Bird Set Free | Natasha Romanoff ✓

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Aquila casually leaned against the wall, her arms crossed across her chest, trying to ignore the texts and missed calls that were displayed across the phone in her pocket. 

Each seemed to display more concern, more worry, and more pleading. And Aquila wanted nothing more to run back to Nat and hug her for the rest of her days but she was a wanted criminal now, even more than before. 

After the chaos had started when the lights went out, Aquila had quickly met back up with Steve and Sam again, before they tried to stop Bucky themselves. 

But it had come to a quick end, once Steve and Bucky had gone plunging off a building with a helicopter, it, of course, had led them to be stuck in an abandoned warehouse, Bucky's metal arm trapped in a piece of machinery. 

"Hey, Cap!" Sam's voice echoed through the warehouse, as Aquila followed Steve into the room where Bucky was trapped. 

"Steve." 

"Which Bucky are we talking to?" Steve asked. 

"Your mom's name is Sarah. . . you used to wear newspapers in your shoes." Bucky replied, letting out a slight chuckle. 

"You can't read that in a museum," Steve stated clearly. 

"And like that, we're supposed to be cool?" Sam asked in complete disbelief. 

"What did I do?" Bucky asked. 

"Enough," Aquila spoke up making her presence in the room known. 

"Oh, god. I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words."

"Who was he?" Steve asked. 

"I don't know."

"People are dead. The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know.'" Steve demanded. 

"He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."

"Why would he need to know that?"

"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."

The silence in the room was deafening as Steve trusting Bucky again, released his arm from the machine. 

"Who are they?" Aquila asked. 

"The most elite death squad. Most kills in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum.":

"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked. 

"Worse."

"The doctor can he control them?" Steve asked. 

"Enough."

"Said he wanted to see an empire fall."

"With these guys, he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night. You'd never see them coming."

"This would have been a lot easier a week ago," Sam said. 

"If we call Tony. . ."

"No, he won't believe us." Aquila chimed in. 

"Even if he did. . ."

"Who knows if the Accords would let him help."

"We're on our own." 

"Maybe not. I know a guy."

The old-looking car sat under the overpass, the passengers inside watching as Steve got out to greet Quinn who had managed even with limited clearance to smuggle their gear out of the building. 

Aquila shifted slightly, regretting joining the rest of the team in the cramped car, instead of stealing her motorcycle back. 

"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asked Sam, annoyed. 

"No." Sam snapped. 

The banter in the car fell silent as Quinn suddenly stepped forward to kiss Steve, the two of them sharing a kiss for a moment too long before stepping apart again, eventually turning back to look at the people crammed into the car. 

"You know until this exact moment, I thought you were dating Steve," Bucky said turning to Aquila. 

Aquila chuckled. "Hell, no. Well, nothing against Steve but I have a girlfriend and besides those two were made for each other since day one."

The car dragged its arse into the parking spot, three spaces away from the van that was also parked. 

The two groups met in the middle, clearly enjoying the chance to reunite with old friends despite the horrible circumstances. 

"Cap," Clint greeted, stepping forward offering his hand. 

"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice."

"Hey man, you're doing me a favor. Besides, I owe a debt."

Steve turned to Wanda, giving her a small smile. "Thanks for having my back."

"It was time to get off my ass." She replied, amused.

Aquila sent her a grin. "How about our other recruit?" Aquila asked. 

"He's ready to go. Had to put a little coffee in him, but. . . he should be good." Clint says, pulling the van door open and letting it slam. 

"What timezone is this?" Scott Lang asked before Clint pushed him forward. "Woah, Captain America."

"Mr. Lang."

"It's an honor," Scott replied, still shaking Steve's hand vigorously. "I'm shaking your hand too long. Wow, this is awesome."

Aquila bit back a smirk at Scott's enthusiastic behavior. But nothing had quite prepared her for when that behavior was directed towards her. 

"You're Talons, right? The giant eagle, it's beyond awesome." 

"Thanks," Aquila said, before finding herself victim to yet another lengthy handshake. 

"Captain America, Talons," Scott said once again like he couldn't believe it. "I know you too, you're great!" Scott said, turning to Wanda before turning back to Steve. "Jeez. Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so. . . thanks for thinking of me. Hey, man!"

"What's up, Tic Tac?"

"Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time when I. . ."

"It was a great audition, but it'll. . . it'll never happen again."

"They tell you what we're up against?" Aquila asked. 

"Something about some. . . psycho-assassins?"

"We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man." Steve warned. 

"Yeah, well, what else is new?"

"We should get moving," Bucky added. 

"We got a chopper lined up," Clint said. 

An alarm echoed off the concrete structures as a man speaking in what Aquila assumed was German, crackled across on the loudspeakers. 

"They're evacuating the airport."

"Stark." Aquila sighed, knowing exactly what this meant. 

"Stark?" Scott asked, still not entirely caught up on all the events. 

"Suit up."