Chapter 3

Gunshots could be heard going off, thunder roared overhead as a scuffle went about within the forest. Red dove out of the way of a hammer rocketing towards him, it blew right through a tree behind him. Then it returned back to the grasp of Thor, as if he were a magnet for it. Thor has been doing this as well as fire shots of lightning to keep Red at a distance, he was wary of the Ninjatō swords that the Midgardian carried with him. If they could pierce his skin when other Midgardian weapons shouldn't be able to, then he would have watch himself. Though it didn't stop Red from continuing to shoot Thor in the face. Even if the bullets didn't pierce his skin, they did blind him for a time. The assassin dove and took cover behind a tree as the God of Thunder hurled his hammer at him. Red reloaded his Desert Eagle, then placed it back into it's holster. With quick hands, he drew a kunai then rolled out of cover.

Red flung a kunai at Thor, then grabbed a device from his belt and threw it right after that. Thor swatted the kunai out of the air with his hand as Mjölnir returned to him, then watched as the device got close to him. The device beeped, then exploded right in Thor's face. It didn't damage him, but it render Thor blind for the moment. Red took that chance and closed the distance, his moved his Ninjatō into a reverse grip as the dust began to clear. Thor's eyes widened as he saw Red being close to him now, then brought Mjölnir down aiming to strike at his adversary. Red noticing the immediate danger that he was in, did a barrel roll to dodge Thor's strike. His blade bit into Thor's thigh, cutting him there and getting a grunt out of him. He did went for a behind the back stab, aiming to end the God of Thunder while he had the chance. That was when Stark arrived and fired a blast at Thor, sending the man flying to the side.

"Hey Red Ranger, teamwork makes the dream work!" Tony shouted from his suit's helmet. Red ignored him then brandished his Ninjatō as he grabbed the second one. Now he was duel-wielding his two primary weapons. Thor got to his feet then called down lightning at both Red and Stark. Tony dodged out of the way while in the air, narrowingly dodging the bolt of lightning. Red however bolted forward, becoming hunched back as he held his blades extended outwards from himself. Thor prepared to hurl Mjölnir at Red once again, but this time the assassin did a spin move while still moving forward. Then with a quick motion to changing one of his blades into a reverse grip, threw the Ninjatō at Thor like a Javelin. The God of Thunder's eyes widened before quickly lifting Mjölnir up to knock the sword away. Red used this chance to throw 2 of his bomb like devices directly at Thor as well. As Thor knocked Red's Ninjatō away, the device exploded upon impact of hitting Thor. Then came the tin can, Ironman, who disrupted Red's ploy to killing Thor.

Stark tackled Thor into the ground, then sent an untrained punch into the God of Thunder's face. Unfortunately, it did little to harm Thor, rather it left him a bit daze. When Ironman sent another punch which was caught by Thor, then he started to crush the metal man's arm. Red watched this, taking in what Stark's suit could do. Red has seen Stark having more than one suit of armor capable of a number of things. One of which that came with a suitcase, which was remarkable. So far he was not too impressed besides the armor being able to fly. Before Thor could pierce Tony's armor, Stark decided to start flying causing the both of them to collide into nearby trees. The two released each other as they landed away from one another. Red decided to halt his advance then go and check on where Loki was.

The assassin walked over and retrieved his Ninjatō before beginning to hike his way to where Loki could be. As he did this, Thor and Stark were battling each other with no winner being certain. It wouldn't be long before Red would encounter Loki just sitting and...watching. This confused Red, though it didn't deter him from apprehending him. With calculated and precise steps, Red stepped his way to Loki. He kept getting closer and closer before Loki spoke, addressing the assassin. "I know that you are there." The God of Mischief said, causing Red to rush him and poise his Ninjatō up to slay him where he sat. Loki quickly turned and held his hands up in surrender, showing that he was still handcuff and not expecting Red to actually try to kill him. "I surrender, calm yourself!" He exclaimed, causing Red to pause for but a moment. Loki gave Red a mischievous smile before gesturing at Stark and Thor battling each other. "You gave my brother quite the bout, I would never have expected someone from Midgard to harm a god", Loki remarked though with a hint of frustration on his part, "By the way you act and fight, I believe that you are not truly aligned with your allies. If I had to guess, you are a mercenary of sorts. Then all I may ask you is...what would you like in return for becoming a part of my army?"

Red raised an eyebrow under his mask, the question was sudden. At the same time he was tempted by the offer. He pondered on the question, then slowly lowered his Ninjatō, further making Loki grin. Before the assassin could make a decision, an explosion went off. One that sounded like a large bell being rung. Both Red and Loki turned to find the trees being blown away by some sort of detonation. With a sigh, Loki rose to his feet and turned to Red with am expecting look. He was still waiting to see what the assassin would say, what was his answer so to speak. Red, instead of answering gestured for Loki to start walking before saying a single word. "Interesting.." He said, with a hint of curiosity. Loki felt that he had found an ally, and was smiling as they approached Cap, Thor, and Ironman. They stood in a three-way circle panting, and less tense than before. All eyes landed on Loki and Red when they heard the two approach. Though Ironman and Cap were watching Red intensely, wondering what he had been doing with Loki...

{Shield Helicarrier}

Red stepped off the Quinnjet, facing forward even as a suspicious look was directed his way. He walked off, not saying anything or doing anything really. Loki was taken away by Shield guards, just as he glanced over watching Red for a moment. As Red walked away, he could hear stomping footsteps heading his way. He stopped then glanced back to find Thor heading his way with a small smirk. "You fought well warrior!", he bellowed, "I have never seen a Midgardian fight like that, nor one who boasted such armaments. I would like to spar with you if you have the time for it." Thor held out a hand, for Red to shake. Unfortunately the assassin was not in the business for making friends. So he simply starred at Thor's hand then turned and continued to walk away. Thor held a confused look on his face, not sure as to why Red was so unfriendly. With Red, he was headed to see the interrogation. He was quite curious as to what Fury had in store for Loki.

Moments later, Steve, Thor, Tony, Bruce, Natasha, and Red were all in the briefing room watching Fury talk to Loki. When Loki spoke of "Squashing Humanity", it detered Red from wanting to accept his offer. After all, he was also human and all the humans who worked for Loki were mind controlled. As the talk between Fury and Loki ended, everyone else began to speak amongst each other. Red however remained silent, taking up a corner like last time and just simply watching. His back leaned against the wall as he kept his hands at his side. The only one who addressed him during this whole discussion was Stark, who was more or less trying to send a tease at him. "Hey Red Ranger", Tony called, "Wanna tell us what happened after you bailed on me when you were beating Point Break's ass?" Thor sent a glare to Tony's way while Stark just shrugged and gave him a playful smirk. Red however remained silent for but a moment, already aware that they were expecting him to he in cohorts with Loki.

"I was retrieving our prisoner." Red slowly said, his distorted voice putting everyone on edge. It wouldn't long before he moved off the wall and began to walk out of the briefing room. "Hey, we're still discussing Loki's plan." Steve called, causing Red to halt then glance back at him. Red addressed all of them when he spoke this time. "I am not one of you, I am being paid to be here", he addressed, "If you wanted someone who you could trusted then you should have hired someone else." With that, Red walked out of the briefing room, leaving a silent team of Avengers. "Well that could have gone better." Stark quipped before Steve began to speak once again with a far more serious tone. "He's hiding something, I don't know what but it's something that he doesn't want to share with us." He stated, then looked to Natasha expecting her to have anything on him. She gave him a knowing look, then shook her head before speaking.

"Sorry guys, he's more secret than you think", she stated, "When we were sent to get him he took out my team before I even made it there. Then he incapacitated me even after I shot him." That got everyone's attention that he was shot but showed no signs of injury. "So he's bullet proof...neat." Stark quipped once again, before Bruce spoke now. "He's as much of an enigma as Loki then, maybe even more so", Bruce said with unease as he turned his gaze upon Natasha, "Why did you hire a guy like him?" Natasha shrugged before Fury spoke in her place. "Because he's the best at what he does", Fury answered as he walked forward, "You could pay him to do anything and he'll get it done within the week, or maybe less than that. I wanted all hands on deck and he was the best option. You've all seen what he's capable of doing, what he's willing to do. Remember that...because he won't be playing nice after this." Those words got everyone to tense up a bit except Thor, Red Winter was not their friend.

Red found himself back at the hanger bay that he took as his place to think. The silence that he so wanted was there once again, something that he so desired at the time. He could tell that many of Shield's people were watching him, waiting to see what he would do. He simply stood against the wall overlooking the clouds that they passed by. His arms were folded over his chest as he remained where he was. Though, he could tell that someone was approaching him. By the soft footsteps, he could tell that the one making them was a woman. "Nice view?" Questioned Natalia, she stood near him with her hands behind her back. Red didn't respond, only simply mentally sighing since his peace and quiet was disrupted once again. He couldn't wait to have this situation dealt with, after all, all he needed to do was recover the Tesseract then done deal. "I'm curious, intelligence says that you're suppose to be 60 something years old", she stated, "But if that's the case then you should be an old man. How old actually are you?"

Red actually sent a glance her way, noticing what she was trying to do. For but a moment, he thought about just simply tossing her over the side of the Helicarrier then deal with the consequences later. Then another thought came to mind, one that was all too hilarious...he humored her. "I am far older than that.." Red started to say, "So old that you would not believe me." This got the gears in Natalia's head turning, she was now just staring at Red with an inquisitive gleam in her eyes. Then she pushed the thought away, and began to get back to the task at hand. She wasn't truly here for small talk, just to get information out of Red. She was far more curious about him out of everyone, the man may have sole history with her and she wanted to know why. So to keep the confidentiality of their conversations going, she began to speak in Russian. [Do you know about Red Room?] Natalia questioned with a far more serious tone in Russian. Red faced forward once he heard the Russian tone, and smirked under his mask. [No] He answered, then felt her staring holes into the back of his head. [You knew how to take me down as I'd you've seen me do it before, or at least someone else do it before], she pointed out, [You know something Winter, tell me what you know and I'll owe you a favor.] Red simply shook his head slightly, not believing her since she worked for the world's greatest Spy now. [You already know, you just have to remember.] He responded then moved off of the wall and started to head away from her. Natasha went to call him out, but stopped herself when she noticed Steve approaching.

Steve walked past Red, raising a brow at him before walking up to Natasha. "Everything good?" He asked, a little concern in his voice. Natasha recollected her thoughts before standing up straight. "Yeah, I'm good", she reassured, "What's up?" Steve glanced back the way Red had went, then looked back to her. "Were you able to find out anything about our resident merc?" Steve questioned, causing Natasha to think back on Red's words. The man knew something about her past, or rather knew her in a way that she didn't understand. Said past couldn't be told to the others since they didn't know and it would take away what trust she has from them. "Nothing of value besides saying that he was old." Natasha answered, then shrugged her shoulders. Though a part of Natasha believed that, since there was evidence that he's been operating since the 80s. With an exasperated breathe, Steve rubbed the bridge between his eyes. "So we have someone who won't divulge information to us, even if it turns us against him." Steve stated plainly, causing Natasha to raise a brow at him. "You talk as if he cares." She pointed out.

Red was walking his way towards Loki's prison, he wanted to ask his own set of questions. He was halted when he heard a yelp leave from a room that he passed. The assassin peeked in, curious as to what that sound was. Then found Tony probing Bruce with some needle of some kind. Red was a little confused as to what Tony was trying to do, then a thought came to mind. Was this idiot trying to release the beast within? It wouldn't he long before he stepped inside rather stealthily, then walked towards one of the consoles. He placed a device on the back of one of the consoles before looking over the data on the screen. His attention would be taken away from the screen when he felt a little prick poke him in his side. Instead of reacting like Bruce did, Red moved like a Viper and grabbed Tony by the throat. He lifted the man into the air like he weighed nothing, causing Bruce to turn and call him out. "Wait Wait", Bruce pleaded, "He was just messing around, a prank! He didn't mean it, right Tony?!" Stark nodded his head quickly, shock at how fast the man had grabbed him. He was expecting many things, but having his windpipe being slowly crushed was not one of them. Red titled his head to the side, then eventually dropped him right as Steve walked in confused.

The super soldier processed the marks around Tony's neck, the proximity that he was to Red, and Bruce's nervousness on an all time high. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?" Steve questioned dangerously, he inched forward with a solid step causing Red to turn to him now. "H-hang on!", Bruce came in between them holding his hands out at Steve, "It was a misunderstanding, Tony was messing around and got what was coming to him." Tony was busy catching his breathe, rubbing his sore throat before looking up at Red. For a moment there was a hint of fear in his eyes, then a sudden rush of wanting to know more. From what he just understood, Red was possibly as strong or stronger than Steve Rogers. Steve would have probably needed to use both of his hands to strangle him like that, but Red did so with both hands. The scientist within Tony had been poked. Red however was annoyed, even so he held himself back from breaking Tony's neck. After all, Shield needed it's puppets and he wasn't about to become one of them. With a silent breathe leaving him, he began to walk out of the lab. What stopped him was Steve placing a hand in front of him. "You step out of line again, and i'll-" Just as Steve was about to finish his threat, a fist came rocketing at him to which he dodged almost immediately. Though what he wasn't expecting was a roundhouse kick that hit him square in his chest from Red. The assassin knocked him back out of the lab, causing him to collide with the wall with a loud bang. Red stepped out of the lab and stared down at Steve who slowly got back up. "As I said before...I don't take orders from you." Red reiterated once again, before turning and walking down the hall. Tony and Bruce poked their heads out having seen the exchange. Though the first to speak with a quip was Tony. "Now you've pissed him off."