The Valut
SHIELD Supermax Prison
Colorado Rocky Mountains
"I don't know why I let you talk me into things like this," Natasha Romanoff said as she walked next to Steve down the hallways of the Vault. It had been here that Cobra had attacked and broken out Queen Bee, her Fearsome Five, and the Serpent Society, all of which had now bolstered the Red Skull's forces. After that, Fury did his best to make it even more secure, and Cap figured he did one hell of a job. The only facility that may have been more secure was Belle Reve in Louisiana.
"Someday I'm going to say no to these hairbrained schemes."
"Yea, but then how would we have our fun?" Steve smiled slyly at her.
"I dunno," she shrugged.
"We could make an intermural softball team. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Fielders. It's got a ring to it."
Steve merely chuckled and shook his head. Natasha had been part of his team the longest out of any of the others, at least he considered her to be. She had been one of the people who helped him reacclimatize to life in the current time, and was the first to volunteer to be on his strike team. They had become fast friends, and time had solidified that bond to be rock solid.
Natasha had been a Black Widow candidate, set to become one of the Soviet Union's secretive, deadly girl assassins before being saved by SHIELD. Her deprogramming had been difficult, but worth it. She was now one of the few people Cap trusted implicitly. Not to mention she was one of the few Avengers with anonymity. She had always been kept out of the spotlight, purposefully by Cap. He needed someone that could work undercover if need be.
Well, he needed someone who could work undercover when they weren't the size of an ant.
"You do know Fury's gonna have our heads for this, right?" she asked as they passed towards the center cells.
"This is disobeying a direct order."
"I'll take responsibility," Cap assured her.
"No one else will have to deal with whatever Fury cooks up for punishment."
"Oh you're damn right you're taking responsibility," she stared at him with fake malice in her eyes.
"Besides, I have another mission I'm taking care of. I can't be gone for too long."
The two of them passed into the most secure wing, where the highest profile villains were kept. The cells here, and in Belle Reve, were the most advanced of their kind, able to damper superpowers while also being surprisingly comfortable for the inmates. It was possibly more than they deserved, but Cap appreciated that SHIELD kept their prisoners comfortable. Most cells were empty now, a fact Cap was not happy about.
They finally came to an occupied cell. As the two heroes approached, its occupant looked up from a book, and over a pair of black-rimmed glasses at them. She folded the book and placed it on her bed, giving Cap a small smirk as she slinked off the bed to walk towards them. Even in the dull-grey jumpsuit provided by the prison, Anastasia Cisarovna had the beauty few could match, and as a Black Widow, one SHIELD couldn't manage to save, she knew how to use it. She had been one of Cobra Commander's chief lieutenants before her capture, and since her imprisonment she had learned more about SHIELD than they had about Cobra. She could be very persuasive when she wanted to be.
"Captain," she purred from behind the forcefield that kept her imprisoned,
"how nice of you to visit. One of these days I'm going to convince you to come on the other side of the glass."
"Sorry, Baroness," Rogers addressed her by her codename,
"I'm just not a fan of a girl in glasses."
"You're no fun," she pouted sarcastically, before throwing a side-eye at Natasha.
"And you brought my sister with."
"I'm not your sister," Romanoff snarled. Biologically, that was definitely true. But the Black Widow program made their initiates call each other sisters. The bad blood between Natasha and Anastasia was deep and powerful. Cap knew one of Natasha's most satisfying moments was when she was able to capture the fellow provocateur.
Cap nodded to the guard, who pressed a few buttons on the cell. The forcefield dissipated, and Steve quickly threw high powered shackled on the Baroness's wrists,
"Your lucky day, Cisarovna. You're going on a road trip."
"Where are you taking me?" she sounded worried.
"Belle Reve," Romanoff smirked at the Cobra member.
"Fury thought you might me more cooperative with The Wall."
Amanda "The Wall" Waller was the warden of SHIELD's other prison, as well as acting as the head of Task Force X, SHIELD's black ops division. She was brilliant, ruthless, and secretive. Fury called her the perfect spy, possibly even better than he was. Even Baroness looked worried.
Rogers walked the villain down to the hangar bay where the rest of the team was waiting. Falcon was checking his guns, Hawkeye was restringing a bow, and Cyborb was going over a system check. They were all aware of the mission. The real mission.
Nat put Baroness on the prisoner transport in a mobile supermax lockup with a bunch of other low level Cobra operatives. Fury hadn't authorized it, but Cap pulled rank and made it happen. It was a front, of course. Cap wanted Cobra to try and get Baroness back. They'd send at least one top agent to do that. He wouldn't let them take her, but he needed them to try.
"Cyborg and Falcon," he began giving out orders,
"you're air support."
"No surprise there," Falcon fist bumped Cyborg.
"Eyes in the sky."
Falcon, normally known as Sam Wilson, had been the second member of his team. An Iraq war vet, he had been a specialized aerial reconnaissance and pararescue trooper. Now he was an invaluable member of the Avengers.
"I've cleared air traffic around our path. I'll know the minute anyone comes near us," Vic Stone, AKA Cyborg, informed them. Vic had been on of Queen Bee's experiments from the HIVE. Cap and the Avengers had managed to save him before they subjected Stone to the mental conditioning that made their subjects into obedient assassins. Now, after being upgraded with Stark tech, Vic was one of the most powerful people on the team. He was a good kid, and was going to be a great hero.
"Widow, you're in the back, Hawkeye, up front."
"Great," Hawkeye sighed.
"Can we get this mobile death trap on a roll?"
Clint Barton was very much Cap's opposite. He had been a natural athlete his entire life, and turned to a life of crime after his brother's insistence. SHIELD picked him up, and instead of putting him away, Clint agreed to become an agent. Since then, he's become a dedicated warrior for right, but his sarcastic demeanor never changed.
"Sounds good to me," Cap nodded.
Black Widow entered the trailer of the truck, while Hawkeye took the passenger seat in the cab. Cyborg's repulsors fired up, and Falcon kicked off, flapping his wings.
Captain America approached the driver's side of the cab, and its window rolled down,
"You ready for this?"
"Yea," Indy, who was now dressed in a SHIELD uniform and a helmet, replied.
"Wish this thing wasn't so tight."
"Well, it's not a leather jacket," Cap smiled.
"Damn right it isn't," Indy sighed and rolled up the window.
Cap hopped on his motorcycle and fired up the engine,
"Avengers! Let's roll out!"