The double doors were thrown open as two dozen uniformed soldiers strode in, shoving five prisoners that had their hands shackled behind their backs into the room. All five prisoners were quiet, keeping their mouths shut as they look around the room. One of the prisoners, a dark haired man with a goatee, faltered a step, eyes wide as he spotted the large black banner decorated with the image of a blood red skull with eight writhing tentacles on the wall behind a throne-like chair at the end of the large room.
“Keep moving” a guard barked, and the barrel of a gun was suddenly thrust against the back of the man’s head. He gulped and kept moving with the rest of the people that he had been brought in with. The guards kept them moving till they were 20 feet away from the throne, and the guard yells at them again.
“Get down, on your knees!”
When all five of them hesitate, five guards move into position behind them, one guard for one prisoner, and at the same time, in one synchronised movement, they jammed the butt of their gun into the backs of their knees, forcing the prisoners onto their knees. Only four of the prisoners make a sound of pain, and the only woman, a red head, made no sound.
The prisoners looked at each other after five minutes of silence, and one of them, a light brown haired man next to the red head, shifted on his knees uncomfortably.
“Umm, are we just gonna kneel here, or is something going to happen?”
None of the guards answer, but all five prisoners stiffen and lift up their heads when a quiet giggle echoes around the room. The guards stand up straight as three figures walk out of the shadows of the corner of the room, two tall masculine figures flanking a shorter, more feminine figure.
“Hey guys” a young voice, one of a girl or young woman, said cheerfully, the source coming from the young woman that was being flanked by two men that could now be identified as uniformed soldiers, except they were different from the guards that had escorted the prisoners in. One of them was blond, a helmet covering his hair and the top half of his face, only revealing piercing blue eyes and chiselled jaw, wearing a full black stealth suit, which had the same skull and tentacles symbol in blood red emblazoned across his chest, and a large circular shield slung over his back, which had the same red symbol on a background of black and red concentric circles. The other man, he had dark shoulder length hair and cold grey–blue eyes. He also had a black stealth suit on, with a complicated mess of silver buckles and straps that looked like it would be something to immobilise him, let alone help him. The most striking thing about him though was that both of his arms were visible in his suit, but one of his arms – his left arm – was entirely made out of metal, from the tips of his fingers to the top of his shoulder, and he wore a mask, almost like a muzzle that covered the bottom half of his face. They were both tall, over 6 foot, both flanking the young woman, who had (hair/length) (hair/colour) hair that was tied in a braid that came over her shoulder. She had bright (eye/colour) eyes along with plump red lips that were pulled back in a grin. She was wearing a black sabbath t-shirt along with black jeans.
The girl was giggling to herself as she walked up to the throne in front of the prisoners and sat down, swinging her legs over one arm of the chair so she was sitting sideways on the seat, and the two soldiers that accompanied her stood on either side of her, close enough that the tips of her boots just brushed against the thigh of the dark haired man, and her head, when she tilted it back, brushed against the blond’s thigh.
“Man, you guys look great in chains” the girl grinned, and then her eyes focused on the red head. “Especially you, Natalia Romanova. Honestly, you were the best thing to come out of the Black Widow program, shame you just had to change sides”
Natalia, or Natasha, as she now liked to be called, scowled at the woman, her eyes narrowing. “Who are you?”
“Well” the girl tilted her head slightly, grinning. “I don’t want to brag, but – I’m the head of HYDRA”
“No!” the man with the goatee yelled, his arms straining against the chains. “My father was there when Captain America brought down Red Skull, the head of HYDRA”
“Ahh, Tony Stark” the girl’s eyes focused on him. “Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, right? It is nice to see you, hate the goatee though.”
Tony huffed, but the girl had already looked over to the man that was next to him on his right, the one that had spoken out about nothing happening.
“Aaand, Clinton Barton, Hawkeye. Nice to see ya, nice bow shooting. Always loved to watch the footage of you. And so, man with the glasses, you must be Bruce Banner. Now please, stay calm, because my guards have orders to shoot you in the head if you start to turn green”
Bruce Banner, turned slightly pale and nodded in acknowledgment. Tony huffed and nudged Bruce with his shoulder.
“And so, the last man in the five man band is Sam Wilson, right? Falcon?”
Sam nods slowly, and his eyes flick to Tony then back to the girl. “Like Natasha asked, who are you? What is your name?”
“Why do you wanna know?” The girl actually sounded interested to the answer, and this time Tony answered.
“Because you, mystery woman, know our names. And the fact that you are the leader of HYDRA IS impossible”
“Why? Because the star spangled man with a plan brought down Johann Schmidt and then crashed the big bad plane into the ice” the girl raised an eyebrow, and the man beside her head shifted slightly, which made her tilt her head back and grinned up at him. The soldier glanced down and the corner of his lips twitched up into a smile. “Well, we found him. All frozen, about two years later. He was a bit lost, had a bit of memory loss. So – we made him one of our own”
She clicks her fingers at the blond soldier, then points at the piece of floor in front of her. “Present yourself, Captain”
The soldier doesn’t hesitate as he walks forward and stands where she had indicated, his back straight and legs planted shoulder length apart. His eyes were focused ahead, and he was perfectly still as the girl stood up, her hand almost reassuringly brushing across the dark haired man’s shoulder before she walked up behind the blond soldier. She grinned down at the prisoners, then tapped her index finger under the soldier’s chin, which must have meant something to him, as he lifted his hands to undo the clasps that secured his helmet.
“Avengers, meet Steve Rogers, the new and reformed Captain HYDRA”
There were gasps, although Tony’s was the loudest, as the man removed his helmet and held it in his hand by his side, revealing the well-known face of Steve Rogers, the famous super soldier who dive-bombed into the ice for his country. His hair was tousled from the helmet, and his eyes were bright, with the smallest flick of green among the blue.
“No” Tony breathed out, his shoulders slumping as the girl walked in front of Steve, her hand trailing possessively across his stomach.
“What’s wrong, Stark? Don’t you like my toy?”
“You can’t – he couldn’t be – “ Tony was staring as Steve, who didn’t respond to the stare, just stayed silent and still as the girl trailed a hand over his shoulder and along the back of his neck.
“Couldn’t what? Be working for HYDRA? For me?”
“My father talked so highly of him, and you’ve reduced an amazing man – to this”
“So sentimental” the girl rolls her eyes, letting out a small huff. “If it makes you feel any better, he doesn’t remember anything of his past life, AND, he is reunited with his best friend! Soldier, come here”
The second soldier, the dark haired one, moved forward as he abruptly came to life, seeing as he was as still as a statue before the girl called him forward. He came to stand next to Steve, arms at his side and muscles tensed as he waited more instructions.
“Present, Soldier, and de-mask”
The man’s left hand – metal hand – came up to his face and grasped the mask that was almost like a muzzle, covering his jaw, mouth and nose, and pulled it away to reveal the face that belonged to James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes, a sergeant in the 107th, Steve Rogers best friend since childhood, who had been the only one of the Howling Commandos, Steve’s unit, to die in the war, from falling off a train into an icy river below. His dark hair framed his face, and unlike Steve, he dropped the mask onto the floor, creating a startling loud sound in the otherwise quiet room. His metal arm had a red star painted onto the shoulder, like a brand.
“You see, HYDRA found him too, dying, cold and alone at the bottom of the mountain he fell down. He was programmed pretty well by the time we found Cap, but he went beserk when he saw him. Nearly broke his programming. So, that’s why we trained them together, two super soldiers, willing to do anything for each other, and after they were programmed, willing to give their life for the person they served.” The girl chuckled. “Me”
“These are my assets, my boy, my toys” the girl grinned, now standing in-between Steve and Bucky, her hands resting on each man’s shoulder. “Natalia, do you remember the Winter Soldier? We sent him in to train at one of the Black Widow programs. Yours, I believe”
Natasha’s lips were set in a tight line as she took an even breath, her eyes locked on the girl. “What is your name?”
Both men growled at Y/n’s exasperated sigh, their gazes refocusing on Natasha, who stayed still. “What is it with you and my name? Geez, if I knew any better, I would think you were trying to flirt with me but I’m afraid that I’ll have to refuse”
“Captain? Captain America?” Sam suddenly called out, and both soldiers looked over to him, faces blank, only responding to the noise, not the actual words. “Please, this isn’t you!”
“Wilson, I’m not sure what you’re trying to do here” the girl sounded bored, walking past Steve and Bucky and over to stand in front of Sam, crouching down so they were eye-to-eye. She grinned suddenly, eyes alight with something like madness, and Sam flinched back as the girl reached out and curled a hand around the back of his neck, digging her fingernails into his skin. “Sammy, they only respond to me. They’ve been passed down from leader to leader, and now they are mine”
She bounded up then, and walked back to Steve, and looked back at Tony with almost a smug look before she wound both arms around Steve’s neck and pressed her lips to his. The Captain let out a satisfied hum and his hands fell to Y/n’s waist, pulling her closer as he responded to her kiss eagerly, eyes flickering shut.
“You like that?” the girl smirked when she pulled back from Steve and he nodded, hands lingering on her waist as she pulled away and walked over to the Soldier, who was watching her, eyes locked on hers as his tongue swiped out to lick his lips. The girl chuckled and beckoned him forward, and he moved forward till they were chest-to-chest, but stopped, waiting for permission.
“Come on, Soldat” the girl ordered, her smile bordering on playful, and the Soldier leant forward and hungrily pressed his lips to hers, the girl chuckling into the enthusiastic kiss, lifting her hand and wrapping her fingers in his hair, tugging hard at it which made him whimper as he melted into her touch.
“As you can probably guess, my Soldier likes a bit of pain with his pleasure” the girl smirks as she nips hard at the skin of the Soldier’s jaw, then pulls away. “My Captain was always a gentleman, until we trained that out of him”
“How?” Bruce murmured, obviously not meaning to have said it, but the girl heard it anyway.
“How? Well, through some good old torture, brainwashing and some experimenting” the girl wound her fingers in the Soldier’s hair again and firmly tugged it, making him tilt his head to one side, exposing the side of his neck where the Avengers could see that a small circular disk the size of a dollar was latched onto his skin just behind his ear. “This little thing is there to make sure that my boys don’t misbehave. My boys misbehaved quite a lot in the beginning, didn’t they?”
The Soldier dropped his gaze and whimpered quietly, almost like he was ashamed of how he had acted, and the Captain shifted on his feet, eyes locked on the ground, lips pressed into a tight line.
“But anyway, what am I supposed to do with you guys?” the girl hummed to herself, and she waved a dismissive hand at the soldiers. “Go on, boys, back to your spots”
They both nod, and turn around and start to walk back when Clint, having had enough, and seeing an opening through which he could get the girl and hopefully use her as leverage against Captain Hydra and the Winter Soldier, bounded to his feet and rushed at the girl. But he really shouldn’t have bothered, as the moment he got to his feet, both soldiers had turned around and within seconds had moved back in front of the girl and towards him, the previous Captain America darting behind him and pinning his arms behind his back, tight enough to almost dislocate his shoulders if he dared to move, and the Winter Soldier had his metal hand wrapped tightly around Clint’s throat, and in his right hand he had produced a dagger from seemingly nowhere and positioned it so the tip was directly in front of Clint’s eyeball, the tip mere centimetres from contact.
“Oh God” breathed Clint, his eyes wide with fear as he tried to fight against the Captain’s iron grip, and let out a pained gasp when the Captain tightened his hold, a low growl emanating from his throat.
“Oh, Clint, why did you have to do that” the girl seemed truly sad at Clint’s act as she walked to stand by him, her eyes sorrowful as she taps a finger against the Soldier’s metal wrist, and he releases his grip around Clint’s throat, and his right hand flips the dagger so the handle is pointing to the girl, who takes it distractedly, her eyes focused on Clint’s face. “Oh, Hawkie, I was starting to really like you too”
With startling speed, she slid the sharp edge of the dagger hard against the soft flesh of Clint’s throat, slicing through the thin skin and muscles, and bright red blood spilled over the blade and down the pale expanse of skin, streaking over his Adam’s apple and down his collarbone, soaking into his shirt.
There was a startling loud scream from the Black Widow, her eyes wide as she fought against her restraints, her gaze focused on Clint, his head lolling sideways, tears streaking down his cheeks as he struggled to whisper something, the blood bubbling from the slit in his throat, a hoarse gasp the only sound he could end up making. He went limp in Steve’s grip, and at the cluck of Y/n’s tongue, let him drop to the floor in an uncoordinated heap, his blood pooling on the concrete floor.
“Oh God” Tony muttered in a horrified voice, and beside him, Bruce was shuddering as his eyes flashed green and his skin rippled, his jaw tensed as he tried to fight the change that his body wanted to make. There was a multitude of clicking sounds as the guns that the guards were holding turned off their safety mode and their barrels were pointed at Bruce, but the girl held up a hand, her lips turned down in a frown.
“Oh Bruce, I did warn you”
And with the swiftness that she had used to slit Clint’s throat, she whirled around and grabbed a pistol from the holster on the Soldier’s thigh, and turned back around and fired a round right between the eyes of Bruce Banner. Tony let out a yell and threw himself into the line of fire a second too late, and he let out a dry sob as Bruce collapsed backwards onto the ground, landing with a thump on his back, glasses still on his face, splattered with red drops of blood.
“You bitch!” Tony howled, flinching when a thin dagger whizzed past his face and embedded itself into the floor behind him, splitting through the concrete like butter from the sheer force of the throw. The Winter Soldier was scowling at him, another dagger held ready in his hand, standing next to the Captain who was shielding the girl, who had her head looking at Tony from around his muscled torso, a mad smirk on her lips.
“All’s fair in war, Tony” she crowed, teeth bared now in a feral grin. “The Avengers have been a tiny thorn in the side of the great beast of HYDRA, hindering our goal to make the world a better place! We want to help the world by giving it order, and that can only happen by breaking it down with chaos! Now, with you out of the way, we can finally fulfil our goal!”
She was clinging to the Captain now, who still stood in front of her like an unmoveable wall, eyes narrowed in determination and anger, his lips pulled back in a protective snarl. He slowly started to move backwards, guiding the girl back towards the throne. The Soldier stayed where he was, muscles tensed, ready to spring into action, his blue-grey eyes full of barely concealed violence and determination, his metal arm whirring and clicking as he flexed and pulled his fingers into a fist.
“You know what would be ironic? The defected Black Widow rejoining HYDRA, her original life. Guards, take her and put her through the Asset program”
Four guards converged on the red head, obviously expecting trouble, but Natasha was staring wide eyed at the corpse of Clint, and she made no movement as two guards grabbed her arms and started to drag her away.
“Hmm, it seems that Natalia has lost some of her training, letting emotions cloud her mind or something like that. Shame, she might not be as useful as I thought” the girl hummed, the Captain now pushing her back down into the chair that he had guided her back too, and he then moved so he was standing ready behind her, his hands twitching towards the shield that was still secured on his back.
“Natasha!” Sam screamed. “Natasha, fight back, damn it! Fight back! Clint wouldn’t want you to die with him!”
This seemed to stir Natasha from her daze, and she instantly began to writhe and try to get out of the guard’s grasps, but they simply lowered a stun gun to the back of her neck and pulled the trigger, rendering her unconscious, her limp body being lifted and carried out of the room.
“Hmm, Sammy, I really don’t like your big mouth. Natalia was content to be in her daze of horror but you just had to go and wake her up” the girl frowned, one leg now crossed over the other as she leans back in her seat. “And really, you aren’t much entertainment to me unless I wanted to go bird hunting, but I don’t think you’d be much fun”
“You’re mad!” Sam hissed, before glancing at Tony next to him, whose face was solemn, eyes wide and cheeks tear stained. “Come on, man, we need to get out of here!”
“I don’t think so, Wilson” the girl flicked a hand at the Captain behind her, before pointing at Sam. “Captain, you know what to do”
Within two seconds, the Captain had slipped the shield from his back, stepped out from behind the throne and threw it like a Frisbee right into Sam Wilson’s chest, breaking several ribs from the impact and sending shards of the broken ribs into his lungs, and his heart, killing him instantly. The shield rebounded back from hitting Sam’s body right into the Soldier’s metal hand, who then tossed it back to the Captain, slipping it back onto his back. Sam’s body toppled a second after that. The whole thing, from the shield leaving the Captain’s hand and then returning took 10 seconds.
Tony Stark was the only one left. The bodies of Clint Barton, Bruce Banner and Sam Wilson were scattered around him, yet he managed to keep his back straight and jaw set, even though his face was on the wrong side of pale, and nothing could hide his wide eyes and the tear tracks on his cheeks.
“Tony Stark, the leader of the Avengers” the girl said in contemplation, hopping off the throne and walking towards him, waving back both the Captain and the Soldier back when they attempt to follow her. The Captain gives a warning huff and reluctantly stays back, the Soldier copying his movements. The girl crouches a few feet in front of Tony, eyes studying his face. “You are the only one left. Clint Barton, dead. Bruce Banner, dead. Natalia Romanova, retrained. Sam Wilson, dead. You are now alone.”
“I’m not alone” Tony murmurs, eyes blinking back tears as he looks up, straightens his back and looks at the girl in the eye. “SHIELD won’t let you get away with this”
“Oh, Tones, think of how easy it was for me to grab all five of you, and I’m sure you realise how easily I can grab everyone else. I can just snipe them or something like that, they aren’t enough to be brought in”
The girl pursed her lips slightly, then grinned as she beckoned over her shoulder at the Soldier with one hand, as the other finds its way to Tony’s shoulder and pushed him sharply so he fell onto his back
“Come here, Soldier”
The Soldier walks forward, expression blank as he stands next to her, his cold eyes flicking between the girl and Tony.
“Tony, you are quite useless to me, really, just a hunk of meat, but I do love shiny things, and this - “she taps a finger on the arc reactor embedded in his chest. “ – Is a very shiny thing indeed. Soldier, if you would”
The Soldier crouches down next to Tony, eyes locked on his as his right hand ripped open Tony’s shirt and his metal hand slowly moved to his chest, and his blunt metal fingertips dug firmly into the skin around the arc reactor, making Tony gasp, eyes widening.
“No, stop” Tony wheezed as the Soldier’s fingers dug deeper into his skin. “Please, don’t”
The Soldier didn’t hesitate or stop at the plead, but dug deeper, his strength making Tony’s ribs fracture inside his chest. The girl was humming a cheery tune as the Captain moved forward and she leant backwards against his legs, fingers tapping against her knee. “Come on, Soldier, don’t play with your food.”
She chuckled, and the Soldier let out a low growl as he moved onto his knees and raised his body up, placing his full weight onto his metal arm, his fingers breaking through the skin, blood pooling on his skin and dripping down his chest.
Only now did Tony start to struggle, but then with a jerk, the Soldier broke completely through Tony’s ribs, his fingers digging through skin and muscle and wrapping around the metal cylinder that was embedded in Tony’s chest that housed the arc reactor. Tony let out a strangled gasp, and he coughed up drops of blood.
The girl was watching him with glee, eyes bright as her gaze was focused on the Soldier’s metal hand. The Soldier glanced up at her in confirmation, and when she nodded, he tightened his grip and tugged, the cylinder sliding smoothly out of Tony’s chest, with the arc reactor contained securely inside it.
“What – “ Tony managed to gasp, his hands twitching by his sides. “What is y-your name?”
The girl, seeing that he was dying, leaned forward, over his body and took the arc reactor clean out of the bloodied cylinder in the Soldier’s hand, then leaned down close to Tony’s ear.
“My name is – “ the girl paused, as she saw the light in Tony’s eyes flicker. “Y/n”
And with that name still ringing in his ears, Tony Stark, the legendary Iron Man and leader of the Avengers, died.
------- Extended ------
After the corpses were carried out of the room (there was a complication with Banner, who apparantly was immune to bullets, but it was nothing a well sharpened axe to the throat couldn't fix), and the blood was mopped up and the guards had filed out, leaving no one except the leader of HYDRA and her two soldiers, Y/n turned to Steve and Bucky, an easy grin appearing on her lips.
“How did I do?” Y/n asked eagerly, standing still at a respectable distance as Captain Hydra and the Winter Soldier shed their obedience like a cloak, their eyes clearing and replacing their expressionless faces were mischievous and hungry grins.
“You did brilliantly, Doll” Bucky swept toward her, a proud look on his face, partly from how well she acted and how she now stood still, chin raised and back straight, just like how she had been trained. “Lied so well, made it so believable”
He stepped behind her, his chest pressed to her back and his mouth centimetres from the back of her neck, his lips just brushing over her skin, making her shiver.
“The Avengers are now no more” Steve purred, stepping close in front of her so she was sandwiched between two super soldiers. “And their last thoughts were that the famous Captain America had been turned. And maybe I had, but I fully embrace my new life. Not like I can remember my old one anyway.”
Steve ducked his head and pressed his lips to Y/n’s, making her sigh quietly into his mouth, and his fingers quickly pulled off the stick-on, dollar sized ‘contraption’ from his and Bucky’s neck, the ones that supposedly ‘controlled’ them when they misbehaved, as Y/n playfully put it, and Bucky raised his right hand and swept Y/n’s braided hair away from her neck, revealing the real, dollar sized piece of machinery that was imbedded into her skin and wired to her nerves, prepared to give shocks if she tried to rebel against orders.
“Mm, but you did disobey one rule” Bucky says ruefully as he pulls back, and Y/n frowns.
“What did I do wrong?”
“You told Stark your name, sweet thing” Steve tuts as he mock frowns, and he pulls back, his lips pulled down in a disappointed expression. “We told you explicitly not to do that”
“But – “Y/n starts, and she jolts when Bucky’s hand slipped around her and clamped over her mouth.
“Are you going to talk back to us, Dollface?” Bucky asks, his tone disappointing as he plays along with Steve. “You know you get punished if you talk back to us when you know you did something wrong”
Bucky felt Y/n’s lips pull down in a frown against the skin of his palm, and he locked eyes with Steve, who nodded, and Bucky lowered his hand from Y/n’s mouth.
“Now, what were you going to say?”
Y/n takes a breath, eyes cast down in shame. “I thought it wouldn’t matter because he was going to die anyway, but I know that I should have obeyed your orders and not told him my name”
“Good girl” Bucky purred, and then he slapped her butt with his metal hand, making her jump, a small delighted squeak muffled behind her lips. “Now go on, go to the bedroom, strip and present”
Y/n nodded obediently and trotted out of the room through a side door, and both men watched her till the door closed behind her, then Steve’s large, rough hand threaded his fingers through Bucky’s long hair and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. Behind closed doors, Steve and Bucky were in charge, no doubt about it, and Y/n was just a pawn that they used, a front, making her look more powerful with two obedient and protective supersoldiers standing behind her. Sure, they loved her, and they were protective of her, sure, but at the end of the day, the super soldiers loved each other more, and Y/n was just a puppet, and when she loses her usefulness, her strings will be cut.
“Hail Hydra”