𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒕 || s. rogers & b. barnes

5||; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔

⤷ october 1, 2014
━━━━━━━━━━━

"Loki's scepter will not be as hard to take now as it was in Loki's hands," Steve says to the room the group resides in. "With HYDRA, they're only human. We just need to find out where it is."

The newly-reunited Avengers sit around a long table in the main conference room of the Tower, a holographic screen up front where Steve stands, placing red markers on a digital map of the globe.

"With intel from Irina, we know where a majority of the bases are, as well as the smaller ones leaked in HYDRA files when S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed. One-by-one, we'll raid each and every base, rally up every HYDRA agent inside and send them packing to prison. We'll work from the west to the east," he drags his hand across the map.

"It will take time, and effort, but we can do it. We'll slowly pick off the ants one-by-one, and eventually find wherever Loki's scepter has been taken, and once we do, our business with both will be done for a long while."

"Each base will put up a fight," adds Irina, turning in her chair to glance across at her friends and coworkers, "and there's no doubt you'll get hurt a bit along the way, but with me, we can squeeze these assholes for everything they've got and more until they can tell us were to find the scepter."

Tony grimaces. "You sure you wanna have a major part in this, Nina?" He speaks up. "I mean, these are the same assholes that..."

"I won't be on the front lines, if that's what you're implying," says Irina, shoulders straightening a bit. "I'm sorry, but I just...I can't fight anymore. The best I can be to you all from here on is an adviser, and the occasional drinking buddy. I know it's probably not...ideal -"

Natasha swivels in her chair to look at her, a stern look set in her brow. "We don't care what's ideal or not ideal. It's your choice, Irina," she says. "You don't want to fight anymore, and with your past, that's completely valid. You're pushing yourself even giving us intel on HYDRA, because we know you're bringing up bad memories," the agent fixes her with an assuring look. "Don't worry about it."

"God, it still freaks me out how protective she seems over you," shudders Tony, uncrossing his arms from over his chest and standing up. "Gotta tell me your secret, Nina," he says.

Irina's lips twitch upwards in amusement. "A magician never reveals her secrets," she hums, sending Natasha a wink from down the table. The redhead smirks, leaning back in her chair and winking discreetly back.

Steve smiles to himself at the interaction, fondness in his eyes at the relationships building between teammates before him, before he clears his throat and stands up straight. "Turns out the Triskelion was the only active American HYDRA base left. The rest are scattered across Europe, and most likely inhabited by the runaways from the Triskelion and the rest of HYDRA. We'll start in Portugal, that's where the first European base starts, and work all the way until we find Strucker." He looks across at his team, making eye contact with every one of them. "Understood?"

Collective nods go around the table, Sam speaking up with an, "Understood."

Steve grins. "Great. Well, let's head out."

𓆩*𓆪

And the work began.

The Avengers traversed through Europe, raiding HYDRA base after HYDRA base. Afterwards, they always came back to the Tower to rest and take a break - break down any new data they'd gotten from the base.

Irina spent most of her days lingering in the Tower, on the comms whenever the team had gone out. Banner stayed with her, a "Code Green", as they called it, never too necessary until they'd gotten to the major bases.