"You ready, Y/N?" Steve murmured.
Your hand moved to the handle of the gun at your side, and you gripped it tightly. Adrenaline was pounding through you, and your head swam a little with its force. You looked up at Steve, grim-faced, and nodded.
The two of you moved forward together slowly, cautiously. In the room down the corridor, you knew there was a meeting going on that would probably result in HYDRA getting their hands on some pretty dangerous weapons. It was up to you and Steve to stop it.
If you had to do this mission with anyone, you were glad it was Steve. It was Steve you trusted the most, out of all of the Avengers- he was the one who had saved you when HYDRA murdered your parents, well-respected scientists whose experiments had attracted HYDRA's attention. When they refused to hand over what they'd found out, they were killed. You would have been too, except Steve had turned up just in time.
Almost. What Steve didn't know, what none of them knew, was that your parents used you as the subject of their experiments. You'd thought it hadn't worked, but now...
You still didn't understand exactly what they did to you. But several times now, when you'd been angry or upset, you could have sworn that you felt the floor shaking beneath you.
It made this mission a little more complicated. You didn't know if, in the middle of a fight, you would be able to control...whatever it was. If there had been any choice, you would have sat it out. But the rest of the Avengers were away or injured, and you couldn't leave him to take them on by himself.
The risk just added to the anticipation of the mission. You knew you shouldn't be looking forward to this, but you were. The memory of your parents, still and bloody on the floor in front of you...
"Y/N," Steve frowned now. "You with me?"
Shaking yourself, you realised that you had stopped moving. Steve was looking at you, concerned. You shot him a grin.
"Yeah, I'm good. Let's just get this done."
He nodded briskly, and the two of you carried on advancing down the corridor. You reached the double doors of the hotel conference room. Steve paused opposite you.
"You sure you're ready, Y/N?"
You glared at him. "Steve, stop fussing. I'm fine."
His gaze lingered on you for a moment more. He looked uneasy, but you held his gaze. He was the first one to look away.
"Let's get on with it, then."
For a few seconds, the two of you paused. Then on an unseen signal Steve threw open the doors, and both of you raced inside.
Chaos erupted in the room. You saw several burly men and a few women scattered around, each reaching for their weapons. A tall man with piercing eyes looked around, alarmed.
Your first few shots took three people out before they even touched their guns. A guy grabbed you from behind, and you thrust your elbow back into his stomach. He grunted, released you, and you span around and hooked your foot behind his knee. A quick tug, and he was sprawled on the ground. Another kick left him unconscious.
Across the room, you knew that Steve was fighting through the same. The room was in too much turmoil for you to risk shooting now- you didn't know who you would hit. Luckily, neither did they. You and Steve were too fast.
For a few glorious seconds, you were winning.
Then the doors opened again, and more soldiers flooded the room. Too many for you to fight off by yourselves, not that you wouldn't try. But you caught Steve's eye, and the two of you shared a look that said you knew you couldn't win this fight.
Before long, you were on your knees, arms wrenched behind your back. It took two of them to hold you down, and one of them had to keep his foot on your legs.
Steve saw you restrained, and knew that the battle was lost. He threw a last punch, but when they caught his arm and held him back, he allowed it without a fight.
You were determined not to panic. You and the Avengers had fought your way out of tighter corners than this.
It was only when a new man walked in that your stomach plummeted.
You knew him. You recognised him. That day with your parents...he'd been stood over them when you walked in.
Your face went white, and Steve looked at you anxiously. You didn't notice. All you could see was the face in front of you. The face of your parents' murderer.
"You," you spat. A mocking smile spread over his face.
"I'm glad to see you recognise me. I wasn't sure that you would."
"How could I not, you..." You tried to lunge at him, but ended up being wrestled back to the floor. "Did you organise this whole thing?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm afraid so. I have to say, it worked a little better than I was expecting. I thought there'd be more of you."
You scowled at him as fiercely as you could. The power of the anger thudding through you nearly made you tremble. He was so close, and yet you couldn't touch him.
"What do you want?"
He cocked his head to one side. "What did you parents do to you?"
He knew. Of course he did. Desperate now, you tried even harder to free yourself. You couldn't let him tell Steve, whose expression was pure confusion
"Y/N, who is this? What does he mean?" he asked urgently.
"He killed my parents. And I don't know what he's on about."
"Yes, you do. And you're going to tell us."
"Like hell am I." You spat at him.
His eyes turned cold as ice, and he nodded to one of the men holding Steve.
It all happened faster than you could process it. On his signal, Steve's captors began hitting him, over and over again. His face, his chest, his legs...you didn't think there was anywhere they hadn't hit him. Your ear filled with his groans and the smack of flesh on flesh. You couldn't stop staring at the blood on his face.
"Stop it!" you screamed.
The men stopped, and he began to say something. You couldn't hear him over the buzzing in your ears, your breathing becoming quicker and quicker as a new kind of power began to surge through you.
As if from far away, you felt the floor beneath you begin to shake. The various soldiers scattered around exchanged anxious murmurs, but all your attention was focused on Steve. It looked like he had passed out.
The thought made you even angrier. Who the hell did this guy think he was to hurt your friend like that?
When you spoke, your voice was low and dangerous.
"Let. Him. Go."
Another rumble punctuated your words.
Both you and Steve were released as most of the room sprang for the door. You rushed over to Steve, pulling him into your lap.
The man remained standing in front of you, an expression of pure wonder lighting his face up.
"You should go," you warned him. "Now you know what I can do, you should know that I'm coming after you."
He hesitated only a second before leaving you alone with Steve. You would have to deal with him soon, but now you had bigger priorities.
The anger ebbed away, leaving worry in its wake as you looked down at Steve. "Steve? Steve, c'mon, wake up."
He stirred, blinking as he looked up at you.
"Y/N? Did I imagine that?"
"Imagine what?" You didn't realise it, but you were whispering. "Stay still, Steve. I'm gonna phone an ambulance."
You reached out for one of the phone abandoned on the table, trembling as you typed the numbers in. You could barely keep your voice even long enough to make the call.
"It's on its way," you said finally, dropping the phone as your attention returned to Steve. He could barely breathe for pain, but still watched you.
"Did I imagine that?" he insisted. "You made this entire room shake."
Closing your eyes, you nodded. "It...I think it was my parents. Their experiments. And I can't control it properly."
A warm tear trickled down your cheek, and you flinched when a rough finger wiped it away.
"It's okay, Y/N. Really, we'll help you."
His entire body tensed up with pain, and you shifted a little more of his weight into your arms.
"Yeah. I know. Let's get you better first, okay?"
-
You spent the entire night in the hospital, struggling not to fall asleep as you waited for Steve to wake up. By the time he finally stirred in his bed, you had nearly lost the battle.
"Hey. How you feeling?" you asked softly as his eyes opened.
He frowned a little as he took you in. "Y/N, did you get any sleep at all?"
You laughed slightly. "Steve, honestly. I'm fine. You're the one in the hospital bed."
"Don't worry about me. Y/N, last night..."
"You don't have to finish," you interrupted. "What I did...I know it's bad."
He reached out and took your hand.
"Don't be ashamed of it, Y/N. You probably saved both our lives. And know we know, we'll help you. This isn't your burden to carry alone."
Your throat felt thick, and you struggled to say "Thanks, Steve."
"Don't mention it," he smiled. "Now get some sleep."
