waited a moment, looking for a way to start.
Bucky, instead, slowly made conversation first. "I'm sorry for that scar."
Her hands immediately went to trace the mark on her shoulder. "It's fine."
Finally, like a broken dam, the words flowed.
"Do you know I can take care of myself?" she questioned, examining the hidden blade on her arm. "Because I can. I didn't go through ten years of training to just for you to throw it away."
Bucky nodded slowly, but she knew he was confused. She started again. "Did you know I'm an Assassin?"
Again, the man slowly nodded. Chloe sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. "So, why do you have the urge to protect me when I'm around you?"
Bucky's mouth formed the words, but she spoke before he gave him a chance. "It's not just you. It's Sam and Steve, too."
She stood and started pacing in front of a patient man, a man who suddenly knew she had a point to make. His brain laughed fondly, just like Rebecca.
"I get that I'm physically smaller than you and that I'm younger than you, but that doesn't mean I can't handle myself. I know how to use guns, bows, swords, knives, and all assortments of weapons, but you just don't seem to realize I can handle―"
"―Back in the '40s," Bucky started, not looking up from the floor. Chloe stopped, her breaths ragged as she fought to regain control. "I was the oldest of four. I had three younger siblings."
He laughed coldly, sparing a glance at the twenty-year-old. "Just another damn thing HYDRA stole from me."
Chloe sat on the concrete floor in front of Bucky, letting him share his story. He waited until she was comfortable and continued. "I can't remember them all, but I can remember one of them... Her name was Rebecca."
The smile on Bucky's face was fond, like a proud brother should be of his younger sister. "I don't know what happened to her after the war. I don't know, I like to think she lived a good and long life."
The teenager was hooked at this point, waiting for the older man to finish. "When you and Steve came to my apartment, I couldn't help but think you looked like her. I didn't mean to disrespect you, but you remind me a lot of her. Strong-willed, smart, stubborn."
Chloe laughed, her hands fiddling with the bottom of her jacket. "You kind of remind me of my parents."
She looked up and met his eyes, ones that held confusion. She shrugged and looked down. "My family has been in this whole business for a while. Enough to draw attention, at least."
She waited for Bucky to catch her drift. When he did, he sighed and looked down. "Chloe... I―"
The Assassin shrugged. "Wasn't you. It was those other soldiers you were talking about. Anyway, when I was four, HYDRA came and stormed my old house. 'Suspect the Templars gave our position away. I was hidden in a closet and my parents died trying to fend them off. By the time the Assassins came, it was too late, and I was in the middle of the aftermath."
Bucky refused to look at her, and she wanted him to know it wasn't his fault. She nudged him with her foot, gaining his attention. "It's not your fault. They knew what they were doing. I guess we can only hope that we can do the same."
The two assassins shared a smile.
♛
aww, look at them, being all emotional and crap.
so, here's some background on Chloe's life. I've been waiting for this to come up. Bucky and Chloe's relationship is gonna be one based heavily off of a sibling relationship since they're finding a brother/sister in each other.
now, next week I start school, so updates are probably gonna be a lot slower, just because of time and all that crap.
sorry, this update came out late, writer's block is a menace.
hope you enjoyed!
updated: 4/21/18
am i ready for infinity war in less than 7 days? no, i'm not.
peace,
aidan.