No excuses today, barely got this out to you guys thanks to life lol

Hope you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or its characters

NOTE: Bold - German


Skylar's eyes shot open as she heard the lights flicker off before the familiar red beacons shot on, filling the room with an eerie red glow. Panic settled in her stomach as she glanced around at the soldiers guarding her, watching as confusion and hesitation set across their features before the one at the door began putting the override code into the door, allowing it to slowly slip open.

It was quiet, too quiet on the other side and hauntingly dark. Sitting up just a bit, she wanted to peek into anything but every time she tried, it would rebound back and attack her instead.

"Sub-level 1, do you copy?" One of the soldiers called into the walkie on his shoulder, his gun up at the ready as the 3 stood defensively in front of her glass cage.

"No answer." The soldier offered as the three glanced momentarily at each other before a quick succession of 3 gunshots went off, expertly taking down the 3 within milliseconds.

Skylar squeaked out in surprise and fear as splatters of blood shot at the glass door in front of her, the bodies of the two closest to her, sliding down the glass before falling onto the ground unmoving.

Swallowing down her dry throat, now completely vulnerable and at will for whatever was coming, she stared into the darkness beyond the doorway, waiting for whatever was stalking towards her to appear.

At first it wasn't what she had expected as an unfamiliar man in glasses came strolling in and right to the glass door with a small smile.

"Hello Ms. Stark." His accented voice sent disgust and fear down her spine as she retracted back into her seat as far as it would allow.

"I apologize for the rude entry but I wonder if you would help me with something." He added, ignoring the look on her face as he reached into his shoulder bag pulling out a small red book with a black star printed in the middle of the cover along with another silver one that had more than one star painted across the front.

Skylar's eyes shot open in realization and recognition to what the books were and shook her head, her eyes whipping up as another form entered the room.

"Bucky." She whispered terrified as said man stared at her blankly, staying a few feet behind the unfamiliar man who was now fiddling through the pages of the book.

"You could imagine my surprise when I acquired said book from an old colleague and found out that there was another, just for you." He waved the silver one around in front of her, slipping the unneeded red one back into his bag.

"And what luck would bring me straight to the person that has been named the female version of the Winter Soldier. Tell me, how was it breeding with him? I imagine he could be quite rough around the edges." The man teased sending an ice cold stab through her heart as her head slowly hung.

"You two will lead HYDRA into the future." He slowly smirked, finding the page he needed as Skylar's tear filled eyes slowly lifted to meet Bucky's.

"Please don't." She whispered desperately at the unknown man, her eyes pleading with him not to do what she knew he was about to do. Her eyes flashed from the man to Bucky who continued to stare at her blankly from the corner.

"Vergessen." (Forgotten) Zemo began as a harsh pain shot through her form as she shut her eyes tightly.

"No. Stop. Please" She begged again, shaking her head, attempting to rid the thoughts from her mind.

"Gebrannt." (Burned) Zemo continued as her head hung back, staring blankly up at the ceiling of lights above her.

"Zweiundsiebzig. Tagesanbruch. Kessel. Sechszehn. Gutartig. Heimkehr. Zwei. Güterwagen." (Seventy Two. Daybreak. Boiler. Sixteen. Benign. Homecoming. Two. Freight Car.) Skylar screamed and thrashed through the pain that each word sent through her mind. It was like someone was stabbing her brain with a rusted knife and twisting it.

The pain was unimaginable. She hadn't been called under like this since she had been rescued from HYDRA and quite frankly, this part of the process still gave her nightmares till this day. How Bucky went 70 years going through this pain was beyond her, but she was more terrified then she ever had been. Not only was Bucky gone but now, she was slowly drifting. Death and damage were already knocking on her front door as she shut her eyes, letting the pain of fighting against it, go.

And just like that, she felt the last of her free will, slip from her mind and into the darkness with her consciousness.

"Soldat?" (Soldier) Zemo asked softly, noticing the way Skylar was no longer thrashing in her seat. Slowly, Skylar lifted her head, her blank violet eyes meeting his own.

"Bereit zu erfüllen." (Ready to comply) Skylar's husky voice answered sending a bright smile across Zemo's face.

"Perfect. Soldat. Brechen sie aus." (Soldier, Break her out)


"He's not here." Steve whispered under his breath, his eyes whipping around the now empty confinement room, only seeing the broken door leading to Bucky's cage lying on the ground.

"Sky." Sam suddenly shouted in realization as both men took off running in the only direction they knew to look.

"Help." A voice whispered from inside a room just in front of them causing them to run faster towards it. The moment Steve saw who was calling for help, he marched ahead of Sam in anger. Grabbing the man by the collars of his coat, he lifted him from the ground before pinning him to the wall in front of him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Steve snapped in his face causing Zemo to smirk as he watched the two shadows moving in the darkness of the room.

"To see an empire fall." Zemo smirked just as Sam stepped into the room, Bucky was on him quickly. Sam barely dodged the swing of Bucky's metal arm as it came soaring through the air and into the cement doorway beside him. Catching the Falcon off guard, Bucky threw a punch to his stomach before grabbing his jaw, tossing him across the room, his back making contact with what was left of the glass cage sitting vacant in the middle of the room.

"Buck…." Steve turned at the sight of his friend fighting Sam, caught off guard as a smaller fist was sent in his direction, knocking him back against the wall in surprise. Opening his eyes, blinking them a few times, he watched the tips of her familiar silver hair disappear out the door.

Pushing himself to stand, he made to run after her, seeing her marching away in the distance, a command in her step before Bucky immediately began to attack him, throwing punch after punch, kick after kick, sending the two super soldiers fighting out into the hallway towards the elevator.

"Bucky, this isn't you." Steve groaned out, fighting against the strength of his metal arm currently aiming at his face. But it wasn't enough, Bucky wound his arm back up and sent it once more at the super soldier, throwing him through the metal doors of the elevator and down into the empty shaft below.

Bucky peered in blankly at the body below before feeling a hand on his shoulder. Tensing slightly as he was suddenly caught off guard, he turned to face the familiar violet eyes staring back at him.

"Kommen Sie. Wir müssen das beenden." (Come, we must finish this.) She spoke seriously as the Winter Soldier took one more look down the shaft before brushing past her towards the stairs.

Skylar watched her partner disappear through the emergency exit doors before feeling someone slide up beside her.

"Wir werden dieses Reich sehen." (We will watch this empire fall) The man spoke to her as she nodded, her head snapping over at the sound of another voice.

"Hey!" Sam shouted as he noticed the two speaking near the elevator, slowly pushing himself up before running at them.

"Gehen. Beenden, was getan werden muss." (Go. Finish what must be done.) The man pushed her ahead of him as her legs did what they were told and took off after the Winter Soldier to find him, levels below, fighting a group of guards before a man with glasses ran out, shooting something out of his hand at the Winter Soldier.

Glaring at the man, she watched him fight for his life before she took charge, her hand snapping out, a violet aura encircling him and lifting him in the air causing him to shout in surprise.

"Sk-Sky?" He spoke in surprise as he glanced over his shoulder at her just as the Winter Soldier pushed her aside, catching an attack from an unknown blonde woman who looked to be out to kill her.

"Eile. Mehr kommen." (Hurry. More are coming.) She offered her partner before turning to the man she was still holding.

"Skylar, this isn't you. Remember who you are." The man pushed as she continued to glare at him, scoffing as her eyes glowed once more.

"I know who I am." She hissed before snapping his consciousness, watching as his body fell to the ground unmoving, yet breathing.

Turning at the sound of coughing, another man was now attacking her partner as she growled, running and throwing herself on him, wrapping her thighs around his neck from behind before whipping her body back, throwing him with her as she landed on her hands and knees in front of the Soldier.

"Gehen. Ich werde mit ihm umgehen." (Go. I'll deal with him.) She commanded, noticing the slight hesitation the Soldier broadcasted before he nodded and took off, leaving her with 2 females and the dark skinned male in front of her.

"No, wait." The red head stopped the blonde one from pulling out her weapon as Skylar slowly pushed herself to stand in a defense. The blonde turned to the red head, looking at her like she was crazy before both women turned to look back at her.

"You know us Sky. You know me." The redhead pushed, taking a step forward as Skylar's eyes narrowed further, silently threatening the woman not to take another step.

"We're family. This isn't you." She added, staying where she was.

"I don't have any family." She muttered under her breath, taking a step back as her eyes flashed over to the blonde who continued to stare at her, her hand still on her holstered weapon. She wanted to kill her, she knew that much. This woman had almost been begging to shoot her since she first stepped foot in the room.

"Skylar…don't." The redhead begged, already noticing the way her eyes were flashing around the room, accessing all exits and anything of use.

"Who the hell is Skylar?" Skylar smirked, not wasting any time as her hands shot out, sending the dark-skinned man soaring through the room and through a glass wall. The redhead was next as Skylar shot a small ball of electricity at the woman who attempted to dodge it, had Skylar not have anticipated it ahead of time. She was thrown with a squeal of pain into a pair of tables that easily broke under her fall.

That's when she heard the click of guns safety coming off, her violet eyes flashing over to the blonde woman now training her hand gun on her.

"Ms. Stark. I would much rather not have to resort to lethal ways of stopping you." The blonde's voice shook, whether in fear or exhaustion, she didn't care, all her mind was telling her was that she was in immediate danger and that said danger needed to be disposed of.

"Stopping me? You think you can?" Skylar smirked, rolling her neck as her hands clenched into fists, waiting for the woman's first move.

"The captain would not appreciate me shooting his fiance, I am sure of that." The woman added as a flash of something, something familiar, fluttered through the forefront of her mind, momentarily distracting her from the person sneaking up behind her.

"Fiance?" Skylar asked slowly as the woman took in a calming breath, nodding to her question.

"You are marrying Captain America in the coming winter, from what he told me." The blonde offered as Skylar's tense body slowly eased up just as Sam took a swing at the woman with a broken chair leg. The piece of wood broke against the woman's head, sending her sprawling across the floor unconscious.

"Sorry Sky." Sam apologized, immediately wrapping the wound at the side of her head before pulling her unmoving form into his arms just as Sharon reached over to check her pulse.

"You're lucky you didn't kill her with that hit." Sharon muttered with a breath of fresh air, sheathing her gun back into her thigh holster while Sam adjusted the woman in his arms.

"It was the only way." Sam answered out of breath as Sharon looked around once before nodding.

"Go. Get out of here before back up shows up." Sharon pushed Sam as he nodded a quick thank you before running out of the building towards the groups rendezvous point.


Pain is what welcomed her when she finally had the strength to move her limbs. She took in a painful breath as her eyes fluttered behind her lashes before slowly they flickered open to the dull room she was now lying in. Squinting, even though it was anything but bright, she lifted a hand to touch where it hurt the most, feeling a makeshift bandage pressed and tied to the side of her head.

What the fuck had happened?

She groaned, shutting her eyes as another wave of pain ripped through her head, causing her to roll on her side, almost spilling the contents of her stomach all over the dirty ground, had it not been for the voice calling out to her.

"Sky! Cap! She's up!" A voice shouted somewhere behind her as she continued to cough and moan in pain before a hand on her shoulder yanked her from her thoughts, throwing her into defense mode as she grabbed the hand, making to throw whoever it was away from her before a familiar face slipped into her range of view.

"Doll." Steve's voice whispered in concern and hesitation as she let out a breath of relief, shutting her eyes as the pain lulled through her head again.

"What happened?" She whispered, holding a palm to her wound, loving the dullness the pressure gave the pain.

Steve shut his eyes in relief, pulling her into his arms as he sat beside her on the dirt covered ground, careful of her head.

"Don't worry about it. Are you alright?" Steve didn't want to bring up what had happened back there if she couldn't remember, this wasn't the time to bring up things like that.

"I hit you." Sam admitted as her eyes slowly peeled open, seeking out his own as everything that had happened in the past day, flashed through her eyes quickly.


Moments later:

"Did I kill anyone?" Skylar finally asked from where she was perched in one of the warehouse windows, peeking out at the gloomy sky. Steve and Sam had kept their distance, at her insistence, though not without a fight from her super soldier who wanted to do nothing but hold her and let her know that none of it was her fault.

"No doll, you didn't." Steve confessed, watching her shoulders drop just a bit, releasing some of the tension that had been building up with the thought that she had killed someone.

"You knocked Tony out, pretty good though." Sam added, earning him a glare from Steve and a snort from Skylar as she heard it.

"Well, one good thing came out of it." She muttered half-heartedly under her breath as she lifted a hand up to hold her head.

"And Bucky? Where is he?" She asked hesitantly as Steve and Sam glanced at each other unsure.

"He's here doll. Safe." Steve admitted, hearing the way she let out a breath of relief at that information.

"I'm gonna go check on Barnes." Sam suddenly whispered over to the super soldier, feeling as if he was intruding on a private conversation that the pair desperately needed to have. Steve glanced over at him with hesitant eyes, nodding slightly as the dark-skinned man patted his shoulder comfortably before slipping from the room.

Skylar didn't know where she was supposed to go from here. They got Bucky out of Ross's clutches but in the meantime the team found out about some info that she had honestly forgotten, info she now prayed would have stayed a secret. How was she supposed to face Steve now knowing that the man knew about her connection with his best friend? She felt like she was going to be sick, wanting to spew anything left in her stomach all over the already dirty floor.

"Doll." His voice snuck up on her as her eyes snapped over to meet his, surprised to see that he slipped closer to her without her knowledge, while soon realizing that they were alone.

"Let's get you washed up. There's a bathroom with working water still here." Steve held a hand out to her, a small smile blowing across his features though his eyes showed anything but happiness in them.

Swallowing down the guilt burning through her veins, she glanced down at his offered hand and melted at the sight of various scratches that littered his skin.

"Come on." He pushed his hand further towards her, already feeling the hesitation and blame pooling around her form.

It took some time and a lot of contemplation on her part before she finally slipped her smaller hand into his much bigger one, immediately noticing that her engagement ring was no longer on her hand.

"It's gone!" She gasped loudly, pulling her hand back, looking at her naked ring finger in horror, tears already beginning to build in her orbs.

"No, no, no, I got it. I took it before they could take it." Steve immediately kicked into gear, pulling the diamond ring from his pocket quickly slipping it onto her shaky ring finger. Skylar licked her dry lips, a few tears slipping through her lashes and down her cheeks as she stared at the diamond in relief.

"Thank god." She whispered, holding her hand to her chest, silently thanking any deity listening that it had not been lost.

"Now, let's get you washed up. Come on." Steve genuinely smiled for the first time since everything went down, feeling his heart flutter at her reaction to his lost ring.


Steve escorted her through the abandoned warehouse, staying on the same floor she had awoken in, though the bathroom was buried in a far corner at the opposite end. Steve pushed open the creaky door, carefully pulling her in as he kicked the lid on the disgusting toilet shut before guiding her to sit on it.

He stared at her for a moment longer, noticing the faraway look in her eyes as she stared down at her hands in a trance. He could only assume what she was thinking about, so much had happened in the last 24 hours, it could be anything. But deep inside, he knew she was thinking about one issue in particular, something he desperately wanted to address, though he didn't know if it would set her off or upset her more than she already was.

Shaking that thought from his mind, he turned to the towel he had snatched on the way to the warehouse, running it under the surprisingly clear water, dampening the cloth. Wringing it out a bit, he turned, kneeling in front of her, now at eye level with her.

"Doll." He addressed carefully as she blinked her eyes a bit, lifting them to meet his own concerned ones. She looked exhausted and most of all, guilty.

"Is your head alright?" He whispered, ignoring the nagging in the back of his mind, pressuring him to ask the questions on his mind.

Skylar blinked a few more times, allowing his question to simmer in the back of her mind. Was she alright? Maybe? No, she knew she wasn't alright, not by a long shot.

Shutting her eyes, swallowing down her dry throat, she forced a nod out, flat out lying to both herself and him. Steve didn't believe her, not in the least bit but ignored it and got to work, gently cleaning both dirt and blood off her face before moving down to her visible arms and hands.

Skylar watched Steve closely as he robotically cleaned her skin of any evidence from the last 24 hours all awhile the nerves festering on the tips of his lips grew more and more visible to her as the minutes ticked by. She knew he wanted to ask, knew what he wanted to ask and as the minutes continued to roll on and the silence continued to feed the tension between them, something finally snapped inside her. She couldn't take it anymore.

"I can tell you want to ask me about everything. Ask." She whispered, startling him from his work as his horrified eyes shot up to meet her own.

No, he couldn't ask her, could he?

"I don't want to ask you anything doll." Steve lied, averting his eyes quickly before she could notice the hesitation in his orbs.

"You are the worst liar in the world and you know it. Just ask me." She retorted gently, watching the way his shoulders tensed up as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"I know you want to ask about what Ross brought up. Ask me." She almost was at the point of begging, the guilt threatening to explode inside her if she didn't come forward and just confess everything.

Steve sighed, his hands dropping from their place in her own and into his lap, his head doing the same as she watched him closely.

"Why…..why didn't you tell me—tell me about Buck—about the breeding program—everything." Steve whispered desperately, his voice shaking, showcasing the hurt and pain slowly taking him.

Naturally, her heart broke just a little more at the look of pain harboring through his dark blue eyes as they lifted to look at her, waiting for her to respond as tears began to collect on the tips of her long lashes.

"I….." She opened her mouth to answer but her voice was lost in her throat, unsure how to answer his questions now that they were out in the open.

"Were…were you planning on telling me—ever?" He then asked, his voice cutting off slightly on the end as he hung his head, a sniffle reaching her ears as the tears uncontrollably slipped from her lips and down her still dirty cheeks.

"Did…..did you two go through with the tests? With all of them? Each—and every one of them?" He then asked, his voice a bit more rough due to the tears that she knew were spilling from his own eyes at the realization. But, before she could open her mouth to answer, she realized that he had mentioned tests, many tests.

"Tests? How do you know about those?" She whispered nervously as he stood, walking over to the sink, washing out the cloth.

"Agent Carter said that Ross sent a Special Ops team into the facilities we pulled you from. They found information still intact about various tests and other things involving both you and Buck." Skylar's heart soared into her throat while the anger at said woman ripped through her at light speed.

"That…" Skylar growled before Steve turned his eyes on her swiftly.

"Don't curse Agent Carter for showing us those files. If she wasn't willing on letting me into this loop, I would have never known about everything else that happened while you were with HYDRA." Steve didn't mean for it to sound accusing but it came out sounding just like that.

Skylar's eyes widened at the accusation, her heart thumping painfully in her chest as she pushed herself to stand on wobbly legs.

"You're siding with her on this then?" Skylar asked hesitantly, her anger slinking ahead.

"What do you want me to do Sky? You were obviously planning on hiding all this from me yet she was willing to show me everything." Skylar felt like someone had just ripped her heart out and repeatedly tapped danced on it.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The man she loved was siding with another woman over something she had no control of. He had to have known that she had no recollection of what happened until Ross had brought it up.

"I can't believe you." She whispered heartbroken, her hands clenching into fists at her side.

"Believe what? You hid things from me, you know more than anyone else I hate being lied to." Steve added seriously as Skylar's eyes hardened through the tears spilling.

"And you know more than anyone else what HYDRA is capable of?!" She snapped through tears, her whole body vibrating in defense and anger as Steve stepped back in surprise.

"Why the fuck would you think I would have any choice in anything they did to me?! You think I would willing just give myself to your best friend to breed the next generation of Super Soldiers?! I didn't have a fucking choice so don't you dare turn around and accuse me like all those bastards back there did! I'm….I'm not like that, you know that." Skylar broke down, she couldn't hold it in anymore as she sobbed, collapsing just as Steve's arms shot out, immediately catching her in his arms.

"God, I'm sorry doll. I'm so sorry." Steve buried his face in her neck, instantly regretting everything he had said to her. He would blame his exhaustion, nerves or stress on why his mouth had a mind of its own, but he honestly had no excuse for the terrible words he had just spewed at her.

She was right.

HYDRA never gave you a choice in what they planned.

He should have known she would have never given herself up to the Winter Soldier, especially for that purpose.

"I'm so, so sorry doll. Jesus….." Steve whispered, silently cursing himself for even thinking Skylar had anything to do with the breeding program. What was he thinking? This was HYDRA they were talking about.

"Hey Cap!" A voice shouted suddenly, startling the two who had been so lost in their own worlds. Steve kept Skylar pinned to his form, only lifting his eyes to peer out the door to see Sam waving him frantically over. He immediately knew what was happening and sighed, pressing his lips to her forehead as he pulled away, looking down at her in concern.

"He's awake. Do you want to come and see him?" Steve asked carefully, not sure if she wanted to see Bucky at all.

Skylar sniffled, feeling the cracks in her heart continue to send throbs of pain up her form. Did she want to see Bucky? Of course she did but she didn't want to tell Steve that, not after his accusations.

Averting her eyes from his, she sniffled, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hands.

"I'll just be a minute." She whispered, unable to meet his eyes no matter how much he attempted to meet hers.

Steve knew he royally fucked up, worst then fucked up, he had done exactly what he had been preaching against. He accused her of something she had no fault in. He had judged her and blamed her for what she had done in HYDRA. He did exactly what he said he would protect her from.

Shutting his eyes, silently cursing himself again, he forcefully nodded, knowing deep down that she needed some room from him for the time being. He honestly didn't know how long he would be able to keep clear of her but hell, she deserved it.

"Alright. We'll be just down the hall." He made sure to reach over and briefly hold her hand before leaning down to press a light kiss to her damp cheek.

"I love you doll. So much." He whispered, his lips brushing her skin before he pulled back from her hesitantly.

Steve took one more look at her crumbling form and forcefully slipped from the room, making his way to where Bucky was being held.

He had royally messed up.


There is my next update. Hope you all enjoyed it since I do find myself enjoying Skylar's 'other side' coming out to play. She's pretty badass :)

See you next week~