"There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people" spoke a woman in her mid twenties. Her jet black hair flowing down her shoulders but like the natural looking make up attempted to hide the scratches beneath her left eye from a recent battle of some sorts. "To see if we could become something more. So when they needed us, we could fight the battles that they never could" her icy blue eyes staring at the camera, hiding the secrets of a past life she would prefer the world to forget. The guilt of what she had done often overwhelming her, the faces of all her victims burned into her memory much like their names often linger on her lips as if they were words long since been forbidden.
"She was never a soldier" spoke the infamous super assassin, remembering the woman who had once stolen his heart and refused to give it back. His imagination often playing tricks on him as he couldn't help but hope for what could be. Morgan Devitt formerly an agent of SSR. Alive and well much like himself and Steve was. Yet no matter how much he hoped he knew she had long since been gone from the world, taken from him far too soon. He could remember the day so clearly, much like he knew for sure Steve his closest friend remembered it. Sadness soon took over as he recalled the happiness of another lifetime, despite the war that had been raging on he had been happy, a future of love ahead of him as his Morgan laid in his arms during the cold nights and stayed by his side during the day, their kids around them asking for a story of the past before going to bed every night. But at lass that was not to be. Instead he had his future ripped from him that winter in 1944, what remained taken from him by Hydra.
The flashes of Morgan being all that remained from his returning memory, often times had he written about her in his little black journal. How her beauty radiated from the his memory as if she was stood in front of him. How her smile somehow lit up his day despite her not actually being there. Yet the sadness of what happened that day come back to him in a sudden wave of sadness every time. How she walked behind with him as Steve spoke to Peggy Carter and Howard Stark, something about the next mission they would be going on in an effort to end Red Skulls reign of terror before it truly took hold, as well as the war that had stolen so many lives. His happiness shown with a simple smile as he wrapped her smaller pale hand in his own larger one. The memory of when they had married during his time away from the battlefield coming to him. The uniform she war showing her status as an agent of the secret organisation.
Yet the peacefulness had been disturbed by the sudden yell of danger followed by the ringing of the gun shots and pain filled screams of terror. He himself had armed himself with a gun in an attempt to protect himself and the woman he loved so much, just as Steve did for Peggy. His attention was soon draw elsewhere as it dawned on those on the cliff they were surrounded. Morgan herself taking her job seriously and aimed to kill any of those declared as enemy who attempted to harm the man she had been charged to protect, the civilian billionaire genius in Howard Stark. Yet it was that assignment that had forced the man known infamously as the Winter Soldier to lose his love, to have his heartbroken so soon. He had turned around on instinct just in time to see his Morgan be shot a couple of times, taking a step or two back the first time the bullet sliced through her shoulder, if only to regain her balance unaware of how close she was to the edge. He had shouted her name loudly, yet it paled in comparison to the gunshots echoing around him and the war zone the camp had suddenly become.
The second time she was struck by a bullet was to her abdomen just above her hip, forcing her back more, yet this time there was no snow covered ground beneath her feet, just the long fall to the bottomless cliff. He screamed her name again when he seen her disappear over the edge of the cliff, tears blurring his vision at the thought of losing her, especially without saying he loved her one last time. He didn't want their final words to be about an upcoming mission nor did he want to live on without her there with him. Her love and being reunited with her after the war ended being what motivated him to carrying on when captured and continue forward when times in the war zones appeared hopeless.
"She was a hero" uttered Bucky when he finally pulled the picture of her from the pages of the black journal. A small loving smile appearing on his lips, his heart still broken unaware of what her true fate had been. For so long he had believed she had perished alone at the bottom of the cliff, yet in truth the opposite was what occurred. He soon turned around to see Steve stood there again, the abandoned building they had hidden out in being so quiet a pin could be heard hitting the cold concrete floor. Sam stood at the door, almost in confusion on who he was referring to, what memory was playing through the once great soldier's mind?
"Who was she?" was all he could utter, curiosity over the possible answer to his simple three worded question. He knew the man stranded in his own memories had secrets he had yet to share, once the best friend of the same great captain he himself had the honour of calling friend. He wondered if the SHE being referred to was another they had both known, another who had been apart of the long history of Captain America. Much like he had wondered about Steve's past and the people he had been forced to leave behind, Bucky had returned but many times in their two year search has the Captain muttered about another, the name muffled to the point no words could be translated to a known language.
"Her name was Morgan. Agent Morgan Devitt of the Strategic Scientific Reserve" responded Steve, speaking her name for the first time in over seventy years. He had often wanted to question Bucky on what he remembered, if Morgan ever popped back during his time as Hydra's super weapon. "She was a close friend and Bucky's wife. Killed in 1944 when the camp was attacked. Her body was never recovered" explained the famous Captain as he looked over to the man he knew as his best friend, how time had changed them both since they had last met. Both having gone on journeys of their own and had to adjust to life in a world they no longer recognised as their own. Sam to downcast his dark eyes towards the concrete floor almost regretting asking the now painful question. Bucky's refusal to look his way suggesting remembering her was something that hurt him more than anything Hydra could do, much like sadness swum in Steve's blue eyes as if she was a ghost of the past he had yet to face and overcome.
"She never left" cryptically spoke Bucky, he knew from his recent encounter with Zemo there was another like him, not just the Elite Death Squad Hydra had once prided themselves on. "She was always the first to return when I began to remember" added the former soldier, a softer look appearing on his ageless features as he remembered her once more. Her black hair blowing in the wind as they walked through the quiet park, the dress she wore common in style for the time they called their own. The bag over her left shoulder had her every day items stashed inside as if a secret was hidden from the world amongst them.
"What did he want?" asked Steve, knowing the man who had activated the Winter Soldier programming wanted something more from Bucky than just release his more dangerous side on the CIA employees, cooped up in the building. Sam soon looked between the two old friends, he wondered if he had ever experienced a friendship like theirs, racking his memory in an attempt to recall another. Only coming up with Riley as his answer, much like Steve and Bucky he could remember the day he was taken away, the standard mission turning heartbreaking in seconds. All happening within a heartbeat yet somehow he had yet to truly overcome what he had seen that day or accept losing his best friend in something they had done hundreds of times before.
"He asked about Siberia. Where I was kept. How many others were there. About Ghost" replied Bucky almost reluctant to admit there were another five under the title of Winter Soldier, the other known as Ghost far more dangerous than others Hydra used and sent on assignments, never had she failed. "Ghost is another like me, female, never failed and highly trained. Impossible to see coming unless she chooses to make herself known. She was moved with me to Washington back in 2014 although put back in status upon arrival" added the infamous assassin, racking his memory for any piece of information on her appearance he could recall, only now realising he had never seen her without the mask and glasses. Only ever seeing her on shared missions.
The memory of watching the mysterious Ghost engage in battles when she was sent to help him, one of a few times where he needed back up. Dressed in a skin tight black leather suit, guns strapped to several areas including her thighs and back, throwing weapons always on hand as were an array of other arsenal she had been trained to use. Often times her hair in a ponytail to keep it from her face, her features hidden behind a mask and goggles much like his own. Yet her deathly stare felt with in seconds of her appearance, a single tingle down the spine almost warning those she had been sent after. He could recall watching as she effortlessly and remorselessly fought and either killed or injured those who believed she was an easy target. The super soldier serum clearly been administered to her or at least a form of it, much like other advancements had been made to her to make her more efficient. Yet dread soon took over when he recalled the tiny pieces of information he knew about her, things he had heard during his own tenure as a super weapon.
"If think she's Morgan" uttered Bucky, saying her name for the first time since the lifetime they had been parted or so he thought. He could see the shock expressions on the features of his companions, clearly they hadn't expected him to speak the words he had and share who he believed the other super assassin was. "Ghost was created in December 1944. found at the bottom of a cliff drifting in and out of conscious, no memory of what happened to her" explained the former soldier, showing he had listened to the few pieces of information spoken when he was around. He knew if his theory was right then the woman he loved had been alive this entire time and had been with in arms reach of him. Yet she had also gone through the same torment as he had, the same guilt would haunt her much like the faces of those she had taken the lives from would follow her with every waking moment.
"Morgan's dead Buck. She's not coming back" whispered Steve as if speaking those words were the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He could see the hope swimming in Bucky's eyes, just as he could see how much Morgan still meant to him. The ring from the museum hung around his neck on a chain, a memory of the small wedding still connected to the wedding band. Yet the look Sam sent his way suggested it was something they had to look into, just to make sure. Something Steve was hesitant to agree to, almost in fear of what he would find. The memory of Peggy coming back to him, the life she went on to have without him and her recent funeral. The last chance he had to say goodbye to her. He had spent years after waking up hoping Morgan had gone onto do the same thing, even now he still hoped she had survived and lived a life she would have been proud of, that her children and grandchildren were out there somewhere in the world trying to make a difference as she had once done.
"You though the same with Frosty over there as well" muttered Sam, voicing his opinion and seeing the genuine nod of thanks he got from Bucky in response. "I'm just sayin', it seems a bit of a coincidence your best friend you thought was dead reappeared some seventy years later, might wanna check the other out just in case. Especially if what he said was true. Timing adds up" explained the man known as Falcon. He knew if there was even the smallest chance that Riley had survived and out there somewhere, he would have jumped at the chance of finding him. Yet he knew his wingman truly was gone, his body pulled from the wreckage of the para-rescue suit and rocks around him. Just like others he was given a heroes farewell and his named added to the never ending list of those fallen in the line of duty.
"Looks like we got to stop this guy from waking her and the elite death squad up. If he hasn't already" sighed Steve as he finally gave in, he knew if he didn't agree then Bucky would go out there on his own to try and find out the truth, likely with Sam's help. "I'm hoping you're both wrong. She deserves to rest in peace not be dragged into the war that started a lifetime ago" uttered Steve as they began to make plans on how to catch the hidden super assassin and stop the other guy he who wanted to see an empire fall. He could guess from his encounter with Bucky two years ago and the description of the others Hydra had stashed away they were just as bad if not worse than his oldest friend.