For Want of a Spider

As the sun rose on what would be their second full day in Bucharest, Tony stood next to Steve looking over a map of the city they had projecting in the middle of the room. The blue hologram distorting the morning rays of light that filtered in through the window. With them was the Commissioner of Bucharest’s police department, along with multiple radio operators working to coordinate their efforts within the city. Markers on the map indicated squad car locations, as well as the positions the Avengers planned to take during this new day of waiting.

When the team had landed in Bucharest two days previously, Tony and Steve had quickly updated the local authorities of the situation, giving them more details than Rhodey had in the original call. Luckily, the locals had seen the importance of the Avengers’ presence in the city when dealing with such a threat, and agreed to work with the team to prevent civilian casualties in the coming fight. Once Taskmaster, and the Winter Soldier (they had left out Payton’s presence for the girl’s sake) were located, local police would handle civilian evacuations while the Avengers took care of the two (three) assassins. 

The previous day had no activity, but based on the message from Nat’s source, Taskmaster and Payton were only supposed to reach the city yesterday, they would still need time to plot out their attack on Barnes. Unfortunately, the Avengers had been unable to locate any of their targets in that time. Nobody knew what Taskmaster looked like under his helmet, and no sightings of anyone matching Barnes’ appearance were reported.

“Tony, you have a second?” Cap’s voice dragged his attention away from the map, and he turned to meet his co-leader’s eyes. The super soldier jerked his head towards a door leading to one of the side rooms, clearly asking for a private conversation.

Grabbing his second cup of coffee for the day, he followed Cap into the other room, leaving the authorities to their business. Steve had a tense look on his face, and for a minute the man was silent, seemingly trying to find out how he wanted to say whatever it was he had to say. After another minute of just staring at the Captain having his own internal battle, Tony clapped his hands together. “Alright, you’re killing me here Cap. You look like you’re trying to tell me you love me, which I already know, everybody does.” He joked. “But seriously, we stay here much longer and the guys out there are going to think we’re playing ‘seven minutes in heaven’.”

“I don’t get that reference?”

He laughed, “Yeah, that’s not one you gotta add to your little book either. Just say what you have to say, I’m sure I’ve heard worse.”

Cap sighed, running a hand through his hair. “What’s going to happen to Bucky… After we bring him home?”

Tony set his coffee down “I guess this is better late than never for this conversation.”

“You’ve been expecting this? For how long?” Steve gave him a pointed look.

“Pretty much since you told me that HYDRA killed my parents, and that you think your buddy was the one they sent to do it.” He admitted, clenching his jaw in frustration with that particular memory.

“Tony. That was two years ago.” Steve said, his voice soft.

“Ye p . It was, but I figured you’d bring it up when it became important and voila! I was right.” He agreed, returning his trademark grin to his face. Hiding his discomfort was easier when he fell back to his media persona. “But let me return the question here. What do you think will happen when we get Barnes back to the states?” He pointedly did not say ‘home’. Despite Barnes being controlled, Tony wasn’t sure if he could live under the same roof as the man if it came out that he killed his mom. He’d had plenty of time to lose the burning anger thanks to Steve approaching him shortly after SHIELD's fall, but he didn’t think it would ever stop hurting. Not completely.

Steve sighed again, his hand running across his jar this time. “I don’t know. The HYDRA files mentioned triggers, which we would have to get out of his head, but I just don’t know. I’m worried people aren’t going to accept that it wasn’t Bucky. That they’ll want their pound of flesh in revenge.”

“That won’t happen.” He assured his friend. “World’s gotten crazy enough in the past few years that brainwashing isn’t out of the realm of possibility to be considered in court. Especially with evidence proving it. Realistically, Barnes will probably be placed in a secure facility for psychiatric help. Being a brainwashed assassin and the longest running prisoner of war in United States history cannot be good for a guy’s mental state.” Tony explained, beginning to answer Steve’s question. “Once he’s deemed mentally fit, he will likely be questioned in regards to everything that he can remember from his time with HYDRA… Ah ah ah!”

Steve had opened his mouth to interrupt, but Tony lifted one finger and cut me off verbally.

“I know you’re about to say ‘it wasn’t him’ and you are right. But we have no idea just how much he remembers of his time as the Winter Soldier. Just because he wasn’t in control doesn’t mean he wasn’t at least aware. Anyway, he’ll be questioned on his potential memories. There might be a trial of some kind, but that probably would be just to verify his legal position in some way. Make some sort of legal precedent separating a person from who they were when brainwashed or something like that.”

His words seemed to put the Captain at ease judging by tense lines within the man’s jaw and shoulders loosening up. “Thanks, Tony.”

A commotion back in the main room drew their attention before Tony could respond. In sync, the two of them rejoined the locals (Tony made sure to grab his coffee and down it in one go on the way). Outside their small meeting room, the dispatchers worked the radios, speaking quickly in Romanian to whoever was listening. Their arrival was noticed by the Commissioner, who ran over to them.

“An officer reporting to a call regarding a domestic disturbance has reported witnessing Taskmaster rappelling into the apartment building the call originated from-”

“Shots fired! We are getting reports of shots fired from Taskmaster’s location!” A dispatcher interrupted, switching to English, likely for his and Steve’s sake.

Steve reached a hand to his ear, switching his communicator back on. “Avengers! Taskmaster made his move! Assemble at this location!” He ordered, fully switching back into team leader mode as he used his phone to send the address to the rest of the team.

“I’ll meet you there, my ride’s upstairs!” Tony called out as he ran out of the room and headed towards the stairs that led to the roof. He’d had to leave his armor there to prevent people from causing his presence in the city to go viral. But now, as he ran up the stairs, he was really wishing that he had spent more time working on his nano-tech idea.

By the time he had reached the roof of the police headquarters Tony could hear Steve’s motorcycle roaring away from the building. “Damn super soldiers…” He mumbled to himself as the back of his armor opened up, letting him slide into the familiar confines of his suit. “Alright baby girl, let's go get this son of a bitch.” He growled as his HUD flickered to life, and FRIDAY came online within the suit.

“I couldn’t agree more, Boss.”

The familiar sound of his repulsors drowned out Steve’s motorcycle as he took off into the air and rocketed south, heading for Taskmaster, and his daughter.

She maneuvered through the streets like a wraith, slipping past throngs of people on their morning routines. None of them spared her a glance, she was just a short girl in the crowd, her face shrouded in shadow from the hood of the coat that covered her true self. The coat was long enough to cover her torso and her legs, meaning the only part of her armor that was visible were her black combat boots, and really, how often does anyone look at another person’s shoes?

Ahead of her, illuminated by the morning sun, was her target. A high-rise apartment near the edge of the city proper. Within it lived the Winter Soldier, a man struggling to pretend he was anything other than a weapon to be wielded. Payton had long since accepted that as her life, and today she would help the Soldier do the same. She’d memorized the necessary triggers. Ten words, twenty syllables, and the Soldier would be free from his weakness just as she was. The General said that just as she was made of marble, the Soldat was made of metal. He just had to remember that.

The Soldier lived on one of the uppermost floors. His apartment technically had two exits, but only one was viable if he wanted to avoid injury in any attempt to escape, and that was the front door. The balcony of his apartment did point towards another (lower)  building though the fall from that height would likely be difficult, even for a super soldier. That risk didn’t count out the possibility that he would take the jump, so she and Taskmaster had made a plan. She would go through the front door while the mercenary would rappel down a few floors from the roof and cut off the Soldier’s escape. According to their plan, Taskmaster should already be up there, having scaled the tower in the middle of the night to avoid being spotted by civilians. His armor wasn’t as concealable as her own was. 

Payton waited at the final crosswalk, using a crowd as camouflage as she waited for their walk-light to turn on. Once it finally did, she moved with the group, only cutting away once they had reached the other side. Her most immediate objective was to follow the man with the bright red backpack. She had noticed him during her stakeout of the building the previous morning as he had seemed to be a night shift worker who was now returning to the apartment, now he was unknowingly her ticket into the building without having to breach the apartment’s security. Judging by the hunch in his shoulders and the dragging of his feet, the man was exhausted. He wouldn’t notice her following him into the tower.

Her mark trudged his way to the entrance, sluggishly holding his key fob up to the scanner that prevented non-residents from entering. Payton kept her footsteps quiet as she snuck behind him, catching the glass door before it closed and slipping in. The first phase was complete, and she no longer needed to focus on the man with the backpack. He served his purpose. Stalking past him as he waited for an elevator, Payton made her way to the stairs. Elevators were confined spaces where anyone could see her and take note of her appearance. The stairs were isolated and people were lazy. Nobody would take them unless there was an emergency. She also knew that her target’s front door was right next to this particular stairwell, which meant she could intercept him if he attempted to leave early today.

“I’m inside. Heading up the stairs now.” She reported, whispering to prevent her voice from echoing in the empty space.

“Copy. The target is still inside. His apartment windows are covered with paper, but his heat signature is still there. Looks like he is cooking breakfast.”

Good. He would be distracted at the start, hungry as well. Might mean he would have less energy for a fight. A few more flights of stairs later and Payton stood outside the Winter Soldier’s front door. Her ears picked up the sounds coming from within. Fat sizzling on a skillet, glass and plates clinking together, and the slight whirring of a metal arm’s mechanisms whispered beneath it all. She could smell the eggs and bacon, the hearty scent wafted through the air.

“I’m in position. Knocking now.” She whispered, raising her fist into the air and knocking on the wooden door. Three solid ‘thuds’ echoed from her knuckles, and the sounds of movement within the apartment stopped. A few moments later they picked up again, slowly approaching the door she stood on the other side of.

Click

Payton’s ears picked up the noise of a pistol’s slide racking a round into the chamber. The Soldier was being cautious, which was expected. But he’d never expect her. She pulled her hood down, revealing her youthful face. Ideally, seeing a young teen outside his door would throw him off and make him hesitate.

Multiple locks clicked open, and the door slowly creaked open enough for her target’s head to poke out, looking around before his eyes lowered to hers. The back of her head tingled, warning her of the gun that was pressed to the door, pointing towards her.

“What…” The Soldier began, his voice confused, but his confusion was his downfall. As Payton thought, she looked harmless enough that the gun was moved. Her sixth sense told her it was still a threat, but she just knew it wasn’t pointed at her anymore.

Taking advantage of the situation, Payton snap-kicked the door, splintering the wood and sending the Soldier back enough that she could slide through the entrance that was no longer blocked by his body and the door.

DUCK

Payton swung her body low, feeling the force of air being moved by the metal arm that nearly hit her in the face. She had to give it to him, he recovered quickly. Throwing a punch of her own, Payton got to witness firsthand the speed of the Winter Soldier, as he deflected her blow and sent her fist into the wall. Her senses warned her of another blow coming from his metal arm, and she leaned to the side avoiding the arm once more, but the metal grip latched onto her coat and pulled, dragging her into a clothesline from her opponent, sending her careening to the floor. He pulled again, and the coat was torn from the force, falling off her shoulders and revealing her Black Widow uniform beneath.

Judging by his eyes widening, he recognized the outfit. He tried to punch her again while she was on the floor, his left arm drawing back before rocketing towards her face, but she brought her hand up and caught the limb, stopping it in its tracks, much to the Soldier’s surprise. 

Twisting her wrist, Payton used her own strength to force the metal arm to rotate, off-balancing the Soldier and allowing her to sweep one of his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground with a heavy ‘thud’ and Payton rolled over to be on top of him, trying to hold both his arms down with her strength.

“Longing…Rusted” She began to recite the code words she’d memorized in Russian, and watched as actual fear crossed his face for the first time. 

Unfortunately for her, she may have had the element of surprise, and enhancements that rivaled, or maybe even surpassed his, but the Winter Soldier had two things on her. Experience, and weight. He used both to jerk his body up, dislodging her from her position before grabbing her back the back of her neck and throwing her into the wall. The Winter Soldier then used his hands to spring himself back to his feet before he grabbed his gun and turned towards the balcony door, sprinting for the exit while Payton still worked to pull herself from the crater her body had created when she hit the wall. Just as her target reached the door, two familiar boots smashed through the obstruction, slamming into the Soldier’s chest and sending him flying back into the center of the apartment. Taskmaster then ran forward, attempting to get to the Soldier before he brought the gun to bear. He failed, and Payton watched as Taskmaster quickly drew his shield, just as a trio of bullets cracked out of the barrel.

“Seventeen… Daybreak” Payton continued, getting back on her feet and rushing the Soldier, wrapping both hands around the wrist that held the gun and dragging it off-target.

“Stop!” The Soldier demanded, though it sounded more like a plea.

“Furnace… Nine…”

BACK

She attempted to lean back to evade the strike, but her shorter arms meant that to keep the gun controlled, she was forced to stay within the Soldier’s reach. Instead of dodging, his metal hand wrapped around her throat and lifted her bodily off the ground. Spots crossed her vision as his hand began to squeeze.

“Shut! Up!” He growled, moving his arm to use Payton as a shield against Taskmaster's attempt to strike him with a billy club. The metal rod cracked across her spine, sending pain shooting up her back.

The next thing she knew, she was smashed into the wooden floor, smashing the planks and creating a crater. Raising an arm, Payton aimed one of her Widow Bites at the Soldier, the electric charge on the weapon set to non-lethal levels, though it was close. Super soldiers could handle a bit more pain than your average person. Flexing her wrist, blue electricity crackled across the Soldier’s body as she fired three charges into him. His body convulsed, distracting him long enough for her to get her fingers under his on her throat and pry them open.

“Benign…” She croaked through a bruised throat.

Letting out a furious yell, the Winter Soldier punched down at her, fast enough that she barely moved her head to the side in time for him to punch through the floor, rather than very likely cracking her skull. When he ripped his hand away from her head, the Soldier brought a backpack out with it, clearly a go-bag. He was planning to run again. Taskmaster seemed to know it too, as he ducked underneath another swipe from the Soldier and punched him a few times in the gut, backing away again before the enhanced assassin could get a grip on him.

It was like a dance, watching the two fight as she dragged herself out of the floor. Two enhanced combatants, one with super strength, the other with a perfect memory of basically every combat form on the planet. As it was however, the Soldier was getting desperate, and she could already see the effects the words were having on him beyond his emotions. There was hesitation, ever so slight, but enough for her to notice. The real Winter Soldier was beginning to show through the cracks in this faker’s psyche, and the Soldier knew that whoever used the words was his handler, or worked for them.

Pushing off the ground, Payton launched herself onto the ceiling, grabbing the Soldier’s metal arm again as she went, dragging it towards the ceiling with her, and giving Taskmaster an opening to make another few blows.

“Homecoming… One… “

Desperate eyes looked up to meet hers, a silent plea that she was destined to ignore. The Soldier would thank the General for this in time.

“Freight Car”

All the fight left the Soldier’s body, and when she released his arm he brought it down to his side, standing ramrod straight and completely still.

“Good Morning, Soldat ” Taskmaster greeted.

“Ready to comply.”

The book said it was the standard response, and meant that the Soldier was fully awakened. Dropping from the ceiling, Payton looked up at him, his dark brown hair the same length as her currently-raven colored hair. Though his hair was messier, and adding the stubble he had growing he looked very… downtrodden.

Beside her, Taskmaster pulled a phone and ear piece out of one of his armor’s pouches and handed them to the Soldier. The sounds of sirens began to waft in through the destroyed balcony door. “Meet us at the coordinates on the phone Soldat . Stay in contact and stay hidden.” The mercenary ordered.

The Winter Soldier nodded, taking the go-bag he had just taken from its stash and pulling it onto his shoulders before turning and running for the stairs. Once he was gone, she turned to look at Taskmaster, who met her gaze.

“We’re splitting up too. Put a new coat on and get out of here, nobody will look twice at you when they’re too busy chasing me.” He told her, before hooking back up to his rappelling line and jumping off the balcony.

Taking a moment to look around, Payton found a spare jacket in a closet and pulled it on over her torso. It wouldn’t hide the form fitting body armor on her legs, but ideally people wouldn’t notice.

She soon followed the Soldier out the door, pulling the hood of the coat over her head as she sprinted down some hallways, heading to a different staircase than the one she took previously, especially since the Soldier took that one down.

Payton took the stairs four at a time, not hiding her speed as she rushed to get away from the building. She could hear the tenets all hiding in their homes, and the police cars that were racing towards the building. In record time Payton was crashing through the exit doors, slowing down her speed to look like the average pedestrian just as the first squad cars reached the street surrounding the plaza. She pretended to be curious, and went ignored by the officers as they rushed inside. As she expected they weren’t looking for a teenage girl right now.

Pleased with her quick getaway, Payton continued down the street, only to hear a sound she never expected to, the sound of repulsors. Far above her head, Iron Man soared towards the tower, stopping in a hover near the balcony that led to the Soldier’s apartment.

“Iron Man’s here! Look out for the Avengers!” She warned, lifting a hand to press the broadcast button on her earpiece.

The response she received was a growl from Taskmaster. “They knew we were coming! I’ve been engaged by Hawkeye! Get the hell out of the city and meet at the backup coordinates!” He ordered as the sound of an arrow whistling close by crackling through the comms.

A few moments later: “The Scarlet Witch is tailing me. Working to evade.” The Soldier updated them, and Payton felt the mission falling apart. If the Avengers were here… There had to be a mole in the Red Room.

“Kid, time to take your medicine.”

Reaching to her waist,  Payton pulled a vial of the pink chemical given to her by Dreykov out of a secure pouch, and loaded it into a syringe gun. Once done, she stuck the needle in her neck and pulled the trigger, feeling the cold liquid flowing into her veins.

Throwing both the vial and the gun away, Payton stalked down the city streets once more, keeping a wary eye out on her surroundings. A few minutes later, the back of her head began to tingle in a familiar warning. She wasn’t in any danger at the moment, but she was being watched. Glancing around her, she thought she caught a hint of red following her, but she couldn’t be sure. If there was red back there, it meant the Black Widow was tailing her. The traitor.

Ahead

It was a quiet warning, not the loud and clear one she would get in a fight, but a warning nonetheless. Turning her eyes forward again, she looked at the oncoming pedestrians until one caught her eye. A blonde woman in jeans, a grey shirt, and a green vest over the top of it. As the woman’s hair swayed, Payton’s eyes caught a glimpse of an earpiece. She couldn’t recognize the woman, she wasn’t a part of the Avengers, but she was clearly a threat.

As casually as she could, Payton turned right down the first alleyway, picking up her pace as soon as she was out of sight of the general public. The path she was taking would bring her to some old rail yard. It was a risky play. On one hand, with nobody around she’d be free to use her powers to fully evade her pursuers. On the other, she could no longer blend into the crowd, though it was likely she hadn’t been doing so successfully already.

Gravel crunched on the ground to her right, a flash of red entered her vision.

JUMP

Payton leapt off the ground, soaring high into the air just as a cloud of red dust rapidly spread through the space she had just been occupying. Near it was Natasha Romanoff, who stared up at her position on the wall with eyes filled with… regret? Worry? Payton couldn’t tell, but she knew it was weakness, whatever ‘it’ was. Maybe that’s why the woman betrayed her home, she was too weak to realize it was where she belonged.

A grapple line wrapped around the fire escape nearest to her, and moments later the blonde woman she had seen just a minute prior pulled herself over the railing, looking amused at seeing Payton sticking to the wall.

“Surprise!” The woman cried out in a thick Russian accent. Another traitorous Widow?

Regardless of who she was, the blonde woman was another threat to deal with. Payton’s eyes narrowed as she looked between her two pursuers, both of whom seemed to be waiting to see what she’d do, probably because neither of them could reach her from her position on the wall.

From the height she was at, Payton could see the rail yard just over the roof of the building at the end of this alley. Pushing off the wall, Payton flung herself towards said roof, rolling across its surface until she was back on her feet, sprinting the rest of the way and jumping off the other side. Before she hit the ground, Payton reached out and grabbed a nearby light pole, using her momentum Payton swung on the pole until her downward velocity was redirected forwards instead. She released the pole at the correct moment to launch over the fence separating the rail yard from the street.

She took a moment to glance behind her, and saw the blonde woman running down the side of the building she just jumped off. Payton recognized then rappelling device the woman was using as Red Room equipment, verifying her theory that the woman was another runaway. As she turned back around to continue running, she caught sight of Romanoff vaulting over the fence. Her maneuver had bought her time, but not as much as she had hoped.

Her only advantage was the fact that she had powers, and while that was one hell of an advantage, it seemed the experience of the two women chasing her made up the difference. Especially since one was an Avenger who had experience in dealing with threats larger than herself.

Their cat and mouse game continued throughout the rail yard. Through the rusting remnants of rail-cars, over tracks, and within the skeletons of old warehouses. Everywhere Payton turned, her pursuers either caught up, or cut her off as if they knew exactly where she was going and how to get there before her. This continued for some time, with the traitors slowly closing the gap, only for Payton to find a place to widen it once more; never enough to get away, but enough to avoid capture…

DANGERDANGERDANGERDANGERDANGER

Never before had her danger sense flared up like it was now. Payton had been midair, jumping from one warehouse roof to another when it came, the intensity causing her to scream out as she lost all concentration. Instead of landing safely on the roof, she slammed into it, denting the sheet metal and she curled up, hands grabbing at her aching head as it cried warning after warning at her.

There was no direction, no sense of where the danger was coming from at first. It was just a constant cry warning her that her life was in danger, but it refused to tell her what it was! She could somewhat hear Romanoff and her friend catching up, but it wasn’t them who was the threat, or at least this threat.

DANGERDANGERDANGERDANGERDANGER

Shakily standing back up, Payton stumbled across the roof. She couldn’t let herself be captured just because her sixth sense was acting up. She was made of marble, and would fight through the agony blasting through her mind to get away from the Avengers, and then the General would help figure out what was happening.

Well, that was the plan anyway, but the world was blurry and her concentration was shattered. Instead of continuing her getaway, Payton missed the fact that she reached the edge of the roof and stepped right out into open air. She fell, smashing into the gravel below face first, feeling as the rocks cut into her skin. The blow sent a jolt through her, and a spike of pain lit up in the back of her neck.

DANGERDANGERDANGERDANGERDANGER

Payton finally realized that there was a direction to the threat, it was just inside her. Something inside her body was about to kill her, and there was only one thing it could be, the implant in her neck, the one that let the General take immediate and direct control over her body, including but not limited to halting her breathing altogether. Every time he had done so over the past few months her senses had lit up, but never like this. It was like they knew Dreykov didn’t intend to kill her, but now? Now she was about to die.

Desperation took hold as her hands flew to her neck, her nails digging into the skin as she shoved her back against the nearest wall. The Avengers were still getting closer, but that wasn’t her priority. She had to get the implant out! It had to be going haywire, the Avengers had to have hacked it or something.

“Getitoutgetitoutgetitout!” She mumbled again and again as she tore at the back of her neck desperately, cutting into the skin as she tried to get to the implant but deep down she knew that she wouldn’t be able to save herself in time…

For the second time in a row, Tony dodged an arrow, taking a second to watch as the projectile soared harmlessly through the air before falling between a couple buildings a block away. Both he and Hawkeye had been dealing with counter-attacks from Taskmaster for the past ten minutes, chasing the man through the streets of Bucharest ever since Clint caught up to him after the mercenary’s flight from Barnes’ apartment .

Tony being himself, he of course tried to start his own participation in the engagement by completely ignoring the recommendation to avoid any close combat with Taskmaster and flew right at the bastard. He started the fight confident, but after a few close calls with his arc reactor, a couple of his weapon systems being disabled, and a few too many walls destroyed by his fists as Taskmaster dodged every blow, Tony retreated to follow through with the original plan. Harass the guy from afar until he surrenders.

From street to street the two Avengers pursued him, their attempts to take him down complicated by his staying in confined areas. The only times they could really try and hit him were when he moved, or attacked them, and Taskmaster was incredibly good at dodging when doing either.

It was incredibly frustrating. Even with ranged attacks the man seemed to know every single thing they were going to do at any given time. Even now, as the arrow soared past his armor, Tony’s repulsor blast that he fired in retaliation hit an already vacant location, its previous occupant already sprinting across the street to slide into a different alley. One of Hawkeye’s arrows smashed into the cobblestone behind Taskmaster’s feet, detonating into a concussive blast that sent the mercenary stumbling the last few feet.

“Nice shot Clint!” Tony praised as his thrusters maneuvered him into an angle that he could fire one of his repulsors. His gauntlet whined as it charged the shot before a blast of energy was projected from his palm, slamming into the dumpster he saw Taskmaster hiding behind. The force from the attack sent the dumpster sliding down the alley, pushing Taskmaster with it until he impacted another wall. Even from the sky Tony could hear the crack of his helmet hitting the side of the building.

“Ready to give up, Skeletor?!” He called out, hovering into the alley. There was another way out, but he would easily catch up if the man ran for it, especially since he had to be a bit disoriented from the series of concussive blows he took.

“Depends! You want to capture me or save the kid?!”

“You’ve got nothing on her. Barnes is in a fight with Cap, and you’re stuck here! Try again, buckaroo!”

“You wanna test that, Stark? You should ask your buddy Clint back there how the Red Room treats Widows that are about to be captured!” Taskmaster laughed.

Tony turned to face Barton who had made his way over to a roof with a line of sight of the alley. “What’s he talking about Clint?”

“I don’t… Wait. Fuck!” Hawkeye cursed.

“Clint!?” He asked again, concerned now.

“When Nat and I went to find Yelena we got ambushed by a few Widows in Budapest. We nearly captured one of them but she killed herself before we could. We thought it was just the usual spy loyalty, but if it was the subjugation…”

“You’ve gone quiet over there Stark! I’m guessing you understand what I’m sayin’?”

“You want a deal.” Tony growled, ignoring FRIDAY as she warned that his heart rate was increasing dangerously fast.

“The deal’s already made I think!” Taskmaster mocked. “I already activated the signal, but it’s on a timer. Payton’s implant is already counting down the seconds, if you want to save her you’ll need the cipher, and the tablet Dreykov gave me, just in case you know?”

“And how can we trust you to give it to us after we’ve let you go?” Barton yelled back, beating Tony to the punch by just a second.

A tablet slid out from under the dumpster, going halfway down the alley before stopping. FRIDAY zoomed Tony’s HUD into the screen of the tablet, which was displaying a timer with only four minutes left. “There’s the first half. The last half I split into three parts, each one uploaded to one of the three arrows I fired past you two earlier.”

Tony scoffed. “You have computer arrows ?”

“I learned that trick from Barton, believe it or not. They come in handy, especially now… Tick tock though Stark. Three and a half minutes left until bye bye Payton!”

He couldn’t risk it. Not now, not when they were so close. Sparing just one more glance towards the dumpster Taskmaster hid behind, Tony rocketed into the sky, FRIDAY already projecting a flight path back towards the estimated landing site of the most recent arrow Taskmaster fired. Hawkeye was quickly on his tail, shouting about how he would look for the second one, the one that had specifically been fired at him after he grabbed the tablet. 

“Fri, let the local PD know that Taskmaster is fleeing and we couldn’t pursue. Tell them that they should not approach him in any way, he is far too dangerous.”

“Of course Boss.” His AI agreed, her voice sounding as concerned as a computer could.

Three minutes left. That was all they had until Payton died, and Tony felt that his heart was about to beat until it burst, and stop at the same time. The first of the arrows was found easily, and he landed hard enough to crater the ground as he tore the arrowhead off its shaft. Getting a closer view of it, he saw the clear seams that held the storage drive within the hexagonal head. Refusing to waste any time, he took off into the air once more. He didn’t have an exact location for the last arrow (which was really the first one fired by Taskmaster) but he knew it was somewhere near the place they first caught up to him, just a few blocks away from the apartment building where this all started.

FRIDAY kept the timer up on his HUD, and at the one and a half minute mark Clint called that he found his arrow, as well as had called Natasha to warn her what was about to happen. The Black Widow had responded saying they were catching up to the girl after watching her fall off a roof, seemingly in pain despite no clear source. They all agreed it was somehow connected to the implant being activated, but they weren’t sure exactly how.

Tony reached his target area a few seconds later, slamming into the ground near some Romanian officers who were working to clear some rubble from the street. Crowds that had been evacuated from the area were slowly returning, phones being pulled from their pockets to record him as he scanned the area.

“Has anyone seen an arrow!?” He bellowed, holding up the arrowhead he had collected. “It’s head looks like this!” Tony could only hope they understood English. 

Luckily it seemed that some within the crowd, and the police, knew what he said and began to look around. It seemed none of them wanted to take the time to question an Avenger. In what seemed like forever (which would’ve been far too long) but was actually twenty seconds (which was actually far too long) some shouted for his attention. Stomping over, Tony saw people motioning towards a car with its windshield shattered and sticking out of the driver’s seat, was the final arrow.

He smashed his fist through the window, ripping the arrow out of the seat and taking off without a word towards the crowd. They had twenty seconds left, and he had to reach Clint. Each second that ticked by was agony. Tony could see Clint leaping from rooftop to rooftop in his direction and the two finally met halfway… With only ten seconds to spare.

Crouching side-by-side, the two quickly tore the drives out of their casings and plugged them into the tablet, each one marking another part of the cipher to break through the implant’s security. Both of them were focusing completely on the tablet, and once the controls on Payton’s implant appeared on screen they looked for the way to disengage the final command Taskmaster sent.

Ice gripped Tony’s heart as he saw that the order was already followed, and a quick glance to the timer on his HUD revealed a horrifying, blinking zero. They’d run out of time and hadn’t even realized it.

“Nat! Status! Now!” He called, switching to her and Yelena’s frequency desperately. Pure terror gripping his heart as he waited for a reply…

When she first saw Payton collapse, landing heavily on a rusty roof, she had been confused. The girl had shown an inhuman level of coordination, so to fail so drastically at a jump was completely uncharacteristic. Her and Yelena had just gotten to the roof of a warehouse near the one the teen had just leapt off of. They rushed to catch up as the young girl stumbled almost drunkenly across her own roof, both hands gripping her head in pain before she disappeared from their sight, stepping right off the roof without even an attempt to save herself. Shortly afterwards, Clint called and warned them about what was happening, and how they had less than four minutes to save her. Crunching the numbers, Nat knew it would take a little over a quarter of their time just to reach where she fell, then they’d have to get down and cure her, all the while hoping that whatever the implant was, it couldn’t work if the girl was no longer under the effects of the subjugation. She didn't stop her pursuit while she explained what her and Yelena had seen to Clint, knowing he would pass it on.

Together, her and her sister sprinted after the girl, hopping from one rooftop and across another building before they reached the gap where the girl had first collapsed. Their leap had them land next to the dented sheet metal the girl had made when she fell and Natasha couldn’t help but grimace. That had to have hurt. They couldn’t dawdle however, as time was still ticking. They had chased the girl this far, and now Nat’s lungs were burning and her legs aching from the effort. She was in the best shape a human could be in, but chasing after an enhanced was brutal, especially when said enhanced could just climb up walls with ease.

Despite her tiredness, Nat was more than experienced in pushing through, forcing herself to continue even when her body begged for relief. The closer the two of them got to the edge, the more they could hear the girl mumbling, but the words were unclear. Peaking over the side, Natasha felt a pang of sorrow in her heart as her eyes landed on Payton; the girl was curled up against a wall, hands tearing at the back of her neck desperately. Trails of blood crawled down her spine as her own nails cut and tore at her skin.

It took her too much precious time to scale safely down the side of the warehouse, the building too tall for her to jump down. Once she finally hit the ground, Yelena shortly behind, she walked slowly towards Payton. As much as she wanted to just run over there, she couldn’t risk spooking her more and making her run. The girl was already terrified. 

The sound of gravel crunching beneath her feet caused the girl to look at her, and seemingly instinctually she began to back crawl away, shuffling along the wall of the next building over. She was slow though, too distracted by having one hand continuing to try and claw its way to the implant in her neck.

Natasha didn’t waste time with words. The subjugation wouldn’t let Payton listen to them anyway. Instead, she reached a hand down to her belt and pulled out three vials of the Red Dust, and threw them in a cluster towards Payton. Unlike last time, the girl didn’t dodge, seemingly too overwhelmed to do so.

The cloud of gas swirled around her, hovering lazily in the air for a few seconds before it dispersed into the air. When Payton was visible again, Natasha saw that she was still, her body tense. Natasha could see that the girl's muscles were as taut as Clint’s bowstring. It almost seemed like the girl was fighting something, and that’s when she realized. The girl was cured, but the implant was still in her. She wasn’t required to obey, but the signal was still being sent, the order to kill herself being pulsed directly into her mind.

Payton looked up to her, her sky-blue eyes meeting Natasha’s own green ones. Pain, fear, and desperation shown in the girl’s eyes as she spoke one single word to them; “Help”

As if she was just waiting for permission Natasha crossed the rest of the distance between them in just two long strides, crouching down next to her and pulling the girl close. She had to disable the implant, but removing it would have to wait until they were back at the tower. Slowly she drew her smallest knife, pulling the girl’s short hair out of the way.

“This is going to hurt.” She warned, receiving a small nod against her shoulder from where the girl’s forehead rested.

Slowly, as carefully as she could, Natasha made an incision. Even through the tears that Payton herself had made, she could still see the faint scar from when the device had originally been implanted. Yelena watched from the side, concern shown on her face as well as blood welled from the new cut, seeping from her neck far faster than it had been moments previously. Luckily the girl’s neck was thin, so she hadn’t needed to cut that deeply to see the faint metal that looked like it was holding onto her spinal cord with claws. Nodding wordlessly towards her sister, Natasha held the incision open while her sister aimed one of her Widow Bites at the device. From the very faint whine, she knew that her sister was conscientious enough to put the weapon on its lowest charge. Blue electricity crackled over Payton’s neck, making the girl flinch against Natasha, but once it was gone, Natasha could see that the implant was well and truly fried.

The effects were instantaneous. Where Payton had previously been tense, she immediately collapsed in relief, her body giving out as the young girl wrapped her arms around Natasha and her shoulders began to shudder with her sobs.

Dropping the knife, Natasha’s arms encircled her, pulling her in close and rubbing along her back soothingly, comforting and distracting her in equal measure while Yelena approached with a small first aid kit she kept on her belt, preparing to stitch the cut closed. Payton flinched again in her arms when the needle pierced for the first time, but quickly relaxed when she realized what was going on.

“Nat! Status! Now!” Tony’s voice cried into her comms, his terror revealing that they had run out of time, probably around the same moment that they had managed to cure Payton using three doses of the Red Dust.

Looking down at the girl in her arms, Natasha smiled, relieved that they succeeded and the girl was safe. There would be a long way to go for the girl to be anything close to ‘okay’, but for now they could relax. She took one arm off Payton’s back so that she could respond to Tony, smiling sadly as the girl seemed to press herself closer to her to make up for the missing contact.

“We’ve got her Tony… We got her.”