Saints & Soldiers

The gravestones stand silently, row upon row like soldiers long forgotten, the silence is shattered by a lone gunshot. One gunshot is what it takes to stop the fight before it even begins. Johann looks to the roof, giving Brock thumbs up, takes the knife of fallen enemy, and slips back into the shadows to continue his mission. He has met Brock "Crossbones" Rumlow only a week ago and doesn't really know how he should feel about the stoic sniper who claims to be "his 'fan'" (Johann has the feeling that the meaning of the word has changed over time...) and has been awake for only about three months, but is still good at what he does. Stealth missions, a knife, a sniper, and as few gunshots as possible, and he is good. He is usually triggered by needles and shooting, or electricity cracking, so as long as he uses a knife, there is no problem. Pierce told him to retire, but why should he listen? He can't just stand by and watch the world turn into hell in a handbasket and they both  know it.

Johann crawls through the mud, there is still one man standing, he has to take him by surprise him to catch him alive. Everything goes according to the plan, until comes the question time. The S.C.H.I.L.D agent seems willing to talk, so Johann doesn't knife him and just asks intead.

"S-stark--"When the man is opening his mouth, Johann hears a whizzing sound and an arrow impales the man's heart. Soon comes another arrow, aimed at Johann, but it misses, because he is faster and rolls behind a stone. It is a dark, moonless night, so locating the bowman is next to impossible. Johann readjusts his mask, and tries to contact Brock via radio.

"Can you hear me?" No answer...

"Brock..!" The radio cracks static, and Johann prays the signal is just jammed. He shouldn't have taken him along. Or maybe the he other way around... Nein, nein, don't blame yourself, Brock's a professional. You both are. He came there out of his own free will and knew the risks. He's okay. He'll be okay.. Johann inspects the arrow he yanked out of the enemy agent, it is special. The bowman has to be Hawkeye, he is the only professional killer who uses bow as the main weapon. Another gunshot, but it isn't aimed down there, Johann is alone. Brock isn't. Johann looks up and sees nothing, he draws a deep breath and runs into the building keeping an eye out for enemies, looks around, and creeps up the stairs.

Another gunshot comes, this time in Johann's direction. As in throught the wall. He ducks and continues advancing towards the door by crawling. The sounds of fighting and the stray shot mean Brock is still alive. It is darker than outside, Johann can only see outlines and highlights, but that is more than enough. He recognizes Brock's helmet shape and punches the other head quite hard. Hawkeye, being a bit hard of hearing, doesn't notice him coming and is taken by surprise, but recovers quickly. He takes advantace of being on the ground and kicks Johann on the nuts, which obviously hurts. Johann drops on the mercenary and tries the stranglehold he used with Barnes, this time it works better. He can hear Hawkeye gaping for air, and feels his glowed fingers on his face, poking his eye and trying to couge it. Johann tries to move his head away from Hawk's reach but that is a tactical mistake, the enemy gets free and punches him with a brass knuckle.

Brock can't see anything, so he throws the gun out of the window, out of Hawk's reach, and clicks a blade from his armor. During the following fight someone hits the light switch, it takes Johann a precious second to recover from the sudden flash, and Hawkeye, wearing dark glasses, slashes his mask and scratches his face with one of the arrows. Brock comes from behind to tackle him, but Hawk saw him coming and jumps directly upwards, flips on Brock's shoulders, and then out of the window, back facing the street, and shoots an arrow with an explosive strapped on it. Johann still can't really run, so Brock graps him and yanks him into next room and behing the ragged sofa.

The explosion is quite small, obviously, there can't be many explosives packed on an arrow. It only destroys the wall it had sinked into and the half of sofa facing it, and rubble falls from the ceiling. Johann immediately runs to the window, but can't see a trace of Hawkeye. They, however, have a name: Stark. Johann has had only three months to make research about the times between the battle of Berlin and today, but the name "Stark" had came up in some way in almost everything. Howard's son, Anthony. The man has a good reputation despite his father's deeds, but there were rumors Brock had heard. That Stark worked with infamous weapons merchant Iron Grip, who had ties to S.C.H.I.L.D. which shouldn't even exists anymore. The leaders were executed and rats abandoned the sinking ship, but that seems a questionable fact by this point. Johann looks at his dog tag, and HYDRA symbol, a golden snake with nine heads, on it. Had Willy's death been in vain?

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The unexplainable explosion in abandoned building is all over the news, but thankfully no one saw them. Johann really doesn't want to explain the unauthorized mission to Osborn. He would say Johann has an obsession. No, he doesn't, he just refuses to believe that Steve Rogers died so easily. Or that S.C.H.I.L.D had. At least he had been right about the last one. And S.C.H.I.L.D can't come back without leaders.

"Boss?"

"I'm not. Don't call me that, Brock."

"Do you still think it's Rogers - and not Stark - who's behind this?"

"I know his style. He just hasn't shown himself yet, he's waiting for the best moment."

"If you say so."

"What the holy hell happened to you?" Fuck this, it's Helmut. Helmut Zemo, Citizen V. One of HYDRA's best agents, which Brock thinks is kind of humorous. Johann had kind of flipped when Helmut introduced himself, and the man still doesn't like him. He had probably been on a mission, for he was still in costume, which, to be completely honest, wouldn't look good on anybody.

"It's kind of complicated."

"Everything is complicated with you, Rumlow." Helmut glances at papers on the table, which Johann quickly but as naturally as possible puts his arms on. Helmut follows Osborn like a loyal dog, of course he would tell him, being a rule-obsessed dummkopf he is. Helmut pulls a paper from under Johann's elbow and looks at it.

"S.C.H.I.L.D?" Brock decides it'll be best to give him the facts and talk him into shutting the fuck up. Helmut is all about redeeming his family name, showing the world he isn't like his father. What would be better way to do that than taking down Captain America? Helmut says nothing, but seems to like the idea. Johann gives Brock a look that says 'Why?!', but the sniper doesn’t even blink. It is obvious that even they couldn’t destroy S.C.H.I.L.D without help. And there is also something important he hasn't told Johann yet.

"Johann, Helmut, HYDRA might be compromised, we can't trust anybody but each other, we --"

"'could'?! Do you understand the gravity of the  situation, Rumlow?! If you're  wrong and we do  something -- " Helmut yells, but Brock doesn't let himself be interrupted.

"Look, i knew the man Hawkeye shot. He is - was - in my team. He secretly worked for S.C.H.I.L.D all the time, and there sure as hell is more double agents. I know i can trust Johann, and i think we can trust you." Helmut stares at Brock, a bit aggressively. Johann has noticed and looks like he is ready and very willing to fight Helmut. They had no reason to like each other and would in all likelihood never be friends.

"But how do we --" Helmut gestures to himself and Johann, "know  we  can trust you?"  Brock had expected  Helmut to ask that  question, and it is easy to answer. 

"Do you think i would betray my idol?"

What the fuck does he see in that fossil? Whatever it is, it doesn't really matter. Rumlow is a hero-worshipper and Johann is his hero. He wouldn't betray him, and Johann would never work for nazis. But there was no way Helmut could be sure about anyone else...

"Alright, i'm in" he starts, "but --" his phone rings, it is, of all people, Curt Connors. Last time Helmut checked, The Lizard couldn't use a phone.

"Who's there?" He asks cautiously, because it could really be literally any random person who found the phone in a bush.

"I am Connors. Lizard wants to show you something, i don't know what. It's important, Zemo, hurry up."

"Why?" A moment of silence, which Helmut presumes is a conversation between the man and the beast.

"S.C.H.I.L.D."

Next: Target Stark