The tent flap lifted and a young soldier entered, his face twisted in discomfort and fear as he faced Colonel Phillips. The older man didn't even bother looking up from his desk and merely waved his hand to indicate he should start talking.
"Her tent is empty, sir," the boy stammered out. "And the mask you told me to look for is gone."
"Colonel Phillips! Two planes have gone missing from the airbase!"
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before finally looking up at the private who was practically trembling in his boots. "Are you telling me that we lost not only the man wearing tights but also a highly specialized asset that I had to get permission from the Prime Minister and President to use in the field?"
"Yes sir."
"Get out of my sight."
Ada carefully maneuvered herself onto the window ledge of the warehouse and slid the infamous gas mask onto her face. A gift from her old life, some would say.
A warning, Headmistress Marina had informed her.
Her gloved hands wrapped around the windows edge and gave an experimental tug. Locked, of course. Sliding a thin blade out of her boot, Ada slid it between the cracks of the window and broke the sealant. Finding the lock, she wiggled the blade until a faint click echoed through the night.
Just as gunshots started to fire in the warehouse.
Opening the window quickly, she slid through the small gap she made and dropped onto the floor. Her head swiveled back and forth in search of guards. Ada could hear two guards walking towards her and she slipped in against the crates lined along the wall, waiting.
The second they passed her, Ada slipped out from her hiding space and grabbed the guard closest to her. Forcing his chin up, she slid her knife across his throat and dropped his body to the floor while grabbing the rifle out of his hand. Twisting the rifle, she fired it straight into the second guard's stomach. A blue light fired from the rifle and echoed a huge boom compared to the normal cracks of a gun. The guard went flying into the wall, dust crumbling around him.
Ada lifted the rifle in her hand and studied it with a confused expression.
"Huh," she whispered before slinging it along her back. That could come in handy later.
She crept down the hall silently, her feet lightly pressing against the floor as she hurried towards the labs. She knew of Arnim Zola from her different contacts and his work trying to recreate the serum. Only two people had successfully created the serum and she was really hoping to stop a third.
Ada stepped into the first lab, her eyes darting around the room as she mentally catalogued what she saw. Research papers, labs, and books cluttered the desks, but her attention was drawn to the pale body laying on an exam table. She cautiously stepped forward, grimacing at the realization that the man was dead and most likely had been for only a short time.
An explosion rocked the building and she grabbed the desk, a curse falling from her lips as the lights swung above her. She needed to find Bucky and she needed to find him quick.
Moving out of the room, Ada paused at the sight of Arnim Zola himself. The scientist was staring at a tall man standing at the end of the hall before he swung his head to stare at the masked woman on the other end of the hall. He took his chances and ran past her.
Ada let him go for now, but she would continue her hunt later.
"Captain America, isn't it?" she drawled. "Shouldn't you be dancing on stage?"
He ignored her and turned into the room Zola had just left. Ada followed hot on his heels. If this idiot got killed, Phillips would chew her up and spit her out. This room had to have been Zola's work hub.
Should have stopped him, she mentally cursed at herself.
"You're not the stealthiest man," she commented as he practically exposed his stars and stripe shield to the entire hallway. He ignored her in favor of rushing towards the lab table in the center of the room.
"Bucky?" Captain America asked. "Oh my God."
Ada moved to Bucky's other side, her hand coming up to check his pulse and she was satisfied to find it was decently strong. Captain America broke the cuffs around Bucky's ankles easily and Ada stilled, her eyes locking on the broken metal.
Strong. Fast. Must be the reason why the bombs are activated. Got here on his own.
"It's me. It's Steve," he said to Bucky.
Ada's fingers curled around the edge of the table and she sucked in a sharp breath. It felt like an actual punch to the gut. There was no way, it couldn't be possible. Steve was sickly and scrawny and in New York. She finally raised her head and took a look at his face for the first time. Even from her distorted lenses, she could see that familiar curve of his nose and the bowed upper lip that she had so desperately stolen kisses from three years prior. All of her training fled from her mind as she realized that this man, this Super Soldier, was her Steve. The thing she had been so scared about...the thing that clasped a vice of fear around her chest at night was standing right in front of her.
This wasn't supposed to happen. He should be in Brooklyn safe. Nowhere near this war and nowhere near HYDRA.
But now her tainted blood had provided them with the ability to create a new body for him and Ada wanted to burn it all down and destroy them for even thinking about using him.
Why, Abraham, why? There were so many candidates to choose from.
Steve hauled Bucky up and off of the table, steadying him with muscles that he never possessed before.
"I thought you were dead."
"I thought you were smaller."
An explosion tore through the building farther off and the familiar rapid fire crack of a gun followed in suit. Ada quickly pushed away from the table and headed for the hall to check for incoming problems.
"We need to move," she said sharply. Compartmentalize. Don't think about how your husband is standing before you, almost a good foot taller than he used to be. "Can he walk?"
"Yeah," Steve answered.
"What happened to you?" Bucky choked out.
"I joined the Army."
Ada led them down the hall, a knife sliding out from under the thick jacket she was wearing and into her hand. Her head was on a swivel, sweeping back and forth in search of her next unlucky victim. It seemed as though many HYDRA guards had evacuated, however.
"Did it hurt?" Bucky continued his line of questions.
"A little."
"Is it permanent?"
"So far!"
"Boys," she snapped. "Do you want to alert every guard nearby that we're passing through or are you looking to make some friends?"
"Sorry, ma'am," Steve said quietly.
She opened the door to the main warehouse and hopped down onto the grate, leading the two men onto the walkway. Flames licked at their feet as various explosions ripped through the building. Clearly, the intention was to ensure that Ada didn't get a chance to catch any HYDRA secrets lying around.
Debris flew at them and they ducked back, Steve raising the shield on his arm to protect them as the three stumbled towards the stairs. Ada knew that if they got to one of the roof doors she would be able to get them out.
But then there posed another problem.
"Captain America! Spitfire! How exciting." The voice sent a shockwave that felt like ice down her spine. Ada turned sharply on her heel and gripped the knife in her hand tighter than ever.
Schmidt handed Zola some sort of briefcase before strolling towards them. Only a walkway separated the two parties.
"I am a great fan of your films!" Schmidt continued. Ada stepped forward in warning and Steve followed suit. Their shoulders brushed against each other as they stepped onto the walkway as Schmidt did the same on the other side of the platform.
"So, Dr Erskine managed it after all," he drawled. "Not exactly an improvement, but still, impressive."
"Keep his name out of your mouth," Ada growled.
Steve, however, decided to take a different approach. He reared back and swung a fist directly into the HYDRA leader's face. Schmidt stumbled back a few steps, a hand coming up to touch his jaw.
"You've got no idea," Steve said in a voice so low that it sent shivers up her spine. She had heard him angry before in one of his countless ally fights, but never rage.
"Haven't I?"
Steve stepped in front of her, raising his shield to take the punch. Schmidt's fist crumbled the metal and he used the distraction to pistol whip Steve. Ada flipped her knife up and into a better grip, launching it directly at Schmidt's thigh. The man barely had time to jump and avoid it before she was lunging at him. The masked woman ducked under his arm and delivered a swift kick to his chest, knocking him flat on his ass.
Zola pulled the lever that separated the catwalk, leading both parties back to their respective sides. Ada fell back to Steve's side, her movements tight and stiff and ready to pounce once more.
"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see, I was his greatest success!" Schmidt shouted. He reached up and ripped off a mask of his own, revealing bright red skin underneath.
"You don't have one of those, do you?" Bucky asked.
"You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality, you are just afraid that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!"
"Then how come you're running?" Steve shot back.
Ada stepped forward and pulled off her own mask, the gas mask that had been used in the first war. It hung loosely at her side as her green eyes bored into Red Skull.
"Your fight is not with him, Johann, but with me," she snarled. "You might have been the first of Abraham's trials, but you were not the first of the soldiers. I was."
He stared at her and she knew exactly what was running through his mind. The serum that coursed through his veins and through Steve's veins was one that was modified to provide strength and speed and stamina beyond Ada. She knew this for a fact because she helped Abraham make it.
But the original serum, the one developed in the Siberian warehouse, ran through her veins.
Schmidt was outnumbered two to one.
The door to the elevator closed just as another explosion rocked the building. Ada grabbed onto the railing of the catwalk and turned to face the men. Bucky was unsurprised at the face that lay behind the mask having seen her wear it before.
Steve stared into the face of his wife for the first time in nearly four years.