Winter Soldier: Fade to Red

Along Came a Black Widow

Avalon loomed in the distance as the sun began to rise over a blanket of orange-tinged clouds. Bucky piloted the mini quinjet towards daybreak, his attention singularly focused upon The Message.

The sender, Yelena Belova, was a woman shrouded in a considerable amount of mystery. Up until the recent upheaval of reality at the hands of Doom, Magneto, Ultron, Loki and Amora, Yelena was an unheard of shadow in Natasha Romanoff's mysterious former life. Further intelligence on the young woman showed that she was a former assassin of the Red Room and a current member of the Russian super team- the Winter Guard.

Though the Avengers had been overrun with its own share of issues- the most recent being the abduction of Modi and Magni- a considerable amount of data had been compiled where the Russian super team was concerned. Bucky flipped through his mental Rolodex, recalling details about each member.

Yelena was, of course, a Black Widow who was raised as a younger sister to Natasha. Briefly a slave under the tyrannical thrall of General Dreykov, the Red Room's overseer, she was released from his control and subsequently ended his life. Having set the Black Widows free from their mental enslavement, she was then recruited into the Winter Guard where she functioned as one of its high-ranking officers.

Alexei Shostokov- also known as the Red Guardian- was Russia's very own super soldier. Imbued with similar enhancements as Steve and Bucky, Shostokov was capable of many similar feats. Years of imprisonment and inactivity had somewhat dulled his abilities over recent years, but since he was recruited into Winter Guard, Shostokov had trained and honed his abilities considerably.

***"Not going to lie, he's kind of hunky," Dean had once said of the Russian super soldier, much to Thor's amusement.

Laynia Petrovna went by the code name Darkstar. The blond former Miss Russia was a powerful mutant capable of harnessing dark energy. According to the Avengers' files, Laynia could use dark energy derived from an extradimensional plane with which she maintained a psychic connection. She could craft solid structures or concussive beams of force as well as fly and teleport herself. Though Yelena and Alexei were certainly formidable in their own rights, Laynia was an absolute boon for the Winter Guard in terms of her raw power.

Shifting his thoughts back to Yelena, he went over her message once more. It was quite vague, simply asking that Bucky- and only Bucky- meet her in a secret location in Moscow. Ordinarily, Bucky wouldn't have entertained the directive, opting to include his teammates on the matter. But his curiosity was piqued.

Crossing the Atlantic, he made it to Moscow in record time thanks to the quinjet's speed capabilities. Maintaining stealth mode, he landed the craft outside of city limits and made his way to the meeting place. He had dressed for ease of movement and blending in, wearing a snug navy blue leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and boots. Beneath the jacket a holster contained his sidearm. He put gloves on both for the chill and to hide his vibranium hand from view. Moving among the people, he tried to recall his last time in Russia. That line of thinking brought about many unpleasant memories of him wielding an assault rifle and painting the walls of a local hotel red with the blood of his targets. Shaking the memory off, he moved down a narrow street toward a shabby little cafe.

After being seated in a corner booth by the hostess, he picked up the menu and perused the establishment's offerings. After ordering an Earl Grey tea- no sugar, no cream- he began to study his surroundings. The cafe was not busy, save for one lone female who happened to enter shortly after he did.

The hostess returned with his drink as well as a plate of biscuits. He thanked her in perfect Russian, then took a sip as she walked away. He looked up at the filthy mirror on the wall and watched his new friend. Yelena sat directly behind him, a newspaper held up to her face. She pretended to read from it, making certain that he could see the paper in the reflection. And right in the center of the page she pretended to be reading from was yet another message.