Love and War

Part VII- Security Breach

Nat POV:
After the day with Sage I figured I could just go back to the hotel and relax. When I entered my hotel room and settled in Fury called me.

I answer the call and say, "Hello."

"Agent Romanoff. We got information on them. Turns out you were right, they're from our past. Hydra to be more specific. I'm sending you pictures of who your targets are."

With that I get text messages of two pictures, in one it's a middle aged man and the other makes my stomach turn.

He goes on to say, "Ezekiel and Sage Kano. Daughter and Father duo, Ezekiel seems to be the leader and Sage is next in line. If we take them down then the base basically falls once and for all. You have the go to kill on sight if need be but if you have the chance to, we rather you bring them in for questioning and let us deal with them. There seems to be more to their past with Hydra, specifically Sage's past. We have reason to believe she would have been the next Winter Soldier."

"And by deal with them sir, what exactly do you mean?"

"If need be, we may need to terminate or send them to jail and maybe even the raft. Depending on how dangerous they, specifically Sage, really is."

"I understand."

Oh god this can't be happening. 'Kill on sight.' I can't, no I won't. Sage is smart she'll come to her senses and understand who she needs to be with. She'll talk her family into trusting us everything will be fine. Right?

Sage POV:
I go over everything on the USB and I'm just even more confused. The Avengers did save us from the aliens in New York and with the other outcomes in Sokovia that could've occurred, they chose the one that served the people in their best option. But still all the destruction from everything was something I couldn't brush off, although Nat was right. Hydra isn't any better, they have made their fair share of destruction and hurt to others. It seems like both sides have blood in them, but the Avengers seemed more loyal to the people. Which was surprising. The sound of my phone ringing brought me out of my thoughts. Without seeing who it was I picked up the phone and answered.

"Hello?"

"Sage, it's Nat. I was just wondering if you went over the USB."

"Oh. Um yeah I actually just finished going over it. I'm not going to lie Nat, the Avengers seem more solid but I still can't betray the people who helped us."

"Please Sage, you don't understand what's at sake anymore. It's becoming bigger than just this mission. Fury, the director, already knows about you guys being Hydra. It's only a matter of time before they find out where you all are and take you all away and lock you in prison or worse."

"I'm sorry Natasha." With that I hang up my phone and throw it on my bed. She's right, we're running out of time. At the end of the day, this is who I am. This is what I've been taught. I still have a job to do. I make my way to my dad's office and knock on the door. "Come in," he says. "We have to get a move on phase 2 of the plan. We're running out of time, I got the substance so I'm leading. The team will consist of you, Etana, mom, 5 of our best soldiers, and me. Ryker, and Mal stay here with Etana's parents and out of it. If anything goes south they shouldn't have to deal with it, understand?"

He stands up from his desk and smiles saying, "It's about time you take leadership! It looks good on you, we leave tomorrow to New York then."

"Get everything ready. I'll make sure the jet has enough fuel. It's good to finally lead pops."

I make my way towards the jet to get it ready for tomorrow when the security alarms start blaring. I hear the guards yell, "There's been a breach!" I run back towards the base to see what's going on, grabbing a gun from one of the guards who were still outside. As I made my way inside gun raised, I saw the guards passed out on the floor. My mind immediately went to Ryker, so I rushed up to his room and saw him unharmed under his bed. "Ryker, buddy, come with me. It's okay." He rushed to my side and I held him behind me while I inspected the other areas of the base. He grabbed one of the guns off of one of the passed out guards and covered my back. Ryker may have been young and not as involved with missions, but he was still highly trained like me. We all were. We made our way towards the lab to check on the substance and ran into my father, mom, Mal and Etana who had their weapons raised as well. "Someone broke into the base. We think they're here for the substance" my father says. "Okay, Ryker and I are going to go into the lab. You guys go check around the rest of the base. No one in, no one out until we're sure everything is under control. Stay close and quiet, there's no telling how many there may be." We all nod in agreement and Ryker and I make our way closer to the lab. We were both in shock when we saw who it was.

The one and only, Black Widow.

Nat POV:
Too much was at sake, this revenge wasn't worth losing their lives. I needed to get through Sage and ensure her and her family are safe. I can save them, I will save them.

It all starts with that substance, I just need to get it and destroy it. I pick up my phone and call her. Throughout the phone call I try to talk some sense into her and hint how important her choosing the right side was but I couldn't get through to her. Little did she know that while I was talking to her, I tracked her location to the secluded area. Without wasting any time I got my tactile suit on and gathered my weapons. I made my way to the location and made my way into the base through a broken fence. Everything was going smooth as I was looking for a lab that must have the substance until I ran into an agent. I tried my best to keep the fight quiet and simple but before I knocked him out he hit a button to signal a security breach. I didn't have much time anymore and I started running through the facility looking for the lab, knocking out agent after agent. I finally found the lab and started rummaging through the area, I knew I had even less time before Sage and the others would come in ready to defend their ground. I finally found the substance and was about to destroy it the way Fury had mentioned.

'You can't burn it or do anything that would cause it to be turned into a gas. The best way to destroy it is quite simple, the vial itself is protecting it. Once out of the vial you'll have only about 10 seconds to turn it into a gas after those 10 seconds the liquid is ultimately useless and dissolves on its own. Just simply throw it on the ground and that's it.'

"Drop your weapon and give me the substance. Now!" I would recognize her voice anywhere.

I turn around to face her and saw Ryker right by her side, both pointing their guns at me. I secure the substance in my pocket and point my gun at Sage. "Now, now Sage. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. How about we do this the easy way and no one gets hurt."

She hardened her stare while Ryker looked at her with confusion all over his face. She prolly had told him I was just someone she had met, he had no idea who I really was. "Hand it over and you can go. Free of harm," she said. I could tell she was silently hoping I would obey but deep down knew I wouldn't. Maybe this is how our forbidden romance ends. I still have a job to do. In one swift motion I shoot at their feet causing them to get cover giving me enough time to throw the vial on the ground finally destroying the one thing they needed for their plan. And just as quickly as I was in, I was out of there. I completed my mission, even if it meant losing the one person I could have truly loved.