Fated Marks

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life. Some that I would do anything to be able to take back and others that I stand by. This is one of them.

“Hayley?” Someone said.

“Hales, Where is she?” Someone else said.

“Mh…” I groaned sitting up. What the… oh right I passed out.

“Jarvis, status?” I heard Tony ask.

“Miss Adams is awake and responsive.” Jarvis answered.

“Uh, Jarvis dim the lights a bit.” I said standing up and rubbing the side of my head that might have hit the floor when I collapsed. “Ow.”

“Hales what the hell happened?” Tony said.

“Just uh… saw some things on the phone.” I said.

“What type of things?” Steve asked.

“I saw…” I started but that was when I spotted Fury and Hill behind them. If Shield was Hydra that that meant they could be Hydra agents. If I alerted them they would just speed up the timetable, or worse they’d take down everyone where they stood. The Avengers had faced bad odds before but an entire building filled with Hydra operatives without a heads up. They’d be outnumbered and taken by surprise.

“Hayley?” Bruce asked.

“Some bad childhood memories. Apparently Hadrian kept souvenirs. I’m still combing through everything but there’s a lot to go through. How are things on your end?” I asked.

“Same as the last time you asked. Everyone has airtight alibis.” Steve said.

“Who’d you interrogate?” I asked.

“We don’t want to put anyone on alert. We’re just investigating.” Clint said.

“I talked to IT.” Tony said. “Some of admin.”

“How high up the ladder?” I asked.

“Are you saying there might be a mole at the top of Shield?” Fury said,

“I’m saying you should cover all your bases. Hadrian managed to infiltrate your organization and climb up the ladder pretty fast. He’d need help.” I said looking through the files Jarvis managed to get. I opened one that read Winter Soldier. I saw a picture of Bucky from the nineteen forties still in his uniform. The file read up to what experiments Zola had performed on him in Azzano followed into his fall from the train. The surgery they performed on his arm followed by the gruesome procedure they had to perform without anesthesia to attach the metal arm.

Before I knew it I was tearing up.

“Hales you okay?” Tony asked.

“Uh yeah, just some stuff I never wanted to relive. I have a lot to go through just…” I said wiping the tears off of my face. “There’s one person you probably haven’t checked out yet. And he’s only five floors above you. Don’t make it obvious you’re looking for a mole just ask him how he knew Hadrian and why he recommended him for Shield. He might give us some thing to go on or at least a link to someone else.”

“What are you going to do?” Clint asked.

“Look through the rest of the files. See if there’s anything there, another list or base location.” I said. “If you can’t get anything out of Pierce head back. We’re going to have to consider…”

“No.” Steve said not letting me finish.

“I won’t allow it.” Thor said.

“We’ll figure something else out.” Tony said.

“We may not have a choice.” I said. “See you when you get back.” I said ending the call.

Third Person’s POV-

Everyone watched as the video call cut of before sharing a look.

“Did she seem off to you guys?” Tony said.

“Yeah, but then again Adler has a habit of putting her on edge and she hasn’t slept in days.” Clint said.

“He’s right, How are her vitals?” Bruce asked.

“Well she obviously passed out. Her heart rate’s a bit higher than normal but that could be the anxiety and all the coffee she’s drinking.” Tony said.

“You did put up those precautions we talked about?” Steve asked.

“I made sure Jarvis will stall her in the elevator and let me know if she tried to leave. She doesn’t know about any of this so she won’t override any of it.” Tony said. “So who’s going to interrogate the Secretary of Defense?”

“How about we call ahead and see if he’s in his office first.” Hill said.

Hayley’s POV-

I stood there staring at the photo of the Winter soldier… Bucky… James… Mine and Steve’s soulmate… Uh, I miss the days when all I had to worry about was Hadrian finding me.

I walked over to Tony’s desk and pulled out the bottle of scotch. I poured myself a drink and downed it in one go. I looked over at the wall and saw the countdown tick away.

Twenty Eight Hours, eleven minutes and twenty eight seconds.

As it stands now I’m no closer to finding Nat than I was twenty hours ago. Except now I know that SHIELD is actually Hydra and the Winter soldier is my not so dead seventh soulmate who as it stands is also a hostage except he can’t fight back and will probably kill anyone who tries to save Nat and maybe even him.

“Jarvis bring up the mission files.” I said. “Wait… the entire thing was a set up… give me the list of every agent that went on the mission.”

The list of Agents with each of their ID photos came up. I started looking through each one of them individually. They all fit the same profile. Directly recuited from the armed forces or Shield’s academy. The best of the best. Nothing out of the ordinary.

It wasn’t until one of the names sounded familiar.

Brock Rumlow

I clicked on it and his photo came up.

“That fucking asshole.” I said. I had been so focused on Hadrian and the Winter Soldier I missed the biggest clue that was right in front of me. He had access to all the mission files, worked closely with Hadrian, he knew exactly where Nat would be headed. He was a Strike leader meaning he had higher access he’d easily be able to plant evidence and cover his tracks. “Uh I’m an idiot.”

“Jarvis call…” I started before I thought of something. Project Insight. Its targets would be anyone that could stand against Hydra. Three massive ships that needed to be taken down. That was bigger than any feud between Hadrian and me.

I needed to get to Nat, but I had to play it smart.

“Jarvis I have an idea but first I need to override all those safety precautions Tony put in weeks ago that he thinks I don’t know about but I do.” I said.

“I’m afraid I cannot allow you to do that.” Jarvis said.

“Too late.” I said pressing send on my phone overriding everything. “Step one done, Step two we need to frame someone for embezzlement. And we have to do it fast.”

About two hours later I stared at the work I had done on the computer before saving it to my phone.

“Jarvis shut everything down, I’m done here.” I said.

“Miss Adams I believe I should advise you against your current course of action.” Jarvis said.

“Buddy If you were an actual person I’d hug you and thank you for worrying about me but this is how it has to happen.” I said taking a deep breath holding back tears. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to shower and go get my girlfriend back.”

I picked up everything I needed.

I headed up stairs and took a quick shower before putting on some black jeans and a knit white sweater top. I pulled on some knee high suede black boots.

Just as I was about to put on my beige wool wrap coat my phone started ringing. I took one quick look at the caller ID and debated answering before picking up.

“Hey.” I said.

“Hey so we just got out of a pretty interesting talk with Pierce.” Tony said.

“Interesting how.” I said looking through my purse and taking out any credit cards or anything that could be used to track me.

“Apparently he met Adler back in 02. He was in Afghanistan meeting with some foreign dignitaries, coordinating relief efforts and what not. Adler’s squadron was in charge of his security on the ground. Anyway on route to one of his meetings rebels attacked their caravan. They were pinned down and surrounded. Adler took a bullet for him and got him out safely. He actually got him a bronze star for it.” Clint said.

“Huh, I’ve seen him kill people never save anyone.” I said putting on my coat.

“Either way he did mention someone else on the squadron that also got recruited to work for Shield. They’re on a mission but they should be back in less than an hour. We’ll talk to them and depending on how it goes we’re going to head back.” Steve said.

“Sounds good.” I said slipping on my coat.

“Did you find anything?” Tony asked.

“Uh still looking. Found some old mission files but nothing that can help us find him now.” I said picking up my necklace.

Fourteen Years Earlier-

“Penelope,” Allison called out before sighing. “Penelope! Uh, that girl.” She said frustrated as she walked up the stair towards her daughter’s room.

“Penelope.” She said storming into her daughter’s room. “What are you doing in there? I’ve been calling for you.”

“Sorry.” Calliope whispered.

“What are you doing inside our closet?” Allison said.

“It’s safe in here.” Calliope said.

“I thought you were afraid of the dark?” Allison said.

“There are scarier things.” Callie mumbled.

“You want to tell me what’s wrong?” Allison asked.

“Nothing.” Callie said.

“Then why are you hiding in your closet?” She retorted but her daughter didn’t say anything. “Calliope I have a very important meeting.”

“I don’t want you to go.” Callie said.  

“We’ve been through this I have to work.” Allison said.

“That man hurt you.” Callie said.

“It was a misunderstanding.” Allison said.

“But what if he does it again and this time he doesn’t stop and you never come back?” Callie said tearing up.

“Calliope.” Allison said and her daughter looked away. She sighed before walking in the closet and sitting down next to her daughter. “I need you to understand that what I do I do for the good of this family. You, your brother and I each have jobs to do and that’s why I leave.”

“But what if you don’t come back?” Callie said.

“That’s never going to happen.” Allison said.

“How do you know that?” Callie asked.

Allison stayed quiet before reaching behind her and taking off her necklace. “Do you know what this is?” She asked.

“Your necklace.” Callie said.

“Yeah. Your father gave it to me the day night we met. He made it himself, and he said the stones are from his home and that they would help him find his way back to me. I never take it off. Keep it and I’ll always find my way back to you.” Allison said.

“Pinky Promise?” Callie said.

“I promise.” Allison said linking her pinky with her daughters.

End Flashback

“Hayley? Are you still there love?” Thor asked.

“Yeah, just lack of sleep catching up to me. Nothing a double extra shot espresso macchiato can’t fix.” I said.

“You should get some sleep, it’s been days since you’ve taken a break.” Bruce said.

“Yeah, the computer screen is giving me a headache.” I said. “I guess I can take a power nap, have Jarvis wake me up in half an hour.”  

“Or you know just go for the full hour.” Tony said.

“Don’t push it.” I said looking at the photo of all of us on my nightstand. “Love you guys.” I said before hanging up. I took one last look at my necklace before putting it on the picture frame. I got my phone and put in the signal scrambler before putting a jamming microchip on my bracelet. I got my purse and headed to the elevator.

“Miss Adams I should warn you…” Jarvis started.

“Mute.” I said before looking up at the security camera. I lifted my arm and tapped on the bracelet before shutting it off. The doors to the garage opened and I walked out. I kept my head down and got lost in the crowd. I headed to the subway and took the train to my first stop.

I forgot how long it had been since I had been here, but as I stood in front of the apartment building I started to have second thoughts about being here. Will made it pretty clear he never wanted to see me again and I knew he was better off without me around. It wasn’t like this was my only cash store in the city. I kept another one at the train station for the same reasons but I guess I needed… closure.

I took a deep breath before walking up the stairs of the building. Nate was probably still upstate with his family since school wasn’t starting up for another two weeks. Last time I talked to Tess she said she was going to talk Will into staying down in Jersey with her and Liam for a while. I hoped she did, he shouldn’t be alone right now.

I stood at the door debating whether I should knock or not. Since I was hoping Will was in Jersey I took my keys out and let myself in. the apartment was a mess. There were beer bottles and takeout containers everywhere. I frowned at the sight of the trashed apartment. I wish I had more time to clean up and make Will some grilled cheese or whatever comfort food he was in the mood for but that probably wasn’t a good idea.

I pushed back the coffee table and pulled back the rug. I knocked on the floorboards until I found the loose one and lifted it up. The emergency stash was slightly bigger than what I was expecting. Josh had probably added to it before he…

“What are you doing here?” Will said. I looked up and saw him standing there dressed in sweats and a dirty T-shirt. He had a few days worth of stubble and the bags under his eyes made it obvious he hadn’t been sleeping well either.

“Just needed to grab something. I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.” I said picking up a new ID and a stack of money.

“You put that there?” Will asked looking down at the stash.

“Some not all of it.” I said. “Most of it is… was Josh’s.”

“Are you done?” Will said.

“Yeah, sorry.” I said putting it in my purse before putting the floorboard back and fixing everything to how it was. I stood up and grabbed my things before walking towards the door. I heard him sit on the couch as I reached for the doorknob. I grabbed my keys and took the apartment keys off the ring before walking towards the couch

“I know you hate me right now and that you said you never wanted to see me again but I need you to listen to what I’m about to say and I promise I’ll leave and you’ll never see me again.” I said and Will looked at me with a blank face.

“I’ve lived a pretty shitty life and for a long time my only focus was on making it to tomorrow. I closed myself off to the world and basically just survived. That all changed the day I met you, you changed everything for me Will. You made me live again. I thrived because of you and you stood by me and loved me unconditionally and I’m sorry that because of that you lost everything, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to make it up to you, nothing can. I’m sorry Josh paid the price because I was too afraid to stand up to Hadrian but I’m going to make things right. I love you Will.” I said putting the key on the coffee table in front of him. “Goodbye brother.”

I turned around and walked out of the apartment without looking back. Once I was outside I took my phone out and dialed the number I had gotten off of Hadrian’s phone.

He answered at the first ring.

“Rumlow.” He answered.

“You’re going to do exactly as I tell you.” I said.

“And why would I do that sweetheart?” Rumlow retorted.

“Because if you don’t I’ll out you as the mole.” I said and he stayed quiet. “Don’t bother tracking the call. I made sure even I wouldn’t be able to track it.”

“What do you want?” Rumlow said.

“You’re going to meet me at Liberty Diner in East Philly at five am tomorrow and you’re coming alone.” I said.

“Why would I do that? I could just send the winter soldier after you or better yet tell your brother where you are.” He said.

“Because I’m sure you don’t want to be Hadrian’s lackie forever. Wouldn’t you rather be the one that reports directly to Pierce?” I said as I waved down a taxi.

“How did you…” he started.

“I know a lot of things and unless you want me to tell The Avengers I suggest you start booking your flight and make sure no one follows you. If I see anyone with you or anyone follows you all the intel goes to every media outlet there is. I’ll be watching you.” I said before hanging up.

Just as I finally got a cab to pull over for me my phone started ringing again except this time it was Clint. I immediately ignored the call and got in the cab.

“Where to?” the cabbie asked.

“Grand Central Station.” I answered.

“Alright.” He said driving away.

I felt my phone buzz and I lifted it up to see what it was.

Hayley where are you?- Tony

Hales pick up please- Clint

I locked my phone and put it away. If I talked to them I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go through with this and that couldn’t happen. There was too much at stake.