Kayla did a high double punch toward Bucky's face, then kicked him in the stomach when she had his attention up high. He grunted, but didn't stumble, and Kayla sprinted back a couple of steps, reaching for the door of the apartment, but before she could, a knife was thrown next to the handle with deadly accuracy.

She stopped and turned, crossing her arms angrily, "You want me to lose an arm, too?"

"Not that hand, I need that for other things." Bucky teased, and Kayla rolled her eyes as she went to the fridge to grab another beer. She popped open one for herself, then held out a second one for Bucky. He met her in the kitchen and took the bottle, pinning her against the fridge as she downed the beverage, "Come on, just a little fun between friends."'

"I almost married your best friend, so, no." Kayla huffed, finishing her beer and setting the bottle on the counter. "These are the last two. One more round and we'll buy more?"

"Hmm, I guess." Bucky hummed, sipping his own beer much slower as Kayla passed by him and took a fighting stance in living room. "I'm not finished yet."

"What, slowing down old man?" Kayla teased as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, taunting the Winter Soldier as he set down his beer. "Scared you've trained me too well?"

"I'm scared you'll leave." Bucky said and Kayla's fighting stance fell at his seriousness. "You're my best friend. You're my only friend."

"No. Nope, Steve is your best friend, and we're going to go back to him. We're just getting your head on straight. We aren't going to stay here in Sokovia." Kayla argued, backing away from Bucky as she kept her eyes trained on him, prepared to fight in case this was some sort of distraction to catch her off guard.

Bucky looked out the window, wanting to tell Kayla that he'd already made arrangements for them to flee Sokovia to head south to Bucharest, but he wanted to keep her in the dark about their next home. Hopefully there wouldn't be Hydra agents stalking them there.

"Maybe enough training for today. You take a shower, I'll get more beer. Anything else you want? Ice cream? Bread?"

"Whatever you bring I'll be happy with, as long as you think about what I said." Kayla warned, backing her tailbone against the couch, "We are going back home, right?"

"I'll think about it." Bucky said quietly, and that was the closest to a yes that Kayla had gotten in three weeks. She wrapped her arms around Bucky in a tight hug, and he tensed, but she pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek and ran toward the bathroom to shower while he went to buy more food.

The water in the apartment ran cold, but it was better than not having a shower at all. Kayla massaged her fingers through her hair as she hummed to herself, allowing her mind to wander back home.

Back to Steve. She knew Steve would never find her here in sleepy Sokovia, but maybe Bucky would consider letting her go back. With her help, he was becoming his old self quickly. He'd started adding little details to the stories Kayla had told him, and she knew it was him remembering, not making things up. He remembered little details in flashes, like making Steve throw up on the Cyclone, but then he'd forget where he grew up. Kayla listened to him tell stories the way she used to listen to Steve, back when they were miles apart and they talked on the phone for hours. When the world didn't exist if she had her phone to her ear, because she was entirely captured by Steve Rogers.

She missed that more than the photoshoots and interviews and galas and fundraisers. She'd give all of that up just to hear Steve laugh one more time. Bucky was beginning to grow restless here, she could tell. Soon he'd be ready to go, and if she made Steve and their friendship tantalizing enough, she knew he'd give in.

Kayla had imagined the moment she reunited with Steve over and over again over the past several weeks. She could almost taste his lips against hers and feel his hands wrapping around her waist and-

Kay's dreams were interrupted by the sound of the apartment door breaking off its hinges. She turned off the water and pulled her black wool sweater over her head before struggling into her leggings and combat boots that Bucky had stolen from a doorstep after a rainstorm. She opened the cabinet and pulled out a dagger that Bucky had hidden, holding its hilt tightly as she stood behind the door, waiting for it to open.

The bathroom door cracked open, and Kayla held her breath as she waited for the intruder to reveal themselves. She imagined it was Bucky, playing an elaborate joke on her. Preparing her for danger. She'd be fine.

A small metal ball rolled into the bathroom and started spewing a grey gas. Kayla held her breath as long as she could, but as she started running out of air she darted out of the bathroom and straight into the arms of a man who wasn't Bucky. She tried to use the training he'd taught her, along with the self defense Steve made sure she knew, but nothing either of the super soldiers could teach her helped keep her conscious as the gas took her out.

Bucky slowly walked up the stairs with a case of beer, a tub of ice cream, and a new jacket he'd stolen for Kayla. He hoped to sweeten her up and tell her to prepare to leave tomorrow night, not telling her where they were going and tricking her into thinking they were going back to America. They'd drink and they'd laugh and maybe, if the night was as cold as it had been, she'd allow him to wrap his arms around her to stay warm.

He was beginning to remember Steve, because of all the things Kayla told him about his old friend. The more he remembered, the worse he felt about keeping his girl trapped by his side. Some mornings he woke up and couldn't remember what Steve looked like. Those were the mornings Bucky wondered what Kayla would taste like, and if he could make her feel better than Steve had. If she was still asleep, he'd watch her quietly from the doorframe and wonder if, in time, she'd allow him to try.

When he reached the second floor though, his eyes were instantly drawn to the broken door of his apartment. He dropped his things, causing the glass beer bottles to shatter everywhere as he pushed his way past the door to find the place ransacked, and Kayla gone. Bucky grabbed the back of the kitchen chair and smashed it to the ground as he screamed in anguish. Then he saw the note. He stumbled to the counter and picked up the dirty piece of paper, lifting it to read-

Come home, Asset. Hydra isn't done with you yet.

Bucky crumbled the note and threw it away, faced with a choice that he could have avoided if he'd listened to Kayla. If they had stayed in America. If he hadn't run, and taken her with. Now he had to choose to save her at the cost of his own life, or run away and leave her to die at the hands of monsters.

Unless, he could figure out a way to ensure someone else saved her, and he could run the other way.

Bucky ripped open the bedroom closet and grabbed a tattered backpack that held the notebook of all the memories he'd found in his mind with Kayla, along with some money he'd scraped together doing odd jobs around Sokovia. He ripped out a page of his notebook and grabbed a pen, scrawling out one place in a rush.

Novi Grad

Grabbing the note, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and stormed out of the apartment into the city. He looked around for somebody he knew, eventually finding a pretty blonde woman and her young brother that he'd seen frequent the market.

"Miss, hi, I know you don't know me, but I have something very important I need you to do. Can you help me?" Bucky said quickly, and the woman looked him up and down quickly as she pulled her little brother away from the massive man. "Please, you don't understand, my friend needs help, I just need you to mail something for me."

She nodded and Bucky shoved the note at her, and she read it, then lifted her head to eye him suspiciously, "It just says our city name."

"Please, make sure it gets sent to the Avengers. It's very important that Steve Rogers gets this note, do you understand?" Bucky grabbed the girl's upper arms and she nodded again.

"Yes, I understand. I'll mail your letter. I don't understand why, but I understand what you need." The blonde said in her thick Sokovian accent, and Bucky looked up at the sound of gunfire. He pushed the woman and her brother back away from the fighting, watching as the sun set behind the mountains.

Guess Bucky was heading to Bucharest a day early.

Kayla Ellis was getting real sick of getting knocked out. She was getting sick and tired of being hauled around like a rag doll and taken places against her will. She wanted to go home to her mother and her best friend and the man who was supposed to be her husband. More than anything, she wanted to be in Steve's arms again.

But instead, she woke up in a dirty cell to see a tall man with a monocle staring down at her.

"Miss Ellis. It's a pleasure to meet you. Your reputation proceeds you."

"Yeah, I'm sure it does." Kayla growled as she scrambled to her feet, grabbing the bars just to have something to clench as she imagined it was this man's neck, "Unfortunately, I can't say I know you."

"I am Baron von Strucker, and this is my associate Doctor List. We're very interested in your chemistry work. We were informed by Secretary Pierce that you may be joining the team, but as you know things went a little sideways." Strucker smirked down his nose at Kayla as she fumed, "Perhaps, now that you're here, you'd be interested in helping us with our work."

Kayla pretended to think about his proposal, humming for a moment before blurting, "Hmmm, let me think, no. Fuck off."

Doctor List looked to Strucker curiously, seeming to wonder what the man in charge would decide. He just shifted his jaw and nodded, "You have spirit. You'd be such a great asset, if only you would cooperate."

"Over my dead body."

"We have our ways. We are working on genetic experimentation. So far, our experiments haven't been successful. A pile of bodies are all that is left of our hard work since we received the scepter six months ago. With you though," Strucker motioned to Kayla, "perhaps we'd have better luck, given your expertise. You are familiar with bloodwork, are you not?"

Kayla stayed silent, which answered his question just the same. Doctor List cleared his throat, leaning up to whisper in Strucker's ear as Kayla watched on. Strucker's neutral expression morphed into a grin and he chuckled, "The Avengers are coming. They won't find us here in Sokovia for a long while, but when they do, you'll make a beautiful distraction for Captain America, will you not?" Strucker reached out to cup Kayla's jaw but she recoiled away. "But if we are going to keep you here, feed you, take care of you... you'll have to earn your keep. Will you cooperate?"

"Nope. Probably not." Kayla admitted with a smirk, tightening her grip on the bars, "Might as well just give up now."

Doctor List raised a scanner to Kayla's head and she pulled away, but he pulled the scanner back and smiled, "We have ways to make you comply."

Strucker and List turned to leave, and Kayla looked between them in terror, "What do you mean by that? Hey! Hey, what are going to do to me?"

Across the room, Strucker watched at List uploaded his scan into his computer, then turned to his boss, "We can suppress her memories, but I'm not sure how much of her knowledge she'll retain."

"I'd rather start from scratch than lose her altogether. She's too valuable. With her help, our experiments might actually succeed." Strucker admitted as he looked back at the blonde yelling across the lab. "She has fire in her. She'd be a great asset. I think it's worth the risk."

"I'll begin work then. I should have the chip ready by morning." List promised, "When I'm done with her, she won't even know her own name."

Strucker nodded, adjusting the glass on his eye, "Perfect."

Meanwhile, Kayla sat on the cot in her cell, pushing her fingers through her hair as she stared at the concrete floor. Being held prisoner by Bucky was a dream compared to whatever horrors awaited her now. She wished he'd have let her drown in the Potomac. At least then she wouldn't have to worry about what came next. Death was always just around the corner for Kayla Ellis nowadays. She wasn't sure how much longer she could dodge it.

Kayla stared at the concrete floor until her eyes became droopy. She didn't want to sleep. She wasn't sleepy but she was emotionally drained from all her worry. If she went to sleep, she didn't know what she'd wake up to.

Inside the underground cell, time escaped Kayla. She didn't know how long she'd been there, or how long until Strucker and List returned, but a yawn drew itself from her mouth, and she knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake in her dread much longer. Kayla leaned over and laid down on her cot, keeping her eyes open as long as she could before she drifted off.

She didn't know that would be the last thing Kayla Ellis remembered for a very long time.

Once she was asleep, Doctor List appeared and slowly opened the bars to her cell, careful not to let them scrape and wake her. Kayla shifted, but didn't wake up, so he knelt beside her with a large syringe in his hand.

With one hand, he gently held her head still so she wouldn't move while he insisted the chip, and the other held the syringe as he eyeballed the position of the chip's destination. He plunged the blunt needle into her skull, inserting a chip onto her hippocampus that would suppress the memories of who she was and what had happened to her. Assuming he was correct, she shouldn't remember herself, but she'd remember the knowledge she knew. List hoped he was right, but worst case scenario, they'd have a beautiful vegetable to taunt and destroy Captain America.

Only time would tell exactly how useful the woman formally known as Kayla Ellis would be.

Heavy eyelids tried to pry themselves open so piercing green eyes could take in the world around the woman. She breathed heavily through her nose, trying to remember what had happened last, where she was... who she was.

Her mind was a blank slate.

"Good morning, how are you feeling?"

The woman squinted and looked up, massaging the left side of her head, "Yes. I'm feeling- I feel odd."

Words. Words were good, she remembered words. Feelings. She was feeling sore and confused.

She looked up and tilted her head, running her honey blonde strands between her thumb and index finger, "I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused."

"Doctor List was worried about that. We found you by the side of the road after one of the protests. He thinks you may have cranium damage, amnesia."

"Is that real?" The woman asked with a small smile, blinking quickly as she tried to form some sort of introduction, but she couldn't remember anything, "Must be."

"I am Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. My associates and I work for an organization called Hydra, have you heard of it?"

The woman shook her head, smiling weakly. She didn't know where she was, she didn't know who she was, but this man seemed nice, and he'd taken her to see a doctor. She looked around, realizing she was in some sort of cell, but the door was wide open for her to walk out.

The Baron nodded and knelt down to place a gentle hand on hers, "It's alight. We are here to change the world. There's this group called the Avengers who cause chaos and destruction, we are trying to create a team to stop them."

"That makes sense."

The Baron reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek black wallet, which he handed over to the blonde, "We found this while we were doing an examination on you. Miss Malani, you are quite impressive. Did you know you're a chemist?"

She blinked, staring at the black wallet for a moment before flipping it open and seeing an ID with the name Katiana Malani next to a photo. She looked at her strands of hair that fell next to her face, then at the photo, deducing this was her. "I am a chemist." She thought about it for a moment, and drew an idea from the part of her brain that wasn't fuzzy. She could remember how to safely mix chemicals, and take blood samples, and theorize the effects of certain equations. "I am a chemist." She said with a little more determination, pulling out the drivers license to see an ID at a lab in Sokovia. "Do I have a family?"

"Not that we know of. We alerted the local authorizes and they asked if we'd keep you since we have the best doctors in Sokovia right now. They said you had no family left. Not after the incident several years ago."

"The incident?" Katiana asked quietly, running the pad of her thumb over the ID. "What happened? Remind me please?"

"In 2007, terrorists attacked the city, and a shell collapsed your apartment building. Any family you had left died, but you were away at school, so you survived. Tony Stark, leader of the Avengers, sells his weapons to terrorists. We have to stop him and the Avengers from hurting anyone else."

Katiana narrowed her eyes and stood, putting her arms out to steady herself as Strucker stood with her. "Let me get you something to eat. I'm sure you're starving. We can get you clean clothes and a place to sleep."

"You said you were creating a team to defeat the Avengers. What help can I offer?" Katiana asked sternly and Strucker looked at her in surprise.

"Your expertise would be greatly appreciated. We are trying to create more enhanced individuals who can go toe to toe with them. You once worked on a serum similar to what created Captain America. He's the worst of all the Avengers. His ideals are rotten and his determination is infuriating."

Katiana's lips broke into a wicked grin, "Then I'll help create someone powerful enough to stop him."

Strucker led Katiana to a barrack where she could stay and get cleaned up. After providing her fresh clothing and a chance to shower, she followed the Baron into the middle of a lab where two teenagers were led forward. The girl had long, dark hair and looked around nervously as she twisted the rings on her long, bony fingers, but the boy she was with beamed at Strucker and Katiana as they approached.

"We've waited three months. You said you'd give us the power to fight. To save our home. We organized four protests in the time it took you to keep your offer." The boy taunted as he surged forward, spreading his arms wide to display his frustration before his eyes landed on Katiana with a wolfish grin. "I hope we work together."

"You are too young for me." Katiana replied sharply, her voice instinctively mimicking the boy's accent, but she couldn't hide her grin at his forwardness.

"How old are you?" He asked and she froze, looking to Strucker in panic.

"I-I don't know." Katiana stammered, "I don't remember who I am."

"This is Katiana Malani, she's a chemist and doctor. She'll be assisting Doctor List in his experiments. Katiana, these are the Maximoff twins, Pietro and Wanda. We have high hopes for them."

The blonde turned back to the kids, eyeing the girl curiously as she hummed, then looking at the boy, "You're what, twelve? A little young for this kind of thing, aren't you?"

"I'm seventeen. Old enough to fight for my country."

Katiana raised her brow curiously and as she clicked her teeth together. She looked to Strucker to see his gaze locked on her, seeming to wonder what she was thinking, "So, how are you giving your volunteers power to fight?" She mocked lightly, eyes flittering to Pietro for a brief moment as the girl got closer. Strucker led the three into another room, holding the door open so they could get a good look at what he had.

"The scepter belonging to the Avengers. We are using their power against them. I need you to help me regulate our volunteers vitals. Doctor List will take care of the rest."

Katiana and the twins approached the scepter, but Wanda stopped as Pietro and Katiana continued forward, the blue glow drawing them closer. Pietro reached out to grab her hand, and she slapped it away without sparing a glance, too infatuated by the power Strucker was playing with. After a few minutes, she straightened up and turned to her boss, shoving her fears and uncertainties to the backburner as a greater purpose called to her. "So, when do we start?"