Revenge

A loud knock on the door startles us awake. Immediately a red cloud is covering the both of us, which clearly indicates that Wanda is on edge. "It's me." Natasha her voice comes from the other side of the door, and slowly I can feel my girlfriend relax. "Alexei and Melina have arrived, meeting is in 10. Be there." I can hear Natasha her footsteps disappear and I turn around to look at the clock. 7.08 am… Way earlier than we usually wake up. I notice Wanda getting up and with a sigh I follow her example. I stare at her as she grabs some clothes to put on, and am quite startled when she throws some in my direction. "Huh?" Is the only thing I can say as I stare at her, quite confused. "I would recommend wearing more then you are doing right now for the meeting." She says with a grin on her face, very much aware of the fact that I'm completely naked. "You mean I can come along?" "You're part of the team right?" "Yeah, well at least I think so…" "Well then I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be there. Now get dressed, we only have 6 more minutes." As fast as humanly possible I put on some underwear, then the jeans and t-shirt she threw at me, and finish with a sweater, socks and some sneakers. 3 minutes left. "Let's go!" Wanda says as she practically drags me out of the door.

As we enter the largest meeting room the compound hosts, I can see that we're not the only people who are a little bit late. We take seats next to each other, Wanda on my right side, and I look around, taking everything in. I have never seen so many of the Avengers together at the same place, it's like all of them were called. Natasha, Tony and Steve are on the head of the table, deep in conversation with an older woman with black hair and a man who is a little chubby to say the least. Even though the woman is clearly much older than Natasha, her entire attitude shows that she's not someone to mess with. Her back is completely straight and she's wearing a black tactical suit, much like the one Natasha wears, with 2 handguns sitting in the holsters. I can see that she's quite muscular, and remembering Natasha her conversation with me I make the conclusion that this must be Melina, her mother. The man next to her is wearing a red suit with a ridicules helmet, and I can't help but chuckle seeing it. Wanda softly pokes my side. "Even though we haven't started yet, I would not recommend laughing like that when Natasha is talking." I wave away her comment. "Don't worry about that. I assume that must be Alexei." Wanda nods. "I think so, yes." At the beginning of the table there are 5 empty chairs. Maria Hill sits in the first free chair, and Bucky occupies the next one. Next to him is Rocket, with Groot following. Next is Nebula with her sister Gamora, with Quill close to her. It was quite clear that none of the Guardians had gotten enough sleep after just getting back home, but yet all of them were here, ready for action. Next to Wanda sits Rhodey with FitzSimmons following. The both of them keep staring at Melina and Alexei in awe and I simply roll my eyes, knowing they won't see it. On my left Sam takes place, he has clearly had about as much sleep as we did: close to nothing. Clint sits next to Sam, with Scott and Hope following. I can see more people entering the room and taking place. Mantis is the last one join us and she hurries to find a seat. A lot of TV screens cover the room and some of them are connected to webcams. I can see Nick Fury on one, and see King T'Challa on another screen. Okoye is sitting next to him, close by as always. Phil Coulson is also watching us through a screen and last but not least there is a woman who I have never seen before. She seems a bit younger then Natasha, has blond hair and deep blue eyes. Her attention is fixed on Melina and Alexei, and sometimes it switches to the red spy. It's like she has no interest in the other people in the room. Based on the description Natasha has given me of her sister, my conclusion is that this must be Yelena.

Everybody goes quiet and turns their attention to the 5 people in the front. Tony nods to Steve and Natasha and takes place in one of the empty chairs. "Who are we missing?" Natasha asks. Steve clears his throat and starts talking. "Thor, Loki and Valkyrie left this night on a special mission on Asgard, they are out of reach. Pepper is keeping an eye on Morgan together with Cassie. Peter is still in Queens with his aunt, he's not coming, something about a school project he has to finish according to May. The boy was quite upset about it. And last but not least, Strange and Wong are checking on the 3 sanctuaries, seeing if everything is okay there. Beside them, everybody is either here or on the cameras." He nods towards Natasha and takes a step back, which clearly indicates that it's her who is in charge. "Thanks Rogers. This morning around 6 am Melina and Alexei have arrived at the compound with very important information for us about Strucker and his Hydra tugs. Melina, you have the floor." Unlike Steve she keeps standing at the same spot, clearly not backing out. "Thank you Natasha." Melina's voice is heavy with a thick Russian accent, it's quite clear that she speaks her birth language a lot more than Nat does. "For quite some time now Yelena, Alexei and I have been traveling across the world to all the different Red Room locations. It's our job to free every Widow in the world from Dreykov his mind control." As I look around I can see a lot of confused faces. Sam puts his hand in the air but Natasha immediately dismisses him. "The Red Room's past is of no importance to this mission. Please continue Melina." The woman nods. "2 days ago we were at a Red Room location in Germany that was supposed to be empty. Originally it wasn't our plan to go there but Yelena insisted on being thorough. When Alexei and I arrived we could see that Hydra people had taken over the place, and I recognized the man named Strucker. Knowing the history you have with him, we thought the best thing to do was to come here with this information. As far as we know they did not see us so they shouldn't be aware of the fact that their location has been compromised, but I'm not sure if they are planning on staying long." Natasha nods. "The best plan of action to me seems to attack immediately, we can't have Strucker escaping again. He has done more than enough damage to members of our family." She looks in the direction of Wanda and me and Sam gives me a warm comforting smile. Steve stands up and joins Natasha up front. "We will split ourselves in multiple smaller groups, covering every exit. Hopefully this way we can prevent him from escaping. Group 1: Tony, Rhodey, Vision, Carol and Quill. You will cover the air, keeping an eye on things from up there and prevent anyone from escaping. Group 2: Gamora, Nebula, Drax, Groot, Rocket and Mantis. The Guardians group, you will stay close by in the Milano. If anybody escapes via a plane, you pursuit them. Don't let anyone get away." Everybody whose name was just mentioned nods in understanding. "Bucky, Sam, Scott and Hope, you're with me. We enter via the south. Bruce, I'm sorry buddy but we will need the Hulk for this mission. You enter through the main gate, make sure that they see you coming. You will act as a diversion so they won't notice the rest of us going in. The forth group consist of Shuri, Daisy, Okoye and T'Challa. They cover the north entrance. FitzSimmons, you will keep an eye on everything on the plane, keeping track of their security. Alexei will stay with you as protection just in case. And last but not least, the fifth group is Clint, Natasha, Melina, Wanda and Lidiya. You will enter via the West. If you're up for it?" He looks at me and I nod full of confidence, I'm more than ready. Natasha clears her throat. "Yelena, you going to join us?" People direct their attention to the blonde woman on the screen, but she shakes her head. "Neh I'm good. In case all of you die, somebody needs to continue freeing the last of the Widows, so I'll just do that." I can see a small smile tug on Natasha's lips but she keeps it hidden. "Will you need Shield agents?" Coulson asks. "I don't think so, but thanks anyway." Coulson nods and T'Challa comes to speak. "Okoye and I will get our plane and will meet you in about 30 minutes. I'm also bringing Ayo with us." Immediately his screen goes blank, indicating he was on his way to the plane. "Good, everybody knows what to do. Suit up and we will meet outside in an hour. Go!" Natasha her voice is strict and leaves no room for discussion. Everybody leaves the room and Wanda turns to look at me. "Are you sure about this milyy?" I look straight into her eyes and nod. "Let's do this."

As Wanda and I get up a voice calls me back. "Lidiya, wait a minute." It's Tony and I can't help but feel a little nervous. I haven't really spent that much time with him and Wanda's story lives in my head. "Here." He offers me a bag I didn't even see him holding. Cautiously I accept it and look at him with a confused expression. "It's your suit, Shuri and I have made it together. Can't be going into battle unprotected, right?" He gives me a soft smile and leaves the room, on his way to prepare himself. As Wanda and I leave the room I look back to see Natasha talking to Yelena, with an uncharacteristic soft expression planted on her face. I smile when I see this, and then I turn around to follow Wanda to her room.

Wanda immediately walks to her closer and takes out her Scarlet Witch costume. It's only the third time I see it and I can't help but notice how absolutely beautiful it is… And not really protecting. "Wanda?" She hums while taking off her clothes. "Don't take this question the wrong way please because I love your suit, but why don't you wear something more protecting? I mean after all it's just fabric." Wanda smiles as she turns around to face me, in the mean time she's putting her legs into the black trousers. "Understandable question milyy, but you don't have to worry. The fabric it's made of, there is vibranium woven through every part of it. It's something Wakandans do with all of their clothing. It doesn't make it completely bullet proof but it's a close second." I nod in understanding. "That does explain a lot, yes." Wanda is putting on her corset and she nods in the direction of the bag Tony gave me. "Why don't you have a look at your suit? You will have to put it on after all." I smile and walk towards the package, opening it with hands that are lightly shaking. A pair of black trousers falls out and underneath it is something in a deep orange color. It's a t-shirt with half long sleeves, and some black fingerless gloves. It's not over the top like some of the suits are that I have seen, but it's beautiful none the less. I let the slide through my fingers, and can't help the smile on my face. I can feel Wanda approach me from behind and she pulls me into a hug, my back against her front. "That's beautiful." She whispers and I nod in approval. I turn around to look at her and I can see that she has put on the last part of her outfit, the red trench coat. I still don't understand how wearing that can be practical to fight in, but she loves it so I don't question it. At least, not out loud. "Let's try it on shall we?" She presses a soft kiss against my lips after which I start undressing. I squeeze myself into the pants and pull the t-shirt over my head, and then I put on the gloves. The fabric of the t-shirt is like it's made by tiny dragon scales. I know that that's not the case but it gives it a very cool appearance. I open the box with bracelets that I had gotten from Shuri and let them slide over my wrists. I go to look at myself in the mirror and can't help but feel okay with how I look. Wanda pulls me into her embrace and whispers into my ear: "You're more than okay Lidiya, and it's perfectly fine to feel that way." I smile at her and let myself get carried away by her warmth and comfort for a couple of minutes. "Ready to go?" She asks after which I reply: "Almost, just have to put on some shoes though." She chuckles and takes a step back so I can grab some footwear. When she sees me taking my sneakers she makes a "Tsss" kind of sound and I look at her with confusion in my eyes. "Don't wear sneakers sweetie, if those laces become undone during fighting you're in trouble. Here." With a snap of her fingers a pair of boots appear, and I'm grateful for the fact that they don't have any feels. When I close the zippers I stand up and appear as confident as possible. "Ready."

When we arrive at the landing strip I can't stop my mouth from falling open. All 4 of the Avengers their planes are ready for takeoff and there is a 5th Wakandan plane as well. "This is one hell of an impressive sight." I whisper and Wanda agrees with me. "I can't remember the last time all of the planes were used for a mission." "Isn't it dangerous leaving the compound unprotected?" Wanda smiles and shakes her head. "It's not. Don't forget that a lot of SHIELD agents are staying here permanently as well, and we also have Pepper and Cassie. Don't underestimate them." We walk to the plane where we can see Natasha and Melina talking and it turns out that we will be using the Quinjet. "Looking good malen'kiy ogon' (little fire)." Natasha says with a smile and I can't help but blush. "Thanks Nat. Tony and Shuri did a good job." "Definitely. I want you to meet Melina, my mother. Melina, this is Lidiya. She's one of my 2 best friends." I can feel my heart skip a beat hearing Natasha say that, I didn't expect her to see me the same way I see her. "Happy now?" For a moment I'm afraid Wanda is jealous but when I glance at her I can see her adorable nose scrunch, indicating that she's only teasing. Melina takes a step in my direction and holds out her hand, which I accept. "Very nice to meet you Lidiya. Natasha hasn't told me anything about you yet but since she sees you as one of her close friends that tells me more than enough." Just like Nat she is straight forward, but even though her voice is hard there is a certain softness in it. "Likewise Melina." I say with a smirk and she gives me a soft smile. "Gonna keep talking or do we actually have a mission to participate in?" Clint asks as he walks onto the plane, carrying his bow around his shoulder. Natasha rolls her eyes. "Very funny Barton. Our group is complete, we just have to wait for Bruce to arrive. He will be joining us in our plane." The 4 of us nod in understanding and this is when Steve walks up to us, holding a bunch of earpieces in his hand. "Here guys, everybody has to wear one so we are in contact with each other." I accept the earpiece and look at it unsure of what to do next. "Here, let me help." I'm quite surprised when the voice comes from Melina and not Wanda like I expected. She takes it out of my hand and inserts it into my ear, and I can't help but make a funny face when I feel how uncomfortable it is. "First time?" Melina chuckles and I nod. "That easy to notice?" She just smiles at me in understanding. "You get used to it, don't worry. After an hour you will even forget it's there, until someone starts yelling on the other side of the com and you get a heart attack." I laugh hearing her explanation. "Ty deystvitel'no milyy, znayesh' li (You really are a cute thing, you know that)?" She says in Russian, probably assuming I don't speak the language. "Ne pozvolyay Wanda tebya slyshat' (Don't let Wanda hear you)." I reply and Melina raises one of her eyebrows. "Ty Russkiy (You're Russian)?" I nod. "Russian by birth, but I grew up in Sokovia. Well, that's until Hydra got their hands on me of course." For a minute she just looks at me, as if she's trying to read me from the inside out. "Is this mission personal to you?" "Very." She nods, as if she doesn't need any more explanation. "Togda ya nadeyus', ty otomstish' (Then I hope you will get your revenge)." She puts in her own earpiece and walks towards Clint, going over some things mission related. Wanda joins me and gives me a kiss on my temple. "You okay milyy?" I smile. "Absolutely."

"Everybody gather around please." It's Natasha's voice, she's standing in the middle of the self made square, with all the planes around her. I go stand in front of our Quinjet with the rest of my group and see that Bruce has also joined us. He gives me his typical shy smile and I return it. Steve takes the floor: "Okay I'm going to go down the list just to be sure everybody's here. Okay, the group on the Milano: Gamora, Nebula, Drax, Groot, Rocket and Mantis. You're all here?" The group standing in front of the orange plane nods, and I can hear Wanda chuckle very softly. "What?" I whisper and she smiles. "Quill is nagging to himself about not being on his own plane." I roll my eyes. "What a very Quill thing to do." Steve his voice draws the attention back to him. "Good. The second group is the one on the Quinjet: Natasha, Clint, Wanda, Melina and Lidiya, accompanied by Bruce." "All here." Clint his voice is loud and clear and Steve nods. "Okay, the third group is the one on the SHIELD plane: Me, Bucky, Sam, Scott and Hope. We are to be accompanied by FitzSimmons and Alexei. All of us here?" The moment he says this Scott runs across the landing strips, still closing his suit. "I'm here, I'm here!" You can hear a sigh go through the entire group and Hope rolls her eyes and mumbles something. "Okay then. The Wakandan plane, you should have T'Challa, Okoye, Ayo, Shuri and Daisy with you." "All are accounted for." T'Challa replies before Steve can ask his question. "Very well. And then last but not least, the sister plane. Tony, Rhodey, Carol, Quill and Vision, everybody here?" Vision his robotic voice is the one that replies. "Everybody is here mister Rogers." Steve smiles and puts away the list he has been reading from, making room for Natasha to speak up. "Very well. I'm the supervisor on this mission and Steve is the second in control. The goal is clear: get to Strucker. You are allowed to kill him and his men, this game of hide and seek has been going on way too long and he has hurt too much people." "But only kill if necessary." Steve adds which makes Natasha squint her eyes. "Kill if necessary yes, but I have the feeling it will be. We will drop Hulk to the floor so he can stir up some unrest and draw the attention on him. In the meantime FitzSimmons will kill all of the security so we can get in. The 3 groups will enter at the same time, that way they won't have the chance to know what they are expecting. The fly group will keep an eye on everything in the air, make sure that nobody gets away. And finally the Guardians, I hope your jobs will be passive today because that means that everything goes according to plan. If anybody escapes via aircraft, go after them. I don't care if we have to burn that entire building to the ground, Strucker will pay for his deeds today." Everybody nods, the energy is heavy, like it knows that something huge is about to happen. "Good, off we go people!" With that everybody boards their planes and Natasha joins us inside. The loading platform closes and everybody sits in their seats, ready for takeoff. Melina is the one who is flying this time. "Everybody ready?" She asks with her Russian accent. We all nod in silence and that's when the engines come to live.

About an hour passes before we get close to our destination. I'm still shocked by how fast this plane goes and I know it can go even so much faster. We hover above the place we have to drop Bruce, disguised by the clouding technology that the plane hosts, waiting for the others to be at their rendezvous points. "Put your comms on people." Natasha says and luckily Wanda is there to help me. Apparently the earpieces have an on and off button. I let out a little squeak when I can hear Steve's voice in my ear as clear as if he was standing next to me. "Rogers here, our team is on place and we remain undetected, over." "Romanoff copies." "So does Okoye, and we have also just reached our destination. They have not spotted us, over." A couple of seconds pass, the tension heavy. "Tony here, we are all in our designated spots, ready to go in the air." Of course he doesn't use the over. "Perfect. Guardians, any updates on your location?" For a moment it's silent but then we can hear Gamora. "Just arrived at our position and we are cloaked. Ready for this party to start." "Understood." Natasha takes a deep breath and turns towards Bruce. "You ready for this?" He gives her a small smile. "Doesn't matter if I am, I know he is, so we're good." When the loading platform opens and Bruce prepares to jump without a parachute, I want to scream to the others to stop him. Immediately Wanda her hands are on mine and she gives me a kiss. "Don't worry Lidiya, the moment he touches the ground the Hulk comes through. Bruce will be just fine." With eyes wide open I watch him jump. Natasha's voice goes through our earpieces once more. "The Hulk has just been deported, should reach the ground in 3… 2… 1…" As soon as she reaches 0 we can hear a animalistic grown come from beneath us, and I assume this must mean that they had been right. The Hulk was unleashed. "Wait for our signal, we're going to ground. FitzSimmons how are you doing with the security?" "Every door has successfully been unlocked." Immediately Melina lands the plane close to our entrance and we unbuckle ourselves. Leaving the Quinjet the 5 of us run towards the wall in as much silence as possible, but the Hulk was doing his job. All attention was directed to him, and we can see a lot of soldiers on the walls running towards the main entrance. I notice the building Hydra had taken over was an old monastery. When we reach an old wooden door covered in veins, Natasha speaks again. "Team 3 has just arrived at our point, ready for entry." "Copy that Romanoff. Entry in 3…" Rogers. "2…" Okoye. "1…" Natasha… And at the same time all three groups force the doors open, and I can hear Tony and his group take to the sky. "They are in the air!" A young soldier yells and immediately bells are ringing.

We enter the building, close the door behind us, and relish this small moment of silence. "I will stay here to guard the door, you guys go!" Melina says and she ushers us forward. Clint and Nat are in the front, side by side, clearly trained to work together. I'm in the middle and Wanda has my back. It's obvious that I'm still being protected but I do my best to not see that as an insult. We cross a corner and that's when we see 2 Hydra soldiers guarding a door, and as soon as they spot us the yelling sounds. One of them manages to slip away but the second one is cut down by one of Clint's arrows. Natasha runs forward and even though the guy managed to warn the other soldiers in this wing, it's the last thing he ever did because Natasha snaps his neck like it's nothing. I know I should feel something, she is killing people after all. But I don't. All I can think about is how they supported the man who put me and Wanda through hell. How they did as he asked without any doubt. How they raped me over and over again just because they could. I glance over at Wanda, afraid for her to have disappointment in her face. But there's none. The only thing I can see is anger and determination, her eyes glowing bright red as her power surges through her. The moment I see a man run towards me with his knife pointed in my direction, the red mist throws him against the wall, where he falls down in a little bundle of broken bones. "Don't loose your attention Lidiya." She says and I shake my head, focusing on the things happening around me once more. "A guy just ran away in direction of the West side of the building, your side Natasha. They send him to warn Strucker." It's Bucky's voice and Natasha squints her eyes in determination. "On our way!" She starts running and the 3 of us follow. "Turns out we're lucky today. That bastard is ours." It's Wanda her whispering voice I hear and I can't agree more. When we arrive at a crossroad with no guards Nat stops and puts her fingers on her lips, indicating for us to be quiet. She closes her eyes and listens, and that's when I remember that she did get some kind of super serum which enhances her senses. When she finds what she was looking for, or better said listening for, her eyes snaps open and she immediately starts running. "Strucker is going to an underground tunnel system we didn't know about, we have to reach him before he's gone." Fury fills every fiber of my being and I run as I've never ran before. When we reach a huge group of Hydra tugs we know we're at the right place. It's like I can finally let all of my anger come out and fire powers the bracelets I'm wearing, creating bullet like shots that strikes them down. "Strucker!" I yell, and in the middle of the group I can see a man turn around to face me. That damned eye patch still present, and a disgusting grin covers his face. A wave of fire crashes down on everybody close to me, but the people on my side aren't hurt. Clint his arrows kill about as much people as Natasha's bullets do, and when Strucker sees he's going to lose he tries to run away. Immediately Wanda charges forward, red mist grabbing his limbs and pinning him to the wall. "You're going nowhere." She whispers, anger dripping off her voice. I walk towards that man, hatred filling every fiber of my being. Clint stands a couple of meters away from us, clearly giving us the space we need while keeping an eye on incoming danger. Natasha however is only a couple of steps away from me, having my back. "You." I say, ready to remove that man from the earth. "Hello there 507." He says with a nauseating smile. I grunt my teeth and lash out with my powers. As soon as the fire touches his skin burn marks appear. "My name is Lidiya you piece of shit." He simply laughs and Wanda makes his magical binds even tighter. "Go on then, kill me." He whispers. "I know you won't do it." I take a step forward, pressing my knuckles against his forehead. "You're wrong, you turned me into a monster and I will never forgive you for it." For a moment he just stares at me and then his eyes light up. "So I did. And you know what? That makes you my greatest accomplishment ever." My fire charges the bracelets, ready to end this, but before I can do anything a gunshot rings through the corridor and I can see blood appearing on his shirt. A suprised "o" is on his face as his breathing stops. I turn around and see Nat standing next to me, gun still pointing at Strucker. "You shouldn't have his blood on your hands Lidiya, because you are in fact not a monster. Me on the other hand, what's one more death." She lowers her gun and Wanda's powers let go of him, causing his body to fall down. Immediately she's there to hold me, and she turns my body away from the man who broke my childhood. Determined she leads me away from that beast. "It's over Lidiya, it's done."