The room was silent — not peaceful silence, but the kind that came after something terrible had happened. Twelve men had entered expecting to break one person.Eleven of them were now lying unconscious on the floor.Johnny stood in the middle of the room breathing steadily. His shirt was torn, his knuckles bruised, his body carrying small injuries from the fight. But he looked completely fine.The men around him looked like they'd been hit by a truck — one buried halfway under a broken table, another slumped against the wall, two more tangled together on the floor with their weapons scattered beside them.He looked around and sighed. "That was easier than I expected." Not arrogance. Just the truth.These men were trained, dangerous by any normal standard. But the first one had rushed him with a bat and Johnny had simply stepped aside, grabbed his arm, and used his own momentum against him.The second came from behind — Johnny heard the movement without turning, drove an elbow into his

A few minutes earlier, the masked man was in bed with Mia.And she was in control.It had started like a game. A dangerous one.She'd heard them talking outside her door earlier. She'd caught fragments of a conversation she wasn't supposed to hear. *"Take care of the guy. Quietly. No witnesses."Her room door had been cracked open just enough. Just enough to see the masked man walking past. Just enough to know he was the biggest threat to Johnny's plan.She'd pulled him into her room when he walked past, her fingers curling around his wrist, her lips brushing against his ear with a whisper that sent shivers down his spine.She was been willing to sleep with a stranger if it meant saving Johnny.The thought made her stomach churn.What does that say about me?The sniper on the other hand, had spent his entire life controlling every situation he entered — stronger, faster, better trained than almost anyone around him. Yet here he was, standing in front of a woman who seemed completely u

Back to the present.Johnny stood outside the facility, his wrist still locked to Darren Zemo's — and on the rooftop of the nearby building, standing completely still, was the one person he had hoped he wouldn't have to face.The masked sniper. Hawkeye.Darren looked between them, a nervous smile appearing. "Well... this is awkward."Johnny glanced at him. "You said you avoided all the cameras.""Of course I did.""Then explain why we're suddenly being shot at."Darren gave a small shrug. "Didn't you see me avoid them? Every visible camera was avoided."Johnny stared at him. Then he sighed. "You're unbelievable."Darren's smile widened slightly, because he knew Johnny didn't have the whole story. When they'd moved through that dark corridor, Darren hadn't ignored the cameras out of carelessness — he'd led Johnny through the darkness deliberately, knowing what was hidden inside it. Night-vision cameras. Cameras that didn't need light. Cameras that saw everything. He had led Johnny str

Johnny's hand slowly tightened into a fist, as he just stood there, because somewhere deep inside he had already suspected it. He had wanted to believe her. That was the part that annoyed him most."Why did you lie?" Mia's hands dropped from the wheel. She looked down at them for a second, like she was gathering pieces of herself."Because I wanted to be in your life," she said quietly. "No matter what.”For a moment he didn't say anything. The words were simple — I'm not actually pregnant — and a few minutes ago they would have destroyed him“I know what I did was horrible. I know what I took from you. I know I don't deserve to just walk back in and pretend nothing happened. But I didn't know any other way." She continued stepping closer."The pregnancy was the only thing I thought would make you listen. The only thing that would stop you from shutting me out completely.""That's the same reason I did what I did in the red room."Johnny's eyes narrowed slightly. "Speaking o

The bullet hit him before he even heard the shot. Pain exploded through his shoulder — hot and sharp — forcing his body to stumble backward.For a second his mind went blank, not because of the pain but because Hawkeye had done the impossible yet again.He had seen them."Fuck." Johnny grabbed his shoulder, feeling blood running between his fingers.The stealth ability had been perfect, the system hiding their presence completely. Nobody should have been able to find them.Nobody except him.…[INSTANT HEALTH RESTORATION ACTIVATED]…A second shot cracked through the air before Johnny could even breathe. His body moved on its own. Not thought — instinct.The part of him that had survived a hundred fights took over, grabbed Mia by the arm, and dragged her across the concrete toward the cover of a nearby container stack, as three more shots followed in quick succession, the bullets tearing through the spaces his head had occupied a moment earlier. His wounded shoulder screamed. His le