Chapter 4 - Preventing Worse

Katta left the airport of London Heathrow and took a taxi to the address Magnus had sent her. London was the perfect city to submerge. The bustle on the streets, the tourists, the deafening noise of millions of people. It was a forty-minute drive until she found herself standing in front of a giant skyscraper directly next to the Thames. 

Katta watched the entry for a few seconds before she took a sharp turn and aimed at the entrance to the building next door. It was a common trick. Hiding in the shadow of something big, breathtaking. Who would look at a rusty old car when a Rolls Royce stood nearby?

Like the safehouse in New York, this flat also opened with the chip in her wrist. Katta threw her handbag in the corner of the room and got rid of the heels. She was tired, but before taking a nap, she needed to examine the flat and take a few precautions.

In the wardrobe was a selection of various clothes, shoes, wigs and bags. As always, were the weapons hidden in a secret compartment of the coffee table in the living room. From the TV, Katta could address different security cams in her environment, and at the fridge had been pinned a little note.

"Hope you like it, XO Magnus."

Katta opened the fridge and found a box with sushi, chocolate, and a red wine bottle. Sighing contently, she opened the box and took a bite of the sushi. The flat's windows had been laminated with a one-way foil so that she could look outside, but nobody could look in from the other side. The view over the Thames was breathtaking.

Suddenly, her phone started vibrating. Katta dug into her pockets and looked at the display. A suppressed number tried to call her. She lifted the phone to her ear and answered. The voice of her brother clung to out of the phone.

"Katta, how are you. I heard that you decided on a change of scenery."

Katta chuckled upon hearing his choice of words. "You could say that. But everything's fine. Why are you calling?" she asked, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder while opening the wine bottle.

"I had a surprise meeting with the black widow. They are coming for you," he quickly retorted. Katta froze in her movements before she slowly placed the wine bottle back on the table.

"What do they know?" she asked.

"Not much, I think."

"You didn't give them any bits of advice, did you?" she hissed at her older brother. Silence. For a few seconds, the only sound was his breathing.

"No advises they could actually use, I mean–"

"I swear to god, Erik, when I get you –," Katta snarled into her phone, only to be interrupted.

"Calm down, Kattalina. All they know is that you might not have dressed as inobtrusive as they thought. I needed to say something to get them off my heels," her brother explained.

"Fine, thank you for the call." Katta huffed, leaning her head to the cold surface of the window.

"You're welcome, little soster. Be careful." The phone clicked, and the call ended.

Katta closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. It seemed like her nap would need to wait. She raised the phone and dialled a few numbers. It rang two times before somebody answered.

"Clint," Katta stated dryly.

"Katta?" he answered.

"Listen," she huffed. "Whatever you're planning. Leave it be. This is my only warning. Go and find somebody else to join your superhero club."

"Might be too late for that," he said loudly. Katta narrowed her eyes as she listened to his background noises. The low rattling. He was in a plane of sorts.

"Why didn't you tell me about your past?" he asked. Katta breathed in deeply.

"Because you had no right to know, Barton. Hell," she cursed. "This is not going to end well, and you know it."

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry, Katta." The phone clicked, signalling that he had ended the call.

〰〰〰

The Avengers sat in the Quinjet on their way to London. Vision and Wanda had volunteered to stay at the tower, and T'Challa had flown back to Wakanda to carry out his kings' duties.

"What if Katta actually is a former H.Y.D.R.A agent?" Bruce asked. "What would that mean?"

"Barnes is a former H.Y.D.R.A project as well." Tony pointed at Bucky. He grunted, not looking up. He hadn't said a word since they'd left the Stark tower.

"How do we convince her to come back with us?" Natascha asked Clint, who strung a new bow.

"She will not stay long enough in one place to talk to her if we don't make her," Clint answered. "She made it very clear that she isn't interested in joining us. Why force her?"

Tony peeked up. "Why is she running from us when she isn't a threat? Why not talk to us and prove that she's harmless?"

"Like you would have let her go afterwards," Clint muttered.

"Next time you suddenly discover your righteous side, stay at the Tower," Tony retorted.

Clint got up from his seat. "And let you kill her? No, thank you. She's family."

"Easy," Natasha sighed. "Nobody talked about killing somebody."

"You too?" Clint glared at her.

Natasha shrugged. "I'm just saying that Tony isn't wrong. We talk to her, and when we find that she isn't a threat, she can go. Right, Stark?"

Tony curtly smirked and nodded. He then looked at a screen in the Quinjet. "She just left the airport and took a taxi. The trace gets lost here." Tony pointed at a map and looked for a place to land the jet. Clint put the bow on his back and grabbed a few more arrows.

"No violence," he demanded.

"Unless she starts it. And you agree that we need a moment of surprise to get her," Steve said.

"Fine." Clint gritted his teeth. After all, she was a trained assassin. If Katta didn't want to be captured, they would have to make it quick. Before she could overthink.

After the landing, Tony hacked another few security cams and traced her to a building directly at the Thames. It didn't take them long to get there. Clint felt his guts churning. He hadn't told anybody about the call. It was like they were entering the lions' dent. She could be anywhere.

"Whoever manages the flats has good taste," Tony stated as they stood in front of the entrance.

"Which one is it?" Bruce looked up the building.

"The third one, look at the windows," Natascha answered. The mirrored surface was the only one that wasn't see-through. One after one, they entered the building and walked up the stairs until they stood in front of the right door.

"Alright, I'll knock," Tony grinned, stepping back. An iron glove spread over his hand with a touch at the ring on his finger. He pointed with his palm at the door and shot right through it.

"How discreet." Natascha sighed before she stepped through the hole, her gun cocked.

〰〰〰

They had arrived. Katta watched the Avengers through the security cams. And how Tony destroyed her door. She chuckled bitterly. This didn't look like a peaceful 'we just want to talk' visit. And Clint was with them.

After the call, she'd changed into a new set of combat clothes. Knives and guns were attached to her legs, waiting to be used. Out of her hiding place, she watched the Avengers climbing the stairs.

One by one, they entered the flat and walked through the rooms, examining every little bit of her. Katta took a last look at the screen in her hand before she pushed the button on her wrist. From her hiding place on the street in front of the building, she heard the bomb explode as she started jogging away. As if she stayed in the flat after knowing they were coming.

〰〰〰

"Attention," Tony yelled as his suit spread over his whole body. Steve used his shield to protect Natasha from being hit by the falling debris. Thor crashed flying chunks with Mjolnir, and the others hid under tables.

"God damn it, she'd left the flat even before we arrived." Steve sighed, patting off his suit.

Tony's helmet opened, and he nodded. "That's your sign, boy. Have you seen anybody?"

Clint looked at him, baffled. Who was he talking to?

"A black-clothed woman with blonde hair left the building shortly after you went in. I'm following her, Mister Stark," a voice answered.

Steve's eyes widened. "Is that Peter? How did you–"

"Calm down, Capsicle. He is on a school trip to London this week. I thought it would be clever to have a backup." Tony interrupted him. "Let's go," he said, leaving the destroyed flat.

〰〰〰

Katta ran down the street. She sensed someone's presence behind her but couldn't really spot it. All of a sudden, something caught her ankles and made her fall. Katta groaned as her knees made contact with the ground.

She turned around and saw a boy with a backpack standing a few feet away. In his hands, he held some kind of rope wrapped around her legs. What was he? A freaking cowboy?

The boy looked like he wasn't even of full age. Katta took the knife out and quickly cut the rope to stand up.

"You better stop now," she shouted before she turned around to leave. Only seconds later, the ropes wrapped around her wrists, making her jolt back.

Spinning around at the boy, Katta angrily shook her head. She had no time for interruptions like this. Instead of cutting the rope again, she ran towards the boy, whose eyes widened. Before he could react, she kicked against his ribs and sent him flying towards the floor, a knee on his chest. She pulled out another knife and rammed it into the ground, only centimetres beside his head.

"This is the last warning. Stop it, boy. Next time I won't miss."

"I could need help," he quietly said. Katta squinted her eyes. "What?"

Only now did she recognize that he wasn't talking to her. Katta looked up and cursed as she saw Steve running around a corner. He pulled out his shield and threw it towards her. Katta got up and dodged it. She turned around and ran away, leaving the boy on the ground behind her.

Sam crossed her way with some kind of weapon aimed at her. Before he could shoot, she threw a knife at him. It got stuck in his chest gear, but the impact startled him enough to give her a slight leading edge.

Katta ran down the next underground entrance, pushing the people in front of her out of the way. Just when she thought she could make it to the track, somebody grabbed her collar and smashed her onto her back. The impact pressed all the air out of her lungs.

Quickly, she reached for a knife, but her hands were captured in an iron grip. It was Barnes. With a few quick motions, he closed cuffs around her wrists, his weight on her making it impossible to get up.

"You fucking tin bastard," she seethed, pulling on her restraints, but he just made them tighter.

"Got her," he murmured. Probably, so that the others could hear it through their ear comms.

Katta tilted her head to the side, thinking hard. She needed to get away.

"S-Stop, please," she breathed, grimacing. He glared down at her, interrupting his motions.

"What?" he demanded, coming closer.

In a quick movement, Katta brought her upper body up as far as she could and knocked her head against his. She used the short moment of confusion to knee him in the ribs. He grunted, and Katta was able to roll around, so she was on top. She brought her chained hands together and threw punch after punch to her head until his black mask fell down.

He got ahold of the chain that connected the cuffs and held her hands up.

"You've played enough, Harlovsen," he grunted, pulling her up until both stood back on their feet. Katta struggled against him, trying to deliver kicks. She even thought about dislocating her thumbs to get rid of the cuffs.

Suddenly, Barnes pulled her closer, fixating her in an iron grip. Her back was pressed against his chest.

"Остановить," he yelled. Stop in Russian. Katta froze as a hasty memory of her H.Y.D.R.A training crossed her mind. She blinked, trying to get it out of her head. Abruptly, she felt a sting in her neck, and everything became blurry. Her breaths got more prolonged, and her knees buckled under her body weight. And then, blackness.

〰〰〰

"Well done, kiddo." Tony patted Peter's shoulder. The boy still looked a bit shaken after almost being sliced, but he nodded slightly. Bucky had Katta over his shoulder as they walked towards the jet.

He carefully laid her down over a few seats, chaining her cuffs to the wall. Unconscious, she looked like an average woman. Not somebody who could kill somebody with a flick of the wrist.

"She got you quite good." Steve patted his shoulder as Bucky massaged his jaw where bruises appeared.

"Maybe I'm a bit rusted," he answered, looking at the woman. "She's like me, after all."

"No," Steve contradicted harshly. "We don't know what she is."

"She almost killed me," Sam stated, disturbed. He examined the hole in his chest gear.

"What were you expecting after we tried to hunt her down?" Clint asked sourly. He sat next to Katta and looked at her in guilt. "What are we doing here?"

"Preventing worse," Tony answered, passing him.