The New Member

Part Eight

Marleena was not happy with her mission. Years ago, with SHIELD, she had taken down a Hydra facility in Molotov. With a base rising close by, it gave her an uneasy feeling that previous bases are coming back. As quickly as she could, she made her way to the training area at the other end of the base. Natasha and Rhodey had shown her everything there was to know about this place. Marleena came to the weapons facility and threw open the doors. Everyone's suits and equipment were there. She passed by everything and found her stuff at the end of the room. Her suit was in a case, similar to the Black Widow's, except she had a hood and cloak. She took it out and quickly dressed in a nearby changing room. Marleena ran her fingers through the soft yet strong and flexible fabric. She put her suit on and adjusted the hood. She looked in the mirror and smiled. She felt like she was back with SHIELD, preparing to go into the field as an agent. Marleena stepped back out and started to collect other little items. Fingerless gloves, combat boots, weapons. She knew she always had that punk/emo look when she wore the suit, but it made her feel powerful.

As Marleena was grabbing guns, the door to the room opened. She turned around and watched Steve walk in, looking rather angry.

"Hey," she said, loading a Glock 17 pistol.

"This is supposed to be a team mission," Steve stated. "You can't declare that this is now a solo mission."

Marleena stood up, grabbing a few daggers and putting them into the holders on her thighs. "Sorry, Rogers, but I just did."

Marleena was about to walk off when Steve snatched her arm. "You are not the leader of this team, you know that?"

Marleena huffed and turned around. Her face was stone-cold. "I know that Rogers, but I'm doing this for everyone else's safety. I'm going to a place where I've taken down Hydra once before. Never, until now, have I gone to a place twice."

She pulled away and slung a rifle over her shoulder. Steve watched her and shook his head. "You don't have to do missions alone. You have a team that can help."

"I know, but the last time I was on a team, I was the only one who returned."

Marleena grabbed the last of her things and left without a single glance behind her. She quickly walked down the halls to go out to the tarmac. An agent had come by to brief her on her mission. Go down and check out the base. Collect anything she possibly could, and leave without a trace. No blowing up bases this time. Damn. Marleena jogged out and hopped into a quinjet. She sat down and buckled into a seat while the pilot started to take off. She glanced out of the hatch and saw Steve standing in the doorway of the facility, shaking his head. Marleena felt a slight pang of guilt in her chest, but she suppressed it with a single thought: it's for their own safety.

**TIME SKIP**

The flight was nice, not very bumpy. Marleena had dug through a bag of toys she could use for this mission. A few grenades and some explosives. Simple things to cause distractions. She spent most of the time reading up on the base and the places around it. It was, of course, in a remote location in the middle of the forest. Her plane landed, and she ordered the pilot to fly off for the night and return to this location before the day comes around. Marleena waited until she could no longer hear the engines before taking off into the woods. She carried a flashlight in one hand while holding a pistol in the other. Everything was very quiet, putting her on edge. She could hear every noise from the wind in the trees to the crunch of leaves beneath her feet. No matter how quiet she tried to walk, she still managed to make some noise.

After about a mile of what felt like loud walking, Marleena stumbled upon the abandoned factory. Or, at least, it was abandoned. Hydra guards walked the perimeter, carrying high tech guns that could overpower Marleena's weapons. She turned out her light and knelt on the ground. She started to dig through her bag until she found the grenade. She pulled the pin and launched it as far away from her as she could. She took off in the opposite direction and heard the explosion. Guards cleared the area to go and investigate, and that was when Marleena went in. She ran across the open field, getting inside the heads of guards who stayed. She blocked her image from their minds and snuck into the building. She found a door on the side and slipped in through there. She closed the door and lowered her hood. Dull lights were flickering in the building, giving the whole place an eerie glow. Marleena opted for her rifle, and she walked in, sweeping the area. The whole place had a haunted house vibe. Wind howling through the corridors, broken windows, dull lights. Yeah, she could sense something bad was about to happen.

Marleena turned down halls, trying to find the center of the building. Every corner she went around, she expected to be ambushed, but it never came. It made her uneasy, but it wasn't enough to turn her away. Marleena came to the control room, and she could sense people behind it. She took a deep breath before barging in. She never fired her weapon. Instead, she held her hand out and connected with scientist's and soldier's minds.

Go to sleep, she ordered.

Everyone in the room collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Marleena smiled to herself and skipped into the room and started to look through files on the computer. She found things about SHIELD and how Hydra had been inside of them since their supposed fall in nineteen forty-five. Fury didn't tell Marleena that. She dug deeper and found things about the Avengers. Hydra knew about the Avengers' lives? That seemed like a serious problem. Marleena was now invested in the information. She found maps of other Hydra bases across the world, some of which she thought she had already taken down. She cursed when she saw the one in Molotov. She searched files, nothing new catching her eyes until she found the last one. An old file from before World War II.

"Weapon One?" she questioned out loud.

That sounded way too familiar for her despite never hearing it before in her time with SHIELD. Marleena went to click it, but she was interrupted by footsteps coming from outside. She shut down her research and raised her gun at the door. The footsteps grew louder, and she could feel the angered minds of Hydra soldiers. Marleena threw her hand out, slamming the door shut and locking it. Soldiers banged on the door, shouting for it to be unlocked. Marleena put her hands on her hips and looked around the room. She found an air vent and shrugged. What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot of things did. One, the guards busted down the door. Two, Marleena wasn't ready to fight as she was still figuring out if she could escape through the vent. And three, she got shot right in her forearm. Marleena felt the pain tear through her arm. Guards surrounded her, at least twenty filling up the room. They shouted for her to get down on her knees, but Marleena didn't like lisetning.

"Look, I don't want to fight you guys because it won't end well for any of you," Marleena warned. A soldier fired a shot that went right by her ear. She didn't flinch but instead shrugged. "I told you guys what would happen."

Marleena threw punches with her good arm and dodged the weak blows the soldiers had. Gunfire rang out, but they couldn't shoot her. She was moving too fast that they randomly fired. They shot their comrades while Marleena escaped unharmed. Within minutes, all of the soldiers were lying on the floor. She collected her things and ran out of the room, hoping to escape without further problems. She was asking for too much. The base was filled with soldiers that she took out with a punch to the face and a bullet to the head. She grumbled the whole time, saying how it would be easier if she just blew up the base.

It took a while, but Marleena finally made it outside. She had bruises forming on her ribs from a few blows she took and a few scraps here and there. Her worst injury was the bullet wound that felt as if someone had poured lemon juice all over it. She hissed as she pulled her sleeve up to look at it. It was inflamed around the edges, and blood was just seeping through her clothes. She heaved in breaths of air and started to jog away from the base. She didn't get far without being spotted. Guards shouted, and she heard them running after her, firing their guns.

"You have gotta be kidding me!" Marleena shouted up into the sky.

She spirited away and dropped to her knees to dig through the bag. She pulled out every explosive she had and started to plant them along the ground. She threw them out and waited for the guards to come close. With a grunt of effort, she pulled the pins on grenades and activated the explosives. She ran away and dove into the ground, covering her head and neck from the incoming debris. She could feel the heat from behind her an,d rocks slice her exposed skin. Once it was over, she spirited away and climbed the tallest tree she could find, She nearly made it to the top before settling in the crook of a branch and resting her head against the trunk of the tree. She heaved in gasps and listened to the wilderness. She heard wolves howling in the distance, and it put her mind at ease. Marleena pulled out a comm device and typed in a message.

Evac pick-up moved 20 mi east. I've been compromised.

Marleena sent out the message and took care of her arm, bandaging it as best as she could. She pulled her cloak close around her shoulders to fight off the cold. Maybe a team didn't sound so bad anymore.

Part nine is done! I can feel the story coming together a little better. See y'all next week-ish!

- BekahJ (theoutsiders721)