Fishing Steve out of the water was not as easy a task as James had predicted it would be, because after he had hit the water, Steve had fallen unconscious. It had been up to James to get him above the surface and drag him towards a riverbank. Afterwards, he used some of the water to clean his bullet wound, which luckily wasn't anything fatal. At least, James didn't think he'd punctured any vital organs.
As soon as it was clear that Rogers would survive, James left. He had to return to HYDRA headquarters and see if Zelda was still there, if she was—he couldn't even finish the thought.
She had to be alive. She had to be.
Within another half hour, James was sprinting inside the room where Pierce had taken them earlier that afternoon. "Zelda!" he cried out, bursting through the door.
But it was empty. The ropes that had tied her up were neatly cut, proving that one of her captors had relocated her.
Not sure where to start, James started breaking into as many doors as he could, determined to find her.
After destroying a good number of doors and failing to locate Zelda, James sighed and slumped against the wall. Where could she have possibly have gone? He didn't know, and he wasn't going to give up so easily. So he rose again and started breaking down more doors, hoping that before long, he would find her.
It only took another couple minutes until James burst into the room that must've been that scuzzy prick, Grant's, office.
A low growl rose in James's throat when he laid eyes on the man. He was leaning over a limp form of Zelda upon the ground—James rushed forward and mercilessly shoved Grant aside.
"Zelda," James murmured, but his voice was hollow. She was lying on the ground, her eyes tightly shut.
"James?" she asked weakly. "Are we dead?"
"No," he replied, brushing a strand of her hair away from her face. "No, we're alive. I'm just glad—Pierce didn't—have you killed."
That was when he realized what Grant had done to her. Her lips were puffy, as if they'd been pinched together for too long. Her neck had purple splotches on it, and her shirt was all but torn in half. More bruises descended down her collarbone and across her stomach. James had the sick feeling that those bruises weren't the normal type of bruise. The button of her jeans was torn off and missing, and Zelda's eyes were red from crying, her hair escaping its regular ponytail so that it lay frayed around her face.
Seeing the look on James's face, Zelda began to cry softly. "James—I'm sorry," she whimpered, but that was as far as he would let her talk.
"Don't worry," he whispered, kissing her forehead, careful not to touch her anywhere Grant had. "I'll take care of it."
And James rose, stared at Grant, who had his hands up as if in surrender, and shot him. Twice. Because nobody would touch her like that, or he would kill them.
James didn't know if he actually killed Grant or not, but he didn't care. A day ago, James would have hesitated just flat out murdering Grant—but now, he would do it again.
Zelda stared at James, her eyes slightly wide. "Are you… mad at me?"
"Of course not," he responded. "I wouldn't ever be mad at you for this. What did he do?"
She closed her eyes and breathed out shakily. "You don't know all of it."
James's eyes narrowed almost to slits. He thought about shooting Grant a third time, if only for good measure. He didn't know the extent to what he'd done to Zelda, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know exactly what, but whatever it had been, it had scarred her.
She shuddered, and James moved to close her shirt over her exposed stomach and chest. "What happened?" she asked. "Did you… succeed?"
"No," he replied, "though I hardly care about that now. Steve Rogers lives, and his own mission was successful. Mine was not—although, seeing you alive is more of a success than anything else I might have accomplished. I was terrified that you were…"
"Dead? I thought I was. I thought Grant would eventually kill me…"
"He won't now," chuckled James darkly. "But Zelda, I do not know what will become of HYDRA now. I don't know if Pierce is alive, since he never responded to me when I tried to ask if you were alive. What do we do?"
Zelda blinked, obviously trying to think. "We shouldn't go to Canada," she murmured. "Pierce heard those plans, so if HYDRA lives, that's the first place they will look for us…"
James nodded. "How about one of the other countries you mentioned?"
"We would need more time and planning to successfully relocate there," she replied weakly. "I know… of a place where we would have friends… Ellis—she offered to hide us, if ever we needed it. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. We could… go there for a while, to keep an eye or ear out for any remains of SHIELD or HYDRA."
Hearing this suggestion, James nodded. "That would be a good idea. I can meet your cousin as well."
Zelda smiled, though her eyelids were fluttering. "I've saved up enough money these past few years to secure payment on an apartment for a number of months. I'm sure I can find work there…"
"I'll do my best to help with that," he promised, trying to soothe her. She was about to fall asleep, and James wanted to take her back to her current apartment first so she could recuperate a little.
Before she fell asleep, Zelda mumbled something that sounded like, "I love you." Once her eyes closed, James gingerly picked her up in his arms and began walking out of HYDRA headquarters, free—both of them—for the first time in what seemed like forever.
Goodbye HYDRA, goodbye Grant, hello freedom. Writing this part made me very happy. Hopefully it makes you happy to read it. :)
One last chapter, guys... Just the conclusion! Thanks so much for following up with the story... it means a lot to me. Seriously, you lot are the best.