CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – Lost & Found
Night claimed the sky as I parked the rental vehicle a block away from my intended target. Sounds of traffic hummed in the background, and the streetlamp in the distance created the odd appearance of a spotlight. Something about the tainted light drew up the hairs on the back of my neck as I grabbed my Glock from the bag in the passenger seat. Nerves always hit me at the beginning of a mission, the taste of adrenaline pushing me off the cliff of unknown – no matter the preparation, there was always a chance of a good plan being derailed.
Determined in my movements, I shoved a Glock in the back of my pants as I climbed out of the vehicle and headed off.
Unexpectedly, the landscaped grounds were oddly empty of security. I'd expected a handful of agents to be roaming the perimeter, yet as I made my way up to the modern house owned by Alexander Pierce, I remained undetected. I jimmied a bathroom window open just managing to squeeze myself through the opening and into a bathtub. Glock drawn I quietly left the bathroom, where two voices floating down the window lined corridor sounded hospitable, but kept me positioned in the protective shadow of a door.
The plan was simple, confront Pierce and get the bastard to tell me everything he knew about the Winter Soldier. My mind struggled to believe his questioning about the Winter Soldier and Fury being shot by a man with a metal arm was just a coincidence.
A gunshot snapped me to attention. Years spent in the field jolted my body into action. Following the corridor, I entered a vast living space where a grand piano was to my right and a woman bled out on the floor a meter ahead of me. Glock raised; Pierce rose from the dining table.
"Agent Renard, this is a surprise."
"Put your weapon down," I ordered calmly. "We need to have an uncomfortable conversation."
He faintly smiled setting his gun on the table. "I revealed too much, didn't I?"
"Yes. You could've only heard about what Boris did to me from one of three people who were there, and I killed all but one of them."
"Doctor Zola was an asset," he replied simply, gaze glancing over me.
A punch to the kidney abruptly halted my actions. Pain shot up my body, as the Glock slipped from my grasp. A sharp hiss escaped my lips as I spun round coming face to face with the man who twisted my dreams into nightmares.
"Bucky –"
I blocked his fist flying towards me, countering with an open-handed slap to the face and brisk kick to the midsection. He huffed, hate blazing in his narrowing eyes as his advanced skills kicked in. An aggressive punch to the nose stunned me. I could only make out a blur of black through my watery gaze. He hooked his leg around mine and slammed me to the floor.
"Agent Renard, you're becoming a painful thorn in my side." Pierce stood behind Bucky, staring down. "I assume you think you're doing this out of loyalty to Nick?"
"He was a good man."
Bucky's metal hand pressed to my chest kept me pinned to the floor, air slowly departing my lungs beneath his crushing power.
"You should know, he always considered you his best, not that he'd admit it. He'd probably even let it slide that you knew the identity of the asset, and let him go, twice."
My gaze shifted between Pierce and Bucky; whose concentration was absorbed in keeping me restrained. "You know more than you should."
"Shame you didn't figure that out before now." His mocking smile sent a tremor of fear through me. "I'll take her with me."
Bucky clutched a handful of my t-shirt, effortlessly hauling me to my feet. Cold metal fingers clamped around my arm, squeezing flesh as we followed Pierce from the house to a waiting black SUV.
-x-
Entering the bank, an uneasy feeling overcame over me, an unmistakable chill I hadn't experienced in many years. Two S.T.R.I.K.E soldiers roughly held me, having watched over me all day in the bowels of the bank, they now stalked Pierce's traitorous footsteps.
Faith and duty blinded me to the reality of HYDRA's influence slipping through the cracks, infecting S.H.I.E.L.D right under my nose. I should've known it wasn't over when Schmidt died. I should've seen the signs long before the truth erupted, destroying everything I held dear.
Given the chance I could've easily disarmed the soldiers and broke Pierce's neck. The rage bubbling beneath the surface would've spurred me on, but I refrained, thinking of my training. A very specific plan operated within the group, and I needed to bide my time, wait for a mistake to take advantage of. So, I played the captive, trying not to let my thoughts dwell on what Bucky's order might've been – what bodies would show up in the news cycle.
I never expected to be confronted by the sight suddenly before me. It took every ounce of self-control to swallow the bile building in my throat.
"Bucky!" My heartfelt cry echoed around the room, the soldiers' boots sliding across the floor when I stepped forward, only to freeze when a handful of weapons aggressively turned on Bucky.
The man they knew as the asset sat shirtless in a chair connected to numerous machines monitoring his vitals. I recognized it as a cutting-edge model of the electronic device HYDRA used to wipe my memory during the war. In that horrid moment of seeing the love of my life, my heart broke to comprehend what he'd probably been forced to endure all these years.
"Mission report," Pierce ordered, receiving no reply from Bucky. "Mission report, now."
A violent slap drew Bucky's puzzled expression back to the present.
"The man on the bridge…who was he?" He questioned quietly.
"You met him earlier this week on another assignment."
"I knew him."
My heart thumped like a raging thunderstorm. The Bucky Barnes I knew emerged through HYDRA's longstanding conditioning, recalling someone familiar. Whoever it was, gave me hope Bucky could come back to me.
"Your work has been as gift to mankind. You shaped this century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push, but if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves."
"But I knew him." Bucky whispered forlornly.
Pierce turned to the scientists. "Prep him."
"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long," they explained, keep a cautious distance between themselves and Bucky.
"Then wipe him and start over."
"NO!" I threw the soldiers off me, ramming the heel of my hand up into the nose of one, and punched the other in the throat. "Bucky!"
His confused stare lifted to meet mine as I dropped to my knees before him.
"It's Genevieve…Gin Renard," I grabbed his face, thumbs brushing over his defeated features. "We always find our way back to each other, remember? No matter what you always find me, Bucky."
"You're making a fool of yourself, Renard."
Torn away from Bucky, the anger radiated off me, my fingers trembling as they curled into hard fists. Pierce shook his head, standing before me.
"You make a move for him again, and you'll be strapped into that chair next. HYDRA is still inside of you, deep down you've always known they never truly left you. One false move and I promise you'll never recognize the face of your son again."
"Where is Michael?"
"At the Triskelion, awaiting my orders."
Tearfully Bucky's tormented face haunted me, his brow furrowing as he stared back at me. He'd been used, deceived and hurt, crossing time and delivering death as HYDRA's personal Reaper. As much as I wanted to save him, I couldn't risk losing my son. Uncurling my fingers, S.T.R.I.K.E agent Rollins trained his weapon on me.
"Give me a reason, Renard."
I relaxed in the grasp of my captors, yet my head remained stubbornly held high.
Bucky fell back into the chair as doctors began prepping him, taking the mouth guard as he must've done a hundred times over the years. I fought every instinct to look away, an unholy shiver rolling down my spine as the robotic panels aligned against Bucky's head. A switch flicked and several shuddering volts slammed into him. His entire body contracted, straining against the restraints as painful screams laced with the electric agony bounced off the walls.
The sight disturbed most of the staff who possessed a conscience, but Pierce merely turned on his heel walking away. With a sharp push to my lower back, Rumlow forced me to follow Pierce, Bucky's cries haunting my every step.
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