❝Being alone is easy, it's the loneliness that'll kill you.❞
❝I can deal with the noise. I don't mind the noise. The quiet is a different story.❞
In which both Mara Reyes and Steve Rogers have no fucking idea what they're doing with t...
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN Back to Roots
MARA FOUND HERSELF on a rooftop in the middle of the night with a sniper rifle in front of her. Her talent of being a sharpshooter was finally being put to use by the Hammerheads. It had been a while since she had touched a rifle but assembling it came as easy to her as breathing.
It was a weirdly chilly night and Mara zipped up her jacket, exhaling – her breath visible in the dark sky.
It was a night like this the first time she had done her first warning shot. She was so nervous back then she had been trembling. And here she was 10 years later as still as a rock. Practice really did make perfect. Ryder had given her the name of her target. Just another shady man involved in things he should not be. His life probably would have been easier if he went the conventional way and got a job wearing a suit, got married, had kids and lived a normal life, but he opted for the life of conning and crime. Apparently this man had skipped out on paying in a cage fight and the Hammerheads weren't just going to let him walk freely.
Taking her eye away from the scope briefly, Mara glanced down at the dim and empty streets of the city. From what she could see, there was no one around.
The flip phone Ryder had given her started to vibrate in her pocket. Rolling her eyes, Mara answered it, putting it on speaker.
"What?" She scowled.
"What are you waiting for?" He asked.
"A good opportunity." Mara replied, annoyed as she looked in the scope to see her target pacing back and forth in alley by a dumpster. She knew even with him moving back and forth, she'd still be able to hit him where she wanted to, but Ryder and the Hammerheads were still unaware of her ability and she planned on keeping it that way. "A clear shot."
"I thought you were a sharp shooter."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you need a bullet in your stomach for me to prove it to you?"
"Jeez, calm down." Ryder retorted.
"Don't tell me to calm down."
He knew better not to reply and Mara sighed, looking into the scope again.
"Any day now, M." Ryder's voice jeered impatiently after a minute.
"Shut up or I'll shoot you the next time I see you. Don't call again." Mara snapped, hanging up on him. "Prick."
Her finger hovered over the trigger as her mother's and Cal's voices suddenly echoed in her head.
"I knew you couldn't take the shot." Jane taunted.
