── TAKING THE HIT ──

── ☆ ──

It has been two weeks since Alessia's last mission where she took down Lombardi & Co. and the Washington incident that had swept the nation. Everyone had been talking nonstop about the strange incident that resulted in three helicarriers falling from the sky. Alessia tried to avoid the topic due to the mention of The Winter Soldier's existence plastered everywhere on the news, the familiar face caused her to panic slightly and now she was being hit with memories she knew nothing about.

Jonas and Jesse had been taking interest in breaking down the firewalls that held information about Hydra, the files would prove useful in the team's case against Hydra. Alessia was beyond exhausted due to her nine to five days of working followed by her relentless hours as a vigilante known as Shadow despite having the code name Wraith. She spent a lot of time training, studying targets and reading thousands of files.

She shook her head back to reality when she heard the chime of the cafe door, the one and only Steve Rogers stepped into the room with Natasha Romanoff following behind him. They both wandered by the counter and sat down in a corner booth, Alessia smiled to herself as she made her way over to the infamous heroes. "Hello, what can I get you both today?" Alessia asked kindly as she held the notepad and pen in her hands.

After some careful consideration, Stever finally spoke up, "I'll get steak and chips with a coffee, please." Alessia nodded as she wrote it down then turned her attention to Natasha, "And what about you?" She lifted her head with an unsure look, analyzing Alessia with a look of paranoia. Alessia knew that look all too well, she understood why the skilled Assassin was paranoid considering what had happened in Washington recently.

The door jangle sounded through the seemingly quiet diner, catching Alessia's full attention. She turned her head to make eye contact with an uneasy man who hesitantly sat down at the bar bench, his strange behaviour put her on edge, the redhead noticed Alessia's sudden change in behaviour, her tense shoulders. "Are you okay?" She asked with more curiosity than concern. Alessia nodded at her, "Yeah, he just seems a little jumpy compared to the usual customers."

She smiled as Steve studied the jumpy guy who seemed to be busy focusing on his phone, almost as though he was waiting for some kind of signal. "So what can I get you beautiful?" Alessia's question caught their attention as she smiled, "It's a compliment, not a flirtation, though I'm up for anything." Alessia chuckled with a wink in both of their directions. Natasha seemed to ease slightly at that as she smirked, Steve laughed lightly before looking back at the jumpy guy who looked in their specific direction before turning away.

Her cheeky comments was a usual thing for her, it became a reason as to why customers came back. The redhead winked at Alessia with a kind smile, "I'll get a deluxe burger with a strawberry milkshake." Alessia nodded as she wrote it down, "I'll be back with your order soon." Alessia walked to the service window, hanging the new order up for the chef before going over to make a coffee for Steve and a strawberry milkshake for the Nat.

During this time, the jumpy man had turned his attention to Alessia, watching her every move which was making her feel very uncomfortable. Something about the man's studying eyes seemed familiar, as though he was looking for a weakness. Alessia turned her head to the man, She finally had enough of his staring, "Can I help you or are you gonna just stare at me like a creep?" Alessia's raised voice caught the attention of everyone in the room, the man just smirked followed by laughter, his phone buzzed on the bench.

Once again, an uneasiness rippled through her body as his smirk turned slightly psychotic. She watched as he looked down to the phone before making eye contact with her again, "Heil Hydra" he spoke out loud. Alessia reacted instantly, stepping forward and slamming his head down onto the bar bench before throwing herself over the bar as two more men entered through the door with guns in hand. Well, today became eventful for me... Can't a girl work without drama? Alessia thought to herself.

Alessia used the first man as a shield before pushing him into the two men, one of the men got to his feet and pointed his gun at her. She kicked it out of his hands and threw herself off the booth and wrapped her legs around his neck, using her weight to pull him to the ground before pressing a pressure point causing him to pass out. She jumped up and took notice that Nat and Steve had begun fighting men that entered through the back.

She made her way to the back as Natasha finished off the last man. "Impressive!" Alessia said as she took in the sight before her, both of them turned to her instantly as she stood there unbothered. "Where did a waitress learn to fight like that?" Natasha asked, well more so demanded causing Alessia to realise whose radar she just put herself on. Steve was still surveying the area in case anyone else snuck in. "I'm a woman in a big city, knowing how to defend myself was a no brainer," She tried to shrug off the untrusting look in Natashas' eyes.

"Really?" Alessia spoke as she noticed the small red dot resting on Steve's chest, she quickly pushed Steve out of the way as the bullet reached its target. Before her body could hit the floor, two strong arms wrapped around her, muffled voices attempted to break their way into her mind as her vision decided to tune out. The darkness engulfed her as she made one last final attempt to fight it, failing that battle. Her last thought at that moment was an apology to her newfound family, knowing that they would be pissed.

── ☆ ──

Alessia slowly began to regain consciousness, muffled voices surrounded her as she made an attempt to open her eyes, once that proved unsuccessful she decided on focusing her attention on the sounds and voices around her. She could feel the presence of a few people in the room, their voices were familiar but not what she was used to every day. "Is she okay, Banner?" A worried voice blasted through her head making her wince ever-so-slightly. She heard movement before someone took her hand in theirs. "Are you awake?" A female voice played like a melody compared to the male voice.

Using all of the energy she could muster, she forced her eyes open, bright lighting making her eyes water as she adapted to the blinding bulbs above her. She turned her head to the right, meeting the redhead who looked at her with concern. She was holding Alessia's hand as she analyzed her response, she squeezed her hand slightly before taking a slow breath.

Alessia blinked a few more times as she remembered what had happened, she moved her free hand to her chest where the bullet hit her. "I thought I was dead," Her voice was raspy as she spoke only causing more worry to spark in Nat's eyes. Alessia smiled lightly, adjusting herself to sit up with Nat's help. "I'm okay, really!" She let out a breath as she turned her head to the same blond who looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. "What happened to the sniper?" Natasha and Steve looked at each other for a moment.

"He got away," Steve seemed so disappointed in the fact the sniper had escaped but Alessia wasn't all that worried, she'd find the prick and make him pay. She shrugged her shoulders, "It's alright, I'm alive. I think you could also be angels in my heaven - I don't mind." Steve looked at her with a disapproving look towards her humour though there was a glint of amusement in his eyes. "Where am I?" She knew where she was, it was the Avengers tower medical bay, but she couldn't have them questioning her and risking Jonas' entire career with what's left of Shield.

The fall of Shield had been quite a crazy situation for them and she didn't want to seem like a threat to The Avengers, she may be crazy on some levels but not crazy enough to piss off The Avengers. "You are in the Avengers Tower, I'm surprised that you don't recognize the Capsicle," Another voice forced the attention of everyone to the doorway where Tony Stark stood looking at Alessia with a familiar smirk. "Alessia Hart in the flesh," Tony spoke with amusement as she remembered their last encounter.

"Well, looks like you are the only one to survive against me," She joked, leaving an amused smirk on his face, confusion filling the faces of Natasha, Steve and the doctor that she presumed was Bruce Banner. Tony stepped forward before crossing his arms across his chest, "You did pull back on the hits plus, once I knocked your head, it left you confused. Why?" His demeanour changed, amusement faded and left him looking curious. She could remember that day perfectly, considering it was closer to when she had gotten free of Tempolize and their programming.

She let out a breath, She felt uncomfortably comfortable in the presence of The Avengers knowing they would be understanding. "I was a Hydra weapon for a long time, I finally got away from them a few years ago. Cognitive Recalibration is what knocked me out of their control. It broke a crack in their programming which allowed me to break free fully," Alessia went quiet once she finished explaining, studying the four different stares. Natasha's face was pretty neutral as she processed the information while Banner had stepped back leaning against the corner wall clearly focused on his own thoughts.

Tony studied her face with a stoic look, something that seemed unnatural for Stark, a man who was never worried about showing most of his emotions. Finally, her eyes made contact with a pair of blue eyes that were full of sympathy and what seemed to be a flicker of pain. She smiled lightly at the man before looking back to Tony who now wore a smile on his face, "No wonder you survived the bullet wound, you're a super soldier like Capsicle." She smirked and lightly shook her head with amusement.

Steve, who was initially seated, stood to his feet and made his way over to Alessia. Natasha stood and headed out, Banner followed behind her while Tony leaned on the door frame. Steve took Alessia's hand in his, startling her slightly, "You saved me, Alessia." She looked into his eyes and all she could see staring back was pure adoration and pride. Her heart fluttered as she finally registered what she had done. She had saved Captain America and could've died. She could hear Jesse fangirling and commenting about her being a heroes hero and it made her feel like she was more than some killer.

Alessia smiled back at him as Tony left the room, "It was an honour, Rogers." She smirked as he was taken aback by the sudden use of his last name. "So you do know who we are?" She nodded with a smile at his question, his eyes filled with childish amusement as the pain medication began wearing off causing Alessia to wince slightly. Steve helped lay her back down before calling for Banner as she winced again, the pain erupted causing my breathing to stop.

Steve tried his best to calm her down as Banner grabbed a needle, injecting it into the IV, slowly the pain faded as her breathing slowed again. She turned my head to Banner mouthing a Thank you to which he responded with a smile. She blinked a couple of times, staring into a pair of blue eyes that eased her to sleep. For the first time in a long time, she felt completely at peace and safe. She finally had a full night of sleep with no signs of the terrors that usually haunted her mind in its most vulnerable state.

── ☆ ──

-Rose <3
{2058}