Aim: Hydra | Y/N Story | Sequel to "Aim: Avenger"

1 - Plan

"Raindrops keep falling on my head." A small girl sings, splashing into puddles, spraying me and the large figure next me.

"Verdienen! Quit splashing me!" Gestorben growled. She stuck her tongue out at him, placing her hands on her hips.

"Stop it, both of you." I hiss, earning me a few odd looks from the couple walking past me. Great, no one else can see them. I turn down into an alleyway, and walk far enough from the open sidewalk so no one will hear me. "All right you two, as much fun as it is to have you two back again, sort of, I need you to take it down a few notches."

"Tell her that." Ben muttered.

"No, none of this childish finger-pointing." I scolded.

"Well, if you didn't want me to be childish, maybe you shouldn't have killed me when I was a child." V grinned that sly smile of hers, and as much as I didn't want to, it made me smile, too.

"Oh shut up." I said, unable to stop smiling as I walked back to the main road. I continued along the semi-busy sidewalk until I had almost reached my apartment building. It was a pretty good apartment, quiet, and pretty safe. Not needed, when you're a highly trained assassin, but I needed to stay out of trouble; can't have some low-level goon employed by Hydra telling people where I am. I climbed the few stories up to my level, then reached into a small pocket in my bag that I always put my key in. Pulling it out, I twisted it into the lock, swinging the door open to reveal the place I now called home. It was nowhere near the level of extravagance of the tower, but I preferred the homey space. Even though I hadn't taken the time to decorate, it still felt like me, from the weapons stashed everywhere to the gadgets I was always tinkering with, to the various maps and notes strewn over almost every available surface. Far from neat, but I could navigate the chaos with ease. "Home sweet home."

"You seriously need friends, Y/N." V muttered.

"We've been over this; no. I need to find the General."

"Why?" 

"To find the source of my powers. And maybe for a little bit of revenge."

"That's very unlike you." Ben commented.

"Maybe so. But because of her I had to distance myself from my family. Not to mention, making me afraid of any sort of closeness with anyone, as a direct result of forcing me to kill anyone or anything I loved. Like you two." I gestured to the odd pair.

"I know why. You just always said that whenever someone tries to get revenge, their plan is 'full of holes and usually lacks any back-up preparations because they're blinded by hatred'."

"Lucky for us, unlucky for her, I was trained to hunt and kill, so this will be just like any mission." I shrugged.

"It's not, though." V added.

"Guys. I appreciate your concern for my well-being and the stability of my plan, but I know what I'm doing."

"You keep mentioning a plan, and yet you haven't said it."

"Fine." I walked over to the the corner I had made into my workspace. "Number one: using a photostatic veil, I infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters as Natasha Romanoff, then replicate and download any files on known Hydra personnel, or with any luck the General herself."

"A photo-what now?" V asked.

"A photostatic veil. It's an invention that I grabbed the plans for from S.H.I.E.L.D. back when I was with Hydra. It allows the wearer to look like whoever they want. It can store up to three facial scans." I explained.

"Wow."

"Yeah, pretty cool." Continuing, I said, "Number two: using the new intel, try and pinpoint her location. If I can't, then we go to Plan A, subplan: using the known personnel list, find and kidnap someone, and use their identity to infiltrate a Hydra base. Dig through the base's files to try and pinpoint her location. Number three: kidnap the General, and search her mind for any information on me, my powers, and their origin. Number four: make her suffer. Haven't decided how yet."

"That's it? That's the plan?"

"Yes, Ben, that's my plan."

"That's a terrible plan." V chimed in.

"I disagree."

"Why don't you just grab an agent and search their memories for the General?"

"Because only a select few work with her. You know that, Ben. It would a needle in a haystack, and I would be exhausted by the time we found her." I sighed. "Just trust me, guys. You both know what I can do. I've been trained to do this." The two looked at each other before nodding solemnly. "Thank you." 

"On one condition." V spoke.

I looked at her, confused. "The dead are making arrangements now?"

"Y/N."

"Fine. What?"

"You have to make a friend when it's all over."

"I have you two." I argued.

"A living friend, Y/N. It isn't healthy to talk to people you killed."

"I thought you forgave me for that." I touched my hand to my collarbone, faking offense.

"Y/N! Take this seriously. We do forgive you, but the point still stands that you need someone else in your life that will make you think about what could be, not what could've been." V said in exasperated earnest.

She had a point, and I knew it. We all knew it; I was always thinking about what it would be like if they were alive. My biggest regret would always be the monster I allowed myself to become. I sighed, sinking into the sofa. "I know. And while you are right, I'm just . . so afraid that if I let someone get close to me, they'll get hurt. Like you, like Ben. Like Buck." I looked down at my hands, telling them my heart's truth, as I felt tears press against my eyelids.

I heard footsteps coming closer, and felt Ben's burly, strong arms and V delicate, small arms pull me into a group hug. "We know. We'll start small. Like a barista you say 'good morning' to every day, or a street vendor you always buy from. Something not as personal, but still a connection. Okay?" V whispered.

"Okay." I mumbled, my voice muffled by Ben's shoulder. 

Pulling away, Ben prompted, "Okay. Back to this plan of yours. What was step one again?"

☢️💮☢️

Edit: The only change with this chapter is the image at the top. I forgot I made graphic for some of the chapters.