Washington ⇻ The Winter Soldier [2]

chapter one

Kaelyn McAlister looked up from where she was cleaning the dishes at the animal shelter when she heard her phone ring on the counter, drying her hands on the towel before grabbing it and answering it, "Hello?"

"We have a situation down in DC," Natasha Romanoff's voice filtered through the phone, "Fury was killed by the Winter Soldier."

In less time than it took to blink, Winter was in control, "Where was he last seen?"

"It was hours ago, he's long gone," Winter pursed her lips at Natasha's answer, "Meet us at the DC US mall."

"Us?"

"Steve's coming too," Natasha said, hanging up the phone before Winter could get out another word.

The brunette lowered the phone from her ear, "Shit."

"What's the plan?" Alison asked hesitantly, her soft voice ringing clearly through Winter's mind.

"Help him," Winter said with conviction, fading to the back as Gen sped off in the direction of Washington DC.

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After running for nearly an hour, and landing in Baltimore, Gen skidded to a stop next to a Taco Bell, having already eaten her stash of Tony dubbed "StarkBars" (which they all agreed was dumb), ready for her next calorie boost. Less than fifteen minutes later, Gen was chowing down on her 19th burrito when she got another call from Natasha.

"Hi!" Gen said before taking another bite of tortilla-wrapped beefy goodness.

"Change of plans, rendezvous in Wheaton, New Jersey," the assassin told her, "It's an old military base."

"It's a Hydra base," Winter informed the speedster from her idle place in the back of her mind.

"We'll be there," Gen affirmed, "Tell Steve we say hi!"

A muffled "Hi, Gen." could be heard from beyond the phone, only to be repeated by Natasha, "See you in a few hours, Gen."

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After sitting on a rock for ages, Winter had begun to sharpen the knives that were holstered on the Legion suit as a way to pass the time. Finally, rumbling could be heard coming from down the road, so Winter put the dagger away in its sheath and stood up to greet her two fellow Avengers.

"About time you showed up," Winter grumbled as they got out of the car, then raised her voice in order to actually be heard, "We've been here for two hours. Why are we at an old Hydra base?"

"This place is Hydra?" Steve looked around as if seeing the base in a new light.

"Since 1972 if I remember correctly," Winter said as she shook his hand in greeting, faintly remembering when the Winter Soldier had been brought here for a mission.

"I was trained here."

"I know," Winter smiled, "It's changed a bit, hasn't it?"

"A little," Steve nodded, a small but confused smile appearing on his face.

"If you know where we are, do you want to tell us what we should be doing here?" Nat asked, forgoing a handshake in favor of a quick hug.

"The memories are always a bit blurry before and after the ice, but I know there's a bunker over there; used to be SHIELD."

"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place," Steve agreed as the trio walked over to the looming structure.

"It's never in the right place when it comes to Hydra," Winter told him as he broke the lock on the door.

Ooo, the first chapter! And posted from my new computer too! This was actually the first thing I did after I finished setting up my new pretty computer. With a functioning keyboard (my old computer had about five keys that didn't work). Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic day (and week),

~ Aria :D