In 2014, the Winter Soldier was curious for the first time in decades.
He was now three days behind his original schedule, tracking the movement of even more Hydra agents into Ankara and not any closer to figuring out why there was so much focus on the two women.
He was also not any closer to figuring out if Darcy Lewis was an enemy agent.
So, he decided to kidnap Darcy Lewis.
He'd been stalking them for three days. It started when he noticed a change in agent patterns in the area. He was supposed to be just passing through, but there were far too many Hydra operatives in the city, and none of them seemed to be on the lookout for him. It piqued his curiosity.
All the Hydra interest was centered on two women. They were living out of a small rent-by-the-week flat near the university. So he settled in to watch and wait and see what happened because anyone drawing this much of Hydra's attention was either another enemy or a potential ally, and he needed to know which one he was dealing with.
It was supposed to be a one-day op. He'd found a nest near their flat and cleared the original owner out, cutting the Hydra logo off the dead man's jacket before he dumped the body and got ready to wait. He didn't have to wait long.
The smaller woman emerged at 0530, nose in a notebook, walking what seemed a well-known path towards the university a few klicks away. The second woman followed her looking harried and tired, clutching two cups of coffee to her chest, a worn beanie pulled low over long hair. They both returned at 0615: this time, the smaller woman was ranting as she walked, waving her arms in the air as the other woman tried to calm her, both cups of coffee were gone, but there were brown stains on the back of the smaller woman's jacket. They emerged again at 0700, both looking much calmer.
He followed them to the observatory, where they remained for two hours. He followed them home. What came after was one of the most interesting watch-and-wait missions he'd ever had as Bucky Barnes or the Winter Soldier.
The second woman, the one wearing the beanie, left and came back to the apartment constantly. She left at 1022, was gone for 8 minutes, and then returned. She left again at 1044, was gone for an hour, and came back with her arms loaded with bags from the nearby market. She was home for 54 minutes and then left again, making it only to the end of the block before she turned around and came back. At which point it appeared she'd locked herself out of the apartment. He watched her yell up to the windows for 11 minutes before she gave up and used a seduction technique he'd seen Widows fail to properly employ to get the boy running the market next door to let her in using a spare key.
This time, both women stayed inside for 2 hours and 37 minutes, and he'd almost started to grow bored when a window to the apartment was thrown open, the curtains blowing out to let out a billow of smoke. He was already running through scenarios that would have allowed Hydra to get a bomb into the apartment when the words "how many times have I told you not to use the toaster when I'm napping" drifted to his perch along with the smell of burnt food. He shook his head and settled back down to wait some more.
By mid-morning two days later, he was starting to wonder if Darcy Lewis, because he now knew that was the second woman's name, was the best spy he'd ever encountered or just a very, very lucky civilian.
In the days he'd been observing the women, the smaller of the two, Jane Foster, had only left the apartment twice. Both times to go to the observatory over at the university. Darcy Lewis left the apartment 32 times. She never left at the same time, she never came back at the expected time, she would leave and turn around then leave again and not come back for hours. She waved at strangers, dropped things, never looked up, rarely seemed aware of her surroundings but often narrowly avoided tripping.
He was now three days behind his original schedule, tracking the movement of even more Hydra agents into Ankara and not any closer to figuring out why there was so much focus on the two women.
He was also not any closer to figuring out if Darcy Lewis was an enemy agent.
So, he decided to kidnap Darcy Lewis.
She was incredibly easy to sneak up on: not an agent.
She tried to tase him after she realized he was there: maybe an agent.
She knew absolutely nothing about breaking his hold on her as he pressed the chloroform rag to her face: not an agent.
He found a very high-tech but inactive tracker hidden in a bracelet on her wrist: definitely an agent.
She did not wake up like an agent. She woke up loud and did not seem interested in figuring out where she was. Her eyes never darted towards the only weak point in the room he'd brought her to. Nor did she test the strength of the ties around her wrists. Instead, after spluttering for a few moments, she awkwardly forced herself into a seated position, spitting hair out of her mouth before finally taking a long look at him.
Her eyes definitely tracked his posture and the metal of the fingers on his left hand: agent.
But she immediately looked down at her shirt and made a noise in the back of her throat. "Dude, you could have at least tried not to make a mess of me. I really liked this shirt." Not an agent — maybe an agent? Could the shirt have mission importance? He really didn't think so.
"Oh, I see you found my bracelet." She lifted the arm that had previously been home to the disconnected tracker. "Nothing to worry about there. I'd ruined the hardware, so it can't get a location anymore. I just really liked the way it looked." Not an agent.
"Who are you?" The words slipped from his mouth without permission, and she looked up to meet his eyes.
"Darcy Lewis," she said without hesitation. "And you are…. Not Hydra. Or yes, Hydra? I think maybe you used to be Hydra but aren't anymore," she nodded as she finished speaking, seeming satisfied with her answer.
He felt like his head was going to explode. He shook himself to try and get back on track.
"I'm not important here. I need to know who you are."
"I am Darcy Lewis," she spoke slower this time and then, to his surprise, repeated the phrase in French and Turkish. Agent.
"I know your name," he growled out, "I need to know *who* you are."
"Oooh, I am Jane Foster's assistant, best friend, and general gofer. I am also a friend of Thor, although we haven't seen him in a while." She was looking around now, eyes taking in the room but never lingering on any of the strategic spots he'd expect to draw her interest.
He knew the name Thor. He was vaguely familiar from the dumped SHIELD files with the research of Dr. Jane Foster. He'd put the connection together already but hadn't really considered the implications beyond what it meant if they were now working for Hydra. "Why are there Hydra agents monitoring you?"
The question was the first to get her full attention, and the difference was unsettling, even to him. Her eyes narrowed, and all of her focus was suddenly on him. "How close?" Even her voice had gone lower, more serious.
"I had to take out two to get close enough to grab you."
"I assume that means you're not working with them? Are you working with someone else now? AIM? SHIELD? Private sector?" She rattled it all off like she knew exactly what she was talking about, and he didn't miss that she knew his prior associations. She clearly knew what and who he was. This wasn't helping the not an agent case.
He thought about ignoring her questions and asking more of his own, but he was curious about her. Curious wasn't an emotion he'd been allowed for a long, long time. He wanted to chase it until he couldn't anymore.
"I'm not working for anyone. I was passing through a few days ago, saw the extra activity in the area, and stayed to find out what it was about." She seemed to absorb his answer and turn it around in her head, examining it. He could see the moment she made a decision. He could teach her to hide those emotions. And where the hell had that thought come from? He wanted to shake himself again but didn't want to give her any more emotional ammunition just in case.
"Damn, closer than I thought." She was speaking low, almost to herself. "I thought we had a few days left."
"A few days left until what?" The curiosity was too strong.
"Until we have to move on." And that answer surprised him. He expected fight or a return to whatever agency was currently bankrolling their operation. Not flight. He stared her down, waiting for more. She stared right back, and he let the moment stretch until she let out a big sigh. "Fine." He could teach her to hold out for much longer. "They've been on our tail for months. Since all that drama in DC, so we've been trying to stay a few steps ahead. I've been moving us every few weeks and trying to keep an eye out."
"Why not report back to your handlers?"
"What handlers?" And that surprised him more than anything so far. She was watching him, and she seemed to realize what he was thinking because she was suddenly waving her bound hands between them. "No, no, no, no. We do not have handlers. We are not affiliated with anyone. We are just trying to do Jane's work and stay off the radar. Under the radar? We do not want to be near any radars."
"You were both on Hydra's hit list in DC." This declaration triggered another round of her laser focus, and he felt like he could almost see the wheels turning behind her eyes. He pitied anyone who underestimated her. At the same time, he had a feeling Darcy Lewis, non-agent, was likely to overestimate herself. He could help her with that.
"We have to go get Jane." The use of we was not lost on him, and he watched her struggle with her bonds for a few seconds. The way she was pulling at the zip ties was far more likely to hurt her than get her loose. He could help with that too.
She let out a frustrated groan and looked up at him with big bright eyes. "You have to let me go. This was kind of cute for a minute, you know. The Winter Soldier is interested in having a chat. It's flattering at first, but if Hydra is closing the net and we're *actually* on a hit list, we have to go." She kept tugging at the ties, biting at them with her teeth before dropping them back to her lap to keep struggling. "At least it's not AIM. Those fuckers are crazy. Are you going to help?" The last part was said directly to him, her arms stretched out between them, her mouth set in a grim line.
He had no reason to help. These women were nothing to him, and he didn't need to give Hydra yet another reason to be after him. But Darcy Lewis made him curious, and the thing inside him that used to be Bucky Barnes and could become James Barnes again someday wasn't ready to walk away just yet.
"Tighten them," he said, nodding at the zip ties.
"What?" Darcy Lewis looked confused.
"Turn your hands so your palms are together, and then use your teeth to tighten the zip tie as much as possible." She gave him a confused look but followed his directions. "Now lift your hands over your head and bring them down into your stomach hard. Spread your elbows and flex your shoulders as you do it."
She did as he instructed, and the tie around her wrists snapped with a pop. "Fucking awesome," she breathed, then looked up at him, "Oh, you and I are going to have so much fun."
"We'll see," he grumbled back, but he was already kneeling at her feet to cut the tie around her ankles and then pulling her to stand. She found her footing quickly, and he gathered up his bag turning towards the door, only pausing when he felt one of her little hands tuck into his elbow.
"It's going to be a blast, but first, we have to go rescue our scientist!" And with that, the Winter Soldier let Darcy Lewis lead him out into the night.