Broken
“That went better than expected” their eyes locked on Pierce, who was smiling like he just had won the lottery “Medusa is finally out of the picture.”
Despite the ringing in their ears, winter and James heard those words and their world came crashing down.
They had just gotten her back, gotten the memories of her back and they hadn't even been able to be with her in any way.
They tensed ready to strike, eyes darting around, calculating all weakness and how to make Pierce suffer the most for what he did to her. For what he took from them.
But they were too slow, supplying a pistol from an unknown location, catching them all off guard as they recovered from the explosion that had rocked them just moments earlier, Pierce pressed the barrel to Toni’s temple and smiled.
“Why don't you stand down Asset? You wouldn't want to let stark down like you let medusa down. Would you?”
It takes all of their remaining strength not to rip his throat out.
The serum made them faster but even they couldn’t cross the slowly increasing ten-foot distance before a bullet had ripped its way through her skull.
Slowly backpedaling, never removing his eyes from the avengers who are all tensed, eyes trained on the gun.
“Stay where you are and I might not blow her brains out, then we’ll leave.” pierce sneers, clearly enjoying the internal battle raging in the avengers.
Everyone trains their eyes on Toni's face upon seeing a subtle movement. With her signature press smile, Toni launched herself up, vaulting pierce’s head, locking her thighs around his neck she managed to keep her momentum.
Launching him up into the air, only to throw him down to the ground.
Ripping his gun from his hand the smell of molten metal wafts through the air as the gun melts into a dagger in Toni’s pulsing red hand as her eyes glow a deep blood-red.
James and Winter were frozen to the spot where had she learned that? They looked towards the widow and to their concern noted her utter confusion.
Apparently, Toni knew more than she let on.
Pierce, dragged to his feet and slammed against a rotting oak tree gasps for air. “What the fuck are you?”
The bloodthirsty smile he gets in return causes the avengers to take a few steps back. They had never seen Toni like this, she was more than pissed, words couldn’t describe the disgust dripping from her tone like poison as she snarled “‘shut up.” the knife presses closer to his throat, grating against it as pierce swallowed. “That’s not important but I made a promise that I will keep. Hydra's heads have been removed.”
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What was she talking about? They had just been kidnapped by HYDRA destroying just one base probably didn’t even dent, let alone cripple the organization. James was intrigued and deeply disturbed, so much had happened in so little time.
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Pierce, seemingly following the same train of thought, smirked. “Two will take its place,” managing to sound smug despite the knife pressed to his throat.
Opening his mouth to speak again, Pierce cuts himself off as the harsh smell of burning flesh wafts through the air, the knife glowing red hot along with Toni’s fist.
With a small smirk, Toni says “Why don’t you find out which heads I know about before you get all cocky.” She continued,
“As we speak bases in Siberia,” An eye twitches
“Turkey,” an arched eyebrow
“California, Montana, Texas, and Nebraska.” a slight frown.
“Canada, Korea, Spain, Mongolia, Japan, Nigeria, and Ghana. Are all currently experiencing massive power outages that due to faulty wiring and gas leaks are leading to massive explosions. Does that sound fun?” Toni
sneers but pierce remains slightly smug
“... and for some reason Antarctica.” that earns her a frown, Toni smiles. “Remember all that tech trouble you were having? The cracking foundations? Honestly, how did you not find all the fucking explosives and rewired circuits? How did you not notice I was paying you little visits?”
The Avengers' words were stuck in their throats, their tongues felt like cotton balls as they stuck to the inside of their mouths, unable to speak. How did Toni know so much? When did she have time to visit hydra? Why didn’t she tell them?
Pierce’s smirk had grown smaller and smaller as the list went on, but Toni wasn’t done.
“Unfortunately SHIELD-HYDRA agents Brock Rumlov, Rebecca Jacobs, GideonBrone and Caym Douglas have all died from various natural causes and freak accidents, including a drunken car crash, suicide, murder by
their ex-wife, a heart attack, and sky-diving gone wrong.” Toni pauses and draws in a silent breath, enjoying the fear as it crawls its way up Pierces face like hands from pits of hell.
“Additionally, ambassador Claudia Wilson’s plane exploded, a seemingly inconspicuous german arms dealer by the name of Burke Weimann was involved in a hit in and run for seemingly gang-related territory disputes and finally, Armin Zola, Slava Orlov, Ray lawson, and Kedron Sitwell have developed various deadly, rapidly developing cancerous tumors which despite treatment will kill them within the next 48 hours.”
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In all her years in the red room, she had never seen any HYDRA agent’s facade crack as fast or as easily as Pierces did at that moment. She had never seen this side of Toni, how had she been able to hide it for so long? She was impressed but also concerned, whether her skills were lacking or Toni is an incredible actor and a manipulator of the highest caliber.
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The look of pure terror was what Toni had been going for, she had held a vendetta against hydra for her parents' deaths, for her illegal weapons, for what happened to James and winter as well as the suffering Natasha went through indirectly at their hands during her time in the red room.
Pierce asked in a raspy “What are you?”
Leaning in, so only he could hear she whispered with a knowing smirk, “you are the serpent with many heads... I am the head with many serpents. You know who I am.” As she pulled away, the sheer and utter terror, the broken facial expression, the hopelessness that now marred Pierce’s face brought her no satisfaction. He wasn’t even worth her emotions but this would serve as a warning to all those who tried to harm Medusa’s family in the future. She needed to make an example of him.
“What we’re my words going to be hmm? What were they going to be Pierce? Why don’t you tell me what the Warrior’s triggers were going to be.” she spoke in a tense snarl now, it didn’t matter if the avengers heard now she already had to explain, she might as well show what Medusa could and would do. for those she loves
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James and winter watched, Toni had broken a hydra agent.
Helpless against her demand Pierce began a sequence of 10 words, similar to the Asset’s command words.
“Яд” [poison]
“Вендетта“ [Vendetta]
“Огонь” [Fire]
“ярость” [Rage]
“убийца” [Assassin]
“стали” [Steel]
“зима” [Winter]
“кровь” [Blood]
“оторванность” [Isolation]
“тени” [shadows]
James and winter took a grim satisfaction from the waves of fear pouring off of Pierce, he deserved it after what he had done for medusa but they couldn’t help feel like they were missing something. The Russian command words were designed for assets hydra had never wanted Toni as an asset they had wanted her weapons.
Apparently satisfied by his trembling answer Toni demanded “what was your protocol if the mission failed?”
“Do not engage.” pierce replied, his answers wavering now as his body shivered.
Wait… that wasn’t right. Despite the blurriness of their time as the Asset one of the few things they remembered, and still occasionally used were the threat rankings and what the protocols were. For Toni Stark and iron maiden, the protocol was capture alive.
He was shaken from his musings when Toni spoke again in the tone of reprimanding a child “And what did you do?”
“I-I” Pierce choked “I engaged.”
“Yes. Yes, you did. Why don’t you find out why that was your protocol hmm? But I want you to know I will take no joy from this. The only satisfaction I have is that my word will be kept. They will finally be safe.”
Raising a glowing hand to Pierce’s face she stroked it gently with a rueful expression, completely different from the squelching as the blade she held ripped through his neck, the only reason Pierce’s head wasn’t rolling was because his spinal cord was acting like a bloody hinge.
Apparently satisfied he was dead, Toni's whole hands began to glow a deep cherry red as the body of Alexander Pierce disintegrates into ash so fine it could barely be seen.
Turning to face them Toni gave them an exhausted smile as helicopters roared in overhead.