We'll Fight Together (Romanogers / Steve X Natasha)

Changing Tides

"Changeling." Clea gawked at the man, her voice hanging in the highly-strung atmosphere.

"Mr. Sydney, let's talk about this. We don't want to fight you." Contorting his neck to look at Changeling, Steve winced.

Changeling shifted his round jaw. "In that case, tell me where Strucker is."

"The only place you'll find him is in a casket," Natasha replied blankly. "He died over a year ago."

Changeling shook his bald head and huffed, his finger stretching towards the trigger of his odd handgun. "Tsk tsk. This is why honesty is the best policy, agent. It's time you learn lying comes with consequences." He raised his arm quickly, firing the gun at her. At the exact time, Steve raised his shield and deflected the bullet.

Instincts kicking in, Sam launched into the air and dove towards Changeling. Having learned from his previous mistake, however, Changeling barrel-rolled out of the way and fired two shots at Sam. Finding that both bullets were targeted at his face, Sam spiraled out of the way, lost control after narrowly avoiding a ceiling beam, and spiraled back down and into the rubble. Clea pulled Changeling off the ledge and sent him plummeting to the lower level so all of them would have a clear shot of the maniac. He landed on his hands and feet, immediately opening fire on the teen. She saw it coming and caught the bullet just as Steve threw his shield. Before it made a collision, however, a pillar of flames erupted from the gun's top barrel. Scrambling out of the way, Changeling drowned the passing projectile in a curtain of flames. The shield bounced off the wall and boomeranged back to Steve. Having been constructed out of titanium, a metal with poor heat conductivity, he caught the disk without a second thought. Despite every bit of logic, howbeit, the shield was hotter than an arsenic bonfire. He dropped the shield and it clattered to the floor as he cradled his now-calloused hand. Natasha would've been helping if it wasn't for that very flame; every bullet she fired was engulfed in flames and immediately turned to ash. Luckily for them, Changeling didn't do much damage.

"S-stop!" Just as Changeling charged towards Steve and Natasha, Clea reached forward with her hand and froze the man in his tracks. Then, twisting her wrist, his body bent into a pretzel-like shape. Letting loose a high-pitched grunt, he squinted his black, beady eyes at Clea. "If you move another inch, you'll break something," she threatened acutely. "Now listen to us. Strucker died when Ultron murdered him. And even if that was a coverup, we still wouldn't know where he is." As Changeling's face distorted with pain, the teen loosened her grip slightly. "You're able to imitate the living, right? Well, go ahead! Try imitating Strucker!" Clea let go of his free arm and watched the man's following actions with bated breath.

Realizing that the heroes weren't bluffing, Changeling hesitatingly ran his fingers along the back of his neck where the implant was. Nothing happened. "No... no, this can't be!" Clea let go and Changeling dropped to his knees, falling forwards and feeling the concrete beneath his palms. "I've spent years looking for that murderer." He spat the words in a cold, frigid tone. "H-he can't be dead!"

"Why do you need Strucker?" Steve eyed the collapsed man, who was now a mere shell of who was standing before them minutes prior.

"He destroyed my life," Changeling replied solemnly, now slapping the concrete with his oversized fist.

"Destroyed... how?" Natasha inquired.

Changeling's entire body seemed drained as he meet their eyes. Then, he admitted everything. "My name isn't Kevin Sydney. He's been dead for years. This is his body, yes, but not his mind. My real name is Ann Beckley. I agreed to HYDRA's experiments because they offered to pay me for it. I had just lost my job the day beforehand and I wasn't sure how to tell my husband.