"What's going to happen to your friends?" Bucky asks once they're well on their way.
"There's a well supplied base in the middle of the ocean. They'll be confined there. It'll be hard to get in there but not impossible. If we get out of this, it'll be a walk in the park," Amnesia says absently.
"How do you know this?" Steve asks her.
"Back at the compound, I was pulling anything about anywhere Bucky might be. If he was caught and being held by you guys, still at some Hydra base. That base is the only one fit to hold an avenger. They control who goes in and once inside, there's about fifteen layers of safety measures if someone escapes. If I survive this, get me in the base and everyone can walk out of there. Well, sort of, we'll need to fly."
"I don't think I'm worth all that," Bucky says and Amnesia shakes her head, hiding herself in Bucky's arms because he should know she'd blow up the world to keep him safe.
"What you did all those years. It wasn't you. You didn't have a choice."
"I know. But I did it," he replies.
"Everyone's got scars James. Perhaps they're not as bad as yours but they've still got them. The people you're currently trying to protect, there are organizations built to eliminate disagreement. Their death tolls are so much higher than yours could ever be. If the public knew abut them, they wouldn't care about Hydra anymore, much less you. The only thing they've got on you is that you're no longer a ghost, and Hydra's been blown open for anyone with computer skills to see. You're good now. You're saving people. But most importantly, you're out of their hands. You need to trust that I won't let you go dark again. I'll stop you okay?"
"But what if stopping me means killing me Amn?" He asks gruffly and she stops.
"Then I'll die too," she says after careful consideration. "I know," she tells him when he buries his face in her hair.
"I know," he replies understanding what she means. This time it's Steve giving Bucky the look.
"Remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway beach in the back of a-"
"Freezer truck?" Bucky says completing Steve's sentence as the ramp goes down. "Was that the time you used our train money to buy hot dogs?"
"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a red head," Steve says defensively and Amnesia laughs.
"What was her name again?"
"Delores. You called her Dot."
"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now."
"So are we pal," Steve says.
"Yeah, I can see the gray hair," Amnesia says pretending to look over Steve's hair.
"You're one to talk," he teases right back.
"Well, let's survive this and then go on a jail break."
"He can't have been here longer than two hours," Steve supplies looking over the other vehicle and the open door.
"Long enough to wake them up," Bucky says leading the way inside. Amnesia powers up the elevator and they all get in the extremely small metal box then head down. They slam to a stop and see lights on up ahead which causes Amnesia to frown. She sticks behind Bucky, following him and Steve closely though she wants to be of more help and light the place up, anything. They make it down the hall and start climbing stairs, Amnesia between the two guys when they're startled by a sound behind them. They turn, guns poised, Amnesia's hand on a box of nearby wires as she quickly tries to decide what the next move will be.
Bucky doesn't fire when he sees it's Tony though. None of them do as they're all genuinely surprised.
"You seem a little defensive," Tony says putting his mask away.
"It's been a long day," Steve replies, meeting him halfway. Amnesia follows him, knowing that she can take Tony down easier than Steve.
"At ease soldier, I'm not currently after you."
"Then why are you here?"
"Maybe his story is not so crazy."
"Just admit you were wrong," Amnesia tells him with an annoyed sigh.
"Ross has no idea I'm here, I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise I've got to arrest myself."
"Well that sounds like a lot of paperwork," Steve says and Amnesia walks back over to Bucky, realizing she's not going to get the chance to take the billionaire out. "It's good to see you Tony."
"You too. Manchurian candidate you can relax there's a truce going on. You can drop it," Tony says and Amnesia rolls her eyes but nods telling her soldier that he's good.
"I got heat signatures," Tony says once they're back on their way and a little farther into the base.
"How many?" Bucky asks.
"Uhh, one," Tony replies and Bucky and Amnesia share a look. Something's not right, they both agree. They step forward and the six "freezers" light up.
"That you?" Steve asks Amnesia and she shakes her head no.
"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep," a voice over the PA system says. They notice the bullet holes in the glass. Six head shots. "Did you really think I wanted more of you?"
"Who is he?" Amnesia asks Tony.
"Zemo. A general from Sokovia," he answers briefly and the wheels in Amnesia's head start turning as she tries to figure out how he wants to see the avengers fall.
"I'm grateful to them though, they brought you here," lights flicker on and suddenly Zemo is illuminated, Steve throws his shield automatically and Amnesia olls her eyes as it bounces off the window he's hiding behind. "Please Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to survive a nuclear blast sequence."
"I'm betting I could beat that," Tony calls out.
"Oh I'm sure you could Mr Stark, given time. But then you'd never know why you came."
"Why did we come? Come on, take your bow. You've got us right where you wanted us. We fell into your trap. Why are we here," Amnesia asks, waiting for the carpet to be pulled from under her feet.
"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here," Steve states.
"I thought about nothing else," Zemo replies. "For over a year. Studied you, I followed you, and now that you're standing here I just realized, there's a bit of green in the glow of your eyes."
"So you came here to steal Tony's boyfriend. Great, brilliant. James and I are leaving," Amnesia says sarcastically.
"How nice to find a flaw," Zemo carries on ignoring her.
"You're Sokovian. is that what this is about?"
"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No, I'm here because I made a promise."
"You lost someone."
"I lost everyone," he corrects. "And so will you." Zemo flips on a screen and they all crowd around it wondering what it's from, Amnesia recognizes it right away as she stored it. "An empire toppled by it's enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That's dead. Forever."
"Tony, do you know who killed your parents?" Amnesia asks before it's revealed.
"It was a car crash," he corrects.
"Who told you that? I need to murder them," Amnesia mutters before taking Bucky's hand. "Get out," she tells him and he looks at her.
"Wait, I know that road. What's this?" Tony calls out.
Bucky doesn't move as as soon as he sees his motorcycle on the screen it's like he's reliving the moment. He's stuck there. The first person to make a move is Tony, and Steve is quick to hold him back, and Amnesia puts herself between him and her soldier.
"James, get out of here. We will calm him down," Amnesia commands, her eyes not moving from Tony Stark.
"Come on," he says intent to bring her with.
"I need to hold him back. Otherwise, you won't get away. Steve can't do it on his own."
"No. I'm not leaving."
"Go soldier. Before I make you," she says, her voice catching. He shakes his head and heads out, putting faith in the notion that she can handle herself, but not trusting it completely. He disappears, will calling himself a coward. When Tony makes his next move and takes out Steve, Bucky is gone.
Tony knows he's only got one option, and raises a hand, pointing at Amnesia. If it connects, it'll kill her no doubt. "Get out here or I kill her," Tony commands and Amnesia's eyes narrow. She draws in energy and soon the only light in the base is coming from Tony's suit, and Amnesia's glowing white eyes. She doesn't know what she's doing. But that's a piece of information Tony doesn't have. What he does have, is a target and heat recognition. Amnesia is giving off a lot.
She springs into action though, rapidly coming up with several different plans and going with the creepiest. She can put images in people's heads. She's got a lot of energy, and Tony would love the image of a killer clown popping up in front of him with a chainsaw. Unfortunately, due to metal flooring, Steve sees it too and Amnesia creates a fun house in their heads, putting every twisted gimmick in there. Tony threatened her life, he deserves it. She surges power into his suit, burning out the heat sensor so he's just about as blind as the rest of them. He gets lucky though and sends out one shot, it doesn't hit Amnesia, but it sends equipment onto her and she sucks in a breath trying to keep from screaming, although a sharp piece of glass is buried in her shoulder and her right arm is in under the mess, certainly not moving anytime soon. Tony and Steve breath easier as there's no longer a scary fun house with killer clowns stalking them in their heads and start fighting each other.
Bucky is at her side almost immediately, having never gone far. He frees her, his face cold with anger as he sees the damage Stark did. He brings the fight to Tony, desperate for revenge. Tony fires something and the place starts going up in flames, the bright side being that they can see now.
"Get her out of here!" Bucky yells to Steve, pointing to Amnesia, as he engages Tony. Steve of course never leaves his friend, but he does move Amnesia to a less precarious spot.
"Go!" Steve yells stealing Tony's attention once more. Bucky sighs and slings Amnesia onto his back, realizing she won't be able to hold on like usual due to her injuries. Instead he throws her over his shoulder, a much less comfortable and more precarious in general, but with her injury and the height he has to climb, it's the only solution. After the first few jumps, Amnesia's out for the count, which is probably a good thing because Bucky threw her out of the base and into the snow before Stark shot the missile shutting them in.
That's where T'Challa finds her. He picks her up, holding her gently in his arms without any fear of attack, and carries her back to his jet, where Zemo sits in cuffs, knocked out and waiting to be dealt with. He sets her down and helps how he can, which isn't much. In all his studies, he never went to medical school.
He leaves a message for Steve and Bucky, offering them sanctuary in his country, and then he leaves. He drops Zemo off, allowing the course of justice to proceed, and returns home with three other passengers.
An entire week passes, in which they keep Amnesia locked away in a medical ward. She has two visitors, and a man that never leaves her side. Her shoulder is on it's way to healing with only a scar in it's place. It could've been much worse and she knows it.
Bucky stays by her side every minute of every hour. Nothing can bring him to leave her side, as the last time he did, she gained extreme injuries and almost died.
Her right arm is a problem. She nearly shattered her humerus, and fractured both her radius and ulna in several spots. The doctors don't see her using her right hand ever again. They've talked about replacing the arm with one similar to Bucky's but she shut that idea down and started teaching them how to do their jobs. Her right arm was soon healing up faster than her shoulder and much stronger than before. Bucky's arm was replaced with another, after Amnesia fed them the details of his arm.
Two weeks later, with the help of T'Challa, Steve, Bucky and Amnesia hid in one of his jets as the king of Wakanda went to visit the avengers. Ross let him and as soon as they landed in the base, they got into action, powering down the base and finding their teammates. Amnesia leads the way, while Steve and Bucky take out anyone they come across. T'Challa distracts the big wigs and soon they're busting out with Lang, Barton, Maximoff, and Wilson.
"What now?" Sam asks as they fly away.
"We retreat to our own corners of the world, and hope it doesn't need us ever again. We hide, not because we're afraid to fight, or we can't, we hide because they're not ready for us to fight," Amnesia says, holding tightly onto Bucky's hand with her left.
"Where will you go?" Steve asks getting the feeling the two won't be staying with them.
"We've made arrangements," Bucky answers, obeying to the conditions set forth by T'Challa.
"We'll visit every other weekend," Amnesia butts in before Steve can argue. "It's too dangerous to be seen together Steve Rogers."
And so they go their separate ways. Clint heads home, and Amnesia recommends he move although they all doubt that the people who do know the location of his family home would ever use it against him. Wanda goes with him, another recommendation from her. Lang goes to wherever he was before, and Sam and Steve go their own way, more reluctantly than the others.