"Stark?" was the only thing America's national hero could say.
- What? Oh my God, no, I'm not a forty-year-old guy who spends his free time flying around the world in his expensive tin can and annoying not-so-nice people.
All three avengers looked at each other, not quite understanding what was happening.
- Where did you get this suit?
- Oh, oh, oh. Yay Natasha. Shouldn't you know that what 's stolen from a thief isn't considered theft.
And the armor began to move towards the control panel where Zola was.
Not quite understanding what to do, the heroes looked warily at the armor passing by them, but still let it pass.
Having approached and connected directly through the router, the suit continued.
"In about ten minutes, a squad will be here for your soul. Find a place to hide, and I'll find you later."
"You still haven't answered who you are?" Clint kept his gun trained on the unidentified target.
- My name is Yumiko . Alex calls me his guardian angel.
- Ledov? - Steve only knew one Alex.
-Which one did you think of?
- Wait for the count...
"Now's not the time , " the joking tone was gone from his voice . "If you want to fight the operatives who are following you, then go ahead. I'm a little busy right now."
After some thought, the three avengers decided to quickly leave the bunker while Yumiko remained there, connected to the Hydra's artificial intelligence.
As the three Avengers left the bunker, they heard a litany of insults directed at the prehistoric idiot.
Having escaped from the bunker , they got into the car in which they had arrived and drove away from the former military base.
They had not yet gone far when they had to quickly leave the road to avoid meeting the small army that had been sent after them.
We had to wait a bit and, after checking that they had not been noticed, return to the road again.
They hadn't gone far when they noticed an explosion coming from the direction of the bunker they had just left.
*****
A few hours later, hiding at the apartment of an acquaintance of Steve's, a certain Sam Wilson , the people wanted by the shield were trying to decide what to do.
When the three of them showed up at the threshold of his apartment, he only looked strangely at the unexpected guests, but let them in without asking any questions.
Unfortunately, any plan was complicated when you were facing an entire intelligence organization with a ton of equipment, people, and resources.
- How long have you known about Hydra?
- Steve, I found out because Fury told me , to whom Ledov gave the information.
- And you didn't tell me.
- Steve, don't be offended, but now I see that they did the right thing. You couldn't have kept it a secret.
Captain America looked at Clint as if he'd betrayed him. The super-soldier's literal arch-enemy was now more alive than ever. That's why Steve couldn't find peace.
Before they could come up with any kind of plan to destroy the hydra in the shield, they were distracted by an unexpected doorbell, which alarmed everyone.
Unaware of who had arrived, the members of the Avengers team took up comfortable positions for battle, while the owner of the small apartment carefully made his way to the door.
Sam opened the door and saw no one, which greatly alarmed him. Before he could even peek out to look around, he felt his body being pushed back inside the apartment and the door being closed.
As soon as the door closed, an unexpected savior appeared from invisibility, still wearing the same pink armor that they had left in the bunker just recently.
"How did you find us?" the captain decided to get straight to the point while the apartment owner stared silently and a little apprehensively at the high-tech suit in its ill-fitting color scheme.
- Just like I was able to find you in the bunker.
In order to calm down the obviously nervous people a little, the live program decided to tell a little about itself.
"My name is Yumiko ," she said, pointing her hands at herself as if to fool anyone. "Because of a certain situation, my consciousness left my body, and I found myself on the internet. I wandered around there for a bit and then one day I met Alex, who helped me, and now I'm helping him."
- How? What do you mean? Wait?
Too many questions were being asked from all sides. Many of them she didn't even want to answer. So the ghost in the shell simply stood there and didn't answer until the group calmed down.
"Where's Ledov himself?" Natasha stared at the armor's eye indicators. "I couldn't contact him."
" Well, you know," Yumiko, clearly unsure whether to answer or not, finally decided, "if the data is correct, then somewhere not far from Mars."
- How? What do you mean? Wait?
The new round of questions clearly began to irritate the teenager.
"Ask him yourself when he gets back!" came the slightly aggressive reply, and the armor even stamped its foot, creating a small crack.
Yumiko's response and actions calmed everyone down. Except for one soldier, whose property was suddenly being destroyed.
"So you're here to help us?" Clint, feeling a little more at ease, settled into a chair near the window while the others began to calmly take their seats in various places around the living room, realizing there was no immediate threat.
" Yes and no." This answer clearly didn't satisfy the living humans. "Alex wrote a whitelist that I monitor constantly."
- So he was following us?
- Yes, Captain Obvious. I was watching. That's why I was in the right place at the right time and was able to shoot down the missile that was heading for your souls.
Steve didn't know what to say to that.
- Then you must help us stop the shield.
"No," the firm answer clearly put everyone on guard, "you don't need to do anything now."
- If we don't do anything, the helicarriers will take to the skies and start killing people.
- That's the plan.
Seeing the shocked faces , Yumiko realized she'd said something slightly wrong. So she decided to correct the situation by explaining the plan of action currently in progress.
When Stark, of course, "failed to read" the flash drive he was supposed to give to Fury, he called Ledov for a talk. After speaking with him, Stark sent Jarvis and Yumiko to dig into the Shield data he had access to using the backdoor he'd left behind when he hacked the company before the Chitauri invasion .
After sorting through a huge amount of data, Project Insight was discovered. To avoid unnecessary risks, it was decided to take some precautions against the cruisers, whose creation Stark himself had played a small role in. Therefore, a program was inserted into them that would transform them into flying pieces of metal once they were ready for combat.
Everyone in the apartment listened silently, and then tried to comprehend it.
- This means we can destroy them when they are in a suspended state and cannot do anything!
"No," the teenager interrupts Captain Rogers' plans again. "We need the cruisers intact. That's exactly why we're doing this. So they can work for the Avengers."
"But if I understand correctly, they pose a serious threat." Sam decided to support the captain while the shield agents silently listened and analyzed.
"Just like everyone else in this room," the girl's voice became increasingly irritated.
- We do not pose a danger to peace.
"Captain Rogers," Yumiko said, "is tired of this argument. If you enjoy destroying equipment worth hundreds of billions of dollars that no longer poses a threat to peace, that's your right. But then you'll have to explain why countries can't protect the world, not only from global invasions from space, but even from space pirates who kidnap people."
- How? What do you mean? Wait?
The third series of questions completely infuriated the teenager.
- That's it. I'm fed up. Ask Alex all your questions later, but for now, sit quietly and don't attract attention.
With these words, the suit created by Stark left the apartment and flew into the sky in camouflage.
There was a silence in which everyone decided to think over their plans.
- What are we going to do? - C , not quite understanding what was happening, was the first to come to his senses.
*****
Natasha Romanoff, the only woman on the Avengers team, faced a difficult choice.
Help Steve Rogers or just sit and wait.
Over the past 24 hours, everything had changed dramatically. It turned out that Hydra hadn't infiltrated SHIELD, but had been there from the very beginning. Missions she'd previously carried out without thinking began to surface in her mind. But with this new information, some of her missions began to take on a different meaning.
Of course she trusted Fury , who was doing his job honestly, but even the director of the shield was following someone else's orders.
Everything became more stupid and confusing.
The teenage girl in the combat suit who saved them and told them to wait only raised more questions than answers. And now there was very little time to think long and hard.
Natasha only had to confirm Fury's suspicions about Steve , who would not be able to keep information about Hydra a secret.
Now he was pacing the room, thinking. Natasha could even guess where his thoughts were going:
" We need to stop Hydra immediately before anyone gets hurt."
Unfortunately, the plan Yumiko outlined was the most optimal one. When the time comes, Alex, Tony, and their "armies" will be able to maintain control while the intelligence agencies and the army sort out who's right and who's wrong. Even letting anyone go in the chaos won't be possible. With the independent Avengers all nearby, no one in their right mind would dare go against them right now.
Natasha even liked that the plan was devised so she wouldn't have to take the bullets. And she didn't want to resent Alex for not telling her anything. Although, judging by what he said, it was more Stark's idea than Alex's. A smile appeared on her face, imagining Alex pompously telling her how he saved everyone.
"Steve, stop worrying!" Clint, checking the windows, was already tired of looking at the nervous captain. "If this Yumiko turns out to be right, everything will end well."
For Clint, this option was also a good one. Natasha had known the archery specialist for a long time and could understand what he was thinking. Now he was becoming even more worried about his family, who were far away.
- This shouldn't be like this. Hydra must be destroyed.
Clint decided to answer
"To destroy an organization that wants to take over the world, you don't always have to rush headlong into an attack. I'm not particularly eager to go to war with a full shield, where we don't even know who's friend or foe."
- What about Fury's killer ? If everything goes according to their plan , then he'll be able to get away.
"I know who killed Fury !" Everyone in the house looked closely at Natasha. "Until recently, few believed he existed. But recently, he was spotted in Russia , carrying out missions. They call him the Winter Soldier. He's carried out dozens of jobs over the past fifty years."
- Ghost Stories - Steve was skeptical about this information.
"Five years ago, I was escorting an Iranian nuclear engineer. The car was shot at, and while I was pulling him out, he was shot through me . " She showed them her toned stomach and the side where the bullet had hit her, so they could see for themselves. "Goodbye bikini."
But everyone looked at her silently.
- Nat -
Clint pointed to her side, which was clean and looked like it had never been shot.
- Well ... someone still wants to look at me in a bikini.
- I think I even know who.
And the old friends smiled knowingly.
Steve was little convinced. Confident in his abilities, he was about to set out on his own search when Clint noticed movement on the neighboring rooftops.
- They found us.
Realizing they were being targeted, the group began preparing to repel the attack and flee the area.
Literally within a minute, several vans with the SHIELD emblem pulled up, and operatives began to emerge from them.
The assault began with tear gas, which flew into all the windows at once.
At the same time, armed men knocked down the front door.
Immediately after this they were thrown out by Captain America's ramming move.
- Everyone follow me.
Considering that there was little choice, the squad began to move quickly.
Steve, acting as a tank, absorbed the damage. Natasha followed him and provided cover, firing back with pistols or engaging in close combat if anyone suddenly felt brave enough. Clint and Sam provided fire support and prevented any attacks from other directions.
Of course, no one planned to go so blatantly. After descending several floors, Steve led everyone into one of the corridors and, having simply broken down one of the doors, heard a loud female scream.
Finding time amid the firefight to apologize for the inconvenience, the group leader headed to the balcony. Jumping from the third floor, he helped and caught everyone else who jumped after him, one by one.
Once in the alley, the detachment began to move further and was immediately noticed by a patrol consisting of only a few people.
Having dispatched them without any problem, they quickly fled through the alleys under the watchful eyes of many civilians. At one point, running from building to building, they all thought they had escaped pursuit.
A sniper's shot ruined their plans for an easy escape.
A burning pain in her body forced the spy to fall onto the asphalt.
- Nat -
Clint rushed to his girlfriend, who took a sniper shot to the shoulder.
Steve quickly located the shooter's position and the next shot was blocked by his shield.
While everyone was distracted by the spy falling to the ground, a mercenary with a metal arm came out to meet them, clearly on his way to fulfill his mission.
The team had to urgently leave the firing point and move to a building on another street.
Finding himself in a small foyer, Steve stood up to meet any possible threat, taking cover from Sam , who was hiding behind the tables with a machine gun.
Barton tried to help her with the wound using everything he could find at hand.
With a pompous gait and a machine gun in his hand, the winter soldier looked at Steve from under his mask.
Without hesitation, the mercenary began firing. But his vibranium shield held up well to the incoming damage. Return fire from behind cover damaged the Winter Soldier's machine gun and forced him into close combat with Captain America.
Rapid blows followed one another. The Winter Soldier held himself so that the shooter couldn't hit him because Steve was always in his crosshairs. Even during brief moments of good shooting opportunity, Sam hesitated, as the rapid movements of the two struggling men prevented him from getting off a shot.
Steve was surprised to find himself fighting an opponent who matched his strength and speed. A slight parity emerged in the battle. Steve couldn't defeat the Winter Soldier. And the mercenary couldn't defeat the captain due to the threat of Sam's gunshot.
His chance came when the mercenary was distracted by the approaching sound of a siren and received a strong blow from the super soldier, and then a bullet to his mask, which knocked him back.
The mask took all the damage and did not damage the mercenary's face, but forced him to take it off.
- Bucky? - Everyone froze after Steve's words.
"Do you know him?" Sam had him at gunpoint now and was ready to finish him off, and was even planning to do so.
- Don't shoot.
And this moment was enough for the Winter Soldier to begin leaving the battlefield and was able to hide.
Before they had time to fully come to their senses, the team wanted to escape, but they were not allowed to do so.
Trying to escape the mission to hide, they only attracted more attention to themselves.
Cars with shield emblems began to emerge from around the corners.
They could have tried to escape, but with the wounded Natasha, whom Clint had somehow bandaged from the materials at hand, they wouldn't have gotten far.
Dozens of operatives held four people at gunpoint. The only thing that prevented them from shooting them all was the fact that hundreds of people from the streets and houses watched and filmed the whole thing live.
So, instead of executing them on the spot, they had to arrest them all for now. Following orders , the operatives calmly began loading the prisoners. So they didn't notice how an unexpected guest appeared out of the sky.
"Everyone stay where you are," Rhodey the warrior in his black armor began a slow descent to the ground, keeping all the shield operatives at gunpoint. "Don't make any sudden movements, and no one will get hurt."
Of course, no one listened to him, and the leader of the capture group, in order not to give up his prisoners, ordered everyone to open fire.
To which return fire was given.
The minigun on the warrior's shoulder found all of its targets in literally ten seconds, and no one was able to escape the rapid-fire weapon.
Those watching such massive fire on the special forces expected a bloodbath. Fortunately, not a drop of blood was spilled.
If you look closely, you can see small flasks of sleeping pills in each shield fighter and on the asphalt around them. They worked well and quickly calmed everyone down without killing anyone.
While Rhodey himself was engaged in "negotiations," a pink suit of armor flew up to the van with the prisoners and, opening the doors, began checking on the crew.
- I told you not to stick your neck out!
- It's difficult to do when we're under attack.
Clint points his hand at Natasha.
Seeing the wounded spy, a syringe with a cloudy green liquid appeared from Yumiko's wrist, which she confidently simply stuck into the wounded woman's shoulder.
"What? " The pain was intense, but after half a minute Natasha was able to breathe a sigh of relief and look at the spot where the bullet wound had recently been. "What was that?"
"You'll thank me later," she continued, having looked around and realized that there were no more wounded. "Take the car and we'll leave."