BAD BITCH
❝these were the women who knitted pain into glory❞

17. Mission Successful

February 2017

❝You're sure he'll be here?❞
Tony asks in confusion, looking up at the abandoned hospital, and voices what everyone else had been secretly thinking. Svetlana only rolled her eyes in annoyance before marching in front of them all and continuing towards the main doors.

It had been two weeks since her and Steve had taken Hydra documents, since they'd had to fight their way out of the building, but Svetlana had somehow survived spending the majority of her time surrounded by the Avengers. They'd annoyed her to begin with, so much so that she thought she might have to drop out of the the search mission on multiple occasions, but they all eventually began to warm to each other. Stark had been the first one to be confident enough to talk properly to Svetlana. He was never one for silence and, when they were all trying to locate certain information on the documents taken, he begun to ask Svetlana about anything and everything. The rest had expected her to completely shut him out but, after she gave Tony a look of annoyance, she opened her mouth and answered all of the mundane questions he'd thrown at her. In response, however, she asked her fair share of questions as well until, eventually, the whole table had gotten involved in asking each other questions that very rarely got asked.
It had been a calm evening, spending hours underlining dates and names, but they'd all managed to become less wary of the woman. Svetlana didn't know why she'd actually answered Stark nicely. She had originally opened her mouth to tell him to back the fuck off but, after looking at the curious man, she just didn't have the patience to get into an argument with him. She'd long grown tired of pushing everyone out. She was by no means ever going to let them in, dancing around questions that could give them any indication of her past or emotions, but it had been nice for her to talk to someone civilly. The look on Natasha's face, a look of pride and happiness, was enough for Svetlana to want to continue being kind to others.

❝Come on, children, we have a man to collect.❞
Svetlana shouts over her shoulder and Natasha can only smile at her antics. It was almost as though Svetlana was returning to her old self. In fact, since the woman had started spending copious amounts of time in the presence of Pietro, Tony and Clint, it seemed as though she'd begun to incorporate their sarcasm into her own vocabulary. Natasha was quickly reminded that Svetlana was still not used to conversations that weren't dictated for her. Much like a child, she was just beginning to learn how to properly speak to others without being over vicious so had begun to mimic the most social people she knew. It was all subconsciously done. Svetlana barley noticed that she'd become a lot more sarcastic and little less aggressive over her stay with the Avengers but Natasha had and was hopeful that she'd continue to become more social.

❝Lady Justice, we need to stay together!❞
Steve shouts over the intercoms, seeing the woman march even further away from the group, but Svetlana only responds with a crude gesture. The woman hated that name. She despised it with everything inside of her body. The citizens of New York had started to name their new vigilante 'Lady Justice' as people started to get assassinated only for all of them to have a dark secret found upon investigation. The tabloids had labelled the killings as a new hero who was taking out anyone who had done evil within their lifetime. All witnesses had claimed that they'd seen a woman so thus 'Lady Justice' was born. Svetlana hated it less for what it was but more because it represented everything she couldn't be. No matter how good she did in her lifetime, she would never be able to become neutral. She'd done too much bad to ever be redeemed and she hated that the name was just a scam.
Steve had insisted that they call each other by their code names during missions. He stated that it meant that they were easier to trace back but Svetlana knew that it was simply just a military habit that he couldn't seem to grow out of comfortably. Everyone seemed to have their own 'super hero name' which they wore with pride apart from Svetlana. Mostly on the foundation of the fact that she was very proud of who she was and definitely wasn't proud of the things she'd done. As well as that, people hadn't really been aware of her existence until she'd left Hydra. She'd been nothing but a ghost story without a name. She'd just been a monster that no one dared speak of.
She'd told them this. Less emotional, sure, but she'd told them all that she simply didn't have a code name as she was very rarely seen, let alone recognised. None of them had even attempted to think of a code name, too nervous to even utter any of their suggestions, so Steve had just sighed and suggested that she go by her last name rather than first. That was until Stark walked in the very next morning with a large grin on his face and had asked, with a strange sense of confidence, 'How is Lady Justice doing this fine morning?'. She'd nearly punched him. Her fingers were so close to connecting with his nose but she'd breathed deeply and removed her fist from the air in front of his face.
Steve insisted she be called Lady Justice during their mission. She supposed it was only one mission and that she could deal with the internal hate she felt for herself for a few hours.

❝Sorry, Captain, just checking the perimeters.❞
She answers. She'd been apologising a lot more recently.
❝Do you see anything?❞
❝The whole building is crawling with guards. We'll be attacked the moment we enter so we need eyes from the sky to tell me where to go.❞
They'd all agreed that Svetlana should be the one to get Barnes. To begin with, they seemed quite worried at the idea of her having to fight the Winter Solider. They'd all heard stories of how dangerous the man could be, knowing that even Steve Rogers had barely won a single fight against him, and had voiced their concerns. Svetlana hadn't gotten angry but seemed to smile slightly. It wasn't until Natasha had laughed and stated that Svetlana was a truly equal opponent for the Solider, that they all agreed to her going. Svetlana had requested she have Natasha come with her and Natasha had agreed immediately as they both knew that they'd need to work together to get the man down. The woman could have chosen a stronger hero to come with her, perhaps Thor would have been a better choice, but she knew that she needed someone who she could trust completely to match her moves. Her and Natasha had worked side by side for almost a decade and she knew that they'd be able to fight together.

❝Iron man, Falcon.❞
The two men both nod as Steve begins to list orders and immediately take to the skies. They'd all been told to keep their intercoms in at all times, knowing that they needed each other to be obedient at all times, so even Svetlana could hear as Stark jabbered on.
❝Quicksilver, run the perimeter and take out anyone in the area outside.❞
The Avengers had always been quite quiet when it came to missions, they all seemed to take their orders very seriously, but with Svetlana thrown into the mix, they all felt as though they had exactly what they needed to make them as powerful as possible. Pietro kissed his sister on the cheek quickly before flashing from their vision and Svetlana smiled slightly at their bond.
❝Hawkeye and Scarlett witch. Stay together at all times.❞
Wanda smiles over at Clint who sarcastically smiles back, warranting the woman to laugh, and they both stand side by side.
❝Thor. Just attack anyone who isn't us but stay close to me.❞
❝Lady Justice, Black Widow - I assume you know what to do?❞
The two women look over to each other for moment before smirking.
❝Course. Get Solider out. Simple.❞

It wasn't simple. It was as far away from simple than it could ever fucking be, Svetlana thought in annoyance as she jabs her knee into a solider's liver and watches as he chokes a tsunami of blood. Upon walking through the main doors, Svetlana had been correct and they'd been attacked almost instantly. There'd been a lot more people than had originally been thought. Hundreds of officers had poured in, armed with guns and batons, but the team simply continued on and began to fight their way through them.
Svetlana wasn't going to be around for much of the fight. Her and Natasha only needed to fight until they could make a break for the doors. Unfortunately, it seemed almost impossible for them to get through as the door were on the other side of the largest room where many officers were in the way. So they'd had to fight for longer than expected.
❝Does she have a blood kink or some shit?!❞
Tony had squawked out once he'd seen the carnage that Svetlana was leaving behind. She'd been just as brutal as always, maybe more so now that she knew she was fighting for a cause she supported, so the floor had soon become lined with blood. They were only lucky that it had been carpet otherwise they'd have all been slipping over. Yet, before she could respond with an equally as biting comment, she saw a split in the officers. All of them were too focused on fighting the powerful Avengers to even notice as Svetlana and Natasha slipped through the gap they'd made.

The pair made their way through the winding corridors of the hospital. It had been creepy, Natasha had realised, to see the building be taken over by mould. The lights didn't work either so, as they were running silently to the room they needed, guided by Sam's instructions being explained in their ears, they could barely see what was at the end of the hallways. The only light they had was that of the sunlight poking through the small windows on the wall to their right.

❝The room should be on your left - good luck, I guess.❞
Sam grunts, already on the ground and helping aid the Avengers with their battle. There was a slight hesitation to open the door. Neither knew what to expect. They'd all presumed that the Winter Solider would be fighting against them, putting two and two together, but no one knew exactly what they would be against. Natasha felt slight nerves coil in her stomach and she watches Svetlana kick the door open in one swift move.

It was the moment they'd all been waiting for. The room inside was dark, too dark for them to properly see into, and instantly the two women were on high alert. Svetlana looks to Natasha and nods as they give each other orders just through a few subtle facial expressions. She goes in first, feet carefully coming to the floor softly, and she bends her knees slightly to be completely silent.
The room seems to be empty. Nothing can be seen and Svetlana feels a slight sense of fear wash over her as she begins to feel a presence in the room with them. It was only when they heard erratic breathing for the corner of the room, when they truly felt scared.
They both hold their breaths as they nervously look at one another, barely seeing each other through the darkness, before being completely blinded by the lights turning on above them. Instantly, Natasha gets into a fighting stance but Svetlana knows they weren't in danger. If Madame B had wanted to kill them, she would have done so whilst they were temporarily blinded. The woman wasn't much for speeches before killing so Svetlana simply surveyed the area. Her eyes find the old woman quickly but she ignores her for a moment and looks to the corner. There, bound tightly by a psychiatric restraint jacket, was Bucky Barnes. Immediately, Svetlana knows that it wasn't the Winter Solider. The scared expression on the man's face was enough for the woman to know that they hadn't reverted him back to his original status.

Confused, Svetlana looks to Madame B.
❝Why did you do this?❞
The woman purses her lips and looks as though she thinking before a twisted smile plants itself along her lips.
❝To get you here, of course.❞
Natasha subconsciously moves herself in front of Svetlana, putting herself in between Madame B and the woman, but Svetlana only clenches her jaw in agitation. She'd wasted a hell of a lot of time desperately trying to find Barnes - all because Madame B enjoys playing mind games. Svetlana swore she could have killed the woman right then and there.
❝And what do you want? You'll never be able to extract all four of us out of the building without one of the Avengers noticing. You know this. So, I wonder, what do you want?❞
❝I thought you should see this before the world does.❞
Is all she answers and Svetlana instantly begins to get nervous. Her mind begins to work as fast as possible to think of something that could be leaked. It could be her identity. Yet, Svetlana wouldn't be too badly effected by it. Sure, it would annoying but she could still continue her life as though it never happened.
Natasha begins to look nervous as well as Madame B slides a file across the floor between them. Svetlana only raises an eyebrow. She picks it up, not keeping her eyes off of the woman in front of them, and doesn't bother looking at it.
❝Why go to all this effort? You could have just contacted me - you know how.❞
❝This is something I feel, all three of you need to be around to hear.❞
Realisation sweeps across Svetlana.
❝Hydra wouldn't let you. You knew that they'd only let you speak to me if they thought it was to revert us back to their organisation. You staged the whole thing just to get us here.❞
The woman smiles like a predator but there's a sense of tiredness. Natasha looks at Svetlana and is only met by a nod of confirmation so the woman carefully goes over to Barnes. She begins to work the jacket off of him but Svetlana can see the way her hands shake.
Svetlana knew that Natasha knew what was in the file.

So Svetlana opens it, staring at the photographs, and the world seems to go in slow motion.

❝How many people know?❞
❝Only me.❞
❝Bullshit!❞
❝You may not believe me, Svetlana, but I care for you in ways you could never understand-❞
Svetlana stares at the woman as she speaks. Looking down at the file in her hand for a few seconds, trying to grasp onto reality, she watches as Madame B rants. Yet, Svetlana knew the woman was lying. She could hear the manipulation dripping for her lips. She didn't want to hear anymore, couldn't bare to hear the woman try and grant sympathy, so, with a quick movement, she slams her first into the woman's nose as hard as she could and watches as she crumples to the floor.
❝Shut up, mother.❞