Artemis (Book 1)

Chapter Four

Thea walked, beside Steve, up to Sam's front door. During the drive, Natasha had regained consciousness and was informed of the information that Thea had told Steve. Thea knocked on the door, tapping out a pattern. The blinds opened and the door slid open to reveal a sweaty Sam. "Hey man." He greeted Steve.
"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Steve apologised.
"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha explained.
"Not everyone." Sam said before letting them inside.
"I'm using your bathroom." Thea informed walking towards Sam's room.
"There's the guest bedroom down the hall that you can use to freshen up." Sam showed the way before following Thea to his room. He waited till she had her shower and allowed him to come in. He opened the door and found her checking the veins on her wrist. "You okay?"
"No. I tried to protect us from the missile but I couldn't keep my shield up."
"How long did you manage to keep it up?"
"Until after the explosion. I got hit by some falling debris and was out."
"Well, to me, it seems like you protect them enough. You could have died but you didn't, that's because of you."
"I wasn't strong enough, Sam. I've been practising for just under a year and I'm no better at my powers."
"You've spent years rejecting you powers, you can't reverse all of that in a year. It also doesn't help that you doubt yourself. You don't believe in yourself so your powers are weak. I think if you trust yourself and accept your powers, you will be strong. I believe in you, I haven't since the moment I met you. Do you remember that day?"
"You were in so much pain and I took most of it away."
"You helped me that day, more than you know. You need to stop doubting yourself."
"But, I'm unstable."
"No, you're not. You are the strongest person that I have ever met. You've been through a lot and you've made it out the other side. The things that you've gone through should have broken you but you don't let it. You get back up. What did you do after Coulson died?"
"I went after Loki but then started to help save the civilians."
"That's my point. You should have been a mess but you didn't."
"I'm glad that I met you that day. You're right about everything. I've spent so long terrified of my powers and what SHIELD would do if they found out about them, that I rejected them. I wished that I never had my powers."
"So, what now?"
"These powers are a part of me and it's time that I embrace them." Thea stood up and allowed her eyes to turn red. "We're going to take HYDRA down."
"That's good. Now let's make breakfast." Sam said and Thea followed him out of his room.
 
Sam, with some help from Thea, made breakfast for everyone. He soon went to get Steve and Natasha. They walked in and they began their discussion. "So, the question is, who at SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asked.
"Pierce." Steve responded.
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world."
"But, he's not working alone." Steve commented. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."
"So was Jasper Sitwell." Natasha added.
"He gave the orders for the STRIKE team to go after Steve." Thea added.
"So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"
"The answer is you don't." Sam replied, leaving the kitchen.
"What's this?" Steve questioned at the file Sam placed down.
"Call it a resume."
"Is this Bakhmala?" Natasha asked looking at the photo. "The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you? You didn't say he was a Pararescue."
"Is this Riley?" Steve questioned looking at the photo.
"Yeah."
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use? A stealth chute?"
"No." Sam moved forward and handed Steve the file. "These."
"I thought you said you were a pilot." Steve commented.
"I never said pilot." Sam corrected.
"I can't ask you to do this Sam." Steve stated. "You got out for a good reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."
"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"
"The last one is at Fort Meade. Behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall."
"Shouldn't be a problem." Steve said, throwing the file down.
"If we need it, I have ASH ready to get us in there." Thea commented, holding up the metal disk that was now attached to her necklace.
 
Thea aimed the laser pointer at Jasper Sitwell, who was on the phone with Sam, giving the impression that there was a sniper about to shoot him. She met up with Steve and Natasha, who were waiting for Sam to bring Sitwell to them. They took him up to the roof and Steve knocked Sitwell through the door. "Tell me about Zola's algorithm." Steve demanded, approaching Sitwell.
"Never heard of it." Sitwell lied putting his glasses back on.
"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"
"I was throwing up. I get seasick." Sitwell stumbled back almost falling off the roof but Steve grabbed him by his suit jacket. "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers."
"You're right. It's not." Steve agreed, smoothing out Sitwell's suit. Thea began smirking. "It's hers." Steve moved and Natasha kicked Sitwell off the roof.
"Oh, wait. What about the girl from Accounting Laura..." Natasha suggested.
"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?"
"Yeah, she's cute."
"Yeah. I'm not ready for that."
"Okay." Thea mumbled to herself as Sam flew over them, dropping Sitwell.
"Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets."
"What targets?"
"You! A TV anchor is Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA. Now or in the future."
"In the future? How could it know?"
"How could it not?" Sitwell laughed. Sitwell climbed to his feet staring at Steve. "The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."
"And what then?" Steve questioned.
"Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me."
"What then?"
"Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."
"How do we shut it down?" Thea questioned.
"I don't know." Sitwell lied.
"Liar." Thea grabbed Natasha's arm, taking away the remaining pain she had. She placed her hand on Sitwell's shoulder and slowly began to transfer the pain, making it more intense. "Let's try that again. How do we shut it down?"
"You have to do it remotely at the Triskellion." Sitwell cried out.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Thea removed her hand and Sam began leading Sitwell inside. She noticed Steve and Natasha staring at her in confusion and questioning. "It's pain manipulation, pain transfer, whatever you want to call it. I took the pain from Nat and gave it to Sitwell. Except, I learnt how to make the pain worse."
"What else can you do?" Natasha asked.
"That is a discussion for another time, but, right now we have a job to do." Thea headed for the door with Steve and Natasha following.
 
Later they were back in the car on their way to the Triskellion. Sam was driving with Steve in the passenger seat. Thea and Natasha were in the back with Sitwell. "HYDRA doesn't like leaks." Sitwell commented.
"Then why don't you try sticking a cork in it?" Sam retorted.
"Insight's launching in 16 hours." Natasha informed, as she leaned closer to the front. "We're cutting it a little bit close here."
"I know." Steve sighed. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly."
"What? Are you crazy?" Sitwell exclaimed. "That is a terrible, terrible idea."
"Shit." Thea cursed as Sitwell was ripped out of the car. He was thrown into the path of a truck. Thea spotted a gun as their hitchhiker climbed onto the roof. "Nat, move." Thea dodge a bullet and put up her shield as Natasha climbed into the front onto Steve's lap. Steve pulled on the handbrake and their hitchhiker was thrown off but they stopped themselves with their metal hand. "We're gonna need a plan B, Steve."
"I know." They were slammed into from behind by a van and pushed towards the Winter Soldier. He jumped onto the roof of the car and ripped the steering wheel out by the front window. Natasha grabbed her gun from where it had fallen and began to shoot at the Winter Soldier, who fleed onto the van behind them. They were hit again and the car hit against the barriers. Steve soon thought of an idea and turned to Thea, who was still in the back. "Get up here."
"I can protect myself." Thea said, keeping her eye on the Winter Soldier. She had figured out Steve's idea once she saw him raise his shield. "Get them out."
"Hang on." Steve grabbed Natasha and Sam before jumping out of the car as it began to roll. Thea was still in the car and was using her shield to protect herself. It soon stopped rolling and Thea crawled out the window in time to see Steve go off the edge, dropping his shield.
 
Thea hid behind a car to avoid any bullets fired by HYDRA. She wasn't sure if HYDRA realised she was alive but she was going to use it to her advantage. She made it to the edge of the barrier and jumped down onto the street below. She quickly tried to get the civilians to safety and away from the gunfire. Thea helped those that were in the bus that had been tipped over. She noticed Steve further in the bus. "Steve, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Can you get the civilians out of the way?"
"Already on." The bus started being shot at Thea quickly moved everyone out of the way. "Go, run!" Thea tried to help as many civilians as she could when she noticed Natasha beaten by the Winter Soldier. "Natasha, go! I got this!" Natasha took off running and Thea watched as the Winter Soldier regained control of his metal arm, after Natasha had momentarily disabled it. She used her shield to separate his gun from his hand and threw it away. Thea pulled out her chinese ring daggers from her boots and twirled them in her hand. She rushed at the Winter Soldier and when he went to punch her, she ducked and went for his legs. She sliced his calf with her dagger and stabbed him in the shoulder. She quickly removed the dagger and moved out of the way of an attack. She knew of the Winter Soldier and wasn't about to underestimate him, that would be her downfall. Thea ducked as he went to punch her and sliced at his chest. When he touched one of the deeper wounds, Thea began to slice at his back. She was managing to have the upper hand in the fight until the Winter Soldier managed to grab her by the throat and throw her at a car. When she climbed to her feet, the Winter Soldier was gone. "Shit." Thea soon found Natasha who was bleeding from a bullet wound in her shoulder and was quick to put pressure on the wound. "I could have stopped this."
"It's fine. Thea, you couldn't win against someone like him."
"I could have. I've been training since I was a kid, I should have put up a better fight."
"You lasted longer than I did and I was KGB."
"We need to find a way to get you somewhere safe." Thea said, glancing at Steve fighting the Winter Soldier. Her eyes widened as she watched the Winter Soldier's mask fall off to reveal the man underneath. "Holy shit! Nat, the Winter Soldier is Bucky Barnes. He was a howling commander and Steve's best friend. I can't believe he's alive, this is so cool."
"Thea."
"I know he's an assassin but the howling commaders are legendary."
"Thea, shut up." Natasha snapped as she grabbed the Winter Soldier's disgarded gun and shot a grenade at him. They were soon surrounded by SHIELD or HYDRA agents, it was unclear who was who.
 
They were in the back of a prisoner transfer van. Thea was sat next to Steve who was in his own head before he spoke up. "It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."
"How is that even possible? It was like 70 years ago?" Sam questioned.
"Zola." Steve replied staring at the floor. "Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."
"None of that's your fault, Steve." Natasha whispered, affected by bloodloss.
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."
"We need to get a doctor here." Sam said to the guards with them, after noticing Natasha's still bleeding wound. If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck." One of the guards attacked the other.
"Ah." The person began taking off the helmet, to reveal Maria Hill. "That thing was squeezing my brain. Who's this guy?" Maria used a cool to cut a hole in the bottom of the van that they all escaped through. They got into another van and Hill drove them to a safe location.