Thank you everyone for the incredibly kind support!

Before my handler can react, before these heroes can flinch, and before I can backdown, I am sprinting across the room. I charge him with my whole body weight, throwing him into the wall behind. His skull cracks against the concrete but he remains standing as my hand splays across his face, leaving only his eyes visible; they are wide with fear, his pupils nearly swallowing the irises.

My voice grates with neglect but the word is warmly welcome on my tongue, "Beg."

He doesn't speak but his breathing is picking up with every rapid heartbeat and his sweat is pooling around my hand.

I push harder, "Beg for your life."

One of the men behind me, Iron Man I think, begins to speak, "Don't d-"

"No man will ever control me again. This is my choice, and only mine," my tone is steel-sharp and he falls silent.

"I am your handler," He is shaking violently beneath my hand.

My tone is mocking, almost jovial, "So no prayers? No last words? No final pleas for mercy?"

There is no strength left to him and his words are desperate, "You will face the full fury of HYDRA for this."

I stare down the man who has caused so much misery in the world, not just mine. For a second, I think about relenting and letting him go. The thought of him crawling back to HYDRA on his knees to face a slow death is tempting… But no. His death is mine.

"I am HYDRA's fury."

Like a switch, I unleash the power itching through my arms. At first, the physical changes are indiscernible besides the agony spreading across his face. Slowly but surely, blooms of frost grow across his skin and the twitching of his limbs become jerkier as his joints freeze. Within the minute, his body has frozen over and the corpse is permanently carved into a statue of horror. I let go and step back, letting it fall past me onto the rock-hard floor. A loud echo of ice cracking resonates around the room but I don't spare it another glance. By the time anyone can recover the remains, there will be no resurrection.

I turn to face the living left in the room. I expect revulsion, fear, and more to be caking their features but surprise and apprehension are all I find. I take a step forward and instantly Iron Man's blaster are primed and aimed.

"Look everybody, let's just take a moment to calm down here."

"I have made myself clear. Move or be moved."

"Sorry sweetheart, we can't just let you go. Especially after all that."

Anger surges in my stomach. I will not swap one cage for another.

I turn to the still silent Captain America, "You said you could help me! I would not have spared you if I had known the price would be another leash."

Slowly, he places his shield on the ground and gestures for his teammate to backdown. For a second, Iron Man remains in a shooting stance and I brace for a fight. However, the moment passes and he lowers his arms, shaking his head.

"So you can manipulate ice, water, right? That's your power?" The Captain is keeping his distance but his tone is friendly, calm.

I hesitate but nod my head anyway. There is little point lying now.

"That makes you very powerful. That also means that people will see you as dangerous. If you go out into the world with abilities like your's, a lot of people will come looking for you."

I laugh and it comes out bitter and harsh like a snarl, "You misunderstand me. I will be free or I won't be at all. I refuse to be someone's weapon again. If I am chased, then I will disappear where no one can ever find me."

There is a flickering of understanding or pity across his face before he speaks again, "Do those have to be the only options? Temporary freedom or nothing at all? What if we could offer something better?"

I stare at him in disbelief, "I'm an assassin who just froze a man's blood in his veins and threatened to do the same to you. Why would you give me something better? Why should I believe that you would?"

"Let's just say that you remind me of someone I knew. I hope that if someone else stumbles across him that he would be given a second chance too. Because despite the fact that he's an assassin like you, I don't really think it's his fault." He takes a deep breath to fight back whatever is troubling him. "When someone fires a gun, you don't blame the bullet, you blame the person behind the trigger. And something gives me the feeling that you're the bullet, not the shooter."

The Captain meets my eyes and once again, some deep-seated feeling of faint familiarity washes over me. His words are gentle and something in me desperate wants to just join him. I have been fighting for so long and I am so tired.

"Steve, what are you doing?! She's not Bucky!" Iron Man's words cuts through my hopeful reverie.

I shift my weight between my feet, the ache of anxiety building in my chest. This will not end well.

"It seems we've reached an impasse because I don't trust you either."

"I don't think that's true." My head snaps back to Captain America. "I don't know why but I think you know me, at least a little bit. Something stopped you from killing me."

I hesitate before answering, "I don't enjoy killing. I spared you because I have a chance to escape. I didn't need to obey."

He steps forward, slightly eager, "Yes, you showed me mercy, but it's more than that. I saw your face when we entered the room. You know me."

"So what if I know you?!" it bursts out, half-irritated half-unsure, "How can I trust you?!"

The Captain's smile is careful but sure, "I'm sorry but I don't know what I can do to make you trust us. All I can hope is that being the enemy of HYDRA is enough but I swear on my life that you can trust us. You're going to have to take a leap of faith."

Iron Man is clearly agitated and his face does not suggest he shares the other man's sentiment. However, he says nothing to contradict him.

"Do I really have another option besides being on the run for killing two heroes in my escape?"

This time it is Iron Man that replies, "How about being dead before you cross the room?"

Let yourself believe that you could kill me. Let yourself believe that I've been cowed. One day, I will be free. If this is the temporary price I pay, so be it.

I take a deep breath, knowing this path will change me, no matter where it ends.

I deflate slightly like I've accepted my fate,"So… where do I sign up?"