Supersoldiers and gods
2 years later
"Ah, this is delightfully chaotic, I must admit," Loki declared, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Loki, you little shit, get your ass over here and give me a hand instead of..." Thor's words were abruptly cut off as he grunted, the wind knocked out of him by a blow from a Hydra agent who was suspiciously stronger than he looked. Loki nonchalantly grabbed him by his shirt and tossed him aside onto the ground.
"Instead of what, dear brother?" Loki retorted "Observing just how pathetically these Midgardians fight?" He let out a chuckle "Remind me again, why are we helping?"
"Because the bill of your little vacation to New York isn’t going to pay itself," Stark shot back. He had just landed on the ground, his metallic suit making a loud noise as he aimed a punch at one of the last agents.
Loki merely rolled his eyes at the remark, wielding his sceptre to eliminate the last jet that had made a landing on the field an hour ago.
"Is everyone okay?" Steve emerged into view, a few spots of blood on his otherwise clean face, with Bucky at his side.
"Those were not your average agents, man," Sam Wilson landed near them, his tone heavy with concern.
A silent moment passed as they all exchanged glances, an unspoken acknowledgement of their shared worry. Their fears had been confirmed.
"Those were supersoldiers," Bucky finally whispered, his voice barely audible.
"We need to head back to the compound" Tony said, his voice laced with a sense of urgency.
Back at the compound, the team gathered in the conference room. Natasha, Wanda, and Bruce, who had missed the action, were already waiting.
"We ran into some unexpected resistance," Tony began, his voice serious. "These weren't your run-of-the-mill Hydra agents."
Bruce frowned "What do you mean?"
Bucky, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, finally looked up. "They were supersoldiers,"
The room fell silent as the gravity of the situation sunk in.
Natasha, her face etched with worry, was the first to break the silence. “How is that even possible?” she questioned aloud. “Were they like, from the 40s or what? I just don’t get it.”
Bruce spoke up next. “Someone recreated the serum,” he said, his voice echoing in the room “Hydra was able to recreate the serum once again.”
Wanda, her voice barely above a whisper "But I don’t understand, why now? I mean, not to be rude but like, they recreated it with The Winter Soldier, why wait to use it again?”
Bucky remained silent, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts. He didn’t want to talk about it, but he knew they needed to know. Steve, who was standing close to him, put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Buck, you don’t have to..” he began but was cut short by Bucky’s response. “No, I have to, we need to know everything to stop them.”
He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “When they took me in, they had already started to recreate the serum. The trials were all unsuccessful. The men couldn’t even bear the first dose of serum,” he sighed. “I don’t know exactly how long it took for them to succeed with me. It could have been two years or ten, I don’t know. But it took a lot” Bucky paused again, glancing at Steve who gave him a reassuring nod. “They stopped the trials when Commander Karpov died. He was so full of himself, that he didn’t let any information about the serum outside of the base camp in Siberia. So when the base was bombarded, the serum died with him.”
Wanda found the courage to break the silence. "How many?" she asked, her eyes meeting Steve's.
"We're not sure," Steve answered, his voice grave. "But we need to find out and stop this."
Natasha leaned forward, her face hard and determined. "Then we need to gather every piece of information we can. From today's fight, from Hydra, from anywhere. We need to find out who’s behind this."
Everyone else exited the room, as Tony was standing by the large window, his gaze lost. Steve was still sitting, his eyes closed, the thought of another war, another battle, didn't sit well with either of them.
"Do you think it could be a good or a bad idea to bring the two gods into this?" Tony suddenly asked, breaking the silence. His gaze was still fixed on the outside, but his tone was serious.
Steve opened his eyes and turned to look at Tony. "It could be a very good or a very, very bad idea," he replied, chuckling lightly but with seriousness in his tone. The Asgardian brothers had proven to be both allies and adversaries in the past. Their involvement in this could shift the balance in either direction, they trusted Thor before Loki, but they couldn’t trust Loki and they couldn’t trust Thor with Loki around.
Tony turned to look at Steve, his gaze intense. "If Hydra recreated the serum, we only have two of you," he said, leaning against the desk. The 'you' he was referring to was the supersoldiers, they were the only ones who could potentially match the strength of the Hydra agents if they indeed were supersoldiers.
Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. He leaned back in his chair, his gaze drifting to the ceiling. The decision was not an easy one. The risk was high, but so were the stakes. They needed all the help they could get.
"Alright," Steve finally said, standing up. "We'll bring them in. But we'll need to play this very carefully." Tony nodded his agreement, and with that, they set into motion a plan that could either save them all or lead to their downfall and the rise of Hydra.
The next few days were a flurry of activity. Tony and Steve talked to Thor and Loki while the others started gathering as much information as possible about the supersoldiers.
Natasha and Clint started tracking down any leads related to Hydra's operations.
In the midst of this chaos, Thor and Loki's presence brought a certain level of tension to the compound, but also a sense of hope.
Steve and Bucky were in the weapons room, testing out some new equipment Tony had made. As Steve examined a new retractable knife made of vibranium, his thoughts wandered to Iris, who had left two years ago. The initial months were hard, as he was not one to move on quickly. And then he missed her sometimes, he missed her laughter, her strength, her presence. He wondered if she was aware of the supersoldiers, if the news had reached her, if she was safe.
"Buck," Steve began, his voice laden with worry. "Do you think Iris knows about the supersoldiers?"
Bucky glanced at Steve, surprised by the question but his face remained impassive. "I don't know, Steve. She's been off the radar for some time now."
"You checked on her?" Steve asked, his voice tinged with desperation.
Bucky sighed, his grip tightening on his gun as he fired at the target. "I did.”
"When was the last update?" Steve questioned, studying every expression on Bucky's face.
"Six months ago," Bucky replied, firing again.
"Why didn't you tell me, Buck?" Steve asked, turning to face his friend and tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Six months is a long time, she could've been in danger, she could be…” He sighed in frustration.
"She's not our problem now, Steve. Hydra is. The supersoldiers flying around in a jet and killing people, that's our problem," Bucky retorted as he turned around to face him.
Steve nodded, recognizing the truth in Bucky's words, yet he couldn't dismiss his lingering concern for Iris. He silently vowed to seek out Iris, just to ensure her safety. As the world teetered on the brink of chaos, the thought of her being in danger was unbearable.
Ad Tony was busy coordinating with Natasha and Clint, they realized the information they gathered was grim. Hydra had been operating in the shadows for years, slowly amassing an army of supersoldiers. The scale of their operation was enormous, and the potential damage they could cause was unthinkable.
In the midst of all this, Loki and Thor were an unpredictable factor. Their presence added an extra layer of complexity to their plans. Loki was a wildcard, but trusting him was a risk they had to take.
The serum Hydra was using was not a mere replica of the original one. It was evolved, more potent, and far more dangerous. Time was running out, and they had to act fast.