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The blast door at the end of the corridor slammed open.
Dozens of agents armed to the teeth flooded the hallway.
Somewhere amongst them came the order “aim for Medusa, either shoot to kill or disable. Regardless she WILL NOT make it out of here alive.”
A fury roared through James and Winter, it was the same rage they had felt as the asset, the same desire to obliterate all that stood in their way.
He had already failed Toni, he could not fail Medusa too.
Hydra had signed their death warrants.
Medusa was theirs.
He was ready to bring hell down to anyone and everyone who ever threatened her.
Hydra did the worst thing they could, they took Medusa from him, ripped her away for weeks and months at a time and they were trying to do it again.
But this time they were trying to make it permanent.
Winter and James would never let that happen again.
They will make an example out of Hydra.
They will send a message, a clear threat.
Medusa was under the protection of Winter and James, The Winter Soldier, and the former fist of Hydra.
The grunts and gasps of pain as he ripped spinal cords out of agents, caved in chests, and shattered skulls made them smile.
They keep watch over their Medusa out of the corner of their eye, she would always hold some part of their focus but they could smell hints of blood and smoke, hears the screams, and sees the panic that reigns.
They watched in awe as their medusa whirled through the fight, her skirt whirling around her, turning her into a beautiful dancer who also happened to be the world’s deadliest assassin.
Hydra stood no chance.
They want more.
They want to make Hydra into a glaring, clear message.
They move as fast as they can, appearing at one place and then disappearing, only to reappear at incredible distances within seconds.
The agents scream.
They continue.
They slice veins, tear through flesh, and break bones until there is no movement and no agents standing anywhere in sight.
A placating hand on their forearm stops them.
“You need to conserve your strength, calm down, they are gone, you killed them.”
They take a shuddering breath and turn, facing Medusa and the avengers.
The avengers have seen him get like this only once before when Toni was down and out of her suit, surrounded by doom bots, but that hadn’t been bloody.
Steve wrinkled his nose “Buck… not that I don’t appreciate you getting rid of those hydra agents… but you need a shower.”
They looked down to find they were covered in blood. A giggle causes them to tear their eyes back up.
“That was so sweet Rusty, but I thought you stopped doing that, maybe even forgot how to.” medusa’s voice was filled with a warm fondness, not disgust as he had expected.
Placing her ungloved hand on his face, she said “you could have rejoined hunting. It wasn’t the same without you but I figured you didn’t need any reminders.”
“Where would he have found you? No one can you, you find them.” Sam spoke up, pinching his nose as he waded through the sea of bodies.
“Actually, Rusty DOES. He’s done it before, if I want him to find me he can,” taking a step back she tilts her head “wait you might not remember actually. You will eventually. You were definitely memorable.”
Clint squawked “wait are you saying… you and him????”
“If I could roll my eyes right now and you could see it, that’s what my face would be doing right now. Think what you want to but I am here on a mission and I intend to complete it. I’ll see you guys later.” she spun on her heel and walked through the blast door, entering the maze of corridors.
She called over her shoulder “Oh, and Rusty, here’s a reminder, it was raining.”
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The avengers follow Winter and James as they lead them through the base, trying to remember the floor plans of the base, since each base was built in a similar fashion if you knew how to navigate one you knew how to navigate the others.
It was odd they didn’t run into too many agents but that was probably because of Medusa, she would most likely be Hydra’s goal. He didn’t like the thought of her being alone in a base full of enemies but he had no right to stop her, he had forgotten and so he couldn’t protect her until he remembered.
It was getting difficult to distinguish what was from Toni and Medusa though, they loved them both but if they had to pick, Medusa would always hold a special place in their heart. That was why they hadn’t dated Toni, they had talked with her, it wasn’t respectful to put someone second if you dated them and James had been raised right while winter found the thought to be disgusting.
“THERE you are!” Toni stood in front of them, she looked tired and was limping slightly but she didn’t look any worse than when she had been hauled away, which caused winter to let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
He pulled her into a hug “we were just looking for you, Medusa helped us out.”
She buried her face into his chest, “speaking of Medusa, she wants us to find gas masks. Mentioned a gas that makes people bleed from every opening in their bodies. She said something about it being ‘fitting.’ since I don’t want to die like that I made some.”
She had just tossed them the masks when Gorgon ripped into the corridor.
“I forgot to mention they also work on her mutation” Toni whispered as James took over and stepped in front of her, winter was too angry to keep anything on his face, it reminded him too much of their time as the asset.
“You guys handle her, I need to blow up their labs and get the materials to blow up the rest of the building, good luck.”
James didn’t want to risk Toni, her injury would prevent her from fighting to her full abilities and she didn’t have her suit, so with a nod, he watched her slip away.
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Toni quickly had Medusa's armour fold out of her nanotech bracelet, she had already blown up the labs, but she needed the data Hydra had.
Data on those they planned to kill, replicate, or capture.
She knew she was on that list in every form, but she needed to know who else was on there.
She needed to make sure they would stay safe, after all, loads of not so great people would be interested in them.