verb.
To fall back under pressure. To shrink back physically or emotionally.
noun.
The kickback of a gun upon firing.
•
It takes a stubborn mind to cling to their humanity when the world seeks to strip it away.
It takes a desperate soul to reach f...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
'Avengers Take Down HYDRA Stronghold'
'Does Sokovian Fortress Fall Mark the End of HYDRA?'
'Key HYDRA Figures Identified by SHEILD Data Leak Arrested in Sokovia'
'Another Success for the World's Mightiest Heroes'
'The Avengers are BACK!'
It was worldwide news, of course. A full reunion of the team that had simultaneously saved the world and destroyed half of New York – except this time the damage was Europe's problem and the American press were having a field day celebrating their heroes. Not that there was much collateral damage to speak of – for once. It was contained to a fairly remote area, one that had been selected very purposefully. Katie knew the exact location of that fortress, down to the coordinates. Down to the floor map of where she had been informed her new office would be.
Of course, she had never made it that far.
It had pulled her right back into that mindset though, back to HYDRA and everything she had sought to distance herself from. She had kept track of the various pieces of news regarding the organisation of course, but this was different. Bigger. If it had alarmed her, it had certainly set Barnes on edge, once he had confirmed that the chaotic tidal wave of news posed no immediate threat to them, but the full fallout was yet to be seen.
She had felt him watching her as she had paced the apartment, waiting for more details. There were few enough facts in the press regarding what the base had been used for, but the word experimentation was being thrown around a lot. It was enough to set Katie's teeth on edge, enough to make half the muttered phrases slipping from her lips come out in Russian as she reverted back to what was familiar, instinctive. Barnes hadn't responded, only watched when she had thumped her fist against the kitchen counter in frustration, making the plates rattle on their shelves as she had stood cross-referencing the list of arrests and known deaths against the information she had downloaded during the data leak that had brought SHEILD crashing down. Some of the names she recognised, surnames mostly, likely to be the sons or daughters of those she remembered, but most she didn't. The key player seemed to be a German commander named Strucker – the name sounded familiar, she must have heard it at some stage, but it was likely he had climbed the ranks in the time she had been on ice. He seemed to be at the top of the rapidly crumbling tower that was HYDRA, or at least, he had been.
She was frightened, she hadn't quite realised just how much of the organisation had managed to cling to their strongholds. How much strength they had held, only a few thousand miles away from where she had felt secure – from where the man she was sheltering had felt safe enough to remain. The Avengers had gotten too close too, and though he had never mentioned it, she knew Barnes wasn't ready to face what that meant.
