Chapter Text
Punching, kicking, tackling, headbutting.
Any and all anger that has been building up inside Valerie for the past few weeks is now finally allowed to be shown in her training session. As she continues the door slides open, revealing Brock Rumlow, a decent acquaintance made in this place over the past couple of years.
"Hey, Val!" He yells, causing her to stop and turn to face him, heaving in breaths and wiping her forehead. "Peirce wants to talk to us." He grins, raising his eyebrows before slipping back out. Valerie sighs and looks to her sparring partner, giving them a small nod before heading out. As she walks down the halls alongside Rumlow, she nods at those who nod at her earning a snigger from him.
"God, I may as well be walking with a damn celebrity."
"Oh, you is jealous?"
"You got me there. And it's you are, not you is."
"Meh, same thing, no?"
As they approach Alexander's office they pause, looking at each other before Valerie knocks on the door rapidly in a random manner. A sigh can be heard from in the room, before a yell. "Come in Valerie!" Is Pierce's voice, making Rumlow shake his head at their predictability. Both the agents walk in, offering smiles and nods to Alexander, who holds a yellow folder in his hands, smiling back.
"I appreciate you both for coming, it's a rather good one we've got for you today." He muses, tapping his fingers against the file before handing it to Valerie, who opens it immediately.
As her eyes skim over it, they light up, a soft smirk gracing her lips as she gives the file to Rumlow, "Killing the avengers? Gosh Alex, this is early birthday present." Valerie muses, earning a grin from both men.
"So, I take it you're both in?" Alexander asks, earning nods and smiles from the two of them, causing him to clap his hands together.
"Perfect, I knew I could count on you two."
"Thank you, sir." They both respond in unison, bowing their heads a bit further in respect.
"You're very welcome agents, now rest up, you leave early tomorrow."
***
As soon as five am rolls around, both agents are up and out of their quarters, meeting in the hallway and heading for the launchpad. Valerie has a paper cup of crappy coffee in hand, grimacing as she continues walking, hating being up so early. Rumlow just gives her a glance and laughs, shaking his head before patting her on the shoulder.
"I thought you'd be more chipper this morning, Val."
"I will be once this kicks in." They both chuckle, reaching the door to the launchpad, seeing Alexander standing right by it, ready to say goodbye, as he usually does. A hug is exchanged with Valerie, and a good pat on the shoulder with Rumlow, before they are given bags with supplies and sent to the jet waiting for them. Stepping on and settling down, Valerie spreads out on multiple seats, meaning Rumlow has to sit on the opposite side of the plane to her.
"There's this crazy concept I learned about, it's called decency, ever heard of it?" He jokes, laughing as he sits down.
Valerie rolls her eyes dramatically and shoots him a grin. "Hm...I will look up later."
Rumlow rolls his eyes at her bad English and her heavy accent, despite knowing how to speak fluently she always reverts back to her original settings when it's not necessary. Around an hour of random conversation passes before they are given the signal by the pilot that they are approaching, making them both sit up and get their things together.
"Reaching drop off in five." The pilot's voice bellows over the tannoy, making them snap back into the plan. As they land, Valerie slings her bag over her shoulder, while Rumlow abandons his on the jet. Both of them step out into the air, which is incredibly warm, nice with it only being may.
"Okay...Avengers compound here we come." Rumlow hums, starting off in a stride, causing Valerie to jog after him, catching up and walking in time with him. Eventually they find the car that was prepared for them, slipping into the seats and closing the doors. During the drive they go over the plan, ensuring the modified car would act accordingly so they weren't making themselves sitting ducks.
"Just don't do that stupid accent shit this time...it throws me off." Rumlow muses, keeping one hand on the wheel and resting his arm on the door.
"Why? I was taught multiple languages and accents for various reasons." Valerie replies, her legs resting on the dashboard, arm out the window.
"If you don't get your damn limbs back in this car and off the dash I swear down." Rumlow attempts to sound threatening, but it only makes Valerie laugh in his face sharply.
"You sound like a dad."
"Yeah, shut up."
The newest compound is out in the woods, which would usually make it much harder to find but luckily Hydra's operatives don't rest until they know it all. Just as they begin driving on the dirt road, they can see the compound peaking over the trees. Obnoxiously large and extravagant, matches Stark to a point. Bringing the car to a halt they both step out and slip on a little device behind their ears, adjusting it for comfort. Within seconds a few particles buffer before they seem to take on new identities. Valerie and Rumlow look at each other, raising their brows in mock surprise.
"Hm...I thought they'd made you look better." She hums with a smirk, one Rumlow could recognise even with a different face.
She walks to the hood of the car muttering a few words while closing her eyes and clenching her jaw, creating a ball of orange energy in her palm. With a flick of her wrist Vallerie ignites the engine, producing enough smoke to be their own signal.
"Okay...here goes nothing!" Valerie grins with a nod, clearing her throat as she begins to get into her head space for missions. Something her 'therapist' taught her, who was really just a commander that told her to stop feeling emotions.
Revolutionary.
Soon enough, their display had caused enough attention for none other than Steve Rogers to walk along the dirt road, waving. Rumlow and Valerie look between each other, nodding, before waving back and looking distressed.
As the captain gets close, he smiles politely...but Valerie had enough training to know he was suspicious. So did Rumlow, who glances at her knowingly.
"Hey folks, is something wrong with your car?" Rogers asks, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looks at the totalled engine.
"Yes, thank you so much sir, we don't want to be a bother." Valerie draws out in a sickly sweet southern accent, after being told it's one that weakens the brain's prejudices. She can speak perfect English now, ironic, Rumlow thinks. "My brother here was going far too fast, and we seemed to hit a rather large branch back there...then it started smokin' like hell." She sighs, looking angrily at Rumlow, who rolls his eyes.
"My driving was not the problem, don't lie Caroline." He slips the name in, almost making Valerie pause, but she goes along with it.
"Oh for fucks sake Matt, it's always your driving." She throws her hands up exasperatedly. With a purpose to her movements, Valerie approaches the man as she narrows her eyes and locks them onto his own. "I would like you to stay by the car and fix it." His pupils grow and dilate, closing his eyes tightly before opening again. The captain repeats her words with a firm nod before walking over to the engine.
That's by far one of her favourite things she's been taught...compulsion.
As soon as he moves, they immediately spring into action and head down the path to the entrance. Everything seemed to be locked by a little device, with a green and red light on, Valerie assumes there is a sensor somewhere. Striding over to the elevator Valerie forms a ball of orange energy in her hand, aiming it at the sensor...and with a slight flick of her wrist yet again, the light goes green. She turns around to grin at Rumlow, who applauds silently before grinning back, heading over so they could step into the elevator.
Pressing a random button, they both organise their weapons, Valerie clutching her typical dagger while Rumlow has his semi-automatic pistol gripped between both hands. Rumlow's jaw tenses slightly and Valerie smirks, whispering.
"What? You is scared?"
"Well, can you blame me? God knows what kind of security precautions they have in place." Valerie just shrugs, seemingly excited herself, which makes Rumlow scoff and roll his eyes; she knows his history with Steve Rogers isn't great.
"Are you seriously not scared of anything?"
"Yes...dying alone...is why you are here." They both chuckle slightly, but obviously she understands his fear. These people are known for never losing. But then again, so is she.
As the door opens with a ridiculous chime, they step out, weapons braced in front of them, assuming their positions as they begin clearing the room. Both of them nod at each other, before continuing. Rumlow was right about their security, because some metal blinds roll over the windows, leaving them with just the lights inside. They soon start flashing red, while a high-pitched alarm begins blaring.
"Well, I suppose you called it." Valerie smirks, nodding as they begin running through the halls.
"You better get at least slightly injured for this...I'm not going home without a few scratches on you." They both laugh before continuing, until finding something particularly nice.
Their lab. It's filled with whiteboards on every surface, complex equations on each, with hologram models on every table. Valerie is in awe, reading the whiteboards and following through their steps. She'd always liked this side to learning, which meant Peirce often got her books on physics and related subjects.
Even let her read some of Banner's work once, which was an extra special treat.
Rumlow just rolls his eyes, but before he can say anything three figures come barreling through the door. Valerie spins around immediately, seeing him move out of their path just in time. Natasha Romanoff. Steve Rogers. Bucky Barnes. Natasha has a gun aimed at Valerie, who holds her hands up in mock surrender.
"Who are you two?" Steve mutters, the compulsion from before gone, making Valerie grin. Slowly both of them reach behind their ears, taking off the devices.
Pixels quiver slightly, before the masking is dropped along with the chips. They watch as the three of them tense, Steve Rogers is practically burning holes into Rumlow.
"Motherfuckers..." Bucky mutters, making Valerie grin even wider.
"Bringing back any nice memories, comrade?" She muses, rolling the words across her tongue with the biting accent.
"The shadow, that's you, isn't it?" Natasha mutters, holding her gun much firmer, using it for enunciation as she speaks.
"Who knows?" She replies, grinning widely Valerie and Rumlow glance at each other, silently communicating on where they were going, before launching across the room.
She begins darting for the previous Red Room agent, swinging and stabbing the dagger in multiple directions, Romanoff just narrowly dodging them. She never likes only using her powers in fights like these...it ends far too quickly. Soon enough Valerie is bored and lunges at her, slamming her to the floor and sitting on top of her.
"Usually I buy girl dinner before this." She laughs, holding the dagger in two hands and raising it above her head.
Just before she can, a particularly large body slams into her from the side, knocking her off the agent and making her drop the dagger. Valerie groans slightly, arching on the floor before getting to her hands and knees. Natasha is now being pulled up by Bucky, which makes her roll her eyes.
"Jesus...two against one is no fair." Valerie pouts mockingly, before jumping back up, dagger in hand.
Both of them charge at once, fists raised, Valerie sends a kick to the Winter soldier and swipes the dagger down on the Russian spy, leaving a nice slice on her arm. Not too deep, but enough to be felt. Bucky slams into a table, groaning before coming back at her, attempting to land punches with his metal arm which glimmers under the lights.
Just as she begins getting in the rhythm of predicting punches, Valerie catches a glimpse of Steve and Rumlow. Or should be say Steve on top of Rumlow, similar to how she was a few moments previous, landing repeated blows to his face. Her heart falters for a second, fully zoned in on what she's witnessing.
Rumlow has multiple areas oozing blood, including an already swollen eye and a hung open mouth. Valerie barely has time to dodge a punch thrown by Bucky, before she's face to face with the cold floor as the aching spreads out across her jaw.
With rather shaky arms, Valerie holds out a hand and forms a rather large ball of orange energy. As if throwing a ball, she rolls her arm back before launching it at Steve Rogers. The captain flies back into one of the tables with force, groaning as he flips onto his stomach.
Crawling over to Rumlow, she flips him onto his back to try and assess his injuries.
She can barely fucking recognise him.
His skull is slightly dented on his cheeks from the repeated blows, as blood and bruises settle into the skin. There's no time to worry before there's a bang and she feels a ripping sensation in her side, a whole shit ton of pain shooting through her body, making her collapse onto her hands and knees.
She's been shot.
Valerie can tell by the place they shot her it wasn't to kill, just to destabilise. She somehow remains strong enough to keep on her hands and knees, looking over to Rumlow...who's chest has seemed to stop rising and falling.
"Rumlow...don't you dare fucking leave me!" Valerie screams, eyes flooding with tears, from both the pain and the realisation. He's gone. "For fucks sake Rumlow move! Do something!" She continues before feeling a pair of hands begin dragging her backwards, earning a groan of pain.
These funny cuffs are placed around her wrists...she recognises them all too well...the ones that prevent her from using her powers. "Rumlow!" She screams yet again, kicking and thrashing for as long as she can, before the pain gets too much. Sobs rip from Valerie's throat, eyes blurry and her side screaming along with her.
"Oh fuck this." The voice of the person carrying her mutters, before raising a fist, for a split second she can see it's the soldier...until everything goes black.