March 5 2026

Two weeks have passed and The Thunderbolts never stopped working, finding their way to stop Valentina and her little project, But one thing scared them. . . Bob had been acting a little odd, More exhausted than usual. Cody noticed it first and asked if he was okay, Bob admitted Valentina had recently checked up on him without them knowing which shocked them, And that set off alarms.

Meanwhile, Alex discovered that Valentina was funneling classified tech into a facility that should've been decommissioned years ago. Yelena hacked into a few comms channels, quietly. and cross-checked troop deployments, There were patterns pointing to an abandoned site outside of. . . Budapest.

Now the team quietly made their way to that site, Without anyone knowing, Not even Bob knew what was going on.

The abandoned base creaked by their footsteps, The air had faint scents of dust and old oil, The Thunderbolts looked around, taking every step slowly.

Yelena: I don't like this. It's too quiet. No guards, no defenses, no nothing. Like she's inviting us.

John: *Gripping his shield * Or she already cleared the place, Could be dead empty.

Ava: No. . . Places like this are never empty. Look around. This equipment has been powered up recently. Someone's been working here.

Cody quietly examined the objects, crouching down to get a better look of everything before narrowing his eyes.

Cody: She's been here. Within the week. We can still smell her perfume in the air. *Venom emerges* Expensive. Annoying.

Alexei: So we follow the perfume trail into an obvious trap? Brilliant plan.

Alex: Stay focused. . . Valentina wouldn't set this place up unless it mattered.

The silence felt heavier, Almost like the walls, the objects were listening to them. The Thunderbolts moved forward till they found the corridor, Lined with flickering monitors and old HYDRA tech shoved into the walls. Their eyes lit up by that discovery. At first, It seemed a bit risky to enter a room like this. But they needed to investigate even if it means something.

Ava: Someone's been patching this together. Look, These connections are fresh.

Alex: . . . She's rebuilding the infrastructure. Piece by piece.

Cody: Coward's work. . . We should tear this place apart and drag her out.

Alexei: Easy. We don't know what's waiting at the end of this hall.

John: Let's not jinx it.

As they looked around, The group slowly reached a wide chamber at the center of the base, Dozens of consoles with green lights. This didn't seem right to them, The tension felt heavier, Almost like a single step could open the door to danger. But the group stepped in, exploring the consoles. But that's then their eyes caught a tall projector. . . Which blinked to life.

The team froze and were alerted as the hologram shaped into a familiar figure. . . Valentina.

Valentina: Well, well. The Thunderbolts. My wayward little pets. Did you really think sneaking into my house wouldn't get my attention?

The doors behind them slammed as they looked behind them before looking at the hologram of Val.

John: This isn't your house! It's a tomb. And we'll make sure you're buried with it.

Valentina: *Smirks* Oh, Walker, Always so dramatic. But here's the truth. . . . You don't bury me. . . You dance exactly . . . . Where I tell you to.

Her tone darkened and suddenly the vents opened, spilling down mist as the group's eyes were wide and suddenly the air felt suffocating and heavy as the group coughed.

Ava: G-Gas. . .

Yelena: *Coughs and groans* Of course, Why a fair fight when you can cheat?

She fell down along with the team who were staggered as they looked up to Valentina's hologram who continued staring at them, The smug look on her face faltered a little bit.

Valentina: Don't look so shocked. . . You break into my base, I give you a parting gift. I don't want you dead, darlings. . . You all are still important to me. . . But I want you weakened. . . . I want you to remember how small you are when you try to play in my league.

Cody: *Grits his teeth* You think this'll scare us off?

Valentina: *Laughs* Cody, please. I don't deal in scare tactics. I deal in inevitabilities. And Project Sentry is inevitable. . .

She snapped her fingers, her grin turned evil as the group's vision started to blur out, struggling to concentrate.

Valentina: You stopped me once, true. But this time. . . I've planned for every one of your little tantrums. I don't make the same mistake twice.

The group was on the ground, everyone was so close to passing out. By the look of Val's face, She was joyful.

Valentina: Tell your soldier boy I said hello. You'll need him. . . . If he's still willing to carry the weight you can't.

They glared at her but they couldn't respond to her, Valentina smirked at them through the hologram before it disappeared and their vision turned black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9:14 P.M

The laptop was shut as Anne placed both of her hands on her forehead, sighing to herself. Today was another long day of work as usual. She was alone in the office. Congressman Barnes hasn't been in the office for an hour since he had some work. She didn't join him because she was busy working on the bills.

But Anne has been very distant from everyone.

She barely spoke to Sydney and Evan, And she's been avoiding Barnes for a while. Sydney and Evan figured she was tired and busy, They texted her a few times and Anne responds to them, But she wasn't in a mood to hang out with them. She's been barely talking to Barnes unless it was work related.

After that anonymous email, She was worried and scared. Who would send an email like that?. . . Why her?

She was paranoid for the last two weeks, Clearly she wasn't looking forward to what was gonna happen next, But at one point, Anne chose to be strong. She knew problems and threats like these would happen sooner then later.

Anne leaned back from her chair, thinking about the email again. Soon, she shakes her head. Knowing she needs to stop thinking about it. Whoever was doing this, She didn't want to satisfy them by feeling scared.

She got up, texting Bucky that she was done with the bills. Winters closed her phone and took some papers, Now that one question was paused, She started thinking about. . . Mel. . . Valentina.

She gritted her teeth when thinking about Val, Her words. . . Ticks her off.

When she was ready to leave, The door unexpectedly opened. She looked and saw Bucky entering the room.

Bucky: Already leaving, Winters?

He walked in, amused as Anne looked at him. Lately, He's been looking a bit annoyed about something.

Anne: I messaged you a minute ago, All bills are written in the file, I thought there wasn't anything else left.

Bucky: I never said you could leave after this.

He sounded gruff and a bit annoyed. Anne's eyes lit up as he continued walking towards her, fixing his hair.

Anne: Um. . . Did you have a bad meeting when I wasn't there, Congressman?

Bucky: No, And just call me Bucky.

His tone softened as Anne continued staring at him, Her eyes softened. She wondered what was going on with him.

Anne: Are you okay?

Bucky: *Sighs* I'm alright, But what about you?

Anne: I'm. . . Good.

Bucky: Are you sure you're not lying?

Anne blinked slowly, a blank stare in her eyes. Wondering what was he on about.

Anne: Of course not. . .

He then took off his suit coat, Her eyes shot up as he neatly placed the coat on the table. That's when he slowly started to approach her.

Bucky: No, Anne. I think you're been hiding something from me.

Her eyes were widen, He was starting to get a little too close. She took a few steps back but he moved forward.

Anne: N-No, I'm not hiding anything. . .

Bucky: Since you got terrified looking at the laptop, I noticed you're been off and. . . Distant.

Anne: I told you before, it was nothing. Just something I wasn't expecting to see.

Bucky: *Narrows his eyes* You don't get that kind of fear from nothing Anne.

Winters shook her head until her back hit against the wall, Bucky was in front of her, not taking a step away. He wanted an answer right now.

Anne: I'm serious, It's nothing. It doesn't even matter.

Bucky: If it didn't matter, You wouldn't be avoiding me. . . . Or your friends.

Anne: *Laughs a little* Maybe I just needed space. . . You're imagining things.

She gave an awkward smile, reassuring that she was okay. But he just stared at her, Anne knew she wasn't convincing him.

Bucky: I'm asking you again, Is it someone?

Anne: No one's threatening me, I swear. It wasn't like that.

Bucky: You're certain?. . . Because if someone's trying to scare you-

Anne: I promise. I just. . . wasn't expecting to see something personal, that's all.

Bucky tilted his head and stared at her, He wasn't entirely convinced. . . Yet

Bucky: Did Val say something to you at the gala?

He leaned a little closer, Anne felt her heart pounding by how close he was, She was getting a bit flustered.

Anne: N-No. I mean she says plenty of things, but nothing I can't handle. . . It's nothing about her.

Bucky stared quietly, Anne looked at the ground, unable to hold eye contact with him longer. He sighed before speaking.

Bucky: Fine. . . If she ever does cross a line with you, I want to know. Immediately.

Anne: *Smiles a little* You'll be the first to know. . .

He just stared at her, his jaw tightening but soon his face softened, Anne could tell he didn't believe her, he was holding himself back, respecting her silence for now.

Anne: You don't have to worry about me so much. . . .

Bucky: That's not happening. . .

He studied her face for a moment and noticed a strand of her hair fell on her face, Bucky moved the strand away and continued staring at her. Both of them didn't look away until he finally took a step back.

Anne took a deep breath, She felt squeezed in the corner and couldn't even breathe, Especially when he was so close to her. . . And mad.

She slowly backed off as Bucky walked to the chair, staring at her as Winters stared at her, her heart was beating fast.

Anne: Thank you. . .

Bucky: For?

Anne: *Smiles* For caring. . . No one has ever done that for me.

His eyes lit up before frowning a little. Bucky then smiled at her, nodding.

Bucky: *Smiles* Of course, You're not just a secretary to me, Anne. I care about you as much I do for others.

Anne: *Smiles* Me too. . .

Bucky; And I always appreciate that your by my side.

Anne giggled and took a few steps close to him, He continued smiling. The tension slowly started to fade into something softer.

Anne: You're my ride or die. . . I think that's what Sydney says.

Bucky: And what does that mean?. . .

Anne: It means. . . You're the one person I'd stand by, no matter what.

He looked at her, feeling a flutter in his heart. At first, Bucky wasn't sure how to even respond to her. He chuckled, smiling again.

Bucky: Ride or die, huh? Guess that makes two of us.

She giggled as Bucky stared, not looking away. Anne looked at the clock and was ready to leave, Bucky knew what she was thinking and cleared his throat.

Bucky: Stay with me, For a little bit.

Anne: Really?

Bucky: I enjoy your company. . . Take a chair, Sit next to me.

Anne had a small smile on her face as Barnes stared at her, smiling. She nodded and placed her bag on the table, grabbing a chair and placed it next to him. She sat down as both of them were talking, The tension from earlier still lingered, But both of them didn't talk about it. As much as Anne was stressed out about it. . . Talking to Barnes made her feel safer.

As they were deep in the conversation, Bucky slowly moved his hand towards her fingers, gently touching them as Anne stared at him, blushing a little.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10:54 P.M

In the middle of nowhere, The stale air was full of dust, It was humid as well. The thunderbolts were seen laying unconscious until they finally woke up, realising they weren't in the abandoned site anymore.

Alex: *Groans* What the?. . .

He blinked hard, forcing his eyes to focus. Cody was on his knees, coughing harshly. Ava leaned against a broken crate, wincing as she rubbed her shoulder. Yelena sat up, spitting out dirt, while John muttered curses under his breath. Alexei rolled onto his back and muttered something in russian.

Cody: Urgh. . . This isn't the base.

Ava: No kidding, She got us good.

Yelena: Knockout gas, Classic Valentina.

John: She doesn't have any plans to get rid of us. . . But she won't let us interfere in her stupid project. . .

Alexei: She wanted to humiliate us. Prove she's still in control.

Ava: *Sighs* Of course. . . What are we gonna do now?

None of them had an answer to it yet, Alex slowly stood up and helped Ava get back on her feet, Cody crouched down, checking for any sign of injury on Yelena.

John: Yeah, Main question. What are WE gonna do?. . .

Cody: *Sighs* Maybe it's time we admit something. . .

They all turned to him as Cody took a deep breath, shaking his head.

Cody: We need him again. . .

Alex: You mean Barnes?

Alexei: *Stands up* . . . Who else?

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and stay strong!!! :)