1| Silver & Gold [Pietro M.] ✔

01. Infiltration

This intel better be good. I've wasted too much time, too many years, looking for him. I've wasted too much time chasing down dead-end leads, false reports, and lookalikes. I can't be sure if he knows that I'm looking for him, but I know someone else must be otherwise he wouldn't be running like this, right? This is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to infiltrate a HYDRA base while they're preoccupied. They won't even see me coming if they're too busy fighting off an Avengers raid.

I reach into my back pocket and provide my passport upon reaching Sokovia's small airport security check-in. My eyes wander around the room briefly to check for watching stares or possible threats. As I slide the worn blue book under the small opening to the security guard, I keep note of all peripheral movement. Public places are the worst for people like me — those trying to slip in under the radar of watchful eyes. However, they're also the best places to disappear into a crowd if things get hairy in a flash. The sudden movement of the security guard draws my obscured eyes back to him. His eyes drift across my sunglasses, back to my passport photo, then back to myself to identify me as who I say I am — Vanessa Blake. He nods and slaps a stamp on an empty page before returning the blue book to me. "Welcome to Sokovia, enjoy your stay." He drones as if he's said the same phrase over a hundred times already. I'm quick to start moving again, skirting around large groups of people waiting on loved ones, as I pull my dulled gray baseball cap further down to cover my face. I carefully avoid airport security and cameras.

Once exiting the airport, I hail a cab and instruct the driver to bring me to the western border of the city. I don't have to tell him twice. We're headed straight through the heart of the small city in a matter of moments. For the first time since landing, I sit back and let out a long breath. I shut my eyes briefly and take a moment to relax. My fingers drum against my thighs as I watch the cobble and brick buildings pass by my window.

What am I doing?

Should I even be digging this up? What if he doesn't want to be found? Am I going to be leading death and destruction right to him? Can I even help him? I'm not much better off. An escaped experiment. One of the first successes before the accident. Someone constantly checking over their shoulder, someone constantly moving, constantly running in an attempt not to be found. I don't truly know what it is I'm looking for. It is familiarity? Is it family? Is it a tie to someone who once made me feel normal?

It's a fool errand, I'll admit. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't. I'm simply using this as an excuse to avoid trying to build a normal life for myself. I'm in a perpetual struggle with what it is I truly desire. Maybe that's why I continued to jump from town to town after I was wiped from the system. Maybe that's why I couldn't stop myself from abandoning college, from dropping off the map, from disappearing into the wind yet again. I hate to admit it, but maybe I'm not cut out for a normal life. Then again, it's not exactly easy to lead a normal life with extraordinary abilities and a past so damaged it'd send you to a mental hospital if you were anybody else. Thankfully living in rural Kentucky surrounded by horse pastures and mountains for a few years helped me center myself to the point I could at least act like a regular person. Kentucky definitely helped with my anger and the unhinged rage I felt toward HYDRA. Anger I've since let go. I'm by no means okay with what happened, but I've since decided trying to live a semi-normal life does not include trying to hunt down the very organization that created me. Besides, once I learned to let that pent up rage go, I was able to obtain a technology degree which has proved helpful. It's made picking up chatter, mapping, digging little holes into firewalls for information all so much more helpful for my newest mission. Then the DC attack occurred and all the SHIELD files were leaked. I remember being holed up for days sifting through any and all information I could — any information which could prove useful to me in the future. It also provided me with a list of shady contacts I've utilized in my hunt. Specifically it gave me the contact which pointed me in this direction, which hinted at the Avenger's raid and a perfect opportunity to get direct access to hidden data.

"Keep the change." My voice is tinged with a Russian accent as I hand over enough European bills to cover the cost of the cab ride and then some. He murmurs his thanks as I shut the door behind me. I watch as my breath billows in a near translucent cloud while I zip my jacket up. After a brief moment of checking my surroundings for anyone who may be watching, I set off into the heart of the densely packed forest of pines. My boots crunch against the snow as I march on in the biting cold with determination. As the air becomes more bitter, I reach up and manipulate the energy surrounding me with just a twitch of my fingers.

Energy manipulation.

The stark red letters stamped across my file which I'd burned long ago shutters through my mind. The way my abilities consumed me, the way they taunted me, how they played upon my emotions...how dangerous I was. It causes my heartstrings to clench. I was a threat, and yet there was someone who cared enough to help me learn how to control the newest side of me. We grew up together. Learned more about ourselves together. Learned how to use what we could do to help others. And then we were separated. A wave of sadness washes over me as I watch the faint golden aura surround me. I begin to feel warmer now that I've pulled the atoms nearest to me closer.

In the distance, through a less dense section of trees, I can see the HYDRA stronghold sitting high upon a lonely hill. A part of my abilities allows me not only to manipulate energy but also detect it — including being able to detect heat signatures. From my position, I can tell there are a few underground bunkers littered across the forest by the number of human heat signatures. I can't say for sure if any of the bunkers lead up to the main building, so I decide to stick to the one route I know won't have any interference. An old mining tunnel which runs right through the mountain, right up to headquarters...

I'm careful in choosing my path through the forest. I stay on the very outskirts of the fighting which has been centralized on the western perimeter. That's where the Avengers have begun their offense. Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't men actively patrolling the other borders for stragglers. I'm kept on my toes during my trek. I attack from afar as needed. A little blast of energy here and there, a sudden flash of overwhelming heat that causes unconsciousness, a bright flash of light to blind and distract... I'm quick to close in on the mining shaft. A quick evaluation shows me that there are no current heat signatures in the tunnels leading directly into the heart of HYDRA's operations.

Amateurs.

As I enter the hidden shaft, I toss aside both my baseball cap and sunglasses. They won't do me much good in the dark. I alight my fingertips with self-made energy to illuminate my path with a golden glow. And man, really? Why do the bad guys insist on holing up in the creepiest of locations? Why old rusty-ancient buildings that smell of sewers and sport hordes of rats? Would it kill them to be classy and keep a nice modern lab somewhere? Even if it's a basement level? Geez. It's disgusting. Horrific, actually.

"It's because the bad guys aren't paid like self-acclaimed superheroes." My steps falter as I whip around in a full circle, looking for the heavily accented voice in the dark depths. I find myself scowling before throwing my arms out, quickly illuminating the mining shaft. And that's when I see him. Standing directly within my path shielding his eyes.

Tall, white hair, black jacket, cocky smirk.