Thanks to supesfan18, ElizabethCullen08 and sailorraven34 for your reviews on the last chapter!
Kristov grinned, looking down on Anna arrogantly. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, wiping the cut on her forehead. "Long time no see."
"Not long enough." Anna slowly leaned back against the door. She jumped at a loud bang as the Hulk slammed his fists against the wall.
"Ah, I see you got our present." Kristov smiled. Anna's eyes widened. She glared.
"You could have killed me." She said lowly.
"There were two possible results. 1. You die in unimaginable pain. 2. You escape. Let's just say I had faith in you."
"Oh Kristov, you make me blush." Anna said dryly. Her eyes darted to the crowds of people behind metal barricades. Red Room soldiers held guns to their heads, shouting whenever they moved.
"We've got civilians blocking every entrance towards the tower." Kristov pulled Anna to her feet slowly. Anna picked up her father's shield as she limped beside Kristov. She expected him to take it but he ignored the disk as they walked. "I get one sign of SHEILD or Avengers interference and I order my soldiers to shoot every man, woman and child."
"You're holding downtown hostage." Anna looked around in shock.
"Just a piece of it." Kristov shrugged. The snow crunched beneath their feet as they stopped in the center of the empty road. Anna watched the civilians stare at her with a mixture of fear and confusion. A man secretly pulled out his phone and began filming.
"Is that Captain America?" A little girl turned to her father, tugging on his winter coat. "I thought Captain America was a boy but-"
"Hush Elena." The father whispered urgently.
"I said keep quiet!" A Red Room soldier shouted, causing the section of the crowd to duck down in panic.
"I assuming… you want me to come with you." Anna turned back towards Kristov. He nodded.
"That is the plan yes."
"You have a lot of faith in that plan?" Anna raised an eyebrow. The harsh winter air burned her cheeks. Anna hoped Kristov didn't think her shiver was because of him.
"I have a lot of faith in your conscience. That… and your sense of guilt." Kristov turned towards one of the soldiers. He nodded and before Anna had time to react, the soldier opened fire.
"No!" Anna rushed forward as the crowd tried to flee, many falling to ground. She launched herself at the soldier, knocking her to the ground. They wrestled for the gun for a few moments until Anna got the upper hand, tossing the gun away and slamming the side of the shield into the soldier's forehead.
Anna turned towards the hostages beside her. Many lie dead, red blood staining the snow beneath them. The little girl, Elena shook her father's body in panic.
"Daddy!" She shouted, blonde hair stained with blood. "Daddy come on you gotta get up!"
Anna turned slowly, glaring at Kristov in disgust. "They were innocent."
"So were you. So was I. People don't stay innocent, Anna." Kristov said nonchalantly. He motioned towards Elena. "Do you think that little girl is going to be innocent anymore after this?"
"What kind of lesson are you trying to teach here?" Anna stood up, trying to ignore Elena's wails for her father.
"No lesson. Just a demonstration of what happens if you don't listen. People. Get. Hurt. Now come on, Anna. Or do you want more children to lose their parents?" Kristov asked with a frown. Anna looked down at her boots as blood from the crowd flowed around them. She sighed looking up quickly.
"Neither." She threw the shield with all her strength, launching it through the air and into Kristov's chest. He fell back to the ground and the shield flew to the side, landing under a parked truck. The soldiers turned quickly, aiming their guns at Anna rather than the crowd. "You know you can't shoot me." She grabbed the pistol strapped to her leg. She held it to her skull defiantly. "But if you kill any more civilians I will."
"Wait." Kristov spoke up, coughing. He stood, holding arm out to tell his men to lower their guns. "Anastasia. I see you understand your value and know that we can't afford to let you die. We shoot the civilians, you shoot yourself and no one gets what they want."
"That's about it yes." Anna glared.
"I was really hoping you'd be more cooperative." Kristov frowned. He turned to his men and ordered. "Keep your guns on the civilians. I'll take her myself."
"We'll see about that." Anna aimed the gun as Kristov charged at her. She fired with precision but rolled under the bullet, grabbing Anna around the middle as he did so. She landed on her back with a hard thud as Kristov grabbed the gun, ripping it from her hands. He pinned her down under himself, wrapping a hand around her throat. She rammed her forehead into his and he cried out in pain. She rolled them over, slashing her nails across his face.
Kristov shoved Anna away and she jumped to her feet, fists raised. He stood, his finger tips to the four distinct scratches along his cheek. "I'm disappointed, Anna." He removed his hand, it was covered in blood. "Your fighting seems rather amateur."
"I'm not the one bleeding." Anna faintly smiled.
"But I know you can do better. I taught you to do better."
"Do you constantly test everyone like this or am I just lucky?" Anna's fists raised higher as Kristov took a step towards her.
"I heard about what you did to Captain Rogers. Now that wasn't amateur." Kristov shook his head. Anna's eyes widened.
"How do you know about that?" She frowned. Kristov slowly raised a finger to his lip.
"Shhh…" Kristov smirked. He shrugged off his long overcoat, revealing a black Red Room uniform underneath it. "Now… what were we doing again?"
Kristov ran at her. She ducked his fist, ramming her shoulder into his torso. He stumbled back. Anna turned, swinging her leg up towards his head. He blocked with his forearms, forcing her leg back to the ground.
His elbow collided with her mouth and she fell to the ground, blood dripping from her lip. She rolled to the side as he stomped his foot down where her chest had been. Anna kicked the back of his knee and pulled his arm, bringing Kristov to the ground beside her. She hurried to her feet as Kristov struggled to stand. She landed a swift kick to his ribs and he growled angrily.
"Who's 'amateur' now?" She taunted.
"Definitely not me." Kristov stood, swinging his fists towards her face as fast as possible. She jumped back, dodging each attack as they moved across the snow. His knee shot up, catching her off guard and slamming into her gut. She coughed, unable to catch her breath. Kristov grabbed a handful of her hair, throwing her to the ground beside him. She got up quickly, still coughing.
She ducked his punch, using his knee to climb up and swing over him, wrapping her legs around Kristov's neck. She hung upside down as he tried to pull her off. He grabbed a hold her her ankles and pulled as hard as he could. She shot her elbow back, hitting him in the groin. She rolled away as he fell to the ground in pain.
A soldier yelled at one of the civilians. He raise his gun, ready to shoot. Anna ran towards the man, bracing his shoulder with one arm and pulling it with the other. He screamed as a loud crack echoed, dropping his gun. She twisted his broken arm again and he fainted to the ground.
"Simon!" The soldier beside them shouted. She ran towards Anna, exchanging her gun for the knife strapped to her leg.
Anna pulled the knife she took from the armory off her belt, raising it as the soldier swiped her own blade at her. Anna ducked, sweeping her leg under the soldier's. She jumped, dodging as Anna stood up. The soldier swing the knife and Anna caught her arm, forcing it back down.
Anna jabbed her knife towards the soldier. She shouted in pain at the soldier grabbed her wrist firmly, pushing it upward and shoving Anna to the ground. She grabbed Anna's shirt, pushing her back into the large truck behind them. Anna glanced down as the soldier approached, spotting a red and blue disk poking out from beneath the truck.
She grinned, dodging the soldier's attack and grabbing the shield. She slid it onto her arm quickly, standing and slamming the rim into the soldier's head. She fell to the ground, bleeding from the head.
Anna barely caught a glimpse of black out of the corner of her eye as a huge weight tackled her to the ground. She opened her eyes to see Kristov pinning her down underneath the shield. She pushed against him as he punched her in the face. Her head turned to the side as a trail blood streamed out of her nose and speckled on the snow. She leaned her head forward, biting down on his wrist.
She pushed his body off of hers and they both stood up quickly. He reached forward, grabbing the shield strapped to Anna's arm and pushing it, throwing Anna backwards a few feet. He launched himself at her and she rolled forward to dodge his attack. She stood up, swinging the shield behind her to hit him. He ducked, grabbing the shield and ripping it off of her arm.
He held her wrist firmly, trying to pull her to the ground but she countered, slamming her free hand into his wrist. He released her and she stumbled backwards. She spun quickly, landing a hard kick to his jaw. He fell to the ground, grabbing her leg and pulling her down with him.
They both looked up quickly when a guitar solo boomed from above. A huge smiled grew on Anna's face when she recognized 'Thunderstruck' echoing in the streets.
"Been working on a new stealth system for my suit." Tony's voice boomed from above as his suit materialized above them. "Boy am I glad it works."
Anna looked around to see quinjets materializing around the city. SHEILD agents dropped down from them, guns ready for the soldiers below.
"Oh did I mention the quinjets have them too?" Tony aimed his suit's weapons at the remaining soldiers who looked at Kristov for instructions. Tony paused, staring at the clump of bodies. The soldiers raised their guns at the crowds who screamed in fear. "Don't even think about it." Tony threatened, aiming a missile at one of the soldiers.
A soldier aimed towards blood coated section of the crowd and Anna's eyes widened at the sounds of a little girl screaming. "Stop!" She pushed herself to her feet, accidentally dropping the shield as she ran towards a cowering Elena. She wrapped her arms around her, covering the girl's body with her own. She heard the gun fire several times and tensed, squeezing her eyes shut.
She opened one eye when the bullets stopped, shocked hadn't been hit. "You okay?" A concerned voice asked beside her. Anna looked up quickly to see Steve holding up his shield, protecting her and Elena.
"Not really no." Anna's voice shook in disbelief. Steve turned, throwing his shield at the soldier, knocking him to the ground. Anna picked a terrified Elena up as Steve caught his shield. "You've got great timing."
"Speaking of timing." Steve looked up as a quinjet flew into view beside the one Steve had dropped from. The hatch opened and Natasha and Bucky jumped down from inside. Steve and Anna rushed towards them as Tony flew over. They aimed their weapons at the soldiers. Anna stood behind them, holding Elena tightly.
"You guys couldn't've made your grand entrance I don't know… twelve hours ago?" Anna shouted as Kristov stood up angrily.
"Kill them all. Leave Anna." He glared. The soldiers stood in place. "I said kill them."
"Sir… they're the Avengers." One of the soldiers said quietly. The other soldiers murmured in reluctant agreement.
"I don't care who they are. Kill them!" Kristov screamed. Anna turned to Tony, handing Elena to him.
"Get her somewhere safe." She said quickly.
"Got it." Tony flew into the air as the soldiers shot up at him. Natasha threw an electric disk at the nearest soldier, knocking him out. Steve and Bucky ran at a small group of terrified looking soldiers. Natasha grabbed Anna's hand, pulling her behind a car.
"Stay here." She ordered.
"Mom-"
"Stay. Here." Natasha ran off, firing her pistols.
"Screw that." Anna slid over the car's hood, running towards the soldiers Bucky and Steve were fighting. One of them had Steve in a headlock he was struggling to free himself from. She grabbed the knife off the soldier's belt, slicing his arm just enough to make him release Steve. Steve swung around, punching the soldier in the face. His eyebrows raised at Anna, glancing at the knife held firmly in her hand. "You're not going to take it from me are you?"
"Wouldn't dream of it." Steve shook his head. A soldier rammed into Anna's side, knocking her to the ground. She rolled, wrapping her thighs around the soldier's neck. She squeezed until Steve grabbed the front of the soldier's uniform, lifting him into the air and throwing him. The soldier fell to the ground, blacking out.
Anna turned to see a female soldier with the knife running towards her. She turned and ran as fast as she could towards Avengers tower. She ran up the wall and backflipped off of it, landing perfectly behind the soldier. She grabbed the soldier's hair and slammed her head into the wall. Anna heard the crunch of running footsteps in the snow behind her. She jumped, spinning around and kicking a soldier in the temple, knocking him out.
"Okay... You're kind of a badass." Tony landed beside Anna, lifting his face plate. He smiled in astonishment.
"Thanks?" Anna grinned.
"Duck!" Tony's eyes widened as a soldier ran towards them, large knife raised. Anna crouched down as Tony shot the soldier.
"Thanks again." Anna stood up.
"Anytime." Tony nodded, flying away. Anna watched the Avengers take down one soldier after another. Her heart pounded in her chest when she realized she couldn't see Kristov. Anna's eyes widened as someone grabbed her around the middle and dragged backwards.
"Get off me!" Anna kicked the wall, forcing both herself and Kristov onto their backs. She rolled as they landed, standing up. Kristov jumped to his feet, fists raised. Anna elbowed his nose before swiftly punching it. He cried out in pain, holding his bloody nose. He bend down, grabbing Anna's torso and lifting her into the air. He ran forward, ramming Anna's back into the wall and holding her up against it.
Anna coughed raggedly as Kristov grabbed a knife off his belt. "I can't kill you." His eyes were wide and crazed. "But they didn't say I couldn't hurt you."
Anna thrashed wildly, shouting as the tip of the knife caught her cheekbone. A dark red slash appeared across it She glared, baring her teeth as several dark streams of blood slowly flowed down her face. Anna wrapped her legs around his middle, squeezing so hard he couldn't breath. His grip on her released enough for her to push off the wall, launching them both back on the ground. She reached trying to grabbed her knife lying just out of reach.
"I don't think so." Kristov slammed his fist into her bleeding cheek, causing her to cry out in pain.
Anna and Kristov stood quickly. Anna cried out as Kristov grabbed her shoulder, digging his nails into her skin.
She jumped, swinging her legs so that one wrapped around his arm, the other pressed against his chest. She straightened her leg and leaded back, pulling the arm on her shoulder as hard as she could until Kristov screamed in pain. She let go, rolling backwards as Kristov fell to the ground, clutching his dislocated shoulder.
She stood slowly, raising her fists. "Don't even think about moving."
"Alright, Anna…" Kristov coughed. "You're not an amateur. …But I'm not either."
Anna fell to the ground, hands covering her ears in pain as a loud high pitched ringing boomed from a small device in Kristov's hand. She squinted an eye open to see the Avengers and civilians around them all on the ground, covering their ears as well. Tony crashed to the ground, his suit clearly malfunctioning
She turned back to Kristov. He was no where in sight. She gasped when a strong hand grabbed the front of her sweater, lift her onto her feet.
"Stark's not the only one with a stealth system." Kristov's voice growled. Anna could feet his breath against her face before he threw her to the ground, dropping the sound device beside her. She scrambled for it, finding the switch to shut it off. She relaxed as the sound stopped, laying her head in the snow.
"Anna!" Natasha's voice barely registered over the constant ringing in Anna's ears. Natasha helped Anna sit up slowly. Steve rushed over and knelt down quickly.
"Anna… Are you alright?" Steve held his daughter's bleeding face between his hands. She mumbled swears in response. He gently wiped the blood from her face.
"Where'd the son of a bitch go?" Natasha glared, looking around.
"Where did any of them go?" Bucky walked towards them, rubbing his ears. Anna squinted, searching for any sign of the Red Room soldiers. The only ones in sight were unconscious.
Teams of shield agents rushed towards the tower. Maria Hill ran up to the group, gun at the ready. "All of the soldiers disappeared. Our radars can't pick up them up thanks to whatever cloaking devices they've got."
"Fantastic." Anna spat blood as Steve and Natasha pulled her to her feet. Tony stepped out of his suit and took off his hoodie, handing it to Anna. "Thanks." She said, shivering.
"We've got teams out looking." Maria reassured.
"I'm going with them." Anna stepped forward, limping slightly.
"No. No. No you're not." Natasha grabbed Anna's arm, pulling her back quickly.
"But-" Anna protested, stopping when she was met with Natasha's glare.
"The council's gonna have something to say soon that's for sure." Maria put her gun away under her coat.
"Pretty sure everyone will." Anna frowned at the group of reporters gathered down the street. They were already snapping pictures as a field reporter and her camera man got set up. Anna's gaze traveled to the pile of bodies and she swallowed nervously. "They… had this dart. It made Bruce lose control-"
"We saw. They've been planning the attack for a while." Natasha sighed. "There's no way any of us could known it was happening."
"JARVIS." Tony spoke into his comm. "Can you connect me to the tower's intercom?"
"Yes sir."
"What're you doing?" Anna turned towards Tony curiously.
"Hey Buddy…" Tony said softly, looking up at the tower. Anna's stomach tightened. "You there?"
"You okay?" Bucky whispered, standing behind Anna. She hadn't noticed her hands shaking.
"Yeah." She crossed her arms tightly.
"Alright." Tony grinned. "Hey JARVIS, unlock the tower."
"He's okay now?" Anna asked, staring at the sliding walls.
"Well he's not green anymore. Whether or not he's okay is debatable." Tony shook his head.
The team stared at the rooms they could see through the windows. Smashed walls and furniture strewn about. The reporters whispered amongst each other as they snapped pictures.
"What do you think happened?" One of them asked.
"They couldn't control that Banner guy forever." His partner shrugged.
"Let's get inside." Steve frowned.
"Whoa…" Bucky looked around at the destroyed entrance room.
"Aw man…" Tony frowned as he stepped on a destroyed iron man suit. He kicked the helmet, watching it roll down the hall.
"Come on." Steve placed his hand on Anna's back, carefully walking over the smashed glass. "Let's get you fixed up."
"That might be a little hard considering I destroyed the med-bay." A voice said from across the room. They turned to see Bruce sitting on the ground, his back leaned against the wall. "And the armory, the lab, the gym and most of the residential floors. Can't forget about that couch in common room which is now lodged in the wall."
"Bruce…" Anna said quietly. She walked towards him and he looked up quickly, staring at her. He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. He stood up slowly, brushing pieces of wall off his shoulder.
He looked at the team before walking down the hall and disappearing into the elevator.
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