Chapter Twenty-Five : A Great Service

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     Valencia had to be honest, training with the Avengers was not like anything she expected. She never thought she would ever be told to be "less deadly", since for two years, she had been told to show no mercy. And if her opponent died, that was it. Steve was starting to sound like an overworked father constantly telling her that the goal was not to kill so she didn't have to pull her opponent into such an intense chokehold. Wanda didn't even know any hand to hand fighting skills and Pietro would just run around his opponent until they were dizzy. Natasha taught the Twins how to hide their Sokovian accents with American accents and Valencia showed Wanda how to maneuver out of certain holds without having to use her telekinetic powers. During their time training, the three of them got closer and even though the Maximoffs were older by a few years, Valencia was still like the supportive big sister to them.

     "I'm still surprised you haven't killed me yet with your chokeholds and throat punches," Pietro said as Valencia pulled her hair into a ponytail.

     "I'm still surprised that I had to learn how to punch but you guys didn't. It was like you guys never made a fist before," Valencia replied.

     "Well, we didn't. They never trained us because the goal wasn't to make us assassins, we were just the lab rats," Wanda said.

     Valencia bit the inside of her cheek as Natasha went over to tell them the Quinjet was ready. After months of training, this was their first mission as real Avengers, although Pietro wasn't going. He had to stay behind and help Tony with a presentation at MIT as punishment for pulling a prank on him. Wanda rolled her eyes at the speedster, asking him if he was twelve. Valencia already knew he was cocky but him being a prankster was news to her for some reason.

     "Have fun at the presentation," Valencia said as she and Wanda followed Natasha to the Quinjet. "I can see why you like teasing him."

     Wanda laughed as they got on the aircraft and Steve put it on autopilot once they were over the water and Steve quickly went over what they had to do when they landed. After two years of hiding in the shadows, Rumlow was tracked down in Lagos looking for a biological weapon and they had a mission to finally catch him. Valencia already had to keep her cool the first time Steve told everyone the news and what the mission was and it kind of surprised her when he told her she was going to be on the mission. Given how much she hated the man for all the trouble he put her through, he should've been worried Valencia was going to kill him the second she laid eyes on him.

     "So why are you the only one suited up?" Valencia asked while looking at Steve.

     "You will be blending in with Wanda and Natasha will go with you two. Sam will be keeping watch at a higher ground," Steve replied, pointing at Valencia and then at Sam.

     "So, am I blending in like a normal person or am I taking it a step forward and blending in as in going invisible and eavesdropping?" Valencia questioned and Steve shook his head.

     "It's best to avoid using invisibility and force fields on the streets. Too many people around. You can still hide in plain sight without them," he answered.

     Valencia scoffed as she smirked as she stretched her arms. "Please. Who do you think you're talking to?" she laughed before putting her hands on her hips as everyone listened to the plan.

     If they caught Rumlow on this mission, he couldn't hurt anyone else. Having him rot behind bars would be a pretty satisfying ending. He was an absolute menace so wiping him off the face of the earth would do the world a favour. Although, killing him would go against what the Avengers stood for and now that she was one of them, she had to go with the alternative option. And when Steve finished explaining the plan and where everyone would be positioned, Valencia put on a black baseball cap and followed Natasha and Wanda to a small café when the Quinjet landed.

     The three of them waited for about fifteen minutes before following each other into a café across the street from the police station and found a seat away from each other. Valencia ordered a mocha latte and she adjusted the earpiece as she waited for her drink. She glanced at Natasha's red hair from the back and then at Wanda's side profile before looking back at her own table. She smiled and thanked the waiter when he put her drink down and top a sip of the warm caffeinated drink. She glanced around at the setting of the area and wiped the foam from her upper lip as she put the mug down. She pulled her hair over her shoulders to cover her face from the sides in case Rumlow was around. Maybe it would've been better if she blended in with her invisibility power so he wouldn't see her but this time, things weren't the same from when she walked away from HYDRA. She wasn't hiding from him anymore and it seemed like he didn't care about hiding either.

     Valencia had gone on missions with them before but this was the first mission after she had formal training. The missions she went on when they were dealing with Ultron and the Maximoffs was because they needed her to help them better understand the Maximoffs' point of view since the three of them were prisoners of HYDRA. But since she was able to resist killing her targets after aiming for that goal for two years, she still needed more skills to be an Avenger. And now that she learned all the skills needed along with Wanda and Pietro, this was their first mission where they put those skills to the test.

     "Valencia, Wanda, what do you guys see?" Steve asked through the comms.

     "Standard beat cops, small station, quiet street. It's a good target," Wanda replied as she put her coffee down.

     "There's an ATM machine on the south corner, which means?" Steve questioned.

     "Cameras," Valencia answered before taking another sip of her latte.

     "Both cross streets are one-way," Steve said.

     "So, compromised escape routes," Wanda replied.

     "It means our guy doesn't care about being seen and he's not afraid to make a mess on the way out," Steve said and Valencia scoffed.

     "Hello? This is Rumlow we're talking about. He doesn't care about anything other than what he wants," she said.

     "You guys see that Range Rover halfway up the block?" Steve asked.

     Wanda and Valencia looked at the red vehicle Steve was talking about and Wanda lifted her mug of coffee. "The red one? It's cute," she said.

     "It's also bulletproof which means private security which means more guns which means more headaches for someone. Probably us," Natasha said.

     "You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda questioned.

     "Looking over your shoulder needs to become a second nature," Natasha replied.

     "I guess Strucker didn't teach you guys that part either," Valencia said before bringing the white ceramic mug to her lips.

     "Anybody ever tell you guys that you're a little paranoid?" Sam questioned.

     "It's not paranoia, it's a fact. If you're not careful enough, you'll end up in the ground," Valencia replied.

     "Eyes on target, folks. It's the best lead on Rumlow we've had in six months and I don't wanna lose him," Steve said.

     Sam scoffed. "If he sees us coming, it won't be a problem. He kind of hates us," he said.

     "I mean, you guys dropped a building on him and I knocked one of his teeth out once," Valencia chuckled as Steve told Sam to tag a garbage truck that was passing by.

     Wanda, Valencia and Natasha listened carefully and waiting for Sam to tell them what was going on. Valencia finished her latte just as Sam spoke through the radio. "That truck's loaded for max weight and the driver's armed," he said.

     "It's a battering ram," Natasha said.

     "Go now," Steve ordered.

     "What?" Wanda asked as she got up and Valencia followed her out.

     "You know the kind of weapon with a wooden beam they used in medieval times to break down the gates and walls of castles and cities? Picture that," Valencia replied.

     "He's not hitting the police," Steve said.

     "He's going straight to the target," Wanda said as she and Valencia followed the garbage truck.

     "You know, when I joined the track team, I never imagined I would end up needing it again when I was finished with it," Valencia said with a little humour to her tone as the two of them ran to the building where Rumlow would be picking up the weapon.

     "I can get us there faster. Hold on tight," Wanda said as she wrapped her arm around Valencia's waist and Valencia wrapped hers around Wanda's shoulders.

     Wanda used her powers to lift both of them off the ground and they glided through the air as they got closer to the building where they saw Steve fighting some of Rumlow's men. "Body armour, AR-15's. I make seven hostiles," Steve said through the radio.

     "I make five," Sam said just as Wanda and Valencia came in and landed on the ground.

     Wanda created a forcefield to stop the bullets and Valencia made herself invisible and ran up to the armoured man. She kicked him in the back of his knee that wasn't protected by his armour and then kicked him in the head when he bent over, even though his helmet protected him. Wanda used her powers to lift him while he was down and Sam hit him with one of the wings on his suit. Valencia became visible again as Sam used a device to scan the building.

     "Rumlow's on the third floor," he said.

     "Wanda, just like we practiced," Steve said as he looked Wanda.

     "What about the gas?" she asked.

     "Get it out. Valencia, defence," Steve instructed and Valencia nodded.

     "Got it," she replied as she saw more of Rumlow's men coming.

     While Wanda used her powers to lift up Steve and bring him to the third floor of the building, Valencia created a forcefield to protect herself, Wanda and Sam from the round of bullets fired their way. Sam stepped out from behind the forcefield and used one of his wings to deflect the bullets and used his own gun to fire at the men while Wanda extracted the gas from the building. Just as Wanda was finished getting the gas out, Sam released missiles from his suit and they hit the men that were shooting at them and Valencia scoffed as she let down her forcefield.

     "You could've done that earlier," she said.

     "Last minute resort," Sam replied.

     "Guys, Rumlow has the biological weapon," Steve said.

     "I'm on it," Natasha replied.

     Valencia turned around and saw a man aiming a gun at her and she immediately blocked the bullets with a shield. Natasha had already taken down a few of them until she came face to face with Rumlow on top of one of the vehicles. Valencia went invisible and the bullets stopped because now he had no idea where she was until she kicked him square in the jaw, knocking him out and then threw a forcefield at Rumlow to knock him off the vehicle. He got up and tossed a grenade at Natasha's feet and Valencia was quick to put a forcefield over it to contain it. The power of the blast nearly knocked her back and smoke filled the air once the forcefield was gone.

     "Son of a bitch won't get away this time!" she yelled as she ran after him with Natasha right behind her.

     "You go after Rumlow, I'll go after his goon squad," Natasha said as she ran in a different direction and Valencia followed Rumlow through the town.

     "Sorry!" she said as a woman yelped while getting out of the way.

     She ran as fast as she could to keep up with him while running around and jumping over obstacles. Even gym class and the sports she played was never as intense but then again, she never pictured herself joining a group of people like the Avengers. She ended up in an area with more space than the narrow pathways she just ran through and Steve ended up running in from another pathway. Before she could ask him if he saw Rumlow, the man in question jumped out and knocked Steve to the ground with a huge amount of force. He saw her and immediately charged at her but she dodged all of his attempted strikes and redirected them and blocked them with her forcefields.

     "You're still pretty fast," he growled.

     "And you're still an asshole," Valencia replied as she threw a forcefield in his head which knocked him a few feet back as Steve got up.

     Now that Steve was focussed on Rumlow, he was able to dodge and avoid his strikes no matter how many times he tried. Valencia disappeared and snuck up behind Rumlow and kicked his feet as he tried to stab Steve with a blade. He was able to get one of the gauntlets off and Valencia jumped on his back and wrapped her arm around his neck as Steve punched him in the stomach. Rumlow grabbed Valencia's arms and pulled her over his shoulders and threw her onto the ground. As she lay there on her back in the dirt, he tried to use the blade on his other gauntlet to stab her but Steve grabbed his arm and took it off before kicking him away. As he was taking his helmet off, Valencia walked up to him and looked at his half scarred face.

     "You look like shit," she said.

     "That's what happens when you have a building dropped on you," Rumlow replied. "How's your family by the way?"

     Valencia tilted her head with no expression on her face as she watched him smile at his own smugness before she lifted her knee and hit him right in the nose so hard she was sure she heard a crunch. Steve walked up to them and grabbed Rumlow by the vest with a glare but even then, Rumlow was still smiling with his bloody and most likely broken nose.

     "Who's your buyer?" Steve questioned.

     "He knew you. Your pal, your buddy, Bucky. He remembered you and then he got all weepy about it. She was there so she knows what I'm talking about," Rumlow said as he glanced at Valencia while she noticed Steve getting visibly angry. "Made her watch as they put his brain back in the blender."

     "That's enough. Tell us who your buyer is right now," Valencia said as she grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled his head back and held a knife to his throat. "I think we can all agree I'd be doing the world a great service by slitting your throat."

     "One more thing. He wanted you to know something. He said, 'please tell Rogers when you gotta go, you gotta go.' And you're coming with me," Rumlow said as he pulled out a detonator and pressed the button as Steve and Valencia stepped back.

     The blast was contained by Wanda's power as Rumlow screamed in agony and she used her power to lift him up in the air away from the crowd but Valencia noticed how close he was to a nearby building. "Wanda, wait!" she yelled as she was about to create a forcefield around Rumlow to secure the blast but it was too late.

     The explosion destroyed the building and broken glass and debris fell everywhere as the crowd disbanded to look for somewhere safe. Valencia looked at Wanda who had tears in her eyes and her hand over her mouth as she fell to her knees. "I—I didn't—I didn't mean to—" she stuttered as she stared at the fire and smoke in absolute horror.

     "Wanda, look at me," Valencia said as she turned Wanda's head and her throat closed at the despair on her friend's face.

     "I'm so sorry! Oh, God!" she cried and Valencia shook her head as she did her best to comfort her.

     "I know," she said as she grabbed Wanda's shoulders and brought her up to her feet.

     She looked at the damage and swallowed the lump in her throat. This wasn't supposed to happen. Nobody was supposed to get hurt, especially innocent people. She had seen death plenty of times but that didn't make it any easier.