Soldier Boy

13

*Inessa*

"Alright. We need you two to go left," Steve points to James and I. We both look at each other, sarcastically surprised that we're paired together.

"You sure? Last time we were in a team," I hold my hand up, showcasing my fingers, wiggling them. He rolls his eyes, and Nat lightly punched my arm.

"Sam, you take the skies, keep out for any stragglers. It should be easy, four guys, one chip." We were in Moldova, tracking down a security chip that may have some info on the Red Borns. "Everyone got it?" Everyone nods in reply, pulling casual jackets and hats on. We decided to look normal until we figured out who was who and we're finally able to get to work. Steve didn't want to freak any civilians but us all showing up in our gear. "You two head for the markets." James and I nod, walking off the quinjet,

-

The streets were busy, filled with children running around, farmers and merchants trying find people to buy something. I've always wanted to give those in need something, and usually I would have walked over and looked at the stands, but we were to busy scanning for anything suspicious.

"You'd think he'd keep us apart, since the last time didn't go well." I mumble only loud enough for James to hear.

"Keep focus." His eyes scan over faces, keeping his head forward.

"Just curious, does Steve seem grumpy today? More than before?" I smirk to myself, but keeping focused like James said.

"He's always grumpy." He grunts while squeezing past a group of nuns. He nods down to them, making the younger ones blush, while the oldest doesn't pay him mind.

"Easy now, don't want to send any of them to confession." I giggle, turning to look at him.

"Shut it." His jaw tightens and he walks a little faster, making me fall behind.

"Red baseball cap." Nat speaks into the ear piece, and James and I's conversation halts as we get ready for what's about to happen. It should be easy to seek out these guys, since most of the civilians are dressed in their harvest clothes, dirty from being in the fields. Just as I see a red cap, James grabs my arm, pulling me to a stand.

"Wait for him to past, don't want to cause a scene." He whispers close to my hair, which makes me inconveniently swallow, feeling his warm breath on my ear and neck. I slowly nod, and he gently lets go of my arm, reaching for whatever the man behind the table had for display. A small wooden bird, carved with intricate designs catches his eye, and he passes it to the man, who smiles and starts speaking. I peek over my shoulder and see the red hat pass by us, squeezing his way through the crowd. "Let's go." And we start following him.

"You guys made any contact?" Steve asks through the ear piece.

"Following now." I answer back. The red hat bobs on top of the crowd, and suddenly darts to an alley.

"Sam keep eyes out. Market alleyway, red cap." James's steps speed up, making mine stride longer to keep up.

"On it." Sam answers. We round the last building before the alley way, and when we see no one there we turn and look at each other.

"Trap?" I ask him, furrowing my brows. He tilts his head, before looking back down the alley.

"Probably." He takes the first step, watching for anything that moves. I reach behind me, pulling out two guns I had hid away, passing one to him. "How did you sneak this?" His eyes dart to mine as I stepped alongside him.

"I never go somewhere unprepared." I smirk, feeling a bit proud that he was surprised. But the little moment ends when the red cap long with another, step out into the middle of the alley, nearly the same size if not bigger than James. "Shit." It was barely a whisper, but James, stands in front of me, blocking my view of the two men.

-

*James*

"Shit." A mumble under her breath make me stand in front of her. I still don't know how well she fights, or if she even can, but these two brutes were twice her size, if not mine. The first one steps forward, cracking his neck, then his hands. "A little cliché don't ya think?" I can hear the roll of eyes in her voice, stepping out from behind me, gun in hand pointed straight at them.

"Inessa." I watch as she takes a step closer, a smile creeping onto her face. "What are-" She shoots a pipe on the side of the building, spraying steam in their faces, making them cover their eyes. She bolts forward, easing her gun back into its holster, throwing off her jacket, disappearing into the steam. "Nessa!" I run after her, tucking the gun in my belt. I hear grunts and groans, and the sound of skin hitting skin. That's fucking perfect. Before I can reach the cloud in front of me, a man slides out of the ground, face bloody and pinched in pain. Tilting my head down at him confused, he looks up at me spitting blood from his mouth.

"Ow! You fucker!" I hear a body slam into the ground following Inessa's groans. Oh shit. Looking back down at the man beneath me, I give him a sorry smile, kicking the side of his face, which makes his body go slack. Hope he's not dead. When I turn around seeing the steam is mostly gone, and I watch as the red cap lays a hard punch into her gut. An oof sound escapes her, and she rolls to avoid another hit, clutching her sides.

"Hey!" I spit, making his head snap to mine. I swing my metal arm back, throwing it to his face as hard as I could. But he catches it, holding it in place before it met his face. I look down my arm where his hand holds it, slowly looking at him, before he smiles and punches me instead. I fly to the ground seeing literal stars, and I watch his feet crunch closer to me. How the hell did he stop that?

My eyes flick to Inessa standing behind him, knife out and eyes full of hate, teeth gritting together. Bare those teeth and snarl, baby. I look up at him, who's eyes were still on me, and I smile. "Your fucked." I grin and roll out of the way, hearing Inessa tackle him to the ground.
She slides her knees over his neck, pinning him down, keeping him from standing. He tries to get free, but she stabs her knife into his shoulder, twisting it, making his arm unusable. I won't lie, watching her kick ass was seductive but more so startling.

"Where is it?" She grits, digging her heels into his sides, making him squirm in discomfort. "Tell me." She digs her knife into the crook of his neck, choosing not to kill him just yet.

"Go," He spits blood from his mouth, which flies all over her face. "To hell." He smiles. She doesn't wipe away the blood, too dead set on violence.

"We've got the chip, get out of there!" Sam's voice booms in our ears, but I can't respond while my full attention is on Inessa. Her nose flares as she leans close to his face.

"Where do you think I came from." Her voice hums, making his whole demeanor fall. "Who do you work for?" She tucks the blade closer into his neck, nicking his skin making it lightly bleed.

"Inessa." I stand, trying to pull her attention away from him. She's dead set on killing him, and by now I know she's capable of doing so.

"Hail," He spits at her again, and her other hand grips to his hair, tugging tight.

"I advise you, to choose your next words, very, carefully." Her voice alone sends chills down my spine. May god have mercy on her enemies, because she won't.

"Hydra." And as soon as he grits the words, her eyes snap open, the darkest I've ever seen before from anyone. She slides the blade across his throat slowly, making red run down onto the ground. He chokes for a brief moment, a frightened look on his face as she's the last thing he'll ever see.

Her eyes drift from his face as he lets out his last breath, looking dead in front of her. Not fazed that she killed him, she wipes the blood off the blade off on her pants, keeping that death glare in her eyes. The man a few feet away finally groans back to life, sliding his way to the wall. She turns and looks at him, violently gripping tight to her knife, standing off the dead ones body. I step quickly and grab her arm, pulling her next to me.

"Don't." I whisper, feeling the tension and anger radiating off her small body. She pulls forward, grunting to give him the same hell she just gave the other. "Let him go." She let's out a breath, before looking down, ripping her arm out of my grasp. And I watch as she walks past him, keeping her eyes forward down the alley. Steve and Nat ran to the end, stopping quickly as they watch her walk past. They both look away from her, looking at me before seeing the men laying on the ground. Sorry Steve.