Chapter 1

{Shield Helicarrier}

Natasha was a world renowned assassin, there weren't many people who were an equal to her in combat. That said, she was an emotional wreck, her best friend Clint Barton had been AWOL for more than 48 hours. The cause was because a supposed God had taken control over him and caused the destruction of a Shield facility. Right now, she was heading to Director Nick Fury. He had a new task for assignment for her, one that would most definitely be important. She knew that he was assembling the Avengers Inniative. Though the way he spoke seemed as if there was danger in this assignment. As she approached the bridge, she saw Nick at the Captain's post with his arms behind his back. She stopped a few feet from him and stood at attention behind him. "Sir, you said you had a new assignment for me?" She questioned and announced her presence.

Nick glanced back at her, then nodded to a woman who stood near him. She had trimmed hair and pale skin, her body shape almost matching Natasha's. She handed Natasha a tablet, and let her look at the screen on it. The first thing Natasha saw made her blood run cold. She looked at the woman who had a grim look on her face, then at Nick. "You want HIM as well?" Natasha asked, sounding actually unsure of Nick's decision. "The world needs the best, and he's the best in what he does", Nick stated bluntly, "We have a lead on where his next target will be, intercept him and convince him to come with you. I don't care what you have to do, Agent Romanoff." What Natasha was hearing sounded like a nightmare. The person she saw on the screen was known as "Red Winter", known to the world as the man dangerous person alive. He's Blacklisted on Interpol, CIA, SAS, Russian Intelligence, and even Shield. The man was a ghost, almost as dangerous or maybe as dangerous as anofher ghost.

Natasha composed herself and gave Nick a warning glare. "It won't be easy sir", she pressed, "This is the type of guy who would shoot first and never ask questions. I'll be lucky if he doesn't try to kill me first, let alone if I can intercept him." Nick slowly nodded, knowing the danger that Red Winter posed. But he was willing to gamble his life with this one, Red Winter was a valuable asset if convinced to serve. Or a very dangerous enemy if made into one. "I know Romanoff, it's why you're talking to him last", he tried to assure, "Swipe left, you'll find the big guy that you gotta talk to first." Natasha did so and found herself looking at Bruce Banner. If her blood hadn't run cold before, it did even moreso now. Nick was truly making sure that she was probably going to die in a few days. She was being ordered to try and convince the world's most dangerous men to help Shield. And only one of them was currently part of their Blacklist. 'God I wish Clint was here for this...' She thought.

{1 Week Later, Barcelona, Spain}

It had just reached midnight, the streets were more silent than they ever been in downtown Barcelona. That was due in part for the gangsters that ran it, calling themselves the El Muertos of Hell. A more chaotic gang who rose to prominence just because they were well armed by an anonymous benefactor. Little did they know that said benefactor was using them, but that was for another time. For now the El Muertos were at a warehouse getting parafenlia into crates and onto semi-trucks. Not many of them were on high alert, so much so that one of them had a submachine gun hanging loosely in his arms. "Ey, give me a cigarette I'm bored as shit." Said one of the guards to his compatriot beside him. The both of them were watching the back entrance, making sure that nobody could enter. They had been watching it for hours, and only had 2 hours for a break in shift. The guard beside him gave him a fresh cigarette and helped him light it.

Once he did, he puffed the fumes into his lungs, closing his eyes to enjoy it. As he opened his eyes, he looked to thank his fellow guard but found the man gone. It was as if the man had simply disappeared, he frowned then turned after hearing some form of nose. The next thing he saw was a red hooded man wear a red face mask with scarlet visors. The guards eyes widened as he started to realize who this was. Then felt sharp pain in his neck as darkness crept into the corners of his eyes. He placed a hand there feeling warm blood leaving from his carved open Adam's Apple. He fell backwards watching as Red Winter stood over him with an unsheathe knife covered in blood. He gurgled on his own blooded before passing away. Red Winter turned his attention to the warehouse generator, it was located at the warehouse back entrance. So he wasted no time to take a device from his belt, then walked over to the generator and placed it there.

After having implanted his device, he entered through the back door as quietly as possible. Red Winter was well built, reaching the height of 6"6 and looking to be at least 190 to 195 pounds. His physique looked similar to that of John Cena, though it was more refined and toned. The armor that he wore showed only a little of his skin on his biceps, other than that only his forehead and some parts of his hair was seen. He was armed to the teeth, having two odd looking Ninjatōs on his back, two black sleek and customly made Desert Eagles in holsters at his thighs, and plenty of knives both hidden and not over his body. He had notable devices on his utility belt that did various things. He came to a halt near a crate, and set another device down on it. This continued for a while, with Red Winter sneaking his way through the warehouse and placing devices at various locations of the warehouse. The only location that wasn't touched was the second floor.

When Red Winter felt that he was ready, he pressed a button on his wrist bracer. The device outside let out a beep, then blew out the generator for the lights in the warehouse. Not long after, Red Winter took out a knife and began to go to work. He snuck up on the nearest guard as they were all still confused. The first to die in the warehouse was a guard who had no idea what was going on. Red Winter wrapped his arm around the guard's neck, then shoved his knife into their neck with precise lethality. He released then guard and moved on to the next. How Red Winter could see in this pitch black warehouse was because his eyes were already prepared for the night. He was adapted to seeing in the dark so much so that night vision was like a second vision for him. Red Winter snuck up on another gangster and shanked his knife into their brain stem, leaving the bloodied weapon inside.

The assassin heard a shout, then turned to see one of the gangsters finding one of their own dead. He narrowed his eyes and drew one of his Desert Eagles. Red Winter perched himself behind a crate while slowly cocking the hammer back on his weapon. Then came out from behind his crate, unloading a single round into the chest of one of the gangsters. A decently sized hole was placed in the man's chest, sending him off his feet. Red Winter went to his next target, sending another shot into their chest. Then another into the next, hitting their stomach, another bullet was fired into the skull of one guard who finally flashed his flashlight onto the assassin. A chaotic gunfight ensued, the gangsters firing blindly into the dark as Red Winter fired black. He moved from crate to crate, table to table, cover from cover. He never remained in the same spot, keeping himself mobile as he fired back.

It would be another 5 minutes, and all gangsters on the first floor would be on the floor dead in a pool of blood. All of which who had holes in their bodies from large bullet rounds. Red Winter surveyed the dead, gazing down at the fresh corpses he just made. He looked up at the ceiling, hearing the distinct noises of footsteps and movement above. The gangsters upstairs were afraid, afraid to move or to even come down and check. So he decided go just go to them instead, by tossing a device at the ceiling. He armed it, then pulled a gun from his utility belt that worked as a grapple hook. After the device went off, exploding and sending shards of wood all over the room, Red Winter came in like a wraith. He unsheathed one of his Ninjatō from his back and brought the blade down cutting through one of the gangsters. Some were still on the floor disoriented, others were getting their barings. At least one of them, who was the one Red Winter was after stared at the masked assassin in shock.

Red Winter turned his head to the man, seeing that he had a belly and looked like he was in his later 40s. Then turned to slice right through the gut of one gangsters who had aimed their weapon at him. Just like this, Red Winter carved his way through the gangsters, attacking all those who even had an inkling of a chance of shooting him. When one gangster got the chance to aim his weapon, he was roughly 10 feet away from the assassin. Red Winter had stabbed the second to last gangster through their neck, and kicked them off his blade. He glanced back, showing that he was paying attention to the last gangster standing now. The man was young, possibly in his early 20s, but it didn't matter to Red Winter. He was afraid, shaking even, his weapon was a pistol, one that he had never fired before. The gangster kept it trained on Red Winter, afraid to shoot, hoping that the assassin would just give up. Red Winter simply turned to show himself covered in blood not his own. His mask doing nothing to show his facial expressions, but one would think that this man enjoyed the killing of others.

Red Winter stood there, then tilted his head to the side a little. "N-not one more step!" the young gangster threatened, "I'll shoot!" Red Winter processed those words for a moment, then dared the young man to do it by taking a single step forward. His boot colliding the wooden floor with a soft thud, signaling that he had just gone against the gangster's warnings. The Red Winter did it again, subtly slowly, his boots impacting the wood like a predator primed to pounce on their prey. When Red Winter was at least 6 feet away from the on edge gangster, the man fired his pistol. Red Winter halted his movement, and raised up his hand. When the man saw what Red Winter did, his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Red Winter held the bullet that the gangster had fired in his hand, then dropped it as if it were nothing. "W-what the Hell are you?" The man stuttered out, but only found those as his last words since the next were screams of pain and terror. The one in charge of this lot hid a door, his ear to it to hear Red Winter walk by. He locked the door from the other side so that Red Winter couldn't get in.

Unfortunately, the assassin was about to prove to him how wrong he truly was. With an exhale of breathe being heard on the other side of the door. Red Winter kicked the door open, pushing the man onto the floor with the door. The assassin stomped forward and moved the door out of the way to reveal the man groaning and dazed. When he could see clearly, he saw Red Winter be illuminated by the nearby window as the moon shined down upon him. "W-wait just a minute", he pleaded, "I have friends, friends in high places who'll want me alive. Ransom me and you'll get rich and I'll get to live!" Red Winter instead chose to remain silent, then took a step forward, prompting the man to crawl backwards in sheer terror. "What is it that you want?!", He exclaimed, "Money?! Women?! Weapons!? I can give it to you just tell me!" When his back hit the wall, Red Winter reached down and grabbed the man by the cuff of his shirt. He pulled the man to his feet then brought him close to his mask, his red visors staring back into the man's sweaty face.

Red Winter then said his first few words ever since he's been in this warehouse. "I want you dead..." He slowly said, his voice being distorted by a voice changer in the mask. Then with little effort, he lifted the man off of his feet, and tossed him out of the nearby window like a sack of potatoes. The man screamed at the top of his lungs as he fell downwards towards the cement ground. Red Winter however began to walk out of the room that he was in, passing many corpses that dirtied the floor. More than 80 men lay in a pool of blood both on the top and bottom floors of the warehouse. When Red Winter exited through the front entrance, he pressed a button on his wrist bracer, then listened as the devices that he implanted in the warehouse earlier begin to go off. Each on exploding in an inferno of fire, setting the warehouse ablaze and destroying any evidence that he was even there.

Red Winter continued to walk, heading towards a specific location in mind. He came to a halt at a nearby set of bushes, then crossed through them to find his modified Ducati motorcycle sitting there. The assassin boarded the bike, and turned it on, reeving up the engine. He was about to speed off before suddenly turning off the bike, then stepping off of it. His sensing were warning himself of being watched, like a sixth sense that warned of danger. Knowing to trust his instincts, he slowly stepped back into the shadows, just about disappearing. Then concentrated on listening to any disturbances around him. His ears could hear faint voices to his left, and another to his right. He could make out the voices, sounding American in origin. "...Lost track of target, we may have been made." A male said, with a tone of seriousness. Red Winter had already sheathed his Ninjatō back from when he exited the warehouse. He had also holsters his Desert Eagle, so for now he silently drew one of his knives, this resembled a Kunai from the Naruto Anime.

Red Winter listened, remaining where he was, waiting silently and out of sight. "Target still not found, standby." Said another voice, this one closer and older. The assassin moved his arm back, preparing to launch his kunai. Then with a horizontal toss, he hurled the Kunai in the direction that he heard the voice. The next thing he heard was a man's cry of pain, then came the shouts of orders being issued. Red Winter listened to at least 4 move footsteps being made. So he immediately sprung into action to take out the threats. Red Winter lunged at a man wearing black military gear. He had turned to see the assassin too late as Red Winter's fist collided with his windpipe. The man had a drawn carbine, choking, trying to say a single word, but Red Winter cared not to listen. He grabbed the man by his helmet then forced his face into the side of a tree brick wall. A small forest had surrounded them, giving Red Winter time to use the shadows to his advantage.

"Freeze!" A man shouted, but was met with Red Winter throwing a Kunai that embedded itself between his eyes. Red Winter rushed the last three unidentified soldiers, moving like a veteran athlete in the Olympics. He came across one man coming around a tree, and did a flying knee into their side. When the man was on the ground, Red Winter got him into an armbar and broke his arm. He got to his feet and came down with his elbow hitting the man's collarbone. Red Winter turned then went back into the shadows and waited. He was sure that at least the man that he wounded and the other who was armed was still active. The man whom he had just crippled should draw them out. Instead, no one came, as if they had left the area entirely. Red Winter wasn't confused, more intrigued that someone had taken an interest in him. Slowly but carefully he left the safety of the shadows and approached the man who he broke.

The unmarked soldier groaned in pain, rolling in the ground. He looked up to find Red Winter gazing down at him, his crimson visors making it seem like he was about to kill him. "W-we didn't mean any harm!", he shouted with a hint of fear in his voice, "We were sent to give you a message, Shield is looking to recruit you sir!" When Red Winter heard this he showed no visible reaction. Behind his mask he was confused as to why the world's second most efficient intelligence agency wanted him to work with them. They wanted him dead on multiple accounts with the alternative being life in prison. Before he could ponder anything, his senses went haywire, causing himself to duck. He felt the air above his head move about, as if someone had just tried to kick him. Red Winter got on his hands, then did a spin kick into whoever was behind him. His boot collided with someone's chest, and sent them backwards as if a truck had just hit them. The assassin turned to find a scarlet haired young woman, she held her stomach and was already getting back to her feet. She had a pistol out and pointed at him as if holding him at gunpoint. Red Winter could almost not believe his eyes, it was Natalia, he knew her from a different life. Though she most likely wouldn't know him, not as he was now.

"Can't have you killing anymore of my boys", she uttered slowly in a low tone, "I've been sent to bring you in, whether or not you come willingly is-" She didn't even get a chance to finish her sentence. Red Winter just simply rushed her, moving with great spread, causing her to fire three bullets at him. He dodge the first two but the third hit him in the chest. Unfortunately for Natalia, the bullet didn't stop him. When Red Winter was upon her, she dropped her pistol and got into a defensive stance. Red Winter swung at her, aiming at her hip, but she blocked the blow and moved her leg up to kick him in the neck. The assassin caught her leg, then pulled her off her feet and flung her over to his right. She landed on her side and went to get back up, but Red Winter was already upon her. He placed a knee on her and a knife at her throat. Natasha's heart rate was skyrocketing, she had already dealt with Bruce Banner, now she was dealing with a man who was actively trying to kill her. 'Well things could be worse...' She thought, then saw the aforementioned scientist actually showing up.

"Whoa whoa!" He called, causing Red Winter to draw one of his Desert Eagles and aim it at Bruce. The scientist in question halted, and put his hands up. Natasha felt her eyes about to buldge out, she wasn't that worried about Bruce's safety. She was worried about him hulking out and knew that Red Winter would actually shoot him. The assassin however was perplexed, he found himself in quite the situation. He had Shield's top agent at his mercy, and now he found the monster himself her at his mercy somewhat. He could shoot the scientist, but then he'd have to deal with what happened next. He trusted his skills, but not so far where he was too far in over his head. So slowly, he pressed the knife to Natalia's throat and spoke in a low distorted voice. "Speak." He demanded, not saying anything else other than that one word. Natalia perked up hearing Red Winter talk, then tried not to gulp.

"Shield is dealing with something that could use your help", she said sounding as calm as she could be, "I can't tell you anything else besides the fact that the one at fault destroyed an entire research facility the moment they showed up. We need people to hunt them down, retrieve an asset, and secure our world's security." Red Winter processed her vague explanation then asked a question that would decide her fate here and now. "Why me?" He questioned, his voice sounding devoid of emotion. Natasha looked at Red Winter out of the corner of her eye and slowly responded. "Because the world's at risk of being invaded, and you're one of the only people we know who could help." She answered, then waited for Red Winter's response. The assassin thought about her words, not quite sure if he found any meaningful reason other than possible alien invasion to help Shield. So he gave her the ultimatum that would get him involved if she chose to accept it. "30 million US dollars, and I will consider it." He stated causing Natasha to give him a glare.

She continued to glare at him, as if she were disgusted. Red Winter didn't like the look that she wad giving him, so he gave her an incentive to change her attitude. He fired a single bullet and pissed Bruce by a nose hair. The bullet having flew right past the scientist's head and hit a tree. "Alright!", She cried out understanding that she didn't really have a choice, "30 million US dollars..." With those words leaving her lips, Red Winter slowly released her then began to back away. When Natasha groaned and got to her feet, the assassin was gone only leaving a pager behind. The pager had a small screen on it, saying one small sentence on it, "I'll be in contact". Natasha frowned then let out a tired sigh, her body ached and quite the headache coming in. "Natasha, you good?" Bruce asked with a worried tone, she looked over to him with a blank expression then shook her head. "I just made a deal with the Devil, how do you think I feel?" She asked, then almost visibly grimaced at having to report this back to Director Fury.