Three bullets broke through the window, I impulsively duck my head while Steve hold up his shield. The door burst open, It was Kate from next door holding a gun.
"Captain Rogers, Miss Rogers, I am Agent 13 I was sent here for your protection."
"On whose orders?" Steve demanded, Fury grabs my hair pulling his lips to my ear, he whispers two names in my ear
"Alexander Pierce and Brock Rumlow, do not trust them or anyone." Kate and Steve were still bickering
"What do you mean? What do you want me to do?" The next words where a struggle but he managed
"Stop Project Insight don't tell Steve, not yet." Fury leans his head down in exhaustion Kate was gasping at Fury, adjusting to the situation.
"Stay with Fury." Steve orders me, naturally I didn't listen. But Fury places a flash drive in my hand
"Don't trust anyone." he whispers, I nod and slip the drive in my back pocket Steve was already ahead of me smashing through walls. I saw a glint of his shield as he heaved himself over the rooftop. I was not that strong, I instead stumbled up the fire escape. The familiar wur of his shield ripped through the air, but I didn't hear the impact. At first I just saw Steve his face a mixture of awe and disgust, then I saw him. The man had an arm made of metal, with a lone red star painted on it. his face mask covered everything except for his shaggy brown hair. It was a familiar shade of brown. I didn't know why…
The shooter threw the shield back at Steve, the impact causing him to stumble backwards.
"Wait!" my eyes dilated and my adrenaline bracelet hummed, I felt the air crackle whenever I used my gift. The shooter froze in his tracks, spending several seconds trying to move in his spot, but he couldn't budge. "Who are you?" I demand, "Who ordered to to shoot that man." I point towards the direction of our apartment.
He looked at me, I could feel his stare through his mask, "не делают мне убить тебя."
He expected me to understand, but I recognized the Russian immediately.
Don't make me hurt you…
I stood in shock, never had someone refused to answer under the influence of my power. The hesitation caused connection break, just like knife ripping through cloth.
Steve started to charge at him again, but moving faster than humanly possible he was already jumping off the roof, disappearing into the night.
"What did he say?" Steve asked
"Don't make me hurt you." I said, "Why would he take out Fury but not us?"
"Your right." He said, "It makes no sense." just then the red and blue lights of an ambulance echoed up the walls of the apartment complex
"Oh, god Fury!" I scramble down the fire escape, Steve following me. I stop by our floor where Kate, or whoever the hell she is, was talking to an agent.
"Agent 13?" I ask she walks over to the window
'Yes Miss. Rogers?" She asks
"What hospital?" I noticed Fury was no longer in the room and that the ambulance was taking off.
"Scripps Memorial, it has a SHIELD wing." I nod and scamper down the rest of the fire escape. Steve was practically tailing me.
...oOo…
"What was the shooter like?" Natasha barely said anything since we got to the hospital
"He was fast, strong, had an arm made of metal." Steve said
I was barely listening to them, instead I was watching Fury, Maria had a hand resting on my shoulder.
"Clear!" one said, "That's 300 joules"
"Still nothing." The flat line of the monitor was beeping, the ringing echoing through the lab.
"Call it, time of death…"
"He spoke in Russian?" Natasha asked me
"I'm sorry what?" I focus on her again, I didn't even notice I was crying.
"The shooter, he spoke to you in Russian?" I nod
"I think he he expected me not to understand him, so he spoke in Russian but he understood what I was saying." I bite my lip, "But, what gets to me is he diverted my question. It was like my ability was less powerful on him."
"Why was Fury in your apartment?" Natasha asks Steve, he flexes his jaw like he always does when he lies, that was another thing I noticed with my gift, I could tell when someone was lying and Steve had a really easy tell.
"I don't know." He looks at me, his gaze preventing me from commenting.
"You're a bad liar Rodgers." she looks at the two of us, "Both of you." Natasha disappears
"Really?" I say, "I hardly think Nat is part of this…" I trail off, we didn't even know who was compromising SHIELD yet…was this a take over?
"I can only trust you right now." Steve said, "Annie you have to tell me what Fury said to you."
"Steve he was bleeding on the floor and he told me not to tell you, it was his last wish." Steve scoffs and licks his lips
"That man had secrets that could have prevented this, his wishes don't apply anymore." He pulls my arm and we start walking out of the hospital.
"Stop." I say, "I need you to do something first." Brock Rumlow, the very man Fury told me not to trust was motioning for us to go to headquarters.
"Rogers, lets go!"
"In a minute." I snap
I pull him behind the vending machine, placing the drive in his palm
"What's…" I place a hand against his mouth, I point towards the sound sensor above us, I then mime him placing the flash drive into the vending machine. He nods, getting where I was going.
"Stall Rumlow." He whispers, I step into the hall, Rumlow was not amused by us.
"Let's go princess." He says, "We need to debrief."
"You know the last time I was in a hospital It was to identify a body."
"Whose body?" Rumlow asked clearly annoyed
"My best friend, James Barnes."
Rumlow seemed interested now, he buried his brows in confusion.
"James Buchanan Barnes?" He asked, "The Howling Commando?"
"Yes, god rest his soul." A look of disbelief rests on his face.
"I thought they never recovered his body?"
"That's what they told the SSR." I say, "But we did find him, he is in New York where he should have always been. I guess you can understand why this would be an emotional place for me and Steve."
"But, why would you lie to the SSR?" he said
"Mrs. Barnes was a catholic, she would have wanted an open casket funeral and that would have been emotionally scarring...he fell from a moving train."
"But, that makes no sense." Rumlow argued, just on time Steve emerged from the vending machine standing next to me.
"Well, I don't have to explain it to you, times are different now."
Brock Rumlow looked more confused than ever, but he nodded his head. "Yeah, Yeah they are...Well take your time, but we really need to debrief you once your done...mourning."
I nod and he leaves scratching his head and talking to the STRIKE team in violent hushed wishers.
"What the hell was that?" Steve said, "That never happened and Mrs. Barnes passed from the whooping cough nearly three years before Buck enlisted."
"It was a test and Brock failed." I say, "Lets get out of here."
"What do you mean?" Steve said, "Test for what?" I pointed to the sensors again and he quickly shut his mouth. Quicker than ever I ran into the parking lot, Steve was hopping into the passenger seat.
"You want to know what Fury told me?" I say, "He gave me a list of names, and something about this thing called Project Insight."
Steve tenses at the name
"You know what that is?" I demand
"Yes, Fury showed me it, but who were the names? Why did you make up that story for Rumlow?"
"Any normal person when discussing grief would comfort first and ask questions later." I say, "Brock attacked me for information, and it was hardly relevant to our current situation which was much more important than an old war story."
"So?" asked Steve "He is kind of a jerk, it doesn't prove anything."
"But he was acting strange, almost integrating me. Rumlow hates it when I talk, he thinks I constantly control everyone." I pause, "And Fury gave me his name, told me not to trust him."
"Who else?" Steve demands
"Just one other man, Alexander Pierce." Steve coldly looks into the road, he always had that expressionless face whenever we were in danger.
I had a feeling we were about to enter a war, and it had something to do with the shooter and Alexander Pierce.
...oOo…
The boss visited him again, he was sitting on his cot, spinning a knife between his fingers.
"Mission report Solider." He demands, his voice was cool and cruel like it always was.
"Success, target killed." He mumbles
"We know that, tell us about the girl." He froze, the girl. the one with the voice. When she followed the blonde man to the roof he saw there similar features. They were siblings, but he also noticed she had blonde hair like the girl in the bar. Her eyes were blue too.
"When she sang, I couldn't kill the target immediately. But when she stopped I could attack it was…"
"Did she look like this." The boss hands him an old photo, it was of a girl smiling in a sparkling gown, He recognized her immediately.
"Yes, that was her." He confirmed
"Are you sure?" he moves his fingers revealing a caption on the photo.
THE DARLING MISS. LIBERTY
He felt hollow inside and didn't know why.
"Yes, it was her." he said again
"I am going to let you in on a secret soldier, this girl was HYDRA property until one day she was stolen from us. You and her were supposed to work as a team."
The Soldier felt his heart pound with this new information, but he refused to show it. If he knew, they would wipe him. He would lose the girl in the bar.
"Do you want me to capture her?" he asked
"No, she is with her brother and as long as she is with him we won't be able to capture them. The man you fought today is strong like you, Paired up with the girl they are nearly unstoppable the ultimate dream team... But he is weak with his emotions, his moral compass to fight for justice instead of obeying to the order like you is what we need you to tamper. In more or less words we need you to hurt her, really badly, So the target will act weak and irrationally."
He hands him the picture, standing up to leave the room.
"Keep that so you remember your new mission" He says, "When the smoke clears we need her on our side."
The Soldier rarely slept but when he felt fatigued his body shut down, his metal fingers grasping the photo. his sleep was dreamless except for the sound of male laughter.
The blue overalls hung loose around her hips as she adjusted a straw hat, he didn't see her face but her voice was younger than before.
"Stop laughing!" she giggles, "You promised." She fiddles with the sleeve of her plaid shirt.
"I'm sorry doll, you look great I swear." He realized it was him, his voice.
"Oh shut up, someone has to be the scarecrow, I am almost positive Judy Garland didn't start up as Dorothy."
She turns around, finally for the first time he gets a clear look at her face, a long thin nose, blue eyes, and pale pink lips. She had a layer of baby fat, but he knew it was her. The girl on the roof top, the girl in the photo.
"But you're not Judy Garland your Annie." he says, "And I wouldn't trade you for all the ruby shoes in the world."
He wakes up in a sweat, staring at the picture. It was the same smile, the same eyes. He knew for a fact she was the girl in the bar, also the girl on the roof top, The girl in his dream, And the girl he was ordered to hurt.
It was all her, the same girl.
And she wasn't just a girl, for the first time he knew the name of his target.
Her name was Annie, and he didn't want to hurt her. The feeling was now stronger than ever.