A/N: Hi everyone! I can not tell you how excited I am for this upcoming chapter, because things are really starting to set in motion! Also, we get into a little more depth with my OC that people really seem to like: Parker Perry! Please let me know how you feel about him in this story!
Thanks again to all the lovely, kind reviewers who have so graciously told me not to sweat some of the slower chapters. I live on your support, this would not be happening without you! Thanks for taking the time to review my story each new chapter!
Musical Inspiration:
Fire and Fury by Skillet
Decode by Paramore
Learn to Breathe by Thousand Foot Krutch
Chapter 7
We're All Mad Here
Bucky stood on the outside of the Angel's cage, watching her huddle in the corner. His hands clasped behind his back as he thought about the woman. It'd been a few hours since he'd last gone inside the cell. He'd gone upstairs for a bit to the top loft where there was a lounge area, but he found himself unable to settle down. So, he wandered back into the basement alone to see the assassin again.
She muttered to herself, rocking back and forth again on her feet. Bucky crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, apprehensive of his next close encounter with her.
"Are you okay?" a voice came from behind him.
Bucky turned around and saw Steve limping towards him.
"Steve, you're walking already!" Bucky exclaimed as Steve ambled to his side.
"Regenerative cells, remember," Steve chuckled, looking into the prison cell and whispered, "So that's her..."
Bucky nodded and muttered, "I was just about to talk with her again."
"I can cover you while you're in there," Steve said, leaning over to pull Bucky's handgun out of its holster.
"Actually, I think I need to be alone," Bucky replied.
Steve looked at Bucky warily, but the ex-assassin gave him a small, reassuring smile, "Trust me. You can go up to the top level and get some more rest."
Steve looked relieved, then started to leave. Before he got out of the door, he halted and called over his shoulder, "By the way, thanks."
"What for?" Bucky inquired, brow furrowing.
"For what you said in the hospital...I'm glad you think of us as best friends still...I was beginning to lose hope," Steve responded, a smirk playing on his lips.
Bucky gawked at Steve, he had no idea that the soldier heard any of what he'd said. Steve gave Bucky a mock salute, then disappeared up the stairway.
The ex-assassin snorted and turned back to the cell. He blinked when he saw Angel moved from her corner and was leaning hard into the prison bars. She settled her chin on the bar and smiled eerily at Bucky, "That was an adorable exchange. Are you two dating?"
Bucky glared at Angel, but didn't say a thing. He plucked up the key and carefully unlocked, then entered the cell.
Angel turned as he came in, but didn't move from her place against the bars. Bucky locked the door behind him and sat down again on the floor, cross-legged. The Angel gave him a strange look and she said in a drawling tone, "You know you're very vulnerable in that position."
"I think I'll be all right," Bucky answered, expressionless.
"Don't underestimate me, I can still beat your ass with both hands tied behind my back," she snarled.
Bucky laced his fingers together and looked up at Angel, not amused.
"Let's have a talk," Bucky said, patting the floor in front of him.
"I'm not getting anywhere near you, Winter Soldier," she snapped, backing away.
"You know, my name isn't Winter Soldier. And I don't think your name is really Angel of Death," Bucky responded, "You want to tell me what it is?"
"I don't have another name," she replied, averting her green eyes.
"Yes, you do. Think hard, what is your other name? You know that you aren't just the Angel of Death, just like I wasn't just the Winter Soldier. It's only a stage name."
"I told you there is NOTHING!" Angel roared, running at him again, but this time he was prepared.
He stood swiftly and grabbed her by the shoulders before she could completely throw herself into him. He looked her dead in the eye and growled, "I understand that you're angry. But listen to what I'm saying to you, I'm trying to free you from the cage! HYDRA made a weapon you, brainwashed you! Don't you want to have a mind of your own?"
"I live to serve HYDRA! There is nothing beyond that! I'm cleansing the earth of the corrupt and imperfect. I will do anything for the hand of HYDRA!" Angel yelled back at him.
"No, you don't live to serve! You think you do, but I know that feeling. It's empty, like a stomach that has grown accustomed to a lack of food! You know you want more, deep down inside! Listen, if just one thing about your life makes you suspicious, just one red flag goes up, I beg you to heed my words! Just remember your memory was erased over and over, so you can't trust your own mind-" Bucky stopped mid sentence, a loud memory taking over his mind...
I took the young woman's hand in my gloved cybernetic hand, "You've had your memory erased. You can't trust your own mind. You need to follow your gut instinct. If nothing about Jack Jefferson seems strange to you, just tell me and I won't test out the simulator. I won't ever say anything negative about him again. I trust your feelings. But if there is even one red flag going up in your mind, I beg you to let me keep investigating."
She looked up at me for a long moment and bit her lip, eyes dropping to her boots.
"I just want something to be real, and I thought that discovering my father would bring me clarity..." she whispered in a broken tone.
I felt my heart tighten. I understood her longing to know the past. I knew the horrors of having an entire part of my life stolen from me.
I gently pulled the woman into my arms and enveloped her in a tender hug. I felt her only hesitate a moment before melting into my chest, wrapping her arms around my middle. She buried her face in my flesh shoulder. I could feel her entire body quaking against my frame.
"We are real, Lacey," I murmured into to her auburn hair, placing my flesh hand gently on the small of her back, "And we can only trust one another from now on."
...Lacey.
...Lacey Turner?
Bucky reeled backwards with a loud, horrendous gasp of tribulation. This couldn't be right! This girl, the one he'd remembered so many times, faceless and distorted, was the girl who'd once attempted to save him from himself.
Flashes of memories hit Bucky in waves...
"Bucky, please don't!" She reached her hand out to me, pleading as I raised my fist to her.
Bucky grasped his head in his hands and stumbled...
I opened my eyes for the first time against the harsh light and saw the most beautiful face I'd ever seen sitting at my side.
"Sergeant James Barnes, you're all right. You're safe."
Bucky groaned against the torrent of memories spurting through his mind. Everything that he'd lost over the years in his memory bank, all the pieces were finally coming back in place...
"Holy shit!" I gawked at two kissing men on the other side of the 'fast food' restaurant.
"Bucky!" an urgent voice snapped me out of my shock as her gentle hand pulled me aside.
Bucky crashed against the cell door, unaware of Angel's horrified expression. Bucky quickly turned the lock, then secured it before running out of the basement, barreling up the stairs.
He rammed into Nick Fury on accident in passing.
"Dammit, Barnes, what's the-" he cried out but Bucky was already making his way up the next flight of stairs to the rooftop.
Agent Parker Perry stood with his mouth agape as Bucky slammed Fury into the wall, then crashed up the stairway.
"Go keep an eye on the assassin!" Fury barked at Parker, then motioned for Steve to follow Bucky upstairs.
Parker nodded and trailed down to the cellar. His wide-eyed demeanor changed drastically to an exasperated expression. He sighed as he crossed his arms, coming to a halt in front of the cage.
"What did you do?" he inquired in a superior tone, hazel eyes searing into the darkness.
Angel slowly came into view and she leaned against the bars and gave Parker a huge grin, "Oh, I didn't do a thing. He was rambling on about saving me from HYDRA. Blah, blah, blah. And then he started teetering like drunk, shrieked and ran out"
"I have a hard time believing that you didn't do anything. You're always the vicious one, Angel..." Parker told her.
Angel smirked again, "And you're too soft. I should tell your father about you running down here acting like you're concerned for the Winter Soldier."
"Of course I'm concerned for him, he's one of us," Parker answered, scowling.
"Not anymore! He doesn't think the way we do, he's gone soft. I should have no issue choosing whether to capture or kill him. There isn't a trace of HYDRA's fire left in him."
"I hardly see the employment with HYDRA as fiery..." huffed Parker, looking off to the side, "These are orders, not a passion."
"Maybe not for you, Hellfire, but for me it's my life and devotion," snarled Angel.
Parker flinched at the sound of his alias, "Don't call me that here, you don't know who could be listening."
"Aw, you like that they think your are just a human, don't you?" scoffed Angel, licking her lips.
Parker growled underneath his breath and reached through the bars to grab a hold of her shirt collar, "If you are so tough, why haven't you killed Winter Soldier yet?"
Angel hesitated, then rolled her eyes, "I'm biding my time, Perry."
"Is that so? Then what are you waiting for? Are you losing focus for some reason?"
Angel pulled away from his grip and snapped, "I don't lose my focus, that's my partner's job. And you're doing a damn good job on losing sight of why we are here. Keep on your task and I'll keep on mine."
Parker grasped the bars and spoke seriously to the assassin, "I'm here to protect you only, and I say the longer we stay here, the harder it is for me to do that. It's only a matter of time before they look twice at the records I forged and find out that I'm not a SHIELD agent. And they'll find out that this site actually does have a track record for HYDRA's business."
"Relax, cupcake, it'll all end up all right. And it's not like I need you to protect me," she responded, walking to the other side of the room.
"I'm your partner, we work best at each other's sides. You need me," Parker responded angrily.
"Keep telling yourself that," Angel answered, sliding to the sitting position on the floor.
Parker grit his teeth and turned away, taking his handgun out of its holster and aimed it at her.
"Oh, you're gonna shoot me now?" she laughed, "After all we've been through together."
"I'm guarding to make sure you don't escape, that's why I'm down here."
He heard her snort again, "You don't have to take your gun out, I'm not going to escape."
"I'm a green agent who is over-eager, remember? I suggest you stick to your character as well," Parker retorted.
"I thought I was playing up 'The Joker' act pretty well. I seem insane, don't I?"
"You're acting? I'm sorry, I didn't even realize," growled Parker.
"Oh, ouch, that hurt," responded Angel sarcastically.
Parker rolled his eyes and went silent, fearing that one of the SHIELD agents would walk down and catch them bickering like little children.
He and the Angel of Death had been partners for years. And she was the most menacing HYDRA agent he'd ever seen. She was intelligent, skilled and ruthless. But she had rude traits to match. Most agents would not work with her, so HYDRA paired her up with Parker Perry. A quiet spirit whose powers that didn't align with his personality. He was usually able to take Angel's nastiness in stride, but that didn't mean she didn't get to him sometimes.
Parker fumed in anger, then smelled the strange scent of melting plastic. He scowled and looked down at his hand to find the handle of the handgun turn to stringy putty in his feverish grip. He cursed under his breath as he peeled the gunk off his fingers, then stuffed the remainder of the weapon back in its holster.
"Temper, temper," sneered Angel, Parker detecting the evil grin in her tone.
"Shut the hell up," Parker responded, pacing about the cellar.
He honestly couldn't wait for Bucky to get back so he could deal with her instead...
A/N from Mad Hatter: Hey, I totally forgot to tell you guys what I imagined my OC to look like! I say that they are look alikes, but I'm not ripping off any actors. I'm just telling you who inspired the characters:
Lacey Turner - Emilie de Ravin. I saw her WITH DARK HAIR and I thought she looked exactly how I imaged, minus the fact that she doesn't have green eyes. I also see her having an Emma Stone-ish personality, which someone mentioned earlier.
Jillian Rue - Marion Cotillard. I imagine her to look like her character in the Dark Knight Rises (which I hated her in that...so...)
Parker Perry - Is based off of Taylor Kitsch, mostly from his look in the beginning of Battleship or in the movie The Covenant!
So, yeah, those are my OC's that were inspired by actors and actresses. Because, I mean, you can't really visualize an OC without putting a face to them!
Thanks for reading!