You sat next to Steve in the back of the truck, a vacant look on your face. "It was him. He looked right at me and didn't even know me." Steve said. You shook your head.
"That wasn't him. That was the soldier. Bucky's hidden away in there somewhere." You zoned out again when Steve explained that Bucky's unit had been captured and experimented on. Steve looked to you, nudging your arm. You looked over at him with glossy eyes.
"You knew that's what was going to happen to him." He said. "You knew, and you let him go anyway. How could you do that to him?"
"You think I wanted to let him go? You think I wanted this to happen to him!" You yelled. "I didn't know another way! I told Bucky everything. I told him that this needed to happen. He still went, after I begged him not to! He trusted me to bring him back Steve! I promised him! Bucky is in there somewhere and he has no idea who we are!" You sobbed. You noticed Nat's shoulder covered in blood, and Sam mentioned it to the guard, who then tased the other guard, taking her helmet off, revealing Maria Hill.
"That thing was squeezing my brain." She said.
Steve blamed you. He blamed you for what happened to Bucky, and you didn't blame him. You should have done more, you should have went looking for Bucky. Done anything. It wouldn't have mattered.
Hill burned a hole through the concrete and led you to a truck where you healed Nat's shoulder, then following Hill to where you assumed Fury was being kept.
You followed Hill through the warehouse, eyes finally landing on Nick. You heard Nat let out a strangled cry. "About damn time."
You went around to the side of the bed and raised your hands over Nick, healing his wounds. "We have to stop hanging out like this Nick" You told him grinning. "Well, if people would stop trying to kill me, we wouldn't have to." You laughed and continued your work, there was a lot of damage here.
"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache."
"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor said.
"I wish I could have gotten to you sooner. I'm sorry Nick." You told him, taking a seat next to him.
"Hey, none of that. I'm all good now."
"They cut you open, your heart stopped." Nat said in disbelief. "Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."
"Why all the secrecy, why not just tell us. Why didn't you tell us?" Steve said, turning to you.
You opened your mouth to answer but Hill cut you off. "Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful. We also knew that he would be fine once Montgomery got to him."
"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Nick deadpanned. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."
Steve sighed turning to you. "Do you have any idea where Bucky is now?" You looked down a nodded.
"They are probably fixing his arm, and then they are going to wipe him because he starts to remember what happened to him. He starts to remember you." You say at almost a whisper.
"What do you mean wipe him?" Nat asked. You sighed.
"Whenever he starts to remember who he is, or what happened to him, they hook him up to a machine, and scramble the hell out of his brain. It makes him forget. Then they say these key words in Russian, and that enacts The Winter Soldier. Who knows how many times they've wiped him in the last seventy years." You told them. It made you sick to thin about the things they do to Bucky. You looked up at Steve and you could see the tears form in his eyes and it broke your heart.
Nick was looking at the information they had on Alexander Pierce. "It's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."
"We have to stop the launch." Nat said.
"If we don't, thousands will die." You added.
"I don't think the council's accepting my calls anymore." Nick told you, opening a briefcase with the three chips in it that would give them control of the carriers. Hill started explaining how to use them.
"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra. We have to get past them, insert these server blades, and maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left…" Nick started.
"We're not salvaging anything." Steve said loudly. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down Shield."
"Shield had nothing to do with this."
"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends. Shield's been compromised, you said so yourself. Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed." Steve argued.
"Why do you think were meeting in this cave? I noticed." Nick growled.
"How many paid the price before you did."
"Hey. That's enough." You told Steve. "This isn't Nick's fault, you know that."
Nick sighed. "Look I didn't know about Barnes."
"Even if you had, would you have told me?"
"It doesn't matter. I knew. I told you. I know what they did to him and what he's going to do next. Please Steve, just trust me. Nick is not your enemy. Shield, or what Shield is supposed to be, is not our enemy." You pleaded with him.
You found Steve standing on the bridge nearby. You knew that he was remembering a conversation he and Bucky had after his mother's funeral. You stayed behind, not wanting to bother him. He glanced over at you, holding out his hand. You took at and he pulled you to him and he sighed. "I'm with you till the end of the line. That's what he said to me."
"I know." You told him. "I'm sorry, Steve, I really am. I should have done more; I should have fought harder." He pulled back and looked down at you, wiping the tears from your face.
"Hey, stop. You did everything you knew how to do." He whispered. You tugged your lip in between your teeth, chewing on it.
"What if he remembers, and he hates me? What if he blames me for what happened to him?" You whispered.
"Are you kidding me? Bucky is so in love with you Ally. He knew then that you knew what you were doing, and he trusts you. When he remembers, and he will, we will help him, all he's gonna think is how much he loves you." Steve pulled you back to him and you smiled, hoping that he was right.
You saw Sam walk up to you and you pulled back from Steve, sending Sam a wave.
"He's gonna be there, you know that right?" Sam said.
"I know."
Sam sighed. "Look, whoever he used to be and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop." You narrowed your eyes at Sam, and he put his hands up in surrender.
"I don't know if we can do that." Steve told him.
"Well, he might not give you a choice."
"No, it will work. He'll come back to us. I know it." You told him.
You and Steve snuck into the museum and stole your uniforms You felt bad about it, but you'd return them if you could, and maybe Tony could give a large donation as an apology, that usually worked for him. You followed Sam, Steve and Hill, opting to stay with them, to get as close to Bucky as you could, while Nat was posing as a councilwoman. You took over the small command center with ease, the few guards they had in there giving in quickly.
Steve took ahold of the PA system and began his speech. "Attention Shield agents, this is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. Shield is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The Strike and Insight crew are Hydra as well." You moved over to the windows, looking out for any sign of Bucky, even though you knew he wouldn't show his face until Steve was on the carriers.
You listened as Steve continued talking, feeling an intense amount of pride for this soldier you called family. That's what Steve was. Your family. He drove you crazy and didn't listen, but you loved him anyway. He was all you had, the sure thing you could rely on. You thought about the last few years of your life. How you got to where you are. It was the strangest thing to ever happen, but you were glad it did. These people were the best people you've ever known.
Sam's voice brought you back to focus. "Did you write that down first or was it off the top off your head." You rolled your eyes and laughed, walking over to Steve, pulling him into a hug.
I'm really proud of you." You told him. He squeezed you and kissed the stop of your head. "Thanks sweetheart."
You heard a rumble and looked over the water to see the doors open, revealing the carriers. Steve jumped down and took off across the landing zone, and Sam grabbed you and pushed off into the air, setting you down next to him. He flew off while you and Steve took cover, sending shots out whenever you could. You followed Steve as you weaved through the cargo, taking down as many Hydra agents as you could, finally getting to the bottom of the carrier where the core was. You stood watch, while Steve opened it and replaced it. "Alpha lock." He told Hill, and you ran with Steve to get to the next carrier.
"How do we get over there?" Steve asked you. You smiled and held out your hand.
"Hold on to me." Steve grabbed you and held your waist as you both started running. You jumped and held your hand out underneath you, creating an ice platform underneath you and Steve. You both went down to your knees and slid, you keeping both of you up in the air the whole way to the other carrier. Once you made it, you stood and grinned up at Steve.
"Cool huh?" You asked him. Sam landed next to you and looked out at the ice that was falling from the sky.
"That was the coolest damn thing I've ever seen girl. Just. Damn." You laughed
The three of you headed to the center when Bucky came out from behind some cargo and took Steve down, knocking him over and off the carrier. "Steve!" You and Sam screamed. He went after him, but Bucky grabbed his wing and pulled him back. You ran up from behind, but Bucky turned and flung you out of the way with his metal arm, and it was strong enough to throw you against a pile of metal boxes. You grunted, trying to get up, watching as Bucky broke Sam's wing off and kicked him over the side.
You ran towards Bucky, sliding under his outstretched arm and kicked his leg out from underneath him. You kicked him in the chest, but he caught your ankle and flipped you on your back, crouching over you. His metal hand closed around your throat and you froze. "Bucky, please stop. It's me. Please." You choked out. But Bucky wasn't in there. Bucky was gone. You placed both hands on the metal arm and watched his eyes widen, his arm freezing, his grip on your throat loosening. You freed one hand and punched him in the jaw, rolling him off you, and taking off to find Steve, to get the last damn chip inserted. You ran your hands over your neck, knowing there would be a bruise.
You met Steve on the catwalk and turned to face the core, but Bucky was already waiting for you. God dammit he's fast.
"Are you ready for this?" You asked Steve. He shook his head.
"No. Are you?"
"Not even a little bit."
"People are gonna die Buck. I can't let that happen." Steve said. Bucky's face was emotionless. "Please don't make me do this." You stepped forward just an inch.
"Bucky, I know you're in there. Please come back to us. Come back to me. Please." You whispered, your lip trembling. His head tilted just for a second, and you thought maybe just maybe, that Bucky heard you. Then he raised his gun. You ducked and Steve threw his shield, running towards Bucky. You turned around the other way, computer chip in your hand, trying to make it to the core while Steve had him distracted. You typed in the code and got it open, but Bucky grabbed you by the back of the neck and threw you down. Steve got the first chip out and turned to block the knife Bucky was trying to shove in his neck.
You groaned, getting up to your knees, seeing that the chip had been knocked out of your hands and was laying a level below you. You slid off the catwalk, trying to get to it, but was knocked out of the way when Steve and Bucky came barreling down. You jumped up and ducked the first punch Bucky threw at you, thankful that was the metal arm because the blow you received from the flesh hand knocked you on your ass and you tasted blood in your mouth.
"Fuck." You whispered as you spit blood onto the glass. You weren't a match for him, and you knew it. He would kill you before you even made a dent. Steve knocked Bucky out, grabbed the chip and ran, but you knew he wouldn't be out for long. You dragged yourself back up to your feet and began climbing back up to the core. A bullet whizzed by your head and hit Steve's leg, but he kept going. You screamed out as another bullet hit Steve in the abdomen.
"No. Steve, I'm coming!" You yelled. Bucky pointed the gun at you next, but you sent an ice shard at it, knocking it out of his hand. You were almost out of time.
"Charlie lock." Steve said. Oh my God. He did it.
Steve told Hill to fire on the carriers, and you knew you had to get out of there. An explosion knocked you back down to the glass, and you looked over to see Bucky trapped under some steel. There was blood oozing out of your head as you rolled over, dragging yourself across the glass towards Bucky. Steve made it to him first, and with your help, though you're not really sure how much help you gave, you lifted the beams off Bucky long enough for him to wiggle out.
"You know me." Steve said. Bucky lunged at him.
"No, I don't!" He screamed. His voice sounded so broken.
"Bucky. You've known me your whole life." Bucky swung on Steve again and you stepped in between them.
"What about me? Bucky, come on, you know me. Please tell me you know me." You cried, tears falling from your face. "Your name is James Buchanan Barnes."
"Shut up!" He yelled, knocking you out of the way. You watched Steve take how cowl off and drop his shield.
"I'm not gonna fight you. You're my friend."
Bucky tackled him to the ground. "You're my mission." You watched in horror as Bucky landed blow after blow on Steve's face, your screams getting drowned out by the blasts from the carriers.
"Then finish it. Because I'm with you until the end of the line."
Bucky paused, only for a moment and then the glass shattered underneath you, sending all three of you into the water. You fought to get back to the surface, swimming over to where you could see Bucky dragging Steve out of the water. You pulled yourself up, coughing up water, forcing yourself to stand, walking closer to Bucky.
"Bucky, you know me." You whispered.
"No, I don't!" He screamed, coming towards you. You pulled out his dog tags and shoved them in front of your face.
"Yes, you do. You gave me these, do you remember?" He stopped and glanced down at the tags. You heard Steve gurgle next to you. "Please, let me heal him. I can help him. If I don't, he's going to die." Bucky stepped back, and you knelt next to Steve and hovered your hands over his face. Your light came out and Steve's face started to heal, and you moved your hands down to his stomach, then his legs. He moaned slightly, still out of it, and you stood, feeling Bucky's eyes still on you.
"I can fix that for you, if you'll let me." You told him, nodding to the arm he was cradling. He didn't say anything, but he also didn't back away when you stepped closer. You raised a hand over his flesh arm, and you heard him gasp when your light radiated over him.
"Ally?" He whispered. Your eyes shot up to his and for a second you couldn't speak.
"B-Bucky?" You choked out, tears filling your eyes. He knew you. He knew who you were. His metal hand raised and grasped the tags still hanging from your neck. Your eyes never left his face as he slid the tags between his fingers.
"Bucky." You whispered, reaching your hand out towards him. His eyes snapped back to yours and he backed away, turning and running.
You let out a breath. He remembered you. He saved Steve for a reason. Bucky was still in there.