Nothing But Ash

Things never went as planned. The flight to Czechia took about 9 hours, the destination was Brno, a large city in the southeast region of the country. Ren used to travel all the time for her job, but since the accident she hadn’t so much as left the city. Now she was in a foreign country, all alone, no idea where she was gonna sleep that night, with only her luggage and a guidebook given to her by Maria Hill. 

Maria had given her some advice as well. The woman was sharp as a tac and Ren was terrified of what she and Nat could do if they ever got together. Though to be fair, she was frightened of what Nat could do on her own. 

The most pressing issue was finding a place to stay. Two hours out she’d gotten another call from Steve. Him and Sam had been doing recon and suspected that Hydra knew they were in town. If eyes were on them they didn’t want to risk giving away their one advantage - her. But she was busy kicking herself for letting Daniel get away. 

He was the only person who could’ve tipped off Hydra about the boys’ location. If she hadn’t been so distracted by Natasha waking up, they wouldn’t have one more thing to worry about. 

And her list of worries was growing. 

The most pressing being the fact that she didn’t speak Czech. Realistically there was no way she could’ve prepared for this, but somehow she wished she’d had the foresight. She spoke French, Spanish, Hindi, and pieces of a few other languages, but no Czech. 

Luckily her Stark phone had a decent translator app. It took a while but she finally found a little hotel near the heart of town. Reasonably priced and didn’t care about ID, it was perfect. Now she had to wait. Once the boys thought it was safe to meet they would call her. 

…

She hated waiting. She was terrible at it. So she didn’t. 

Ren had been a bit of a hermit for the past year and half, but she hadn’t always been. Being an investigative journalist required her to maintain a wide web of contacts, while she had never thought she would be in this kind of situation, she figured they might just come in handy. 

…

Being nosy was often considered a character flaw, but Ren had perfected it. She was curious by nature, and constantly being thrown into new environments only gave her more opportunities to snoop. After her first few ventures she learned to be very good at not getting caught. 

She’d never planned on going to college as she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. But Johnny had pushed her. Ever since they ended up in the same group home at 14 they’d been inseparable. He was a genius, so of course he was going to school. And she went where he went, so he dragged her to college and encouraged her to do what she was good at - getting into other peoples business. 

During her sophomore year she landed a job at a small paper in Seattle. She’d been damn good at her job. Four years later, two years after she’d graduated she received a job offer in New York. Until then Ren had never left Washington state. But it was an amazing opportunity with great pay in a city she had always wanted to see. So she kissed her life goodbye and moved across the country. 

Best choice she had ever made. Rising up the ranks in her new paper was easier than she’d anticipated. Maybe it was her innate knack for noticing things or her constant need to know more. Maybe it was because she had a pretty face. Honestly she didn’t care. 

They’d started her off with fluff pieces. Gossip columns mostly. Those idiots didn’t realize just how powerful gossip could be. She met all kinds of people, one who turned out to be very important. 

It had been a big article for her. A scandal piece on a local politician. Should’ve been cut and dry, but Ren had been nothing if not thorough. Her research had brought her to a gala. That was where she met Hugo - the son of the French ambassador. 

From there her contacts had only grown. Almost all of them with international ties. With her newfound involvement and inside knowledge of foreign affairs, it quickly became her specialty. Her work now took her all over. Parties with politicians, dinner with dignitaries, and lots of traveling for firsthand information. One of her biggest pieces had only been a couple years ago - on the New START treaty with Russia. 

Her career had been at it’s peak, and her network of contacts had spread far and wide. Many of whom owed her favors. Now was the time to start calling them in.

…

One of those old friends, Malia, knew someone in Czechia who had been looking into Hydra. Since the leaked files, the secret organization had become a hot topic. Based on the other reporter's intel there was a Hydra outpost running under the guise of a tech company in town. 

Steve still wasn’t answering his phone, so Ren decided to do the reasonable thing and investigate on her own. 

The easiest way into any building was through the front door. But she had to make a few stops first. When she walked un wearing a blouse and a pencil skirt while balancing a tray full of coffees, she looked like nothing more than a frazzled assistant. She approached the turnstiles and pretended to look for her keycard while juggling the cups in her hands. The security guard on the other side smiled and swiped his card for her. 

“Oh, thank you so much,” She breathed, the perfect image of honest gratitude. 

“Don’t worry about it,” He replied in a heavy accent. 

Once through the gates she glanced at the building directory, the offices she was looking for was on the seventh floor - Tyrrion Cybernetics. Ironic. Stepping into the elevator she pressed the button and watched as the doors slid closed. Her heart nearly stopped as a hand stopped the doors and they slid back open. It was the security guard who had let her in. Beside him stood a woman in her mid forties, a bit shorter than Ren, but looking equally stressed. 

The woman thanked the guard and joined her in the elevator. They seemed to know each other and he pressed the fourth floor button for her. The silence as they rode up was so deafening Ren was certain the other woman could hear her heartbeat. God she was sweating. Oh god, she was getting hot, too hot, she could feel as her hands began to warm unnaturally. 

Before anything went up in flames the elevator reached the fourth floor and the woman exited. Her legs were practically shaking in relief. Moments later she reached her stop. She dumped most of the coffee cups in the trash. One she kept and chugged, before tossing it in with the others. “We are so not in Kansas anymore,” She muttered to herself. 

Her contact had given her a name, Jacob Hajek, likely an alias. He wasn’t the guy in charge, but he was high up and had some suspicious finances. Squaring her shoulders she sauntered past the sea of cubicles. She tried to pretend she was supposed to be there and project confidence. It worked well enough for her to go unnoticed. Working her way down the hall full of offices she missed the one she was looking for the first time. It was near the end of the hallway and the door was locked. But some god must’ve been watching over her because it was a good old fashioned lock, no keycard needed. 

The small set of lockpicks strapped to her leg made quick work of it. It was an impressive room. A heavy desk dominated the center, framed by the wall of windows behind it. Cabinets lined the far wall along with a sink, coffee maker, and minifridge. The wall facing the windows had a couch that likely served as a futon. This guy must practically live in this office. It was lucky he wasn’t here right now. She really should’ve thought about that before she picked his lock. 

She would have to work fast. Starting with the stack of papers on the desk. Only one of them caught her eye, it was an inventory request for a warehouse that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. 

Before she could read any details, she heard voices and footsteps approaching. Ren froze. She looked around in a panic. The vent opening caught her attention, but it was too small and not even Clint would’ve been able to get up there fast enough. Instead she raced toward the couch. There was a gap between it and the wall just big enough for her to shimmy in. 

No sooner than she had finished moving did the door open. Two voices entered. She tried to listen to their conversation, but they were speaking in Czech. As quietly as she could she pulled out her phone and pressed record. The men talked for about five minutes before she heard one leave. The next twenty minutes were spent breathing as little as possible, and trying to stay calm enough that she didn’t burn the building down. 

Finally the other man, probably Hajek, left the room as well. She stayed still a little longer just to be safe. Once the coast seemed clear she pushed out of the cramped space and hurried back to the desk. She snapped a picture of the inventory request before she left. 

She didn’t take a full breath until she got out of the building and didn’t stop looking over her shoulder until she was locked in her hotel room. Ren couldn’t believe that had worked. 

…

Three hours later she was still pacing the room. She’d tried everyone. Steve first, obviously, then called Sam, messaged Nat and Clint, even Tony. No one had responded. 

The first thing she’d done was put her audio recording through the translation app. The translation hadn’t been perfect and the men had been speaking discreetly, but one part had been crystal clear. The other man had told Hajek that ‘The Asset’ would be traveling nearby, and the team would be picking it up. That had to be Barnes. 

The location had also caught her attention, Bosonožský hájek, a quick google search revealed it to be a national forest just outside of town. She checked the picture she’d taken of the inventory request, and just as she’d thought, the warehouse was in the same forest. It was probably where Jacob Hajek had gotten his last name. Definitely suspicious. Definitely not good. 

According to the recording the asset would be passing through around five o’clock. That gave Ren another two hours. But that wouldn’t be enough for anyone else to make it. She’d never been on a mission alone. Hell, she’d only ever been on one mission and that was a couple days ago. But there wasn’t anything else she could do. It was either hang back and let Barnes get away, or more likely be recaptured by Hydra, or go in alone and risk being captured too. 

She’d done pretty well on her own so far though. Steve would forgive her for making the smart choice. But Ren wasn’t sure if she’d be able to forgive herself. It appeared her mind was made up. 

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

…

Thirty minutes. That was how long it had taken her to put on the suit. The latches and straps were more complicated than they had seemed. Her hands shaking hadn’t helped. She had absolutely no idea what she was getting herself into. 

The box of toys held a small armory consisting of a few handguns, a truly shocking number of knives, and some other knick knacks, neatly labeled for her convenience. God she loved Stark.

Unfortunately she had no training with any of them. But there was no way in hell she was going in unarmed, even with her powers. So she settled for two handguns and a few knives. A gun on each leg and the knives strapped to the left side of her waist she appraised the assortment of Stark Tech toys. A smoke bomb and a few flashbangs were what she chose, nonlethal and unlikely to backfire on her. 

If she had any luck at all, none of those things would be necessary. She wanted to help Barnes, but knew that getting herself captured wouldn’t do anyone any good. Except Hydra. So the plan was to watch but not engage. 

With one last message to Steve she donned the final piece of her uniform. The mask fit like a glove. When she looked in the mirror Ren Wright was gone. She didn’t know the woman staring back, but she looked like someone dangerous. She looked like an Avenger. 

…

After forty minutes of waiting, the rocky outcropping she had situated herself on was feeling surprisingly comfortable. If nobody showed up soon maybe she would just take a nap. 

Though the fact that her heart was pounding so hard she could literally hear her blood rushing and her whole body was tense and vibrating with adrenaline might make that difficult. Lucky for her it was cold outside, which helped to keep her temperature down.

She peered through yet another gift from Tony, a pair of binoculars. Based on what she gathered from the conversation in the office they were rather confident Barnes would be passing through on this specific road. How they knew that she wasn’t sure. It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d blocked all other ways through though. 

Finally a beat up jeep entered her field of vision. The driver wore a baseball cap and his long hair obscured his face. Given that he was the first person she’d seen in this forest she knew exactly who it was. If she’d thought she was nervous before her heart just kicked up to a whole new level. 

She jumped when a small explosion went off under the car. It was strong enough to pop one of his tires, and Barnes swerved off the road into a tree. Moments later three black SUV’s pulled down the road, two from behind and one from the front. Agents piled out of the cars with their weapons drawn.

The man stumbled from the car. The cap was gone and blood streaked down his face. He looked more than panicked, he was terrified. The first set of Hydra agents to reach him were dealt with in a matter of seconds. But she could hear Bucky’s scream as a bullet went through his thigh and another glanced off his metal arm. 

They weren’t shooting to kill and they both knew why. He kept fighting. Another group of agents went down, slower this time. Even as himself this man was deadly. He might’ve been able to take out the rest of them, but he never got the chance. A small dart lodged in the edge of his neck. Ren didn’t see where it came from. He stumbled again trying to fight it. 

But he collapsed in the dirt and two agents walked over to drag him away. She wanted to help him. But there was nothing she could do against even one set of agents if they could tranquilize her too. Her heart sank as Barnes was dragged into a car. 

She pulled her phone from one of the many hidden pockets and made another quick message to Rogers. The front car started up and she rose from her position to follow. 

But she froze in her tracks as a cold metal barrel pressed into the back of her head and she heard as the safety clicked off.