Erik Dobrow put every last man between himself and the two Avengers who were coming for him. He'd seen the girl kill Kovalenko. He'd watched her pounce like a cat; her movements crisp and flawless like that of someone trained for far more years than she seemed to have been alive for. She was extremely athletic and capable, so the duel had been a swift one. Soon after, he watched Kovalenko take her final breath.
Watched, and felt nothing.
He had more to worry about than her. He had his own life to worry about.
And then the cameras went blank. The Soldier took those out, and he'd lost his view on the bunker. He'd taken them out as efficiently and as calmly as he took out Kovalenko's men when he first arrived. Everything about the Soldier was the same save for one thing: he was fighting for the opposite side. He'd lost none of his bulky build; his body still a sharply honed tool made for battle. He gaze was also as fierce as he remembered, but his eyes were no longer empty. They held a fire in them that had not been present during his years training and shaping the Winter Soldier. This, perhaps above all else, had disappointed him the most. He worked too hard to remove James Barnes from the Winter Soldier, but the Soldier had fought hard. Harder than most ever lived to tell. When Erik had finished his work, the Soldier had come out the other end and the identity of James Barnes had been successfully wiped. It was a shame to see all that hard work had been put to waste.
What intrigued Erik most was how the Soldier and the girl annihilated those soldiers with eery similarity. It made him wonder if there was more to their pairing than met the eye. They moved together like a reflection; an optical illusion come to life. There was no way the girl had as much training as the Soldier did, so it had to be a production of some kind. Was Stark behind it? Was S.H.I.E.L.D.? If he could replicate whatever they did to enhance their fighting, it might be worth taking them both alive...if it was lucky enough to do so.
As he stood at the two-way mirror that looked beyond the wall of his office, Erik watched in silent horror as the Soldier and the girl fought against his men as expertly as they had earlier. Their body movement, their aim, their hand-to-hand combat: all of it executed in perfect harmony. Even stranger, they never once uttered a word to the other. Erik had made note of this earlier when they first arrived, but after watching the pair after they were divided by the hallway barrier, there had to be something there between them that allowed them to talk or move or work together in some silent way. Whatever it was, he needed that technology.
When the last of his own men was gunned down by the Soldier, Erik inhaled a steady breath and pushed his shoulders back. He would take them both alive himself. He would retrieve whatever technology existed between them, and would bring them back to Hydra for further study. Kovalenko had hired him for this purpose, and he would not fail.
And while Erik knew he was a prideful man, he was not stupid. He understood he was only one man against two trained Avengers. He would need backup eventually.
Bullets rang off the metal door separating himself from the Avengers, so Erik quickly lifted the receiver of the office's one way emergency line. A male voice spoke a curt Russian greeting, and in return, Erik spoke the phrase the man on the other line needed to hear to initiate backup: "Hydra Agent 1624 requesting immediate backup. All on-site units disabled. Threat level imm-"
The door to the office burst open in a screeching boom of metal against metal. Erik turned in time to see the Soldier appear through the busted doorway, eyes ablaze and angry. He pointed his rifle and shot the telephone receiver out of his hand.
"Time's up, Dobrow" the Soldier said, his voice just as harsh and dark as it had been all those decades ago.
A mocking smile spread across Erik's face. "Is it, Soldier?"
The girl appeared through the doorway next. She stood beside the Soldier, barrel raised and ready to shoot. It was interesting to see that the Soldier allowed a woman to stand next to him while in battle and not behind him. Very interesting indeed. Whatever the Avengers did, they certainly didn't follow Hydra rules.
Erik shifted his focus to her. "We haven't had the pleasure of meeting, you and I. Alexis, is it? You're not a bad fighter, Alexis. You would have made a wonderful subject here at Hydra."
The girl stared at him with disgust in her large eyes. Her full pout formed a scowl behind the barrel of her automatic rifle. "And end up like your gal pal back in the cell?" she said, the taunt in her voice evident. "No thanks."
It was the first time Erik heard her speak since she arrived. Her speech was as feisty as she looked. With a face like hers and eyes that swallowed you whole as they were doing to him in that moment, he could see why the Soldier had fallen weak to her. "Perhaps you're right" he jeered. "Hydra doesn't take well to women who do not submit to their superiors."
"You can surrender" Bucky interjected brusquely, drawing the attention away from Alex. "Or you can die. Your choice."
Erik took a step towards them, his eyes lowering to the dark vibranium of Bucky's arm. He inclined his head as he studied it. "Wakanda did a fine job reconstructing our technology, I see." Out of the corner of his eye, the girl raised her weapon at him. "They work wonders there, that is certain. But I want to know one thing: how is it that they removed the effectiveness of your Activation Words? It's a puzzle that's been troubling me for weeks now."
"You can leave here as a prisoner or you can die" reiterated Bucky. "Those are the only things we will allow. No questions. No discussions."
Erik didn't bother to hide the tiny laugh that escaped him. "Life is funny, isn't it? Such twists and turns. Soldiers who took orders now give them. Hydra soldiers die at the hands of a Hydra-bred soldier. I must congratulate you both on your efficient work within this bunker today. It's nothing if not impressive."
Bucky grabbed Erik by the collar of his uniform, the plates of his arm locking as he drew him in close. "You will die in this shithole today, Dobrow. Is this how you want to spend the last moments of your life? Talking? Buying yourself time for backup that will never come?"
Erik shifted his eyes to see the girl's mouth ease into a smirk. "I have no plans to die today, Soldier. Not by you and certainly not by her."
Bucky ground his teeth, the muscles of his neck rigid. It was just like the island all over again. Boroshka had wasted his final moments playing mind games, and Dobrow was no different. They were all the same; one just as predictable the next. He often wondered why Hydra repeated their same mistakes over and over; never bothering to learn from them. It was because they hid too much from one another. The organization was based on secrets. Fake names. Fake titles. Fake emotions. Soldier created and manipulated by pain and deprivation, not respect. It would be their downfall time and time again, and they never learned.
But Bucky learned. He had nothing to hide. He kept no secrets, not from the people who destroyed his life. Not from the woman who stood beside him in life or on missions. And most importantly, not from himself.
In his mind, he reached out to Alexis. I'm not doing this with him like I did with Boroshka.
Then end it, babe. I'll be right here.
Bucky transferred the rifle into his right hand and tightened his grip on Dobrow's collar so hard he began to turn a faint shade of purple. "I told you earlier I no longer take orders from anyone. You will die today, and it'll be me who kills you." He tossed Dobrow onto the floor.
Aim for his knee.
With pleasure.
Alex fired one bullet into his left kneecap. A short howl escaped his mouth before he bit it back; his pride too big to admit the pain. He looked down in shock as a bloom of red quickly soaked into his pant leg.
Winding back, Bucky swung the butt-end of the rifle into Dobrow's face, sending him into the nearest wall with a gruesome crack.
I don't want to do it here, Bucky told Alex. He walked over, grabbed Dobrow by the collar once more, and drug him towards the door. I want to do it in the cell. Alex nodded, and Bucky knew he had her support because he could feel her comforting warmth through their bond.
Bucky went first, dragging Erik by the collar. With his uniform balled inside his metal fist, his body feeling like nothing more than a rag doll. He drug Dobrow past the dead bodies littering the hallway, through their pools of blood and limp limbs, trailing a streak of dark red behind. Alex kept close watch as she walked behind them. If Erik regained consciousness and tried anything, she was ready to decorate his opposite knee with a bullet.
They came to the elevator and Bucky drug Dobrow inside. Alex filed in beside him, noticing that his expression was utterly calm. She knew he needed this. She would support him, and in the end she hoped it would release more from his past than her and her powers ever could.
When the elevator opened again, Bucky drug Erik into the room of his nightmares. Alex hung behind, giving Bucky the space he needed to end this part of his story. She would be ready to fire if something was to happen, but they were the only ones left in this building. Once Dobrow was dead, it would be just them.
Bucky initiated the sequence of levers on the wall, opening the cell one more time. Locks and bars twisted and turned, releasing in a sequence that allowed him to enter that space one final time.
For a brief moment, he let his eyes graze over the cell. The devices used on him hung silently nearby. On the floor, he could see the marks he'd made with his metal hand to try and escape. It was laughable to think he once had hope. That he might get out by sheer will. What a fool he'd been. He'd paid for that hope...paid for it until he had none left.
Now he was out.
And there was hope.
He glanced over his shoulder at Alexis. Her eyes connected with his and the corner of her mouth lifted.
I'm here.
Bucky felt the love pouring from her through their link; her thoughts as encouraging and supportive as ever. It was nice to have her here. Here, where so many horrible things happened to him. Where the people in his life had once taken everything from him.
Pulling Dobrow's body over beside Kovalenko, Bucky kicked some of the shallow water onto his face until he woke. Dobrow stirred, and Bucky waited until his eyes cleared and some of his consciousness came back to him before he spoke. "I wanted you awake so you could see where your life would end."
Erik laughed grimly, the side of his face distorted and swollen from the hit. "Dramatic to the very end, Soldier."
Bucky exchanged his rifle for his knife and then knelt beside Erik. "You asked me earlier why the Words don't work on me anymore" he said, his gaze unwavering. "It's because people with better hearts than yours cared enough to try and save me. They cared enough to help me. To see past the things you and the rest of Hydra did to me. They loved me enough to try and bring that person back, and they did."
He lifted the knife to Dobrow's neck, and for the first time in his life he saw an inkling of fear in Dobrow's eyes. It should have made him feel better than it did, but he no longer found joy in death. Not even Dobrow's.
"You lose, Dobrow. You and Hydra lose. Your creation failed, and the man you thought you got rid of has come back. How does it feel to die at his hands?"
Erik's only response was a smug smile. He would never learn, and that's why he had to die.
In his mind, Bucky felt Alex's comforting aura and heard her words as she spoke to him, I'm here. I'm with you.
He drew the knife across Erik's throat in a clean line. There was no anger in the movement; only precision. The space gaped open, blood bubbling as Erik took his final breaths; his body struggling to fight against the inevitable. His swollen face convulsed as he choked, his hands reaching up to the place Bucky had cut open. When death became the victor, Erik Dobrow moved no more.
Bucky stood and stared down his nose at the body before him. He took no comfort in knowing one of the key figures of his past was finally dead. Dobrow was just one of many. It felt personal this time, but it wouldn't always be personal. Hydra would never stop, and Bucky would never stop fighting them.
He tossed his knife next to Dobrow's body and walked out of the cell for the final time. He initiated the lever sequence; the clang of metal securing his and Kovalenko's body within.
Alex lowered her weapon as Bucky went over to her. No words were spoken, but their hands reached for each other's. Just like they had done on the island as they walked away from Boroshka's hut, they walked away from that cell together, hand-in-hand. Love endured in that dark place, and Bucky left another part of his past behind him.
The last thing Alex and Bucky did before they left the bunker was plant remotely activated bombs around each floor of the bunker. They were about the size of their fists, with a countdown activated by a device within the Quinjet.
The pair waited alone out on the snowy landscape beyond the main entrance of the bunker. The Quinjet lowered out of the clouds, swirling snow and ice generated by the aircraft's engines as it landed. Bucky stood in front of Alex to protect her from the whipping snow, blocking her with his larger body until the aircraft settled. He helped her into the opened hatch first, then climbed aboard himself.
As the Quinjet lifted and the hatch began to close, Bucky stared down at the disappearing bunker doors. Next to him stood Alexis, the device to trigger the bombs in her hand. She offered him the device with reassurance in her gaze.
"It's all yours." Her hand moved to caress the low of his back tenderly.
Bucky gave her a smile and took the device. He stared out beyond the hatch door as the Quinjet rose higher and higher into the sky. Just before they disappeared into the clouds, Bucky pressed the button on the device.
A burst of flame and smoke broke through the bleakness below, rising up to engulf everything around where the bunker had been. The explosion was so great that it rocked the Quinjet, its body trembling in the wake of the bombs. The aircraft pulled up quickly, shooting through the deck of clouds to reveal a rising sun on the horizon.
With the hatch sealed shut, Bucky turned back to Alex. He ran his eyes over his future, his love, his everything. Her smile was all he wanted to remember about that moment, even as pieces of his dark past burned somewhere far below.
Reaching a hand up, Bucky fingered the now shortened, choppy ends of Alex's hair with a growing smile. "It's not a bad look, really."
Alex lifted an eyebrow. "You don't have to try and make me feel better about it."
"I'm not" he said with honesty. "You're still just as beautiful, and it will never have anything to do with your hair."
He slipped his hands deep into her shoulder length hair and pulled her in for a kiss. He drank in her love like an elixir, their internal link bonding them together even stronger. They stood in the rear of the Quinjet, their lips entangled in one another's as Alex's white light swirled around them.
When they came up for air, Bucky rested his forehead on Alex's, his smile turning to a full on grin. "We did it."
"We did." She caressed the stubble along his jaw lovingly. "You're free again, James."
When the couple arrived back at Avengers Headquarters, Steve and Tony were there to greet them. Steve breathed a heavy sigh of relief to see both Bucky and Alexis walk off the Quinjet without injuries...at least any that were visible. He hadn't heard from them since they left, but upon seeing them and the smiles they wore, he knew they'd conquered the mission.
Steve also noticed Alex's hair, and questions immediately arose. He was aware enough to not ask them, especially when he saw Alex noticing him looking. The look she gave him was one that politely requested he didn't ask, but that she knew he knew. Even Tony remained silent, though Steve could tell he was looking at Alex's hair with some intrigue. Thankfully (for once), he kept his mouth shut.
There were plenty of greetings to go around between the four of them, though. A quick video call with Nick Fury confirmed the job had been completed, and even Fury broke into a smile. He was happy to hear both Dobrow and Kovalenko were dead and the bunker was demolished. Another notch in the belt, but still so many more to go.
The rest of the day was spent doing debriefs and writing up mission reports. It was tedious, especially with how tired Bucky and Alex were. Their gear was unloaded for them and brought back to Bucky's apartment, but Bucky wanted nothing to do with ammunition or weaponry...so he left the gear in a pile on his living room floor and spent the rest of the night with Alex in her apartment.
They slept that night without interruption, including nightmares of any kind. They slept in the next morning as well, waking only when their bodies were ready to. After they roused from their restful slumber, the couple spent time together just lying in one another's arms. Alex remained cuddled in the crook of Bucky's flesh shoulder, her hand resting on his bare stomach as he lay on his back. His hand lazily stroked her head as he stared sightlessly out the window. Things were calm for now, but their minds still retraced the events of their mission. Death, of any kind, never came without a period of reflection.
When Alex shifted a little, Bucky's attention came back to the present and the woman in his arms. He hugged her close and placed a kiss to the top of her head. "How ya feeling?"
Alex shifted her gaze upward. "For the first time since our vacation, I actually feel well rested." Much to her happiness, Bucky looked just as rested, but he still had those little sleepy lines around his eyes that she adored seeing every morning. His mouth appeared soft; his jaw finally losing the tightness she'd seen so much the day before. The broad muscles that made up his chest and shoulders felt relaxed as she lay against him; the weight he'd been carrying noticeably gone. "How about you, Sergeant? Feeling okay?"
"More than okay" he said with a smile, and his whole face came alive. "It feels good, doesn't it?"
"It really does."
He hugged Alex closer and they settled into a comfortable silence. His hand continued to stroke Alex's head until she could no longer keep her eyes open. She felt safe and loved right where she was, and Bucky felt the same. Because of this, they stayed in bed dozing in and out of light sleep and light conversation for as long as they wanted, rising some time later.
They ate breakfast at almost 2 in the afternoon. No one came to bother them. No one called. No one interrupted them. It was, all things considered, just like their mornings on the island.
When the pair readied themselves for the day, it was right around 3:30 in the afternoon, and Alex made a phone call. There was one thing she needed to do, and Bucky promised he would be with her when it happened.
She needed to cut the uneven ends of her hair.
In the back of her mind, she feared what her shorter hair would represent. She didn't need a physical reminder every time she looked at herself in the mirror of what happened on the mission, nor did she want it to symbolize what had happened. Maybe someday it would turn into some kind of new style she would grow to eventually love, but right now she was struggling.
So...after a quick conversation and some persuading, Bucky and Alex walked down the hall to Natasha's apartment. On the way down, they picked up Steve, who tagged along in support of Alex (and to witness Nat cut someone's hair other than his and Barton's).
Natasha invited the small group in and waved Alexis towards a stool she placed in the living room. She wrapped a towel around her shoulders and put one on the floor, hoping to catch most of the clippings. The two men sat on the couch across from the ladies, watching and giving encouraging words as the event unfolded.
Alex heard the hum of clippers and closed her eyes. "Just the ends. Nothing more, okay?"
"Stop fretting, Markos - I got you" Nat said with a friendly nudge.
Alex opened one eye cautiously when she heard the humming blades nearer to her shoulders. She glanced at Bucky nervously.
"You're doing great, doll" he said, his voice gentle and supportive.
"Yeah, Romanoff's only taking about...this much off" Steve teased, showing a large gap of space with his fingers. Alex saw that and her eyes grew several sizes larger, much to Nat's chagrin.
"Can you not, Rogers?" said Nat from behind her.
"What!?" Steve looked at Bucky for reassurance, only to get a metal elbow in the side.
"Don't make either of them more nervous than they already are" Bucky told him.
"-Wait, are you nervous, Nat?" Alex tried to turn around but Nat stopped her.
"Do not move or it'll look even worse."
Alex's eyes widened further. "What do you MEAN worse?!"
"Like I said" Steve replied, showing the exaggeratedly large gap between his fingers again, "it's not that much, really."
Nat bent around Alexis and shook the clippers at her. "Don't listen to him. I'm taking off a quarter of an inch, at best."
Trying to calm herself, Alex sat as still as possible...but she shot Steve a playful glare. "This is all very funny, Cap. Very funny."
He hugged one of Nat's couch pillows with a smart aleck grin that was neither innocent nor devilish. It was that weirdly in-between kind of smirk that only Steve Rogers could manage to pull off. "But it got you smiling, didn't it?" He winked. "That was my only goal."
Bucky motioned to Alex. "As I've said before, he's been a pain in my ass for decades. Might as well be a pain in someone else's for a change."
All four of them shared a laugh at this, knowing just how true the statement was. Deep down, Alex enjoyed the teasing. She was happy they were all there; Natasha with her clippers and her intense focus. The boys on the couch being dorks to try and make her laugh. Maybe the cutting of her hair would be a good memory after all.
When Nat finished and felt satisfied, she breathed a heavy exhale and backed away from the stool. "There. I think I removed most of the rough edges."
Alex searched the gazes of the guys for some indication on whether it looked okay or not. Their expressions seemed encouraging, especially since they were both smiling.
"I think it looks great," Bucky told her.
Steve nodded in agreement. "Much cleaner."
"Still just as beautiful," Bucky added.
He and Alex shared a knowing glance while both Nat and Steve uttered an aww under the breath.
Alex stood from the stool and headed for the washroom. She made sure to ruffle Bucky's hair as she passed, a flicker of her powers connecting with him as she did so. As she stood in front of the washroom mirror and looked at the reflection staring back at her, she not only saw herself - but Nat, Steve, and Bucky as well. They had gathered behind her in support, and all of them wearing smiles...including herself.
Nat did a perfect job. Gone were the uneven, choppy ends. She even angled the ends a little, the front pieces a bit longer than the back. It looked good. She looked good.
Bucky placed a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder. "What do you think, doll?"
Alex smiled at him in the mirror. "I think I could get used to this."
Behind her, Nat's shoulders visibly lowered in relief while Steve began to applaud all who were gathered there.
That night, Bucky and Alex lay awake together in her bed. Beyond her bedroom window, snowflakes fell in a lazy dance and a faint, icy edge had gathered around the window pane. Bucky lay cuddled against Alex, with his head cradled in her arms and his face resting against the soft curve of her breasts. Whatever leftover contemplation from their mission had dissipated during the day. Now, all he felt was comfort and peace...and a sense of accomplishment. He felt as though he and Alex had conquered something much bigger together than what was debriefed after the mission. Perhaps what he felt had nothing to do with the mission at all...in fact, he knew it didn't, and it made him feel good inside. It conjured an idea that made him smile in spite of himself.
Alex felt it against her chest as he did it. "Whatchya smiling for?"
Bucky snuggled closer, his arm tightening about her waist. "Nothing really."
"Lies."
He pressed a kiss to her stomach. "You see through me every time."
"You gonna tell me, then?" Alex brushed back a bit of his hair with a smile.
"I was thinking about our vacation," Bucky admitted. "I have an idea where we should go next."
"I thought we agreed on a cabin somewhere in the mountains?"
"Yeah." He shifted up onto his elbow so he could see her. "But what if those mountains were in Wakanda?" His smile grew when he saw the question in Alex's eyes turn into a look of glee.
"Really!? You'd take me there?"
"Why not? It's beautiful. It's safe. The people are amazing." He shrugged casually. "I'd love to introduce you to them...the ones who helped me. Even more so, I'd love to introduce them to you...the one person who's helped me so much since I left there."
Alex saw the love in Bucky's eyes and felt it through their strange bond, even without the telepathic bridge between them. She brought her lips closer to his and paused. "I would love to go to Wakanda with you, James."
Hope brightened his gaze. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Their mouths connected in a slow, passionate embrace. When Bucky pulled back, he rested his forehead against Alex's and smiled. "I love you, Alexis Renee Markos."
She nuzzled her nose to his. "And I love you, James Buchanan Barnes."
The End.
(Epilogue to follow!)
Author's Note: And that's it! We've come to the unofficial end of this story, but a very fun, very intriguing Epilogue will follow in the coming days. I have a few surprises in store, and - in my opinion - will be a fun ending...one that these characters deserve!
Thank you to ALL of you for the support between this story and "Lonesome No More". I never expected to write any kind of Marvel story, but the response has been more than I would have ever guessed and it has meant the world to me. Thank you again!
I will say this, as I close out another one of these stories involving Bucky, Alexis, and the gang: I went into this particular story wanting to focus more on the kind of bond Alexis and Bucky have with one another and to experiment with that bond to see where my creative mind would take me. When I titled the story "Nothing to Hide", one of my goals was to show that there wasn't anything that either Bucky or Alexis could ever hide between one another. Not with their kind of bond, not with their kind of superpower link, or in their friendship/growing romantic relationship.
Conversely, I wanted to show that Hydra hides everything. Their people operate through secrets. Their organization is based on lies, manipulation, and extortion. Boroshka, Kovalenko, and Dobrow all lived separate lives under the umbrella of Hydra, and yet all of them lived some kind of lie - one that they either told themselves, or were told by Hydra - or both. I wanted to show that Hydra is the exact opposite of what Bucky and Alex are, which is love, trust, understanding, and honesty. I hope I conveyed this in some fashion that was enjoyable, swoonworthy (because you know a Bucky story MUST be swoonworthy by default!), and entertaining.
Stay tuned for the epilogue!
-Winter