Explosive | Caden & Scott
slcvicshadow:
Summary: Scott believes he’s tagging along on Natasha’s mission, but has the misfortune of overhearing an interaction between Caden and a member of the Skrull Empire. Featuring: Scott Lang @antastics Triggers: violence, death
Unfortunately, in order to maintain Caden’s cover as Natasha Romanoff, pursuing her fellows that were attacking New Yorkers was necessary. Once she received a tip from the Widow’s Web, detailing a planned raid from police force on a local apartment building housing young powered people, she immediately set out. The three officers in question had been involved in a single documented attack, much to her chagrin. Varik and Wynn had always been impulsive, though she truly believed Skrull commandment would destroy that habit. Clearly, Caden had overestimated the soldiers, and unless she could find a feasible way to allow her fellows escape, they would be apprehended by the humans. It would be a tragic, unavoidable humiliation, and one their superiors would certainly demote them for. Standing outside, she allowed electricity to flow through Romanoff’s Widows Webs, knowing that her combat skills were not quite on her level. If videotaped, likely in this situation, knowing how curious reporter’s were about the rumoured attacks, the Avengers may notice flaws. Electrocution prevented that risk, and she had honed her aim through long hours of training. Suddenly, Scott Lang was beside her, growing into his full size quickly. Mildly disturbed, and very irritated, Caden scowled at him. “You keep following me,” she observed. He had done this to Natasha in the past. “Is this another vendetta of yours? I wasn’t aware apartment buildings meant so much to you.”
If there was one thing being Ant-Man had taught Scott, it was how to roll with the punches. Chaos was the norm in superhero life, trouble an everyday staple. Unfortunately, the things happening now were a little more intense than usual. As an ex con, cops made Scott nervous on a good day, but this? This was something else altogether. He watched the altercations from a distance, shrinking down and hitching a ride on an ant to get up close. This was what heroes did, right? They ran towards trouble instead of away from it, ran into the fire. He manage that. Still, it was a relief when he caught sight of a familiar flash of red, and he grew to size next to Natasha with a nod. “Uh, actually, I’m pretty sure I was here first,” he said defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. Glancing up at the building, he shook his head. “Not anything personal, but I can’t just stand by and let it happen. We’re Avengers, right? So, c’mon, let’s avenge!”
Theoretically, Caden supposed Scott could have been at the scene of the crime, so to speak, before she arrived. His size made him impossible to spot, which she could already see many problems occurring because of. Varik and Wynn, while reckless, were also foolish. When presented with a threat, they eliminated it rather than used it to their advantage, and she had no doubt Scott Lang would be treated exactly the same way. If they encountered the Avenger, he would perish, and she would be forced to kill them in the process. Natasha Romanoff would never allow such a slight. She did not enjoy Lang — who could? — but she was a valued member of her team, therefore, under her protection. Irritated, she huffed a sigh. “Of course you would argue a moot point,” she replied. At his words, Caden nodded once, and headed towards the building. “Let’s avenge,” she agreed, entering the apartment complex. “I’ll head upstairs, you take the bottom floor.” Luckily, it was small, only two floors, and she betted that the Skrull soldiers had gone up.
Surprisingly, Natasha didn’t really make any further complaints about Scott’s presence. He knew she wasn’t his biggest fan, but he also knew that this was bound to be a dangerous job. There was no telling what was going on within the confines of the building, no way to know if there were hostages or civilians present. Scott might not have been a super spy, but two heads were better than one. Natasha was smart enough to recognize that. Scott grinned at the invitation, nodding along to the plan. “You got it, boss,” he shot back, offering Natasha a mock salute.
Scott Lang was eager to please, and easy to order around. Caden had been relying on exactly that. As he saluted, she nodded once, and then rushed upstairs. The first few rooms she checked were empty, save for humans, which she ushered outside. Without any violence occurring, she didn’t have to worry about technicalities. Romanoff would personally accompany them, but she doubted Lang knew his teammate well enough to notice the difference. After being forced to empty six apartments of their civilians, she finally found Wynn and Varik at the end of the hallway, hidden in a utility closet. From outside, she could hear their vicious argument, debating on whether it would be effective to gas the building or simply shoot. Kicking open the door as Romanoff would, she held her wrist up threateningly. Before realizing that it was Caden, Varik quickly struck her, and she kicked him in the gut, downing him in one swift blow. “Caden, I’m so sorry,” the Skrull sputtered. “Oh, my god, it’s Caden!” Wynn said, practically shouting her name. For that insolence and idiocy, they deserved to be sent back to the mothership.
For the most part, things downstairs were tame. The people in their apartments were afraid, but uninjured. Following Natasha’s lead, Scott ushered them all outside gently, attempting to reassure them as he did so. One young woman reminded him painfully of Cassie; more than anything, Scott prayed his daughter was okay in all this chaos. He’d call her later, when the building was clear and the people terrorizing it were taken care of. A loud banging from upstairs drew his mind from his thoughts, and Scott cursed, running over to the stairs. “Tell anyone you see to get outside!” He called back to the nearest civilian, who nodded valiantly and moved back through the halls. Scott rushed up the stairs, following the sounds of a fight until he found Natasha fighting two men. He was about to jump in to assist when one of the men addressed her. Is this one of her covers? The Black Widow had a million different names, after all, so it wasn’t so far fetched. Shrugging, he figured he’d use the momentary distraction to his advantage and jumped into the room, already swinging.
With incredibly unfortunate timing, Scott Lang entered the fray, and judging by the look on his face, he had heard her true name. Caden immediately knew that because of that, the man would have to be handled. Natasha Romanoff had countless identities, and he was unaware of spy craft, she could easily explain it was an alternate identity, but it was too much of a risk. Wynn and Varik had ruined enough without potentially destroying her cover. With her hand raised, she electrocuted Wynn. “You finish here, I’m going to get the remaining civilians out!” She called out to Scott, already having made her decision. What the Skrull soldiers did not understand about murder was that it had to be subtle. Natasha Romanoff would never willingly spare a teammate, though she would allow one to finish a fight. She would spare her life for any of the Avengers, and because of that, Caden would have to be creative in her method. Luckily, she carried explosives as a precautionary measure. Under the guise of evacuating civilians, she rushed into an adjoining room, and quickly placed the explosives. She entered one more on the ground level, and placed them there. It was more than enough to erase Scott Lang, and with him, his knowledge of Caden. Truly, the opportunity was golden. Romanoff rarely blew buildings, particularly with people inside, and Scott trusted her.
Watching Natasha work was always cool. She was efficient, unyielding. Scott was always impressed, and now was no different. He quirked a brow as she electrocuted one of the officers, knocking him out. At her instruction, he nodded. “You got it,” he told her flashing a thumbs up. “Hey, be careful, okay? There could be more.” With a warning issued, he turned back to the remaining officer and shrunk down, running behind the man before growing back in size and swinging a fist. Shrinking and growing was a pretty good fighting technique, at the end of the day. It was hard to fight what you couldn’t see, no matter how skilled you were. What Scott lacked in real fighting abilitiy, he certainly made up for in the element of surprise. The man he was fighting was far more skilled but, in the end, it did him little good. Scott had him knocked out in a matter of minutes, and he clapped his hands together at the sight of the two unconscious officers. “Okay,” he said with a nod. “You guys just, uh… Wait here. We’ll call somebody to take you in. Captain America, maybe! Ooh, or Thor. I’d love to call Thor. I bet Natasha has his number.” He turned towards the door, ready to make his way out and down to find Natasha.
Hurriedly, Caden made her way out of the building, ushering along stragglers. Natasha Romanoff would not leave them behind, and that meant feigning care as well. Once she got out of lethal distance from the building, she pretended to press a hand to her comm, and said, “Evacuation complete. What is your status?” In actuality, she blew the fuse, and behind her, the building exploded with Scott Lang inside of it. Thrown across the pavement like Caden had planned, she sucked in a breath as the cuts and burns wracked her body. Injuries were not desirable, but with such a climatic ending to Ant-Man, they were required. The Avengers would ask no questions about Romanoff’s involvement, only inform her that she did the best she could, and Caden would pretend to be deeply guilty over his demise. A perfect ending to an imperfect soldier. As for Varik and Wynn, their deaths were necessary, and truthfully, deserved after nearly blowing her identity. Veranke would shed no tears over them. He loved them.
His comm unit crackled to life, and Scott brought a hand to his ear with a nod. “Our buddies are down for the count. On my way out to you. Wanna call someone to —” He was cut off suddenly as the building began to shake, quivering and rumbling underneath him. No, no, no. Frantically, Scott sprinted for the stairs, shrinking down in a desperate attempt to avoid the already-falling debris. An explosion. Goddammit, they should’ve seen this coming, should’ve known this was a possibility. He picked up speed, moving as quickly as he could but, truthfully, it was hopeless. The building was falling apart around him and, even at his smallest, Scott couldn’t avoid them all. He’d made it to the top of the stairs when the ground crumbled beneath him, and Scott grew to size in a desperate attempt to break his fall. Unfortunately, it did him little good. The fall knocked all the breath from his body, and he couldn’t get up to avoid the debris that began to bury him.
Scott would have liked people to think that his final thoughts were ones of bravery, that he met death with his head held high. In reality, terror gripped him until the very last moment, clawing at his throat and consuming him as the building buried him. His last thought was of Cassie; he hoped she’d be okay.