Sergeant Barnes: The Last Mission (COMPLETE)

Chapter 11: Nick

    This wasn't news.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. HYDRA has always wanted to take down SHIELD. Or at least get rid of us as a problem. It's just that now, they might actually be able to do it.

Cut off one head, and two more shall take its place. That was HYDRA's motto. I think it's time that we stab it in the heart.

"Hill, I want you to go down to the labs and find out what they know about our friend." I looked up at her. "Tell them that I want to know where this metal devil comes from, exactly, and now."

She nodded and left the room. Tony circled back around the table and sat in his original seat. I guess Bucky got tired of standing because he took Maria's seat. He leaned forward, looked down at his hands and didn't make eye contact, but I wasn't done with him yet. If he had figured out what HYDRA's target was, then maybe he could help me take them down.

"Do you think HYDRA has more of these things?"

He shook his head and inhaled. "There's no telling how many, but they wouldn't have stopped at one." He looked up at me, then looked over at Tony. "If they get here, there won't be an easy out."

Tony, wearing his trademark sunglasses, could have fooled most people into thinking that he wasn't looking at Bucky, since his head was still facing the door Maria walked out of, but I could tell they were making eye contact. Somehow, they came to a silent agreement that they couldn't let that happen.

Natasha closed the folder and tossed onto the center of the table. "Where would they keep all of them?"

Bucky looked his left, not at Natasha, but just at the wall. "Wherever they make these things is where they would store them, so they could fix or make more of them when they needed to."

Tony motioned with one hand. "So if we go to their home base and wipe them out, problem solved moving on?"

Bucky leaned back in his seat. "It won't be that easy, Stark. HYDRA won't let us walk in and destroy everything they've built to destroy us."

I took note of the fact that he said 'us', but didn't say anything.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I figured that much, but if we did destroy it, them, whatever..."

Bucky eyed the report. "We don't know where they're from. Until we get a location, we can't do anything."

"That won't take long." None of us had realized that Natasha had pulled out her phone. She zoomed in on her screen then passed the phone to me. "The scan I took of Chrome-Dome had a GPS tracker implanted in its upper back."

Tony leaned over my shoulder and slid his sunglasses down to get a better view. "Your guys can trace that, right?"

I handed the phone to Tony. "They can trace it just fine, as soon as they get to it, but they can't go blow the place to the ground from here, or they would." I stood up and crossed my arms. "Hill will probably have the coordinates in an hour tops. HYDRA won't wait for us to stop them, so if you're in, then you need to suit up."

Tony readjusted his sunglasses. "Already done."

Barnes glared at him but didn't fire back.

"We have gear if you need to borrow some, Barnes." I motioned to the doors. "I'll have someone bring it to you."

Natasha beckoned for her phone back. "Just us three?"

"She's got a point," Tony said, giving the phone back. "Do we have anyone else?"

I scratched my chin. "Well, the Maximoffs are out, and so is Wilson, I heard. Thor is ruling Asgard, and Dr. Banner said the Hulk hasn't shown for five years, and he'd like to keep it that way. Rhodes is retired, and the Wakandans are knee-deep in issues right now." I didn't bother to mention the people we had lost in the Infinity War. "Unless you have a spare Avenger hiding in your mansion..." I shrugged.

Stark turned his back towards us. He stared at the far wall, then pulled out his, I don't think that qualifies as a phone.

Natasha stood up and glared at him. "You're kidding. I thought Parker was in college."

Barnes looked up at her, then at Tony. "The spider kid?"

He turned around. "Uh, actually, his official name is Spider-Man, and he graduated from college last spring, almost seven months ago, and he is now 23, so I don't think he's a kid anymore."

"That's still a little young, Stark," Bucky said, even though I just had another idea that was even more reckless than that one.

"He's got a bulletproof suit now, I'm not stupid. (Bucky looked like he was considering objecting) He can stay on the outside, just web up escapees and keep an eye out, if it makes you feel better."

Bucky looked at me. I just gestured to the three of them. "You decide that, but I think I know someone else who might also want in." I looked at Natasha. "You were saying she could take on a bigger assignment."

Her eyes widened as she realized who I meant. "No."

I opened my arms and made a face. "She'll probably be safer with you out there than here while HYDRA is planning to wipe us out. Might as well." I pointed out the doors. "She's ready, you know that."

Tony removed his sunglasses and pointed them at me. "Who is he talking about?"

Bucky looked at Natasha as they both stood up. "It's a younger agent I'm training."

Bucky crossed his arms and looked away. "More kids. In a war. Perfect."

I didn't back down. "Keep her out of the action if you want, but she understands what the risk is, probably better than most of the other agents here. Just offer it to her, and see what she says. If she wants to, bring her along and see how she does. You can hold her back if it's too dangerous, or let her fight and do some training in the field. If she says no, then she'll stay."

Natasha still didn't look convinced. "I'll ask her." She walked out the doors, and the rest of us followed suit.

I called Andrea to get some gear ready for Barnes, and pointed him in the right direction. Stark walked off and went somewhere quieter while he called Parker. When both of their backs were turned, I followed Natasha downstairs.

It was time to introduce Agent Raven to some Avengers.