▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ━︎━︎ 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐅 seeing Karine again made Liliya sick to her stomach. She couldn't wrap her head around it. How was she alive? It didn't make any sense. People didn't just come back from the dead―︎well, her boyfriend was the exception. She didn't have a plan. She was going in blind with questions that she needed answers to. It wasn't hard to find the Murder House, and it didn't take long for them to bust in and get the kids that were in there to safety.

Liliya stood there, gun in her hand, ushering the last kid out of the house. She began to walk through the home, double checking to make sure no child had been left behind. The place was eerily quiet, Liliya keeping her eyes and ears alert. The smell of blood filled her nose and she aimed her gun forwards, carefully turning the corner and aiming the gun at the body only to stop when she realized it was a little girl.

Slowly, Liliya lowered the gun. She carefully approached the little girl who was surrounded in a pool of her own blood. Liliya kneeled down, placing two fingers to her wrist and coming up with nothing. This little girl, who couldn't be older than seven, was dead. Memories of her own time at the Murder House flashed through Liliya's mind and she closed her eyes as she felt herself become emotional.

"It reminds you of home, doesn't it?"

Liliya paused, her eyes opening and staring at the body of the young girl who had so much more life to live. "Home?" Liliya asked, her voice soft but filled with anger and pain. "That place was not home. It was a torture chamber." She stood and finally turned around. "Karine."

Karine stood there, staring at Lilya with emotionless eyes. "Liliya."

"How are you here?" Liliya asked. "I killed you."

"I remember." Karine nodded, taking a step closer to her. "I don't know what I was thinking back then, thinking you of all people would somehow change the world. The world has gotten worse and you are one of the reasons why."

"Karine, I've changed since then." Liliya claimed, straightening her shoulders. "You didn't answer my question. How are you alive?"

"They wouldn't let me die." Karine whispered. "They kept me alive, or rather they brought me back. They turned me into this and you let them." Angry tears filled her eyes as her jaw clenched. "You didn't come back."

"I thought you were dead!" Liliya exclaimed. "Your body was gone the next day. What was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to save me!" She yelled. There was a brief paused before she let out a scoff. "But you left me for those Avengers. For Captain America of all people."

Liliya shook her head, a tear escaping and rolling down her cheek. "I'm sorry. If I had known, I would have saved you. All these years I've been living with this guilt, knowing I had killed the one person that truly cared about me was tearing me up inside. But now that you're here, now that you're alive, I can help you. I can save you."

"It's too late for that." Slowly, Karine pulled a knife from her behind her back. "I want a rematch."

Liliya was shocked. She didn't know who was behind this, but she would find them and she would kill them. She couldn't live with herself knowing she would kill her sister again, but the look on Karine's face was one that Liliya was all to familiar with. It was a murderous look. One that screamed they wouldn't stop until Liliya was dead. She saw it too many times living in the Murder House. Slowly, she put her gun away and pulled out her knife. She shook her head, her voice breaking. "Please. Don't do this."

"I have to." Karine replied, a response that threw Liliya off. A tear slipped down Karine's cheek before she lunged.

The fight began. Liliya dodge two of her hits, spinning and kicking her away. Karine stumbled for a moment before quickly catching her footing and sprinting forwards. The hand that was holding the knife came stabbing towards her and Liliya grabbed her wrist, sending two punches to her ribs. Karine slammed her head into Liliya's, making her stumble back and send her knife flying from her hand and out of reach. Her lip curled up in a snarl. "Alright, fine. You want to play? Let's fucking play."

Karine charged at her again and Liliya grabbed her wrist, quickly twisting it until she heard a snap. Karine let out a yell, dropping the knife into her other hand and sending a stab towards her side, Liliya dodged enough for it to not stab but it did slice causing blood to seep from the wound. Liliya sent a punch to her face and then a kick to her gut, dropping to the floor and throwing her leg out sending Karine to the ground. Karine went to get up but Liliya quickly grabbed onto her, pinning her to the floor. Karine let out a frustrated yelled, wrapping her legs around Liliya and flipping them around. Quickly, she placed the knife against Liliya's throat and Liliya's hand shot up, wrapping around her wrist to keep the knife from embedding itself.

"This isn't you." Liliya begged. "I don't know what they've done to you, but they've messed with your mind. Please, Karine, don't make me do this again. Please."

"Don't worry, you won't have to." Karine promised before using her other hand to punch her in the side causing her grip to loosen. The knife grew closer and Liliya let out a grunt. She glanced between the knife and Karine's eyes.

"You forget I'm a trained assassin, Karine. And I've been living with the Avengers." She pulled a knife hidden in the sleeve of her shirt and with regret she stabbed Karine in the side. A gasp left her lips and Liliya pushed Karine off of her, pulling herself into a standing position. She shook her head. "I won't kill you again." She clenched her jaw, watching as Karine placed a hand over the bleeding wound. "Tell me who you're working for."

Blood began to coat her lips and she quickly spit it out before saying, "Fuck you."

"Who sent you?" Liliya demanded.

Karine laughed. "Oh, don't worry Liliya, your boyfriend knows them quite well."

Liliya frowned, furrowing her brows. Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to think before the realization dawned on her. She met Karine's eyes again before whispering, "HYDRA."

Karine smiled, her teeth coated with blood. "Hail HYDRA."

"Fuck that." Liliya hissed before pulling out her gun and putting a bullet between her eyes.

"Liliya!"

"I'm fine." Liliya called.

Quickly, Steve rushed up to her with Natasha following suit. They both stopped, staring at the dead body of Karine Llarona. Liliya put her gun back in her waist band. "The girl should be properly buried." Her voice was void of emotion as she turned and walked away. Steve and Natasha exchanged a look before Steve walked over to the little girl's body and picked her up bridal style. Unsure of what else to do, Natasha and Steve followed after Liliya.