"i will either find a way, or i will make one."

NADINE

The Hand's quarters in Frankfurt were taller than their average locations. Though a lot of their properties were hidden in plain sight, this one in particular stood out, because unlike most of Europe's architecture -which was mostly composed of it's quaint, historical villages with little room for new structures- it was like the model of what the region could become depending on the interests of those in power: urbanized and box-like.

"Are you all ready?"

When Nadine contacted Selene for the building's schematics, she expected the woman to tell her that she was tired of her shit, that she was bothering her a little too much for her liking. Selene, however, was quick to send and explain the building's infrastructure to them and was now on comms, helping them from a distance.

"To hell we go," Kaia whispered, fidgeting with the brass rings on her fingers. She tended to stay out of the fights whenever she could, but when it came down to it she was always ready to deliver a hard punch. Her hair was braided out of her face and her suit was a stealth version of her old SHIELD suit, with grey and pink detailing to contrast the black. All in all, she looked lethal and prepared.

Selene hummed once, and Nadine knew that she was anxious. Though this had all the semblance of a normal stealth mission, they all knew that The Hand had to be aware at this point of their past ventures into their other locations. It was a bigger risk, but they needed to get that sphere by any means necessary. "On my signal, Bucky."

Bucky's pulled down the safety of his gun. It wasn't loaded with bullets, but with a hook and a rope to form a zip-line to get across safely once Selene gave the okay. He nodded once, pulling the black mask on to cover the lower half of his face before settling near their window to get a clear shot. "Ready."  

"Remember, once you're in there, get to the twelfth floor. That's where the sphere will be. You only have one shot to get in and get out."

Nadine breathed out once before pulling her own mask up, her eyes meeting Bucky's. The darkness of the night made it difficult to discern what he was probably feeling, but it didn't take much for her to guess. A few seconds later he put his hand up to his heart, and Nadine mimicked the notion. After the fight club, it had become a gesture that they seemed to do whenever one was about to enter the lion's den and the other would either stay behind as backup, or go in after a while. A gentle reminder that once meant that whatever happened they would always be with the other, but now meant so much more.

"One more minute."

The lights slowly started turning off. Below, Nadine could see people walking out of the building. Though The Hand specialized in organized crime, they also had resources for other things, such as research. It made sense that the sphere was being kept with the ones who could probably crack its code instead of the fighters. Once it was completely dark, Bucky aimed at the building.

"Now."

Bucky pulled the trigger, the rope cutting through the air and embedding itself on the side of the building, near the balcony on the eleventh floor. While he secured the other end against the railing, Nadine revisited the plan in her head: the plan was that they'd get to the twelfth floor, grab the sphere and escape either from the rooftop or, depending on the amount of people, through the emergency staircase. Bucky would be driving a van and pick them up.

Hopefully, everything would go exactly like that.

Once secured, Nadine maneuvered herself over the railing, Bucky's arm secured firmly around her waist as she grabbed the handles. She still felt his touch linger from the night before and a part of her considered forgetting everything and just lay in his arms, never to be seen and heard from again. But conscience didn't let her forget the task at hand; she'd never forgive herself if she did nothing.

"Ready," Nadine muttered softly, her eyes closing for a second as she took in his proximity, relishing in it just in case. He hated thinking about it, but she could never stop herself from feeling taunted by the risk of dying. She was a killer who feared death.

"Be careful, and give them hell," he whispered in her ear, his hand brushing a stray lock of hair behind it. She felt his lips brush lightly against the skin right below her ear, the sensation making her hand tighten around his to prevent from falling. Before she could process any words to respond with, he placed her other hand on the handles, let go of her waist, and gave her back a soft shove, her body dipping into the night sky.

As she cut through the air, Nadine's mind seemed to blank with momentary blind panic as it was confronted with the reality that if her hands slipped, she'd be done for. She wasn't afraid of heights, but as her arms tensed and the air roared in her ears, it was difficult to ignore the fear built up in her throat. The terrace neared soon enough, and she let go of the handles and used the momentum to somersault into a crouch. Not a minute after Nadine stood up she was joined by Kaia, and they quickly pulled out their weapons and neared the glass door that blocked them from entering.

"Selene?" Kaia muttered, peering through the door into the room. It was dark, but the street lights illuminated enough for them to know there was no one in the room, which seemed to be a lab.

"Yes, I just shut off the alarm," Selene said, and not a moment later, the door unlocked. "You're welcome."

"My hero," Nadine drawled, quietly entering the room, gun in front of her and ready. As they left the room, two people were up ahead in the hallway. They looked at each other once and placed their guns back in silent agreement, quietly reaching up towards them to grab them and incapacitate them using pressure points. The men quickly collapsed, awake, but unable to move or talk. They kept walking to find the stairs.

"Incoming," Selene warned. "Another four."

There was a beep, and Kaia pulled Nadine into the room on their right. When the men passed the door, they silently stepped back out, but weren't able to stop them from noticing their presence.

"Shit," Nadine said as they turned to look at them, and immediately their opponents surged forward. The first man swung and Kaia blocked his hit with her bicep, quickly twisting his arm and grabbing his chin, forcefully smashing his head back against the wall to stun him.

"What's going on?" Bucky asked. "Nadine? Kaia? Talk to me."

"A bit busy," Nadine grunted, punching one of her own assailants in the face. Kaia kicked her opponent's side, using that moment to grab their head and knee them in the face, before ducking and punching her second opponent square in the jaw, elbowing the first one in that same motion. Meanwhile, Nadine evaded her attacker's moves before using the wall to push herself up on one leg in order to give herself enough air to wrap her legs around her own opponents neck, pulling him to the ground. A second passed and she stood up quickly before kicking him in the face, proceeding to side step as another tried to grab her, kicking him in his back towards Kaia, who finished him off with a punch.

"I did not stretch," Kaia muttered flatly, groaning as she twisted her shoulders.

"Let's-" Nadine couldn't finish her sentence before she was pulling Kaia down just as someone shot at them. She quickly took out her gun and pulled the trigger as well, forcing their assailant to find cover behind a thin column. "Let's go!"

Kaia huffed as they ran down the hallway, only looking back to shoot. Suddenly they were more men. "When did The Hand start using guns?!

"I don't know!" Nadine replied, shooting one in the chest before pulling on Kaia's wrist to continue. "Selene!"

"Take a left now!"

They did as they were told and bolted left at the corner, Nadine noticing the sign at the end for the emergency stairs. Before they could reach it, however, a shot rang through the air and Kaia cried out. Nadine's heart sank to the depths of the ocean as she slid to a stop and turned to look at her, almost tripping on her feet. "Kaia!"

Kaia was on the floor, clutching her shoulder. Her brows were furrowed downwards, signaling her pain, and Nadine didn't have time to truly panic before a shadowed figure caught her attention, quickly standing in front of her friend with her gun pointed at them.

"Well!" A strong, Russian accent commanded her attention, silent alarms ringing in her head as she struggled to figure out where she beard that voice. "Little Samira! It was been so long."

"Samira?" Kaia questioned, making it difficult for Nadine to look at her. Apart from Bucky, she hadn't told anyone else about real name. Dante and Emilia knew for obvious reasons, while Selene knew because she was nosy and hacked into some SHIELD files when they met. Other than that, though, Samira was a name of the past.

A man, she noticed, stood before them at the end of the dark, greyish hallway. As he walked towards her, their guns pointed at each other, she had to hold everything in her in order to prevent the anger that was begging to crawl out. "Dimitri Aslanov," she said, fingers tensing against her weapon as she looked at her former classmate. "Of course, you're involved in this mess."

Dimitri only smirked, and she remembered the dimples that formed whenever he displayed any positive emotion. His new beard hid them, and she wouldn't be surprised if this was an attempt to appear older than he actually was. "What can I say? Following Kristina was fun, for a while, but I have other aspirations."

Nadine tensed at the mention of Kristina. She knew that once the Academy was shut down that Jameson's pupils scattered all over the world. Though she did encounter some of them, she always wondered how many had stayed with Kristina instead, pledging loyalty to everything she -just like Jameson- stood for. As he drew closer, his eyes flickered once towards Kaia; droplets of her blood were falling on the floor. He was stalling to see how serious her injury was and how long it would take to affect her.

"Well, I'd love to chat, but we need to go. Kaia, get up," Nadine insisted, the sound of desperation escaping her. She couldn't lose her, not here.

"But, little Mira," he taunted, relishing at the fact that he was aggravating her by calling her that name. Now that they were just a few feet away, she noticed his dark curls were wrapped in a messy bun. The years that had passed between them made him taller than her, but he still maintained the lanky build. For a moment, it felt like she was back under Jameson's tutelage, except this time around she wouldn't underestimate his sharp eye. "Don't you want to stay and chat about the sphere? I know you are here for it. Nikolai is not pleased."

"On my signal, Nadine," Selene said. She could practically hear the woman working overtime to help them get out.

Nadine scoffed. "Tell this Nikolai I'll have to raincheck."

Dimitri was about to say something when the ceiling sprinklers and fire alarm were activated, which gave Nadine an opportunity to shoot at him and throw a flash bomb at his direction before half dragging Kaia away and through the emergency staircase to the roof.

The moment they pushed the door open and were met with the cool air and night sky, Nadine activated the baton on Kaia's belt. The baton grew in size, and though it wasn't electric like the Black Widow's, it still served Kaia well in her fights and, in this case, to securely block the door.

It wouldn't do much, though, seeing as not a moment later there was banging on the door. Nadine was slightly standing in front of Kaia, weapon drawn and pointed towards it. "Kaia, go."

"What?" Kaia asked, her tone incredulous. "Not without you."

"Kaia!" She turned and grabbed the woman's good arm. Though Kaia was significantly taller than her, her forceful grip seemed to grab her attention. "Go. Now. Please, I am begging you, go."

Unfortunately for Nadine, Kaia was stubborn. Though everyone loved making fun of her for not being able to take orders, the woman wasn't one to easily back down either, and if it meant leaving her behind, she'd listen even less. "No!" Kaia replied, adamant on staying. "We can take them. We can fight them and give Bucky time to cross over."

"Kaia," she repeated, and noticed a man trying to pull the baton out through the opening. Nadine shot at him until he closed the door again, before turning towards her friend again. Kaia was trying not to wince, but she had enough energy to press her earpiece. "Kaia, don't-"

"-Soldat." Kaia was having trouble with the pain. The blood was seeping through her suit. They needed to act quickly. "Soldat, we need help."

"I'm already on my way," Bucky responded, but Nadine knew that he wouldn't get there on time. They'd shoot him before he stepped foot anywhere near them.

Nadine needed to act. Time was running out and she doubted that Dimitri was dead. The man wasn't terrifying, but he was vindictive. She was drowning in her resignation at what she needed to do. She looked at Kaia, who was sweating and panting, but determined regardless. She looked behind her at the people starting to trickle in after they blew the baton out. One drew a gun.

There was no more time left.

"I'm sorry," Nadine whispered to the three of them, before she threw the grappling hook she had on the floor, and in an instant she'd hooked Kaia's suit to it. The woman didn't have time to react before Nadine gave her a shove and pushed her off of the roof, her only reaction being a sudden yelp and her fingers brushing over Nadine's palms as she failed to take her too.

"Nadine!" Bucky yelled. "What the fuck did you do?"

Bullets flew as she ran towards the nearest vent, tossing the empty glock and pulling out her handguns. "Give you time," she said, a solemn breath escaping her. "Stick to the plan. Drive the van, pick Kaia up, and go."

"Bullshit," Bucky spat, his anger making her eyes blur with tears. She wasn't surprised, but his rage still hit her like a truck because of how painful it was. "I'm raining hell until I get you off of that roof."

She didn't respond, choosing instead to focus at the task at hand. She leaned slightly on the side of the vent to get a better look. When she had a clear shot, she pulled the trigger three times, a pained yell confirming at least one of her bullets met her target. She shielded her face as bullets ricocheted against the metal vent, one almost catching her arm.

"Nadine!" Kaia cried. For a moment, she prayed none of the bullets had touched her. "Are you alright?!"

She didn't have time to respond before another round of shots rang through the air, missing her completely. Her ears rang as she quickly leaned over and shot aimlessly behind her, hoping to hit another person, but it wasn't long before her body keeled forward to the left, her leg burning. When she scrambled to the side she felt a hot liquid brushing down her leg. Blood. She'd been shot.

"Nadine?! Nadine, please, answer me!"

"Selene?" she choked, her heart pounding against her chest. "I'm fine."

"What happened?" Bucky asked. She could hear gunfire from his side. "Nadine, I swear to God, why did you make that sound?!"

She hadn't even realized she'd made a sound. The adrenaline and the gunshots made it feel like her ears were stuffed with cotton. "I'm hit. I don't know how bad it is."

Nadine heard all three of them speak, but she couldn't discern what any of them were saying as another round of bullets flew. She covered her head as best as she could, asking the universe that none of them hit her again.

"Stop!" A deep voice said, the words buried under a heavy Russian accent. The bullets ceased, but the silence made her body tense in apprehension. "You're surrounded, Mira. Get up, now!"

Dimitri.

She stood, forcing her weight onto her left leg in hopes that it would help her injured one. When she was satisfied, she turned and practically hobbled towards him, her hands gripping her guns tightly. Dimitri, unharmed from her attempt earlier, was looking at her in annoyance, like she was a pest he needed to take care of.

In his defense, she tended to have that effect on people.

Her eyes noticed the glowing, orange orb he held in his hand and her stomach twisted in knots. He was going to try to control her, just like Kristina did to Dante. Her heart sank. What if she ended up hurting someone she loved? She'd be devastated.

"Nadine," Selene's tone was careful, but she could hear the desperation. Everyone was scrambling to save her from her fate, but she knew the chances were slim.

"It's too late," Dimitri gave her a shrug, almost as if they were young friends talking about school project. He was holding the sphere up, and she tried not to look at it. She didn't know how the brainwashing worked, but she wasn't going to make it easy. "You just need to stop what you're doing and come with me. You're going to be well taken care of, Mira."

With all the yelling coming from her earpiece and the pain on her leg it took Nadine a split second to concentrate, but nothing seemed to be happening to her. She didn't feel any different; if anything, the whole scenario just pissed her off even more. So before anyone, not even Dimitri, could react, she pulled the trigger.

For a moment, time seemed to slow down until the bullet met its mark, which caused the sphere to seemingly explode, a surge of bright orange energy sputtering out that sent everyone flying back. Nadine felt like her whole body was floating, gravity seemingly no longer being an option. She could've sworn her heart stopped before reality seemed to pull her back as she collapsed, her right shoulder hitting the ground first, pained yell escaping her before she could react. Nadine quickly stopped herself from rolling over by placing her bloodied left hand on the ledge and pushing back. The pain on her chest intensified, like her heart was pumping acid instead of blood. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't breathe.

"Nadine?!" She heard Bucky yelling, and she could almost feel the pure desperation in his voice.

"James," she croaked, her vision doubling. What was happening? Her eyelids grew heavy.

"Nadine! Hold on!"

She turned her head, though the movement sent a flare of white hot pain down her spine. Through the haze she realized more people came up to the roof. The other people, including Dimitri, who were with her when the sphere exploded had collapsed as well, though she couldn't discern how they were.

"Nadine!"

Nadine tried to speak, but her tongue was as heavy as a sandbag and it tasted like lead. Her lungs seemed to have trouble keeping oxygen for more than a few seconds. She hadn't realized she was laying on her stomach until her forehead touched the ground.

"Grab her."

The voice was gruff, distant as she was losing control of her senses, but American through and through. She couldn't see anymore and her brain could only concentrate on the pain.

I'm sorry.

She wanted to say many things to Bucky, but she couldn't. Her body was shutting down on her and she could no longer discern what was happening. A part of her was screaming at her to get up and fight, but the rest was not there.

I'm so sorry.

All Nadine could do was hope that death would welcome her soon.

_________________________________

A/N: how we feeling besties? Y'all doing ok? Lmaoooo

I can't believe I updated this so quickly but AYO HERE WE GO NEW YEAR NEW ME NEW AMBITION TO FINISH THIS STORY

As always thank you, thank you, thank you so much for reading this story. I hope y'all enjoy it just as much as I do :)

See y'all soon babes! <3