24

Ashlyn's pov:

Ashlyn walked through the front doors of her house. As soon as she closed the door behind her Maya came running down the stairs.

"Geez, Ash where have you been!"

"They know," Ash said and she watched Maya's face go from relife to confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"The Avengers, they know what I look like, they know about the orphanage, Maya... they know my mom" Maya's face changed from confusion to shock

"They what?"

"They started telling me about her and there's also this" Ash took out the photo of Katherine that Steve had given her and she handed it to Maya.

"Katherine, her name is Katherine" Ash watched as Maya stared shocked at the picture she was holding. Maya folded up the picture and set it on the table before engulfing Ash in a hug.

"Please tell me you didn't just spend the last sixteen hours with the Avengers" Ash laughed as Maya let her go. Ash explained everything that happened, starting from the beginning of her mission to kill Aaron.

"-And so now I have to wear this to the meeting" Ash held up the little comm that Tony had given her and Maya examined it.

----(time skip)----

Maya said some words of encouragement before Ash left the house and sped down the streets on her motorcycle. She was going farther and farther away from the main streets of New York. The orphanage was a small building in New York but Ash knew that their real base was a little bit farther away. Ash finally parked in front of what looked to be a small forest. Ash took the comm out of her pocket and braced herself, she placed the comm in her ear and waited for something to happen.

"Hello?"

"Ashlyn, I was starting to think you would bail" She heard Tony's voice from the other end of the line.

"How can I? I have my freedom at stake," She said sarcastically.

"Are you entering the building yet?" She heard Bucky's voice

"I'm approaching now, gotta change outfits in a few seconds" Ash walked farther into the clearing until she spotted the gray building that she hated so much. Ash changed her appearance to look like Aaron Marshall. She held her head high and walked up to the front gates. The guards looked at her suspiciously.

"Passcode?" One of the guards asked. Ash hesitated, she didn't remember ever needing a passcode to enter the building.

"One two three four five?" Ash guessed randomly. The guard gave her a disapproving look before each guard raised their gun to point it at her.

"Listen, guys, I'm sure we can talk about this," Ash said. When the guards didn't back down Ash sighed. She took out her own gun and shot three guards squarely in between the eyes.

"Good talk," she said casually as she placed her gun back under the tuxedo she was now wearing.

"One two three four five? Seriously?!" Tony's voice came from the comm.

"It's been a long week."

Ash turned to the last remaining guard and smiled at him. He was still pointing his gun at her but he also looked terrified.

"Won't you be a dear and open the gate for me?" She asked sweetly. When the guard disobeyed She grabbed his arm and twisted. Ash heard a satisfying pop as she dislocated his shoulder and the guard screamed out in pain.

"Open the freakin gate, I won't ask again" Ash's voice was still calm but there was an evident danger to it. The guard began typing in the passcode into the door and the gates opened.

"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" Ash knocked the guards head against the rail and he passed out cold.

"Men..." Ash muttered under her breath.

"You do realize you just committed several murders with the Avengers still present here right?" The unmistakable voice of Clint Barton rang out from the comms.

"Listen birdman, nobody's forcing you into this"

"You still shouldn't kill people though" Sam's voice called out and she laughed coldly.

"alright... other birdmen, If you don't like the way I live my life, then you can leave. I'm sure you know where the door is" Ash heard some of the Avenger's chuckles.

"I'm going in, everyone shut up" Ash walked into the building and was greeted by two agents.

"I'm here to speak to whoever's in charge," Ash said confidently, trying not to give away that she actually didn't know who that was.

"Do you have a scheduled meeting?" The agent asked and Ash glared at him

"Of course I have a scheduled meeting, why else would I be here?" She said.

"I'm afraid I'm going to need a clarification passcode," The agent said as he typed away on his laptop.

"Enough with your guy's stupid passcodes. I have a meeting with the leader and they're waiting on me. How would you like to explain to them that you're the reason I'm late?" Ash spoke in a business-like tone and the agent gulped.

"I'm sorry Mr, It's the hallways to the left, third door on the right," said the agent.

"Don't let it happen again" Ash said coldly as she followed the agent's instructions. Ash knocked twice before she heard a faint 'come in'. Ash walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Ah, Mr. Marshall, I've been expecting you" Ash couldn't see the face of the man that had just spoken because he was sitting in a very fancy-looking chair with his back towards Ash.

"Please excuse my lateness, your guards don't seem to know when to quit"

"They have good intentions"

"I'm sure they do" Ash allowed herself to be seated in the chair across the desk. She was very curious about who the known leader was but she wasn't going to push any buttons that could get her caught.

"Well now, we have much to discuss" The man turned the chair around and Ash froze. Sitting in front of her was Oliver Freakin Mackento! The same man that had sent Ash and the team after the man she was now impersonating. To say Ash was shocked, would be an understatement. Ash's mind full-on exploded. Oliver didn't seem to notice Ash's shock as he opened a drawer and took out a few files. He handed the files to Ash and she opened them. Inside were files of different children and what they were good at. Looking at the different files was making Ash sick to her stomach but she kept her composure.

"See any you like?" Oliver asked. Ash realized that the meeting today was to select new kids to go on missions for Hydra. Ash randomly selected a girl named Liza and a boy named Cameron.

"Good choice, these two are some of our best" Oliver approved. Ash decided she would test her luck a little, she knew she shouldn't do this since the Avengers were still listening in but she also didn't want to waste this opportunity to see what Oliver really wanted with her.

"They may be good but I'm sure they don't compare to some others that The Phoenix has had in the past" Oliver looked her up and down and sighed, turning back to the folder in his hand.

"So I've heard, shame she had to run away" Oliver responded, not looking up from the file.

"Hold on, is he talking about Ashlyn?" Sam asked from the comm, Ash ignored him.

"You know she's been causing Hydra some trouble with our dead leaders," Ash said in a casual voice. "You could just do us both a favor and send some of your... children after her?" Ash offered. She watched as Oliver tried but failed to hide a smirk.

"Don't worry she will be taken care of soon enough, She just has some things she has to do for me first" Oliver answered, now looking Ash straight in the eyes.

"And if I may ask, what kinds of things will she be doing for you? From what I've heard she's not your biggest fan" Ash cringed at herself. All she really wanted to do was rip the heart right out of Oliver's chest, but she needed information first. Oliver eyed Ash (who still looked like Aaron Marshall) up and down. Ash knew it was because Oliver was planning for Ash to kill him. Ash hadn't been able to inform Oliver about the mission to kill Aaron so he still believed that Mr. Marshall was alive.

"We live in a world of chaos and violence, that has to be changed. Miss Emerald is going to help us with that, whether she wants to or not" Oliver finally responded. Ash nodded, She didn't trust herself not to yell at him if she opened her mouth.

"Is that all you need today Mr. Marshall?" Oliver asked in a fake cheery voice which made Ash sick.

"Have your soldiers ready for their mission at noon tomorrow. We will pick them up if need be." With that Ash stood up and left the room. She would've killed Oliver right then and there but her brain didn't seem to be thinking straight. Ash walked calmly out of the building. She waited until she could no longer be seen by the new guards that had replaced the dead ones, and changed back into herself.

"Well that went well" Ash sighed to herself. She heard speaking from her comms and jumped slightly, she had forgotten about them.

"Was anyone else holding their breath that entire time? Or was that just me?" Asked Clint

"Well now that's over, guess I won't be seeing you guys anytime soon," Ash said

"Ashlyn wait-" Ash never got to hear what Steve was going to say as she dropped the comm on the ground and crushed it. She could have just returned it but she didn't trust the Avengers not to try and kidnap her again.