Rippling Effect

Avengers: Age of Ultron | Saviors | Rippling Effect

"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asks Agent Hill, seeing the brunette with a tight bun against her neck. Even after the fall of SHIELD, the woman began to work for Tony as a side-contact. She may not be a full SHIELD agent anymore, but she can still gather information within a flash much like Tony with his computers - except she has dozens of contacts across the globe who know Fury and aligned with him all the way. This gives her a plus in the type of business she provides.

The two of them are currently further down the hallway, Ava told him she needed some space for a moment. She wants to be alone, he can understand that to some degree - he really can only imagine what's going on in that head of hers right now. His heart lurches with worry, thinking that one wrong turn could lead down a dangerous path for her, and can even make the memories fade again.

"NATO's got him," she assures him, these people are the best at getting information out of prisoners - and the best at keeping them contained until further notice.

"And the two enhanced?" He questions, holding out his hand for the tablet located in the woman's hands. He knows she has found information on the two already, maybe the answers could have been based on the information Tony managed to gather from Strucker's computers, back in Sokovia.

Hill passes over the tablet, but before she can get a word in another voice behind them sounds. "The young girl is Wanda Maximoff." The Agent and Captain spin around, slightly surprised by the new voice entering the conversation. Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, and not with clothing that consists of the stuff Steve left her. A pair of black jeans and a flimsy, thick jumper that successfully hides the metal arm out of sight. Ava has pulled her hair up into a loose bun, obviously not caring about her looks - but then again, she never really did both as The Winter Soldier or as Avery Rogers. "The boy is Pietro. Their twins."

Agent Hill narrows her eyes with suspicion, a common trait among spies like her. "And how do you know this?" This woman may be Captain Rogers' sister, but Hill doesn't know enough about this new person standing in front of her. Is this the killer machine, Winter Soldier? Or is this the protective, self-sacrificing woman history has come to love?

Ava doesn't look unnerved by the Agent, finding the suspicion understandable at the time. "Not only did I meet them both on countless occasions…but I was the one who recruited them."

Steve can't help but lift his eyebrows in shock. "What?" Not being able to believe his own ears for a moment.

The sister swallows hard, she knows it's going to be hard to come clean about nearly everything she has done since her 'death,' and recruiting children isn't even a tenth of the crimes she's committed. "The Winter Soldier had order," she simply says, before going in a little deeper. "Hydra wanted new people to…experiment on, to make them like me but not emotionless, just individuals with a massive amount of anger for one thing. And those two had it, and obviously, Strucker's experiments worked."

Hill's face starts to link into anger. "You mean, you knew all alone that these types of experiments were going on to innocents and you never said a word or did anything?" Feeling hate crawl up in her stomach, she really doesn't like this girl any more than she did before.

Ava finally starts to narrow her own eyes, this time with a furiousness built up inside. Her fists clench, the nerve of wanting to punch the Agent starts to drift in her consciousness, but she internally tries to stop herself. The Winter Soldier part of her wants to kill. "I was wiped clean, remember," she says in a deadly voice, it's calm but anyone who can really tell an emotion will know this woman is about to pounce. "Every time they realized I started gaining my memories back, I was cast back into a blank state with nothing but the knowledge of a feared soldier."

Steve is just staring at his sister, he has never seen her react this way - all he can figure is that the deadly soldier is starting to peel through the gaps like she did to Winter only days ago. He can see so much building up inside of her, just by looking in her eyes. He sees hate, pain, anger, loss and so many more negative emotions he never wants to see in her eyes. He wishes she never had to go through what she did, because everything that was done during her time 'dead' it's taken a toll on her, it's stripping her even more of who she is.

"Not everything about me is in that little black book of yours, Agent Hill. You have no comprehension of the things that I've done or the things that were done to me in the process." Ava catches a glimpse of Hill twitchin towards her gun, and she chuckles darkly. "Oh, Agent." Shaking her head in mock disappointment. "If I were going to kill you…your head would be clean off before you even pull that gun out." And with that, she turns on her heels and walks away leaving a surprisingly shaken spy and a brother who just doesn't know what to think anymore.

….

Ava continuously hammers her fists against the punching bag, ignoring everything around her - only one thing floats around in her head, the anger and hatred built up in her system. She doesn't want it inside of her, it feels like a plague - a disease she just can't get rid of. There's just so much of it, it took so much to stop herself from killing Agent Hill back in that hallway - that was the soldier part of her slipping past a barrier she's starting to create.

Instead of The Winter Soldier slowly letting the original owner of the body making its way back. What's happening - it's the complete opposite in many ways. Ava is now trying to block the heartless killer from coming back. She wants to be herself again, the one who would give up her own life for her brother and fiancé. The one who would smartly make a great plan, the one who everything can count on. But that isn't her anymore, and even with her memories back from both lives she's lived, she still can't figure out who she really is. Yes, logically speaking Avery Rogers is the owner of this body - it's who she truly is. But what about the killer in her? That's also a being, a bad one, but still someone who shares this small body of hers - the one who's done the most damage through their living lives.

Maybe the killer is the one she's fated to be forever, maybe Avery Rogers doesn't actually exist anymore? Avery Rogers would never have killed innocent people, she would have never trained children to become weapons of destruction and she would never give over to the evil no matter what the cost. Avery Rogers would have rather died than become a monster, someone everyone would fear in the future.

"Avery?" A voice says behind her, it's low and hesitant but there's a glimmer of hope mixed in above all. Ava's stature immediately halts at the voice, knowing all too well whose it is. James. Ava's fist is mere inches away from the punching bag when her body stills, his voice filling the room is a shock. James was badly hurt, but he sounds like normal already. That Dr. Cho must really be the best in her field.

Avery doesn't turn to him, she just stares at the punching bag with a tense and distant look. "You should be in bed," she tells him blankly, trying to put up a clear face so the buried guilt and shame won't rise up and eat her alive.

Bucky looks a little hurt when she doesn't turn to him, that she isn't speaking the way she used to when he would enter the room. Steve told him about her memories, that they are now back - all of them. "So should you," he tries to lighten up the mood, not fully understanding the cold shoulder she's giving him. But still, she stays silent. "Avery, please…look at me," he pleads, all he can see is her back.

And still, she doesn't move so he bravely takes a step forward. "You have your memories back-" he thought this would be a good thing, the best thing that's happened to them in a long time. "Why are you acting like this?" She doesn't look relieved at all, and everything he can really determine right now is nothing from what he's seen in the last minute. Speaking with Steve earlier, he said she showed an anger and sarcastic-ness neither of them have witnessed before. Neither of them are understanding her right now.

That hit a nerve. "And how is it that I should be acting, James?!" She finally snaps, her fist collides with the punching bag again. Even this makes Bucky jump a little, growing with concern but also worry. She finally turns to him, her brows fiercely pulling together, almost mirroring back in the hallway with Agent Hill and Steve. She waves her arms up with her shoulders shrugging at the same time, water begins to brim against the whites of her eyes. "Should I be happy? Grateful?" She begins to bitterly list. "Should I be jumping for fucking joy?" Her voice cracks, Avery has never used a swear word before.

Bucky stays silent. Listening.

"Well, I can't!" She yells, pissed off. "I'm a mess! A monster!"

At that, Bucky immediately starts to shake his head in complete protest. "You are not a monster," he states in a definite tone.

Ava starts to breath heavily, keeping the tears from falling. "Oh, really?" She tilts her head in a sarcastic way, staring at him with a fake look of interest. "And how can you be so sure of that, James?" She demands, her voice is thickening again. "You don't even know me…not anymore." Her hand goes to her neck where the chain still is, with the ring she stole from Bucky after saving him from drowning, just after the fall of SHIELD and Hydra.

James starts to shake his head, not understanding where this is going. "What are you saying?" He has a bad feeling in his stomach, one that knows something will crush him at any moment.

Ava rips the chain off her neck. "The Winter Soldier was right about one thing," she says, opening her palm towards herself - James still can't see what she's holding. "The real Avery Rogers, the one everyone loved and lost. She's dead."

"No," he shakes his head with objection. "You have your memories back-"

"But it wasn't just those memories, James," Avery stops him, looking him in the eye, this time, clutching the ring back in her hand. "I have so much more and none of them are good. They're haunting me and I'm just not ready to deal with anything else right now."

James still isn't understanding what's going on, not until Ava takes a step forwards, taking his hand before placing something small and warm in his palm. He looks down with confusion, but something that feels like a spike pierces his heart. The ring. The engagement ring he gave to Avery when he proposed. The one thing he thought was lost back when he couldn't save her. "I don't deserve you and you shouldn't wait for me," she says, almost too softly to hear and her voice is filled with longing and loss. Her own heart is starting to break, wanting so badly to stop and take her words back, but she can't, she cares about her boys too much.

"No…" he almost gasps, his voice breathing out in despair - now he understands. His own tears are starting to spring up now, he can't believe this is happening - he can't understand and he can't even comprehend how he's even standing right now. Is he having a nightmare?

A tear finally makes its way down Ava's cheek, and she swallows hard again, stepping away from James. "It's for the best," she assures him, but it feels like she's also trying to assure herself. That this is what's best. That being apart from whatever relationship they used to have is best, and it is. But that's what she thinks, not what she really believes deep down.

At hearing that, James is shaking his head, his eyes now hard. "No way," he says, emotion pouring into his words. "Us being apart is never be the best thing, and it never will be." He moves forwards to grasp her arm when she pulls away, but in surprise, her metal arm tightly grips his arm before throwing him into the wall, holding him up a few feet from the ground - she now has him pinned by his neck, suspended from the ground. Bucky's eyes are widened with surprise and he can't help but let a little fear sneak in, but not for himself - for his love. He can't help but wince as well, even though his body is repaired like Barton's, the area where the injury occurred is still sore.

"I could very easily snap your neck without a second thought," she says honestly and this time, she makes sure to bottle up the tears - not letting even one drop. Ava knows that she'll never let herself kill James or Steve - she'd rather kill herself first. She wants him to be safe from her, away from everything haunting her soul and crushing everything she has inside that is still good. She leans closer to his ear with a whisper. "I'm a monster…I'm not your lover anymore, James. Let go." With that, she drops him. And much like she did in the hallway, she walks out without another word.

Avery leaves Bucky breathing hard on the floor, trying to gain his breath back. All he can think is that one of his nightmares has come true. They are no longer engaged, she no longer wants to be with him. But even though she said all those hurtful things towards him and herself, he knows Avery is still in there - he can feel it - he believes it. Avery is doing what she feels is right, protecting him. But he doesn't need protecting…she does. And he isn't going to give up on her or them, not even for one second. He will make sure Ava can see the light again, the best in this world. He'll help her heal from the damages done from the past. He'll have his fiancé back, and soon he'll finally have Avery Rogers as his wife, his destiny and his fate.

With that soulful promise, he clutches the engagement ring with promise driven in his veins.