ooo
Berlin
CIA Facility
Aleksandra felt a little bad about flaunting her assets at Bucky, but not too much. What are the kids saying now...sorry not sorry? No wonder women wear these, she thought as she watched Romanoff getting sidelong looks as she sashayed through the hall in her own pair.
Aleks thought about Bucky again- wished she would have at least given him reassuring smile rather than being such a smug bitch, but she was still crotchety. But for good reason, she reminded herself. She wouldn't have been so salty if he would have trusted her enough to have his back in Bucharest. Yes she was out of shape and untested, but she had abilities and she could have taken out some of the German Special Forces. Hell, she hadn't even thought about it at the time but she might have tried using her 'special' scream. It may have helped them out.
Still, she was the escapee Hydra asset, broken and inconsistent especially from what she learned from her file. With that scream it required emotion- Nicodemus' death and her rage at the asshole that'd spat on his body all but confirmed it. Besides, what if it did work but she reset Bucky again? She couldn't risk fucking with his mind.
Aleksandra's own was racing as she followed the group but she tried to clear it as best she could. Sharon shot her a curious look but she nodded quickly in hopes of assuring the woman she was fine. Questions were probably going to get thrown her way and she needed to be ready.
When she entered a large area with a glass-enclosed room in the middle, she assumed they were at their destination. Steve looked her way but got intercepted by Stark before he could call her over. It seemed, however, that her first talk would be with another Avenger.
"You look out of place."
"That's funny, because I feel out of place." She replied to Romanoff- who was not pulled in by the quip, of course. Even with Aleksandra's lack of knowledge she had heard of the Black Widow. A woman like that did not get reeled in by witty one-liners.
"Why are you here." Natasha pressed.
"I'm here because of a very fortunate phone call and some generous assistance."
"Cute." Romanoff snapped. "Why did you make a call that ended up bringing you here?"
"I'm not a genie." Aleksandra said, "Rewording your request isn't going to change the outcome if it's off limits. Fortunately for you, I can give some info. It really is very simple: I'm here for someone I care about. That's all I'm really going to say right about that."
Though Natasha was clearly annoyed, she let it slid. "Fine. Just keep your nose clean."
"Well I was hoping for some blow or something. You know, clear the sinuses."
"Jesus Christ, I can't deal with a female Tony." Romanoff was gone like lightning. It felt surprisingly good to be victorious in a way. She'd scared off the Black Widow.
"Well I'll be damned."
Aleksandra moved to get close to Sharon like she was supposed to be, which incidentally was where Steve and the guy she assumed was Sam were waiting. Tony and the Captain's conversation had not gone very well she noticed, as they separated with some pretty annoyed expressions. It was bad timing but she moved closer to Steve anyway. She knew he needed to ask her some things about Bucky.
"Do I get to say hi to you before shit hits the fan again?" she said, interrupting his thoughts as he watched the man they both cared about on the monitor. She hadn't noticed before. Her soldier's eyes looked dead. "He seems resigned to this," she murmured.
"How do you know Bucky?" he asked her.
Eyes not leaving said man on the screen outside the room, Aleksandra responded. "I met him in a Hydra facility. I was an asset for them too, but not like he was- not for the same reasons."
"You were hurt like him?"
Her answer had changed completely in less than twenty-four hours and she grit her teeth. Electroshock therapy. "Yes, actually. But Bucky has had a considerably more terrible existence than I. My time was mostly long and drawn out, not pain filled. Lonely really. They used a serum on me as well, but um..."
Steve nodded and Sam was listening in with interest. "You can tell us whenever you feel comfortable."
"You're a real stellar fella, Rogers." She said with a smile and he matched it.
"Dunno about that, ma'am, but I do know Bucky cares about you." She couldn't help but smile at his words as she looked back up at the screen.
"You know, we only interacted a handful of times for about a month or so, but he really made an impact on me. We were similar. We understood one another by the end and then...we were separated. I never thought I'd see him again or that he'd remember me. This past week was the best one ever. We didn't answer to anyone and we had each other."
Sam could be heard in the back. "You guys got some time alone to connect while you were with Hydra?"
Aleksandra laughed coldly at that. "You were never alone in a Hydra facility." She turned to regard him and gave a shrug. "We got in a nice hug in if that's what you're asking. Bucky and I are kind of complicated in a traditional sense of a relationship. Hell were don't even know what bases are yet, but our loyalty and affection for each other really isn't complicated at all. He spent his time remembering my face but not my name while I thought about him every single day for almost twenty-five years. With that kind of time to think you start to feel a lot more for someone than you probably would in a normal world."
At that Steve turned. "Wait...how old are you?"
Aleksandra was done being sappy and laying out her pressure points, so she turned up her defense. Her gasp was sharp and surprised everyone in the room. "Mr. Rogers! Never ask a lady her age, sir!" She ended on a whisper.
Steve had a moment of genuine remorse and apologized, clearly not getting her sarcasm. Meanwhile Sam and Sharon both probably thought she had some kind of personality disorder. Any of their reactions were fine for her, though, as long as they stopped asking questions.
It seemed the psychiatrist had entered the room Bucky's cell was in and she frowned as she considered something. "Hey Agent Carter?"
She looked over at her, a little less at ease with her by her outburst earlier. "Yes, Ms. Romani?"
"Aleksa," she waved and rattled on, "Did they take anything from Bucky? Any jewelry?"
"No, we didn't get close enough to check for anything of that sort. Just the standard pat down until he gets moved to a high security cell."
While the woman's words were disheartening it at least made her feel better. He was still wearing the locket. "Thank you." She said and turned back to the monitor as Steve started muttering to himself about the security photo that had started all of this.
"Why would they print this publically?" he began and swapped ideas around with Sam and Sharon while Aleksandra got more and more nervous as she listened.
There! She'd spotted Bucky's eyes focus on the doctor's with interest he hadn't given before. God fucking damnit something is up, she thought nervously.
Then the power went out.
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Aleksandra didn't follow Sharon with Natasha and Tony. She'd gone after Steve and Sam when the coast was clear. Something told her that to get to Bucky she'd be better off following Steve. She wasn't wrong.
"Holy shit," she barked as she spotted the huge dent in the elevator when she got to sublevel 5.
"Aleksa?"
"Steve?" she said and popped her head in to see him climbing up. "He punted you like a soccer ball, didn't he?" Before he got up all the way she struggled a little to pull open the metal. Though she strained, she was happy to see there was now plenty of room for him to climb out of the hole after that. He looked at her strangely as he passed through.
"What?"
"I think seeing a lady do something like that is a first for me." Steve said, looking at the doors and then her. She was very small, he thought, but then again he had been small once too.
"You mean opening a door like tin foil? Pff. Easy." Her elbows wobbled in protest but she wasn't about to show how out of shape she was to him. She needed him to trust she could handle whatever Bucky dished out. And from the looks of it, that man was p to the o-ed.
Steve ran a path she probably wouldn't have taken, but near the roof they ended up seeing the tail end of Bucky running up the last few steps of stairs. That bastard was trying to escape.
"Shit!" they both barked in unison and bolted up the stairs, though she was a lot faster and threw a leg out to trip him halfway up. Aleksandra burst though the doors far ahead of the Captain and locked it from the outside. She needed the chance to get Bucky's head clear and calm him down first.
When she turned, he'd just ripped open the door to the chopper when she yelled for him. "Bucky!" He ignored her without trouble and she shook her head, already mentally asking him to forgive her for next words. "Soldat!"
That got his attention.
She clearly hadn't thought things though, was her first consideration as he came barreling towards her. Her defensive training finally kicked in and she dodged the wild arm that came down for her, replying with an elbow. Contact was made with his ear and he threw out one of his own, clocking her temple.
"Fucker!" she snarled and swiped at him, claws ripping into his right shoulder. Surprised, he took a step back and checked the blood cascading down his arm. She got him good. "You are so in the dog house tonight!" she barked, already trying to put distance between them.
Bucky reached for her quickly but she danced out of reach and threw a kick, cracking him in the ribs. She only connected because she was faster, but it was an advantage that might save her ass.
Loud banging on the door distracted her and Bucky took advantage. He caught her forearm first and then his metal arm dragged her over by gripping her neck. "Wait, Bucky!" she pleaded as she grabbed at him. He clearly didn't hear or care as he slammed his head into hers.
Dazed, Aleksandra felt herself getting tossed back onto the cement. She wondered if his stupid head was metal too because it sure as hell felt like it. It took her a minute to get her bearings before she could stand and when she did, everything was going to hell.
The chopper was in the air now but Steve was struggling to pull the damn thing back down, clutching onto the metal like a man possessed. She leapt into action and didn't hesitate to help him pull. The thing bowed down with their combined strength for a moment and she caught Steve's eye. Holy shit they might have him.
Suddenly the controls whirred and the chopper hurtled itself into the side of the landing pad.
They both struggled to dodge the wreckage, taking extreme care of the carbon blades of the propeller. When the down machine swung about, Steve missed the tail but she'd forgotten about it.
In an instant the shredded blades had slashed into her torso, lodging there, before dragging her around on its last trip. Miraculously the tail pulled her ragged body to the edge of the fence but detached from her flesh at the last second. From where she remained dangling over the side, Aleksandra could see the battered thing fall into the river below. She also saw a lot of blood rolling down her arm.
Steve could be heard shouting, but the last thing she remembered before she blacked out was the rest of the helicopter falling into the water, where Bucky's metal arm could be seen holding onto his friend's neck.
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Had to leave it there. Drop me a line if you're enjoying this so far! Thank you once again for all the favs and follows, as well as the reviews!
Ele- as usual you're the most amazing and supportive person ever! I just adore you ~
Lara Barnes- Thank you so much! I'm very glad the chemistry is there! I wanted their story to be believable.
idontsleep- thank you for your review! I will be exploring her creation story a little I think, to kind of give Bucky something to consider. Maybe like the fact that she's not easy to break :)
Next chapter we'll get closer to the end with Bucky finding out what he did while rendered a mindless, vengeful soldier on Zemo's orders.