Chapter Text
Trigger Warning: Violence and Gun Use
“ Why?” She asked as they quickly pulled out of the alley in a Volkswagen Beetle. The two giants in the front of the car had to hunch over due to the cramped space, even Agent 33 felt like she was being crushed.
They ignored her question and began theorizing about how they are going to get out of the mess they were in. Bucky ran a gloved hand through his hair,“ Where the hell are we supposed to go?”
“ I don’t know,” Sam admitted as he tried to pull out a GPS,“ Let’s just hope they don’t figure out which car we’re driving yet.”
“ Well now you’ve jinxed it,” Bucky complained as he scanned outside the window. Kara rolled her eyes before trying to repeat her question, but she was interrupted.
“ Do you not have any more super-secret scary places to hide in?” Sam asked his colleague, who looked at him baffled.
“ Why the hell would I have any more?”
Kara sighed as she leaned over and grabbed the GPS that Sam was trying to look at for directions, to which she muttered to him,“ Don’t text and drive.” The arguing stopped as they both glanced at her, Sam looking between the road and the assassin who quickly returned the phone to its place near the front of the car, this time with directions to a place already inserted.
They kept glancing at her for answers, so she just huffed and leaned back in her seat,“ You could’ve just told me we were in New York. There’s a safe house in Long Island, should be relatively abandoned. Hydra hasn’t used it since The Blip,” before they could talk, she continued,“ Now, seriously, why are you doing all of this?”
Bucky tilted his head in confusion. Wasn’t she listening to a thing they have been saying? Looking at her face, she was very confused.
“ We told you-”
“ No, what you told me was that you wanted me to go on a whole ‘self-discovery’ trip. Not that you would be sacrificing your job for an enemy you just met, because that’s just idiotic.”
“ Is it so hard to believe that we are trying to help you?”
“ But why?” She insisted,“ You could’ve avoided all of this and let me escape and that would have helped me.”
Bucky shook his head in disagreement,“ And have you go back to that hell hole? No.”
“ Plus, that’s too easy,” Sam interrupted,“ And easy isn’t fun, right?”
Kara looked like she wanted to argue with that, but instead, she just nodded. “ Touché.” She still couldn’t wrap her mind around their eagerness to help. She was fine on her own, and even so, Hydra always had her back when she needed them.
Her lips pressed together as she looked at her father in confusion,“ Why do you hate Hydra so much? Weren’t you the top operative?”
Instead of answering, he just sat there with a frown. This wasn’t how he wanted this week to go. He just wanted to get a quick mission over with and relax at home, maybe visit the Wilsons. Now he has to deal with a stubborn kid that happens to be a part of the organization that tortured him for years. And she had no clue.
As much as she wanted to press for information, Kara felt like he would strangle her if she kept talking. She looked out the window as they silently drove. Every time they made eye contact with another driver of a different car, they would quickly look away and try to not act suspicious, which almost made them look more suspicious. Since Long Island was about an hour away, it was just an hour of silence.
*insert ringtone here*
Sam’s eyes widened as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to reveal his sister calling him. He looked in between Bucky and the Hydra agent, to which she raised her eyebrows,“ Do you want me to cover my ears?” She wasn’t surprised by the lack of trust, the less she knows the better for them if things go south.
He nodded at her, so she just covers her ears as they began talking to Sarah.
“ Hey Sarah, now’s not really the best time,” Sam tries to tell her, but Bucky immediately butts in with,“ Heeey Sarah.”
Kara tilts her head as she watched Sam glare at Bucky and the latter just playfully winking in response. She just looked outside of the window to avoid this weird encounter.
“ Hey Bucky,” Sarah greets from the phone,“ Sam, I just need to know if you are going to Cass and AJ’s play. I’m buying the tickets now.”
“ They’re preorder?”
Kara begins humming because she could hear the muffled words, which caused the two to look at her with confusion.
“ Who’s that?”
“ Uh,” Sam thought,“ Just a friend we’re helping out.”
There was a few moments of silence before she continue,“ Alright, well, are you going to go?”
“ Yeah, yeah I’ll go.”
“ Bucky, you want to go?”
Bucky smiled,“ Yeah! The kids are going to do great.”
“ They’re really excited,” She laughed as she thought of her children,“ What about your…‘friend?’” The two immediately protested and a sigh could be heard over the phone before Sarah asked,“ What are you boys getting into?”
It was like she knew they were doing something stupid, which was, for the most part, accurate. They both glanced at the backseat, not knowing how to answer as they had no idea what they were going to get into with helping her. Sam shrugged, though his sister couldn’t see,“ It’s complicated.”
“ Complicated as in you don’t know yet or as in it’s too dangerous for me to know?”
“....yes.”
“ Try not to do anything stupid.”
Bucky pressed his lips together in a thin line and looked back at the girl in the backseat. She was humming the song he played while she was in the cell, staring through the window. All he could see when looking at her was Hydra. Despite living this long, he could tell she was curious about the world as if a child was just allowed to go outside without supervision. It was sad and angering and confusing all at the same time.
“ We’ll try.”
━━━━━ • ஜ • ❈ • ஜ • ━━━━━
The car rolled slowly towards the gate, glaring at the large building in front of them. It seemed old like it should be abandoned, but when Agent 33 pressed the code, the gate opened with ease. They all stared ahead, only moving a few feet into the premises before stopping the car again.
“ Electricity’s still on, didn’t know we still paid that,” She stated as she got out of the car and stretched, her back cracking from being stuck in the same position for over an hour. Sam and Bucky followed after her, both groaning in pain as they got used to standing.
“ You said it hasn’t been used since the Blip?” Sam turned to her in confusion pointing ahead at tire tracks that led to a black car parked not too far away from them. In turn, she shrugged.
“It’s been a while,” She explained,“ Whoever’s in there can’t be Hydra. We marked this place as a no-go zone.”
They looked at her with confusion, so she explained further,“ Literally all bad things happen in New York, it isn’t exactly safe for struggling agents.”
“ Not everything happens in New York,” Sam tries to excuse, but the Agent laughed and shook her head in disagreement.
“ The Stark Expo, the Chitauri, that weird guy with mechanical wings, the weird donut-looking spacecraft that came before everyone poofed away, the literal fact that you guys are littered all over New York, especially that Spider-guy looking at every single bad thing in the city,” She listed, counting on her fingers as she walked backward, looking straight at Sam,“ I mean, come on, we’re daring but New York is a center for disaster.”
It seemed that this was the first time that either of them had actually thought about all that went down in New York. She shrugged with a smile before whipping back to match their pace, facing the building that they were approaching.
There was a hum they could hear coming from inside the house that got louder as they got closer. Once they reached the front door, Bucky put his arm across her to stop her.
“ Wait, people are here, right? We’re seriously not going to walk through the front door,” he complained.
“ Oh I’m fine,” she humbly brags,“ You, however, I’m not too concerned about. You seem clever enough to find a way.”
They narrow their eyes at her as she opens the door, which was unlocked for some reason. Whoever was in there was an idiot apparently. They quickly hid as the door swung open, but seeing as there was nobody looking at the door at the moment, they snuck in and quickly left to go search the rooms.
The Agent rolled her eyes and waltzed in, not attempting to hide from whoever was there. Inside would’ve been pretty normal. It was a relatively old building that was dusty everywhere, but the hum they heard was much louder, and the ground buzzed.
Her eyebrows scrunched together as she looked around, the hum quickly turning into a loud rumbling noise. Soon after following the noise, traveling down some steps into a basement of sorts, voices could be heard.
“ How much longer until we hit it?” A man shouts out, causing Kara to pause and listen.
“ You mean if we hit it,” Another responds,“ This stuff isn’t exactly commonly found.”
“ They told us it is here,” The first one groaned as if this wasn’t the first time he was talking about this. Agent 33 tilted her head as she listened, her ears beginning to ache from the loud drumming noise.
“ Yeah, yeah, but they could always be wrong.”
“ Don’t catch them hearing you say this,” Agent 33 spoke as she revealed herself, tilting her head at the two agents in front of her. One was young, barely an adult, wearing dirty overalls that made Kara wince. He had red, curly hair and a strong, pointed nose. The older one was a generation older than the boy, probably in his late thirties, or early forties, with thin, brown hair that looks a bit messy. He, thankfully, wasn’t wearing overalls, but instead, he was wearing a t-shirt with a vest over it, and dad khakis… Whoever said that was okay needs a serious reassessment.
They look at her in shock, and both reach for their waistbands where, without a doubt, their guns are. She just lifts her hand and rolls her eyes,“ Hail Hydra.”
This seemed to calm them down slightly. The old man relaxed greatly, but the young one kept his guard. Agent 33 waltzed over to the giant drill, which was the source of the noise, and looked down, both of the men looking at her intently. “ May I pause this?” They looked at her unwillingly before she rolled her eyes,“ Whatever your looking for isn’t going to leave in the next few minutes, is it?”
They seemed unsure, but quickly the older man shut off the machine. The noise slowly quieted down until the drill made no noise. She tilted her head in his direction since he seemed the most compliant, but her gaze never left the hole they were digging. “ Name?”
They look between each other before the older man speaks,“ Agent Nelson.” When the younger one stayed quiet, Agent 33 glanced in his direction expectantly, to which he responded slowly,“ Agent Nelson…”
She tilted her head,“ Father-son duo? Really?” They both look at her confused, but she just shook her head. “ Senior, what are you drilling for?”
This was the first time he hesitated, but he spoke nonetheless,“ It’s classified.”
This caused her to laugh. By the looks of it, they were below her in ranking, as most agents were. All they were doing was digging. How could that be classified? “ Agent 33,” she introduces herself with a sly grin,“ I have the clearance.”
The small family frowns before the father reaffirms his statement, adding,“ No one other than who our superior told us is allowed to know.” He seemed nervous in her presence now, wary of what she might do if he said the wrong thing. The son, with less patience than his father, adds on with a snappy tone,“ You weren’t on that list.”
She raised her eyebrow at the secrecy, though she wasn’t offended by any means. Agent 33 respected their stern stance when it comes to orders, though it still bothered her. She might not be as knowledgeable about earthly minerals, but she was allowed access to stuff much simpler than this, so the secrecy was jarring. She nods and begins walking away, which causes them to look at each other in confusion.
“ Wait, why are you even here?” Junior asked, causing her to pause and turn around.
“ This used to be a safe house, was it not?” She rhetorically asked,“ I needed somewhere safe.”
They go to speak, but a loud thud came from upstairs, causing the three Hydra agents to look up. Kara mentally face-palmed as the father and son drew their guns and began moving.
“ Were you followed?”
“ Do I look that idiotic?”
Junior looked like he wanted to comment, but his father quickie dragged him up the stairs to get them to investigate. Kara put her hands on her hips before following them lazily, no weapon in hand.
It didn’t take long for the Avengers to meet the Hydra agent’s eyes. The family was not ready or prepared to come face-to-face with Captain America and the thought-to-be-dead Winter Soldier. Kara just leans on the wall while her father looks at her with wide, confused eyes.
She just laughed, leading the entire party to look at her,“ Sorry, this is just an unfortunate situation.”
The Avengers just turn back to the other Hydra agents, ignoring the girl. The Hydra agents, however, look at her like she is crazy, to which she just shrugs and looks back the way they came.
“ So,” She started as she turned her head back to the group,“ Is a fight going to happen or..?”
They didn’t even wait before fists were thrown. Although the family looked weak, they definitely had their training. Kara watched them fight, deciding it was time to step in then Junior’s gun fired a little too close to Sam.
She kicked his knee and forced him down by the overalls, leaving him on the ground in shock to where Kara is able to grab his gun.
“ Nelson Senior,” Agent 33 cooed, waving the gun she stole as she pressed a foot against Junior’s neck. Senior was distracted enough to be pushed against the wall by Bucky, who only stopped when Kara pointed the gun at Junior’s head.
Sam took a step forward towards her and began trying to convince her not to shoot, but she paid him no attention, making sure she had the Hydra agent’s complete attention.
“ Слабый,” She smiled,“ Now darling, what did you say you were drilling?”
Senior shook his head as Bucky lightened his hold, though he made sure the agent was still restrained. They all are looking at her with worry, though she is extremely calm. Seeing him refuse to answer, Agent 33 makes sure the gun is cocked and ready to fire with a peaceful smile still on her face. She does not repeat the question, she just patiently waits.
“ Please, they’re orders,” he begs.
Agent 33 sighs, looking at the ground before looking back at him,“ So is this, a rather intense one.”
She wiggles the gun to prove her point. He closes his eyes and takes a sharp intake, but he refuses to speak, which causes his son to begin to ramble in a panic,“ Traitor! You can’t just do this! You’re helping the enemy, going against orders, you are a disgrace to Hydra.”
The Agent just rolls her eyes,“ Very wise to say to someone with a gun to your head.”
“ Please,” Senior begs once more,“ He’s just a boy-”
“ I’ve killed younger for less,” she interrupts. The Avengers raise their eyebrows in shock, though Bucky just looks down almost in shame and guilt.
Knowing they weren’t getting anywhere, The Agent began counting down from five, tilting her head back and forth each number. Her finger moved to the trigger at two and the Senior gave in right at one.
“ Gravitonium!” He cries, staring at his son.
Kara lifts her head in recognition before turning to him, the gun lowering slowly down to her side. “ You’re drilling Gravitonium? Why?”
“ I don’t know, I didn’t ask questions, I just did…” He was still looking at his son.
Before Kara could say anything, Sam got closer to her,“ Kara, put the gun down.” She looked at him with a confused glare, but she held out the gun for him to take, which he quickly did. Her gaze switched between the two, who just avoided her eyes. They looked upset at her, though she couldn’t understand why.
Her foot was still on Junior. Even as he tried to get up, she forced him back down with ease, causing him to choke a bit, struggling to get air. She crossed her arms expectantly. “ What do we do now, Cap?”
━━━━━ • ஜ • ❈ • ஜ • ━━━━━
“Killing them would’ve just been easier,” She laid down in the backseat with her legs hanging out of the door. The Avengers glared at her, obviously upset with how she was dealing with things.
Bucky snaps at her,“ That was a kid.”
“ He was weak,” She explained for the third time,“ He dealt with that situation poorly, he was lucky I would’ve gone with a headshot.”
They both shake their head, but Sam stayed silent while Bucky scolded her,“ He was what? Barely over eighteen?”
“ And?” Agent 33 rolled her eyes, obviously not understanding the severity of the situation. What’s one less idiot in the world? There were plenty of incompetent agents in Hydra that she had put down, this would’ve just been another to the list. “ Plus, you should be thankful, I got information.”
“ All they were doing was drilling for materials,” Bucky sighed. Sam turned his head to her, finally speaking after a while of this argument, his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion,“ Gravitonium? The hell is that?”
She shrugged, and when they were about to argue that she shouldn’t hide information now, Kara lifted her hands in defense,“ I don’t know shit!” They expressed their disbelief, but what could she do? She rolled her sleeves up on her shirt.
Why were they so upset that she was going to kill him? Haven’t they done the same before? She was doing everyone a favor anyway. Those agents would’ve screwed everyone over, especially the kid with his lack of trust. Hydra would be stuck with them and they would also know that the Avengers were getting close.
What was she supposed to do? She looked at them in confusion, but they just seemed stressed. There was no game plan. There was no idea of how to “help” Kara and no idea of how to interfere with Hydra’s plans, whatever they were, without Kara turning against them.
Sam tilted his head,“ So what? You want to investigate your own organization?”
She sighed and looked at the ground,“ Not really.” Even as she said that it was obvious to the rest that she was unsure of what she wanted. While they were monitoring her the entire time, she still felt like she had the most freedom she’s had in years. Even when they were telling her to do something else, she started to have the feeling that she could finally get to choose. It’s such a weird sensation. A sort of fluttering in the chest, like a new power she had discovered. It wasn’t worth the risk, but God, did she want more of that feeling.
Kara combed her fingers through her hair, trying to pull the knots apart, before deciding to say,“ There wouldn’t be anything online about Gravitonium I believe, only one person tried studying it thoroughly, but all of their work is now with Hydra.”
“ So basically Hydra has this unknown, probably important, the element being used for whatever sick things they have in store for it?” Bucky asked rhetorically, causing Kara to roll her eyes but nod. He laughed and shook his head,“ Some things never change.”
Author's Note: So... A few months later I actually have motivation, nice. Anyway, I hope I'm making Kara's confusion clear and understandable. If I don't like it, oh well, two steps forward and three steps back I guess. This feels like a bit of a filler, but that's alright. Also, there are mentions of Gravitonium again! I'm excited to get that part done. I hope you all have a great day/night/evening/holiday!