Chapter Text
"Sir. Um."
The Cavalry rolled her eyes at the poor new junior agent who was too busy literally quaking in their shoes. "Spit it out, Agent. The Director's not going to eat you."
"We lost Kitten America sir!" Junior Agent blurted out. Then turned an unlovely shade of purple. "I mean, Captain America. Who's a kitten. Because magic. Sir."
"On second thought, would you like to be filleted or barbequed?" Agent May inquired politely.
"Huh," said the Director in atypical fashion, although everyone who knew him well was aware that Director Coulson was this close to losing it. Also, calling Director Coulson the foremost expert (read: massive ginormous raging fanboy - courtesy of Clint Barton) on Captain America was an understatement.
The story came tumbling out. Apparently, HYDRA had taken to employing humans who were actually capable of using massive amounts of energy in what everyone else would call magic and what scientists like Jane Foster would call "science yet to be explained." Proper terms aside, said wizards had managed to zap America's Super Soldier and turn him into an itty, bitty, golden kitten.
Cutest darn thing anyone had ever seen - words that had actually made it onto the report with this picture:
However, Kitten America (this nickname had stuck and it was gleefully adopted by Skye, Tripp and Team FitzSimmons) had temporarily won free of his captors and had been picked up by a tattered remnant of a SHIELD team that had been assigned to “Cap Watch.” The general idea was that they would get Kitten Cap to a SHIELD witch - whose loyalty to the cause was vetted by May herself - to undo the spell.
HYDRA had caught up to them.
This poor Junior Agent was among the survivors of that team.
Apparently, Kitten America had willingly gone with HYDRA, if it meant saving the lives of the SHIELD Cap Watch team. The fact that Cap’s human mind was apparently still functioning in that little fuzzy blonde head was reassuring.
The problem was, this HYDRA cell apparently had the Winter Soldier in their ranks.
The fact that the Winter Soldier was among the HYDRA cell personnel may have also weighed heavily in Kitten Cap’s decision to go to the enemy. Everyone knew, by this point, that the Winter Soldier was James Buchanan Barnes - Cap’s old BFF - and well, it was no surprise that Cap was good and determined to save him.
Coulson sighed. First off, there was a SHIELD witch to pick up and a Kitten America to find. Time to get to work.
***
The fact that the numerous HYDRA cells were massively disorganized and lacking in communication after the Triskelion Incident worked very much in the Soldier’s favor.
Maybe he wasn’t completely James Buchanan Barnes yet, but the Soldier understood what had been done to him, what had been taken away from him and he certainly understood vengeance. So he took to this new mission with all the skill, cunning and rage he’d had building up for the past seventy years.
Infiltrating HYDRA cells like this one, pretending to be the docile Soldier, gathering intel and then burning and salting everything to the earth - this was a walk in the park considering things. In the back of his mind, there was also the underlying directive. Protect Steve.
Maybe he wasn’t going to be much use to Captain Steve Rogers anymore, because the “Bucky” of Captain Rogers’ past no longer existed. But he’d protect Steve anyway.
He wasn’t sure why this particular (and seriously stupid, because kittens, really?) HYDRA cell wanted this tiny bit of golden fluff but he’d played along with it. He knew HYDRA had long dabbled in what other people would term “the occult.”
They gave him his orders. Kill the kitten.
The kitten gazed up at him with hopeful, trusting, oddly familiar big blue eyes and simply said, “Mew.”
At that point, the Soldier, figuring that he’d already gotten all the intel he needed without being subjected to The Chair again or worse for questioning orders, started the methodical process of eliminating the targets. There were really only two magic-users in this group. He took them out first, before they could hex him.
The rest were easy.
When he was done, the kitten actually clambered right up to his shoulder and rubbed its fuzzy head against his cheek. He absently trailed gentle fingers along its head.
It purred contentedly.
"All right, pal," the Soldier rasped, shaping the words in a way he hadn’t done for a very long time. "Let’s go."
"Meow."
"Don’t suppose you got a name, do you?"
"Meowr."
"All right, pal. I’ll think of something. Something that will fit you." He scratched the kitten under its chin and it blinked at him. Twice.
The Soldier wasn’t sure why HYDRA and SHIELD were fighting over this one kitten but as mission partners go, this wasn’t a bad one. He had more HYDRA cells to take down. And now he had a fuzzy partner to take along with.
- tbc -