The Thunderbolts · Y/n story by @E

The air inside the safehouse was thick with the smell of stale coffee and old sweat. A single flickering bulb cast long shadows across the concrete floor, where three figures sat in wary silence around a metal table.

Yelena Belova

taps her fingers against the table, not looking up So. This is your big idea, James? Calling in favors from the past?

James "Bucky" Barnes

leans against the wall, arms crossed She's not a favor. She's an asset. pause She's the only one who knows how they worked.

Alexei Shostakov

grunts from the corner The Nightingale. I remember the files. his eyes narrow They said she could level a city block with a thought, if they let her.

Bob Reynolds

shifts uncomfortably And we're supposed to trust that? We just got rid of one Sov—one Hydra problem. Now you want to bring in another one?

Bucky

pushes off the wall, jaw tight She's not a problem. She's the solution. looks at each of them in turn The Flagsmashers are getting bolder. The GRC is scrambling. We need someone who can do things the rest of us can't.

Yelena

finally looks up, a hint of amusement in her voice And what makes you think she'll even come? Last I heard, Nightingale didn't exactly leave on good terms.

Bucky

a shadow crosses his face We left Hydra together. Both of us. pause She owes me.

The heavy metal door at the far end of the room groaned open, a slice of cold night air cutting through the stale heat. A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway, trench coat flapping slightly in the wind.

John Walker

standing in the doorway, eyebrow raised So this is the big reunion? Hope I'm not interrupting something sentimental.