Hello everyone,
Well here is Chapter, enjoy.
March 2nd, 2015
Ukhta, Russia
After taking some more time to heal and moving around to avoid detection, Bucky and Three decided that she was well enough to resume hunting HYDRA. They had driven for hours until they reached Ukhta, Russia where they discreetly checked into a motel, rather than continue sheltering in abandoned buildings. They always picked the more run down areas to avoid being noticed so the locals were not the friendliest bunch. In fact these types of areas posed their own dangers. Usually Three had little trouble in areas like this because she was careful, and if anyone caused her trouble they soon came to regret it. With Bucky around one would think he alone would be a great deterrent for the degenerates in the area.
However, Three guessed intelligence was not some peoples' strong suite. She was a lot better and recovering quickly now, so she decided it was time to resupply. The last time she insisted on buying her own supplies was shortly after the car hood incident. While Bucky did not want her moving around, Three was not about to ask Bucky to pick up some 'lady items' for her. So she told Bucky unless he wanted to travel down a certain store aisle she had to go. It was not at all fun having to go shopping and getting dizzy. Thus is was a quick venture out, now though she felt well enough to go out for a larger shop.
Three had spotted some smaller shops which was preferable to large shopping centres. Since she felt well enough to walk up, Three told Bucky she would not be gone long and headed out. She carefully kept a low profile, but still got some looks from a group of guys smoking cigarettes outside one of the other motel rooms. One was a bigger bald guy giving a wolfish grin as he looked her up and down. Usually these types backed off if the girl straight up made eye contact and glared them down. It was a way of intimidating them into thinking the girl was packing a weapon or something. However the guy just laughed and the group continued their conversation. Three kept walking thinking that was the end of it as she headed for the shops.
The remaining walk was uneventful, as she came in, picked out some clothes, tried them on, then bought them. Again she had to buy a toilet kit and bath supplies since hers were basically abandoned after the HYDRA convoy ambush. Lastly she thought it best not take further risks, by buying some condoms. Sure she was lucky before, but she also knew that luck would not last forever especially with a super soldier with super stamina. Getting everything she needed it was getting towards evening when she walked back towards her motel room. As usual Three tried to keep careful watch of her surroundings, but that did not mean the local morons would not try something regardless. She was in view of the the motel but was passing by a dark alleyway. Three stopped short when a shadow came out in front of her. The bald man smiled down at her speaking Russian. His friends stood behind her as she smelt their foul breaths and felt sick. Being surrounded she was cornered into the alleyway.
"Hey there sweetheart, where are you going so fast?" The bald man asked.
"Back to my husband." Three answered flatly in Russian hoping the idea that she was married would make him back off. Since her left hand was in her pocket, he would not be able to tell that she was not married. However that hardly seemed to deter him or his friends as they chuckled, "Hardly a husband letting a pretty lil' thing like you wander around. If I were him I would never let you out of my sight, I would guard you fiercely."
Three was about to say she could guard herself just fine, but a familiar voice sounded behind the tall bald Russian. "I don't let her out of my sight."
"Hey honey." Three said playing up the lie to the hilt, as she looked past the men at Bucky. It would have been so nice had these guys scurried off, but apparently they thought size mattered since the bald guy towered over Bucky like a jolly green giant.
"Him?!" The guy laughed, "This is your husband?! Oh sweetheart you can do so much better."
"What you?! No thanks he is the best. You? You are scraping the bottom of the barrel." Three replied as Bucky tried to keep from laughing. The guy glared at her not liking her insult, but honestly what did he think her reply would be? He was no supermodel, and he started the insults off first.
"That does it, teach the bitch proper respect while I deal with this runt." 'Runt?! Bucky? Is this moron blind?!' Three wondered, as his friends grabbed her, but they did not expect what she did next. One got kicked between the legs and was now doubled over holding himself. The other got his knee kicked out from under him and was forced into a kneeling position. She slammed the guy holding his groin's head into a dumpster knocking him out then turned and knocked out the other guy .
As she turned back to Bucky she saw him punch the big guy in the chest sending him flying past her. 'Ouch! He will feel that in the morning.' Three winced.
Bucky walked past and bent over grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling his head up, he raised his metal hand about to punch him. The man must have really pissed Bucky off. "Honey!" Three called sharply getting Bucky's attention. She did not want to call him by name especially if these idiots reported this to the cops. Bucky's head snapped up. "No need to force him to eat through a straw. Just knock him out so he has to sleep it off."
"You sure? I saw the way he looked at you. I saw what he wanted to do to you." Bucky said, making Three's lips part he really was watching her carefully. 'Like a dragon guarding his treasure.' A soft blush crept into her cheeks at how protective Bucky got with her.
"Well he can keep dreaming and using his fucking hand because he isn't touching me." Three replied coming closer to him. She could tell Bucky was really wanting to smash the guy's face in, as much as this man pissed her off she never killed outside of HYDRA and felt Bucky did not want to kill either. "I am your girl. Yours, no one else's."
The soft words as Three came up, and put her hand over his heart seemed to calm him down as he lowered his metal fist. His normal arm slid around her waist protectively as he released the man who slumped to the ground holding his chest. Both were about to leave the alley, and would have tried to forget these events. But drunk men are dumb as hell, and baldy did not know how to shut up. "I will fuck that bitch, and she will enjoy it!"
That did it! Three stopped short and turned to find the prick on his knees smiling up at her. Not batting a eyelash her foot came up hard in his groin making him cry out, then she grabbed the back of his head and brought her knee to his nose. She heard a distinct crunch as she broke his nose, but it hardly matter because she also knocked him out. Straightening she looked back at Bucky who wore a smirk. "What?"
"I really wanted to beat him into a bloody mess, but that was somehow a lot better." Bucky said. Three giggled, then had an idea as she eyed the larger dumpster.
"Well if you are up to some heavy lifting, I think I know how to make this better." Three said, and Bucky laughed as she looked at the three men then the nasty trash dumpster. She checked the three men's pockets for their phones and tossed them aside, then opened the lid suggestively and Bucky took the hint. He had no problem tossing all three guys in there, and Three closed the lid. As an added precaution Three found some rope and looped it through to tie the lid closed. They would only be able to open it enough to get fresh air, but that was it. They were also back far enough that only people passing by the alleyway might hear them, and by then Three and Bucky would be long gone.
Grabbing up her shopping bags, the pair walked back to the motel across the street, and came into their room unseen. Finally Three had to ask as she set down the bags and turned to face Bucky. "Did you—were you following me?"
Bucky blushed as he looked down, and Three realized he did. Somehow he had followed her without being noticing. "I wanted to make sure you were safe."
Three blushed even more, she should have been angry that he did not trust her to take care of herself. Instead she felt overjoyed by the thought he would want to keep her safe. Immediately, she rushed forward pressing him to the door and was kissing him deeply. The response surprised him, but in a second he was gripping her tightly and kissing her back deeply. After a lengthy kiss, Bucky groaned. "Doll we both smell from the alley."
"Then we need a shower," Three said without missing a beat, "A long hot shower, we can shower together to conserve water." Three said starting to pull his clothes off, as Bucky took the hint and started stripping her too. What followed was a trail of clothes as they moved together towards the bathroom. Along the way she grabbed the bag holding her recently bought toiletries. In the bathroom, Bucky locked the door and quickly turned on the shower. In minutes, they climbed in together and the hot spray hit them as the pair barely separated. Somehow Bucky summoned the willpower to pull away and stop before he took her in the shower. Insisting on showering, Bucky poured some of Three's body wash on her sponge to wash her.
"You know I can clean myself." Three pointed out.
"Yeah, but I want to do it." He answered, so Three took up his body wash and sponge thinking two could play at that game. They also ended up washing each other's hair, but eventually they were more interested in kissing and being close. Until eventually the water turned cold and they were forced to get out and dry off some, then Bucky scooped her up after she wrapped the towel around herself. Knowing what would come next she grabbed the box of condoms which Bucky noticed.
"We got lucky before," Three said breathlessly, "but luck only gets you so far."
"Of course. Good thinking." Bucky replied as he carried her to the bed where he laid her down and climbed over her, and they shared a passionate night together.
March 3rd, 2015
Russia
It was early before dawn, Three knew that much when she woke. Like always she knew exactly where she was even when groggy from sleep. Yet it did not explain what woke her, no alerts came up on her phone so she was not in danger of approaching HYDRA or SHIELD forces. For a moment none of it made sense, she had had no nightmares wake her this time. In fact her dreams had been rather pleasant, which was odd. She gently stretched on the bed and winced a little as her side was still tender. 'Why can't I heal fast like Steve Rogers or Bucky? I really hate healing slowly.' Three wondered, 'Nooo can't have that, not when I can memorize a book I read seven years ago by only reading it once!'
Aside from the twinge in her side something else had woken her, and if not Aida with some type of alert the only other explanation was her travel companion. Opening one eye she groaned as she looked around, the room was quiet, so that meant Bucky was not up. Three frowned and considered going back to sleep as she closed her eyes and listened. That was when she heard it, Bucky's voice was soft as he seemed to be dreaming. Three froze, by the sound of it it was not a pleasant dream. Instinct had her roll out of the bed onto the floor as Bucky cried out. A second later his metal fist fell where she had been sleeping. The pillow was now a pile of feathers.
"Bucky!" Three called out hoping he would realize he had been dreaming. She kept crouched expecting she might have to dodge him if he was still caught up in the dream. After nearly two months together and learning more of each other, Three thought she was used to this, but still seeing Bucky in so much pain was pure agony to behold. However Bucky seemed to snap out of it as Three saw him look around shocked. Finally his eyes landed on hers as she slowly got to her feet.
"Vi?"
"Relax Bucky it was just a nightmare. You're safe." Three said, however now he was looking at the feathers littering the bed and the destroyed pillow. Realising that had she not moved he would have hurt if not killed her, Bucky looked horrified. Instead Three went for downplaying the situation. "That poor pillow, you know the motel maids are gonna have fun cleaning."
"That could have been your head, Vi."
"True, but with my IQ I know when to move." Three replied, like it was nothing as she sat back on the bed and played with the feathers. "So what had you attacking the pillow? Not that I don't mind a good pillow fight, but there is a limit to how much feathers should fly."
Bucky leaned forward, gripping his head as he groaned, and Three waited. He mumbled something and Three frowned. "Bucky I do not understand mumble-lan-ese. Pick an actual language."
She watched as he ran his fingers through his hair while she balanced some of the feathers on her fingers. "I killed Howard Stark, and his wife."
Three froze at the confession, if Tony Stark ever found out the shit would hit the fan. The worst part was Bucky would probably remember killing a lot of people he didn't want to. Three sighed dropping the feathers as she considered what to say. Frankly nothing would make him feel better about this. Having read more from the guidebook Bucky stole she knew Howard Stark had become a friend of Steve Rogers helping him during World War two. "Bucky it wasn't you, you know that right?"
When she got no response, she considered what else would help him. "Look if you are worried about Tony Stark, I am sure he will understand that you had no choice in the matter. Not right away of course, but he will come to the same conclusion I have. That it was HYDRA that killed his parents not you. I mean he can be a pain in the ass that thinks he knows it all, but he is a good guy."
"Right," Bucky said not believing her.
"I mean it, Bucky." Three replied, then sighed, "I am sure if it comes down to it we can explain the whole situation and it will eventually be... well not okay but it will be... something. I mean look at me I forgave you for-"
"It is not the same!" Bucky replied angry, "It was his parents, his flesh and blood."
"It is the fucking same!" Three replied angry, "Takai and Amaya were my father and sister! And flesh and blood means shit to me!" Three said glaring at Bucky, as silence followed. She probably shocked him with her last comment which required explanation. Heaving a sigh Three looked away.
"My 'real' parents," Three made air quotes around the word real, "They were HYDRA, and because they didn't want me they donated me. I didn't know who they were nor do I ever really care if I do. They deserve the worst fate possible. Fury already killed one of them, and I was grateful for that."
Again Three paused letting Bucky wrap his head around the information before sighing, "Takai and Amaya may not have been my flesh and blood family, but they meant more to me than my real parents. So I never want to hear that bullshit that it is not the same, understand? You are no more responsible for killing them than Tony Starks' parents."
The silence was annoying as Bucky just sat there quietly thinking, so Three picked up her phone and looked at the time. It was 4:17 in the morning, that was when an arm slid around her waist and she was pulled closer to Bucky. The hug had Three tilting her head back against his shoulder as he nuzzled her neck. "Nick Fury? Which parent did he kill?"
"My quote-unquote father. Killed him in D.C when Rogers stopped project Insight." Three replied hesitantly, she felt Bucky stiffen against her.
"I was sent to kill Fury, he died." Three chuckled a little and shook her head.
"Correction you thought you killed him. He faked his death, he is the super spy after all." Three stated. The pair sat silently as Bucky seemed to be thinking about what all he learned since waking up.
"I didn't see Fury," Bucky pointed out.
"That was because you were on the Helicarriers, Fury, Romanoff, and myself were in the Triskelion. Both Fury and Romanoff were in the world Security Council chambers." This time Bucky stiffened for another reason, there was only one man in HYDRA up there. She could literally feel the gears in his head turning and the pieces clicking into place. Pierce! Rather than wait for a angry response to the epiphany, Three released a shaky breath. "There was so many times I wanted to kill him, so many times I wanted to make him suffer. I didn't even know he was my father, but I would not have cared. I still would have loved to be the one to kill him. Never could get near him though, then Fury kills him, and when Aida told me I was not sure whether to dance for joy or be sick to be related to that-"
There was no real word to describe the disgust she felt, and instead she shook the thought away. "I just hope he suffers in the deepest pit of hell for everything he has done."
Bucky held her close trying to comfort her then his flesh hand came up catching her chin and turning her head. A moment later he was pressing his lips to hers in a deep kiss. She had expected him to be angry at the news of who one set of her parents were, instead it was like she was being forgiven for it. When their lips parted, Bucky brushed his lips against hers as he whispered softly. "It's alright doll, you are nothing like him."
Then he was kissing her again, this time more deeply as she turned more to kiss him more fully. In the next moment she was pulled into his lap where she now straddled him, and he trailed kisses down her neck. Three moaned softly as she tilted her head back and ran her hands over his chest.
"I don't deserve you," Bucky groaned softly as he kissed her neck and grazed her skin with his teeth.
"Too bad ya got me anyway." Three replied as she pressed to him. Immediately he laid her back on the bed and climbed over her. From there he resumed kissing her lips and she wrapped her arms around his neck not wanting to release him. They would have continued kissing and touching, but Three whined as her phone began ringing. "Damn it Aida. You have the worst timing."
She heard Bucky chuckle against her neck then raise himself off her enough to reach her phone. Picking it up, Three answered. "This had better be good, Aida."
"It is Skye, she says she wants someone to talk to." Aida says concerned.
"Skye wants to talk to me? About what?"
"She would not say, but I don't think she wants anyone at SHIELD to know she is contacting you." Aida replied, now Three was frowning.
"Alright put her through."
"Hello? Kat are you there?" Skye's voice came through.
"Yeah Skye I am here, though usually I would expect you to call if you need help not to chat. So what is up?" Three replied as Skye seemed to take a long moment to pause.
"I keep having these dreams, and I just need someone to talk to,"
"You do realise I am not a counsellor right? You also realise that I was one of SHIELD's most wanted criminals, right?"
"Yeah but I knew about you before SHIELD. When I was part of the Rising Tide."
"Ah pulling that card I see. I have not been keeping track of that group for a while." Three replied.
"Yeah I know, but I don't really want to go to Coulson with this."
"Okay now you have me confused. You have been pretty close to Coulson, he is kind of like a father figure to you."
"Yeah."
"So why the hell do you want to cut him out of this potentially big conversation?" Three asked.
"Because something is about to happen, something bad. I just got this terrible feeling. We uh found out about a HYDRA head named Whitehall and-"
"Daniel Whitehall!" Three said worried and now sitting up. Bucky merely laid on his side watching her.
"Yeah, why? You heard of him?" Sky asked.
"I met the evil bastard," Three shuddered as she recalled him and what he did. "He loves to experiment, I had the misfortune of seeing what he did to one woman when I was about six."
"Jesus! We could do with your insight then. We found old case files on one Reinhardt that Peggy Carter arrested back in 1945. He looks identical to Whitehall." Skye started explaining.
"That is because it is the same person, Skye. Reinhardt is Whitehall, they are not similar in appearance. They are the same." Three said waiting for Sky to digest the information. "Back when I first started out all I had were names of known HYDRA heads, when I started hacking and digging one of those names was Whitehall. It was through searches and digging that I learned the truth."
"How is that possible though?"
"The woman he experimented on was also from 1945, somehow she stopped ageing and whatever experiments that were performed helped him to stop ageing."
"That is insane." Skye replied.
"You're telling me, I am sitting across from a ninety-six year old man that doesn't look a day over twenty-eight." Three replied giving Bucky a look and making him smile at her.
"What?!" Skye asked shocked.
"Nothing, never mind. So what is going on exactly?" Three asked changing the subject before Skye thought her completely insane.
"Well Coulson says that Whitehall had this Obelisk, and an expert saying it has to be taken some place specific. A hidden city, which is what those circles meant."
Three sighed as she rubbed her temple. "Heard of the obelisk too, go on."
"We are going to be heading there to try and intercept HYDRA. We could use your help."
"Is this Coulson asking or you?" Three asked.
"I think given your knowledge Coulson would agree to the added help."
Three inhaled thinking, but sighed. "Any other time I would jump through fire for the chance Skye, but I am still in Russia. Unfortunately, I have my own mission to complete too. However may I give you some advice?"
"Sure."
"Don't hesitate, don't try to arrest him, just shoot Whitehall. The guy is a monster, and believe me he deserves it. I am still haunted by what he did to that woman, no one deserved that, so if you see him—shoot him. Empty the damn clip if you have to just make sure he never gets back up!" Three said waiting for Skye to reply.
"Alright, thanks for the warning. Be careful out there."
"You too. Tell Coulson and the others no taking any huge risks. I do like hearing from you guys after all." Three replied getting Skye to laugh a little.
"Yeah, you too." With that there was an audible click as Skye hung up, and Three sighed setting down the phone. She looked up to find Bucky watching her carefully.
"They gonna be okay?"
"They are agents of SHIELD. They know what they are doing." Three said, as she looked down at the phone, "Besides we have our own problems to deal with. I cannot watch everybody else and get the serum too. That is why Aida is there, to make sure they are okay."
"Well we should get going I imagine someone will soon find the unconscious drunks we locked in the dumpster." Bucky pointed out making her laugh, by now those men ought to have woken and been trying to get out of their new found predicament. Sighing she nodded and the pair got up and readied to go. They packed and left the motel just as the sun had peeked over lighting the sky. Getting in the car they resumed driving, and drawing closer to the Ural Mountains, they kept moving and kept a low profile to keep HYDRA off their tails.
March 9th, 2014
Russia
Following HYDRA was not that hard, but knowing someone else was fighting them just made things more interesting. After reporting their findings to Nick Fury, Petrov was ordered to observe at a distance and report further activities. At first the trail was going cold, Lilith Donners was a dead end. The woman that had supposedly been kidnapped was a fake ID as Orlov soon discovered. However the image of the man certainly pulled attention as Fury mentioned needing to contact an associate. Whatever was going on the former SHIELD director refused to go into details, leaving the three men to scramble after anything they found.
There was not much to go on: a car ditched in a lake, a cabin broken into. Some other surveillances that turned up nothing but the occasional sighting. Whoever was targeting HYDRA knew how to move without being seen. That was until 'Lilith Donners' slipped up big time, she was spotted multiple times near Vologda Russia. Sadly her slip ups were also noticed by HYDRA, and according to some footage, she was alone.
Following her was a bit easier until the trio learned of the ambush site, the site was cordoned off as police investigated. So they retreated to a hotel to allow Orlov to hack into the police records and satellite to learn what went down and if the potential ally yet lived or not. In the dingy old motel room Petrov smoked nearly a whole pack of cigarettes while Yurik cleaned his gun. Finally Orlov cried out. "Yes! I am in."
"Took ya long enough. What?! Decide to watch porn first?" Yurik asked as he was assembling his gun. Orlov glared at him, then resumed typing as he accessed the network satellite and entered the date and time.
"Petrov, the footage is still here HYDRA has not erased it." Orlov said as he called up the blurry footage of the road where the ambush took place. The two men came to stand behind Orlov as they watched what happened on that lone road. The more they watched the more shocking it became.
"Fury will definitely want to know about this." Petrov said pulling his phone out and dialling the number. A moment later the person on the other end picked up.
"I am busy Petrov, you had better have something."Fury's voice stated sounding annoyed, it also sounded like he was on a plane?
"Indeed sir, we've ID'd the female. This Lilith Donners is Katseye." There was a long pause on Fury's end.
"You are on speaker with my associates, repeat that."Fury ordered.
"The fake ID Lilith Donners is Katseye. She attacked a HYDRA convoy and was nearly ambushed." Petrov explained, now Petrov could hear other voices aside from Fury's.
"You said nearly, what happened?"An American voice asked, Petrov had no idea the voice belonged to Steve Rogers as he answered.
"The Winter Soldier happened." Petrov said.
"Did he? Did he hurt her?"The American asked worried.
"No, he saved her from HYDRA." Again there was a long pause. "Sir, how do we proceed? We got the surveillance from the satellite. I believe it can be cleared up, but if we take too long the trail may go cold."
"Jarvis can handle that, have them forward it to us."Another voice spoke up as if doing this would only take a few minutes.
"Forward it to me Petrov so we can look it over. Keep tracking them if possible without tipping off HYDRA."Fury ordered.
"Yes Sir." Petrov replied hanging up, he informed Orlov to forward the footage to Fury then began packing up.
The Quinjet
In all honestly Fury never expected to get much Intel from Russia it just seemed like too likely a place to look for HYDRA. So when Petrov contacted him in France weeks before, Fury was surprised. Especially when the police reports described a man that looked like James Barnes, and his supposedly kidnapping of a young woman named Lilith Donners. The fact that HYDRA was picking themselves up was the only thing that made Fury do a double-take. He had been a secretive man keeping secrets and deceiving people, but in this instance he felt he owed Rogers more than lies. He knew Steve was looking for Bucky, and it was not really his place to keep something like this from him. So in short he contacted Steve, and within ten hours he was reunited with them and feeding them more Intel on where the other HYDRA bases were located.
As much as Rogers wanted to head for Russia to follow up on Petrov's report, dealing with the last remnants of HYDRA took priority. Now today Fury waited for the information to be forwarded, as Stark flew the Quinjet. Mostly it was quiet until there was a beep signalling Petrov had come through. Taking up the notepad, Fury activated the hologram to replay the events taken from the satellite. Mostly it was blurry and distorted, and audio was simply not there to be had so he stopped it and turned to Stark.
"Stark you're up." Fury said, as Tony put the autopilot on.
"Alright super-spy. Let me do my magic." Fury handed him the notepad as Tony began hitting keys. "Jarvis I need clean up on it, and if possible audio. I hate silent films."
"Sir unfortunately satellite does not record audio, but I can cross reference any radio transmissions that might have some feedback on that day and time." Jarvis pointed out.
"Impress me." Tony said, as they worked. Steve sighed hoping Fury was not leading them on some wild goose chase he wanted an actual lead to go on to find Bucky. Sam sat next to him, but seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.
"I am sure we will find something Steve." Sam replied leaning back in his seat. Steve looked across the way at Natasha and Clint who both were relaxing in their chairs. In truth everybody was a bit tired, they had been hunting HYDRA non-stop. Thor paced towards the back of the plane growing impatient. While Banner only partially listened to calming classical music.
"Relax capsicle, I am almost...done. Jarvis? Backscatter?"
"On it sir. I believe I can provide partial audio. Alright boys and girls let's see what is on T.V." With that Tony flicked his wrist holding the small notepad activating the replay from satellite. It showed a series of trucks moving through a wooded back road, then an explosion at the front and back of the convoy stopped it dead. The audio was still a little distorted but the explosions were still heard followed by gunfire. However the men seemed to fall to sniper shots. The front cars flipped from the blast while the back car ended up on it's side.
Steve leaned forward noting that the first thing the sniper took out were the tires. Whoever it was was after something. The men grew panicked and shot wildly into the woods only to be hit by return fire. When it looked like the sniper had taken out all of the men, eventually a slim figure emerged from the woods in a purplish almost black ninja suit toting a sniper rifle. She almost got shot by an hidden shooter, but luckily his aim was off and hers wasn't. The man got shot in the shoulder.
"Sir this cannot be Katseye, she would never make a rookie mistake like that." Clint finally spoke up looking to Fury. Regardless they watched her rise to her feet and drag the man to his feet. She dragged him to the middle truck.
"Unlock it, or die here!"A female voice yelled, and the man complied while she was prepared to shoot anyone inside. However after unlocking and opening the doors the man suddenly turned around.
"You did not think it would be that easy did you? We knew you were-" Whatever he was about to say, he never got to finish because she shot him in the head. Immediately they watched her run towards the woods, but shots rang out from the back of the convoy. They forced her to flee towards the front of the convoy and the flipped cars as she shot back. She slid over the hood of the car but cried out. She must have been hit. She fell on her side and clutched her other side.
Even injured, she shot around the hood of the car at the approaching men that were riddling the car with bullets. A moment later they shot smoke grenades towards her to smoke her or knock her out. Steve listened intently as he could hear the distorted sound of her coughing. He frowned as she pulled something out of her breast pocket. "What is that?"
"A last resort, one bullet kept aside just in case." Nat replied frowning at the image.
"Well isn't that cheery." Tony replied as the video suddenly showed a car ram into the group sending some of the men flying. Soon whoever was in the car was shooting at the men. When most of them were down. That was when they saw it, the Winter Soldier got out of the car moving quickly for the pockmarked car. He came around and took the gun off her before she could use the round on herself.
"Nooo...please!" They heard her distorted plea, then the Winter Soldier pulled her to her feet causing a cry of pain to come from her.
"Shit!" Steve heard Bucky swear as his friend must have noticed the injury. Judging by the way her head lolled back, Katseye's face cover did not protect her from the knock out gas. One of the men that was hit by the car stumbled to his feet, and Steve watched Bucky pull a gun on him. The man held up his hands in surrender, but was shot regardless.
"That's cold." Sam commented, and Steve frowned, wondering if there was anything of Bucky left in there. Holstering his weapon, the Winter Soldier scooped up the girl into his arms and carried her to the car placing her in the passenger's seat. They might have watched more, but suddenly the satellite feed was cut.
"Jarvis? What is going on?"
"Sir everything for that area has been erased."
"HYDRA, of course they would erase it." Clint said annoyed, as he leaned forward.
"But we know that James Barnes is in Russia with Katseye." Banner pointed out, "They should not be hard to find."
"Why though is a notorious enemy of SHIELD getting help from the Winter Soldier? And what was in that truck that was worth risking all for?" Nat asked. They were all good questions as they considered the answers, then Nat asked another question. "Why was she on her own at first? Why didn't James help her sooner?"
Even more questions no one could really answer, so Steve opted for an easier question. "What all do we have on Katseye?"
"SHIELDs greatest pain in the ass for the past ten plus years. She was at the top of the most wanted list until you knocked her out of it, Cap. Impossible to catch, and always seemed to be seven steps ahead of us." Clint said.
"She is totalled for having killed over two hundred SHIELD agents over the years. It was assumed she was insane because she would kill some agents, but leave others alive." Nat added frowning. Finally Steve looked to Fury who seemed deep in thought.
"What is it?" The others followed his gaze to Fury until all eyes were on the former director.
"She was put at the top of the most wanted list several years ago after a failed mission to protect a doctor. She killed five agents including the doctor, but left three agents alive." Fury said he seemed to be catching on a vital fact, something that had eluded him for years.
"Nick? Who were the agents she spared?" Steve asked seeming to latch onto where his thoughts were heading.
"You met one of them, she was your neighbour. Another was agent 18 – Caroline Monroe, and lastly Phil Coulson." Fury replied as it hit them like a ton of bricks.
"She was never targeting SHIELD, but HYDRA." Clint said, sitting up straighter.
"Certainly looks that way," Tony added as he was checking something on his notebook, "Huh figures. Thought I would do some research... Kit-Kat apparently was present at the Helicarriers incident. Got some interesting recordings and reports. Several agents reported seeing her fighting, and more than a few claim she rescued them from HYDRA agents. But that is not the most interesting part, check this out..."
A second later the halo-gram changed to showing the interior of the Triskelion. The same ninja-suited Katseye was fighting a group of agents that were about to kill several other agents. The more that they watched the more it became clear she was targeting HYDRA. She was shown entering the launch control room shortly afterwards. They watched her drop her gun and raise her hands above her head when she approached the SHIELD agents."I am not the enemy you think I am. I was put on SHIELD's most wanted list by HYDRA. I am here to help!"
The confused agents hesitated on the halo recording and were looking at each other for what to do, so Katseye moved forward hands still raised. "Ask yourselves why I just killed HYDRA agents, but am talking to you."
That was when Steve noticed the blonde agent that was his neighbour. The fact that Katseye and Sharon were looking right at each other spoke volumes. Regardless a second later Sharon issued the order. "Lower your guns. She is on our side. Apparently."
The SHIELD agents complied as Sharon turned to a dark curly haired man. "Can you stop the launch?"
The engineer shook his head as he was at the computer trying to abort it. "No I can't. The only way is if the targeting blades are replaced."
"Which I believe Captain America is already trying to do." Katseye said as she lowered her arms, "It cannot be aborted, but you can buy the Cap more time."
Katseye pulled out a device. "This will delay the targeting computers by two minutes. Hopefully it will give Cap enough time to put the targeting blades into the helicarriers."
Katseye set the device on the table and slid it across to Sharon, who picked it up then looked at her. Again there was a long look between the two and it was Katseye that looked away. Sharon then did the unexpected by handing the fob to the man at the computers."Buy Captain America two more minutes."
The man at the computer did as he was told and a second later he said. "It worked! The Cap now has ten minutes."
"They know each other." Natasha said with complete confidence. She watched the pair carefully as again the two woman shared a look, and to Steve Nat was right. There was just too much trust coming from the SHIELD agent towards Katseye. They had to know each other. However the bigger issue was she had helped him stop HYDRA, she had somehow known they would go for the targeting blades!
"It is time for you to go now. Get out of the building and get those that can't fight to safety." Katseye said then went back and retrieved her gun."
"You heard her. Everyone out, get to the stairs, and do not stop." Sharon said after a moment, immediately the SHIELD personnel began filing out of the room. However Sharon stopped and turned back to Katseye. "What will you do?"
"My mission. I am here to stop HYDRA, and put a bullet in Pierce's skull." Katseye replied as if it were nothing then stopped short. Steve peeked at the others taking note of how they were reacting to this new-found information. Reaching into her other belt pouch she pulled out another earpiece. "Take this."
The group watched Sharon put the earpiece in then Katseye added. "Sharon this is Aida, a friend. She will help get you, and the others to safety. She will tell you who is with who. Okay?"
This Aida person was obviously the one telling Katseye who was friend and who was foe. That was how she knew who to save and who to kill. Sharon only nodded then Katseye left the room. The group expected Sharon to leave following her fellow agents, but instead the SHIELD agent went to the PA controls.
"Attention all SHIELD agents do not engage Katseye. Repeat Katseye is a friendly. She is here to fight HYDRA, do not attack her!"
A second later the recording stopped thanks to Tony leaving the plane eerily quiet. "You want to know the funny part? According to that agent's report she was not just vague about her interactions with Katseye. There is no mention of Katseye in her report at all. But here is the kicker, she is secretly conducting her own little search via CIA channels for... can you guess who?"
Steve looked at Tony waiting for him to confirm what was slowly being pieced together. "Jarvis drum roll please..." Tony said as he held up the notepad with a familiar dark haired girl's picture, "Lilith Donners."
"Katseye's fake ID." Nat sighed then looked to Steve, "That means Sharon knows who Katseye is, or at least learned of it then."
"And she lied about it." Steve added, he would need to look up Sharon and get some answers from the agent. However a thought occurred to him as he pulled his cell phone out of his belt pouch. He had met Lilith before, she had even programmed the number into his phone. "Hey Jarvis can you trace a phone call I am about to make?"
"Of course Captain Rogers." Jarvis said as Steve hit the call button on a number wondering if it would even work, then put it on loudspeaker.
"Hello?" A female voice answered after a moment.
"Hello, is Sharon there?" Steve asked while the others remained silent. However some of them gave him questioning looks. Well except for Nat who was one of the ones trying to get him on a date with said agent. Still how did he have Sharon's number?
"This is her." The woman answered stunning Steve, looking around he noticed Fury place his hands on his hips and give a stern yet questioning look to Steve. "What is this about?"
"A mutual friend that you're secretly looking for." Steve replied.
"Lilith! Where is she?! What do you know about her?! Is she okay?! If you have done anything to her I will-"
"Relax Sharon, or is that another cover name like Kate?" Steve asked knowing it would tip the agent off to who she was talking to. There was a long pause from the stunned agent.
"Captain Rogers?" Sharon asked stunned. "How did you get this number?"
"Your friend Lilith programmed it into my phone, but the real question is how do you know her?" Steve asked.
"She.." Steve heard Sharon sigh, "She is my best friend."
Steve was definitely not expecting that as he looked at the others considering what he should do. "You know who she really is. Why didn't you report her in the Helicarrier launch room?"
Again there was a long pause as Sharon undoubtedly was now worried. "Because SHIELD made a mistake, we all did. She was never the enemy, I think you already know that. She had multiple chances to kill me and many others, but she never did. I have known her for years and even though she lied to me about who she was, it can't all have been a lie. At least I... I hope it wasn't all a lie." Sharon replied her voice ringing with worry and hope. The response again stunned Steve as he understood what it was like to be holding out hope that your best friend was still there. Again Sharon sighed and her voice came off as sounding dejected. "So what are you going to do? Report me, Captain?"
Steve looked to the others who merely watched him waiting for what he would say to Sharon. Nat shrugged and gestured for him to keep talking, so Steve sighed. "No of course not, but maybe we can help each other out."
From there Steve explained that Lilith was spotted in Russia with Bucky, and was even resurfaced by him after attacking a HYDRA convoy. After a lengthy conversation Sharon agreed to meet up with them and they would together head for Russia. Hanging up, Steve sighed as he looked down at his phone.
"After what we found out, that must be why Bucky is helping her. They are going after HYDRA." Steve said.
"I will have Jarvis look more at what we got on her, but we need a destination. We picking up Kit-Kats BFF?" Tony asked.
"Yeah, we will pick her up, then head for Russia." Steve said wanting to get to Russia as soon as possible. However if Sharon could provide more intelligence on this Lilith person then he was not about to leave for Russia without her.
"Great! Pick up then I always wanted to freeze my ass off." Tony said as he headed for the pilot's seat, and Nat muttered something in Russian. It was hard to tell if Romanoff was pleased or annoyed at the idea of visiting her country. Either way, the jet turned and shot off to pick up Sharon then make a bee-line for Russia. As they flew Nat's expression turned grew into a frown.
"Not liking the idea of returning home?" Banner asked concerned as he sat by Nat.
"No, that is not it. It is just Clint and I have been sent after Katseye before and she has always eluded us. She is always seven steps ahead, and has never slipped up this big before. During the satellite feed I could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. Not only that but she has never needed help before and suddenly the Winter Soldier just shows up and rescues her?"
"You are saying there is more to this." Sam spoke up.
"Of course there is Nat, but that is the question that none of us can answer." Clint pointed out.
"Perhaps Barnes has woken from whatever dream HYDRA had him under, like when Clint was controlled by Loki and broke free." Thor suggested, "I think he came to rescue the maiden because he loves her."
Now everyone was looking at Thor like he had grown two heads. "What? He is a flesh and blood man like any other. After seventy years he would have longings and desires as well, and from the photos lady Lilith is a beautiful maiden."
"Thunder boy has a point," Tony called back, "After seventy years Winter Soldier might need to thaw the little soldier. What better way?"
"Stark!" Steve said not appreciating the crude suggestion Tony made, then Steve looked to Thor. "What makes you think he is in love with her?"
"The way he held her, and cursed when he found her injured. He also killed that man, obviously still angry to find his lady injured."
"Bucky never liked to see any girl hurt." Steve said shaking his head, they were jumping to conclusions.
"Perhaps, but he knew she was in danger and came for her. As any of us would do the same, I know that if my lady Jane was in danger I would race to protect her and any that harmed her would suffer my wrath." Thor pointed out.
"Again Thunder boy makes a point," Tony pointed out, "If Ice soldier really is in love then him shooting that unarmed man while cold – was justified. I know I would if it were Pepper." Steve sighed considering the possibility, but it seemed too silly and there just was not enough evidence. He wanted actual facts not assumptions, but if it were true than Steve had to smile at the idea. It was so like the Bucky he once knew, and it was nice to hope he was still the same somewhere in there. One could hope right?
Author's Notes:
First off thank you all for the lovely reviews. It is always great to hear from you all, and I hope to keep hearing from you.
The first thing to note about this chapter was something a couple of you mentioned in PM and reviews. The 'lady items' are pads or tampons. Things I won't even ask my husband to get...LOL However I did not want to come right out and say it with Three. Plus can you imagine Bucky in the ladies section trying to figure out what to get and getting a text from Aida? I am cracking up just thinking about it! Regardless it was largely a way of saying Three dodged the bullet there. Later in the chapter she also does make a point of grabbing some protection.
The next big issue they address is when Bucky remembers the mission back in December 1991, since it was unclear when in Civil War he remembered killing Tony's parents. I thought this would be a good tie in with Three trying to comfort him.
Another big feature to note is Steve and the Avengers hitting HYDRA where it hurts. The whole scenes with the Avengers was to fill in where the movies weren't able to. At the beginning of Age of Ultron the group have been hitting many bases, and are on the last one. This is when they are first attacking those first bases and gradually moving down a list. However they would undoubtedly hear about Katseye and Bucky since they too are targeting HYDRA. The whole scene where they get the satellite feed of the ambush, when it is cut that is actually Aida responding to the situation not HYDRA. As for the Triskelion feed, well that was missed by the AI. It allowed for more interactions between Sharon and Steve which I felt is needed. Like I said before Sharon just does not get enough screen time to warrant the sparks between Steve and Sharon. In the first Captain America film Steve and Peggy got to interact a lot more which made their relationship more believable. I of course am not criticizing the fantastic creators of those movies. I understand they have a limited timeframe to squeeze all those characters into, so here we can see more of the budding relationship between Steve and Sharon. Besides I thought it would be cute to see them together trying to find Three and Bucky.
Lastly for all those Agents of SHIELD fans can you guess which episode the phone call between Skye and Three takes place? There are some strong hints as to which episode it is. One of those hints is Skye mentioning having dreams. The answer will be in the next chapter of course, but I also love hearing from you guys.
Aside from that please leave a review if you liked this chapter or know which episode Skye's phone call is in reference to.
Lesliezin
