23

Ashlyn's pov:

---(time skip - next morning)---

Ash hadn't slept at all during the night. She sat in her cell giving herself different colored nails and trying out different hairstyles. It was the only thing she could think of to pass the time. It was currently 8:30 in the morning and Ash was trying on different tattoos on her foot. Ash ignored the door opening and Bucky bringing in her breakfast. He slid the tray through a small opening in the cell. Ash looked over at it, it was a bowl of oatmeal, a small side of vegetables, and a glass of water. Ash brought her attention back to her foot. She heard Bucky sigh.

"It's not poisoned I promise," He told her. Ash shrugged and kept creating different designs. Ash heard Bucky leave the room.

A few minutes later Bucky returned with a plate of eggs and two forks. Ash watched as he took one of the forks and ate one of the eggs. Bucky then slid the other fork and the plate of eggs through the opening in the cell.

"See, it's not poisoned," He said. Ash got up and walked over to the opening. She took the eggs and the fork and sat on the floor.

"I didn't think it was poisoned, I just don't like oatmeal," Bucky chuckled. Ash started eating her breakfast. She noticed that Bucky wasn't leaving and looked at him.

"Do you want anything else?" He asked her

"A donut? And maybe a coffee"

"Sure thing, I'll be right back. You like sugar in your coffee?" he asked and she nodded. Ash was a little surprised that he was actually getting her these things. She was half-joking with her response but she wasn't going to tell him that. She was still hungry and a donut actually sounded really good right now.

Steve's pov:

Tony, Nat, Steve, and Bucky were the only ones awake yet. Bucky had gone down to give the girl breakfast and they watched as she ate the eggs on the floor of her cell.

"She's oddly calm for someone who can't get out," Said, Tony

"Maybe she has a plan?" asked Steve

"We should tell her about ours," Said, Nat

"She'll never agree to it. With her, everything comes with a price" Said Steve

"Then we just have to negotiate the right one," Said Nat. Bucky walked through the living room and into the kitchen, Steve followed him

"What are you getting for her?" Steve asked

"A coffee, and a donut," He said.

"Why?"

"I'm hoping if we are nice to her then she might be more willing to agree with our plan," said Bucky. "Plus she was up all night, a coffee is probably much needed"

Steve nodded and watched as Bucky took a donut out of the cabinet and the coffee he had just made and walked out of the kitchen. Steve walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. He watched the TV screen as Bucky slid the Donut and coffee through the opening in the cell. Ashlyn took the food items and sat against the wall.

"I think we should go talk to her about it," said Nat. Steve nodded and stood up. He walked with Nat into the elevator and down the halls. Nat was about to walk in but Steve hesitated before opening the door.

"Relax, she's not gonna bite you," Nat said sarcastically and Steve rolled his eyes.

"It just brings up some memories," Steve muttered as he opened the door. Ashlyn was sitting criss-cross applesauce in the center of her cell. Bucky was sitting outside her cell watching her but Ash seemed unbothered as she took another bite of her donut.

"How was your night at Stark Tower?" Asked Nat in a cheery voice

"A solid one star if you don't count the loud noise the air conditioning makes at three in the morning" she replied in the same fake happy voice

"You still gave it a star" Steve pointed out

"The donuts are acceptable" Ashlyn took a sip of her coffee and looked around the three of them "and how can I help the world's mightiest heroes today?" She asked in a sarcastic tone

"We want to negotiate a deal," said Nat. Ash tilted her head to the side, clearly interested and Nat continued, "We are going to let you out, you are going to attend your little meeting this afternoon, but you're going to wear a comm so that we can hear what is going on too" Said, Nat. Ashlyn didn't seem surprised by what Nat was saying, instead, she seemed rather bored.

"And why would you do that?" She asked

"Because we want to know what it is about this certain organization that can make a cold-blooded killer like you so very angry," Nat said calmly. Ashlyn kept the smile on her face but Steve noticed that the smile did not quite reach her eyes.

"Let's say for the sake of argument that I agree, how do you know I won't just take off the comm? And what do I get in return?" The girl said

"You get out of this cell" Said Nat

"I kinda like it here though," Ash said the smirk was clear on her face

"You get allies," Said Steve, both Bucky and Nat stared at him, Ashlyn just looked at him with curiosity on her face. "You wear that comm to the meeting and the Avengers won't come after you anymore" Steve knew that he should have discussed this with the team first but didn't think of her as a threat, more a not-so-good, good guy.

"Steve I don't-" Started Bucky but he was cut off by Steve who was still looking straight at Ashlyn.

"Do we have a deal?"

"I do this for you, you let me out of this cell, and you stay off my back?" Ashlyn asked. Steve knew that the rest of the team probably wouldn't agree with what he was doing but at this point, he didn't really care. This organization that worked with Hydra needed to be taken care of and this was the best way he could think of.

Nat tried to intervene but Steve nodded and Ashlyn smirked.

"Then Mr. Rogers, you got yourself a deal"

Ashlyn's pov:

Steve walked forward and opened the door of the cell. Bucky and Nat both stood back in case they had to jump forward to fight. Ash walked out of the cell and brought her hands forward. Steve unlocked the handcuffs and Ash stretched out her wrists. Ash noticed the three of them watching her as if she were about to pounce. She giggled

"Do you have a comm you prefer me to use?" She asked innocently. Steve nodded and led her out of the room. Steve was walking in front of her, Bucky behind, and Nat was walking right next to her. Ash rolled her eyes but remained silent. Steve led her to the elevator where she stood inside and waited while it went up. There was a very awkward silence where the four of them just stood in the elevator. When the doors finally opened, Ash found herself in the living room where she had talked with the Avengers last time. 

Ash noticed the footage on the TV screen was of the cell she had occupied just minutes before. Standing in front of her was Tony with the arm piece of his Iron Man suit pointed at her, Peter who was wearing Pajamas was sitting on the couch watching, Sam who was sipping a coffee was standing as far away from Ash as possible. Ash could hear another set of footsteps coming from the next room over but she couldn't tell who it was.

"Steve what the hell were you thinking!" Said Tony who was still pointing the weapon at Ash.

"She's going to help us," Said Steve. Ash turned to look at him

"I'm not helping you, I don't like you. I'm only doing this so that you'll leave me alone" She said pointedly and Steve nodded. Ash took a step forward and noticed Sam take another step farther away from her

"Morning Sam" She smiled when he looked terrified. Ash looked around at the rest of them, they were all staring at her as though waiting for her to attack or something. Ash sighed

"Well come on. Give me the comm lets get this over with" She said impatiently. Tony took out a small comm from his pocket and placed it in her outstretched hand.

"Put this in before you enter the meeting, each of us will also be wearing one. I made it so when you change appearance then it will turn invisible." Ash nodded and placed the small object in the pocket of her sweatpants.

"Now is someone going to show me where the door is or should... I jump out another window?" She asked sweetly and she heard Peter stifling a laugh.

"I'll show you where it is," he said as he stood up from the couch.

"No Peter" Tony said sharply "Steve, you take her," Peter sighed and sat back on the couch. Ash held in a laugh as Steve led her back into the elevator. The two were standing in the elevator as it went down.

"Listen about yesterday-" Steve started

"It's fine" Ash stopped him, she wasn't in the mood to get all sappy

"There must have been a reason why you didn't want to know-"

"Never needed to," Ash said simply. When the doors opened Steve walked her to the front doors of the tower.

"Here" Ash took the picture of her mother out of her pocket and held it out for Steve to take but he shook his head.

"You keep it." Ash nodded and put it back in her pocket.

"Good luck with your meeting," he said and she smirked.

"I don't need luck, I'm a freaking ninja," She told him and he chuckled.