Biting cold winds stung Bucky's face as he and Alexis descended from the Quinjet. He went first, helping her down onto the snow swept land of his nightmares. Just the feel of the wind seemed to usher a slew of memories he wished he could never recall. He strained to remember the look of his mother's face. The sound of his sisters' voices, the look of his bedroom in his first home...but in almost an instant, just upon feeling the winter winds of this land, he so easily remembered the pain that came with it. The cruelness of it was sometimes all he could focus on...but not today. Not now. Not with Alexis there.
Dressed in her black and purple bodysuit, her hair tied into a braid over one shoulder, she looked every bit the warrior he knew she was. Svelte. Lean. Flexible. Lethal. The pink color in her cheeks proved that she felt the cold more than he did, even after their transfer was completed before they landed. Still, her dark eyes were focused and clear; their chocolate hue brighter against the white of the landscape around them.
"You good?" he asked, his voice a level higher over the sound of the Quinjet's engines and the swirling winds.
Alexis nodded and initiated her suit gloves to cover her hands. "Lovely place" she added with some sarcasm.
Bucky's mouth kicked up at one side. "Our next vacation spot?" He watched as she gave him a semi-playful glare.
"Think again."
He gripped the back of her neck and squeezed. "I love you."
They exchanged a smile that spoke of the underlying anxiety they both felt, temporarily soothed by his admission of love.
Behind them, one of Stark's men unloaded their backpacks and additional gun holsters onto the snow beside them. They were already strapped with enough ammo to decimate a large building off its foundation, but like Bucky had said: they could never have enough when it came to Hydra. The packs were the last thing with which they would outfit themselves.
Bucky gave a nod of thanks and the man took leave of them. He saluted him and Alex as the Quinjet's hatch lifted upward and sealed itself closed. The aircraft pulled away, disappearing into the low cloud deck without a trace.
Handing her one of the backpacks, Bucky strapped her in and made sure it the pack was tight but comfortable. No loose straps to get in her way and all her weapons ready for quick unloading. It reminded him of their morning back on the island when they prepared to attack Boroshka. The only difference was that it had been warmer. Greener. More humid. But the enemy was no different.
Now or never, Alex said through their bond.
Bucky loaded his own pack onto his back and set everything just the same, then lifted his rifle into his hands. Follow me.
They began the trek towards the bunker. They landed only a mile out, knowing there wasn't much cover one way or another. Unlike Boroshka's hut, they couldn't avoid being seen this time around. Hydra kept underground sensors to monitor all movement, so concealing themselves wasn't even an option. Dobrow and Kovalenko would know they were coming, but knowing this had helped them formulate a plan. And a backup to that plan. The mile-long trek would play into that plan, bringing them in to the second entrance Hydra kept far from the main entrance. This would give them time to see what they were up against and react accordingly.
Plus...Bucky knew everything about this place. He didn't remember every minute detail, but he remembered. The winds and the snow had brought it back to him. His eyes scanned the horizon, noting subtleties in the snow where cameras and sensors were placed.
Two to the east. One to the west. One dead ahead. See the slight indent in the snow?
Alex squinted through the swirling winds, but she could see what Bucky was alluding to. Yes. Cameras?
Thermo sensors. He could almost hear her eyes roll.
Great. Lovely.
He smiled.
The bunker itself was built into a small hillside. The geographic nature of this part of Ukraine was nearly featureless; bleak, windswept, shaped by harsh conditions almost all months of the year. Wherever a mound or small rolling hill was, Hydra built their hideaways beneath them. The bunker they approached was no different. Cold gray concrete doors were the only giveaway that they'd even arrived. The concrete was reinforced by impenetrable elements that boasted Hydra's scientific advancements, but Bucky knew all about how to get past them.
He also knew that Hydra always had more than one entrance. One kept for its guests. The other for its insiders, which was always some distance away from the main entrance. The reason was twofold: to give the impression there was only one way in or out, and to keep track of every single person who went in or out. Though he wasn't one of them anymore, Bucky would gladly use the bunker's insider-only entrance one final time.
Their trek ended at the hidden second entrance. It was built into the ground like a tunnel, hidden beneath snow and revealed only when security granted it. Thanks to Stark and his ingenuity, he was supplied with a makeshift biometric entry developed from his blood. Much like a special fingerprint for super soldiers, the security clearance for Hydra would scan the "blood card", as Stark had called it, and sense the serum within it. If successful, it would grant Bucky and Alex entrance to the bunker without fanfare.
At least, that's what Stark told them.
The security monitor was a panel that hid below ground. With its own thermo-sensor, it automatically popped out of the ground when Bucky and Alex approached and unfolded a small computer screen the size of a cell phone. Bucky lifted the blood card up to the monitor and it began to scan for his serum.
A minute passed. Alex glanced at Bucky as they waited. Is something wrong?
Don't know. He scanned the wintry landscape around them, searching for any kind of movement or any sense that someone was watching them. Luckily, he sensed nothing.
The panel made a tiny beeping noise and ejected the blood card. Russian letters appeared on the screen as the panel flashed green.
What does it say? Alex asked.
Bucky sheathed the card inside one of his vest pockets with a tightened jaw. Welcome, Winter Soldier. The words had left an icy feel along his spine; like a ghost rising from the past before his eyes.
Alex stared at him, even as the layer of snow concealing the entryway melted backward to reveal a massive set of doors in the ground. A grinding sound could be heard as three sets of reinforced metal and concrete flushed open to accept them.
Rifle up, Bucky told her. He raised his own and was about to enter, but Alex's hand on his arm halted him.
Are you okay?
A question laced with concern and love. She knew walking into this bunker meant more to him than just a mission. It meant walking back into a living memory; one far worse than any she tried to remove or heal in his mind.
He took one look at the doors before them before returning his gaze to Alex. Yes. I have you.
Alex smiled, and the sight of it warmed his heart. I'm with you all the way. Same as on the island. As if to prove it, she took the first step towards the now open bunker doors.
Bucky followed, entering shoulder-to-shoulder with her. He heard the clack of her cocking her rifle, the nose of it lifted before her as they took one cautious step after another inside the tunnel.
It was cold. Bitterly cold.
Just as Bucky remembered.
Somewhere inside this place was his old cell. The cell from his nightmares where they tortured him. Molded his mind. Inflicted pain and forced obedience from him against his will. Somewhere inside this place that cell likely still waited. He hoped he wouldn't have to see it.
Next to him, Alex felt and heard his fear in her mind. Her sympathetic gaze shifted his way. If you do end up seeing it, I'll be with you. You won't have to do it alone.
I don't want to do it at all.
I know, babe.
Stay focused, he told her - as well as himself. We have a long way to go before that moment, if it comes.
Alex's thoughts went quiet again; a testament of her following orders. A testament of her trust. She followed him into these places to hunt these people because she loved him. He would lead her into this horrific place, but he would lead her out again. That was his promise.
The stalked one concrete hallway after another as they traveled further into the bunker. Cameras were everywhere. There was no way those within its walls didn't know they were here by now, and yet...all was eerily quiet. The hum of a machine in the distance. A trickle of water somewhere nearby. But that was it.
Where are they? Bucky thought.
Alex heard him, of course. She glared down the nose of her rifle. Buying their time until we walk into their trap.
You remember the plan?
I do.
Then don't hesitate. Don't blink. Do exactly what we discussed.
I will. Her eyes flicked his way. Please be careful.
A strained smile barely quirked his mouth. You too, doll.
They rounded the corner and felt warmer air hit them. Wherever this maze lead them, it was evidently leading them closer to the heart of the bunker. Bucky tried to remember which hallway lead where, but his memory wasn't repaired enough to give him that kind of detail. He pushed onward carefully, gun poised and ready. They came to another curve in the hallway but Bucky halted, fist raised in a gesture that stopped Alex from moving.
Hear that?
Her eyes grew larger. Footsteps.
Bucky nodded. Be ready.
He took the first steps to round the corner and the gun fire was immediate. Five Hydra soldiers stood at the end of the hallway, but they dropped in a spray of blood as Bucky expertly took them out one by one. He blocked three shots with his outstretched metal hand while firing with the other. They were dead in less than 15 seconds.
Safe. Come out.
Alex turned the corner and saw the bodies. There's gotta be more.
Without a doubt. Stay behind me.
They pushed onward and encountered a larger rush of soldiers. Bullets rang off the walls, showering them with fragments of splintered concrete and stone. Behind them, a second wave of soldiers arrived in an attempt to corner them.
Given that the couple wasn't just connected by physical characteristics, but also mentally linked, the soldiers stood no chance. Bucky and Alex were a perfect mirror of one another, their movements precise and quick. They moved in perfect unison; their guns firing at the exact same time as they sent bodies flying backward. Bucky crouched as Alex flipped over his back, landed behind him, and began firing. They turned in a circle, backs to one another, silently speaking through their link as they aimed, fired, and killed.
Grenade.
On it.
Alex threw a ball grenade down the hall and spun. Bucky shot the grenade before it landed, watching as it exploded in the faces of the soldiers, killing them instantly. The couple turned once more, backs together, and repeated their movement down the other hallway. When the grenade exploded and the rest of the bodies dropped in a pool of blood, the couple ran.
They cleared the bodies, leaping over them and headed down a different hallway. At one point, Bucky glanced over at Alex. Not bad for a first time doing this, huh?
She pushed him playfully in the side and increased her speed.
They turned another corner, feeling a rush of warmer air hit them. Beyond, the hallway came to a split at the end, one side peeling off to the left; the other to the right. When Bucky and Alex reached the split, they slowed to a stop.
Which way? Alex asked.
Bucky shook his head. He didn't know. He couldn't remember.
Above them, a voice rattled the empty hallway, coming from a speaker they couldn't see. "We were wondering what kind of entrance you would make when you arrived, Soldier."
Dobrow. Bucky raised his rifle to his shoulder. Don't say anything.
Alex's powers came to life in a way that Bucky could feel in his own chest and arms. The tingling sensation was like a fire being lit across his skin, tugging at his chest as though it wanted to be set free. She held her rifle close as her dark eyes scanned the hallways around them.
"Don't worry. We aren't sending another welcoming party," Dobrow's voice continued. "We've decided to forgo force and instead, attempt to use cooperation. As such, we would like to speak with you. Alone."
"Not happening" Bucky growled. He could feel his pulse throbbing in his ears as his anger spiked and honed his concentration. "You want to talk? Come out of hiding."
"In due time" Dobrow answered. The faint echo of his voice sounded hollow against the concrete walls.
Beyond the split hallways were two separate sets of doors. They opened in unison, one leading to an extended corridor to the left and another down to the right. Bucky and Alex looked beyond each to find nothing but more concrete and metal.
"If you cooperate, you may find that we may come to terms we can both agree to" said Dobrow. "But cooperation is key."
He's lying.
Alex was glaring now, her dark brows furrowed and harsh. I know. It's all they know how to do.
Whatever he says, we do not split up.
"I see that you managed to repair your hand, dear."
Alex spun around at the sound of the female voice. She took a step towards the hallway to her right where Kovalenko's voice was coming from but could see nothing. James. It's her.
Don't answer her. Don't say anything.
"Amazing what technology can do, no?"
Kovalenko's words curled Alex's lip into a snarl. She raised her rifle higher, ready to kill the first person who dared to show up in that hallway.
"Science seems to have cured your...mate...as well" Kovalenko continued.
I'll kill the bitch.
Bucky felt Alex's powers flare as he listened to her words inside his mind. He could feel her heartbeat racing. Her blood ran both cold and hot, pumping hard but slowing to a chilled stop all the same.
He knew the feeling. He knew the feeling all too well.
"Why don't we have a chat? Work a few things out?" Kovalenko proposed. "There's so much I'd like to discuss."
"I agree, Soldier." Dobrow's voice sounded again, this time from the opposite hallway. "Why don't we let the ladies work things out while we men have our own discussion? It'll be like old times."
Bucky's back was to Alex; a few paces separating them. Their stares were focused down their separate hallways, searching for who the voices belonged to and if they would show themselves.
And then Bucky felt a shiver in Alex's powers as though it was his own. Alexis?
Something's not right. Someone's coming-
A grinding sound came from above them. They turned to see a metal panel appear from the ceiling of the hall as it slid down between the two of them, effectively separating them.
"ALEX" Bucky shouted, his fist pounding hard against the metal. "Alex! Can you hear me?" He could feel her fear explode inside his own body.
"James!?"
Bucky dropped his rifle as the plates of his arm locked into position. He began pummeling the panel with his fist, the shape of his metal knuckles leaving indents with each heavy punch. "ALEXIS!"
On the other side of the wall, Alex stood horrified. She watched as Bucky's hand punched harder and harder, his breathing as heavy as the power he put into those punches. She felt his urgency. His fear. His anger. His emotions were a storm cloud that gathered around her, her body taking the rush of his panic as he fought to break the wall between them.
"Come now, dear. It's time we talked a little bit."
Alex whipped around to find Kovalenko standing at the end of her hallway. She was dressed in a Hydra uniform; all black and red, with a single patch on the shoulder bearing their emblem. On her face was that same smug, tight smile. She seemed pleased. Even a bit humored.
"He always was a fighter, wasn't he?" Her clear eyes barely acknowledged Bucky's cries and the sound of metal against metal as he drove his hand harder against the panel.
James-
I won't leave you, Alexis!
"I want to apologize for what happened to your hand," Kovalenko continued. "I didn't mean for my men to leave such a messy job unfinished."
Alex growled so loudly that Bucky heard it on the other side of the wall. She aimed her rifle dead center of the woman's forehead and pulled the trigger, unleashing an entire magazine of bullets. She expected the body to jump backward from the fire power but instead, the bullets passed right through and sprayed the wall behind her, breaking the concrete as the bullets fell to the floor.
Alex lowered the gun in shock, eyes unblinking, as she stared at Kovalenko down the hallway. A hologram. Kovalenko wasn't there at all. It was just a projection.
Kovalenko remained standing, her tight lips unmoving. "Nice try, dear, but don't you think we anticipated this?"
The punching on the other side of the wall stopped. Alexis? Are you okay? What is she saying?
Alex's eyes remained on the hologram, but her mind answered Bucky. I'm fine. Are you okay?
Yes. I'll find a way to get to you. I promise.
She turned regretfully from the image of Kovalenko to face the wall. They're using holograms, James. They may not even be here.
They're here. We'll find them. I've got to get to you first, okay? I won't leave you.
Alex heard the sound of him lifting his rifle off the ground. She felt his every move and heard his every thought as he reasoned out a plan inside his mind on how to get to her. She walked up to the wall and put her hand against the panel. James. Listen. We still have our bond. If we have to do this mission separately, we are still with each other. We can do this. If they want us separated, well, then...the joke's on them, isn't it?
A breath of silence, and then Alex felt Bucky's hand press against the metal across from hers. Through their bond they could sense where the other was - enough that they knew where their hand was against the panel.
I will find you. There's a way out of this, and I might remember it. I don't know yet. I need to see. I have to leave this spot in order to find it, but I WILL find you.
Alex rested her head against the metal. I'll find you too. We'll be with each other every step of the way.
I love you.
I love you too.
Alex heard him take off at a lumbered sprint, his boots echoing down the hall until she could no longer hear them. Behind her, the holographic image of Kovalenko began to chuckle.
"You two aren't much for words, are you?"
Alex smirked at the metal she was still facing, then wiped it from her face as she turned back towards Kovalenko. "You think you know everything, don't you? You think you have us cornered? In the exact place you and your boy, Erik, planned to get us in?" She shook her head as her grin turned vicious. "Think again, Oxana. I know all about you...your past...your failed purpose within Hydra. You may think you're one step ahead of us, but - once again - you're wrong."
Kovalenko's expression turned sour. "I never much liked you from our brief interactions," she told her. "And I like you even less now."
Alex saw Kovalenko nod subtly off to her side. There was a push of air above her as tiny vents began to open. Alex looked up and saw a cloud of orange smoke fill the hallway. Inside her chest, her muscles began to contract as her airway started to close.
"One step ahead, you say?" Kovalenko taunted. "I doubt that."
Alex fell to her knees, her hands clutching at her throat. James...
What's wrong?
She choked, her throat constricting as she gasped for air. Gas. The vents. Can't breathe-
Her mind went blank and she fell to the floor.
Bucky stopped dead in his tracks.
Gas. Can't breathe.
The link between him and Alex faded into nothing as fear took complete control of him. He couldn't sense her anymore. Terror gripped at his chest, threatening to make him weak if he didn't keep his focus.
Bucky turned back the way he'd just come, but then paused. Should he go to her? Or should he carry on the way he was going and find another way to reach her? What kind of gas did they use? If they poisoned her-
No. No. No, that's not possible.
The hardest thing Bucky had to do was take that first step away from Alex's direction. It felt like he was leaving her, and he swore he would never leave her. He needed to get to her another way, and he had to focus if he was going to save her.
I'll find you, he repeated in his mind. I'm not leaving you. If you can hear me, Alexis...I'm not leaving you.
He took off a sprint and made his way through the tunnel-like halls. He came to a stop when he arrived at an elevator...an elevator that came to the surface of his memory as he stared at it. Staring back at him was the skull and tentacle emblem etched into the door of the elevator, its dead stare silently judging him. He remembered this elevator somehow. It was the only elevator in the bunker, if he recalled correctly.
He averted his gaze from the emblem and lifted out his blood card. He held it up to the security screen and the doors slid open.
"Come to the third level, Soldier" came Dobrow's voice within the elevator. "If you try to exit on any other level, I'll have you disabled immediately."
The doors of the elevator slid closed but the car did not move. Bucky stared at the panel of buttons bearing the various floors within the bunker, knowing Dobrow was watching him. He was sick of Dobrow watching him. He wasn't Dobrow's pet anymore. The days of obeying him - and Hydra - were long gone.
He pressed the button for Level 1.
"Sorry, Dobrow" he uttered darkly. "I don't take orders from you anymore."
Silence was his only response. Bucky readied his rifle and used those last few seconds to load another magazine of ammo into its chamber. When the doors opened, he was surprised to see the hallway empty. No soldiers. No bullets. No one to restrain him or disable him. Just another empty threat from Dobrow and another lie from Hydra.
Bucky stepped out of the elevator with his rifle pointed, cautious and alert. He checked every corridor he passed. No one was around, but he knew plenty of eyes were watching. As he moved down the hallway, his memory slowly came back to him. This level had the same acrid smell of his nightmares: a mix of corroded wiring and something musty. The carpet below his feet was aged and stained, but at least it muffled his boots. He checked each door he passed by to see if it would open, but had no luck. He listened for Alex internally and externally, waiting on any sign that she regained consciousness or, God forbid, if the sound of her screams could help him locate her.
Alexis? He strained to feel their intense connection inside him, but it wasn't there. Alexis, if you can hear me—
"If you're looking for the girl, you're on the wrong floor" Dobrow's voice echoed. "You haven't grown much smarter with time, have you, Soldier?"
Bucky ground his jaw but kept silent.
"Come to the third level, Soldier. You won't be disappointed."
Bucky ignored the voice and went on the hunt for information. He shot the security panels of each door in the hallway until they sparked, popped, and died. He kicked the doors open and inspected each room, trying to find the one he knew housed all the security camera feeds. When he found it, he lowered his rifle and quickly scanned the monitors that displayed nearly 100 camera feeds covering every square inch of the bunker. Outside cameras. Inside cameras. Angles he recognized. Many he didn't.
And then he saw her.
Crumpled against a wall, her head lolled to one side, sat Alexis. A shadow loomed just out of frame and appeared to be standing watch over her, and Bucky breathed a small sigh of relief. If she was dead, they would have left her. He was certain of it. Not dead - just out cold.
He needed to see more. Quickly, he looked over the keyboard and familiarized himself with the controls for the cameras. He swore under his breath at his lack of computer skills as he clicked a few buttons hopelessly, but finally he came to one that allowed him to pan the camera outward. He pressed the button, watching as the camera showing Alexis slowly zoomed out. He hoped to see who stood watch over her, but what he saw instead took the very breath from his lungs.
Dark iron bars. A cement floor. A layer of water.
No. Bucky backed away from the computer monitor. No.
His old cell.
They'd taken her to his old cell.
"Surely you would like to discuss some terms now, hmm?" came Dobrow's voice.
Bucky wheeled around, anger setting fire to the blue of his eyes. "LET HER GO" he yelled, the force of thunder behind his voice.
"Come to the third level."
Bucky clenched his jaw so hard he felt it through his ears. His heart hammered inside his chest. Banging. Pounding. Trying to get out.
Think, Barnes.
Focus.
Two choices.
He had two choices.
Go to the cell. Face his past. Face the humiliation, the hurt, the pain, the fear - and free Alex himself. Or go to Dobrow and reason his way into freeing Alex. Either way, they had him. But if he was going to free Alex, he was going to do it on his own terms. Not Dobrow's.
Bucky raised his rifle and pointed the barrel at the camera's computer system. He pulled the trigger and didn't let go until the entire system was licking flames and spewing smoke. The camera images on the monitors disappeared one by one, their images fizzling from gray and white lines to black permanence. When the system had been completely decimated, Bucky lowered the rifle and made for the door.
If he was doing this on his terms, he wasn't about to allow an audience to watch.
Alex awoke to darkness. At first she thought she was stricken blind by whatever gas had taken her out...but once her eyes adjusted, she realized she'd only been taken somewhere.
Somewhere dim.
And wet.
She shifted, feeling water seeping through her suit. The chill of the concrete surface beneath her ached against her bottom and the back of her legs. When she tried to stand, her arms felt like jelly; still too weak from the lingering effects of the gas to do anything but sit in there on the damp, cold floor. She wriggled her wrists and ankles to test for restraints but found none. Her backpack was missing though. So was her hip holster and utility belt. Stripped of everything...everything but Bucky's strength flowing through her veins.
"Going somewhere so soon? We haven't even had the chance to talk yet."
Through the fog in her mind, Alex heard Kovalenko. Her bitter voice sounded like she was down a long tunnel, but Alex knew from the way her powers flickered inside her that she was actually close. She leaned her head back and felt a cold metal bar against her neck. Closing her eyes, she feebly tried to find her connection to Bucky, but her mind was still too clouded.
Footsteps approached; the sound of short heels clicking dully in shallow water. When Alex opened her eyes again, Kovalenko was standing in front of her. "May we finally talk, Miss Markos?"
Alex chuckled bitterly. "How polite of you to ask." Her eyes adjusted further and she noticed Kovalenko was dressed in the uniform she'd had on in the hologram. Had it not been for the clicking of the woman's heels, she would have guessed it to be another mirage.
"How did you manage to heal your hand?"
"That's what we're starting with?" Alex laughed again and shook her head. "Hydra's got its priorities all wrong. No wonder you're always on the losing side."
"Is there something you would prefer we chat about first, then?"
"Yeah, actually." She settled her gaze on Kovalenko's icy stare. "Why don't we discuss the breeding program?"
Kovalenko's body went rigid. Her eyes never moved, never blinked, not even an intake of air could be detected - but with Bucky's serum flowing through her veins, she was able to notice the subtle way her body tensed on the spot.
"I'd love to know why a 60-something year old woman is still holding a grudge that her chance at being bred like a horse didn't happen." Alex cocked her head, still resting it against the cold bar of the cell. "I mean - that's what this is all about, isn't it?" She lifted her right hand and smiled. "What this was all about?"
Kovalenko lowered until she was eye level with her. "You are a threat. That's why I ordered you disabled that night. Don't believe you're someone special when you are not."
The face before Alex was the same face from Bucky's memory. After seeing Kovalenko in the memory and then seeing her again here, Alex could look upon her with new eyes. Though Kovalenko showed her age in many ways, the woman who crouched before her still showed many similar characteristics as the young woman in the memory. Even with an expression pinched from brewing anger, Alex could very plainly see the young woman from the memory.
"My only regret is that my men did not finish the job." Kovalenko stood, clear eyes unmoving as she glared down her nose. "I trusted the wrong men. But today, with you here in the Soldier's old cell, I'll finish the job myself."
Alex felt her blood still. She blinked and looked more closely at where Kovalenko had her. The darkness was consuming. Only a single light bulb provided any light, casting a dim shadow over her where she sat. She couldn't see much...but she knew. She knew now. The steel bars. The water. The penetrating cold and darkness.
"Poetic, isn't it?" Kovalenko said with a smirk. "You'll die in the place where your mate was created."
Alex closed her eyes and reached out to Bucky through their bond. James, can you hear me? Can you feel me? I'm okay. I'm alive.
"I found these strapped to your back, which I found peculiar."
Alex heard the snap of Natasha's batons and her eyes shot open. Kovalenko was holding them, examining them as she turned them over in her hands. James? Are you okay? I need you to hear me—
"I wonder if he responds the way he used to when given a good jolt?"
She moved the baton like a knife, stabbing into the darkness with a sadistic laugh. The sound of that laugh was the first time Alex truly felt scared. It wasn't the laugh of anyone normal. It wasn't even the laugh she heard from the younger Kovalenko in the memory. A lifetime of hatred echoed in that laugh and it unnerved Alex to the core.
Alexis!?
Her eyes widened when she heard James inside her mind. The sound of him was loud and clear; the feel of him filling her body like a breath of fresh air expanding her lungs. James! Where are you!?
I'm coming for you. Are you safe?
No. She kept an eye on Kovalenko, who was testing the batons. Not yet.
Are you...in the cell?
Yes. Hurry.
Alex didn't know how he knew, but she didn't have time to figure that out. Kovalenko approached at a leisurely stride, swinging the batons like they were toys. Their neon blue glow lit the space enough that she could get a better look at the cell in its entirety. Contraptions of a kind she didn't recognize hung from the ceiling not far from where she sat. Straps. Clips. Pins. Torturous looking things whose use she didn't dare think about. Levers outside the cell with Russian words written above that she couldn't decipher. Something flickering in the distance. A door. More levers. Below her, she could see breaks in the concrete. A set of four lines that formed a square, and many, many claw marks near the bars. A shiver traveled the length of Alex's spine at the thought of their cause.
Kovalenko placed both batons in one hand and reached behind her back as she stepped into Alex's space. She withdrew a serrated knife and stared at it lovingly. "Surely you remember this?"
Alex eyed the blade and a memory of pain rippled through her right hand at the sight. It was the knife that butchered her hand that night on the rooftop.
"I retrieved it before I fled the States to come here" Kovalenko continued, her reverie bringing a subtle smile to her tight mouth. "I like to take personal affects, you see. Things to remember certain kills with. This, however..." She flashed the blade at Alex. "This was taken as a reminder that I would not fail again. This time, I will take your life."
As subtly as she could, Alex pushed herself up against the bars of the cell and tested her strength. She could feel the fog in her mind dissipating and the strength she borrowed from Bucky returning in full. If Kovalenko thought her a wilted flower still under the influence of toxic gas, she had another thing coming. Kovalenko didn't know she shared the effects of Bucky's serum or that she was about to spring them on her at just the right moment.
"But let's talk a bit about your question. About the breeding program." Kovaleno managed to pull her mouth into a larger smile, but her eyes didn't follow. They remained bitter and hateful. "You are correct in one way, Miss Markos. I was to be the Soldier's carrier. I was to birth his first. The child born would be Hydra's prototype for future soldier iterations, and they considered me the best for the job."
Kovalenko paused to look down at the knife, and Alex noticed her hands tighten around the blade. She allowed her to continue her little diatribe while she summoned her powers from within her internal well, pulling them into her hands as she summoned Bucky's strength into her legs. When the moment came, she would spring with all the force she could summon.
"It was not to be, sadly. But Hydra adjusted. Hydra always adjusts." Kovalenko lifted her frozen gaze and Alex felt a chill emanate from her. "You're wrong about the grudge, however. I hold no grudge."
"I don't know, Oxana. Your grip on that knife suggests otherwise," Alex taunted. She dug deep inside herself and continued to pull her powers into her arms and legs, feeling them thrum in her muscles as they combined with Bucky's strength. "Just admit that you're pissed I'm fucking the man you always wanted to but never got to." She smirked. "And if you couldn't have him, then no one can have him. Right, Oxana? Because only you deserved to have him?"
Kovalenko dropped the batons and bent forward, lifting the knife to Alex's throat. "You think you're really something, don't you? You believe that monster actually cares for you?"
Alex narrowed her gaze. "He's not a monster. Hydra is. And thanks to Hydra, I will never have his child." She leaned in closer to Kovalenko's face. "But at least he fucks me because he wants to, not because it's some job."
This brought Kovalenko's emotions to the surface. There was a dangerous stillness to her as red hot color flushed her otherwise pale cheeks. Alex watched as a muscle twitched in her jaw, and then Kovalenko pressed the knife to her neck even harder.
"You're a cocky little bitch," Kovalenko hissed through clenched teeth. "I detected it the first moment I laid eyes on you, and that cockiness will cost you your life. But before I take it from you - I will take my memento first."
Kovalenko wrapped her free hand around Alex's braid and drew the knife through its length, severing it from Alex's head.
Alex's brain stuttered for a moment, her eyes frozen open with shock. She stared at the hair - her hair - in Kovalenko's hand and felt her rage rise faster than magma.
Kovalenko pocketed Alex's long braid with a look of satisfaction. "You won't be needing to look so pretty once I've killed you, anyways."
Alex felt her stomach roll. Her hair. She never considered herself vain. She never considered herself better than anyone or prettier than anyone because of her long hair, but it was hers. She'd had it for so long...had grown it out for so long...that it was always a part of her. And this bitch took it.
"Remember this, Miss Markos: you're nothing but a DNA experiment gone wrong," Kovalenko fumed. "I was the only one meant to breed with the Soldier. Why would anyone want to breed with you, when all you've got is bad blood running through your veins?"
"Well, that's where you're wrong again, Oxana" Alex replied, her voice uncommonly low. "I've got a super serum in my blood."
She lunged, throwing all the force she had into Kovalenko. The knife flew from the woman's hand as she fell onto her back with a cry. Alex landed in a crouched position behind her, right next to Natasha's batons. She grabbed one in each hand and stood, feeling the power come to life in her hands.
She walked towards Kovalenko and kicked her.
She kicked her a second time until she rolled onto her stomach, watching as the shallow water splashed about her.
She waited until the woman shifted onto her hands and knees like a dog and then Alex kicked her again. It knocked her back so hard, her head hit the cement.
Stepping over her, Alex held one of the batons close enough to Kovalenko's neck that her skin glowed blue. "This 'DNA experiment gone bad' allows me the ability to see James' memories. And you'll never guess who I saw there?"
Kovalenko groaned and tried to push herself up out of the shallow water, but Alex pushed her back down. "I saw you. Crazy, isn't it? And guess what I saw you do to him?" Kovalenko looked up and for the first time, Alex detected fear in that icy stare. "I watched you shock him, and you laughed. And now you will pay for that with your life."
She took a step away and swung the batons, driving them into Kovalenko's chest. The electric shock shook the woman's body violently, sending both water and a screams into the air. Alex kept the impact short and backed away as Kovalenko gasped for air.
"Stand up and fight" Alex told her, twirling the batons into an attack position. "GET UP or I'll do it again."
Kovalenko stood, albeit feebly. Her graying hair had loosened from its bun as wet pieces stuck to her cheeks. As her eyes found Alex's, she could tell they were bloodshot from the shock, but were every bit as evil and angry.
This time, Kovalenko lunged first. Alex dodged her as they parried; Alex swinging her batons, Kovalenko lunging with her knife. She stood no chance against Alexis; not with Bucky's borrowed strength and her own skills in fighting. Alex easily disabled her, sending the knife flying beyond the reach of the cell. She leapt over her in a somersault and swung the batons, knocking Kovalenko off her feet and onto her back once more. Alex straddled her, engaged the batons once more, and delivered another shocking blow to her chest. Only when Kovalenko blacked out from the pain did she ease up and back away.
When Kovalenko's body moved no more, Alex walked over to where the knife had skittered beyond the bars. She reached through with one of the batons, straining to the point of pain as she desperately tried to reach the knife. She reached and wiggled, angling herself enough until she could finally pull the knife towards her, and then eased the blade back through the bars.
Alex took one look at the serrated edge and the events of the ambush came rushing back to her. She held it in her right hand, remembering the feel of it tearing through muscle and bone as the agent drove it through her palm. She remembered the hopelessness she felt when her powers sputtered out and died, the look on Bucky's face right before she passed out, and the pain she endured to heal that wound.
She looked over at Kovalenko, her body still motionless on the floor.
With the knife still in her right hand, Alex knelt beside Kovalenko and drove the blade through her chest.
Kovalenko's eyes popped open for only a moment, her chest convulsing against the knife buried within it. Alex took one final look at those icy eyes as the life drained from them and turned away. She listened, feeling no remorse, as Kovalenko choked and sputtered. One final fight, Alex thought. And she'll lose this one too.
When all grew silent, Alex lowered to the floor and closed her eyes. I'm safe now, James.
I'm almost there.
Alex felt a burst of warmth bloom inside her chest. Her powers tingled over every inch of her skin, and then the sound of heavy boots on concrete filled the space behind her. She stood, turning towards where the door must have been, and that's when she saw him. His blue eyes burned bright, even in the darkness of the room. The relief in his smile as it burst across his handsome face made Alex run to the barred wall of the cell. "James!?"
Bucky ran to her, his hands clasping around the metal rods next to hers. "I'm here" he said, his breathing labored from running. "Are you okay?"
"I am now" she said, taking a quick look over him. "Are you?"
"I am now." He pressed his forehead to the space between the metal bars, and then Alex did the same. They felt the telepathic bond between them pulse stronger than ever as relief washed over them. They were two halves of one whole being, and their connection never felt more solid than it did in that moment.
Bucky reached a hand through the metals rods to cup Alex's cheek and then halted. Alex noticed alarm change his beautiful eyes, their shape growing rounder as he noticed her hair. "Your hair..."
Sadness hit Alex in that moment. She'd been too shocked to feel it earlier, but the disappointment she detected in Bucky's eyes made a part of her crumble. "She cut it."
His mouth hardened. "Why." Not a question. A demand; one that Kovalenko would no longer be able to answer.
"She wanted a keepsake before she killed me."
A shadow crossed Bucky's face as he shifted his eyes past her. "Is she dead?"
"Yes."
He gave a curt nod. Good.
It was the first time he had seen his cell in decades. To him, those bars represented the prison of his past. Alex could see how much it haunted him. She felt the depth of his pain and heard his disparaging thoughts through their bond. She watched as his eyes scanned Kovalenko, then those horrific items hanging from the ceiling, then the cement floor beneath them.
"Let me get you out of here" was all he said.
He walked over the panel of levers near the far wall and engaged each of them in a sequence Alex would have never guessed. Several locking mechanisms around the cell unfolded before one wall of bars slid open.
Alex passed Kovalenko on the floor with the knife still in her chest. She took Bucky's outstretched hand and stepped out of the cell, and then fell into his arms. They hugged quietly; standing in the shadow of the cell and all it represented.
"I'm sorry you had to find me here," Alex whispered against his neck.
Though Alex couldn't see it, Bucky gave her a pained smile. "I'm not" he uttered. "At least this place has one good memory attached to it." Alex pulled back, looking at him with question in her eyes. He let his fingers play through the chopped ends of her now-shoulder length hair, a bittersweet smile on his lips. "I found you alive, didn't I?"
Alex mirrored his smile. "You did."
He glanced over at Kovalenko. "One job finished."
"One more to go" said Alex. She took his hand in hers and squeezed. "Let's finish this one together."