A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the prolonged update, but to make up for it, I made this chapter about 21 pages long! (I don't know if I should apologize for a longer chapter or say you're welcome.) I will try to make up for the really long time it has been taking me to update as best as I can. Please enjoy the next chapter!
- Harper E. Pierce
"Raven, you promised me you would tell him. I'm being lenient because we had the fashion show three days ago, but still. Go over and tell him, now. You were supposed to see him today anyway," Lorelei told her friend. Raven was in no position to argue, she had broken her promise to her.
"I'm not sure he wants me over. He hasn't responded to any of my text messages or calls, which is really unlike him." Raven rebutted her argument.
"A promise made must be kept," Lorelei told her. "I don't want to have to go over for you and do it myself." Suddenly, Raven's phone began ringing. Speak of the Devil. "It's him, isn't it?"
"Yeah-"
"I'll leave you to it then,"
"But-" the door of Raven's bedroom shut completely. She hesitantly answered the phone with the dreaded name.
"Hey, babe!" She answered with false cheerfulness.
"Hey, Rave. Listen, can we meet up somewhere? The apartment window cleaning service is back and I don't really want to be at the apartment," Damon asked her.
"Oh, of course. Where do you want to go?"
"How about the Starbucks near our place? Meet you there in twenty minutes?"
"Perfect, see you then! Love you,"
"Love you too, Rave." Damon hung up the phone. He didn't say anything about the announcement. It was a guarantee that he knew about her, but it was a conversation that definitely meant to be made in person.
She found it a little strange how he would choose to have a conversation like that in a public place, especially because his excuse for it was very much half-assed. The window cleaners? Really? But if he wanted to get out of the house, okay.
After finishing up putting on some mascara, and pulling her hair up into a high ponytail she got her purse, her phone and stole the keys to the Audi R8 down in the garage before leaving the tower. She needed to be careful of the paparazzi following her, so she put on a pair of Tris's sunglasses. Raven got into the car and drove to the Starbucks around the corner from their place. It took about ten minutes to get there, traffic wasn't too bad for Sunday of family day weekend. Most people were likely at their cottages in Colorado or something.
While driving, she noticed a black van with its windows blacked out, like it was an armoured car van. For a moment, she could've sworn it was following her until it made a right off the street the coffee shop was on, and then a left to the next street over. After that, she didn't see the car, so she dismissed the notion.
Raven went inside the coffee shop and ordered a hot chocolate; she hated coffee. After ordering, she looked around the semi-empty coffee shop, looking for Damon. It took her a moment, but she found him sitting in a corner, and he was on the phone. He looked like he was having a serious conversation.
"Miss? Your hot chocolate?" The barista called her name for the fifth time. Raven whipped her head around, her sunglass knocking off of her face. The barista looked absolutely starstruck. "Oh, my word-"
"Thanks, " Calia said cheerfully. Raven took her hot chocolate and walked away. Just as she turned to go sit with Damon, he got off the phone and saw her. He waved for her to come and sit with him.
"Hey, Rave," he greeted, standing up and kissing her on the cheek. She could sense the upset tone in his voice. He definitely knew now, the announcement at the show had been all over the news for the last few days.
"Hey babe," she greeted him with a sense of nervousness, sitting down across from him, "I assume you wanted to talk?" She quickly pointed out the elephant in the room.
"Yeah, I did," the harshness in his voice combined with sadness made her heart ache, "when were you going to tell me, Raven?"
"Soon actually," she replied.
"I don't believe that at all. Stop lying to me." Damon's jaw tightened.
"I'm not lying-" she stopped herself from yelling and took a deep breath, "I had a plan to tell you before Valentine's Day, but the show got in the way."
"Yeah, sure."
"Sarcasm isn't going to make this go anywhere. I know you're angry-"
"Angry? I feel lied to! Like I don't know who you are anymore! For the last two years, I thought you were a psychologist at a mental hospital! I thought you had done training for eight months and didn't call me! Tell me the truth! What happened to you?!" He raised his voice a bit.
"I'll explain everything... for the eight months I was gone, I was captured by the enemy organization, HYDRA. They turned me into a weapon, giving me powers and serum that enhanced my speed, strength, and senses. They brainwashed me and wiped my memory. They only did it once, so I got back to remembering everything fairly quickly. But I was going on missions with the organization. I remember being tortured, experimented on, and beaten. I hate them, I hate everyone who worked there. I along with six other women were rescued by the Avengers. They discovered we had powers, and decided that we needed to train before we went back out into society. Eventually, we all chose to become Avengers. I live at Avengers Tower with all of them." She explained.
"Raven, why didn't you tell me?" Damon's angry look soften to one of shock and disappointment.
"Number one, I wasn't supposed to. We were and still are to some degree, being hunted by HYDRA. Number two, I was scared of your reaction."
"Raven, I love you. You can tell me anything, always know that."
"I know, and I should've told you long ago. I'm sorry for lying to you. I feel terrible for having to keep my real life a secret. I don't expect forgiveness, I lied and I don't deserve it. But if you would that would make feel so much better about this situation."
"I understand why you didn't tell me at first. But two years is excessive. It's going to take time,"
"I understand," a tear fell from her eyes as she hung her head.
"I do have one question. What are your powers, exactly?" He asked her awkwardly. She laughed in response.
"I change things. I used to be able to shapeshift, but I can't anymore. I can change trees into bubbles or gum into cement. I can transform things and warp them." She explained.
"That's crazy, and freaking cool! Can you show me?"
"Not here. The media, y'know? At home I can," she told him.
"I understand," he said, "so how is being an Avenger and all?" He asked her. Raven went on, telling him everything about the Avengers, for over an hour. He was so interested to hear about all of it, listening to every detail. About the girls, the guys and some of the weird quirks, some of their strengths and weaknesses in training and their powers. She felt so free like a weight was completely lifted off of her shoulders finally talking to him about it. She didn't have any more secrets with him. They spent the next hour talking about the Avengers, and everyone, finishing up their drinks.
"Hey, wanna go home? Like not Avengers Tower, but the apartment? The window cleaners are gone, the neighbour just texted me." Damon asked her.
"Sure, but I have a car parked outside. I'll just ask Tris to pick it up, let me call her," Raven told him. She called Tris about the car, who teleported there in only a couple of seconds, still on the phone. Raven grabbed her coat and purse from the table, threw out her empty coffee cup, and went outside with Damon. Tris saw her outside and waved.
"So whatcha doing here? Who's the guy?" Tris asked her.
"I'm Damon, her boyfriend."
"You never told me you had a boyfriend!" Tris exclaimed.
"Looks like I was a secret too, huh?" Damon joked with her. Raven facepalmed the both of them.
"Yes, I have a boyfriend, and we're going back to our apartment. Lorelei will fill you in about it."
"Fiinnnnnnnnneeeeee." She groaned in response, causing Damon to let out a chuckle. "No one tells me anything," Tris groaned, getting into the car, "I'll see you later, Raven. Have fun on your date! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!"
"I will see you tonight!" Raven waved her off. Tris drove away from Starbucks. Damon put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.
"Ready babe?" He asked her.
"Of course. Where's your car?" Raven asked him, looking around.
"I had to park on the next street, there were no spots available," Damon explained. She nodded, as they turned the corner began their walk over the street over.
"I missed you, you know. Even when you were there it seemed like you weren't really there." Damon told her.
"I'm sorry, I was scared," Raven replied sadly.
"I know, but I still missed you." He told her, rubbing her arm comfortingly. They turned onto the next street and continued walking. "I'm just glad you told me."
"I am too. I hated every second of lying to you." Raven leaned her head on his shoulder. The black van was there, it was about fifteen feet in front of them. They were walking closer to it. Was it watching her or something? She'd have to report it to Steve and Tony when she got back to the tower.
"At least now we only have one secret." He said to her. Raven was immediately confused but they continued walking.
"What? I told you everything, Damon. There are no other secrets," she said. Damon suddenly stopped their walk. Raven turned to face him. They were right in front of the van.
"I need to tell you something," he said to her sadly.
"What is it?" She asked him, her voice laced with concern. Suddenly, his expression changed from a sad face to an evil smirk. "Da-" someone came up behind her and grabbed her, covering her mouth and nose with a towel, and she was in a choke hold. She tried to scream, but the towel covered her mouth.
"Hail HYDRA." Was the last thing she heard from her boyfriend's voice before blacking out.
-
Lorelei was beginning to worry. It was now 1 o'clock in the morning, and Raven hadn't responded to any of her phone calls or come back to the tower. Raven wasn't usually like that, she always responded, and she was always back by midnight unless she slept over. And Lorelei knew she wasn't, otherwise, she would tell her. Since about ten o'clock, she had called Raven at least twenty times, and all of them went straight to voicemail. She could've had "Do Not Disturb on", but that wasn't like her. And besides, she knew she had to be available twenty-four seven.
Lorelei wasn't someone to overthink often, but she felt that something was wrong. She knew she needed to do something. She had to tell Steve now, something could be wrong. Tris was the last person to see her. And she needed to track Raven's phone. But how? Lorelei wasn't the techy type - but Tony was.
"FRIDAY?" She called from her bedroom.
"Yes, Miss Adams?" The AI responded.
"Can you wake up Mr. Stark, Mr. Rogers and Miss Spencer?"
"Is it an emergency? Would you like me to wake the others?"
"No, just those three. But do tell them it's important. Right now, please. Tell them to come down to my floor," she instructed.
"Will do, Miss Adams." She walked out of her bedroom and sat at the counter in the kitchen, turning on the lights at the counter. She left every other light off. Tris was out of her in seconds; she was on the same floor after all.
"Why the heck would you wake me up? It two AM!" Tris whisper-shouted.
"Raven's not back yet. And she hasn't responded to any of my phone calls. Straight to voicemail." Lorelei quietly said back, trying to make sure Skylar and Quinn wouldn't wake up.
"What? That's not like her at all," she told her. The elevator dinged and Tony and Steve came out.
"Adams, this better be important, I actually went to bed at a reasonable hour tonight," Tony whispered grouchily.
"I need to explain something to you two. Raven's not back yet," Lorelei told them.
"What do you mean? Back from what?" Steve's concerned state showed in his voice.
"This is going to be one hell of an explanation," Lorelei sighed, "Raven's got a boyfriend."
"You woke me up to tell me that Wells is screwing someone?" Tony raised a grumpy brow at her.
"Tony, listen. Raven's had a boyfriend for about four or five years now. Since before she was captured. She lives with him. For the last two-ish years of their relationship, she's been trying to keep her job a secret, until today, when she finally went to tell him of their relationship. He thought she was a psychologist working at a mental hospital for the last two years. She told him she went to go train for eight months didn't have access to phones or anything, rather than being captured by HYDRA," she explained, "she finally met up with him today. But she hasn't answered any of my phone calls. Straight to voicemail. I was wondering, Tony, if you could track her phone?"
"Lorelei, she probably didn't want to be disturbed while with him. Her phone shouldn't be off, but she's a grown woman, she can take care of herself." Tony told her.
"Tony, I think you should, just in case," Tris told him.
"Alright fine. What's this guy's name?" Tony asked her.
"His name is Damon Edwards," Lorelei replied.
"Wait. what? That's the new guy I just hired at Stark Industries! He works here sometimes! I have his address on record!" Tony piped up, pulling out his phone. "FRIDAY, pull up the file on Damon Edwards."
"Sure. Here it is," the tech made a hologram of his file, "is this him?"
"Yeah, that's him." Tris said, "I met him today."
"His address is 635 West 42nd Street, New York. Now, let's track her phone-" Tony was cut off by a loud ringing, coming from Lorelei's phone. Everyone stared down at the phone. The call was from an unknown number, meaning they couldn't trace it.
"FRIDAY, record the phone call coming from Lorelei Adams' phone," Steve told the AI. Lorelei answered the phone call and put it on speaker.
"Lorelei Adams, the girl with the unchanged eyes," A male's voice said through the phone, "anxious to hear from your friend, are we?" He taunted.
"Who are you?" Lorelei said darkly.
"Does it really mat-"
"Damon." Lorelei realized.
"Well, that would've been way more fun had you NOT cut me off, but you're right."
"Put her on the phone," Lorelei yelled. Tris shushed her, because of the girls sleeping. Then everyone else shushed Tris. Busted.
"If you insist," he said. sounding like he entered another room. The sounds of screaming filled through the phone. It sounded like a horror movie. Lorelei heard Damon speaking a different language (she was unsure what language because the reception was absolute shit) to another man on the sides, and then he was let into a room. She heard Raven crying on the other side, but it wasn't her usual silent cry. It was definitely from pain. Then he put the phone closer to her.
"LET ME GO! HELP ME, HELP ME, PLEASE! LET ME GO!" Raven screamed. An electric shock was then heard, followed by a scream from her. Tris covered her mouth, and a tear escaped from her eye.
"It didn't take much for her to tell us all about the Avengers. Now that she told her boyfriend about being an Avenger, and spilling all of your secrets about your powers, it was easy to get her." Damon taunted.
"Us? Who is us?!"
"An old friend of yours. ALL of yours,"
"HYDRA! Let her go you sick son of a bitch!"
"Not so fast. We'll let her go. For a price,"
"What's the price?"
"You, for her."
"Why would you want me?"
"You don't need to know why,"
"I'll do it." Tony, Tris and Steve looked at her in shock, shaking their heads at her.
"Go alone, no backup or the deal is off. Go to the mostly forested part of Colorado and be there by tomorrow, you'll see a building there. If you tell anyone of your location, consider Raven's screaming the last you hear from her." Damon threatened. He hung up the phone quickly. Lorelei took in a deep breath.
"You're not seriously going to it, right?!" Tris exclaimed.
"No. I have a plan," Steve said.
"Ooh, the star-spangled man has a plan... do tell," Tony joked.
-
The next morning Lorelei wasn't even tired after the four of them went back to bed for a restless five-hour sleep. They planned to wake everyone up at six o'clock in the morning and for them to go straight to the penthouse floor. They still didn't know who was going to go on the mission today, and they needed to figure that out with the Avengers. They were going to do that first when everyone was in pyjamas having a cup of coffee.
The alert FRIDAY sent out wouldn't stop until everyone was awake and out of bed. It didn't take long before everyone was in the penthouse, clearly annoyed by it still being mostly dark out. But there was a mission to happen that day.
"What's up with the alert?! I shouldn't be awake until at least nine o'clock!" Quinn growled as she walked in the door, still in her pyjamas. She was the last one in.
"It's important," Lorelei said seriously, "Now that everyone is here, I'll explain what's happened. Last night, Raven didn't come home after visiting her boyfriend, Damon Edwards-"
"That's my cousin!" Skylar piped up. Everyone turned to look at her for a minute. "I haven't seen him in years. It's been at least four or five years. I've missed him, he was my best friend growing up,"
"That's how long they've been together, Skylar. Four or five years. I don't you're going to be happy with the next bit of news I tell you. Raven's been kidnapped by him." Lorelei told her.
"There's no way, Damon would never do something like that." Skylar defended him.
"FRIDAY, playback the phone from last night," Tony ordered. They all quieted down to listen to the roughly two-minute call. Skylar covered her mouth when she heard Damon's voice say that he was apart of HYDRA. The girls were immediately disturbed when they heard Raven's pained screams on the other end of the line. They heard the proposition from Damon about doing the trade up.
"Lorelei, you're not seriously doing to do it, are you?" Sam asked her.
"Steve has a plan in mind. But we're going to have to use me as bait. I have to go alone, according to him."
"I was thinking we send Lorelei, me, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, Sam and Tony to rescue her."
"I disagree. I think us girls should go," Skylar barked, clearly angry with the situation.
"Not a good idea. You guys are at risk of getting captured," Tony replied.
"So what? We're at risk of getting captured walking down the street, as proven by Raven. I say that you send the six of us." Tori said.
"Guys, if you get captured, we're all screwed. Do you know how powerful you all are? When you guys were rescued the first, most of us got pretty beat up, because your powers back then were incredibly strong. Now that they have developed, you guys would be almost unstoppable." Bruce chimed in.
"Raven's going to be difficult to defeat if she's been brainwashed already, and my guess is she already has been."
"I don't care, we're going after her, whether you like it or not. And if you stand in our way, we'll fight you too." Lorelei told them.
"Jesus, you sound like Cap last May." Tony rolled his eyes, referencing their fight. "Fine, whatever. You guys go. But if it all goes to shit, call for backup."
"I still don't like this," Steve miffed.
"Take me with you guys, I'll lead the mission," Bucky volunteered, "I know the buildings like the back of my hand. I was there for seventy years, moving from building to building. When we get inside, I'll lead."
"We're throwing in another possible recapture," Vision said, "but all of the HYDRA stuff is out of his head."
"Exactly."
"Bucky, is there any chance you could slip back into Winter Soldier mode?" Natasha asked.
"Only with the trigger words, and even then I'll likely slip in and out of programming. But we have the book. T'Challa and Shuri are still working on how to get that outta my head. Besides, your pronunciation has to be precise when you say them. Otherwise, it won't work. The chances of them knowing the words without the book are very slim." Bucky explained.
"Fine, go with them, but we have almost everyone who was with HYDRA except for Wanda on this mission," Steve said, "this is risky. If you need backup, Tris, you're the getaway plan."
"Got it," Tris nodded, "but guys, what about our suits?"
"Okay, this is why when I say come look at this now, it means COME LOOK AT THIS NOW!" Tori got frustrated with them. "They've been ready for four months now and none of you have even seen them!"
"Where are they?" Lexi asked.
"The lab," Tori replied.
"Guys, be ready by eight," Tony instructed. The people going on the mission scattered to get their suits and shower.
Bucky was ready first, it only took him about fifteen minutes to get ready. They decided to take the quinjet there; Tris's energy level would drop if she teleported too many times. Bucky, Sam, Peter and Natasha loaded the jet and decided that Lexi would drive it. The girls were ready about an hour later, dressed in their suits. The girls' hair was either in a ponytail, (Lexi and Tris straightening their hair beforehand) or in a dutch braid or two. Each of their suits was different. All of the suits were armoured with vibranium, courtesy of T'Challa.
Tori's was a zip-up top, much like Natasha's, but hers' had a purple leather skirt and belt with two pistol holsters. She had black and purple leggings studded with it. The sides of her leggings carried ten throwing knife holsters on each side; knife throwing was one of her talents. She also wore black combat boots. Steve thought the skirt was impractical, but she insisted on it. Her hair was in a single braid.
Tris's suit made her look like a doctor, with a long leather cobalt blue maxi coat that didn't close, because inside were guns, knives and other weapons. She wore long black leather-vibranium leggings and black knee-high boots with a white horizontal stripe at the top. Her hair was in a straightened ponytail.
Skylar was insistent on pants that weren't skin-tight, so Tori had to settle for high waisted jade green army-style pants. Her holsters were located at her belt, which there were six. Three guns, three knives. Her shirt was a leather long sleeve black top that almost had an asymmetrical neckline, until the right sleeve. Over her shirt, she wore a brown double katana holster on her back. The straps came over her shoulders and under her bust to clip in. On her feet, she wore simple black combat boots. Her hair was in two braids.
Lexi's suit was an asymmetrical black leather jacket that went to her knees at the back and to her waist at the front. The jacket zipped to just below her bust so you could see her coral bustier-tank top. Her pants were black leather with coral cross stripes on the front. They also had multiple holsters on the side for two guns and two knives. Her coral belt had three other pistol holsters and couple knife holsters. Her boots were tighter black leather one that went to her knee. Her hair was also in a straightened high ponytail.
Quinn's suit was a gold halter tank top and a pair of leggings with a golden strip on the sides. Her leggings had buckled golden holsters on the sides for nunchucks that she could use as a staff and a couple of pistols. She wore short leather fingerless gloves on her hands. Over her tank top, she wore a longer hooded leather jacket that didn't close. Her footwear was black knee-high combat boots ones with gold-plated spikes on the bottom. Her shoulder-length hair was done in a low side ponytail over her right shoulder.
Lorelei's suit was a black v-neck catsuit with a closed short white leather biker jacket over top of it. The pant of the catsuit had two gun holsters, and the belt had knife holsters and one gun holster. Her favourite weapon was her bow and exploding and/or poisonous arrows that Tony made for her. Her quiver was on her back and she could use the bow to her advantage when she had no arrows. Her boots were knee-high white ones. Her hair was in a high ponytail.
They got onto the loaded quinjet, knowing they'd be on it for at least two hours. Tony and Steve gave the girls and Bucky their earpieces and sent them off. Bucky remained silent, just watching them on the jet while they talked. Most of the talking was about their new suits and the mission coming, but one other person remained silent during the whole thing; Lorelei.
About two and a half hours later, they landed the jet about a kilometre away from the base, making sure it wasn't seen at all. They got out of the jet, got their weapons, and began making their way towards the base through a forest. When they got to the edge of the forest, where the HYDRA base was, the plan they had was put into action. Lorelei was to go alone, while the other six hid in the bushes. Lorelei pulled out her phone and called Damon.
"Alright, dipshit. Where's Raven?" She said angrily into the phone, still in the forest while the others hid around the area, waiting on her signal.
"I can't see you, Lorelei. Come out, come out wherever you are," Damon taunted. She began walking out of the forest, with her expression stern and harsh. When she got closer to the base, six guys from HYDRA came out, with Damon leading them. Raven was being dragged by two of them, her faced bloodied up and looking weak. She could barely stand. They walked towards each other until they were about fifteen feet in front of each other. Lorelei then hung up her phone. "Good to finally meet you Lorelei,"
"Can't say the same about you," she shot back at him.
"Careful now, cockiness will not do you well here. Wouldn't want anything else to happen to Raven, now would you?" Damon taunted. Lorelei's expression grew angrier.
"Now the deal? Let Raven go, and I'll go with you,"
"You see, it's not that simple," he went on, "both parties have to keep their word in order for a deal to work."
"I have, can't you see? I'm the only person here. Now let her go, and take me instead," she fibbed.
"You really shouldn't try to lie, Lorelei. You're not very good at it. You really didn't think that we wouldn't have guards in the forests?" Damon smirked. Busted.
"Where are your guards now?"
"Unfortunately, because of the team you've assembled for your friend, many are dead. But you're not getting her back now, and you can just come with us!" The guards dropped Raven and she fell to the ground. They began to charge at her, but they suddenly turned into insects on the spot. And Lorelei was confused. She then saw Raven, weakly stand up. She had a dark look on her bloodied face.
"You... don't hurt... my family... ever." She threatened darkly. Damon went up to punch her, but she blocked the punch instead. He sent a knee to her gut, knocking her down.
"How gentlemanly, hitting a woman." Lorelei snarked angrily.
"Stay on the ground, Rave. Or I'll kill you myself." He threatened.
"Then do it. Stop making empty promises as you did in our relationship," she challenged him, her eye contact with him unbreaking. He furrowed his eyebrows at her.
"Raven, no!" Lorelei tried to step forward, but at least twenty more guards ran out of the base. The men who were turned into insects rose as humans again. "BUTTER NUGGET!" She yelled out at the top of her lungs. The guards looked over at her with confusion then as nothing happened. Except for when they looked back at Raven, Tris was standing next to her.
"Hey, guys! I'd love to stay and chat, but unfortunately, I have my friend to rescue, so I best be going." She tried to teleport out of the area, but four or five guards caught her wrist and disappeared with her. The others came running out of the forest for the fight.
"I still can't believe you made that the signal word!" Bucky shouted over the earpiece. They began to fight off the guards. Not only did they need to get Raven back, but they also wanted to steal their files from HYDRA. Not two minutes later, the guards had Tris and Raven back where they were. They were both caught. Tris wouldn't be for long. Just Raven thought that she teleported, making sure not to take anyone with her, and she began to fight off the guards.
Quinn had turned her nunchucks into a six-foot staff and had used her kendo training with Natasha to her advantage. She had taken out six guards already. But HYDRA was always the same. Cut off one head, two grow back in its place.
Lorelei's bowmanship was sharper than anyone's on the team. Since Clint had gone into retirement, she had picked up archery again. And as always, her bow and arrows were her weapons of choice. Explosive arrows were one thing, but it was the poisonous ones that were really killing the HYDRA guards. Depending on if she recognized the guards from her own time with HYDRA the fast way or the slow way to go out.
Tris's speed and use of weaponry was a helper with her. At any given time, she used any weapon she could, and made sure she wasn't taking any attack damage. Teleporting was helpful for that. She was pulling pistol after pistol out of her coat, shooting the agents on the field. Every once in a while she'd throw a knife at one of them or fight with one.
Lexi was good with guns. She had mowed down at least twenty of the men with just a machine gun. She tried not to use her powers too much, but they were definitely useful in combat. Whenever she had to throw a punch, she would automatically use her powers to make the punch feel like much more than a punch. It felt more like a bone breaking, a stab wound, a gunshot.
Tori's throwing knives were her greatest weapons. Small, yet deadly weapons. She wasn't a sharpshooter or a swordfighter, but she certainly loved darts and knife-throwing when she was a kid. So why not use them out in the battlefield? With a single blade to the head she could kill the agents, and her powers were just as helpful for offensive purposes. She had already taken out fifteen or sixteen agents. Her hand to hand combat skills were also quite good, but she much preferred her knives.
"Good to see you again, cousin," Damon smirked at her.
"How's Auntie Harriet and Uncle Bill? Probably disappointed that you turned to the bad guys, would I be right?"
"Mother doesn't care what I do, she only ever cared about you. 'What's Skylar doing these days?' 'I heard Skylar's a doctor now,' 'you should be more like Skylar, she's so sweet and kind.' Father was the same. It was tough, never being able to live up to you. She heard that you're an Avenger now, and she was so proud of her sister's little girl. How sweet, don't you think? Too bad, you'll become eviler than I am very soon." He drawled. Her blood was boiling. She threw a good jab at his face, and roundhouse kicked him in the side, but he caught her leg, causing her trip and fall over. He pinned her down. She threw a knee at his groin, and he rolled off her in pain.
After a moment, he got up and he looked around. Most of the guards on the field were dead. He was completely surrounded by the girls and Bucky. But he wasn't afraid. Not at all. His plan was working.
"Good to see you all again, under such poor circumstances. You're not in a cell,"
"Let her go, Edwards, you're finished." Lexi threatened.
"Ah, Lexi Hart. The Empath. The girl who took us forever to catch."
"Leave her out of this," Bucky growled.
"The Winter Soldier. How lucky we are to have you back! It's been a long time," Damon smirked.
"Screw you."
"Ouch, might want to watch that mouth of yours. You've changed, Barnes, you're not as... complacent. Why don't we change that?" He raised a devilish brow.
"Like we said. You're. Done. Now let her go, asshole!" Quinn yelled.
"Not yet," he smirked even wider than ever. Three HYDRA agents for each girl and five for Bucky grabbed each of their arms and held them there. The girls struggled to get out of their grasp. Bucky was dragged to the middle of the circle closer to Damon and pushed to his knees. "Желание," Damon spoke. Bucky's urge to get away seemed to get a lot stronger at this one word. "Ржавый. Семнадцать." Bucky began to scream. The girls tried to free themselves from the grasp of the agents. "Рассвет. Печь. Девять." He threw one of the agents off of him, and almost stood up. "Доброкачественный. возвращение домой." Another agent was thrown off of him. He now was standing and was attempting to fight off the guards. The girls were beginning to get themselves out of capture. Damon took quite a few steps back to avoid them. "Один." Bucky was running at full speed towards Damon. "грузовой вагон." He stopped.
"Bucky!" Tori shouted.
"Солдат?" Damon asked him.
"Я готова ответить." Bucky replied expressionlessly.
"BUCKY!" Tris called.
"Tris, that's not Bucky right now," Quinn told her.
"Приведи девушек ко мне. Не бойтесь стрелять в них, если они сопротивляются. Не навреди им слишком сильно, они нам нужны." Damon instructed. (probably crappy translation: Bring the girls to me. Do not be afraid to shoot them if they resist. Do not harm them too much, we need them.)
Bucky turned around. His eyes were partially glossed over. He was slipping in and out of it. Lexi felt his shoulders tense up as he slipped out of programming, and relax every second as he went back into it. He began to throw knives at Tori as he came closer, who was destroying the knives with her powers.
"Quinn, can you get that crap out of his head?!" Tori asked frantically over the earpiece as she was "He's throwing the knives too fast, one of them is going to hit me! And even if I do, fighting him hand to hand is going to kill me!"
"I'll try, but I'm going to need a bit of time! There are more HYDRA agents coming for us, and we still need to get Raven!"
"I can get you time!" Skylar told her. "I'll slow down the movements of the guards and Bucky. I can't hold it for long though! You're going to get about forty seconds from it and you're going to have to dodge his movements!"
"Good enough!" Lorelei nodded. "Lexi, Tori, hold off the other guards as much as you can! I'm not going to let Damon get away. Tris, teleport your ass to Raven and teleport back to the quinjet. Make sure she stays there. She's in no condition to fight right now!"
"Done, now let's go!" Lexi yelled. Skylar did exactly as she was told. Her eyes going green, she raised her hands and the guards began to move in what looked like a slow-motion running sequence. Quinn ran over to Bucky and raised her hands to his head. Her eyes glowed yellow as she tried to find out about whatever was going on, and dodge his slowed down movements at the same time. As she plunged through his memories, his thoughts, she became more mentally scarred at the images, but she pushed through anyway. Then she found it. His memory of the formation of the trigger words.
"You've got about ten seconds, Quinn!" Skylar warned her frantically.
"DON'T RUSH ME!" Quinn turned her head towards Skylar and yelled at her with stress. She turned her head back to receive a punch with his metal arm right to the face. She stumbled back for a minute before falling. Blood was pouring out of her nose.
Skylar lost control of the guards when she didn't notice one of them aiming a gun at her side and taking a shot, not bothering to think about where he was aiming. She saw the bullet coming and attempting to dodge it, but instead, the bullet hit her closer to the middle of her stomach. The vibranium infused shirt sort of stopped the bullet from going all the way through, but she fell back to the ground, unable to get up now that she was bleeding a lot. Bucky, now back with his normal movements, grabbed Quinn and threw her towards the guards, who got to her. Next, they went for Skylar.
Meanwhile, Tris teleported inside, having to kill a few agents. The knives in her coat were helpful, especially with hand-to-hand combat. She found Raven, in a cell looking place. She had restraints on and she looked beat up and weak.
"Hey, Raven," Tris called her name out when teleporting into the cell. Raven looked up at her friend in fear before realizing it was her.
"Oh, thank-"
"No time to talk!" Tris said when she grabbed Raven and teleported onto the quinjet. "Stay here, don't come out to the field. Make sure you're not seen in here." She told her, teleporting back out to the field. Raven knew it would be best to stay there for now. The second she got on the field, Tris saw what had happened to her friends in the last minute. Now it was time to get back up. Tris teleported back to Avengers Tower right in the middle of the penthouse.
"Asses. Out here. Now." She told them, seeing Steve, Tony, Natasha, Bruce, Loki, Thor and Peter all in their suits already. "Why are you in your suits already? Did you think we were going to screw up or something?!"
"What? Just in case," Tony replied, taking her arm. The others got up and took her arm, and she teleported back to the field with the other Avengers. She started to get really dizzy, and she fell back.
"Woah, easy there," Loki told her, catching her fall. "You're going to pass out if you're not careful."
"I know!" She got up and out of his grasp. The others went to go fight the guards. Lorelei ran towards Steve immediately.
"What's going on?!" Steve asked her.
"Quinn's been taken inside, Skylar's been shot, and is being taken inside. Raven's on the jet. Bucky is slipping in and out Winter Soldier mode, and we're getting our asses handed to us!" She explained.
"Lorelei, what are your powers right now?"
"Elements, mind reading and a slight bit of teleporting, which I'm still working with. I'm not great with distance though. Why?"
"Tris is going to pass out soon, you need to get Quinn and Skylar out of there and on the jet."
"But I can't teleport wel-"
"Just go! I'll handle the guards!" Steve told her. Reluctantly, she teleported inside, quite far from the cells. There weren't many guards inside, but she kept her bow handy just in case there were. HYDRA was running out of men. As she got closer to the cells, she had to fight off more guards, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She found Skylar first, who was completely passed out in her cell, with blood pouring out of her gunshot wound. If Lorelei didn't act fast, Skylar would be dead in half an hour. Lorelei's first instinct was to check if the bullet was still there, and sure enough, it was. She used her elemental manipulation to get the piece of metal out, and then she froze the wound there with ice. It wouldn't hold for long, but they had stitching equipment and proper. She grabbed Skylar's wrist and tried her hardest to teleport outside of the base. She got about ten feet in front of the door, and then she teleported again as close to the edge of the forest as she could, before doing that again to the quinjet.
"Hey Raven," she said, "I know you're weak right now, but Skylar's on the verge of death right now. I need you to stop the bleeding by-"
"I know what to do, go." Raven cut her off. Lorelei smiled and teleported to the edge of the forest. Tris and Loki were fighting off some guards, she was trying to conserve the small remainder of her energy left. She looked a lot less tired than before. Lorelei was getting tired by doing all of that teleporting herself.
"Tris, can you do one more teleporting trip? I'd prefer you get Quinn, and just get her to the field if she's okay to fight. Besides, one of us still needs to get Damon."
"Tony, Tori and Spiderkid are going for Damon. I can only do one more trip, I'm going to pass out otherwise."
"I'll get the guards and you go!" She told her. Tris teleported inside the building while Lorelei took on the guards with Loki.
Meanwhile, Thor and Bruce were getting the remainder of the guards out of the way. Natasha was inside downloading the files the Avengers didn't already have for the girls, the Winter Soldier and for Wanda, to find out more about their powers. Then, the base had to be blown up.
Lexi and Steve were fighting off Bucky from trying to get her. Steve was trying to convince him of who he was again while they fought. Bucky was still slipping in and out of programming, and there was only one way he'd stop that they knew of. A good knockout would likely do the trick. But Lexi was going to try another way.
"Steve, let me use my powers on him, I'll induce something to get him to stop! I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a shot!" She told him, dodging Bucky's punches and throwing some of her own. "I need to let him get me! If it goes to shit, knock him out!"
"Got it!" Steve replied. She let him throw a good punch with his metal arm to get her on the ground. He came closer to her, and she stood quickly and held her one hand over his heart, where her powers were most effective. She placed her other hand on his head to induce a bit of pain, so it'd be more trouble for him to harm her. His metal arm was already around her waist so he could throw her, but his movements stopped. His eyes weren't looking as glazed over as before as he slipped in and out of programming, but her plan backfired when he used that hand to quickly grab one her own smaller knives from her belt and stab her right side. Both hers and Steve's eyes widened in shock. Steve took his shield and hit the back of his head with the center of it, knocking him out. Lexi fell back, bleeding badly from her side.
"Okay, we got to go, Stark. Lexi's been stabbed and Bucky's knocked out. You got Edwards?" He asked.
"Peter and I got him. Tony's placing the bomb in the building," Tori replied, "Is everyone out of the base?"
"Quinn and Skylar are back at the jet, Nat?" Tris asked over their earpieces.
"I got the files, and I'm getting the jet back over here. Can you hold the rest of them off for a minute?" Natasha replied.
"Thor, Loki, do you guys mind helping out with Bucky? He's out cold, and I have Lexi over my shoulder." Steve asked them.
"No problem," Thor and Loki said simultaneously, going to grab Bucky. The jet was there in a matter of seconds. The people who didn't have anyone to carry anyone, were running and taking a couple of shots at the rest of the agents. They all got onto the jet and closed the doors once Tori and Peter got on the with Damon, who was knocked out. They restrained him, just in case he woke up. And then Natasha closed the doors and flew the jet out of the area. Not a few seconds after they got out of there, they heard the explosion of the HYDRA base behind them. Now they just had worry about everyone surviving as they got home. Mainly Skylar.