двенадцать. the winter soldier
" in the flesh "

THE SLAMMING OF A SHOT GLASS allowed for Nadia's entrance to become nothing but another thing to add to the list of Valentine's problems. She didn't want to see Nadia. Not now. And not ever. Yet she knew she had to at some point - she just wished that moment wasn't now. Here she was, so close yet absolutely empty with ideas on how to take this site down. Impossible to hack into their data bases, no invite to the party which doesn't even guarantee finding anymore information, and absolutely no names. Just people who watched and that was no good for Valentizina.

The scent of Vodka made a small smirk grow on Nadia's rather matured - but not too wrinkled - face, as she took a seat and helped herself by pushing the bottle closer to herself. Picking up an empty shot glass from the side, the sound of liquid pouring made Valentizina's evergreen eyes slowly scoot to the wide, observing her mother pour herself a shot.

"Sloppy. Thought you'd be done by now," Nadia breathed out, gently pushing the bottle of vodka away, grabbing the shot glass and raising it up in the air. Her eyes remained fixated on the wall full of racks of alcohol, yet Valentizina grabbed the bottle and poured herself another, brushing off the comment. Or that was until Nadia's soul purpose of being here was to piss off Valentizina. So she continued, "My little soldier, you're slacking. It's been a week. And what are you doing? Sitting here, stuck."

Downing the alcohol in one go, Valentizina immediately slammed the shot glass into Nadia's head, grabbing her shirt and jumping off the seat. She immediately pinned her against the counter, her head moving closer to the woman's head.

"Yeah? Well at least I did something. What have you done? Asides from send me to do something you're not able to do?"

The silver haired woman let out a grunt, gritting her jaw before she swung her head back, colliding the back of her head with Valentine's forehead.

The blonde groaned and stumbled back, Nadia spinning around and reaching for the blonde's neck, yet Valentizina blocked her arm with her forearm, pushing it out the way, retrieving her gun from her belt, aiming it at her.

"I'm not who you remember. I'm not your daughter. I'm not a friend."

"Don't be like that, little soldier. You wouldn't be here if you weren't."

"What, standing with a gun pointed to your head? Come on Nadia, I'm stronger, faster, smarter. I'm everything you wish to be but can't so you morphed yourself into me. Well guess what, big mistake."

"You won't kill me. We both know it."

"You're right. I won't kill you. Unlike some people, I tend to keep my promises."

Flipping the gun in her hand, she slipped it back in her belt. Walking past the panting silver haired woman, Valentizina's eyes didn't leave the woman. Instead, they stayed glaring at her with every step she took towards the counter as her fingers wrapped around the bottle and in one quick swiping motion, she lifted it off the table. The sound of her heels echoed in the deadly silent room, before the chugging of liquid accompanied the tapping sound. What a way to bond with her mother...

"I got you the invite," Nadia broke the silence.

Valentine froze in her tracks.

Wiping the blood from her cheek, Nadia chuckled at Valentine. The blonde looked over her shoulder, looking at her mother through heavy lids. A frown veined appeared on her forehead, Nadia pushing herself away from the counter, strolling over with swagger and cockiness towards the furious blonde. It wasn't that she felt embarrassed now, but she felt more furious than she ever had done and all she wanted to do was slam more than a shot glass into Nadia's head.

"Someone there," she breathed in, wiping more blood from under her nose before finishing her sentence, standing eye to eye with Valentine, "Is bound to know something."

VALENTIZINA SIGHED AS she dropped the green apple into the brown paper bag, the sound of street music being played sounding out through the large outdoor market. It was rather chilly, yet it was never too cold for her. The market consisted of stands made out of wood and hand-written signs, by people who couldn't afford to find a job that pays better since they were lacking in the skills and education department. They did what they could though, she respected that. Even if everyone there was a criminal - it wasn't like there was much room for her to speak anyways, so her opinion didn't matter, she believed. Her stomach rumbled in hunger, reminding her that she certainly needed to speed up the process of grocery shopping to finally eat - something she found herself forgetting to do multiple times a day. But that didn't matter anymore. She was going to eat now.

The cold breeze nipped at her skin, her eyes travelling around the other stalls that sold figurines, souvenirs and other food. She looked over the faces behind the stalls. Irritated, cold, ecstatic... They were all different. Different people that ranged in age difference, different people that ranged in emotions and feelings. They were all just trying to get by and-

"You!"

Suddenly, the blonde moved her head to the side, raising a brow.

But of course, trouble always found her, cutting off her thinking.

Dropping the last apple in the brown paper bag, his yell of fear seemed to get the attention of many around them. With a small sigh, Valentizina gently placed down the bag on the counter beside her, looking at the young man with his finger pointed at her. He had an eyepatch across his eye, tan skin, hooded lids... Yet it was the mighty scar across his cheek that made him stand out, a noticeable feature that she narrowed her left eye at. His brows were furrowed, chest heaving in and out and she wasn't quite sure whether it was because he was terrified, or furious with the woman.

"You! You... You murderer! You brought the FBI to us!"

The FBI.

Shit.

Now she was getting chased by the people who she once worked with for the sins she committed to protect them.

"You're risking the downfall of this town! For what!"

"To wipe out revolting men like you that get off to innocent women and children being brutally murdered on a live video. For justice. For the safety of underage children."

And safety of my fucking family, she admitted.

Her family.

A word unfamiliar to her. Yet these were the people that protected her. That trusted her. That she learnt to get along with. That she began to make that feeling of trust mutual between the two.

"They'll destroy our empire!" he screamed.

"And if not, then I'll do it myself," Valentine quietly admitted, watching his pale skin grow red. His jaw was gritted tightly, risking in a chipped tooth or even a broken jaw. Tilting her head, she pointed at him, mirroring his finger that pointed at her, "Unless, you know something about the owner of the site. Then I'll let your city crumble by itself. I'll spare you that."

"I don't know anything you... You... You bitch!"

"You... You.... You struggling to speak?" she mocked.

All the sudden, a frustrated scream left his mouth as he reached for the plate beside him, throwing it at Valentine who immediately ducked and rolled towards him, jumping up and roundhouse kicking him in the head, letting him stumble in the stall. Her eyes quickly scanned the stands, looking for something sharp. Caramel... Postcards... Pillows... And while the blades were all the way in the corner of the hall, the pencils were just behind her.

Suddenly, she felt his fingers grip her blonde hair, making her grunt and immediately grip his wrist with her other hand. Her knee flew to the spot between his legs, making him loosen his grip with a cry. Yet before she could snap his wrist, he let out a chuckle in pain, gripping her neck and immediately sending a punch at her temple with his other hand. Spinning around, he threw her into the stall behind him, the public letting out a yell.

Furrowing her brows, Valentine looked up at him, attempting to get up. She was faced with a wicked expression. A smirk. His eyes were full of evil. He was enjoying this. He wanted this.

Valentizina was a profiler. She knew people before they've even looked her way.

And she knew that this man didn't care about the city. This man had a mission. And she was beginning to believe that this mission was a set up... By Nadia... Those moves were far too familiar. He was far too strong for a regular man. Far too skilled. He was a quick thinker, knew how to fight...

Valentina wasn't about to go down easy. With an annoyed grunt, she threw a punch that he caught, almost bending her arm to the side yet she was quick to throw her leg up, kicking his chin, his head flying up with a crack as he let go of her with a groan.

Speedily, she turned around and nicked a pencil from the stand, spinning back around and aiming the pencil at his chest. However, he blocked her arm with his forearm, looking into her eyes with anger, her arm escape his blockage, attempting again, being blocked once more.

So gripping the arm that blocked hers, she jumped up, wrapping her leg around his neck, her legs flipped over his whole body as she slammed him onto the ground, holding the pencil high above him, looking over his panting body.

"FBI! Stop what you're doing!"

She knew that voice. But she didn't look up. She didn't listen either. And her hesitation was what made the man under her grip her shirt and flip her so she ended up beneath him, making her groan and grip his shirt, rolling backwards as she threw him over her into the stall behind, ending up on top of him once more.

His arm flew to the side, reaching for the stake of wood that came from the destroyed counters. She noticed, widening her eyes as she rolled off him, jumping up as he did too.

The agents standing behind her couldn't see her face, as she charged at the man once more. Looking at the counter behind him, she saw the roll of knitting wool, making her immediately swipe the red coloured wool before she kicked him into the stall, taking the two second it took for him to bounce back to unravel the wool that dropped to the floor, kneeing him in the stomach.

"Freeze! We said freeze!"

As his arm flew in the air with the wooden stake, she immediately blocked it with the one closest to his arm, using her other hand to throw the string over his arm that was high up in the air. He looked up at the string, furrowing his brows and looking back at her.

But she let out a smirk as she pulled the string from beneath, wrapping it around his neck as she kicked his side, spinning around, almost helping her wrap the string around his body.

Feeling the grip of a strong, ruthless grip on her neck from behind she grunted, knowing it was one of the agents attempting to fight her. So wrapping her hands around his arms, she jumped up, her legs kicking the tangled man in front of her down to the ground, straightening her legs out in the air as she scrunched her face together in the amount of core strength she used. Valentine's legs flew back down, flipping him over her head. As she landed on her back, she immediately jumped back up from a gymnastics, bridge-like position, blowing the strand of blonde hair from her face, looking over the body.

Should have known.

Derek.

She'll apologise when she can.

But for now, her head snapped to the side, as she darted out, the chanting sound of men and women sounding out, the slamming of feet behind her making her curse aloud.

They just don't give up.

Is this how annoyed criminals feel when they're being chased by Valentine? She supposed that's what she was now. A criminal...

Her eyes flew to the man leaning against a motorcycle, a cigarette in between his crusty, dry lips. He looked awfully skinny, drowning in the leather jacket that he wore. But as she aimed towards him, a single punch was all it took for him to fall down to the floor. The skilled blonde jumped onto the machine, twisting the keys that already rested in the ignition.

The sound of bullets aiming her way made her quickly duck down.

As the vehicle rumbled beneath her, she didn't waste any time in speeding off, the cold wind blowing through her hair, against her sweaty, heated skin. And she didn't look back, not once, as she managed to escape faster than they could follow her into the depths of Vladovin.

WITH A GROAN, Derek fell back into the cheap, leather chairs of Vladovin's poorly organised police station. He was surrounded by the BAU team, including Penelope, whose hand rested on his shoulder. They were all too ashamed to speak, as they had just let the criminal get away, faceless, not knowing a damn thing. And the man wrapped up in string? Dead. Suffocated. But one thing was clear. Whoever this woman was, she didn't want revenge. She wasn't killing for fun. She didn't find enjoyment in it. She was trying to find something - better yet, someone.

The silence was painful, and awfully embarrassing for Derek, a man who never really admitted defeat. Or never really got defeated. He took back his title of 'muscle of the BAU' from Valentine who stole it from him when she joined, yet it seemed as if he wasn't really living up to it - in his opinion. The others thought that he was doing just fine. Because realistically, living up to the redhead was almost impossible, and they'd accepted that.

"There's only one person who could probably take her down," Penelope sighed with amusement, rubbing Derek's shoulder.

The name didn't need to be said. They all knew it was Valentine they needed. But they weren't aware that it was Valentizina that they were after. Their muscle. Their friend.

"But she's gone. So we need to do this ourselves," Derek reminded them, hissing in pain as he attempted to straighten out his back.

Derek was often the one to remind the team to carry on. That Valentine was always the one to help them - but they were still something without her. They always were. They did it before she joined, and they could certainly do it after. And though he missed her. Though he wanted her back more than the world, he needed to move on; otherwise, they never would. And that was the cold, hard truth.

"We have nothing," Aaron sighed, placing a hand on his hip as he walked away from the circle surrounding Derek, "No name. No face..."

"She's blonde. Five foot one. Good skill set," Spencer listed, JJ chiming in.

"Sounds familiar, ay?"

"What are you suggesting?" Emily quickly question, furrowing her brows as she turned to Jennifer.

They all eyed Pennsylvania's petite whose thumb flew to her lips, as she anxiously bit her nail. She stayed silent, eyes digging into the case file that was hanging off the wooden table Derek was sat at. She felt terrible for what she thought - she didn't want to admit it. Yet she couldn't stay quiet now. Not when she could have it all figured out... Looking up at Spencer first, her thumb left her lips, breathing in.

"It makes sense. She left. And then murders began to appear."

"Valentine wouldn't do that," Derek defended the redhead, scrunching his brows up, shaking his head with a slight burst of anger bubbling up in him, "Why would you even think that? She's done nothing but help this team not get our asses yelled at by-"

"Morgan," Gideon sternly cut him off.

The man that was sat down looked from JJ to Spencer, an unreadable look on the fair-toned man's face. His hands were in his pockets, a crease between his brows that were slightly angled upwards.

And between his fingers was a figurine of a ballerina.

"Come on, Reid. You don't believe it either."

"Morgan's right. That's not Alianovna," Spencer quietly spoke, Derek's arm flying towards the tall man.

"See?"

"But we shouldn't rule the possibility out," Gideon fought back, Aaron furrowing his brows.

"What, of a former member of the team that risked her life for us multiple times becoming a murdering killing machine?"

"We didn't know anything about her from the start."

"We knew everything we needed to know. She just wanted a little bit of privacy," Spencer spoke up, looking over them all.

Lies.

But Spencer was a profiler - the best in the room. And he knew how to cover up his lies flawlessly, JJ sighing.

"Spencer, I know that-"

"It's not Valentine."

"But what if it is? It makes sense. The skills are unmatched. The height. The figure. The time - the killings began just as she disappeared. I don't want to believe it anymore than you. But we can't rule this out. We never have. We can't now. And besides, we have a new member coming in-"

"JJ they uh," Hotch cut JJ off, "They don't know yet."

They all stared between them with confused expressions. That was the moment JJ realised she had said a little too much. And also the moment where the new girl thought it was her time to come in. With a coffee in her hand, her red, shoulder-length hair curled and a smile on her face. She was a little taller than Valentine, around 5'5", wearing a black leather jacket, jeans, a white tank top and black 3" heels, that pushed her height 5'8".

"Hey guys! I'm Cara."

And Derek only had one thing to say.

"You must be joking."

•••

"Woah! You look like you got into a fight!"

"It's nice to know that your eyes still work."

Valentine's sarcastic remark to Arabella was replied to with an eye roll from the young girl. She watched as the blonde limped through the front door, slamming it shut behind her and heading straight to the couch where she flopped down, closing her eyes at pure bliss at the state of some kind of comfort. But god damn was she in trouble. Because now, with the FBI closer to her than ever, her every move was going to be watched.

And Nadia?

She wasn't sure whether she was going to hold up her end of the deal.

Whoever that man was that she fought didn't care about the stupid site. Not about the people that got murdered that night in the bar. Not about the city that was already crumbling down more than it ever has. It was clear who he was there for. Valentizina. She didn't know why. She didn't know who he even was. Whether he was linked with Nadia or not. But that invitation to the party was nothing but trouble. She knew that much. She felt it.

And what was she going to do?

Still go.

A choice she will probably regret later, but at this point, she's lost count of the things she's adding to the very long, never-ending list of regrets. Valentine let out a sigh, rubbing her hands over her face.

"You forgot the food."

Dropping her hands, she looked at Arabella with a straight face.

"I despise you."

that was a close one.
anyways, I'm currently rewatching criminal minds. nothing new. have also discovered my love for peanut butter and jam sandwiches mega. anyways, here's a question that I'd like you to reply to because I love when u guys do <3333

opinions on valentizina's actions? what are your beliefs? is she a bad person? should she stop? is she a criminal? guilty? innocent? I want to knowww.