A/N: SO MANY AWESOME REVIEWS! You guys are the goddamn best. All of your wonderful words prompted me to get this next chapter finished tonight :)
The five prisoners were greeted the following day by footsteps once again approaching the cells. David walked out of the shadows, flanked by two guards on either side of him. He entered Lydia's cell, brandishing a glowing blue stick in one hand. He turned to glance at Natasha and Bucky.
"Now, I wouldn't do anything stupid if I were either of you."
He pointed the stick at them as he spoke, then approached Lydia. She stepped backward with every step he took toward her, until she was up against the wall behind her. Bucky seethed in anger as he watched David bring his face inches from Lydia's. He went to take a step forward, but David waggled the stick in his direction the second he heard the shuffling of Bucky's feet.
Lydia attempted to maintain a rigid posture as she narrowed her eyes and stared directly into David's. He lent her a charming smile as he spoke.
"The dingy prison look doesn't suit you well, Lydia."
He brought a hand to her cheek and she closed her eyes as she balled her hands into fists.
"Don't. Touch. Me."
David raised an eyebrow before he dropped his hand back to his side.
"You know, Lydia. I could get you out of here, if you complied with my wishes."
He winked at her, only to find himself sputtering and coughing in pain seconds later as Bucky's fist made contact with the side of his throat. Lydia turned to Bucky with wide eyes as he gave her a weak smile, and then found himself groaning on the floor in pain as David regained his composure and used the stick to send thousands of volts of electricity coursing through his body.
"Foolish idiot. You forget how weak you are with that collar on. It's impossible for you to withstand the power of this weapon now. Next time, I will aim for your head and your brain will be fried for good."
Lydia rushed to Bucky's side as David laughed and exited the cell.
Shortly after David's visit, two guards returned and removed Lydia from the cell. Bucky protested until one guard cornered him with another one of the high voltage sticks. They had a stare down until Lydia called out,
"Bucky, it's not worth it. I'm sure I'll be okay."
He stubbornly dropped his gaze from the guard and turned to punch the concrete wall behind him as they walked away.
Lydia nervously walked beside the guard that had a firm grip on her forearm. Despite her last words of confidence, she was extremely worried about where her destination would be. She was, after all, the most useless out of the group. Keeping her alive was a waste for HYDRA.
The guards stopped in front of a large black door and pulled her inside of the room behind it. The room was empty other than a folding table and two chairs. The guard that was holding her led her to one of the chairs and forced her to sit down, and then they exited the room. Not long after their departure, the door swung open once more.
"Ahhh, Miss Fortona. I have been looking forward to speaking to you in private."
Alexander Pierce rounded the table and sat down across from Lydia, folding his hands neatly in front of him as he gave her a devious smile. She bit her tongue as she fought off the urge to spit insults at him.
"I'm assuming that you're extremely curious about what it is that I want from you out of all the prisoners that are currently here, so I shall get right to the point. You see...the four prisoners down there all have special attributes that will make them perfect candidates for HYDRA agents once this next mission is completed. I especially look forward to having Barnes back on our team. Now, I'm sure that you have already come to realize that you are quite useless to us. However, I have had my eye on you since you joined S.H.I.E.L.D., and you are a very brilliant researcher. Your skills in your field are quite exceptional. That is why I would like to extend an incredible offer to you. I would like you to join HYDRA."
Lydia, who had been fighting to remain silent throughout his speech, burst out laughing.
"I hope you're joking. Are you joking? You're insane!"
Pierce raised his eyebrows and stood up, resting his hands on the edges of the table as he leaned toward Lydia.
"I am completely and entirely serious. I hope that you will take my offer into consideration, because otherwise you will rot in that cell."
Lydia's next words dripped with contempt.
"I would rot in that cell a thousand times over before I would ever make the decision to work for you bastards."
Pierce shrugged as he walked over to the door and allowed the two guards to enter the room once more.
"Well, Miss Fortona...I gave you a chance."
The guards roughly pulled her to her feet, placed handcuffs on her wrists, and led her in a different direction than the one they had originally come from. Lydia cried out,
"Where the hell are you taking me?!"
Pierce called out from behind her,
"Well, now it's time for your surprise, my dear!"
The guards roughly shoved her into yet another room, which was much smaller than the first. David stood with his back to her, looking through a large window that took up almost the entire wall that was before him. He stood there silently with his hands behind his back, not bothering to turn around as she entered.
"So I'm assuming that you turned down Pierce's offer."
Lydia spat out her response.
"Of course I did."
"Well, there's still time to change your mind."
Lydia slowly approached him to see what he was intently staring at through the window. She brought her handcuffed hands to her mouth in shock as she saw Bucky on his knees in the center of the room that was before them, blood dripping from a fresh wound on the side of his head. A door on the other side of the room slid open, and Lydia nearly passed out as she saw the figure that walked out of it. Bucky glanced up at the sound of footsteps as well, and his entire body visibly sagged as he saw the figure approaching him.
Aaron Fortona approached Bucky slowly and deliberately, his body clicking and buzzing as he walked. Lydia's eyes poured over Aaron's figure and her heart twisted in her chest because it was a horrifying sight to take in. Both of his arms appeared to be cybernetic like Bucky's, along with his left leg, and half of his face was terribly disfigured. Lydia began to feel dizzy and sick to her stomach as David moved to stand beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. He brought his lips against her ear and whispered,
"Surprise, Lydia."
She stuttered in response,
"H-h-how...?"
"When the supposedly dead bodies of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were delivered to this base to be disposed of, my team and I managed to revive your brother. He has been a wonderful lab rat over the years, as you can see. Dare I say, he is even more valuable than the Winter Soldier at this point."
She struggled to breathe as she watched Aaron mercilessly kick Bucky in the face. Bucky laid on his back as Aaron continued to attack him relentlessly. His blood spattered across the floor as countless wounds were inflicted upon his body. Lydia glanced at David, who was busy staring at the scene before them, and then glanced down at her hands. The guards had foolishly cuffed them in front of her body rather than behind her back. She took a deep breath and then kicked David as hard as she possibly could in the back of his knee. Caught off guard, he stumbled backward. She took advantage of the moment, lifted her arms up, and threw them around David's neck. She violently jerked him downward as he kicked and grunted, struggling to breathe. David ended up sprawled out on the floor as she rested her knees on his arms to pin him down. She kept the chain of the handcuffs tightly against his throat as she spoke in a calm voice.
"Tell me the code to unlock the collar."
Earlier that day, she had taken notice of a keypad at the back of Bucky's collar. David stared at her as his face began to redden and kept his mouth tightly shut. She placed more pressure on his neck and he began to wriggle and cough. She lifted her hands slightly, and he spoke in a strained voice.
"2...7...6...8...you...bitch."
Lydia narrowed her eyes and kneed him in the face. Hard. Blood began pouring from his nose and he rolled to his side as she stood up and raced for the door that was beside the window. She burst into the room that Aaron and Bucky were in, skidding to a halt directly in between the two of them. Bucky yelled at her in a hoarse and pained voice.
"LYDIA...GET OUT...NOW..!"
In that moment, Aaron froze and stared directly into Lydia's eyes. She slowly backed up until she was beside Bucky, and frantically entered the numbers on the collar. It dropped to the floor with a meaningful clink as Bucky rose to his feet. Aaron shook his head, released from his momentary stupor, and charged toward both of them. Bucky jumped in front of Lydia and took the blow. Despite Bucky's lack of mechanical muscle compared to Aaron, he still trumped him with his many years of training. Bucky pinned him against the wall as Lydia ran toward them and clamped the collar around Aaron's neck. He collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain, as the collar inhibited his strength. Lydia fought back tears as she lowered herself to her knees and crouched beside Aaron.
"Aaron..."
He looked up at her with eyes that were filled with nothing but dead and emotionless space and quickly brought his hands to her throat. Bucky swiftly sent Aaron flying backward as he punched him in the face. He scooped up Lydia before she could protest and took off running, barreling right through the door that Aaron had entered from.
Two guards that had been standing outside of the room blocked their path, but Bucky swiftly took both of them out with his now-functioning arm after placing Lydia on her feet. He scooped up the guards' guns and shot down three more guards that were approaching before they even knew what was coming at them. They began to take off at a run down the hallway, until Bucky spotted a small door. He quickly stopped and threw the door open, dragging Lydia inside with him.
They found themselves inside of a supply closet, which Bucky had been anticipating. Bucky quickly broke off the handcuffs that were restraining Lydia. She breathed out a sigh of relief as she crumpled into Bucky's arms in the darkness and mumbled into his shoulder,
"He's alive..."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as her heart ached within her chest.
"I promise I had no idea..."
"I know that. What am I supposed to do though, Bucky?"
"He's very far gone, Lydia. I was extremely lucky that I managed to take control of myself. It was the most difficult thing I have fought against in my entire life. I can't say if he will be able to do the same..."
Lydia's sobbing was muffled as she buried her face into his chest.
"It hurts...my heart...everything...I just..."
Bucky slowly pulled away from her and cupped her face in his hands. Although she couldn't see his eyes in the darkness, she still felt a quivering feeling in her chest at the thought of staring into them at such a close proximity like she had so many times before. The sensation of his hot breath caressing her face left her bottom lip quivering. He softly traced the thumb of his good hand across her lips and leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. Lydia felt her insides flutter as a sigh escaped her lips and she lifted her arms so they were resting around his neck. Bucky's hands began to tremble as he slowly placed his lips against hers, and both of their hearts pounded in unison. They both stood absolutely still as their slightly parted lips rested against one another, letting loose miniscule shaky breaths that were passed between their mouths. Bucky's lips remained against hers as he spoke into the kiss,
"I promise I'm going to get you out of here."
They stood there in silence for a few more moments as Bucky let his fingers brush across the nape of her neck, causing Lydia to shiver. He pulled away from her slightly, but lowered his good hand and intertwined his fingers with hers.
"I have a plan. If my memory serves me right, then we'll be escaping in no time."
Before Lydia could ask him what he meant, Bucky quickly crouched down to the floor and began to blindly run his hands against the walls.
"Yes!"
"What is it?!"
Bucky looked up in Lydia's direction and grinned, although she couldn't see it.
"Despite the brainwashing, I managed to remember a very important thing about all of the HYDRA bases that I frequented in my darker days. They're big fans of hidden escape routes."
Lydia crouched down beside Bucky and felt around in the darkness until her hand was beside his and she realized he was holding on to a handle. She moved backward so he could pull the handle, and the small door creaked open. She peered inside to find a crawl space that was dimly lit by lights embedded into the walls.
"I know it's not ideal...but this could be our ticket out of here. I'll go first, stay close behind me."
Bucky crawled into the passageway and Lydia closed the small door behind her as she entered. Every so often as they crawled, the tunnel would split and reveal multiple paths that they could take. Bucky went with his gut each time, choosing a path quickly before he could let hesitation get the best of him. They eventually arrived at a dead end, and heard muffled voices on the other side of the door that was in front of them. Bucky muttered,
"Son of a bitch...how convenient..."
Bucky pushed open the door and they found themselves in a closet. They peered through the slits in the wooden closet door to see David frantically pacing around in front of none other than Azarov's desk. Azarov sat at his desk with his hands folded in front of him. Bucky silently pushed one of the guns that he had swiped from the guards into Lydia's trembling hands. He looked down at her and she nodded to him, and then he kicked the door open. David and Azarov both looked up in surprise. Before either of them could react, Bucky charged at Azarov and tackled him to the floor. Lydia, meanwhile, went running toward David, who was busy watching the scene on the floor before him. She pushed him up against a wall and held the gun against his throat.
"Give me a reason not to do this, David."
He looked right into her eyes and laughed at her mockingly.
"You won't pull the trigger, Lydia. You're a coward. You could never kill someone."
Lydia bit her lip in frustration as she found her finger was frozen against the trigger. She raised the gun in the air, prepared to attempt to knock David out with the butt of the gun, but David went flying from her grip and crashed into a nearby bookcase. She turned to Bucky, who cracked his knuckles and shrugged.
"You're not worthy of weighing on her conscience, anyway, shithead."
He walked over and roughly kicked David in the ribs before turning back around and throwing open all of the drawers of Azarov's desk. He found another gun and a handful of circular objects, which he recognized as smoke bombs, and he quickly pocketed them. Bucky began to head for the exit, but Lydia cried out,
"Wait!"
She hurriedly approached a shelf and picked up an object that could have easily been missed because it was lying flat. A grin spread across her face as she held up Steve's shield to show Bucky. Equipped with their newly acquired accessories, they hurriedly exited the room and spotted a hoard of guards headed their way from one end of the hall. Bucky tossed a smoke bomb in their direction and quickly grabbed onto Lydia's hand as they took off running the other way. Bucky took as many twists and turns as he could, pausing momentarily to toss a smoke bomb down another passage that guards could be seen running down. Lydia spoke through labored breaths as they continued to run,
"We need...to get...to the cells.."
Bucky turned to her and nodded and spoke with a bit more ease, as his body was nowhere near tired yet.
"I've been looking for the stairwell or something to get there..."
Coincidentally, they found themselves skidding to a halt in front of a door, which was also a dead end. 'Basement Cells' was written on a small plaque on the door. Bucky wrenched it open, breaking the lock with ease, and quickly knocked out two guards that were waiting for them behind the door. They hurried down the steps and ran down the dim and musty path until they found the cells that Steve, Natasha, and Clint were in. Bucky ripped open the doors to the cells and freed them, meanwhile Lydia handed Steve his shield and released the collar from around his neck with the same code that Bucky's had required.
Few words were exchanged between the group as they tore down the hall and back up the steps to the upper level. The HYDRA guards that began to spill out of rooms to block their path didn't stand a chance. Bucky and Steve sent most of them flying, while Clint and Natasha handled the ones that slipped past. Lydia ran in the middle of the pack with a tight grip on the gun in her hands. The eventually burst through a large set of double doors and found Pierce sitting at the head of a large table that was in the center of the room. Before any of them could say a word, Lydia uncharacteristically stormed up to Pierce first. Without hesitation, she shoved the gun into his mouth. Her heart was pounding so fast that she swore it was going to leap out of her chest. Pierce put both of his hands in the air and Lydia slowly pulled the gun out of his mouth and prayed for her hands to refrain from shaking. He spoke as soon as his mouth was free.
"Thanks to your misbehavior, I'll be releasing those ships much sooner now."
He gestured to a control board that was behind him, with a screen above it scanning the Earth and listing targets at a staggering speed. At that moment, two guards entered the room with Aaron in between them. The collar was no longer around his neck. Lydia had turned to see Aaron entering, which gave Pierce the opportunity to swipe her gun from her hands and hold it against her throat. She yelped in surprise as the cool metal pressed against her neck.
Bucky nearly crushed the gun that was in his hands and went to take a step forward, but Steve's arm shot out and held him back. He sharply spoke to him.
"You're not fast enough. Don't."
A wicked smile crept across Pierce's face as he addressed Aaron.
"Soldier Fortona, please take care of these four."
Aaron stood still and glanced in Bucky's direction for a split second. He took a deep breath and took a step toward Pierce, instead. Before Pierce could even speak, Aaron firmly grabbed on to the arm that Pierce was holding the gun with and pulled it outward, releasing Lydia. He continued to pull and a sickening crunch confirmed that Pierce's arm was broken. The older man moaned in pain as Aaron pinned him to the ground. He called out to Lydia and the rest in a strangled voice.
"Get out of here...NOW!"
Bucky quickly grabbed Lydia's hand before she could protest and they all took off running. To Bucky's dismay, he still had not figured out how to navigate the hallways because they generally all looked the same. After a few minutes of running and taking down all opposing members of HYDRA that attempted to stop them, Aaron came bursting out of a door in front of them. They all froze as he stood there, panting slightly with a pained look on his face. Bucky took in the sight before him with a heavy heart, because he truly understood how badly Aaron was struggling to remain in control of himself. Lydia took a step forward and Bucky held on to her hand for a moment longer before releasing it.
Aaron and Lydia stared at each other for a few moments before they each took another step forward and he embraced her. Lydia's body shook as tears and emotions overwhelmed her. She choked out words between her sobs.
"I missed...you...so much."
Aaron replied to her softly,
"I missed you too, sis..."
Lydia pulled back slightly and looked up at him.
"Come with us, please."
Aaron gave her a sad smile.
"You know there's nothing in the world I want more than that...but I can't. There are transmitters embedded inside of me that will explode and kill me if I leave this place."
Lydia's vision became blurry as the tears overwhelmed her.
"But I'm sure we can find a way around that!"
Aaron sadly shook his head.
"There isn't enough time. Plus, the only way to end this for good is if someone initiates the self-destruction switch. I'm going to do that for you, because you won't make it to the submarine in time if any of you do it."
Lydia shook her head and held on to her brother for dear life.
"You can't leave me again. Please. Don't."
Aaron hugged her tightly before he pulled back once more and looked into his sister's pleading eyes.
"I love you, Lydia. I spent years with my mind locked away, without any knowledge of who the hell I am. Seeing your face woke me back up and I could finally remember everything. Please just be happy, because you're freeing me from this pain and you have no idea how happy it makes me to see you one last time."
Lydia's heart ached as she despondently replied,
"I love you too, Aaron. Always."
Aaron squeezed her hand as he took a step backward and looked at Bucky.
"Take care of her."
Bucky nodded as he approached Lydia and placed his hand on her lower back. Aaron quickly gave them directions to where the submarine was located before he turned to leave. Steve led the way as they took off in the direction that Aaron had indicated, but Lydia remained rooted to the floor. Her eyes were full of grief. Bucky grabbed her hand and squeezed it and softly said,
"It's time to go, Lydia."
She frowned.
"I know..."
They took off running behind the other three, quickly catching up to them. The group entered a large room that had an extremely large dip in the floor. The submarine rested in the dip, awaiting deployment. They scrambled inside of it and Clint quickly figured out the controls. One large button caused a dome to rise from the floor and close around the submarine, essentially created an airtight seal. The floor beneath the submarine then opened up to reveal the vast water beneath them. They began to gradually pick up speed and put considerable distance between them and the base. Within a few minutes, they heard rumbling noises as the base behind them began to explode. The force of the explosion pushed the submarine forward even faster, and small bits of debris began to float by.
Lydia turned to look at Bucky, who stood with his arms crossed as he stared straight ahead at the water that was before them. He glanced down at her miserable face and his gaze softened. She bit her lip and took a step toward him, and he opened up his arms as he enveloped her in a tight embrace.