It was brief and the words were not sincere enough, William realised that these people weren't that close to John at all. They were just people from care home, some nurses and caretakers.

No family members had stood to give a short speech. Because John's family hadn't attended. William had gritted his teeth, nearly standing up himself to tell something, anything, to honour the veteran.

Four men had carried the closed casket out, being followed by the flood of nurses and elders alike. Everyone followed them out, even the woman who had entered the church hours before.

"The target may blend in with the crowd outside, stay alert, everyone." it was the same static female voice he had heard earlier, the woman clad in black.

"Copy, I'll stay in position." the man replied, peering down from the balcony, watching as the last people left.

Silently, William stood up and stepped over the man. Noticing the shadow, the agent tried to turn but Will was faster, his right hand snaked around the mans neck, while the left kept his head locked in a firm grip. His grip was strong yet loose enough for little air to still ecape through, just barely. Though his lack of panic was a dead giveaway that this man was a well trained agent, not some rookie that agencies sometimes sent out.

"Stop. Chasing me!" William whispered furiously into his ear before slamming his face into the stone floor with a loud crack. The collision made him unconscious immediately, his body going limp as blood started flowing from his broken nose. William grabbed his sniper, swinging the sling over his shoulder as he skimmed through his pockets, grabbing the knives he found there. He looked at the bow and arrows weirdly. He took the arrows and broke them, scattering them on the floor before repeating the action with the bow, making sure they were unusable.

He made his way down the dark staircase, eyes wide and ears pricked for every smallest of sounds that could indicate someone elses presence. For precautions, he covered half of his face with already familiar dark scarf, leaving only the eyes out.

There was no doubt in his heart that the place was surrounded by agents. That's why he wasn't going to use neither exits, he was, most likely, going to be met with the barrel of a gun as soon as he dared to take a step outside.

He made his way through the aisles, eyes feverishly looking left and right.

Nothing.

He knew the longer he searched the smaller his chances of getting away unnoticed would be. He skimmed the enormous rooms, breaking the locks if the doors were closed, asking forgiveness every time he did so.

He wasn't a religious man, but that didn't mean he had to be disrespectful about it.

He noticed it, finally. Round drainage grate, it was old and heavy, but his only way out. He dropped down, swinging the sniper over his shoulder instead of gripping it in his hands. He curled his fingers around the drainage crate, muscles coiling as he pulled it open from it's snug hole. The ground around it cracked as it finally came loose, the drop down was merely around seven feet, if not a little more.

It was gonna be a tight fit, but he would have to wiggle through.

He carefully crawled in, finding it difficult to squeeze his shoulders through the drainage. He was sure he heard a disturbing pop before his right shoulder flared up with pain, but he ignored it as he pulled the lid back on before dropping down.

His feet sunk into dirty water as he started wading through the trash to find his way out again.

Normally, stench like that would make anyone's eyes water, but William knew he had lived through much worse than that. This was nothing.

The water barely reached his knees, but the amount of trash in there was disturbing even for him. The ground and walls were all slippery, and the tunnels seemed to reach out forever. He had been stupid when he hadn't done his homework about the whole layout, but his insticts were usually on point. He knew exactly which was North or South. He heard the commotion above, walking and talking and heavy traffic as he walked underneath the road.

He found another drainage grate that seemed to be in an alleyway. Luckily, he reached it just fine and it was loose, unlike the one he had entered through.

He carefully pushed it aside before crawling out. Kneeling down, he reached out for the crate to place it back but suddenly felt his blood hum again. The air seemed to ripple around him, vibrating and whispering and slithering as if warning the beast within, as if warning William.

Not a second later, the soldier spun on his feet, grabbed the end of the barrel that was four inches from his head and forced it upwards and out of the agents hands. He pushed his forearm against the agents chest and shoved him against the red wall. Before the HYDRA agent could utter a word, the same gun he had been holding collided with his temple. The crack of his skull echoed in Williams ears as the smell of blood flooded his senses.

He swirled around, stepping away from a dart that had been aimed at his neck. He went in with full force, breaking bones like they were mere sticks, cracking skulls against the crumbling brick walls as if it was nothing.

Within a blink of an eye, five agents were dead.

Three were hesitant to approach, but William gave them no time to think as he easily rammed into one of them, hearing a satisfying crunch as he slammed the body into the ground, breaking his spine.
He raised the body up as a human shield when they opened fire at him, backing away.

Like he would let them go now.

He jogged closer, cornering them and throwing the dead agent onto one of them, ceasing the ongoing rain of bullets. The soldier easily balled his fist and slammed it into the female agents face, ripping the rifle out of her hands and shooting the last agent standing.

He didn't let himself lose another second as he jumped on a ladder, making his way up on top of the square building.

He was certain the commotion had earned them unwanted attention, if not the yelling, then the sound of gunfire sure did.

Low growls vibrated through his chest as he jogged over the roof, body shaking as he tried his best not to give into the need, the want to keep on killing.

There was something so... Powerful about ending a life, something so lethal about just snapping a delicate neck or ripping someones throat open. The sheer thrill of a chase was making his blood sing. And there were hardly anyone to rival his speed and strength. People were powerless against him.

It disgusted William, it sickened him that there was a side of him that felt the need to keep on ruining lives. An ugly, hidden face that took pleasure in bruises, blood and broken bones. It was a twisted, ugly thing that had born over the years of... Whatever it was that had happened to him. But he knew bloodlust like that didn't just grow over a day, or a week.

That was decades of pain, manipulation and anguish. That was how he learned to survive. He was thrown into the darkness, so the only way to get through it, was to kill a part of himself to adapt.

There was the sound of a whirring helicopter speeding towards him. They had eyes on him, or if not yet, they would pretty soon.

He slammed through a hotel window, landing in an empty suite as pieces of glass shimmered around him. He rolled to his feet and easily slid the sniper on his back over his shoulder and into his calloused hands. He assessed the empty room, moving towards the door that led to the hallway. Cocking the gun, he busted the door open and jogged towards the exit. If he was fast enough, he would make it down and into the streets where he could, possibly, lose them. Rooftops were too much of a risk now.

Some tourists screamed and slammed their doors, hiding from his view.

Good.

Getting to the staircases, he noticed they were empty as he ran down them. The ground floor was a long way down, and he needed to be faster. He hopped over the railing, realising he could hear many pairs of feet running upstairs right towards him. The swarm of agents was like a storm cloud drifting through a clear day, it couldn't go unnoticed by anyone. The free fall made him feel weightless for a second, he could feel the hands that tried to catch him, but to no avail.

Before really crashing into the last floor, he reached out his hand and groaned as his weight tore off a railing, his shoulder flared with pain as the metal creaked, slowing him down. He let go, falling on his feet gracefully.

Though he had no time to mull over it as glass shattered in the foyer. He dropped down, tucking behind the grey reception desk as he pushed his back against the stone surface, trying to sense their movements.

He knew he worked with groups, killing groups, so this was nothing, this felt too normal. Too average. 

He slung the sniper over his shoulder, grabbing a pushed over chair as he sprung to his feet and slammed it onto an incoming agent. The gun went off, bullets flying into the high ceiling and chandelier above. Will ripped it out of his hands, kicking him in the throat as he pointed the gun towards the second agent.

The bullet ripped through agents glasses and buried itself into his skull.

Will dodged a bullet, ripping off a nearby table and throwing it towards the onslaught of bullets. He attacked immediately, ramming into the group, slicing their throats and bashing their faces in, never seeing their eyes due to the helmets that were supposed to protect them.

Another flood of them entered, and William immediately knew that these were different kind of agents.

Unwillingly, his fingers grew longer, nails morphing into claws as he pushed them through someones bulletproof vest, slicing them over their ribs and giving them a fatal wound. His pulse slowed down and he knew he needed to get out, or soon he wouldn't see the difference between an agent and a civilian.

He rolled away from the onslaught of bullets before the agent clad in black was approached by a woman who took him down with ease. As he pushed himself up from the ground, he felt someones fist make contact with his face. Filled with adrenaline he barely felt it, a growl vibrated through his chest as he released his sniper as it tangled across his chest, his clawed hands curled around the agents neck, but before he could snap it, someone rammed into him.

He stumbled back, glaring at the woman who had kicked him aside. He growled at her, feeling fur sprout up his neck.

No. He didn't want to lose control.

The woman approached stealthily, running towards the wall to get a push up from there. Realizing her intentions on gaining the higher ground, William turned and caught her leg that was about to be wrapped around his neck. He twisted it in mid air, pushing her away as she easily did a backflip and was back on her feet like a cat.

He was attacked from the other side, nearly too late against the attacker as he twisted the agents wrist, making her drop the syringe. With other hand, he dug a knife between her ribs.

Hearing the familiar ticking, William scrambled away from the wall and towards the door but he was too late, the bomb went off and he, along with the agents fighting each other went flying back. Splinters of wood and pieces of ceiling went flying, piercing through the thin glass that made up windows and doors.

He felt the impact of the blow tossing him out of the nearby window. He felt the glass shatter as a few other agents were thrown off by the impact as well. A couple unlucky ones ended up in pieces.

He growled, feeling the vibrations of it through his chest as he tried to push himself up, feeling disoriented by the blow. His head was ringing, and he felt his gums ache as they changed their shape slowly as he tried to suppress it.

Someone jumped him, making them both go tumbling down and roll over the shards of glass. He felt the punch as the agent tried their best to hit his head, to get him unconscious. But it only angered William.

He glutched a shard of glass between his hands and sunk it deep into the agents neck. Blood bubbled from the wound, dripping on his face and closed eyelids as he pushed the man away with his legs, he jumped up, shaking away the dizziness. There was fire inside and air was thick with smoke.

Perfect cover. He jogged away, seeing flashes of light in the smoke as people still kept firing at each other. He was confused, not understanding who exactly were they.

He growled lowly, realizing his body was still changing even if he tried to keep it at bay. He shook his head, trying to shake off the blanket of silence that wanted to slip over his human side, quietly, dangerously consume his mind and turn off the humanity.

He slipped away into the alleways, staggering deep into the darkness as he kept leaning against the stone wall. He balled his fists, hitting the side of his head in hopes to gain full control over it. All the while he knew in the back of his mind that he had to keep on going, this, this was dangerous.

He slammed the back of his head against the wall as he slid down, briefly seeing stars dance in his vision, but it was reversing, the fur was disappearing once again, slowly but surely as he forced himself to gain back the control. His hands were slick with his own blood as he unclenched his fists, wobbling up as he started making his way deeper into the city, half-blinded by the surfacing beast within.

His heart sped up as simply just thinking straight became easy again. The dark fog that had threatened to fall over his mind dissappeared as jog turned into a steady run.

Though it wasn't for long.

He felt it before it reached him. He grasped the leg just few inches from his face, kicking the slender agent away as she skidded to a halt, nearly falling at the rough push. They stared at each other, analyzing the opponent from head to toe. Carefully taking in their physique and stance. Trying to understand what the other was capable of, what were the weaknesses and strengths? What sort of fighting style did they prefer? Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Muay Thai? Aikido? Were they good in close range combat, or did they prefer to keep the opponent far away?

It was the woman clad in black, he realized. Neither approached first, waiting for the other to take the first step. Unlike Will, she could wait the whole day, in fact, the longer they waited, the bigger was the chance of some of her peers catching up to them.

So, William charged, holding nothing back.

He flipped the knife, aiming at her throat, though she dodged easily, too easily. She attempted to swipe his legs from underneath him. Once again, he didn't step away, but caught her leg into a firm grip. His hold tightened and he could see the wince she tried to hide as she pulled out the batons strapped on her back.

He jumped away, noticing the metallic shine of a dagger as she swiped at his abdomen. Despite that, he was right back in her face again. His eyes flashed red, seemingly startle the skilled agent for a second. He used it to his advantage, curling his hands around her throat and shoving her against the wall. Though she was quick to act and slip loose from his irongrip.

She seemed impressed by his sheer force and agility, pushing her back instead of letting her gain the upper hand. She was fast and agile, but clearly William had more strength. So the bruises on her were darker.

she made no sound as his knife sliced through her cheek, leaving behind an angry, red line. Within a blink of an eye, she had suddenly hooked her legs around him, easily locking her feet around Williams abdomen, sitting snugly on his back as her hands snaked around his throat, his fingers clutched her wrists as she coiled herself like a snake.

Danger, danger, danger, danger... his mind was screaming at him as he receded, slamming his back into the stone wall as he tried to make her dizzy so she'd loosen her grip. He banged his head back, hitting her in the face and making the back of her head collide with the wall. He repeated his action until the grip loosened and he threw her over his shoulder. She landed with a loud thud, going rigid for a second at the pain that flared through her. 

She gasped for air, but rolled away as a balled fist made a tent onto the cement ground.

“Backup, backup now!” she rushed into the com, tucking as Will aimed another punch her way.  Blood trickled down her upper lip, eyes narrowed with determination as she jumped up, crouching low and ready to bounce as William mimiced her stance.

Although before she could think about taking a step forward, she was forced to lean back heavily as a throwing star passed between the two, the six pointed weapon managed to snatch just a handful of Natasha Romanoffs red hair before getting stuck in a nearby garbage can.

A tall, muscular female agent had appeared, locking Natasha in as her target. The two went rolling. The new opponent was clad in tight-fitting attire, wearing black and red. She didn't seem to turn the half morphed beast in the alley any mind as she went in for Natasha.

Williams red eyes were filled with unimaginable fury as he watched the new agent go after his prey.

It was his kill, not hers!

Growling furious, she approached the two. Though she felt his skin prickle, warning him of incoming danger.

He felt someone grab his upper arm, pulling him up forcefully.

“Oh no you don't.” a man in odd winged metal suit piped out. William growled, lashing out and digging his claws into the metal on the agents back.

The man cursed, trying to pry him off all the while trying to maintain steady flight. They were nearly five feet in the air when Williams claws sunk deep into the suit, damaging one of the wings so bad it tilted heavily onto one side. He tried to flap his wing like a flightless bird as William kept digging his claws deeper in, leaving long gashes behind as he destroyed the multi-million dollar suit with hot fury.

As much as the agent tried to keep them in the air, the wing collapsed and they pummeled down.

They crashed into an old brick wall, making debris fall with a loud rumble. Sam Wilson was lucky to be wearing the suit as he clawed his way out of the rubble. He coughed, instinctively blinking rapidly behind his goggles as the dust clouded his vision, his heartrate picked up as he realized his sensors were damaged and he could not pick up any heat signals, the dust around him was so thick he could hardly see anything beyond his own armor clad hands and the red bricks.

“I'm down, I repeat, I'm down.” he panted into the com, hoping that it somehow, miraculously worked.

He couldn't hear anything beside his own heavy breathing as he slowly tried to push himself up, the heavy suit dragging him down.

The particles of dust danced in the air when the enormous dark shadow appeared, two bloodthirsty red eyes locked on Sam Wilson's beat-up form struggling to get up.

“Shit.” he cursed as the beast approached, his bare feet making no sound. The last thing he could remember was the face of a wolf, terrifying set of crimson eyes and tightness around his neck as the beast pulled him up.

***

Real talk guys.

Let's refrain from calling William things like: dïckhead or mötherfücker.

Call me a snowflake if you will, but he's my baby and as much as I want everyone to share their thoughts, name calling in that key is a bit of a stretch 😅 though don't get me wrong, he is an idiot at times.

Moving on.

When your brother keeps bugging you about taking him to work with you, so you turn him into a drug dealer:

Qs: what's the hype about making Will gay?

P.s has anyone else noticed that chapters keep getting longer? :3

Thanks for reading,
stay safe and
lots of love!

SincerelyLoki