In New York, Captain America and Black Widow have gone to the only person who wasn't trying to kill them. He opened the door, jaw-dropping in shock before recovering and noting the seriousness plastered on their faces. Clearly, something was wrong.
The Eagle clicked her teeth together as she carried the Soldier to the roof of a black car speeding down the highway. After dropping him, her jets shut off and she landed on a grey van that drove several car-lengths behind the black one. Her talons easily hooked into the metal as she prepared for impact. Her full suit was on along with the cowl, and her re-grown hair was kept in a tight braid on her back. Eagle's mechanical wings flared the moment the van and car collided. She launched into the sky, watching as the targets scattered. Reinforcements jumped out of the van and the Eagle heard her instructions in the commlink, going for the grounded flyer known as Falcon. Her mind ran through everything she had been told about the man. He was fast, ex-military that had been trained using a wingsuit similar to hers. He was behind a car and she dove, wings tucking, enabling her to streamline like a bullet. Hitting him with full force, Falcon was thrown onto the ground but his reflexes were faster than she had calculated. The minute she hit him, he pushed her back but she landed, talons scraping the cement. Cars swerved around them. In the background, she heard gunshots but the mission blared in her mind. Standing, the Eagle flared her wings to their full length, letting the silver and gold feathers flash in the sunlight.
"Holy crap-" the man muttered into what she assumed was a commlink "- Steve, there's another one….and she's got sparkly wings." Swiftly, Eagle pulled her bow out, rapid-firing arrows at him, but he dodged just as fast.
"Erlaubnis zu verschwinden" [Permission to vanish] she murmured
"Gewährt" [Granted]. The moment the word was uttered she let the light filter through her body and Eagle disappeared from sight. A dark grin ghosted her lips as she watched the man's face pale and his expression go from shock to fear.
"She's gone, Steve...She poofed!" he shrieked. Launching at the man, he blindly tried hitting the air but each time she was ready with a move of her own. Until his knife struck her leg and blood gushed out. Her invisibility flickered off, enabling him to see her just as she stumbled. Falcon pushed her back, cutting her again. This time slicing the tip of her wing and above her left eye. Eagle felt a stabbing, burning pain as blood poured from her eye as it swelled shut. Having one eye threw her off-balance and fighting the man only got harder.
"Adler, get out of there. Soldat needs assistance"
Her mind shifted as the mission changed, jets launching her into the air. The left-wing was cut but she was still able to glide down from the raised roadway onto the ground. Just in time for her to hear Soldat's voice, more emotion, anguish in it than she had ever heard.
"Who the hell is Bucky?" Soldat aimed his gun, firing at the second target, Captain America. But he was pushed out of the way by Falcon. She prepared to jump back into battle, drawing her bow as the sound of a grenade launched played in her ears. Eagle was catapulted back, smoke blinding everything.
"Geh raus" [Get out] an angry voice commanded in her ear. Eagle pulled herself shakily to her feet, limping after Soldat, whose eyes were cleared then ever. By the time the air had cleared, they were gone. Leaving behind the victims….their failed mission.
The Eagle had disappeared around the corner and watched as Hydra guards surrounded the targets.
"Adler, geh zur Extraktion." [Eagle, go to extraction]
She clicked her teeth, going down an alleyway to where guards were waiting. They opened a hatch in the cement, leading her down into the vault of a bank. Soldat was already there, sitting in the chair, a pained look plastered on his face. Eagle was pushed to the far side of the room, quietly waiting as her wings retracted. Investigating the damages done to her body. Technicians cleaned and stitched her wounds, tensing whenever she hissed in pain. Her bloody eye was cleaned, red-stained tears falling. Suddenly the soldier's arm shot out, connecting with one of the technician's jaws. Guns were pointed at him as he breathed raggedly. But everyone froze when the metal-grate door clanged open. The man from the night before strode in, followed by others with guns. The man's cold eyes snaked to the Soldier as approached him, voice echoing through the room
"Mission report"
The Eagle stepped forward to speak but stopped when her handler gave her a stern look.
"Mission report now." the man repeated
She waited for the Soldier to report as he usually did but something was different, he stared blankly ahead. Her muscles tensed as the man got into Soldier's face and watching him for a moment. Suddenly, his hand went out, slapping the Soldier. Something inside Eagle snapped and she burst forward, her wings activating and flapping behind her. Pushing her way in front of the Soldier, becoming a wedge between the two men. Her wings flared, sending everyone in the room a step back as she bared her sharpened teeth, hissing menacingly. Talons grew from her nails, almost daring someone to come forward. Her green cat-like eyes followed the men's movement as he stood face-to-face with The Eagle.
"How nice to have a friend like that-'' he snarled "-but unfortunately for you, we aren't here to make friends. Move Eagle." For the first time in years the Eagle became aware that something wasn't right, her mind became a battleground, warring with itself. Yet slowly she brought her wings in closely and stepped aside, still staying by the Soldier. Eagle crossed her arms and tried to look calm but her eyes shot around the room, thoughts a jumble. "I am the Eagle. I have a mission" played in her mind but something new started to overtake the fog "I am a prisoner. Taken against my will". Eagle shook her head, trying to focus on what the Soldier was saying- "the man on the bridge. . . Who was he?" In her mind the scene from earlier played- the man called Captain America seemed to have known the Soldat.
"You met him earlier this week on another assignment."
"I knew him." The words bounced around Eagles mind, he knew him. Before. . .before. . What? But pain flared so sharply in the Eagles mind that she dropped the thought completely. Hand going to her head and her face one of pain. Anything else said was a blur, The Eagle felt a sharp pain in her arm and looked to see some sort of brightly colored dart in her skin. A sedative. Moments later she felt herself fall to the ground.
"Happy Birthday!" They shouted as the girl blew out the candles on a brightly colored cake, a grin on her face.
The memory shifted to the same girl but an older version, in a store, surrounded by other girls. They all grinned, shifting through the clothing and knick-knacks. But a prickly feeling traveled down her back. She turned, noticing the dark-haired stranger leaning against a wall, his foggy, ice-colored eyes trained on her. Those eyes stayed with her long after, haunting her dreams.
The Eagle bolted upright, a scream in her throat but it died when she realized she was back on her cot on the floor. Wings were beside her, the slit in them gone. Eagle tenderly stood and slipped the wings on, taking a deep breath as their weight settled on her waist and shoulders. She knew there had been a mission...but she couldn't remember what it had been about. Everything ached as the door to her room opened to reveal her handler.
"Project Insight has begun."
Eagle had been instructed to stay out of sight until the Soldier needed her. So she waited quietly on top of a tall building. Her handlers words playing in her mind
"Today we give humanity a push in the right direction. But everyone needs to do their part."
Her hands fiddled with one of the throwing stars, only when it clattered to the ground did she realize that she was shaking like a leaf. Her tongue clicked against her teeth in dismay. She wasn't used to her body disobeying orders. The wounds from the day before had scabbed over but still burned. Eagle's thoughts stalled as three large hovercrafts rose from the lake, within moments she saw people on decks, machine guns firing at a flyer.
Her teeth chattered against each other as each shot came closer than the last. Her hand went to her cowl and her fingers tapped the buttons on the side, goggles forming over her eyes, and zooming in on the Falcon as he landed on one of the helicarriers. Taking out several Hydra guards in the process. A shooter jet whizzed around and chased the Falcon off the deck where he free-fell before activating his wings.
"Autorisation d'enage" [Permission to engage] she murmured into her commlink, mixing the letters with various clicks and whistles.
"Noch nicht, Adler" [Not yet, Eagle]
She watched as the Falcon disappeared beneath a helicarrier, the jet still following. Eagle stood from her crouching position and paced back and forth on the roof, repeating once more "Permission de s'engager maintenant" [Permission to engage now]
Noch Nicht!" [Not yet!] her handler snapped as Eagle watched the Falcon use their missiles against them. He disappeared under the helicarrier once again but moments later he flew out from under.
"Adler, suivez le soldat d'en haut, soyez prêt à intervenir" [Eagle, track Soldier from above, be ready to step in] The command jolted the Eagle back to her senses as she jumped off the building, waiting until the last possible moment before opening the wings and taking to the sky. Eagle located the Soldier and circled above, clicking her teeth impatiently, waiting until she could engage. The Soldier was blowing up any ships on the ground before pilots could get into them. She watched as the soldier got into a plane and flew off.
"Clean up after him and make sure no one gets off the ground." her commlink chirped and the Eagle's mind latched onto the command as she dove, landing on the airstrip. Her nails grew and she pulled throwing stars out of one of her many pockets. Only a few were left on the ground and the Eagle quickly took care of them.
"berücksichtigt" [taken care of]
"Nimm den Flyer runter" [take down the flyer], a whistle was Eagles only response as she dove towards Falcon who was streamlining towards a free-falling Captain America. The Falcon caught Captain America just as Eagle caught up, tailing them until Falcon dropped Captain America on the helicarrier. From afar the Eagle saw Soldier waiting behind a crate, diving she caught the Falcon off guard and pushed him into a crate just as Soldier took on Captain America. Falcon's arms whipped out guns and he hovered in the air, shooting at Eagle as she flew up with throwing stars in her hands. Turning to fly away, Falcon's wing was shot with a hook. The Eagle turned to see that the Soldier had shot something and pulled Falcon to the ground, ripping one of his wings off and launching him off the helicarrier. Eagle looked over the edge and watched as Falcon deployed a parachute and fluttered to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye Eagle saw Captain America disappear into the ship. "Ich folge ihm" [I'll follow him]
"Nein, er ist meine Mission" [No, he's my mission] The Eagle heard the Soldiers gruff voice as it sounded over the commlink but the Eagle detected a note of pain in it. She jumped off the helicarrier and flew around it, watching as Captain America confronted Soldier. Mere moments later they both sprung into action, Captain America threw his shield at Bucky but he caught it and fired one of his guns. One of the bullets grazed Captain America's side and he winced in pain but threw Soldier back with his shield. Eagle watched them fight but when she tried to fly closer a bullet whizzed past her wings. Whipping around, she saw Falcon firing from the ground. Her wings closed around herself as Eagle dove towards the ground, flaring her wings right before hitting Falcon. The wind knocked him back and Eagle pulled out her remaining four throwing stars. One lodged itself in his armor but the other three he blocked. His commlink beeped and gurgled voices as he murmured, "I'm coming" before throwing a grenade at Eagle. The blast through Eagle backward, head slamming into the cement, ears momentarily deafened. Sitting up and leaning to the side, she threw up, coughing and hacking from the smoke. She felt shrapnel but her mind was on the mission. The Falcon was gone and in the commlink, she could hear the Soldier's panicked voice. From behind her, she heard the crash, and a blast of heat burst against her back. Turning, Eagle saw that the helicarriers were shooting each other and crashing towards the ground.
"Adler, hol den Soldaten zurück" [Eagle, retrieve the Soldier] Eagle nodded and shakily stood, pieces of cement falling off of her suit. Her chest heaved as she re-adjusted the cowl and took to the skies. She stopped dead when she saw that the Soldier was stuck underneath a metal bar, inside the last helicarrier that was crashing into the lake. Her jets pulsed as she shot towards him, almost barreling over Captain America as he struggled to lift the bar. The Eagle grabbed onto it, hooking her talons into the metal, using her wings to help pull it off. He just barely wiggled out before the glass underneath started to crack and break. Soldat stood and stared at Captain America, a crazed look in his eyes. Eagle took a step back, sensing that this was between them.
"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes." her mind split as Captain America talked to the Soldier. "I have a name," she thought, yet nothing surfaced through the murkiness.
"Shut up!" The Soldier jerked forward and punched Captain America. Her jaw dropped when Captain America took off his helmet and spoke "I'm not going to fight you, Buck. You're my friend."
"And you're my mission."
The Eagle took a step back, stumbling on the wreckage as her mind warred between the mission and a life she had once had, the name that had once been her own. The Soldier had tackled Captain America and was repeatedly punching him, saying one thing over and over again, as if trying to convince himself of the phrase. Just as the Eagle was
"You're my mission, You're my mission." Yet he paused when Captain America spoke one more time, his face bloodied and right eye swelled shut.
"Then finish it, because I'm with you to the end of the line pal." The Eagle tripped forward, preparing to fly away but at that moment a flaming metal support fell, taking half of her right-wing with it. A piece of ash fell on her left-wing and multiple feathers melted away. She fell, jets disabled and wings close to ruin, she tried her best to land but ended up crashing into trees.
A crack sounded as her nose broke, a blood-curdling scream ripping from her mouth as branches slapped her face and bruised her body. The Eagle knew she blacked out for a moment because she woke on the ground in a crumpled pile close to the water's edge. Slowly, she pulled herself to a tree and leaned against it, hissing in pain as her remaining wing retracted. Eagle leaned her head back, everything felt upside down and backward. She watched through her right eye as the helicarrier crashed into the water. A new thought came into her mind, Freedom. Her breaths were ragged as she tore the cowl off her face, the goggles had already retracted. A splashing sound drew her eyes to the water where she saw the Soldat dragging an unconscious Captain America out of the water and dropping him on the bank. The Eagle felt herself frown and used the tree as an anchor as she pulled herself to her unsteady feet. Staring as the Soldier watched Captain America stutter and take in a breath. Soldat turned and started to walk away but stopped when he caught sight of Eagle, battered and broken, watching. He came over and picked her broken wing off the ground, looking at her, eyes asking if she could walk. She clicked her tongue against her teeth and stumbled after the Soldier as they started to walk away.
Their minds were cracked...broken. Bits and pieces slipping through. But the important thing was they were alive. The two Super Soldiers stumbled away from the wreckage, away from Hydra, away from chains, and towards a new beginning.