25 – Following the Ghost – April 13, 2014

Aspen hadn't expecting running for her life to be part of her day, but right now it seemed like a good idea. The metal walkway beneath her feet jolted so hard that she found herself sprawled on her hands and knees. She got to her feet, shoes slipping on the metal in her haste. Something hard and heavy as a bulldozer hit her squarely in the side, and she felt herself falling sideways straight off of the metal walkway. She reached out to grab something, anything, but her hands grasped thin air. Finally she grasped metal and held on tightly. Her body jerked, her arm jolting painfully as she hung from one arm. She grasped the bar with her other hand, wincing at the pain that laced through her ribcage. She was a few feet from the ground and swung down, her feet crunching on broken glass. She saw something leap down from above, landing hard ahead of her. She backed away, but he kept coming. Her back hit something – one of the empty stasis tubes. She looked around for a weapon, anything, but he was already upon her. She shut her eyes and waited for the killing blow.

Two Days Before

Aspen fiddled nervously with her seatbelt as the plane began to move. Steve was looking out the window next to her, his brow furrowed, blue eyes intent as they watched the runway blur beneath them. Sam sat on Aspen's other side. In the last few days, Aspen had gotten to know Sam better. He was loyal and a good friend, and she would be forever indebted to him for helping Steve take down the Project Insight Helicarriers. He hadn't hesitated before telling Steve that he was coming with him on his quest to find Bucky. Aspen soon realized he was one of the few people who really understood what it was to have a friendship like Steve and Bucky. Other people…not so much. Bucky's identity had been so far kept between a small group of people, but the Winter Soldier was very much infamous especially since the SHIELD/Hydra showdown.

They'd tried to find Bucky in the city, tried to reach out, but they'd come up with nothing. Natasha's contacts in Kiev had come through and found a file on Bucky. It seemed like finding out just what had happened to him since 1945 was the best way to find him and they had nothing else to go on. He'd vanished like a ghost after saving Steve's life.

The plane took off from the ground, and Aspen's hand tightened on the armrest beside her. Steve was still focused out the window, his thoughts miles away. Sam pulled out a copy of Sky Mall and contented himself with flipping through the pages. Aspen thought back to an hour before when Clint had dropped them off at the airport. He said he was going on a long vacation and agreed to take Phoenix with him. He didn't give Aspen specifics as to where he was going, he'd just said 'home.' Natasha was gone, off to come up with a new cover, though Aspen wasn't sure why she couldn't just be herself. Fury had gone to Europe to help eliminate the remainder of Hydra and Maria Hill was working for Stark Industries last Aspen had heard. To her surprise, Lucy had also applied for a job there and been hired as an apprentice to Doctor Cho. She even got to travel to Korea when the need called for it. Noah had been asked to work security at the Tower, and Lucy had sent Aspen an excited text telling her that she and Noah were dating now. Some loose ends had been tied up, but not for Aspen or Steve. Not yet.

Everything felt different now that SHIELD was gone, and she and Steve had been set loose to follow their own path. At first it had seemed strange not having directions to follow or someone to answer to, but Aspen realized she would follow Steve anywhere. He was a natural leader, and she could look to him for direction. She also knew that he hadn't quite been the same ever since learning that Bucky was still alive. She didn't blame him, but she also couldn't read his emotions half of the time anymore. She knew he was struggling to grasp this reality and that he felt guilty for not having found Bucky all those years before instead of Zola. It wasn't his fault though, but he wouldn't listen when she tried to tell him this. He'd been distant and stopped sharing things as much as he usually did. She knew part of it was that he was so used to shoving his own personal feelings down so deep that he didn't know how to express them. He needed to first learn that it was okay to express them. Captain America or not, he had a right to feel and grieve. He didn't seem inclined to talk now though, so Aspen rested her head against the back of her seat, folding her hands in her lap, and tried to fall asleep.

It was a long flight to Moscow, and when they arrived, all three of them were eager to stretch their feet. Aspen gawked at the city – the towering, colorful domes, the crowds of people, the busy streets. They rented a car, and Steve drove them through the city to the hotel where they'd made reservations using the car's GPS to guide him. He hadn't said a word since they'd gotten on the airplane in DC, and Aspen was getting worried. She glanced back at Sam who rolled his eyes to Steve and shrugged. Now she knew what Steve felt like when he'd been so helpless to do anything after she'd been injected with her parent's serum. She had no idea how to help him. Empty words were pointless, and she couldn't just magically make Bucky appear. Hopefully tracing the origin of the Winter Soldier would lend them some clues.

Aspen turned her attention to the window and took in the scenery greedily, trying to ignore the tenseness in the air.

They checked into their hotel room, and Aspen fell onto the bed looking exhausted. Steve couldn't even think about sitting down. He'd memorized every file that Natasha had obtained for him on Bucky, and now his mind was replaying them over and over. Tomorrow they would go to the facility where the Winter Soldier was first created and then stored in stasis. It was on the outskirts of Moscow, hidden away and abandoned years before. It hadn't been in use since the 70s, but Steve was hoping there would be something left that would help him understand why Zola had turned Bucky into the Winter Soldier and why the Soviets were interested in turning him into an assassin. He knew Aspen was worried about him. He'd caught her and Sam glancing at him all day and for the last few days after they'd both told him they were coming wherever he went. He couldn't express his gratitude enough. He knew Aspen would come, but Sam had proved to be a loyal friend despite having fought Bucky during the recent battle. Neither judged Bucky for what he'd done as the Winter Soldier. They understood what he meant to Steve and didn't question his determination to find him.

He hadn't even realized he was staring out the window until he felt Aspen's arms around his torso. She leaned her head against his back, and he tried to relax. Her touch was so familiar, that he felt some of the tenseness in his muscles loosen. "I'm sorry if I've been distant lately," he told her. She shifted, placing herself between him and the window so she could look at him. She looked tired and stressed, and he knew she was worried about him.

"Don't apologize," she said. She looked as if she wanted to pull him closer, do something to comfort him, but she hesitated. She had no idea how to help him. He didn't know what would help either. Nothing short of finding Bucky, he realized. He had to accept that Bucky didn't want to be found yet. Maybe that was part of the problem – Steve thought that once Bucky remembered who he was that he'd come find Steve, that he'd let Steve help him. There was so much he needed to say to Bucky, and now he couldn't. His shoulders sagged, and disappointment gnawed at his stomach. He felt like he should put up a front, force a smile at least to allay Aspen's worries, but he couldn't seem to muster it.

"Hey, you don't have to pretend like you're okay," Aspen said, reaching out and touching his arm. "I can tell you're trying to be the soldier and put your own emotions on hold, but you can't keep them bottled up. Even you need to focus on your own problems every once in awhile. You can't always put everyone else first."

"I can try." Aspen gave him a hesitant smile. "That was a joke," he assured her, giving her a strained smile.

"You need to work on the delivery," she told him.

He laughed for the first time in a long time. Aspen was always good at that – making him laugh and smile when seconds before it had felt impossible. "I love you," he said, reaching out and pulling her closer. "You came all this way to help me search even though you knew it could be dangerous."

"Of course I did," she replied, looking up at her with her clear green eyes. "There was never any question of staying behind." Her eyes brushed his lips, but she still hesitated. She'd been so careful around him since returning to DC. He knew she was just trying not to push him when he was so focused on finding Bucky, but right now he just wanted to spend some time with her. Tomorrow they'd start their search officially, but for now it was just the two of them with the city lights twinkling below. He'd been so focused on his worries that he wanted to forget them for awhile, lose himself in something happier.

He brought his lips down to hers kissing her slowly to test her mood. She responded lightly, so he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to let her know he was okay. She deepened the kiss, running her hands up his chest to rest them around the back of his neck. His heartbeat quickened as her lips parted and the heat of their bodies wove together. There was nothing gentle about the kiss now. He was losing himself, letting his worries melt away. Aspen wasn't hesitating now, and he could hear her heart beating wildly. She ran a hand through his hair, pressing herself up against him so that their heartbeats were equal. He ran a hand up her back, and she shivered under his touch. It always amazed him that he had that effect on someone like her. Aspen was nothing like the girl who had once grabbed him by the tie and forcibly kissed him. She wasn't like the girls who had crooned over Captain America. She knew the real him, the man behind the suit and the shield. She knew all his vulnerabilities and his downfalls and loved him even still.

As they pulled apart for breath, he kissed her collarbone and then her jaw. Her fingers clutched him tighter, and her lips found his again. He pulled her up, hands grasping her legs as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her to the bed, setting her down gently before sinking down next to her, arms on either side of her. He kissed her slowly now, and she let him, her hands soft on his cheeks.

"Is this your way of distracting yourself?" she asked the next time he pulled away. Her tone was light, but he knew she was wondering what had brought this on.

"I needed something else to focus on if only for a minute," he admitted. "Being with you calms me down, reminds me that everything is going to be all right, that there's beauty in this world no matter how dark it seems."

"Just kiss me again already," Aspen told him, light dancing in her eyes. So he did. They lost track of time, and the guilt and worry and inner turmoil Steve had felt for the last week melted away.

Night had fallen outside, and they lay together, Steve's arm wrapped around Aspen's waist, her skin warm under his. Her hand skimmed his bare chest – he wasn't exactly sure where his shirt had landed – and rested on his heart. He was sleepy now, the travelling finally catching up to him. Aspen lifted herself up on her elbow, her long hair falling down to brush his shoulder. He reached up his hand to brush it aside and trailed his fingers down her bare shoulder and arm. His cheeks heated as he realized there was only a small layer of fabric keeping them from crossing any lines. As if reading his thoughts, Aspen smiled, leaning low and kissing the corner of his mouth. Then she lay back down in his arms, curling up against his side. He supposed they should try to sleep – they had a big day tomorrow – but sleep meant dreams and dreams meant nightmares. Before he could stop himself, he was voicing this out loud. He was tired of shutting Aspen out. He needed her.

"You don't have to be afraid," she told him. "I'm right here. If you have a bad dream, just wake me up." She cupped his jaw in her hand. "I'll keep you safe."

He fell asleep with her words in his mind. I'll keep you safe. When his nightmares did wake him up – nightmares about Bucky, about Zola, about the war, and then about Peggy – she was already awake.

"Hey, you were moaning in your sleep," she said, smoothing back his hair. "Your face is burning up."

He sat up, pushing the covers off of himself. The cool air in the room helped somewhat. "I was dreaming about Peggy," he said, his mind still burning with the memory of the dream. "About her forgetting me."

"She won't forget you, Steve," Aspen tried to reassure her, but she didn't know that Peggy had started to forget things. When he'd last visited her she'd forgotten again that he was still alive, and he'd had to watch her relive that moment again.

"She forgot that I was still alive," he told Aspen. "She thought I was dead."

Aspen was silent for a moment. "Oh, Steve, I'm so sorry… Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you. You were already dealing with so much." He turned to look at her, guilt burning inside of him.

"Hearing about Peggy good news or bad is never a burden," she told him, putting an arm around him and rubbing his shoulder. "I know how much she means to you. And she means a lot to me too."

"It was just so hard watching her react as if she was finding out for the first time that I was alive."

"It must have been difficult for both of you."

He gave a shuddering breath. "I guess I knew that day would come eventually when she started to forget, but I wasn't prepared to face it."

"When did this start?" Aspen asked.

"About a month ago. And then just a week or so ago – the day you went to New York."

"I'm sorry, Steve. I wish there was something I could say or do."

"I know. Thank you." He rested his head against hers, relaxing under her gentle touch. "Leaving the past behind is harder than I ever expected it to be," he admitted.

"Well you never expected to wake up six decades later. I think you're going to have to accept that you're never going to get over it – not completely. That doesn't mean that you can't move on and have a happy life in this time, but maybe part of moving on is accepting that you're not going to just get over your past life or the people from it. When you woke up you said that everyone was just awed by the fact that you were Captain America, that no one really asked how you were doing. Everyone just expected you to adjust and get over your past because to them it was so long ago, but your past is part of what defines you. You get your values and your morals and some of your mannerisms from the past. It's a part of you, just like Peggy. Now it's a matter of finding a balance of embracing the future and remembering the past."

"I'm so glad it was you helping me adjust," Steve told her, thinking back to the day they'd met. It was the first time he'd felt like someone was actually seeing him and not just the serum's results. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well luckily you'll never have to find out," Aspen told him, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "You know you don't ever have to keep something from me just to protect me. I can handle it. After all I've been through I feel like I can handle anything."

"I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away."

"Try to get some sleep," Aspen told him. "Think about something happy before you fall asleep; not every dream has to be a nightmare.

He tried to think of something happy but his thoughts kept slipping back to Bucky and his dreams became indistinct. When he woke up the next morning at dawn he couldn't remember if the dreams had been good or bad.

It was with a nervous fluttering in her stomach that Aspen awoke early the next morning. Steve was already up and fully dressed. He offered her a toasted bagel and cup of coffee which she sat up in bed to take. "Did you eat already?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"You should still eat." She could tell how anxious he was. He was trying hard not to pace, and the restlessness in his eyes was obvious. He hesitated and then sat down next to her, accepting half of the bagel. They sat there silently for a long time until Aspen got up to take a quick shower. She changed quickly and they went to meet Sam downstairs. They took their rented car to the place indicated in the file Natasha had procured for them. It was a two-hour drive from the city, far away from prying eyes. The GPS system showed nothing, but the directions in the notes led them straight to an enclosed facility. The tall, chain-link fence topped with barbed wire offered them a less than friendly welcome.

"Is it still in use?" Aspen asked.

"According to the file, it shut down in the 70s," Steve said. "But it's where Bucky was taken after the Soviets found him. Where they…changed him. They'd keep him in stasis between missions."

"Just like a weapon that gets stored between uses. That's horrible." Aspen stared up at the gates, at the sign written in Russian. Hazardous Material: Keep Out, it read. She was surprised to realize she had read the sign. She'd never attempted to learn Russian before, but languages came easy to her now. "Right, well, I think this is where we get out."

"I'm going to get the gates open so we can drive in," Steve said, stopping her from getting out of the car. "If we need to make a quick retreat. We have no idea what to expect." He got out and studied the gates, shield ready on his arm. They were chained shut, and Steve smashed his shield into the lock until it broke loose. He pulled the chains off, tossing them aside, and pushed the gates open with a creak. He got back into the car and pulled onto the winding drive that led up to the facility. It was a forlorn looking building made of grey concrete and minimal windows. There were more signs posted warning people to keep out, but they ignored them, getting out of the car and heading toward the doors. There were empty alcohol bottles scattered around, and one of the few windows on the building's front side was shattered.

"I was reading up on the area last night," Sam said. "Nothing mentioned this facility by name, but I did find an article dating back a few years about an accident. It was in this area and three teens got injured. Two died in the hospital, and the other one made it but suffered brain trauma and couldn't recount what had happened. They thought it might be a building collapse – the kids were badly bruised and had a lot of injuries, but it mentioned that some of the injuries looked as if they were inflicted by human hands. Strong human hands."

"Bucky wouldn't-" Steve started but Sam cut him off.

"He might not have been the only person they experimented on. They had plans to make more Super Soldiers in the 40s, right? Before Erskine's formula was destroyed." Steve nodded. "Who's to say they didn't make more Winter Soldiers?"

That was an unsettling thought, Aspen decided. "You think there are more?" she asked.

Sam shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm just saying it's a possibility."

"Then we need to be extra careful," Steve told them as he forced the doors open. They groaned but yielded under his hands, and then they were facing the gaping passage into the place where Bucky had been turned into the Winter Soldier. Steve went first, his shield gripped tightly in his left fist. Aspen kept her senses on high alert, and Sam brought up the rear. Abandoned offices lined the hallway, and Aspen saw further signs of vandalism as well as disuse. It didn't look as if the facility had been operational since the 70s. A thick layer of dust coated everything, and Aspen sneezed several times. The sound was loud and dissonant in the hallway, and she clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Sorry."

"If anyone is here, they'll already know we're here," Steve said, and she didn't know whether she should find that reassuring or not.

The building was only three stories, and they made their way up, taking the stairs. The second story was open and had tall ceilings. Aspen realized that the ceiling went up to the roof. There was no third story after all, just a metal railing that ran around the room like an observation deck. The room itself was crammed with all sorts of equipment that looked both dated and advanced. She had to remind herself that they had been doing incredible things even back in the 40s when computers didn't exist. She had proof of that right next to her. The machines along the wall were dark since the electricity had been turned off long ago. She didn't understand what purpose the equipment served, but as they turned a corner, passing a workstation, they saw something that made them all stop short. Five tubes, ten feet tall and four feet across stood as menacing sentinels. Inside of them a sickly greenish liquid sat placidly. The glass was coated in a thick layer of dust, but Aspen could tell they were empty. The last one was cracked open, she realized as she walked closer. The glass looked as if someone had punched it outward, like someone had been in the tube.

"These are the stasis tubes," Steve said from behind Aspen, startling her. "This is where he was kept."

Aspen felt sickened at the thought. They had actually put human beings into these tubes, trapped them in such a small, confined space. They had been in a deep sleep, but they were still alive, their bodies somehow trapped in time. "Someone broke out of this one," she said aloud.

Sam and Steve inspected it. "It does look as if someone punched it from inside," Steve agreed, looking grim. "All the fluids are gone. The floor would be wet if this had happened recently."

"Well that's some comfort, I suppose," Aspen said. "Although that might mean there's another rogue Super Soldier on the loose."

"Yeah, with wiped memories and Hydra's orders."

"How frightening would that be to wake up and have no idea where you are or who you are or what your purpose is?"

"We're probably looking at a very unstable person."

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Aspen asked. "Files? Those would be back downstairs. I'm not sure we can learn much more from here." Her eyes flitted back to the stasis tubes, and she pushed back another wave of nausea. "I think I need some fresh air."

"Good idea." Steve and Sam headed back the way they'd come. Aspen made to follow, but something caught her eye. She went the other way, something shiny catching her eye. There was a table just beyond that held an array of different objects, all covered in dust. There were weapons and then a single object that looked very familiar. It was a metal arm. Aspen lifted it. It was surprisingly heavy, and she wondered how Bucky fought so well with that metal weighing him down. This must have been a prototype or perhaps it had been made after Bucky's change. She set it down, wiping the dust from her hands off onto her jeans and turning to catch up to Sam and Steve. She found herself staring straight into a set of haunted green eyes. She took a step back, ramming into the table.

The man stood staring at her as if he'd never seen another human before. He was naked down to the waist, and his pants were ragged as if he'd worn the same pair for a very long time. His muscles were undeniably well developed, and Aspen realized she was looking at one of the Super Soldiers that had once occupied one of the stasis tubes. His face was very blank, and Aspen could see no signs of thought process.

"Hello," she said softly. His gaze hardened. "I don't mean you any harm. Who are you?"

He didn't answer. His eyes scanned her, and she found herself wishing she'd never left Steve's side. She tried to sense what the man's intentions were, but found his mind blank. She couldn't read him. That frightened her. It made him unpredictable and dangerous.

She tried taking a step toward the right thinking she could get around him. The second she moved, he lunged. He had her by the throat and up against the wall in a heartbeat. Aspen knew fighting against him was useless. Instead she reached down to her belt, pulling out her knife, and stabbed it into his shoulder. He let go of her for a second, and she slid to the floor while he pulled the knife out. He threw it aside, but Aspen had already ducked around him and was running. Sam and Steve were nowhere to be found, and Aspen shouted for them as she ran. The man was right behind her now, feet pounding hard against the floor. Aspen slipped in between some of the equipment, and he hit them hard behind her, shoving them aside like building blocks. Aspen snagged the railing of the stairs that led up to the walkway and vaulted up them. She was faster than him, and she gained some distance when she reached the walkway. It ran around the room, and she headed in the direction of the doors. Suddenly the walkway beneath her feet jolted, and she found herself on her hands and knees. She scrambled to get up, realizing that the man was on the walkway now. He must have found a shortcut because the second she got to her feet, he rammed her hard, and she went flying over the railing. She was falling now, and it looked as if she was going to hit the cement floor below. She reached out her hand and caught part of the metal structure that formed the stairs. Pain shot up her arm, but she was safe for now. She climbed down until she was only a few feet from the ground and jumped. Her feet hit the ground, crushing glass under her shoes. She started to run again but something leapt down from overhead, landing straight in front of her. She backed away until she hit one of the stasis tubes. She searched around for a weapon – anything – but her knife was gone. She waited for him to finish her off, but something hit him hard in the side of the head, sending him sprawling. When Aspen could make sense of what was happening, she saw that Steve had charged him and was now punching him hard. Aspen had rarely seen him so incensed.

"Steve," she said after a moment. "Steve." She grabbed his arm, staying his fist. "He's unconscious." Blood dripped from Steve's fists, and he rocked back on his heels, looking down at the man's bloody face.

"I'm all right," Aspen reassured him.

"I guess that solves one mystery," Sam said, observing the scene. "Now the question is, where are the other three?"