𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗛𝗘

𝘊𝘓𝘈𝘚𝘚𝘐𝘍𝘐𝘌𝘋

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

"Hey, language!"

Bucky ignored Steve calling him out and focused on the picture he showed to him instead. It couldn't be.

"It's the headquarters of Project 13." It felt as if Steve voiced out his thoughts.

"Project 13 had been turned off exactly thirteen years ago."

"Well, this is an old photo," Steve mocked him, then turned around to the open drawer. "Looks like we're not leaving as early as I thought. Let's search this place and see what we can find."

"—It's useless," Bucky cut him off. "She probably took everything she needed and vanished."

"Probably, but she left this picture behind, so maybe she dropped something else too. Or maybe there's something helpful in here."

"That man said her name was Catastrophe, or at least that's probably what she called herself, but it doesn't seem familiar to me."

"It does to me, although I have to question that man a little more to make sure he isn't lying. I don't know how it doesn't seem familiar to you, her name is all over the news."

"I don't watch the news."

"Fair enough. Well, there's not much people know about her, but she had been recently causing trouble here and there in New York. I didn't think she had anything to do with HYDRA though."

"Go on.."

"There's no clear video footage of her, so nobody knows exactly how she looks like, but she's blonde and pretty dangerous. Not dangerous enough to be surveilled by SHIELD, but dangerous enough to make it to the news. If you ask me, I find it weird that she targeted a lab in the first place. From what I heard, she usually went after individuals. Corrupt politicians, shady engineers, university teachers and so on. The press gave her the name Catastrophe, but I think it's silly. She doesn't leave a big mess behind."

"She left a big mess now. I wonder what made her change her mind and attack a HYDRA base. She clearly knew what she was doing, I think there's more to this than meets the eye."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We'll look into this once we get back. For now, let's see if there's anything left to find here."

Bucky agreed with a nod.

"Will you turn that damned TV off already? I can't focus—"

"Breaking news! Catastrophe strikes again.."

Bucky jumped off his seat and joined Steve in the living room after he heard Catastrophe's name mentioned on the news.

"..there's been a robbery at a small bank in New York City around 6 pm and the main suspect.."

"But it can't be," Steve pointed out, looking again at the clock.

"She was at the HYDRA base at 6 pm. So she was either not responsible for the robbery or.."

"Or she wasn't at the HYDRA base."

Bucky nodded. "Okay, now can you turn off the TV?"

With a long sigh, Steve finally gave in and closed the TV, then followed Bucky to the study. "So, what did you find?"

"I made a list of her known victims and I'm trying to see if it links her to HYDRA or to Project 13, but I have found nothing by now."

"May I?" Steve asked for permission before he took a look at the list of the names.

He placed his index finger over a name.

"This one looks familiar, I think I heard something about him on the TV. Let's run these names in the SHIELD database and see if it's any help. I mean, it's easier than investigating each one of them, right?"

"Actually, you go. I'll stay here and do some digging on my own. It's going to be faster if we're both onto this."

"I'll call you if I find something."

Steve left and Bucky was now alone in his own apartment. He took a deep breath and glanced at the list of the names again.

Some of them were familiar to him too, but he was having a hard time connecting them to HYDRA. What brought her to that base today? What did she took from there?

There were many questions going through his head. For now, he refused to put any label on her. He wouldn't do that before he was sure he understood her actions. And right now? Bucky feared she was indeed linked to Project 13.

As far as everybody knew, the names of the subjects of the project have been disclosed to any agent affiliated to SHIELD that had the required clearance level, which meant he should've known if the list was incomplete.

All the subjects were under SHIELD's close observation because they were unstable. Unpredictable.

If she had been part of that project, it meant that the situation was worse than everybody could imagine. She was not only putting other people in danger, but she was also putting herself in danger and she didn't even know.

So if that was true, then he had to get to her before anyone else did. Before anyone else figured her out.

"Come on, Catastrophe. There's gotta be something about you. What am I missing?"

She walked around the block a couple of times before she went in, making sure that she wasn't being followed.

Even though she changed her hideout often, she still wasn't sure she was indeed untrackable.

The lights were off as usual and the curtains were blocking anyone from seeing inside her apartment, so she felt a little more safe. But she could never be at ease.

She sat on the couch, holding the files she stole in her hands. For a while, she stood like this. The memories of her past came back like a flood. It was a dangerous place to let her mind wander to, so she shook her head and took a deep breath.

As if that would help.

She opened the file and carefully read the report, but it didn't take long until she threw the file on the coffee table in front of her and cupped her face with her hands.

Easy. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

Repeat until you no longer feel like you're sinking. Repeat until you're no longer shaking.

It was of no help. She couldn't do it, she couldn't read the file just yet. It was enough for now that she had it, she had to give herself some time before reading it.

Turning on the TV for some background noise, she saw her name on the screen.

"A robbery?" She scoffed. "As if I'd need your money. Besides, I'm not that sloppy."

It wasn't the first time her name was associated with a crime she didn't commit, but it was still somehow upsetting. Her nickname was starting to grow on her.

Catastrophe. It had a nice ring to it.

Well, she hated it at first. She didn't understand why people would bother to give her a nickname in the first place.

She had been on the news quite often lately. That wasn't her intention, but after she caught the attention of the media, they refused to drop it. She was being called evil and psychopath in every article, but it wasn't like she could prove them wrong anyway. What could she do? Give an interview?

Sure, if she wanted to get arrested maybe.

So she let them think what they wanted. She was doing a favor to all the citizens of New York, but they didn't see things like she did. They were scared of change. They were scared of her.

She turned off the TV and rose from her seat. It was getting late and she should probably get some sleep. She had a long day tomorrow. Still, she couldn't help but glance one more time at the file she abandoned on the table.

A name was written in bold letters: Arielle Henderson. Her name.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━