"The Winter Soldier", he has a metal arm with a red star, cold, dead eyes ... he wears a black mask and never speaks.
The Soldier didn't utter a word as he pulled Haines up on her knees, she knelt in front of him, arms tied behind her back, tears streaking down her face, head pulled back and up by the hair in a cold metal hand, a Russian combat knife pressed to her throat with the other hand, she managed to catch a glimpse of the blade before it was thrust against her neck- There was a serial code ... she wasn't sure if it would be any help, but filed away information for later. It was a KGB issue knife, cleaned and sharpened, if it wasn't regularly maintained it would be rusted away from dozens of uses.
Bizarrely, he didn't kill her, the HYDRA goons snapped a picture, catching Haines in all her glory ... filthy and kneeling on a dirty floor with tears on her cheeks, her captor was cut off from the shoulders up, but the metal arm was in the picture. Captain America would be able to remember that much at least.

Then he left. Haines slumped down to the floor and he vanished into the night.

Captain America's apartment wasn't hard to find, it wasn't under super high-tech security, heck, she was a super soldier, if someone broke in, they would need protection, not her. But she wasn't there. Breaking in and planting the photo, and a lock of Haines' hair hastily hacked off, was easy and the Winter Soldier vanished without even being seen.

Times like these were ... few and far between. The Winter Soldier didn't usually take hostages, he took hits. Karpov's plans remained a mystery, he only left the instruction to wait. The Winter Soldier didn't know what he was waiting for, or how long it would take, only that this was necessary and had to be done.

Haines snivelled, willed herself to be less pathetic, to suck it up and after a few minutes, on the cold concrete floor ... she pulled herself together.
"Alright Haines, you have two options. Sit here and wait for a miracle possibly die ... or you can put all those episodes of Criminal Minds to use"

"What's your name?" she asked. Serial killers and rapists sometimes befriended their victims ... spared them ... she had to get him to talk.
"My name is Caroline"
There was no response. The Winter Soldier just watched her with cold dead eyes, almost unblinking.
"Your parents didn't name you the Winter Soldier ... what is your name?"
Still nothing.
"Can you understand me? Can you speak English?"
She began to wonder if he had a voice at all.
"Can you take off your mask?" she asked, as if that might coax a response.
He blinked at her. Understanding. She knew he could understand English, but he still refused to respond.
"Someone will come and help me ... you know that right? It'll be messy." Haines warned, Cap or Tony were probably on the way right now.

She was surprised when a dark, gravelly voice emerged from beneath the muzzle.
"I'm counting on that."

Haines blanched. She was the bait ... Which wasn't entirely surprising given the company she kept, she had ties to all the big political figures, not to mention Tony Stark ... The Soldier must have been after him, who else was there?

She didn't know ... but the trap was laid not for Tony Stark, but for Captain America instead. Haines was about to make another important friend.

“Alright you should be good to go Ms. Rogers.” The nurse at SHIELD HQ let Stephanie go after bandages and stitches on the scraps and cuts she had. Giving the nurse a faint nod of appreciation, one that felt uncharacteristic of the super soldier to anyone who were familiar with her. Stephanie exited the medical bay, quietly but with a clearly determined aire to her, making her way to the training grounds. There still not saying a word, swapping out her Captain America gear for gym clothes, and a pair of MMA style padded fingerless gloves. Stephanie started working out. First going a 30 minute run on a treadmill, finally sparring against a heavy bag.

Her unnatural stoic nature was hiding that Stephanie was mad, furious even. She’s never been one to let someone or something down when it came to her work. It was a point of pride, but also severely needed. She was a woman who was hellbent and with a probable death wish to succeed against a military’s sexism. It was what made everything she did mean something in the end. So why the hell did she let the bastard go!? As she struck the heavy bag with punches, elbows, and kicks. The scene replayed in her head a million times over, standing on the SUV, in front of the man who had killed numerous mutants and nearly a news reporter. Her fist clinched, and ready to start putting him away for justice. It was that pause, that hesitation. Something made it impossible to fight this man.

The more Stephanie dwelled on it, on top of making her strikes against the heavy bag harder and harder, the more she felt confused. There was something to the guy that had a strangely familiar feeling to it, not in the way seeing Red Skull would be familiar though. The feeling that struck her almost felt akin to hitting a loved family member. How the hell she got that from a cold blooded murderer was almost more worrying.

“Uh... Ms. Rogers?”

The strikes against the heavy bag were hitting harder and harder, the beads of sweat sickeningly rubbing against her wounds, and the slight ping of pain each sweat drop created made the punches even harder.

“Ms. Rogers?”

Finally Stephanie in one moment felt the small in comparison SHIELD agent’s presence, and in an almost blinded fury threw one more strike that cleanly smashed through the bag. Sand trickling down the gaping holes in the heavy bag as Stephanie glared over at the agent. Panting and looking more psycho than soldier.

“WHAT?!” Stephanie bellowed out of a deep, frightening place in her stomach.

"Uh..." The SHIELD agent looked as though he was barely holding the urine in himself. "You...you're needed in the main bay, Agent Hill she needs to speak with you urgently." Before Stephanie could respond the agent had already turned and left. Leaving Stephanie alone, her fist clinched through the heavy bag as sand trickled out. Exhaling a frustrated breath, Stephanie finally pulled her fist out of the bag's now gaping hole. Wiping the last bits of sand off her glove as she went to shower and get dressed. This whole situation was going to test her something fierce. She could just feel it.

Stephanie Rogers’ outburst must have made the rounds quickly, because as she was heading towards where Hill was, the lower ranked agents were trying to avoid her. It wasn’t just a careful step out of the way either, agents were actively ducking away. Stephanie just quietly kept the feeling of embarrassment and worry to herself. Keeping her gym towel wrapped around the back of her neck Stephanie changed into more modest gym wear. She didn’t really feel like she had time to change into more proper SHIELD attire. Still after the day she’s already had, Ms. Hill will hopefully give her some leeway.

When Ms. Rogers arrived at one of the Helicarrier’s many war rooms. She immediately saw the grim look on Commander Maria Hill’s face. It clearly wasn’t about Stephanie’s lack of professional wear, more that something serious had just happened. Stephanie didn’t like it one bit.

“Sorry I’m late, you called for me when I was busy working out. After I had just gotten out of the medical bay...” Stephanie noted as she came into the room. There was something weird she was realizing in the fact she went from the medical bay right to working out. She didn’t recall any of the medical personnel telling her to not exert herself, but then again they probably shouldn’t have had too.

“Its fine Ms. Rogers.” Hill assured Stephanie in a professional tone, but with her mood clearly not changing towards anything friendly. “Let me get right to it, that reporter you saved earlier today? They got her.”

Stephanie paused, confused. “‘They’ got her?” She had a funny feeling she knew who ‘they’ were, but she wanted clarification.

Hill nodded, “Hydra, yes. We’re not sure on the details exactly but we have this...” Hill handed Stephanie a manilla folder containing everything that was left at Rogers’ apartment. Along with some photos from where Ms. Haines was shortly before she disappeared. “Considering they left that, and a lock of Ms. Haines’ hair. Hydra aren’t being very subtle about why they’re doing this.”

“They want me.” Stephanie answered for Hill.

“Exactly...” Hill noted.

Stephanie paused, she knew the moment she saw Red Skull that he wasn’t going to just go away or make things easy. This though... it was too easy. Sure a life was at stake, but something about it all had set up all over it. Clearly Ms. Hill felt likewise, as she pulled up on the holographic display a listing of SHIELD agents, as well as a deep redheaded woman Stephanie knew.

“We’ve got a group of agents and Black Widow ready to go at your command Ms. Rogers. I’ve made sure your comms has all the info on the location we can prepare.”

~~~~~

The SHIELD agents were all placed some blocks away from the building Ms. Haines was hopefully still alive in. Stephanie was given a simple layout of the building as she brought in the group around her. Steph herself in another Captain America suit.

“Alright we have one hostage and we don’t know how many are in the building. Although we can assume at least one individual directly linked to the terrorist attack in the city earlier today. Romanov will lead team Bravo, Patrick you’re leading team Alpha. Both of your jobs is finding Ms. Haines and securing an escape for her. If you run into Hydra hostile, do your best to bring them in alive for questioning. If you can make sure you search them thoroughly for any weapons or cyanide. Avoid casualties if you can at all costs. I do not want anyone going against orders because if any one of you screw this up we’ll all have Ms. Haines’ blood on our hands understood?”

As Cap glanced around and got a solid nod out of all the SHIELD agents, the agents all split up to supply and start getting individual instructions. Cap pausing, looked over at Black Widow before stopping the Russian with a hand on her shoulder.

Natasha Romanov, trained in assassination by a private party in the heat of the cold war. Stephanie Rogers needed a lot of time to feel like she could trust the Russian. As a lot of that bad blood in her from World War II needed plenty of time to cool off. Still, even given Natasha’s very cold exterior, and even colder interior. Stephanie was just happy to have someone like her watching her own back. Better than having her on the opposing team that’s for sure.

“Widow...” Cap stated before pausing, the questions had been nagging on her since earlier and she needed to ask someone, anyone, who would listen. Even if Natasha hardly seemed like the sympathetic type. “This figure that’s going to be in there. The one who caused the explosion earlier today. I almost caught him...” Stephanie paused, she didn’t want to say she could’ve caught him. Only to fail by freezing up like a doofus. That still irked her, but Ms. Romanov’s look made her refocus on the point.

“Either way if you run into him, long hair, metal arm with red star on it. Make sure his brought in alive most of all okay?”

Immediately Natasha’s eyebrows raised in surprise as two words slipped out of her lips.

“Winter soldier...”

Stephanie paused confused. She wasn’t used to that kind of emotion, even subdued, out of Natasha. “Excuse me?”

Natasha paused, almost needing to adjust herself before taking a breath. “If it is who I think it is. His... very bad news.” Natasha told Stephanie, that Russian accent of her putting a sort of deeper emphasis on her words. “When I was growing up I didn’t see him very much at all but knew about him. He is the kind of assassin you need when you want someone with no soul, no feelings. Someone who can create a massacre and not even react to it.” Natasha almost sounded shaken up about the guy. Stephanie was worried, if this guy could make Black Widow of all people worried!

“Just... be very careful in there Rogers. He’s the last person you want as an enemy...”

Captain America watched on as the rest of the SHIELD operatives made their entrances from the next building over. Using binoculars to make sure they didn’t go into immediate fire. It was all clear so far as Cap put the binoculars away. Setting up a zip line that she used to make her own way into the building. Her shield clinched in her hands as she came into a broken open window.
As she was inside she kept the shield up and ready. Calmly watching all openings and areas as she started to get the feeling Hydra was now just screwing with her. She barely came across anything that suggested Hydra was even there. It meant one of a few possibilities. Either SHIELD gave her the wrong address which was very unlikely, Hydra just wanted to screw with her, or they were playing a long game set up for them.

As Cap got to a metal railing she could see down to where Ms. Haines was tied up. SHIELD operatives including Black Widow coming to her aid. “Cap this is Widow, we have Ms. Haines. She’s still alive but needs medical attention, over.” Came over Cap’s ear piece.

“Copy that, I’m on the railing above you, over.” Cap responded. Clinching a guard rail tight in her grips. This was too easy for her. There was a trick somewhere, a bomb, an ambush, it was making her tense to try and think of what it could be.

Haines was gagged, silver duct tape roughly slapped over her mouth. She was relieved when the SHIELD agents and the mysterious red haired woman, burst in to haul her out, but with her mouth taped, she couldn't warn them until it was too late. HYDRA had no intentions of doing anything with her, they wanted Captain America, for reasons she didn't quite know, but she presumed the soldier with the metal arm and dead eyes was something to do with it. At the very least, he was the one who would be facing her, and he expected Stephanie, but did she know what she was getting herself into?

As soon as her hands were free she ripped off the tape, not even taking time to shriek at the painful lip-wax she'd just given herself. She had to warn them.
"Get out of here- Quick- This is an ambush" she warned, but Captain America wasn't there ... Haines found herself half disappointed, half relieved. On the one hand, Cap had saved her once, had she disappointed the Captain by getting herself recaptured? Was she not important anymore because she'd wound up in trouble again? But on the other hand, it was safer with Captain America out of the way. She had to count her blessings where she could find them. Captain America or no, she was getting out of here alive with any luck. Milliseconds ticked by without the Winter Soldier pumping them all full of bullets. Haines didn't know what he was capable of, but he'd blown up a mutant rally causing countless civilian casualties just yesterday. Dropping a grenade or opening fire on a group of SHIELD agents was probably childs play to him.

She stared up at the upper levels of the secure but largely disused warehouse. She was certain the Winter Soldier headed up in that direction, to get a good vantage point of the main doors where the SHIELD agents had stormed in. She couldn't make out his figure in the shadows up there, but she assumed he was lurking up there somewhere, watching. There was no movement, no noise, no gun-fire from the upper platforms ... if he was there, he didn't engage with the SHIELD agents at all. He did nothing to stop them help her up.

A soft thump from the upper level revealed the arrival of Haines hero, and at present, her worst nightmare. Captain America had come after all, using what would usually be a smart move, a high entrance while the main team served as a distraction coming through the main doors... Somehow the Winter Soldier had known or .. anticipated this plan. While a meagre band of HYDRA goons put up minimal resistance, some straight up fleeing to lead SHIELD away so they wouldn't break up the impending engagement on the upper levels. Cap swept the area, clearing half the upper levels without confronting the Soldier before she wandered into position and waited right where Winter Soldier had wanted her.

The Winter Soldier watched Stephanie from behind as she leaned over the railing, his figure concealed in the shadows of a disused office, likely the next spot Cap would survey once she finished watching Haines' evacuation ... not that she'd have a chance now. It was too late. He studied her with the curiosity of a child examining an insect under a magnifying glass before they pulled the insects legs off one by one. Pausing to study her form, how she moved. He should have had a sense of deja-vu, familiarity, but there was none. She was a stranger. She was a target.

She was his mission.

"He's here-" Haines warned, shouting as she was being escorted out of the building. "The Winter Soldier- Cap look out!"

Once again, Natasha's fears were more than confirmed. The man with the metal arm was the deadly Soviet Assassin ... a whisper even in the KGB. Training in the Red Room ... Natasha had encountered him once before. Before the Black Widow Program graduation ceremony, the sterilisation and memory implantation, there was a test, a fight against the Winter Soldier. None of the Black Widow trainees had beaten him, but they were younger then, had less experience. Those who had performed well against him proceeded to graduation, those who did not perform well left with grievous injuries and shame. Most just vanished. Nat had been one of those girls to face him, he hadn't said a word but his eyes burned into hers as she fought fiercely ... the rest was a blur then... Perhaps something more had happened, but he was a ghost and ghosts had the habit of disappearing or sometime lingering in memory. No one involved in the Black Widow program saw him again but some of them heard whispers. Sometimes on missions, KGB spies would report mysterious covering fire on missions they thought they were flying solo on ... most assumed it was the Winter Soldier, no one else was a quiet and deadly as him. Although he was on their side, he terrified them because they neither seen nor heard him. But he was there.

Stephanie would experience that fear now. She wouldn't hear or see him, until it was too late.
The shadows peeled away and he closed the narrow gap between himself and Stephanie. Haines, and a significant portion of the SHIELD agents were carrying out the extraction of the hostage, covering their exit.

The Winter Soldier had a number of factors in his favour. First, the element of surprise, second, he had no concerns about friendly fire. Any HYDRA agents that had been holding the warehouse were already captured, dead or fleeing. They knew the operation, to minimise friendly fire they had to stay out of the way, or if they got in the way, they had to eat bullets. If The Winter Soldier threw himself into the middle of a fire fight, even surrounded by SHIELD agents, they'd pull their punches, but he wouldn't hold his. The fact that the clumsy reporter was tied up in this only made it easier for him. They wouldn't shoot in close quarters for fear of wounding the hostage or Captain America and he knew the average SHIELD agent couldn't take him down, even a handful of them would have a hard time besting him hand-to-hand.

There were two disadvantages though ... Captain America could match him blow-for-blow, that was why the hostage and other agents gave a slight advantage to him, she'd do whatever she could to reduce casualties while he could focus on the fight ahead, but if they stayed out of the way, the fight would be a tough one.
Secondly ... Black Widow was there. She was a variable HYDRA could never have anticipated ... HYDRA assumed SHIELD would underestimate the soldier and send in a handful of agents and Captain America, no one could have presumed Natasha Romanoff would be there and she was a several steps above the average SHIELD goon ...

The Winter Soldier flicked his combat knife from its sheath on his thigh, it whispered a 'shwink' as it slid free of its cocoon, freshly sharpened.
His arm moved in such a fast arc that the knife let out a keening sigh as it cut through the air, two forward steps and he closed the distance between himself and Stephanie, seizing the arm closest to him and wrenching it back so he could easily slice open her throat.

By the time the SHIELD agents all had their pistols up, though Black Widow was telling them to hold fire. Captain America felt sharp steel just ever so gently pressed against her throat. The warning was just a touch late, and now Cap had to struggle as instinctively her hand clinched at the wrist of the attacker. Just managing to get the knife off of her neck and finally clinching Winter Soldier’s wrist with her other freed up hand as well. Shoved the assassin off of her as she turned to see him again. That nagging feeling to not hit him still lingered in her as she looked at him. This time though...

“Listen pal, this time. You won’t break me.” Captain America sternly told him as she clinched her fists.

With a quick start, Cap hopped into action. Taking a quick leap Cap jumped up onto the balcony’s railing, jumping off as she lined up a flying side kick as Winter Soldier.

Black Widow waited and watched on for a moment before motioning to the other SHIELD agents. "Get Ms. Haines to safety! Now!" She told them who quickly but gently for the reporter's sake took her away. Black Widow though stayed fixated on the fight overhead, trying to think of what she could do. There were a billion plans she would've had under normal circumstances. But this, with Winter Soldier added to the mix. It made things much more complicated than before.

Cap was fast. Not necessarily faster than the Winter Soldier, but ... she wasn't slower either. Her warning fell on deaf ears, the Winter Soldier couldn't be threatened, he was programmed to ignore fear, desensitised to it so much so that he wasn't capable of feeling fear even as he faced almost certain death. For a moment, before the fight erupted into action, the Winter Soldier and Captain America stood face to face, sizing one another up, playing a psychological game, trying to intimidate the other, instil fear, but neither side crumbled under the pressure.

Cap's flying kick was fast, and powerful, not quite fast enough though, Winter Soldier's synthetic arm was just a fraction faster. The kick didn't connect with his chest as it should have, instead it was knocked somewhat off course by his star-emblazoned arm, combat knife primed and ready in the other hand, the blow to his arm was enough to stagger him back a half step though, but neither combatant was floored by the attack and defence manoeuvres.

The Winter Soldier knew that Karpov's orders were explicitly "Kill Captain America", Haines was not important, she was perishable, whether she lived or died was irrelevant, same with all the other SHIELD agents down below. Despite Kapov's instruction to ignore the captive, The Winter Soldier knew she was a valuable obstacle in Captain America's path. The Soldier needed to prevent her escape. Haines inched toward the door, exhausted and overwhelmed from her experience, she could barely stand, but she wasn't too large or heavy, the SHIELD agents could shuffle her out relatively easily.

The Soldier grappled with Captain America, attempting to haul her over the upper railings down to the concrete warehouse floor below, to cut off the SHIELD agents escape and keep Haines thoroughly in the way. Captain America was nothing like Haines though, she could fight, she was tough, and she didn't budge easily. Seconds of the struggle ticked by and Haines was ever closer to slipping away. At the very least, if The Winter Soldier lost Haines, there were still a handful of SHIELD agents the would make useful human shields to get in Captain America's way.

The side kick didn't connect well enough as Winter Soldier showed an almost freakish speed. As his metal arm deflected the blow, Cap was exposed as Winter Soldier grasped her. Clinging her against the metal railing Cap had to struggle to get an arm exposed to try and fight back. He back arching over the cold metal as Cap felt her right leg leaving the ground. She reared it back and used it to hit kickboxing style knees at Winter Soldier's kidney. None of the strikes through seemed to make any difference though. Winter Soldier's eyes and whatever else of his face she could see was cold and dead to everything.

Finally as she felt her right arm loosen she grasped and grabbed Winter Soldier's normal arm. Pulling it in and got her legs up, tightening them around his shoulders as she let herself slip over the railing. Pulling Winter Soldier's arm into a cross arm breaker while she hanged over the balcony. Gritting her teeth and trying to subdue him, or at least put him in a severe handicap if the fight keeps going.

The WInter Soldier's tactical combat jacket absorbed most of the blow to the kidneys but ... Stephanie Rogers wasn't like other combatants, she struck exceptionally hard ... a weaker man would have let go, would have crumpled, but the Winter Soldier persisted, though faltering just a second, just long enough for Stephanie to pull herself into position.

Opting for the organic arm was a clever move ... Stephanie could break it, she couldn't break the left one though. The Winter Soldier didn't underestimate her, Karpov might have, but The Winter Soldier was an expert in combat and he could tell Stephanie was planning her moves just as much as he analysed his own. It was a game of chess, equally physical and mental.

With her arms and legs wrapped tight on his right side, his right arm was hyper-extending, even though he was enhanced and in peak physical condition ... he wasn't invulnerable and he couldn't support her weight in this difficult position for too long. She was wrapped around him in such an awkward fashion that he couldn't even get enough leverage to simply shake her off, at least not without throwing them both over the balcony. He could have stepped back, twisted his body to slam her against the wall behind them, but in this position, he could lose his right arm, a break or dislocation, and all he'd achieve was bruising her up a little and maybe shaking her loose ... if he even managed to shake her loose.

That left on option ... a gamble, even if the landing hurt and he broke his arm, he'd do a lot of damage to her too, more than just ramming into a wall. Maybe on the way down he'd get enough leverage to break out of her tight hold, only one way to find out. He threw both their weight over the bar, twisting like a cat to try break out before they impacted on the ground below. It would hurt them both to land still entangled ... Stephanie could try to save herself in the fall and le thim go, or hold on and wait to see who fared best when they hit the ground.

Cap was almost straining herself to make the arm breaker as tight and straining as possible. Only able to rely on Winter Soldier’s arm to keep herself from taking a long fall towards the concrete floor below. That might have been a mistake on her part but it also ensured that the only thing Winter Soldier could do to stop that pain was basically fling them both over the railing. Really he couldn’t be that desperate...

Suddenly feeling the guard rail slip out she realized that Winter Soldier was willingly letting himself go over the rail and towards the floor below. In a sudden desperate move Cap let go of Winter Soldier’s arm. Trying to grab hold with either hand the balcony flooring to keep from slamming onto the concrete from who knew how high up. A flimsy grasp was all she could muster and it didn’t take long for it to slip from her grip. Causing her to flail as all she could do was try and land straight on her back and not stiff.

The two smashed to the ground with the thundering, hollow thud against the open air of the building. Dust kicking up as they both laid motionless for a moment. Cap herself didn’t feel dead, or indeed much of anything for a time. Trying to move her arms and legs did yield results. Though it also caused pain to course through her and wake her back up fully. As she tried to get back to her feet, hissing from all the internal injuries she wasn’t looking forward to learning about. The SHIELD operatives split up, one half finishing getting Ms. Haines out of the dangerous situation. The others along with Black Widow approaching Winter Soldier cautiously to arrest him. “Careful...” Cap let out as a warning as Widow nodded to her, turning back and aiming a pistol out at Winter Soldier as a SHIELD agent began to pull out heavy duty handcuffs.

Desperation wasn't a factor ... The Winter Soldier had done operations with nigh impossible odds before. No, he was beyond desperation. He was disposable. If he needed back up, it wasn't coming, no one was waiting for extraction once the job was done. He either made it out or he didn't. His job was to kill the target, even if he died trying. He was more reckless than she was, more dangerous, because he wasn't inhibited by basic survival instincts, he wasn't fighting with the thought of self-preservation in mind, his goal was to neutralise target by whatever means necessary. His body was expendable.

The fall was hard and fast and the impact wasn't pretty. Stephanie had to sustain most of the blow with her own body, the Winter Soldier, though landing heavily, allowed his synthetic arm to absorb most of the blow, twisting himself like a cat in freefall miliseconds before impact.
It was a jarring blow, but he recovered quicker than Cap did, only because his metal arm absorbed the blow and if it were made of flesh and bone it would have shattered. The arm made a whirring noise, a number of clicks and he pushed himself up off the ground as dust sprinkled down around them. Already SHIELD operatives her trying to close in on him. Natasha aimed at him, a SHIELD agent edged forward to cuff him. The handcuffs wouldn't be strong enough, but the Winter Soldier stood eerily still, eyes scanning the agent and Natasha, Steph was groaning and getting back on her feet.

Of course, they wanted to take him alive if they could. The Winter Soldier was a ghost story from the depths of HYDRA ... he held so many HYDRA secrets, they'd kill him if they had to, but now it looked as if they could capture him, and if they could do that, they could interrogate him and dismantle HYDRA.

"Stand down" Natasha warned, but the Soldier moved too fast. He waited till the SHIELD agent was close, almost cuffing him, then he moved fast, too fast. The metal arm glinted in the light and the agent made a choking noise as silver digits wrapped around his neck. He flung the agent like a rag doll, crashing into Natasha who, in trying to protect him, dropped her gun. The agent was coughing and gagging, throat heavily bruised but ... still alive fortunately. Natasha scrambled to shake the dead weight off her, but the Winter Soldier was already descending upon Cap and her gun had skittered across the floor when she fell back.

The Winter Soldier watched Steph, the scuffs and dirt indicated what sort of position she'd landed in, and he went for it, readying a metal arm to deliver a precise punch to her already beat up side, where he knew it would hurt her most. She was fast, but he was fast too. It appeared as if he wasn't at all affected by his own injuries, the joints where bone met metal screamed in agony, the fall had taken its toll, even though he powered through it, he was conditioned to ignore pain, but even his body had physical limits.

Nat wanted to check on the shield agent the WS had taken out, but there wasn't time, he was breathing, gasping crazily, he'd be fine on his own, Steph needed back up. She ran up, going for her trademark move, lacing her legs around the Winter Soldier's throat to try choke him out or at least pull him off balance. She didn't know how he did it ... he staggered back two steps, violently jerking his weight to one side to throw her off, although she didn't slip off, she was surprised he managed to stay standing and fight so viciously. His organic arm reached up and snagged her by the shoulder, metal arm coiled up to defend from some of the blows from Cap. Nat tried to give Cap an opening to strike, though it was a narrow opening as the Winter Soldier yanked her down and chucked her aside as if he was just shrugging off a shoulder bag.

She tried to sting him with a Widows Bite as she tucked and rolled out of the rough landing. She ran up, hoping the shock would be enough to wear him down to let Steph get a proper advantage in the fight, but instead he struck her with a mean left hook that sent her clean across the room. Nat crumpled into a ball, nursing her aching ribs and stomach, dark spots flashing in her eyes from the pain. She couldn't see straight but she hoped the distraction gave Cap enough time to win this fight. Nat blinked furiously to refocus her vision, scrabbling for an EMP disc, hoping she struck her target. The Soldier was reaching for a holstered glock. The disc fried the circuitry in the metal arm and it hung dead, limp, glittering with waves of blue electro pulses shivering along the parts. A noise escaped under the muzzle covering the Soldier's face, a strangled grunt of shock ... pain?, but he yanked the EMP-disc off, the arm made a clunking noise but seemed to reanimate.

Cap was coughing hard as she felt all the dust from the floor seemingly fill up her lungs. Using her shield to prop herself back upright she grunted trying to keep herself in the fight. Already she let the guy go, and if she let him go again she’d never be able to forgive herself. Looking over she watched on as Black Widow tried valiantly to even slow Winter Soldier down, but it seemed like the guy was shaking everything off.

All of the sudden Cap was getting flash backs to when Hawkeye showed her the Friday The 13th movies. It was a subliminal thought in her head, but one that still made her involuntarily shudder.

As Winter Soldier’s arm started to come back to life from the EMP. Cap came in to make her move. Able to get in close and grasping Winter Soldier’s waist and leg. Captain America tried for a single leg takedown, trying to keep Winter Soldier’s legs off the ground as she did so.

Keeping the Winter Soldier down was a good plan, he was fast on his feet, fast with his hands, at least if he was off his feet, she could slow him down just a little at least.
His bionic arm jerked back to life, but not quick enough for him to sufficiently fend off Stephanie. He went down, back heavily smacking off the floor sending up a cloud of dust around them. She was trying to pin him down of course, trying to keep him down.
The Winter Soldier fought back of course, lashing out wildly like a cornered cat. His fighting switched between terrifyingly precise and calculated, and downright blind thrashing.

Natasha was coughing and struggling to regain the strength to pull herself up. The knock had really winded her.

She rocked slightly on her feet, finally upright, sucking in a breath, she steadied herself, only to find Steph and the Soldier grappling on the ground. The Soldier struggled to try flip their positions, to pin Steph beneath him, but she was a slippery one.

Natasha waited till the Winter Soldier could struggle free to try choke him from behind, tugging him back with tremendous difficulty. He clawed at her.
"Cap- Cap get him now" she managed to shout, her grip beginning to loosen.

Cap was able to keep a high base, making it extremely difficult for Winter Soldier to flip them around. To slow him down some more Cap reared back and dropped a few punches and elbows. Each one though only seeming to make the enemy soldier more vicious in his movements. It really felt like he might be able to turn things around on her. Something that wouldn’t have led to anything good, even with Black Widow’s help.

As Winter Soldier got space he started digging his knees into Cap’s stomach to get her off of him. Cap tried to hang on, reaching out and grabbing the first thing her hand could, which happened to be his tactical mask. Her fingers digging into the top of it Captain America finally got shoved off of the Winter Soldier, his tactical mask flying off as Cap had immediately let go.

Cap quickly got back to her feet, holding a hand out to Widow to wait before leaping in. Cap figured at this point she could easily get her shield, brain this soldier guy with it. Then hopefully knock him out long enough to get cuffs on him. Captain America pulled her shield off of its magnetic base on her right wrist. Holding the edge in her left hand before she tossed it up in the air gently and catching its handle in the middle. She started to turn back towards the Winter Soldier, not even thinking about the mask being gone, and seeing what he looked like.

Cap’s eyes locked onto Winter Soldier’s face.

She stopped.

Suddenly Cap felt like she lost all her breath, all the pain in her body was gone, her complexion turned almost ghost like in an instant. She could only stand there again, motionless, but it wasn’t hesitation this time. It was realization, it was something nothing in her life could’ve prepared her for.

The scene played in her head again suddenly. Bucky Barnes, one of the few people who ever believed in her, gave her a chance when no one else would even think too. Clinging to the edge of the blown out side of the train. Begging for help as Steph herself was fighting off a group of Nazis. In a blink of an eye he was gone, his body flying away having lost his grip. Slamming into jagged rocks against the cliff side as it quickly vanished from view. Stephanie for the rest of that mission, until the fateful dive into the frozen waters, had never felt so alone in her life.

She lost Bucky was gone forever.

Bucky, was standing right in front of her.

Bucky... was the Winter Soldier.

Somehow though Bucky’s livlihood had been completely ripped from him. His eyes, already hauntingly dead, now only made looking at him all the more jarring. His complexion so cold, Bucky Barnes might as well be dead in front of her.

Black Widow was going to wait on Cap’s silent order but even she couldn’t help but be somewhat stunned by the revelation. Captain America though? She was simply stunned, already feeling tears well up in her eyes as the urge to hug him quickly had to be squashed with the realization that Bucky was now some kind of mindless killing machine. Having already taken so many lives the day before, another pile to add to the mountain he had already claimed.

Finally all Captain America, all Stephanie Rogers, could say. Which meekly slipped out of her lips, confused, devastated, hurt, and struggling to even understand anything. Was simply “...B-Bucky?”

Unmuzzled ... it felt strange ... HYDRA kept him muzzled, kept him silent and anonymous. He didn't question, he didn't fight, and now his mask was ripped free.

But he was still the Winter Soldier, attacking without a moments hesitation.

The unmasked soldier rolled to the side, putting some distance between himself and Cap, hand reaching for a holster, for a gun. He'd aimed to slit her throat, quickly and quietly, it had turned into a brawl. As tough as she was, even Captain America couldn't swallow bullets all day. The pistol slid free, magazine empty, he had to reload and that gave the fraction of a second for Stephanie to see him. To truly see him and recognise him.

Black Widow couldn't believe it either ... Bucky? ... He couldn't be ... Bucky was in the Howling Commandos. He fought the Nazi's, he couldn't be ... He died in the Alps, he wasn't the monster who tested her in the Red Room. He wasn't the monster who broke the little ballerinas the KGB turned into assassins, he wasn't the monster who ruthlessly murdered hundreds indiscriminately.
He was the best friend Steph told her about. The cocky ladies man who always hauled Steph's ass out of trouble. The cheeky gent who flirted and danced the charleston and shrugged off his coat in the rain to throw over Steph's shoulders so she wouldn't catch a chill ... He was a jerk, a geek ... loyal to Steph when she became Captain America, even when she stole his thunder.

He'd been a hero, the only Howling Commando to give his life to beat the Nazi's. He'd covered for Steph when they were on that train, only to get blasted clean out of it.
This couldn't be him... and yet, Stephanie recognised that unmistakeable face although all life in those features had been stripped away.

"B-Bucky?"
For a fraction of a second the Soldiers eyes changed ... haunted, confused ... childlike. Natasha noticed, it was as if the ruthlessly efficient killer had been replaced by a dazed child. Utterly lost. He didn't know his own name, but something about hearing it had caught him off guard, more so than any sneak attack would have.

"Who the hell is Bucky?"

His voice lacked any emotion, but for the shortest fraction of a second, his eyes were alive, lit up with horrified confusion. His steely unwavering gaze faltered for a second before he snapped back to his mission, jamming the magazine into the gun and levelling it on Cap ... He was about to squeeze the trigger until Natasha fired off a Widows Bite, narrowly missing him, but it disrupted his clear shot at Cap's head. An explosion rocked behind him and there was shouting, SHIELD were closing in and the Winter Soldier scarpered, quickly scaling a stairwell and vanishing in the upper darkened levels, likely heading to the roof and running as SHIELD stormed in through the bottom, hoping to corner him upstairs ... Natasha knew they wouldn't corner him or catch him ... the Winter Soldier was a ghost for a reason. He couldn't be caught ... but now, he had an identity-

"Cap-" Nat's attention snapped back to Steph as the backup SHIELD troops done their sweep of the warehouse, finding nothing of course.

The Winter Soldier vanished ... Karpov waited for a confirmed kill ... It never came and the Winter Soldier never made it to his rendezvous point.

The gun was coming out, a widow’s bite was the only thing that saved Cap. Not that she knew, or even realized by that point. Everything in Captain America, in Stephanie Rogers’ mind, was a complete mess. Bucky was alive, but Bucky was a murderer of the highest degree. Bucky was doing things that the Bucky she knew, the Bucky she loved, would’ve never done. Stephanie Rogers immediately ripped her mask off, but her footing wobbled under her. Causing her to stumble to her rear end.

There Stephanie just laid, her body involuntarily quivering slightly just like her lips. As all she could do was just stare forward, too stunned to move, too stunned to even think straight. Hell, she couldn’t even think at all. By the time SHIELD agents were coming over to help her up. Stephanie didn’t even register it until she felt her feet on the ground again.

Suddenly though Stephanie grew quite angry, her arms slipping out of the grasp of the SHIELD agents she shoved the both of them almost shockingly far from herself. “GET OFF OF ME!” She screamed in blinded rage. Glaring at the both of them before storming off in a huff. She pulled off her SHIELD comms, throwing it aside in a frustrated huff. Not saying a word to Natasha as she went past. Not saying a word to Ms. Haines who still tried to get a ‘thank you’ out to her.

The Red Skull had watched on at all of this, from the secret cameras they had positioned. Although he wasn’t completely on board with the plan Karpov had gone through on in his own volition. Quietly Red Skull watched on as Winter Soldier, his greatest weapon and greatest use of fear and intimidation. Was gone from the feed, and with no reports coming back. Red Skull quietly stroked the chin of the mask, slowly turning to Karpov. Leaning in close he took his time, letting Karpov sweat, panic internally.

“You told me this was going to remove Ms. Rogers from the plans you and I had.” He reminded Karpov, letting his words breathe seething venom against Karpov’s cheek. “You... told me... that we would be rid of Captain America by seeking Winter Soldier on her in a situation... where we would have the advantage.” Red Skull’s increasing anger quietly grew in each pause, each word he said.

“NOW! NOT ONLY DO WE NOT HAVE CAPTAIN AMERICA’S HEAD. WE DO NOT EVEN POSSIBLY HAVE WINTER SOLDIER ANYMORE!” Red Skull quickly grabbed Karpov by the throat, pulling a handgun from his belt and shoving its barrel up against the chin of his once trusted handler. “Now. Give me one reason, why I shouldn’t pull the trigger, and spill your brains all over the HYDRA base...”

“Now. Give me one reason, why I shouldn’t pull the trigger, and spill your brains all over the HYDRA base...”

Karpov gasped and choked, his words coming out hard and fast thanks to the gun pressed to his chin. He'd fucked up big time ... but he held onto the narrow thread of hope that he could squirm his way out of yet another pinch.
"I have a reason" he hissed, Red Skull was terrifying, any human man would be scared in this situaiton, and Karpov was, but he kept his cool as best he could.
"The Winter Soldier is Department-X's greatest weapon, he has never failed me and he will return. Have faith Herr Skull" it was difficult to sound confident with a gun pressed against you, but Karpov mustered all the courage he could. The Winter Soldier had been broken and brainwashed beyond the point of no return, this little scuffle wouldn't undo decades of his work. No ... he'd done a better job than that.
"And when he does return, it is me he will answer to and no one else. If you want to use him, you'll need me alive." he sneered. As bad as the situation was, as long as the Winter Soldier was alive and out there, he was a valuable weapon and only Karpov knew his codewords. Red Skull was stuck with him unless he could find an effective alternative, at least, thats what Karpov hoped.

"I misjudged the situation, I didn't think the Black Widow would be there, were it not for her interfering, we'd have Captain America's head, just as you wished." Karpov insisted.
"Leave the Soldier to me, I won't rest until he's under my command once again. I won't fail you."

The Winter Soldier was ... lost for the first time in ... well, his memory was fuzzy, he couldn't quite say. But this kind of lost was good. He was supposed to get to an extraction point but he'd avoided the first, second and third extraction points. He set about mining information ... finding out what he could about ... Bucky?.

He found without orders and without a clear head ... it was hard to focus, hard to plan his strategy. He realised he needed help ... Which was why he stopped at extraction point 4, killed 3 Hydra agents and abducted the forth. Hotwiring a car and throwing the unconscious agent into the boot. Once he found a relatively remote location, he yanked the agent, who was pissing himself in fear and the questions began.

"Who am I?" he asked.
"Y-You're the Winter Soldier sir" the goon replied, confused as all fuck by this erratic behaviour from Russias deadliest assassin.
"My other name. What is my other name?"
"I don't know, I don't know"
Bucky was about to start breaking fingers but something in the back of his mind nagged at him and told him not to ... After a moments pause, he did it anyway and the agent howled in pain.
"I swear I don't know anything. You're Karpov's man, he knows everything. Please let me go."
"No Karpov." the Winter Soldier insisted,that man had codes ... words that made things hurt... He didn't answer questions, he didn't allow the Winter Soldier to talk but now he was unmasked and he could speak,he could ask questions and for once he felt like he had to ... There was something he had to fight against ... or fight for? He couldn't tell, but it was something greater than Karpov's plans, it was worth this risk.
"Who is she? ... The woman with the shield?"
"C-Captain Rogers?"
"Tell me what you know." he couldn't be certain ... but this could be a start. She'd recognised him, she knew his other name ... she knew things about him he knew were buried deep but he couldn't claw through his thoughts hard enough to find it. But she was his target. She was his mission. Karpov woudln't want her dead for no reason, so shewas one of the bad guys but suddenly he found himself wanting to know more ... before he killed her at least.

"Stephanie Rogers, they call her Captain America. She works for SHIELD, leads the Avengers, they gave her a serum, a little like the one Zola used on you. She's been fighting The Skull for years." the goon blabbed ... the name stung ... his head lanced with searing hot pain, he winced but- ... The memory was locked away, buried beneath brainwashing and electric shocks. It hurt to even try pull that thread a little harder, unravel the secret memory.
"I knew her?"
The goon didn't know what to say ... he knew Karpov and the Skull wouldn't like this one bit.
"Earlier this week on a mission, you fought her ... you were going to finish the job, you still can. Please. Let me go."

The Winter Soldier stripped the goon of his weapons and radios and pointed in the direction of the nearest town ... still several hours walk away. He got into the car and drove, leaving the HYDRA lackey in the dust to wander back to civilisation ...

Red Skull quietly let Karpov sweat more after the man tried to reason for his life. Gently letting the barrel tip of the gun sway, just rubbing against the lining of Karpov’s jaw. Staring a hole through him as he did so.

“Hmm...” Red Skull finally let slip. Finally he started to holster his gun away. “I suppose you are correct... on some fronts at least.” Red Skull noted as he finally started to look away. “I suppose I was even being a bit hasty in my assessment of the situation even...”

Before Karpov could respond however. Red Skull clinched his jawline with a hand very tight. Bringing his face up to the red masked face of his own. “However... I am going to give you a week to find him. If by this time next week he is not back within our control. I am going to have you killed. Not only that, but I am going to have my finest men kill you as slowly as possible. Breaking off finger after finger, toe after toe. In the meantime if you’d like to start organizing search parties by all means! Because if you don’t... you will be brought back here, and you will learn just how cruel I can be.” Red Skull didn’t even wait for a response from Karpov before shoving him away. “I’d suggest starting quickly.”

~Six Days Later~

The blanket wrapped around her was starting to smell on its nearly week long duty of being wrapped around Stephanie Rogers. She hadn’t washed the pajamas she had on. Hell she hasn’t showered either. She couldn’t do anything that wasn’t watching all kinds of movies. A year or two ago, for Christmas. The rest of the Avengers bought her a massive collection of movies on DVD and blu-rays, as well as a player for all of it. Sure Tony got a headache from Stephanie trying to figure out how to operate all of it. But Stephanie has always wanted to just sit down and marathon all of the movies.

Of course she never wanted it under these circumstances at all. Her heart couldn’t do anything but ache. She hasn’t smiled once, why would she? The only person who had her back was a murderer now. Stephanie Rogers couldn’t handle it, so she locked herself away. She hasn’t left her apartment, she hasn’t said a word to either The Avengers or SHIELD. Any times they called her she left them with her voice mail. She couldn’t do anything anymore, so she hid herself away.

““However... I am going to give you a week to find him. If by this time next week he is not back within our control. I am going to have you killed ... I’d suggest starting quickly.”

Karpov didn't need to be told twice ... no one messed with the Red Skull or failed him and got off with it lightly. Karpov was in deep shit now, but, he couldn't let the grunts see him looking weak, even in the face of Skull's threats. Red Skull might have seen the slight wavering in his eyes, the dilation of his pupils, but the guards at the door couldn't see that, to them, he looked like he was bravely staring down Red Skull, before he got up, straight posture, looking cool, calm, collected and powerful ... Red Skull would know he'd shaken him, but the goons who'd be doing his footwork wouldn't see that, and that was all Karpov had left right now. It wouldn't do to have them think he was weak, then they'd get sloppy or lazy and he needed them at their best if he had any hope of capturing the Winter Soldier again. He was their best agent and he was possibly disoriented, feral ... worst of all, there was a chance he might be remembering things and that would be devastating ...

First they had to find him. He'd been programmed, certain landmarks, certain extraction points, certain protocols. The Winter Soldier was usually ruthlessly efficient and ... predictable. He hit his mark he got away, he returned to the handler. But now they were in uncertain territory. He'd vanished. Some missions had unusual hiccups, not entirely unlike the hit on Captain America, but he'd eventually wind up at an extraction point or he'd make contact ... A day had passed without a peep and thats when Karpov suspected he was in some trouble ... Then Red Skull threatened him and now the hunt was on big time.

"If he's left the country it could be too late" Karpov frowned, he'd assembled an elite team to help him devise his plot to trap the Winter Soldier. With no clue what his "mission" or motive was ... it was hard to discern what exactly he would do. If he had the intention of returning to HYDRA, he'd come to them, so there was no need to patrol extraction points with extra agents, just monitor them regularly. Keeping an eye on Captain America was an option, Karpov assumed The Winter Soldier might return to his target to try and extract information or perhaps finish the job. But if he was evading HYDRA as Karpov was beginning to suspect, he wouldn't be dumb enough to fall into such an obvious trap ... He half cursed himself for that, the Winter Soldier was too cunning sometimes. So what else could he do after dropping off the radar? He'd be gathering intel, but on what? and from where?

Two days passed with no change. The Winter Soldier didn't some to them and they had no sightings ... Stephanie Rogers retreated to her apartment where Agents reported they never saw anyone enter or leave. It was very unlike her actually ...

The Winter Soldier was in deep cover, completely off the radar ... in a homeless shelter ... he sort of looked the part and no one paid attention to vagrants or homeless people. He was hiding in plain sight, and his bewilderment and odd questions didn't seem so odd when he looked like a crazy hobo. He knew better than to use a public library or internet cafe ... HYDRA would be watching public networks ... Instead he waited till the dead of night and snuck into a late-night business office. He usually covered HYDRA tech agents when they cracked into encrypted computers, but he watched, he learned ... He was more dangerous than HYDRA gave him credit for. He couldn't look up too much, even on the private computer he knew he could be traced, they could figure him out. He didn't search "Bucky", he searched "Captain America", after all, he'd seen her on the cover of newspapers a couple of days ago, for her rescue of Haines, he knew the odds of his particular search being flagged and tracked was less likely, but whatever Bucky was ... he couldn't be so sure he wouldn't be followed.

A few hotspots came up ... Brooklyn ... Camp Leigh ... Europe ... Italy, Austria, Germany, France ... Smithsonian-
The museum ... Perfect ... he could figure out who Captain America was and ... why she called him Bucky, why she was his target.
A few other searches and he found her home address, heavily buried data ... but there it was. And so he went. He watched. He waited ... She just sat in her apartment. 2 more days of searching for answers passed. The Winter Soldier didn't understand anything more than he did 5 or 6 days ago ... He decided to his the Smithsonian. The security guard waved him through, but CCTV in the heavily guarded museum picked him out and HYDRA were tipped off.

James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was the only Howling Command to die in service of his country-

There it was in black and white ... there was even a picture of him, not that Bucky really recognised himself. he didn't spend much time primping himself in the mirror before missions after all.
He reached out and touched the plaque, the photo ... Bucky?
It ... it couldn't be him- ... But, if it was ...
Best friends since childhood ...
Why was she the target?
It was, shocking, terrifying, he'd come so close to killing her and, although he couldn't remember, he suddenly felt that she was important. At the very least, he couldn't kill her. He knew her.

It was then he decided he needed proper answers ... He needed to confront Stephanie herself.

It had been 6 days and Steph hadn't left her apartment, deliveroo was a saviour, she'd have starved otherwise. But Nat wasn't going to put up with it anymore, as shocking as this revalation was, the world needed Captain America, especially with the terrorist attacks against mutants!
Nat dug up what she could, calling in favours and contacting old KGB contacts to wring out any information she could find. Most of the data was destroyed or hidden in an underground bunker in the guts of an ice-cold Soviet tundra. She couldn't get those files, but she could scrape together other things and that was better than nothing.
She arrived at Cap's doorstep and knocked, nursing a file under her arm.
"Cap, I've got something you need to see ... it's not much, but ... well we have a few leads."

She wasn't sure how Stephanie wolud take it ... the files confirmed that Barnes was very much alive ... but what happened to him was nothing short or atrocious.

Once inside, she sat down beside Stephanie and flipped open the file. "The mission on the train, when you captured Zola ... Barnes fell but ... Zola's experiments on him in Austria, he was trying to replicate the serum they used on you, it must have kept him alive long enough to- ..." she trailed off, "He was found by Russians, they thawed him out and repaired his body. He had no memory but incredible muscle memory, he fought the scientists and doctors with only his right arm before they put him back on ice." there was a photo, the Winter Soldier in cryo-stasis, it must have been quite some time later because his hair had grown longer, and pinned to its edge, a smaller photo, Bucky in his old US army uniform ... before the fall.
"He was transferred to Department-X, where they began Project Winter Soldier, the same Department behind the Black Widow Program some years later ... He even trained me. He was reprogrammed and fit with a metal arm, Vasily Karpov Sr was his first handler ... " a lot of the details were fuzzy ... his file was largely filled with "suspected hits" though no one could properly confirm it was the Winter Soldier, he was a ghost story. "This mission here, Odessa, it was after I joined SHIELD ... I was covering a scientist ... he shot the scientist ... through me." Nat had the scars to prove it too ...

"I'm so sorry Stephanie ... It's- ... It's definitely Bucky but, the guy you knew isn't in there any more. We need to stop him, for good, before anyone else can get hurt. You're the only Super Soldier, the only one who can face up to this guy ... we need you."

HYDRA swept the museum, a smoke grenade blinded the Winter Soldier, nerve gas took him down, though it took a little longer than expected, he injured seven HYDRA agents ... two were critical. But Karpov had won ...

He returned to the Red Skull, the Winter Soldier cuffed and unconscious, dragged in by a pair of struggling HYDRA goons who lugged his dead weight in.
"The Winter Solider, Herr Skull." he presented, stretching out an arm, tadaaa. "I'll see to it that he is restrained, debriefed and wiped."

Stephanie Rogers rose up from her spot on the couch. A comforter wrapped haphazardly around her pajama dressed body. Her hair a matted mess, bags just starting to form under her eyes. Stephanie Rogers didn’t look much like the All-American hero of yore. More accurately she looked shell shocked to the point of almost no return.

“Natasha...” Stephanie groaned irritated as Natasha made her way in. Stephanie knew she locked the door, really it didn’t surprise her Natasha went ahead and let herself in. For someone who’s expertly trained in espionage she wasn’t subtle. Still, the files she had on hand was both interesting and the last thing Stephanie wanted to see. She still couldn’t handle all the possibilities of Bucky Barnes being with Hydra, being a terrorist.

Still with the files thrust upon her Stephanie didn’t have a choice. Opening the folder up Stephanie started eying through the details of the paperwork as Natasha gave a summary. The documents were somewhat comforting. At least Bucky didn’t go without a fight. Even though that Bucky wasn’t around anymore. Now it was some husk of a human being that might as well been dead.

Taking a deep breath Stephanie tossed the comforter off of herself. Spinning the file onto her coffee table as she leaned down, grasping her head in her hands. A hush fell over the apartment as Stephanie gathered her thoughts, finally glancing over to the Black Widow she sighed.

“He’s still in there, I know it.” Stephanie told Natasha sternly but with a confidence that masked a very faint doubt. She wanted to believe what she said, she knew Bucky and what she knew told her it wasn’t as easy as Natasha believed. Letting out one more breath Stephanie started to get back up. “I guess SHIELD has something more if they brought you all the way over here...” Stephanie asked.

“We have what we believe to be Hydra’s next attack plans.” Natasha told Stephanie. “We have a debriefing ready to go when you’re ready.”

Stephanie nodded, “Alright, let me just...” sniffing the air Stephanie quietly sniffed her underarm. Almost gagging on the smell her nostrils picked up. “Okay shower first. Just have SHIELD send a ship to a pick up point. I’ll meet them there.”

Restrained, debriefed and wiped ... Bucky was stripped away, but not after receiving an adequate punishment. Beating, humiliation ... He didn't see the point in it really. Not as it happened, as he was conscious and sort of knew who he was. He knew what was coming next. They'd put him in that chair, say the words and all the beating and humiliation and memories would be yanked out of him. They saved that torture for last and it was the worst one of all.

He could take the physical punishments, he could even handle getting spat on by the useless little lackeys with a defiant, stubborn set of his chin. Defiance. He'd defied HYDRA and vanished and now, as he took his punishment, restrained there, he defied them again. He resisted even though he knew it was in vain, in the hope that maybe someday ... it would end.

It didn't.

Karpov dismissed the men, even his personal bodyguards who were reluctant to leave but obeyed regardless.
"You remember her." he said, a smug grin on his face.
"You'll be the one who kills her. It won't just be a distant shot. No. After this stunt of yours, I won't give you the pleasure of making it easy. You'll choke the life out of her. Look into her eyes till she recognises you." Karpov leered. He was just trying to rile Bucky, the Winter Soldier wouldn't remember this, he'd be wiped clean, compliant, ruthless- ... But Bucky knew that someday he'd break free again, however briefly, and he'd remember all of this. Eventually ... And by then it would be too late ... If he succeeded in killing Cap ... It was the worst torture Karpov could conjure, because he knew that even if Bucky forgot, someday, the fragments would bubble up again and he'd remember this,he'd remember choking Steph to death and all his other sins. Once he remembered himself- The anguish would be immense.

For someome as impatient as Karpov .. the bastard could be surprisingly patient when it came to inflicting pain on the Soldier.
"I won't give you the pleasure of a clean kill Soldier."
Bucky looked defiantly at Karpov and finally broke his stoic, stubborn silence.
"I don't know pleasure." he hissed.
How could Karpov call a distant kill a pleasure when Bucky didn't know pleasure to begin with. He hadn't known pleasure since he fell from that train and he felt he never would again.
Karpov's face twisted, a horrifying smile peeled through, [b]"[i]This[/is] is pleasure Soldier."[/b] he splayed his arms wide, "In a few moments, you won't remember a thing, all the lives you've taken that you regret. I'll take that all away. I'll fix it for you."
He laughed, a gut-churning laugh.

Yeah Bucky thought, You'll fix me ... back into a ruthless killer again, only giving me more things to regret ... and Steph-
God he had to find a way to warn her, to help her. He only knew despair.
"Longing..."

Nine words later ... he was ready to comply. The pain of knowing he'd be the one to kill Stephanie, wherever, whenever and however Karpov wished, vanished. His memories of her, the tiniest fragments he'd unearthed ... Gone. He'd had so little and it was snatched away again so damn easily.

"Herr Skull. It is done. Shall we proceed with your plan?" Karpov asked. The Asset was prepped and ready.

Red Skull still gave Karpov a look that made it clear, even succeeding, he was getting tired of the man’s attitude and hasn’t completely forgiven the incompetent screw up only a week prior. Still he gave Karpov a dismissive wave of the hand, which might have looked more insulting had he not spoken. “Go ahead and make sure you and the men are prepared thoroughly for this. I will be joining you on this assignment and I wish not to have to soil my hands of too much dirty work. The mansion is very secure, and the only thing I want leaving it is us, and the deathly howls of those filthy mutants inside.”

Stephanie Rogers tried to clean up as best she could, but even after a shower and even applying make up. Which was a rare feat to get her to do since she hated the feel of it on her. She still didn’t look or feel 100 percent. Still duty called, and she got suited up for the first time in a week. It was uncomfortable though, the suit hadn’t been cleaned any, it still had the smell of that warehouse on it. Which didn’t help her psyche as she arrived on the helicarrier and had too many thought swirling in her head to make sense of the reports.

An inside informant had gathered HYDRA’s next attack would be the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters outside of New York City. It was sick, deranged, and frankly par for the course as far as Red Skull was concerned. Still even given the severity of what was being explained by Maria Hill. Stephanie just didn’t have it in her to focus. Thoughtlessly twirling a pen in her fingers as she glanced on unblinking to the 3D imagery of the mansion and possible entry routes HYDRA would use.