Hey guys! Thanks for all the follows and favs! And yes, Tannerdarko, her mom is alive. I have plans...BIG plans...muahahaha...
Anyways, here's this next chapter. Only one left after this. We're headed towards the finish line, people. I hope you guys are ready for this.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel. Duh.
Fury was holding a picture of Pierce, with a case in front of him, as he sat at the table. Natasha and Mom were sitting across from each other, on the other two sides, and Mom had a laptop in front of her. I was standing around the table, along with Steve, Sam, Maria, and Phil. Maria was standing in between Fury and Mom, leaning against the wall. Phil was standing right behind Mom.
"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize." Yeah, because he's Hydra, idiot. "He said, peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility." Mom looked pissed. I forgot she'd known Pierce, too. She must've been just as PO'd as Fury. Phil, too. "See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."
"We have to stop the launch." I declared. I felt everyone's eyes on me, but I stared right at Fury.
"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." He flipped open the case he had in front of him, revealing three blades, which looked like big computer chips. They must've been for the Helicarriers.
"Those used to control the Helicarriers?" Fury nodded. I knew Mom was smiling at me.
"Once the Helicarriers reach 3,000 feet," Mom turned the laptop in front of her around, and I pulled out my glasses, putting them on to examine the image, "they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized."
"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own, then?" As I asked this, the image zoomed in on the dome, right under the belly of the Helicarrier, pinpointing exactly where the blades would go. "And one or two won't cut it?" I looked up to meet Mom's eyes, and she shook her head.
"We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational, people are going to die. And a lot of them." Phil answered, moving forward slightly.
"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra. We have to get past them, insert these server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left-" Steve cut Fury off, and Steve was pretty furious to hear those words come out of Fury's mouth. Ba-dum, tiss.
"We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D." My eyes went wide. I almost screamed at Steve, but Mom cut me off before I could.
"He's right, Nick." Everyone turned to my mom. I frowned at her, and so did Phil, but she held out a hand, silently telling me to support her. She took my hand, rubbing my knuckles with her thumb. Phil looked a little hurt, but I knew they'd be going at it later. No doubt about it. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been compromised, you said so yourself. Hydra's been building up since S.H.I.E.L.D. was started, and now I think it's time to end it." My eyes went wide. I started to argue, but she cut me off.
"But Mom-"
"Ellie, don't interrupt." I knew Sam and Nat were fighting the urge to laugh, and so was Hill. I could see that smirk on her face out of the corner of my eye. "Hydra's been building, Nick, and neither you, nor my father has noticed. But how many had to pay the price before you did?" Mom always knew how to make people go silent. She stood, but she didn't let go of my hand. "Hydra. S.H.I.E.L.D. It all goes." Fury paused, as he stared at her. "Promise me, Nick." And then, without even a snarky comment, he nodded.
Mom smiled at him, patted his shoulder, and then dragged me out of the room with her.
She brought us outside, and sat on the dam, making me sit, too. She didn't say anything, but I knew what she wanted to hear. What she needed to hear.
I told her all about my life growing up, without her, without knowing anything about S.H.I.E.L.D. What it was like living with Dad, how I found out about everything, how I felt about Dad being a superhero. I told her about my powers, and showed her, since the tips of my fingers were starting to warm up by now. I managed a little show, and Mom was amazed when she saw that display. I told her all, except for Pepper. I didn't want her to feel like I'd replaced her, because I hadn't. After I was done, I looked at her. She'd wiped away a couple tears, and sniveled. I frowned, though, as a thought came to mind.
"How did you survive that plane crash?" She turned away from me, like she was ashamed of what she'd done. I leaned my head on her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around me, hugging me close. "You don't have to tell me. Not if you don't want to."
"Nick was behind it. Pierce, too. Even your grandad didn't know." I frowned further. "They knew the Winter Soldier was coming after me...or, at least, they knew someone was. Pierce thought I was just going to go into hiding until everything cleared up, but then things got complicated." I frowned even further. "Fury had me go after the Winter Soldier. He had me track down as many leads as I could, I've been hunting him for years."
Twelve years. My mom's been looking for Bucky Barnes, this entire time, and I didn't even know it. Hell, Gramps didn't even know it. She'd left me with my dad, so that she could stop Bucky Barnes. I'd been left to believe that she was dead, but she'd been looking for him this entire time. Steve was gonna shit.
"So he led you here? To D.C.?"
"To Fury, yes. I haven't seen him in a couple years; he brought me up to speed on everything that's been going on with you, and your dad." I nodded. But then I smiled.
"And what about Phil?" She smiled, too. I grinned at her, and laughed. She rolled her eyes.
"Phil's fine." I raised my eyebrows, trying to push her. "Did you know we'd gotten engaged before the plane crash?" My eyes went wide, and I scoffed at her.
"Mom! You two were engaged?!" She laughed, and I couldn't stop smiling. I'd missed this. I'd really missed this.
I heard a certain someone clear his throat, and looked up to see Steve approaching. I glanced behind him, and saw Phil standing there. They must have been talking. Mom stood up, and pulled me up with her. Mom and I were now the same height. It was pretty awesome, considering how tall she'd seemed when I was a kid. Now, she felt even more like my equal. It was nice.
"Do you mind if I steal Ellie for a second?" Mom shook her head as she looked over Steve's shoulder. Her eyes locked with Phil's.
"No. She has to go talk with Phil, anyway." Mom shot me a look. I grinned again, laughing as she kissed my temple, and walked away. I waved at her as she walked away, and when she was far enough away, I looked up, and met Steve's eyes.
He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to face his friend, but Bucky wasn't Steve's friend anymore, he was a weapon. I sighed, looking at him with what he'd shown me. Not pity, like I felt sorry for him. I felt pity, because...I didn't want him to feel that way.
"Steve, whoever he used to be and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you can save." Steve's eyes grew hard, and cold. I was going to regret saying these next words, but I said them anyway. "But you can try."
He grabbed my face out of nowhere, and smashed his lips into mine. I reveled in the warmth he brought me, the safety I felt being around him for just a moment, but then I shoved him away, and shook my head at him desperately. He was hurt, I knew he was, but I couldn't do it. I didn't deserve Steve Rogers. I'd never deserve him. He deserved better, he deserved a good girl, undamaged goods, someone he could come home to. He deserved something away from all of this. He deserved someone normal, and I was as far from normal as a person could possibly get.
"You can't do that. Do it again, and I'll knock your teeth out." I walked past him toward the compound, but then he grabbed my arm, and spun me around to face him. He almost gave me whiplash, but he was confused, and terrified. He'd never done something like that before, I could tell from the way he acted. But the last time I pulled something like that, the guy I loved ended up dead. I wasn't letting that happen again.
"Then give me one good reason not to." I laughed bitterly, running a hand through my hair, and pulled my arm from his grip.
"Just one? All right." I bit my lip, fighting off tears. Goddammit. "I don't deserve you." His eyes grew sad. He looked at me like he wanted nothing more than to hold me, and to reassure me that I did, that I was a person deserving of him, but I wasn't. I never would be, and we both had to face that fact. "I'll never deserve you, not in a million years. And that's why I have to let you go." I was breaking his heart, but I was breaking my own in the process. This hurt me just as much as it hurt him. I looked down at our feet, and a tear slipped down my cheek. My voice broke when I spoke. "I can't be with you, Steve. As soon as this is over, I'm leaving. My mom wants to go back to California, and my dad needs someone to run the company there." Dad hadn't outright told me so, but I knew he wanted Pepper to be around more. She could run the company from New York, and I could get away from everyone, and go back to Cali. I could give Steve a chance to find someone else.
"Ellie-"
"You better hurry. It's almost time." I jogged into the building, avoiding him as best as I could. I somehow ran into Natasha, and she stopped me by grabbing my arm. I bit my lip, but I looked her in the eyes. She was going to ask me what was wrong, but I shook my head. "Please don't ask." She frowned at me, but she nodded.
"Suit up." I nodded back, but she grabbed me in a hug, squeezing me tight. I wrapped my arms around her briefly, and squeezed.
I was glad my mom wasn't around. If she had seen that, it would've broken her heart, because my mom should've been the one to do that. She should've known that I needed a hug right then. She should've known that something was wrong, even though I was just as good a liar as Natasha, definitely not better, but just as good. But my mom didn't know all those things. Natasha did.
Steve was wearing his old uniform, the one from the old days, when we approached HQ.
He didn't say anything, and neither did I. We kept going.
Sam and Hill pointed their guns at the techie's face. I grinned at him, waving my fingers, and Steve got up in his face.
He looked like Abed, from Community, but I didn't dare say anything. I let Steve do the talking.
"Excuse us." Abed threw his hands up, backing out of our way.
I dove straight to the computer, and Sam and Hill kept pointing their guns. I set up the PA quickly, and moved out of the way to let Steve talk. He took off his helmet, before he bent down to the mic.
"Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, this is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth." He glanced up at me, and I nodded once, firmly.
This was what Mom wanted. I wasn't going to deny her this.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are Hydra as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury, and it won't end there. If you launch those Helicarriers today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."
He backed away from the mic, and I shut off the PA. Sam approached him, smirking.
"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" I smirked. Sam didn't know this, but it was always off the top of his head. Steve never planned anything like this, he learned that from his time out of the ice. Sometimes you can't ask questions first; sometimes, you shoot first, and ask questions later.
They initiated the launch, obviously. There was no way Hydra wasn't going to let it happen. Steve, Sam and I were running across the base, trying to get to the ships.
"Hey, Cap." Sam called to him, already panting. "How do we know the good guys from the bad guys?"
"If they're shooting at you, they're bad." Sam opened up his wings, and took off. I ran with Steve, and then he grabbed me, holding me while he jumped off the bridge. He ducked, and I ducked with him, rolling for a second, and then we jumped back up to our feet. He let me go then, and blocked the bullets that were shot at us with his shield. I managed to duck behind some cargo, and knocked a goon out. I kicked him in the jaw, and spun my other leg under his feet, making him trip. I punched him in the face, then kicked him again, and he was down. I sighed, and looked up, trying to spot Sam. He was supposed to retrieve my suit from wherever it was, and bring it to me. I was hoping he didn't take too long.
I grabbed a grenade from the goon I'd KO'd, and pulled the plug, tossing it at the guys that were coming towards me. Steve got to me, but I didn't dare grin at him. Not now.
"You good?" I nodded. Steve took off, to go after a ship, and I sat there. And waited.
Gee. I sure was useful.
