Steve and Melody stood in the watching room as the operations began on Nick and Emily. Melody was gripping onto the ledge so tight, she was afraid she would soon lose all feelings in her fingers. The door opened and shut quickly, but Melody didn't turn around. Three people piled in the room, standing right next to her. Natasha, Clint and Rhodey.

Rhodey gasped at the look of his girlfriend lying on a hospital bed, looking paler than ever. Natasha was just like Melody, gripping the ledge for fear that neither of them would make it. Clint was the closest to Melody, putting a comforting hand on hers. Every bit of anger she had left for him melted away in that moment. She didn't care right now if Clint was lying to her. It didn't matter. What mattered was if her mother was going to make it out of there, and if she didn't she would have someone there to comfort her.

"Are they gonna make it?" Natasha finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know." Steve finally said.

Melody swallowed a huge lump in her throat at the look of their heart rates. "What the hell happened?" Rhodey asked, sounding more scared than he intentionally wanted to.

"A hit." Melody spoke in a hoarse voice, Steve looking to her, slightly shocked. Those were the first words she said since the apartment.

"Tell me about the shooter." Clint demanded, getting angry himself.

Bringing the shooter up just made Melody grab the ledge tighter. "He's fast." Steve concluded before looking down, thinking about him all over again. "Strong." One thing he couldn't get his mind off of was his arm. "Had a metal arm."

Maria walked in slowly, placing herself next to Rhodey. If she wouldn't have talked, Melody probably wouldn't have noticed her. "Three slugs perfectly and exactly in each; no rifling. Completely untraceable."

"Soviet-made." Natasha whispered. That was the one thing to make Melody look away from her mother. How the hell did she know that?

"Yeah." Maria spoke, the same look on her face that was on Melody's and the same question running through her brain.

The beeping increased, everyone who wasn't looking turned back. This time, Melody turned her hand over, gripping Clint's hand so tight. It was almost like she thought Death was going to take him too. It was like dominoes, the second Emily flat lined, so did Fury. "Come on." Melody whispered. Her mother was a fighter. She could fight her way out of this. "Come on." She continued to whisper those words as if her mother would be able to hear her.

"Don't do this to me, Nick." Natasha whispered just as desperately as Melody.

"Wake up, Em." Rhodey whispered, gripping onto the ledge like Melody and Natasha.

There were two defibrillators, one going to Nick and the other going to Emily. Once they did their first shock, nothing happened. A second shock, nothing. Melody felt herself moving with the defibrillator, continuously whispering those two words over and over again like they were religion.

Shortly after the second shock had no effect, they called it. Steve was the first to turn away. Melody's face twisted into complete anguish as Clint pulled her into him. Rhodey began to step back, finding himself shocked. He looked over to Clint and Melody, staggering back a little more as her cries echoed through the room. He slowly backed up until he walked out of the door. He needed to be alone. Maria bit her lip, not sure what to do. She knew she had to step up and fix things, but she just couldn't. She lost two mentors. She hurried out of the room so no one would see her cry.

Natasha, she just continued to stand there as Melody cried into Clint's chest. She wanted to cry like Melody. She wanted to let out all of her sadness, but she didn't feel like she had the right. Melody lost a mother, but Natasha lost a…something. A mother and father figure? Mentors? She wasn't quite sure. She stood her ground, though. She wouldn't let anyone see her cry. She just stared at the bodies, feeling her eyes poke at tears, but she wasn't going to let them fall.

Day had come, and Steve, Melody, Rhodey, Natasha and Clint were eventually escorted to see the bodies. Rhodey, Melody and Steve stood in the back of the room while Clint and Natasha stood close to the bodies. Melody was like a zombie. She didn't want to see her mother like that. She was the strongest woman she knew and here she was lying lifeless.

Maria eventually joined them in the back. "They need to take them." She whispered. The second she said that, Melody bolted out of the room. Everyone turned to look at her, but Steve was the only one to follow. Rhodey was about to follow her out, but Maria stopped him. They had a lot to talk about.

Steve moved to her in the hall as she leaned up against the wall, grabbing her shoulders to try and force her to look at him, but she just kept looking down. "Talk to me." He pleaded.

"I'm an orphan now."

Steve opened his mouth, about to say something when Natasha burst out of the room with Clint following quickly behind. "Why were Fury and Carter in your apartment?" She demanded to Steve, Melody looking to her as if she had gone completely insane.

"I don't know." He answered hopelessly.

"Cap," Rumlow called from their right side, Melody rolling her eyes slightly. "Barnes, they want you both back at SHIELD."

"Yeah," Steve spoke, looking back to Melody, really worried about her in that moment. "Give us a second."

"They want you now."

Steve turned away from Melody, wondering if he even had a heart. His niece had just lost her only parent left if you didn't count Tony's legal obligation. She couldn't go to SHIELD. Not in this state she was in. "Okay." Steve bit right back.

Steve turned back to Natasha as she shook her head at him. "You're a terrible liar." With that she stormed off, but Clint continued to stand there, just looking at his girlfriend in an almost shock.

Clint moved forward, getting right into Melody's ear. "Who's keeping secrets from who now?"

Melody looked to him, wanting to punch him in the face for saying that to her. How dare he?! She had just lost her mother because of a secret and now he was throwing that in her face. She looked to him, murder in her eyes. She didn't want to start a scene so she just shook her head at him before speaking, "Walk away from me."

He did as she said, but she was still fuming. She looked to Steve then down at the flash drive he was gripping in his hands. "Don't trust anyone." Melody quoted before looking back up at her uncle. It had to be just the two of them on this. And that's how it was going to be.

Steve looked over at the man who was stalking food in the vending machine, looking down at the flash drive, getting an idea for a safe place to keep it while they were gone.

Steve and Melody were now in their uniforms, walking into Alexander Pierce's office. Sharon was actually talking to him, making Melody roll her eyes. She was the last person she wanted to talk to at the moment. She began to walk past them, nodding in their direction. "Captain Rogers."

"Neighbor." Steve retorted nastily. Sharon turned around to look at him, but he wasn't paying attention.

"Captain," Pierce said, putting his hand out to shake it before looking to Melody, reaching out for her hand. "Miss. Barnes." He gave her a little chuckle. "You're all grown up." Melody furrowed her eyebrows. She had no recollection of ever meeting this man. Sure, she knew who he was, but she didn't know him. "I'm Alexander Pierce."

"Yes, sir." Steve spoke, breaking Melody out of her confusion. "It's an honor."

"The honor's mine, Captain." He told him with a nod. "My father served in the 101st, come on in."

The pair looked to each other before walking in, having an odd feeling about the whole thing. When they were in the office, he kept babbling about how far he, Nick and Emily went back, showing them different pictures of the three. If he gave Melody a picture, she would give it right back. She didn't want to look at her mother in pictures at the moment. It reminded her that pictures were the only way she would be alive. He had passed Steve a picture of Nick swearing into office. Melody really didn't want to look at that picture either. Mostly because Emily was in the background as a young SHIELD agent, probably before Emily and her father ever met.

"That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met, when I was at State Department in Bogota." He looked down in memory, but Melody continued to look straight forward, Steve looking to her, never being more worried. "ELN rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was Deputy Chief of the SHIELD. station there, and he comes to me with a plan. He wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, 'No, we'll negotiate.' Turned out, the ELN didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what do they find? They find it empty." Pierce finally sat down across from them, looking each of them in the eye before speaking again. "Nick had ignored my direct order, and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil, and saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."

He then looked to Melody, giving her a sad smile. "And your mother, Melody, she was a fantastic agent. I promoted her shortly after your father died." Melody went rigid at the mention of her father. "She continued to go on despite his death, and she went above and beyond for SHIELD. Hard work is something I don't ignore." He gave her a sad smile. "I just hope the two are together again. My condolences to you."

Melody just stared at him. Why the hell was he bringing all of this up? Did he not understand how all of this made her feel? Someone had just assassinated her mother and here they were playing tea instead of finding out who the hell that shooter was. "Thank you." She spoke, that rigid voice dripping out.

"Captain," He spoke, turning back to Steve as Melody's hands grew into fists. "Why were Nick and Emily in your apartment last night?"

"I don't know." Steve answered simply with a shrug.

"Did you know it was bugged?"

"I did." Steve told him with a nod. This whole conversation just seemed to take a turn. Almost like a mission report. "Because Nick told me."

"Did he tell you he and Emily were the ones who bugged it?" Steve slowly turned to look at Melody, her looking back to Pierce as if she was now scared of him. She wasn't sure if she could really trust him. So was Steve.

"I want you to see something." He had the two look to a screen where they were showing Georges Batroc. A man was circling him while asking questions.

"Is that live?" Melody asked. For the first time since her mother died, she didn't look like a zombie.

"Yeah, they picked him up last night in a not-so-safe house in Algiers."

"Are you saying he's a suspect?" Steve asked, confused. "Assassination isn't Batroc's line."

"No, no. It's more complicated than that." Melody looked to Pierce, ready for him to give her more information.

"Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star. And he was contacted by email and paid by wire transfer, and then the money was run through seventeen fictitious accounts. The last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech."

Melody took the paperwork as he leaned forward, giving it to the two. Her eyes immediately scanned the page as Steve just continued to look at Pierce. "Am I supposed to know who that is?

"Not likely. Veech died six years ago." Steve looked up, but Melody was already ahead of that, as she went through the paperwork. "His last address was 1435 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 1437."

Melody looked up at that. "Are you saying Fury and my mother hired the pirates?" Melody demanded. He opened his mouth to talk, but Melody wasn't even going to let him. "Why?"

"The prevailing theory was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour and that led to Nick and Emily's death."

"If you really knew Nick Fury and Emily Carter, you'd know that's not true." Melody spat out. He was basically calling her mother a thief before she was even in the ground.

"Why do you think we're talking?" Melody and Steve looked to each other again as the three of them all stood up, but it was mostly side eye. All of this smelled too fishy. If Nick and Emily were really to do this, they wouldn't be so careless about it. It all seemed so…staged. "See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists. So was Emily. The three of us knew that, despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down." He was looking out the window before looking back to them. "And that makes enemies. Those people that call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today makes me really, really angry."

Pierce stared the two down and the two stared him right back down. Something about him was just off. They could both feel it. "Captain, Barnes, you were the last two to see Nick and Emily alive. I don't think that's an accident. And I don't think you do, either. So, I'm gonna ask again. Why were they there?"

Melody and Steve had a moment of body language, both of them agreeing that they weren't going to tell that man anything. "Nick told us not to trust anyone."

"I wonder if that included him and Emily."

Melody gave him a bit of a sarcastic smile before answering him. "I'm sorry. Those were his last words."

"Excuse us." Steve spoke with a nod before placing his hand on Melody's back and guiding her towards the door.

"Captain, Barnes," They both turned around to see him almost directly behind them. Steve made sure to stand in front of Melody for protection, but she was still peeking out somewhat. "Somebody murdered my friends and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they're gonna regret it." His eyes narrowed on Melody, like he thought she was the weak one out of the two. If only he knew. "Anyone."

"Understood." She spat out nastily before Steve guided her out of the room and to the elevator.

The two stood there, waiting for it to open, Melody not wanting to talk until they were completely alone and in a confined place. The two leaned against the railing, overlooking the city, Melody shaking her head. "I don't like him. There's something off about this whole thing."

Steve shook his head, looking out just like she was doing. "I know." Steve turned to the elevator doors, commanding where he would like to go before the doors began to close. They suddenly stopped, Rumlow and a few STRIKE guys joining them. Steve and Melody just kept to themselves.

As soon as the elevator started going, Rumlow turned to the two. "Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see. You want me to get the tac team ready?"

Steve turned to Melody, knowing she would know more about all of that. "No, let's wait and see what it is first." Melody actually smiled a little bit, thinking about her argument with her mother. And she thought she didn't help run that group.

"Right." Rumlow nodded before looking forward again. As Melody looked around, trying not to make this ride awkward, she noticed that Jones had his hand on his weapon. Her eyebrows furrowed at that, but shook her head. Maybe he was just on edge. She would let that one slide for now.

The elevator stopped again, more men getting on. These men were dressed in suits and ties, one getting in between Steve and Melody, Melody ending up on the right side of the elevator and Steve on the left. "Excuse me." He apologized, but Melody still couldn't get to Steve, it was like they were intentionally making it that way. Sure there were a lot of people that worked for SHIELD, but she had never see a SHIELD elevator this crowded before.

The doors closed and Rumlow turned to look at Melody who was now standing right behind him. "I'm sorry about what happened with your mom." She looked to him, her panic settling in. Something was going on. That was evident. "It's messed up what happened to her and Fury."

"Thank you." Melody spoke just above a whisper before he turned his head around to smile at her.

Melody then looked to Steve across the way, noticing he was staring at one of the men in the suits. Her eyes wandered to him and she noticed what Steve had to have been noticing now. He was sweating. A lot more than a man should in a suit and tie in a conditioned elevator. Melody was sure if she bumped into him, she would be able to feel his heartbeat pulsating out.

The elevator stopped again. Three more got in, one of them being Rollins. He stopped right in front of Steve with two large men flanking him. Melody and Steve shared a worried look as the doors closed again, Melody feeling like it was locking her into her death.

Melody looked around. There were ten guys and only two of them. Melody and Steve shared a look, wondering how the fight would play out. It could go either way. "Before we get started," Steve finally announced, the whole elevator falling quiet. "Does anyone want to get out?"

Everyone was still, Rollins being the first to move. A taser emerged out of his hand before throwing it into Steve's gut. Brock turned to Melody, but she kicked him into the elevator wall, leaving a dent in it. Half of the men went to Steve while the other half moved to Melody. They had Steve by tooth and nail, and before Brock went up to hit Melody again, he slammed the "emergency stop" button.

One man tried to come at Melody, but she grabbed him, pushing him to the window, ending in him flying out. She looked panicked for a moment, that's when Brock pinned her arm to the wall with his hand. She continued to punch him with her free arm, but Jones caught it and pinned it to the wall as well. She kicked wildly, but a few guys in the suits were trying to stop her legs. She actually kicked one so hard he went flying to the other end of the elevator. That distracted Melody more than anything. How did she do that?

One of the men tore off the handle to his brief case, attaching it to Melody's wrist. Her wrist was immediately attracted to the metal of the elevator, but she fought it, pulling it away. She looked to Steve, the men attacking him trying to do the same thing. That's when he broke one of their legs with his kick, that inspiring to Melody enough. She rammed her head into one guy's head, knocking him unconscious before slamming her first into another guy, the cuff breaking off instantly.

Steve continued with his own fight, each of them successfully knocking down everyone except Rumlow and Rollins. Rumlow continued to go after Melody while Rollins went for Steve. Rumlow landed one of the tasers into Melody's back, making Melody scream, but it was more from the shock. It didn't hurt her as much as she thought it would. Melody kicked him back into the elevator wall while Steve picked Rollins up and flipped him over, the second his head hit the floor, it was lights out.

Melody and Steve ended up right next to each other, their attention going right to Rumlow who had a taser in his hand. Both of their faces were twisted into anger as they looked to him. "Whoa, big guy." Melody rolled her eyes at the fact that he was talking just to Steve. Now she was going to make sure she was personally the person to knock him out. "I just want you two to know, this isn't personal."

After that last word, he went after them, Melody simply moving out of the way, jabbing her hand into his neck before punching him in the face and throwing him up to the ceiling. He crashed into it, some of the lights now hanging. Before he even made it to the ground, he was out cold. "Yeah, well," Melody scoffed, placing her hands on her hips. "It kind of feels personal."

Steve picked up his shield before pressing the "emergency stop" button to open up the elevator. When they did, though, a lot of men with a lot of guns were waiting for them. Steve panicked, doing the first thing that came to mind. He grabbed Melody, kneeling down with her before cutting the lines to the elevator. They took a free fall before it came to a harsh stop, both of them falling a bit.

Melody moved to the doors, prying them open before finding more men running to them. She struggled in shutting them, but it eventually worked. She turned to Steve, helpless. "We're surrounded."

Steve turned around looking to the hole in the window. "Not completely surrounded."

Melody just began to shake her head vigorously. "No."

"Yes." Steve spoke as he hurried to her and grabbed her by her side before jumping through the window with her.

Melody tried not to scream on her way down, Steve moving the shield and his body to absorb most of the shock for Melody as they crashed through the window ceiling and eventually the floor. Melody rolled off of Steve, taking in deep pained breaths before sitting up and pulling Steve with her.

The pair made it for the garage, getting on Steve's motorcycle just as the doors were closing. Melody looked to the doors as Steve began to rev the engine. "We're not gonna make it."

Steve revved it again, making Melody hold onto his waist a little tighter. "When did you become so pessimistic?"

With that, he shot off, Melody burying her face in his back, feeling how close they were to being crushed as they made it out. Melody turned around to look at the doors, sighing a breath of relief. As they continued, they noticed the spikes coming up further down the road. One of the aircrafts she had just made came rushing out of the garage, making her roll her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Stand down!" They knew that voice anywhere. That was Jasper Sitwell.

"Melody," Steve spoke, slightly turning to her. "I've got an idea, but you're gonna have to get off the bike."

Melody sighed. "Why me?" She slowly began to get up, steadying herself as she stood on the seat of the bike, taking a deep breath before flipping off. She rolled a little bit, but she caught herself, pushing one leg back and bending the other as she put her gloved hand out, the friction making her slow down. Once she had fully stopped, she flipped the hair that was in her face back to look at what Steve was doing.

He chucked his shield at one of the motors, Melody finding herself wince just a little bit. Those were still her babies even if they were trying to kill her. He then squeezed the breaks, making the bike come up a little, giving him perfect leverage to jump on top of the helicarrier and retrieve his shield while doing some damage along the way. The helicarrier ended up falling into the water, Steve flipping off and landing perfectly in front of Melody.

She rolled her eyes at him which he just gave her a cocky smile to. "Show off."

Steve turned around to access all the damage before looking to his bike. "Let's get out of here."

"Please." Melody spoke, hopping on almost faster than Steve. As they began to drive, Melody went into Steve's ear. "Where's the flash drive?"

"In safe keeping." Steve yelled over to roar of the wind and the engine.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Steve didn't answer her, making Melody let out a deep sigh before laying her head on his back from exhaustion. "You're buying me a smoothie and getting me out of this tight uniform."

Melody was slurping the last of her smoothie, now wearing sweat pants and a hoodie, Steve doing the same. They paid in cash. It worked for Steve, he never liked using cards, for Melody, it was like the sky was falling. "But I only have like twenty bucks on me." "Twenty bucks, that's good." "I'm worth one hundred seventy million, that is most definitely not good. SHIELD can't even afford to kill me."

Right now, they were walking through the hospital toward the vending machine where Steve had hidden the flash drive. When they made it to the vending machine, Steve had a lost look on his face. Every bit of gum was gone that he hid it behind. "Where is it?" Melody panicked.

"It was right there." He ensured.

That's when they saw Natasha and Clint in the reflection of the glass, Natasha blowing a big pink bubble, making Melody straighten out as Clint just smiled that know-it-all smile. Melody and Steve both slowly turned around to the two as Natasha just smirked. At this point, Melody was done playing nice with everyone. She grabbed Natasha's arm, much more harshly than Natasha thought she would and pushed her into an empty room as Steve and Clint followed, just as shocked as Natasha.

Melody slammed Natasha into a wall, Natasha grunting from how hard it was. Why was Melody so damn strong? Like freakishly strong. "Where is it?" She growled out.

"Safe."

Melody squeezed her arms a little tighter, a darkness flashing over her eyes. At the death of her mother, Melody had simply lost it. "Do better."

"Where did you two get it?" Clint asked.

Melody rolled her eyes, not turning away from Natasha. "Oh, why do you care?" She was still way too mad at Clint for him to interrupt her like that and expect to make it out alive.

"Fury and Carter gave it to you." Natasha almost whispered. "Why?"

"What's on it?" Steve demanded.

"I don't know."

"Stop lying." Melody squeezed her arms tighter, Natasha actually wincing this time.

"She only acts like she knows everything." Clint spoke while moving Melody off of Natasha, but Melody didn't stop staring at her. Natasha was actually scared. She had seen Melody go dark before, but never this dark. She could actually feel bruises coming up from where her hands had gripped her.

Melody turned to Clint, this time, more accusation on her face than ever before. She didn't trust Clint. Not anymore. "Did you know Fury and my mom hired the pirates?"

He looked around before making eye contact with her again. "Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

Steve moved next to Melody, the accusation matching. You could really tell they were related there. "We're not gonna ask again."

"I know who killed Fury and Carter."

Everyone turned around to look at Natasha who was still leaning against the wall. Melody's eyes seemed to soften for a moment, but they went right back to that darkness, thinking about who killed her mother. All three of them began to move closer to her, waiting for more information. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones that do call him the Winter Soldier."

Melody turned her head to the side, thinking of that metal arm all over again. It moved so fast in the night. And that single red star. If she didn't know any better she would say it was Soviet. "He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

"So," Clint began, his arms crossed in thought. "He's a ghost story."

"Oh," Melody scoffed while turning around to look at him. "Don't act like you don't know what's going on."

"I'm just in the dark as you are." He snapped.

"And how the hell am I supposed to believe you now?"

"Five years ago," Natasha interrupted, everyone turning back to her. "I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Someone shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there." Melody and Steve shared a glance. If someone were to tell them this yesterday, they might not believe it, but they also never thought they would be SHIELD fugitives. "I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me." That's when she picked up her shirt, revealing a bullet wound. It still looked new, but Melody had scars on her body like that too. "Soviet slug." Melody's head picked up at that, remembering the red star. "No rifling. Bye-bye, bikinis."

"Yeah." Steve scoffed sarcastically. "I bet you look terrible in them now."

"Going after him is a dead end. Like Clint said," Natasha spoke desperately as Melody and Clint looked to each other. It was crazy how someone you planned to share your whole life with could turn into a complete stranger in a matter of days. "He's a ghost story."

She brought out the flash drive, Steve taking it from her before looking back to Clint and Melody. Lately, it had seemed like Clint and Natasha were on a completely different side than Steve and Melody, but right now, they needed to all work together. "Well, let's find out what the ghost wants."

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE – PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING

WOO, we're getting into the action! I put some parallels in here because I love parallels so much. Let me know in the reviews if you guys caught them! Please remember to review, guys! I want to get at least two reviews per chapter to see how you guys are liking the story and what I can do to make it more enjoyable for you guys. Even ASDFGHJKL; can work. Just let me know you're enjoying or what I can do to improve! And if you guys are interested in getting sent a family tree (because let's face it, Melody's families are getting more complicated by the minute) PM me an email address and I'll send it to you through a word document! Also, remember to check out my poll on my profile!