Chapter 100
I went down to the lab and changed into some sweats and a black tank top before I picked up where I had left off before Christmas.
“Hales?” Tony said walking in with everyone else.
“I called Liam and Tess. They’ll look after Will.” I said not looking up from the file in my hand. “Also do you remember where I left that file we found.”
“Hayley.” Steve said.
“The one with the weird name. Operation Paperclip” I said putting down the file and sorting through the rest of the box. “It was a list of names.”
“Hayley.” Bruce said putting his hand on top of mine.
“I’m fine.” I said.
“The other guy doesn’t think so.” He said. “And for once I agree with him.”
“He has my blessing to smash Hadrian. Until then I have work to do.” I said pulling away and pulling out another file.
“Where were you today?” Clint asked.
“DC.” I said. “Went to go see Hanson.”
“You did what?!” Tony said.
“He could have…” Thor started.
“He just had his chest cracked open and was restrained to a hospital bed. He can’t get out of bed to use the bathroom let alone try anything with me.” I said.
“Shield sent their best interrogators and he didn’t say a word.” Steve said.
“They probably weren’t trying hard enough because he did talk to me.” I said.
“What did he tell you?” Natasha asked.
“The Hyperion Hotel was Hadrian’s safe house here in New York which he probably only stopped by to empty out the cash stores he had there. He also has another one outside of Novograd and another one in a small town in Northern France. He has a Swiss bank account and another one in the Cayman Islands. Already hacked into them and transferred them all to charitable organizations around the world on the way back so that’ll limit his movements for a bit but not by much. I also found out he’s the Winter Soldier’s handler.” I said.
“His handler? Like he reports to him?” Clint asked.
“He does but not by choice. Apparently our ghost is actually a prisoner.” I said.
“Are you sure?” Natasha asked.
“He does as he’s told and if he disobeys he gets his brain thrown in a blender. Not exactly sure what that means specifically but it doesn’t sound pleasant.” I said. “Apparently whoever Hadrian’s working for it’s big. He reports directly to Alexander Pierce.”
“Who is this Pierce?” Thor asked.
“The Secretary of Defense.” Natasha said.
“Part of the World Security Council.” Clint added.
“He was also the one that recruited Hadrian to Shield.” I said. “Why, I’m still trying to figure that out.”
“Anything else?” Steve said.
“That’s what I’m looking for right now. He said that at their orientation they gave them all a file on something called Project Paperclip and that’s where it all started” I said.
“Are you sure he said project paperclip?” Natasha asked.
“Yeah.” I said. “Do you know what that is?”
“It was a covert operation after World War II to recruit Nazi scientists with strategic value.” She said.
“They did that?” Steve said.
“After the war the US and Russia were the two biggest super powers in the world and after the bombs were dropped on Japan they started the biggest arms race in history and subsequently the space race. Germany was in divided and in shambles so the US took advantage and took in former Nazi scientists, forgave their crimes and in exchange they came to work for them.” Bruce explained.
“That’s how we made it to the moon.” Clint said.
“Also led to some of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century.” Tony added. “I’m pretty sure we can find the list online.”
“There were hundreds of scientists recruited. And I don’t think a scientist that can turn someone into the terminator forty years before the movie was even made would be listed on Project paperclip’s wiki page.” I said.
“So we start looking.” Steve said opening up a box.
“Jarvis start the coffee maker.” Tony said. “And order some pizza while you’re at it.”
Everyone grabbed a box and started reading through the files. After hours in the car and then on the drive back I couldn’t handle sitting on a lab stool any longer so I moved to lay down dragging a box of files with me.
Thor was already sitting down there so I rested my head on his lap as I continued reading. He looked down and gave me a brief smile before running his fingers through my hair as he continued reading.
After I have no idea how many doodles and secretarial memos about weapon orders I ended up dozing off.
‘Hayley… hales… Hayley!!!!’ Someone shouted and I opened my eyes.
I wasn’t in the lab anymore, I wasn’t anywhere. Everything was just pitch black.
“Hello?” I called out.
“Hayley!!!!” Josh shouted as he ran towards me.
“Josh!” I said as he grabbed my arm before dragging me with him as he ran. “Josh, stop”
“No he’s coming, he’s coming for us.” Josh said tearing up.
“Who?” I asked.
“Who else bitch?” Hadrian said appearing.
“No, no. Josh run. Run!” I said pushing him behind me.
“Yes Josh run. It’s always more fun when you have to hunt down your targets.” Hadrian said walked towards us. Before I could even turn he had already thrown a knife into josh’s throat.
“No! Josh!” I said putting pressure on his throat to slow down the bleeding.
“Will…. S-save Will…” Josh said choking on his own blood before I heard another scream.
“Will.” I said letting go of Josh. “Will!” I shouted.
“Hayley!!!” I heard Will shout.
“Will!” I screamed
“Hayley!!!” Will screamed.
“I’ve got you now.” I head Hadrian say before he started laughing.
“No!!!” I screamed as he stabbed his knife into Will’s side.
“Hales.” Will breathed out with tears in his eyes as he collapsed. I ran and lid on the floor to break his fall as I caught him.
“Will, Will stay with me.” I said pressing on his side as the blood seeped through my hand.
“I… I hate you.” He said. “I’m dead because of you.”
“No, no you’re still alive. This isn’t happening.” I cried.
“Hayley you have to move. Krasivaya, it’s time.” I heard Nat’s voice. I looked up to see Natasha trying to pull me away.
“I can’t do this Nat. I can’t beat him.” I cried.
“Hayley, you can do this.” I heard Steve say as he appeared behind Nat.
“You’re not alone.” Bruce said appearing with everyone else.
“They’re right,” Hadrian said walking closer. “But neither am I.”
The Winter Soldier appeared behind Steve and Tony he lifted his gun and it was like the entire world around me slowed down.
“Noooooo!” I shouted as he fired at every single one. Nat moved to shield me and collapsed in my arms.
“uh…Ha… lee…” Nat choked out before the light faded from her eyes.
“You could have avoided all of this brat.” Hadrian taunted as he walked closer to me. I felt him kneel down behind me before running his fingers through my hair and dragging me up as he stood.
“Ah!!!!” I shouted in pain before he kicked my side making me roll over onto my stomach.
“Get up.” He said.
“Mh.” I cried.
“Get up!” He shouted pulling me up.
“This isn’t real.” I said.
“Wake up Cal this is your reality. Maybe they’re not dead yet, but they will be soon.” He taunted.
“Hayley wake up.” A voice echoed.
“This is how it’s going to end.” He said as the Winter Soldier squeezed his arm around my neck and lifted me up like I weighed nothing.
“Wake up!” he shouted as he stabbed his knife into my chest.
Third Person’s POV-
“If there are hundred’s of people on this list how are we going to know which one is the one we’re looking for?” Steve asked.
“Not sure. Most of this is going on one of Hayley’s hunches. Hey hales…” Tony started.
“Sh!” Thor shushed him gesturing down to Hayley who was sound asleep with her head resting on his lap.
“She finally fell asleep.” Natasha said grabbing a throw off the back of the futon and draping it over Hayley.
“Well it’s been over two days since she’s actually slept.” Clint said.
“Mh.” Hayley whined.
“Sh, sh.” Thor soothed as he ran his fingers through Hayley’s hair.
“It doesn’t seem like she’s sleeping peacefully.” Bruce noted.
“Sometimes I forget how young she really is.” Thor commented.
“She had to grow up too soon.” Natasha said.
“No.” Hayley groaned as she started fussing. “Josh.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good dream.” Steve said as Hayley’s brows furrowed and she curled in on herself.
“It’s okay love.” Thor murmured gently rubbing her back.
“Mh… No….No, No!” She shouted.
“Shit.” Tony said getting out of his seat. “Hayley.”
“Mh…not real…” Hayley cried as tears started streaming from her eyes. “Ah.”
“Hayley wake up.” Natasha said.
“AHHHHH!” Hayley screamed as she sat up, waking up crying and trying to catch her breath.
“Hayley. It’s alright, you’re safe.” Thor said trying to tuck in a lock of her hair behind her ear before she flinched and jumped off the futon and onto the floor. “Hayley!” Thor stood up quickly moving to go check on her but Natasha and Clint stopped him.
“She needs space big guy, give her a minute.” Clint said.
“Hales.” Tony said kneeling close to her without actually touching her. “You okay?”
Hayley didn’t say anything just put her head in between her knees and tried to slow down her breathing. When she finally did she stood up and said “I need a shower.” before walking out.
“Must’ve been a bad one.” Tony said.
“I’ve seen her have nightmares before but she never flinched away like she did now.” Clint said.
“Was it something I did?” Thor concerned.
“Something must’ve reminded her of whatever she was dreaming of.” Bruce said.
“Jarvis Monitor Hayley’s vitals and let us know if anything changes.” Tony said.
“Of course sir.” Jarvis said.
Hayley’s POV-
I walked into my room headed straight for the bathroom. I turned on the shower and quickly stripped out of my clothes before stepping under the water. I rested my forehead against the cold tiled wall and just took some slow deep breaths. The water turned cold and I got out as the chills started running down my spine. I grabbed a towel and dried myself off before slipping on the tights and the grey pull over I had left in there before.
The steam from the shower had fogged up the mirror. I wiped some of the condensation off with my hand but instead of seeing my reflection I saw him.
‘Wake up Cal This is your reality…. This is how it’s going to end.’ He growled before he popped out of the mirror and stabbed me.
I felt a pain in my chest and slammed my hands onto the vanity to keep myself from collapsing. I squeezed my eyes shut tight and took a few deep breaths before opening them again.
I pulled open the mirror to pull out my toothbrush but something caught my eye. It was my sleeping and anti anxiety medications Kevin had prescribed months ago. I hadn’t taken them in months, especially when I realized they just made me numb to everything. Then again not feeling anything did sound really good right now…
“Hayley?” I heard someone call out as they knocked on the door.
“Be out in a minute.” I choked out quickly grabbing my toothbrush and pushing the mirror back. I brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face one last time.
I opened the door and walked into my room where Thor was sitting on the bed waiting for me.
“Are you alright?” Thor asked keeping his distance. Guess I really freaked him out earlier.
“Yeah sorry just… had a bad dream.” I said. And day… week… month.
Thor stood up and walked up to me. He slowly raised his arms to hug me but paused giving me a second to move away if I didn’t want to. I put my arms around him and hugged him before he finally put his arms around me and held me.
“It’s alright love.” Thor murmured kissing the top of my head.
“I should get back to work.” I said pulling away.
“No, you should rest.” Thor said.
“There’s too much to do.” I said grabbing a hoodie.
“Hayley, you have to rest. You’re exhausted.” Thor said.
“That’s never stopped me before. I can rest when this is all over.” I said.
“Hayley stop.” Thor said grabbing my hand. “What’s wrong love?”
“I can’t sleep because when I do I see my worst nightmare. I see him kill everyone I care about one my one and there’s not a single thing I can do. I see that every time I close my eyes and there’s nothing I can do to stop him there but I can when I’m awake so that’s what I’m doing.” I said.
“But you need to rest.” Thor said. “At least for a few hours. Please”
He gave me that adorable smile and that look with those gorgeous cerulean blue eyes and I realized something. Losing them may be my biggest fear but theirs was losing me and Hadrian had already gotten what he wanted without shooting at them.
“Okay.” I said. Thor held my hand and lifted the covers for me to get under. “Can you… stay with me?” I asked afraid of sounding way too needy.
“Of course.” Thor said with a smile before getting in as well. I curled into his side, resting my head on his chest. Thor rubbed my back and hummed something I didn’t recognize as I drifted back to sleep.
Third Person’s POV-
“Jarvis, How’s Hayley doing?” Tony asked.
“Miss Adams has fallen asleep. Mister Odinson has decided to stay with her at her request.” Jarvis said.
“That’s good. We need to talk about what we’re going to do if none of pans out.” Steve said.
“Hayley does have solid leads.” Bruce said.
“It’s a theory, she’s grasping at straws.” Steve said.
“He’s right. Even if we do figure out who Adler is working for it he won’t stop. They might even help him and there’ll be an even bigger target on Hayley’s back.” Natasha said.
“They won’t get a chance to get close to her.” Clint said.
“We can’t keep her locked away forever.” Bruce said. “Even if it is what she wants?”
“No but keeping her hidden somewhere might be a good idea.” Steve said.
“She’s spent her entire life running away and hiding, you really think asking her to go back to that is a good idea?” Tony asked.
“It wouldn’t be a permanent thing, just until we make sure she’s no longer in danger.” Steve said.
“So what we send her on a long term vacation somewhere, maybe even Asgard and then what?” Tony asked.
“I think we all need to take a breather. We should stop and…” Bruce said before looking down at the file in his hand. “Oh.”
“What is it?” Tony asked.
“I think I found the file Hayley was looking for.” Bruce said.
“Project Paperclip. This is it.” Natasha said. “None of these names ring any bells. Though the one that’s blacked out with a footnote of no way in hell does draw attention.”
“That’s Peggy’s writing.” Steve said.
“Wow she really didn’t like that guy.” Tony said looking at the paper. “She capitalized NO, underlined it twice, and used four exclamation points.”
“Wonder who it was.” Clint said.
“Let’s find out.” Tony said taking the file and moving it under the scanner. “Jarvis scan it and make out the name that was blacked out.”
“Of course sir.” Jarvis said. The photo of the paper appeared on the screen. The scanner moved and the lighting changed color. Then the text underneath the blacked out part slowly started appearing in bright yellow. Until finally clear as day a name appeared.
Arnim Zola
“That name doesn’t ring any bells.” Tony said but when he looked up and saw Steve’s face he pinched his eyebrows in confusion.
Steve’s jaw was clenched and his breathing was heavy. His fists were clenched his knuckles were white.
“Cap?” Clint asked.
“He’s not involved in this. Here is no way in hell Peggy, Howard or even Colonel Philips would have let that happen.” Steve said.
“You know him?” Natasha asked.
“Arnim Zola was a German scientist that worked under the Red Skull during the war. He was hydra’s lead scientist. That… he couldn’t have been recruited.” Steve said.
“It’s not entirely,…” Bruce said.
“That bastard was not recruited!” Steve yelled making everyone jump up at his outburst. Everyone just stared at him in shock. “I need some air.” Steve said before storming off.
“Anyone get the feeling there’s something bugging Capsicle?” Tony said making Natasha roll her eyes at him. “Well then I guess I should get started on looking up all of these guys. Jarvis gather all the intel you can on everyone on that list.”
“Right away sir.” Jarvis said.
“Well that was easy.” Tony said.
“That’s it?” Clint asked.
“Jarvis will get all the intel we need. Until then we should all get some shut eye.” Tony suggested.
“Jarvis is Thor still with Hayley?” Clint asked.
“Yes Agent Barton. Both are sound asleep in Miss Adam’s room.” Jarvis said.
“Guess I’m going up to my room.” Clint said.
“I don’t remember the last time I slept in my own bed.” Natasha said as they walked out of the lab.
Hayley’s POV-
I don’t know how long I was asleep but it was enough for me to feel a lot better. Forty eight hours without sleep really took it’s toll. I felt the bed move and as I started opening my eyes I realized I wasn’t actually on the bed so much as on top of Thor. How did this always happen?
I slowly started to lift myself off of him but Thor put an arm around my waist and pulled me back to him.
“Stay.” Thor mumbled.
“Hey I’m just moving off of you.” I whispered.
“No I like feeling you close.” He answered.
“So whenever we sleep together I don’t move on top of you, you pull me onto you?” I asked.
“Maybe.” Thor said with a grin on his face.
“Thor!” I said in mock outrage.
“Hayley, you’re what I have and will ever love most in my entire existence. There was a time in my life I thought I would never get the chance to meet you and as much as I denied it that terrified me more than the fiercest foes I have faced ever did. Having you close is reassuring.” Thor said.
“What did I ever do to deserve you all?” I asked. Thor chuckled and hugged me to him before kissing the top of my head.
“I love you.” Thor said.
“Love you too.” I said kissing his chest drawing circles on his skin.
“Is there something on your mind?” He asked.
“Too much.” I said. “But at the moment I’m thinking about why Hadrian went after Josh instead of Will.”
“Love it doesn’t matter.” Thor said.
“Actually it does.” I said. “Hadrian didn’t go after Will because that would have destroyed me and he wants to do that himself. He wants me to watch my world fall apart, and suffer as much as possible. His goal was to divide and conquer and in a way he did. Will wants nothing to do with me, which in a way is for the best. He’ll leave Will alone because having to spend the rest of my life knowing Will hates me that hurts more than anything he could ever physically do to me.”
“He will never hurt you again.” Thor said. “He’ll never get the chance.”
“And that’s exactly what he’s counting on.” I said making Thor sit up making me sit up with me.
“Hayley, we have faced greater foes than your brother.” Thor said.
“I know but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you all anyway.” I said. Thor frowned before kissing me.
“You need to rest.” Thor said lying back. “Tomorrow we shall figure things out.”
“Technically it already is tomorrow.” I said.
“But the sun has not risen.” Thor retorted.
“Okay you win.” I said closing my eyes.
The next time I opened my eyes the sun was out and Thor was snoring. I was expecting him to snore really loud like a chainsaw or something but it was actually really soft. I could actually count every single one of his dark blonde eyelashes.
“I was taught it was not polite to stare.” Thor mumbled.
“I wasn’t staring, just admiring the view.” I said smiling as he opened his eyes and smiled back.
“There’s nothing quite like it.” he said obviously not referring to the same view I was.
“You ready to let me go?” I asked.
“Never.” Thor said moving to his side to kiss me. “but I believe there is a midgardian tradition of bringing breakfast to bed after spending the night together.”
“You mean breakfast in bed?” I asked chuckling a bit. “It’s more of a nice gesture than an actual tradition but I have a better idea. How about we shower and get dressed then you and I can go get some pancakes or waffles at that diner down the street.”
“Is that wise?” Thor asked concerned.
“My boyfriend has fought frost giants, dark elves and aliens, I think he can keep me safe for an hour while we go get breakfast don’t you?” I said.
“I am more than confident in his abilities.” Thor said with a smile as he started getting up.
“You know I was going to hop in the shower… Maybe we could save some time if we were in there together.” I asked. Thor didn’t say anything instead he just lifted me up and carried me into the bathroom making me laugh.
One very long and cold shower we were both bundled up and ready to go. The walk to the diner wasn’t too long. It was pretty cold but holding Thor’s hand kept my fingers from going numb. New York was pretty empty considering a lot of people end up going out of town for the holidays. We walked into the diner and sat down in a booth.
I ordered a muffin and some coffee but Thor gave me a stern look and I added some eggs bacon and French toast. He ordered the same along with a tall stack of pancakes and extra bacon.
“The first thing Darcy and Jane ever gave me to eat when I arrived on Midgard were tarts of pop.” Thor asked.
“Mh, I actually lived off poptarts and instant ramen when I got my first apartment because it was the only thing I could afford. Smores poptarts are my all time favorite.” I admitted.
“I have not tried smores before.” Thor admitted.
“But you have tried regular smores?” I asked.
“I have not.” Thor said.
“You have been missing out.” I said making him chuckle.
In that moment I couldn’t remember any of my worries. I was just a girl out having breakfast with her boyfriend. Of course that was the moment reality decided to come crashing back. It all started with a phone call.
Third Person’s POV-
Thor watched his soulmate answer the phone and walk out. She walked out of the diner but walked until she was in front of the window of their booth.
He smiled at he looked up to see if the sky was starting to clear up. Hayley always enjoyed flying. Maybe he could take her out later. The clouds cleared up a bit to let the sunlight shine down but that’s when he saw something shining on the roof of a building across the street. It moved and some dark object was placed on the edge facing towards Hayley.
Thor grabbed Mjolnir and ran out of the restaurant.
Hayley’s POV-
My ringtone started playing and Tess’s photo came up.
“It’s Tess. I’m going outside to take this.” I said before getting up and walking outside.
“Hello.” I answered.
“Hey.” Tess greeted. “Are you home?”
“No I uh went out to grab breakfast with Thor.” I said. “How’s…” I started when suddenly I heard Thor shout my name. I turned and he ran towards me but I was shoved from behind as something cut my arm. A second later I heard a gunshot.
“Ah!” I cried out.
“Hayley!” Thor shouted.
“Are you okay?” Steve asked. That’s when I realized he was the one that tackled me to the ground.
“Yeah, Ow.” I said feeling my arm burn.
“I’m going after him. Take her back to the tower.” Thor said before he turned his umbrella into Mjolnir and flying off.
Steve put pressure on my arm and I winced in pain. “Ow,” I looked own and saw blood. “Did I get shot?”
“It’s just a flesh wound.” Steve said. “We need to move. You’re too exposed.”
“Yeah.” I said getting up and grabbing my now shattered phone. “Why are you here?”
“I was on my morning run.” Steve said.
“You ever considered playing professional football. You tackle really hard.” I said.
“Sorry.” Steve said.
“Don’t be. A few inches to the right I’d be dead.” I said.
“Yeah…” Steve said pulling me closer as we walked back home. We walked into the lobby went straight up to the lab.
“Hales we found the list and…Whoa!” Tony said.
“What happened?” Bruce said immediately going into doctor mode.
“I was having breakfast with Thor and I stepped out to take a call when I got shot.” I said.
“Someone shot you!” Clint yelled as he walked in. Natasha immediately walked over, moved Steve out of the way so she could look me over.
“I’m okay, Steve tackled me out of the way.” I said.
“Where’s Thor?” Tony asked.
“He went after the shooter.” Steve said as Natasha helped me take off my coat.
“That’s going to need stitches.” Bruce said.
“Yay needles.” I said sarcastically as my phone started ringing. Through the cracked screen I could make out Tess’ photo. I pressed the answer button but it wasn’t working. “I’m going to need another phone.” I said throwing it onto the table as my hands started to shake. Guess the adrenaline’s starting to wear off.
“Hayley you should sit down.” Bruce said.
“Yeah the room’s kinda starting to spin.” I said holding onto the lab table as I sat down.
“Here, drink.” Tony said handing me an orange juice.
“Hayley?!” Thor said as he stormed in.
“I’m okay.” I said as he came right over to me and held my hand.
“Did you find the shooter?” Natasha asked.
“He got away.” Thor growled.
“I managed to get this off the sidewalk.” Steve said. “Tony can you run ballistics?”
“Jarvis scan the slug.” Tony said and Jarvis shot a blue light before a virtual replica of the bullet appeared in the middle of the room. Tony moved it around and then a bunch of data appeared next to it. “Soviet slug, no rifling, completely untraceable. Perfect match to the ones used by our ghost.”
“This might sting a bit.” Bruce said cleaning up the wound making me hiss in pain.
“So he’s working with the Winter Soldier, that’s nothing new.” I said.
“The problem is that if the Winter Soldier is helping him, whoever he’s working with is also probably backing him.” Natasha started.
“That doesn’t change anything. It just means that Hadrian has more resources than we originally thought. Lucky for us there’s a solution.” I said.
“And what would that be?” Thor asked.
“We cut the head off the snake… or in this case the super secret group backing Hadrian.” I said. “So guess we should get back to looking for the file.”
“About that.” Tony said.
“Oh crap did we lose it?” I said moving my arm as Bruce finished stitching it up.
“We found it.” Clint said.
“Where is it?” I asked.
“Right here.” Bruce said lifting it up.
“Ah!” I shouted as I hugged him.
“What no hug for me? I did all the research.” Tony said.
“Technically you just had Jarvis do it.” Clint corrected.
“I designed Jarvis so technically I did.” Tony said.
“So who was on the list?” I asked.
“Jarvis bring up the list of candidates.” Tony said.
“Whoa, what’s with the giant black out and the No way in hell?” I asked.
“Ask Steve.” Natasha said and I turned to look at Steve who had his jaw clentched and a look in his eyes I had never seen before.
“Steve?” I asked.
“Arnim Zola.” Steve said.
“Zola as in…” I asked and he nodded. I didn’t say anything I just moved to hug him.
“What are we missing here?” Clint asked.
“Let’s just say that as bad as everyone on that list is he’s by far the worst.” I said.
“So bad Jarvis didn’t get anything besides what Cap already told us.” Tony said.
“And that’s why I never have Jarvis do all the heavy lifting.” I said going towards my desk. “First Name on the list?”
“Warner von Braun.” Bruce said.
“He’s out of the running.” I said.
“You didn’t even look at his file.” Clint said.
“Warner von Braun is too publicly known. He was one of NASA’s leading scientists during the space race. He doesn’t meet the criteria.” I said.
“So this guy would have to be completely unknown. A genius ahead of his time. And he’d have to be able to build a terminator arm.” Tony said.
“Exactly.” I said.
“That narrows it down.” Tony said.
“I’ll look over everything and get to narrowing it down to one.” I said.
“We can help.” Clint said.
“Shouldn’t you guys be trying to track down the ghost or at least go tell patchy the pirate he’s in town?” I asked.
“Hayley.” Natasha started.
“Guys let’s face it when it comes to finding someone I’m the person for the job. When it comes to taking down assassins that’s all you.” I said.
“That is true but you can’t leave the tower.” Tony said.
“Didn’t you all just spend like two weeks telling me I couldn’t hide away here just because I was afraid?” I asked.
“What he means is that you can’t leave without precautions. Like taking someone when you want to go off on your own. Going on long car rides when you could just take a jet.” Clint said.
“I already do all of that, and I rarely go anywhere that’s far enough to fly.” I said.
“Then how about going into hiding while we handle things here.” Steve suggested.
“I ran away for five years and look at where we are. Nine months ago I made a choice to not run away and I’m sticking to it. If you’re all staying to fight back then so am I.” I said. “Unless there’s any other getaway plans I need to shoot down I’m going to get started.”
They all exchanged looks and walked out. I thought I was alone until I heard footsteps. I sighed and looked up.
“I know that look. Stop it.” I said.
“Hayley, you were hurt.” Thor started.
“It wasn’t your fault.” I said.
“I should have…” he started but I put my hand over his mouth to shut him up.
“Thor you weren’t the one that pulled the trigger. You weren’t the one that gave the order and it was my idea to go out for breakfast in the first place. So don’t ever think it was your fault because it wasn’t.” I said looping my arms around his neck. “I’m okay. It was just a scratch and I’ve had way worse.”
“I will never stop trying to keep you safe.” Thor said.
“I know. I love you.” I said.
“And I you.” He said kissing me.
It was about an hour later that Jarvis interrupted my hack marathon to tell me Tess was in the lobby.
“Miss Adams, Tess is here to see you.” Jarvis said.
“Tess?” I asked confused as to why she would be there.
“She is requesting to see you.” Jarvis said.
“Oh send her up to my floor and tell her I’ll be there in a bit.” I said saving the last file I had found before heading up.
I didn’t really know what to expect from Tess. It all really depended on what Will told everyone.
The doors to the elevator opened and I walked into my apartment preparing for the worst. When Tess saw me she stood up and hugged me. Wasn’t really expecting that.
“Hey.” I greeted.
“How are you?” She said.
“I’m managing.” I said. “How’s… How’s Will?”
“He just lost his soulmate how do you think he is?” Tess snapped back.
“Sorry stupid question.” I answered. “Liam?”
“He uh… he went to the morgue to start making arrangements.” Tess said.
“Thanks for coming out here.” I said.
“You two would have done the same thing for us. Or at least I thought you would. What the hell happened Hayley? Why aren’t you with Will?” Tess said.
“It’s complicated.” I said.
“Then uncomplicated it” Tess said.
“I can’t.” I said. “The less you know the better.”
“Hayley, I’ve never seen two friends as close as you and Will. He’s your ride or die. Your brother from another mother. So whatever fight you and Will had yesterday for him to say he never wants to see you again can’t possibly be so bad that you can’t forgive each other.” Tess said.
“Tess it’s over. Will doesn’t want to see me and he’s right not to want to. He’s better off without me in his life.” I said.
“How can you say that?!” Tess cried out.
“Because Will’s right.” I said wiping tears off my face.
“Hayley he’s mourning and he’s not thinking straight.” Tess said.
“He’s mourning but he meant every word he said.” I said. “I love Will, but he doesn’t want me in his life and I’m going to give him what he wants.”
“Just like that?” Tess said angrily.
“It’s just the way it has to be.” I said.
“I can’t believe you.” Tess said.
“It’s what he wants Tess. I can’t force him to let me into his life.” I said.
“You’re just giving up on him, did he really mean that little to you?!” Tess said.
“I’ll take care of the funeral expenses and anything else Will needs, rent, therapy, retail therapy. Just let me know.” I said.
“You can’t make this all go away with money Hayley!” Tess said.
“Well I can’t bring Josh back so what else am I going to do.” I said. “Now if you excuse me I have work to do.”
“You’re being selfish.” Tess called out after me.
“Yeah I am, I want to keep Will safe.” I said getting into the elevator.
Hours Later-
After reading through everything Jarvis had gathered on the candidates and then running my own search to see if there was anything he had missed I had narrowed it down to one. Unfortunately it was the one Peggy Carter herself said there was no way in hell she was recruiting.
“Hayley, I brought you dinner.” Steve said as he walked into the lab.
“It’s dinner time already? Wow time flies.” I said.
“How’s it going?” Steve asked and by the frown on his face he could tell it wasn’t going well.
“I ruled out almost everyone. I thought Wagner would have been a candidate but he died a year after being recruited from cancer.” I said.
“How many are left?” Steve asked.
“Just one.” I said.
“It’s him isn’t it?” Steve asked.
“From what you told me Hydra was working on harnessing energy from a space cube…” I started.
“The tessaract.” Steve corrected.
“And using it to make weapons. That sound like some really high tech stuff and Zola was Hydra’s lead scientist.” I said. “I know you don’t want to hear it but there’s a real possibility that Zola was pardoned in exchange for his work.”
Steve sat down and wiped his hands down his face. He was quiet for a while until he finally said something.
“When I first found Bucky in Azzano he was so delirious from everything he had done to him he was repeating his name, rank and his service number over and over again. He said it was the only thing that kept him sane. The first few nights after we got back to London he would wake up screaming. Eventually he stopped but there were nights he’d wake up with a look of pure terror on his face but that didn’t stop him from following right back into the fight. I should have sent him home.” Steve said.
“He wouldn’t have left you. From what you told me about him he was loyal to fault and he loved you. There was no way he was leaving you behind.” I said rubbing circles on his back.
“He didn’t deserve to die. It wasn’t fair.” Steve sobbed. I put my arms around him and held him as he cried.
“No it’s not.” I said.
“I’m sorry I shouldn’t be…” Steve started.
“Hey there’s no expiration date on grief. You’ve had more than your fair share of loss. You don’t have to apologize for your feeling Steve.” I said. “It’s been a really long day and the hits just keep coming.”
“You could have died Hayley.” Steve said.
“I know.” I said but for some reason I couldn’t believe it. The Winter Soldier has been around for over fifty years and he’s never missed. He shot through Natasha to hit his target. How did he not only get spotted by Thor and Steve but also only shoot once and not even try to finish the job. He had the time but he didn’t even try. Not to mention Hadrian didn’t call to gloat like he usually does. Something’s not right.