"Who are you?" Steve inquired, his eyes squinted from the bright sun. Maize walked closer to him, placing a small flip phone in his hands. He made a face, holding the phone up with a questionable look.
"Keep that on you. I'm going to be calling you on it to get your location soon enough." At the corner of her eye she saw the shimmer of his shield not too far from where they were. She outstretched her arm, aiming her hand toward it. Without moving her gaze, she moved his shield to his arm earning a disbelieving glance from the super soldier. "You're not the only one who was experimented on," she told him with a slight smirk. "Now, you might want to hurry before he kills your friend."
Maize heard the door begin to open, prompting her to side up on her bed. There was no essence of time in her room; she had no idea how long it took for them to get to her for her report.
The moment Alexander Pierce came into view, the woman rose to her feet, standing at attention. It was in their contract for Maize to react to Pierce like she would any Global-1 agent, and so she did what she was told, mentally looking forward to the day where she was no longer someone's property.
For years she envisioned herself living close to an ocean, being able to see the beautiful waves crashing onto the sand from a kitchen window. She imagined the smell of sea salt in the winds whenever she would enjoy a cup of coffee on her balcony. Maize repeated this fantasy so much, she could almost taste the salt in the air.
"Mission report," Pierce ordered, his STRIKE goon standing behind him with a rifle. Her golden hues stared at it, wanting nothing more than to raise it, shooting everyone in the room.
"I'm unsure what happened, sir," Maize began, her gaze lifting to Pierce. "The target managed to undress the Soldier's facial mask - recognizing him. He then called the Soldier 'Bucky' and almost immediately the Soldier hesitated. I then interjected myself into the fight, pulling the Soldier out before Natasha managed to kill him with a missile. Then I brought him here."
Pierce watched her intently, almost as if he was trying to sniff out any lies. Maize didn't break eye contact, knowing he would view that as weakness. "Very well," he said finally. "You did a great job at handling your mission. And for that, you are granted a few hours out of this room." Just like I hoped.
Whenever Maize did good in the missions, she was allowed time away from base where she was able to enjoy fresh air. Of course she would be followed to make sure she kept in her perimeters, Maize used her time wisely. Sometimes she would visit libraries where she read up on Captain America and Bucky's friendship. She would visit museums where she would concoct her plan, and other times she visited restaurants to enjoy new foods.
"Thank you sir," Maize spoke, bowing her head to him. Pierce patted the woman's shoulder before leaving the room, Maize's glare sent his way.
When she was escorted out of the base, Maize began walking down the crowded sidewalk. That was D.C. traffic, especially the city. As she tried her best to blend into the crowd, Maize looked at the time; she needed to contact Steve as soon as possible. Stopping at a crosswalk, she managed to peek at the HYDRA agents tailing her. There were two; two goons who would easily be taken out. Walking into an alley, she waited for them to approach her before she offered a smile.
"Apologies boys," she said before twisting her fingers, causing their guns to rise and striking them on the head, knocking them out cold. Taking a quick glance around her, making sure no one saw what had happened, Maize moved their unconscious bodies behind a dumpster, crushing their firearms.
The alley had no foot traffic, meaning the HYDRA agents wouldn't be found until they woke up giving Maize enough time to start the next phase in her plan. Pulling a flip phone from her hidden pocket previously sewn into her dress, Maize dialed the only number programmed in it.
"Hello?" Steve's voice came from the other line, making Maize smile.
"Where are you located?"
Pocketing the phone, Steve reinforced his shield on his arm before he began running in the direction of Natasha. "Oh, and Steve!" Maize yelled after him. Steve stopped, turning to look at her. "Don't kill him." With a weird look, Steve nodded before sprinting. Maize looked up to the bridge seeing who she assumed was Steve's sidekick. Lifting herself from the ground, she traveled up to where he was.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked, taking a few steps back.
"Right now? The best shot you and they have in coming out of this alive," she told him with a nod. "Do you have anything which could help besides a rifle and kitchen knife?"
The man scoffed as he rolled his eyes at her before his face fell - realization in his expression. "As a matter of fact, I do. Can you use your freaking mind powers to flip back the car we were in? I have something in the trunk that could help." Without missing a beat, the car rose and fell back onto its tires, pulled closer to them for Sam to extract his weapon. Maize watched as he opened the trunk, and put on what looked like a metal backpack. She raised a brow at this. Sam noticed, sending a wink her way before he moved his shoulders, activating the wings to expand from the pack.
"Wicked," Maize whispered to herself as she admired the wings.
"I'm Sam, by the way. Maybe you can do the common courtesy of letting me know your name?"
It was a good try, but Maize knew better. "You better hurry." Turning, she levitated, traveling toward where the Winter Soldier would be; Sam following close behind. While Sam flew, Maize moved faster and she lowered herself close enough to watch Steve flip the Soldier over his shoulder, mistakenly ripping his mask off, revealing who the Soldier truly was.
Steve stopped, his combative stance softening the moment he saw the familiar face of his childhood best friend, James Buchanan Barnes. "Bucky?"
Maize watched intently as the Soldier's brows furrowed. "Who the hell is Bucky?" he asked, before aiming his firearm. Before the Soldier could pull the trigger, Sam swooped down, kicking him in the back. Now it was time for Maize to jump in, like she was supposed to when a mission looked to go down hill. Approaching him, that's when she saw it; his furrowed brows, helplessness in his blue hues. However, the Soldier had a mission and he took aim once again toward Rogers but Maize stopped him, using her ability to stretch his arm away, and pull him to the ground to avoid the missile Natasha shot their way.
"Хватит солдата." Their mission was not completed, but he was done for the day which is what she told him. Maize knew what a failed mission meant, she knew what would happen to him when he turned up with nothing. However, Maize also knew freedom was not too far away if she played her cards right; freedom not just for herself, but for him and thousands of enhanced humans like herself.
Steve had directed her to a water electric plant just outside the city hidden in a forest. It had taken the woman about an hour to get to his location. When she arrived, she was met with Steve standing on a bridge, staring out to the horizon stoic as ever.
After Maize spoke, revealing just enough information for Steve to understand the severity of the situation, there was an understanding between the two as they stood quietly on a bridge. Maize occasionally would peer up at him, getting a feel of the situation. While the woman never really had friends and knew nothing of what Steve felt, she did know to give him time to process the information given. It's not everyday one is told their best friend is alive after seventy years of believed death. It wasn't everyday that said best friend's identity as a ghost assassin was revealed either.
"And you care for him?" Steve asked monotone, his gaze never leaving the scenic view.
"Technically," she answered with a slight nod. "I'm considered his handler; if he steps out of line, reverts back to himself or fails a mission, I am to rip him from the mission and take him back to base. I could count on one hand how many times I've had to do so; yesterday included."
"But you planned everything? How?" Steve finally moved to look at her, his hands buried deep in his pockets. Maize could see the plea in his eyes and it moved her; she was happy to know there was someone else out there who cared about the Soldier, whether it was the Soldier or Bucky, it didn't matter. "How could you have possibly known he would have remembered me?"
"I didn't," she answered rather quickly. "I bet it all on a theory."
"For what?"
"For freedom." Maize let out a sigh. "You have no idea what it's like to be someone's lab rat." Steve gave her a look. "That's not the same. They poked and prodded at you once before using you as a circus monkey but you got to have freedom afterward; you took back control. And now? You are Captain America, the nation's defender. But for us, we are forced to do things we don't want to do and have been for decades. But unlike your friend, I remember everything. I can't live like this anymore."
"And Global-1, what's that about? You said something about an underground secret agency?"
"That's the government agency that ripped me from my mother's arms, after shooting her down." Steve's mouth opened but closed right away, unsure what to say. "Global-1 was created by pseudo scientists who believed there were humans out there born with abilities. Once they realized they were right, they began to kidnap those children to experiment on them, grooming them for their own twisted agendas. Some never made it out of the lab. Some of us were strong enough to handle it but we endured torment for the sake of their science.
"My parents worked for the agency since my father was one of the scientists in charge and my mother worked as a data analyst. I never knew what kind of work my parents did until they realized their only child was displaying inhuman abilities. They fled - running from their job but they forgot to take their files with them which exposed my god-given talent." Maize moved from one side of the bridge to the other, masking her sadness from Rogers.
"We were hunted by Global-1 for three months before they found us; they killed my parents and kidnapped me and used my only living relative as leverage if I didn't cooperate. I was only eleven." Maize moved her hair from her neck, showing Steve her mark. "They branded me as a way to tell others what I was - kind of like they did with the Jews under Hilter's rule."
"What does Global-1 have to do with HYDRA?"
"HYDRA works closely with Global-1; they pay to have me around in order to keep their asset in check - as if I'm some sort of property to be handed around. If you take down HYDRA, you take down a big part of Global-1 leaving them vulnerable for me to take down the rest."
"I'm assuming you have an idea on how to do just that?" he questioned with an arched brow.
Steve assumed correctly; Maize smiled at him. "You have to take down those helicarriers, which I'm assuming is yours and Sam's task, correct?"
Steve nodded.
"While Natasha would infiltrate SHIELD and get to Alexander Pierce?" Steve nodded again. "Pierce is fearless and one of HYDRAs biggest supporters and influencers. Pierce is their leader." Maize paused as she searched his expression for some kind of surprisement; nothing. Maize realized she wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know. "The only way to take him down, along with HYDRA, is to expose everything to everyone."
"That means releasing national secrets to the public."
Maize and Steve both turned to the voice, seeing Sam and Natasha had joined them on the bridge. Maize nodded at Natasha's statement. "The government won't be happy with that," Natasha added.
"It's either have the government pissed at you for releasing the information or millions, if not billions, of innocent people dying for a lost cause." Everyone wallowed in the information realizing it was a lose/lose situation; really it was up to how bad they wanted to lose. There was no way they would allow billions of innocent people to die - let alone one in the name of HYDRA; there was only one choice.
They continued formulating a plan, making sure they had contingency plans in case anything went south. Natasha was eager to take down Pierce claiming she had hated him from the very beginning. Sam, just joining the fight, was happy to be part of something so big, and alongside Captain America at that. Steve, on the other hand, held back and Maize could sense it.
When Sam and Natasha excused themselves to go inform the rest of the team of the new plan, Maize stayed with Steve on the bridge, her golden eyes never leaving his. "You know he's going to be there, right?"
Steve nodded as sadness washed over him.
"He won't remember you this time," Maize continued. "They wiped his memory again. You're going to have to fight him." She paused. "In fact, you might even have to kill him."
"Not an option," he spoke immediately, moving to the edge of the bridge. "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky. I won't be able to." Maize nodded at his words, her teeth biting at her bottom lip. She knew it was time for her to go - she had her own war to prepare for, Steve stopped her. "You're not going are you?" he asked.
Maize shook her head, offering an apologetic smile. "As much as I would like to help you take down HYDRA and keep the Soldier at bay for you to do it, I have my own monsters to take care of."
With an understanding glance, Steve nodded as he walked over to her, holding his hand out for her to shake. Maize happily did so, noticing how much bigger his hand was over hers. "How long have you been planning this?"
"Long enough."