Where You Left Me; M. Lopez (REVAMP)

two.

AUGUST

"Oh my god."

August's eyes remained glued to the television screen, this could not be happening again. Not after the several years that it had been.

She could not help but think of Maya, she wondered if she was still on her quest for vengeance.

"Crazy," Yelena shook her head, "A dog-saving assassin, sounds vaguely familiar." she joked.

August scoffed, slowly bringing herself back to reality. The two could feel the sudden shift in mood for both of them. However, neither of them mentioned it to the other.

"Hey, August," Yelena spoke up softly interrupting the silence that fell between them.

"Hm?" she hummed, tearing her eyes off the masked assailant who had killed Maya's father.

"Are you ok? I know it's the anniversary...I'm sorry about your brother."

August's eyes dropped to the floor, her voice was beyond quiet as she responded, "I'm okay."

Andrew King was August's older brother, which just so happened to have been the only family she ever had. She was a teenager when he was killed protecting her, August went out for blood from that day forward.

The only issue was when she finally reached her end goal, her vengeance, August did not feel any better.

"Okay." Yelena nodded, gently giving August's shoulder a pat, "Well, I'm off to investigate my super secret high-profile target."

At that August laughed, and Yelena smiled having successfully improved her best friend's mood.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm starting to think this target doesn't exist." the brunette teased.

Yelena smirked at her roommate, as she stood by the door to their apartment, "What exactly am I doing all the time then?"

"I don't know," August shrugged, "Maybe you're secretly a part of a cult."

Despite August's very serious tone, the two bursted out into laughter seconds later. A phone rang from the coffee table and August picked it up rolling her eyes.

"Is it Valentina again?" Yelena questioned as she slipped on her coat.

August nodded, lifting the phone to her ear, but before she responded to her boss she said one last thing to the blonde, "Can you bring back ice cream we're all out."

She received a thumbs up from Yelena and then returned to her call, "Hello?"

"Your paycheck decreases every time you ignore my calls."

August could almost hear the older woman rolling her eyes, "I just wanted a couple of days off. That's all I asked for."

"I know...but your next mission just arrived in town."

"What's my next mission, defeat Santa Claus?" August questioned sarcastically, switching the tv off.

"No," Valentina declined, annoyance evident in her tone, "It's a recruiting mission."

August's eyebrows pulled together, and Yelena's dog came prancing over to the couch finally accepting that the blonde woman had left, "You don't usually have me recruiting. I'm not really the greatest at it."

"Oh, believe me, I know," Valentina shook her head from the other side of the telephone line, "But I can not make it into town, so you're my only option."

August rolled her eyes, she was not a fan of being someone's last choice. However, she needed to take her mind off her ex, "Did you send me the file?"

"Sending it over now," Valentina stated, "Good luck."

Before August had the chance to say anything else, the woman had already hung up the phone. She sighed, opening her laptop and pulling up the file Valentina had sent.

"Josephine Bryne..." August read the twenty-two-year-old's name, "Who are you and what exactly does Valentina want with you?"

Through reading the file August found that Josephine was a very accomplished former black widow. Who now seemingly was a college student. The poor girl was just trying to be normal, August could understand that, she had tried to be normal too.

Eventually, following her break up with Maya, Valentina recruited her. August decided to live up to the name that Hydra branded her with because running from her past wasn't getting her anywhere.

Recruiting has never been a part of August's expertise but August knew Valentina would have her head if she blew this one.

So, she started in the shadows, where she would typically learn the most about her targets, and maybe this wasn't so different.

It occurred to August just how wrong she was when she tracked down Kate Bishop's apartment. In fact, it appeared that she wasn't even the only one to track down the young woman's home.

August watched from a nearby rooftop as the red tracksuit-wearing men fumbled around with the Molotov. They were almost all complete idiots which she could gather from both this experience and past experiences.

The brunette pinched the bridge of her nose as the first bottle flew through the window of Kate's home. What August was not expecting was the second bottle they threw to go right back at them from the broken window.

Flames caught on to the pant legs of three or four of the men and August rolled her eyes as they all continued to fumble around.

"Got you," August mumbled as she spotted Josephine, Kate, and a man all sneak out of the building onto the sidewalk.

She kept a close eye on the group, following them from just far enough away to stay unnoticed. They made a stop at the drugstore before going to a different apartment building.

August had no way of being certain which apartment they were in but she was fairly certain that Josephine and Kate were in for the night.

She would not be able to get into contact with Josephine until at least the following day. So she went home for the night.

Yelena's dog, Fanny greeted her at the door and August scratched behind her ears with a small smile. It was clear that Yelena wasn't back yet as the dog would already be cuddled up next to her.

August collapsed back on to the couch a sigh of exhaustion leaving her lips. It didn't take long for her to drift into sleep.

"August! You have to run!" Andrew King rapidly signed, "Get out of here and don't look back!"

"I'm not leaving you!" tears slipped down her face.

"I love you, August. I'll be okay. Please just go." He gently shoved her forward away from the building.

Bullets tore through the air in their direction and Andrew began to shoot back. It took a bullet skimming her arm for her to get moving.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she ran away from the Hydra Base. August couldn't stop herself from looking back and when she did her heart dropped.

Andrew was laying unmoving in the dirt.