HARLOVSEN - An Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 7 - Silver Plate

"CAN ANYBODY EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED? AND I SWEAR THE EXPLANATION BETTER BE GOOD!" Director Fury yelled through the conference room, looking at the damaged Avengers.

After igniting the gas, the Harlovsen brothers had managed to flee. Bucky, Steve and Katta had been found on the ground in front of the cells, unconscious. Katta had been brought to the laboratories to tend to her wounds and a general examination.

Steve and Bucky sat in the conference room. Both still were a bit drowsy and had taken a few nasty hits. But nothing was worse than director Fury's rage as he sauntered through the room, shooting arrows from his eyes.

Tony stepped forward to answer. "Clint proposed that Katta could become the backup we need for the future. What he didn't know was that she is a former H.Y.D.R.A agent, trained like Barnes. Bruce examines her at the moment to find out whether she is also genetically changed."

Bucky cringed. It sounded even worse when Tony said it like this.

"Well, very well. Didn't anyone think even for a moment about the fact that we intentionally never assigned a Harlovsen with any tasks?" Fury peered through the room, throwing dark glares with his working eye.

"You know who she is?" Natascha asked, surprised.

Fury nodded. "I know now. We've been following the Harlovsen clan for years. It would have been much easier if Barton had told us that he had their addresses." He glanced at Clint, who sat in a corner, his jaw clenched.

Fury shook his head. "However, let's head to the laboratory. I'm keen to find out what Banner can tell us." He waved the Avengers off and left the room, them on his heels.

They found Bruce in a white, high-ceiled room stuffed with medical equipment. Katta laid on a table, unconscious and clothed in a white hospital gown.

"I don't know where to start," Bruce said, concerned. "From what we see first, her body is pretty like it should be for a human being, but her blood is different from much everything I've seen before. The sedative I've given her usually takes about eight hours to dismantle. But I think it will have left her system in at least under three hours. Her cells have an extraordinary high metabolism process."

"So she is like Barnes and Capsicle? With the serum?" Tony interrupted him, looking at the woman on the metal table.

"Serum, yes. But other than that, nowhere near. Steve and Bucky are challenging to harm but possess no abilities like that. Back to the examination. Several old bone fractures on her ribs and arms, old gunshot wounds and her knuckles show signs of long-time bruises. If you look at that, and that is where it gets strange." He lifted the laboratory shirt and revealed the long scars on her abdomen Bucky had seen before. "It seems like she has been sterilized."

Bucky swallowed, averting his eyes. Natasha mirrored him, lowering her gaze. He knew that she went through a similar procedure, not voluntary. When would this end? He felt his fingers clench into a fist. Bucky didn't know if having children was Katta's wish, but having her freedom of choice taken away was fucked. A chilling feeling went down his spine. Sometimes, he forgot that he neither was able to have children. 

Not that he wanted to. But what if one day, he did?

Meanwhile, Bruce had pulled out an ultrasonic device and held it to her wrist. Tony looked at the screen, baffled. "Is that a chip in her arm?"

Bucky looked up at the screen. Bruce nodded. "Exactly, I am not exactly sure what it does, but it runs with body warmth. I've sensed radiation around it, so I blocked it. To prevent her from using it as a communication device if that is its purpose."