Winter Phoenix: HYDRA Is Your Place (A 2008-2012 Marvel Fanfiction)

XVII: The Winter Phoenix

December 2010. Brooklyn, New York.

Natasha Romanoff's POV

Clint and I had been investigating for quite a few days. We'd started to ask questions about Adelaide Lehnsherr, and eventually people directed us to a two-bedroom flat that was the site of a crime scene that happened way back in 1962. The flat was still very quaint, and very much empty. People did live here, I thought as I wandered around the building. As if reading my thoughts, Clint spoke aloud.

'I wonder who lived here.' He studied the walls, old nail holes in the drywall where family photos might have once been. The kitchen benches, cream pink in color, were cracked. On the kitchen tile floor was an old bloodstain.

'Clint, look.' He came over and studied the bloodstain.

'Someone definitely died here. They must have bled out for a really long time.' He knelt down, slipped on some gloves, and extracted a portion of the thickly dried blood, dropping it into a clear test tube for later examination. 'I wonder why they never extracted the blood for testing, let alone scrubbed it off the floor,' Clint said, looking up at me from where he was kneeling. 'Did you take a look at the rest of the house?' he asked me. 

'No. Just the kitchen and what used to be the dining and living area.'

'I got a look at both bedrooms. One of them has several holes and dents in the wall. I saw lightbulb shards on the floor.'

'Lightbulb shards?' 

'Whoever was in that room was - well, powerful. It was shattered while the bulb was still in the roof, lighting the room. The windows in that room are of an extremely weak integrity, suggesting that what was happening in that room was the result of a certain someone's powers coming out to play.' 

'You're saying Adelaide Lehnsherr lived here?' 

'I'm saying she might have. And there was a broken mirror in the bathroom and a letter on the windowsill, with a ruby red necklace.' 

'Let me see it.' He put away the test tube in a concealed pocket, stood and we went to the bedroom that he'd been speaking of. Sure enough, right on the windowsill, was the necklace and the letter. 'Whoever lived here was incredibly powerful. Telekinetic, I'd assume,' I looked up at the lightbulb, then down at the windowsill. I pushed on the window slightly, and it creaked,  making me look up. The screws were stripped and weakened, and the window frame was slightly bowed from massive exertion. 

'Telekinetic?'

'Probably. There's not very many telekinetic mutants out there, not since Adelaide and her father - and maybe a select few others, as well as the progeny of Adelaide and Charles Xavier. A few of her children happen to have telekinesis and telepathy combined.' I picked up the ruby red necklace. 'What did the file say was her name again?' 

'Adelaide Ruby Lehnsherr.' 

'The necklace is of a ruby stone. Maybe it was a gift to her mother.' Clint picked up the letter. 

'No. It's Adelaide's. The letter. It's addressed to her. It says From Dad in the top left hand corner.' The letter looked old and the handwriting was slightly faded, but prevalent nonetheless. 

'Why is it here?' Clint asked. 

'Maybe he put it here. He must have wanted her to find it.' Just then there was a bang and a loud thud from the living room, and a loud curse in Russian. 'Someone's here,' I said, pulling out my gun. We walked to the living room and saw a female in a checkered flannel shirt and blue, worn jeans, wearing a baseball cap over a head of dark brown hair. She turned, her dark blue eyes meeting mine. 

'I didn't know there was anyone else here.' Her eyes darted to the letter and necklace I clutched in my fingers. I was frozen in my position, remembering her exact color of eyes. 2009. The sniper on the hill. The Winter Soldier. The metal arm, gleaming in the light, the ugly red star shining through. The female soldier, hair wild and mildly unkempt, blue eyes stormy and dark, heavy with no emotion. 'He left it for me. Give it to me.' Her voice was quiet, but held a touch of ferocity to it. 

'Who left it for you?' 

'I - I don't know. I think he's my Dad, but I don't know. I - I, I don't want to hurt anyone. Please. He left it for me. We've been communicating. Every time I have a long mission here, I come back to this place. There's always something waiting. It's all I have of him.'

'What does he say in the letters?' Clint asked. 

'None of your business,' she snapped quietly. 'Give it to me.' 

'I know you,' I said, surprised at how calm my voice sounded despite the fear that rattled through me. '2009. Odessa. You shot my tires out. And then the Winter Soldier shot me.' 

'I don't know what you're talking about.' 

'Yes, you do.' 

'No, I don't. I don't know - I don't know. I know nothing. I remember nothing. Wh-whatever they do to me, I don't know.' She backed away. 'Please. Just - give it to me. As soon as I read it, I'll give it back to you, and you can be on your way.' 

'Who sent you?' I asked. She shook her head. 'I think you know.' 

'I told you, I don't anything. Just let me go. Let me leave.' Her eyes darted to the letter and necklace again, then the gun I held in my other hand. 'If you plan to use it on me, I should caution you against it.' Just then a gun went off. It was so sudden. I looked to Clint. He'd fired his gun. But the bullet didn't go into her. It stopped mere inches from her fingerless-gloved hands. She turned her hand, folded it into a fist, crumpling it, and sent it to the ground. 'I told you so,' she said with a slow shake of her head. She looked back up at me, her eyes growing dark again. 

'Are you Adelaide Lehnsherr?' Clint asked. 

'I don't know who you're talking about,' she said, letting out a small, pained sigh. Her pitiless eyes met mine. 'Give. It. To. Me.' Her eyes were much darker now. I stepped forward and put the note on the table, including the necklace too. She took the necklace and fingered it softly, her eyes growing soft before she placed it on the table again. Then, suddenly, she snapped her fingers, and disappeared in a ball of fire. The bright light blinded the two of us, making me shade my eyes. Then when we looked, all there was was a scorch mark on the floor. She was gone. 

Winter Phoenix's POV

I stopped just outside the city. I felt warm liquid drip down my nose, and tasted the copper on my lips. Blood. My blood. I'd overexerted my powers. I was now in my black tactical gear, the mask and goggles clipped to my belt. I held up the letter, looking at the writing from the sender. It was slightly messy at best, and said From Dad. I stared at the envelope. Then, snapping my fingers, I lit a small flame between my index finger and thumb. Touching it to the paper, I set it on fire. Dropping the necklace on the ashes of the letter, I extended my wings out of my tactical suit and flew away into the late afternoon sky.