Animalia // Barnes

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Dawn of Heroes pt. I

~BARNES~

I walk onto into the cockpit of a SHIELD plane, ready to leave. "Great news." Tony says, his iron man mask retraced into is helmet. He gestures for me to follow him to one of his floating screens. "I know where we need to go, and it doesn't involve a plane." I raise a brow. Tony clicks a few of the blue buttons. "The woman we saw kidnap Mel is Lee Nixon. She lives in apartment 236, 12th street, Brooklyn, New York." I stiffen at the mention of Brooklyn, old memories flashing by in a blurring mess.

"SHIELD's been keeping tabs on her, and you know why? She's one of us. A former superhero, alias Crescendo. She was a part of a team, each member with a unique power. This was all in file titled 'The fail-safe program'. Turns out, we're in there too. They were put together to eliminate The Avengers if we fell apart or joined the wrong side. During the battle of Sokovia, all of the team members died apart from Lee."

Tony hits another button, causing a pixilated clip of the woman sending shock waves towards Ultron's robots. The other women fall to the ground, bloody gashes appearing across their bodies. As the clip continues, the assault gets worse, up until Lee destroys them all with a final blast, her teammates limp form in her arms. "The next day, she shot a bullet next to Nick Fury's head, a warning to never bother her again."

My eyes widen. "That's pretty dramatic." I say.

"If the only people to call your family was murdered in front of you, how would you react?"

I nod my head in understanding. "She's pretty powerful. She was born with her powers, which is the ability to manipulate, destroy and create sound waves. She also has quite the brain, looking at her degrees. You need to be careful of her, especially with Mel. If those two want a fight, it's not going to be an easy win."

"Well then let's get going."

***

~MEL~

I pump my arms as I sprint off the edge of the building complex, my loose hair whipping around my face. For a few moments, my body plummets towards the ground, the tar road growing in size. I will my angelic wings to form, their protruding bones sprouting from my back. My feathery wings beat against the gushing wind, its familiar howl echoing in my ears. I soar towards the edge of the building, just as a small figure leaps off, her bony arms securing themselves around my neck as I turn to face her.

I continue to climb the bright blueness of the sky, past the highest buildings and toward the clouds. Lee's grip loosens around my neck, her small figure almost slipping through my arms. "Hold on!" I yell over the wind. Gliding through the first layer of clouds, a small squeal coming from Lee's mouth, her grip instantly tightening.

I stop abruptly, readjusting my grip on Lee. Moving further east instead of towards the sky, I prepare myself for a long flight. Within minutes, the sparkling surface of the Atlantic Ocean appears beneath me. "Remind me how long it will be until we reach Germany?" Lee asks. "Two and a half days." I say. "Two if I push it."

"And you're going to try to stay awake for two days?"

"I'm gonna have to. When we get there, we can rest for a few hours. After that, we need to go straight to the HYDRA base, towards Melony Vandenberg."

Lee nods, tightening her grip around my neck.

***

~BARNES~

My footsteps lightly touch the concrete ground, making not a sound as I walk through the hallways of the building. I raise my rifle, ready to shoot any enemies that emerge from the apartment. Steve enters my proverbial vision, slowly creeping towards the door. He waits a few moments before kicking it open, a satisfying clashing sound coming after it.

He leaps out of any line of sight the two women could have had, doing a small roll on the ground with his shield. No one shoots from inside the apartment, the only sound being my heartbeat thudding in my ears and the swinging door. I sprint inside, using my metal arm to shield many face from the oncoming assault. Launching myself over a kitchen island, I take cover, the silence still filling the air. I peer over the edge of the kitchen counter, only to see a deserted room.

I flick the safety off of the gun twice, a signal for the all-clear. Steve strides into the room, his brown boots making a soft thud as he walks. He used his shield to cover most of his body, making his way behind a couch. Sharon Carter cautiously walks in, poking her head around a corridor, gun raised. She gives us the all-clear while Tony saunters into the room. "JARVIS, scan the apartment for heat signatures. Tell me if there's anything in here that isn't us."

After a moment of silence, FRIDAY replies. "I'm not detecting any other heat signatures in the apartment, Mister Stark. The two women appear to have left some time ago, as they haven't left any traces of heat on their belongings."

"Thanks FRIDAY."

"It is not a problem, sir."

Tony's face mask retracts back into the helmet, revealing his bored expression. Steve stands to his full height, although his hand still grips his shield firmly. "Search the house for anything that could tell us where they went. It's our best shot at finding them. Tony, you're on laptops. Buck, you search the rooms to the right of the corridor, I'll search left. Sharon, you should look through the main rooms." We all nod, and I make my way down the corridor, Steve following me closely.

I walk into the first room on the right, a small space with a desk and a laptop. "Tony." I beckon, turning and walking towards the doorway. He finds his way to the room quickly, going straight to the laptop. "Thanks Snowflake."

I turn to face him, a horrified look on my face. "Snowflake?"

Tony grins. "Y'know, Winter Soldier? Snowflake?"

I nod, still unsupportive of the nickname. Searching the shelves, I find no clues as to where they could have gone. Eventually, my eyes skim over an atlas. I pull it out, looking for any markings on the coloured paper. After minutes of searching, I come to nothing. Sighing, I put it back on the dusty shelf, next to a large gemstone. How's it going on the computer?" I ask Tony.

"I think a nun would have a dirtier search history than this woman. The worst thing I can find is a free movie website. She hasn't been on here since the morning she picked Animalia up, before the cameras spotted her. There isn't even any family details on here. She has a phone under the same Itunes account, but I saw that on the way in. If we're gonna find them, this computer isn't going to show us where they went."

I nod, worry starting to work its way further into my mind. What if Mel and Lee were captured? Did they leave here willingly? What if they're on the streets? Running a hand through my hair, I walk towards the next room. A loud clash comes from the kitchen, followed by a loud curse. "Language!" Tony yells. I raise a brow, hearing Steve's sigh from the one of other rooms. "It's a long story." Steve says. "You alright Sharon?"

We all walk down the corridor, towards the kitchen and living room. Sharon stands above a carton of milk, its contents pooling around on the floor. A fridge door hangs open, revealing an overflowing stick of food. Black marker is scrawled across the food, whatever is written undecipherable from this distance. "I'm fine." Sharon says, sighing. "I also have an idea as to where the pair would've gone." She picks up the carton of milk, trying to brush the liquid off of the plastic. More marker is revealed, so I walk closer to read it. The words "THIS ISN'T YOUR FOOD" are written across it, probably written in a hurry.

"That is my milk." She says, an angry expression on her face. "I wrote that across the carton when I bought it, in the exact same black sharpie." We all give her strange looks, mine mainly confused. "Someone has been stealing food from my house for a few months, so I started writing messages for them to stop. They somehow managed to hack into my computer and disabled the security cameras I had installed. I had no idea who it was. Clearly, it's Lee." Sharon curses once more, running her hand through her hair.

"So you think that they've gone to your house?" I ask her. "It's our best shot." Sharon replies.

"Then lead the way. We haven't got much time."