Aubrey worked a brush through her wet hair as she listened to Sam and Bucky talk. Zemo had offered her the shower and the bunk room so that she could wash off Nagel's blood. The door was swung halfway open and she knew that they didn't know she was listening. She had been glad to disappear for a few moments if only to wash the blood stains from her hair and clothing. As though she had given her body permission to rest, Aubrey couldn't help the tired ache that settled onto her bones. This tiredness seemed to overtake any current thoughts and worries. Vaguely, she recognized the heightened voices of Sam and Bucky discussing…not arguing about what to do next. Puffing a breath out of her lips, she inspected her fingers, the jeweled brush they held, and the scars decorating the skin on her fingertips. Aubrey's eyes were then drawn to her legs, the long thin lines of darkened skin, scarring. Suddenly, an acute awareness of the skin stretching at her back prickled Aubrey's mind as memories flooded her senses. She'd been running for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like to chase. First Hydra, then hiding from the prying eyes of the world as they'd recovered…the immense grief she'd felt when Bucky had dusted. That had been one of the hardest moments of her life, turning to find the only person in the world who understood her gone. Something tugged on the edges of her consciousness, something Wanda Maximoff had murmured to her long ago, right after they'd been captured and sent to the raft. The memory played clearly in Aubrey's mind as she leaned back against the wall, eyes fluttering closed.
Aubrey's skin prickled with sudden coolness as she shed the tattered remains of her black sweatshirt. The tank top beneath was mostly intact and she reached for the rough prison cloth. Her hand stilled as she felt another pair of eyes burning into her back. Before she could stop herself, Aubrey's neck twisted, and she found Wanda Maximoff's bright eyes fastened on her in the dim room. Wanda blinked once, then twice, as though pulling herself from her thoughts. Her arms were bound in a straitjacket, and she sat on a cement ledge, looking haggard. Slowly, her gaze drug itself from Aubrey's back to her eyes, and Wanda's voice was brimmed with emotion.
"I do not mean to stare...I just…your scars…I thought…I'm sorry." Aubrey's mind dissected the words, Wanda had restarted her sentence several times before settling on the apology, which made little sense to her. Pausing, Aubrey fully turned, arms crossed as she shrugged.
"I don't hate them as much anymore, and what are you sorry for?"
Wanda's gaze flashed to the ceiling and a thoughtful look made its way over her features before she spoke again.
"I'm sorry that you have endured so much of the darker side of life. Sorry that I ever gave Hydra a chance…. I'm sorry that you hate them, you should hate the deeds, not the scars."
The words were puzzling, and Aubrey felt herself frown as her finger mindlessly traced one of the scars on her neck.
"Hate the deeds, not the scars? What does that even mean?"
Wanda stood, pacing closer, compassion in her gaze.
"Scars are a map of our lives. They show where you've been and how far you've come. You shouldn't hate the scars because they are a testament to what you have overcome."
It was as though her mind had been waiting for someone to tell her that. A weight lifted from her shoulders and Aubrey opened her mouth to speak but her heightened sense of hearing picked up heavy footsteps. Pulling on the rough gray jumpsuit, hastily swiping a loose tear away, Aubrey met Wanda's eyes, whispering "Thank you." just as the door to the holding room was thrown open.
Wanda Maximoff gave Aubrey a broken smile as she was roughly shoved around by the guards before being removed from the room. In that moment she knew that Wanda thought of their situation as another scar to add to their collection…that in the future they'd be able to say it had been hard, but they'd overcome.
That was the thought that kept Aubrey's mind from descending into madness as the lights in the room flickered and the monster in her mind rose.
"Brie?-" Bucky's soft tone brought Aubrey's consciousness back from the gentle waves of the memory. Blinking in the dim light, she lifted her head until she could meet Bucky's eyes. His face was pulled down in worry as he slowly lowered to the ground in front of her. "-Is everything alright?" His tone was questioning but the look in his eyes told Aubrey that he had recognized the look on her face.
"Yeah...I was just thinking about stuff and remembering something someone told me a long while ago." Shifting, she set down the brush, only then noticing the plate Bucky had set down beside her.
"What did you remember?"
She reached for one of the steaming dumplings, taking a moment to think through it all. The raft seemed like light years ago and in some ways it was. It had been eight years and Aubrey's mind was startled by the realization of her age.
"Well, now I've remembered two things…I think I'm forty years old now?"
Bucky's eyebrows shot up and his head tilted. "Really?"
Her mind worked through the years, she'd been thirty when the Wakandans had healed her mind. She and Bucky had spent three years in Wakanda, five years between Thanos' snap and undusting everyone, and finally, two years bouncing between Europe and America. Nose wrinkling, she lowered her voice. "It's weird to think about. My physical body still feels young but my mind feels as though I've lived a thousand years."
He nodded at the words, a thoughtful look on his face. "You don't look a day over twenty."
Warmth spread through Aubrey's cheeks, although she wasn't sure why. An awkward beat of silence passed between them before she changed the subject.
"Right after the fight at the airport in Europe, Sam, Wanda, Lang, Barton, and I was taken to this prison in the middle of the ocean. The Raft, it was called. At one point, we all had to change into the prison clothing and Wanda got a glimpse of some of the scars I have.-" pausing, Aubrey sucked in a breath, noting the pained look that had overtaken Bucky's features. They hadn't really ever discussed what had happened after the various fights they'd been in. He'd never asked and she hadn't volunteered the information. Aubrey knew he felt guilty for involving her in so many battles but she'd continuously reminded him of the fact that it had been her choice. It always had been. She'd chosen Bucky time and time again, yet he always seemed so unsure about her and her choices. Slightly shaking her head, Aubrey refocused on what she had been saying. "-She said Scars are a map of our lives. They show where you've been and how far you've come. You shouldn't hate the scars because they are a testament to what you have overcome. I'd never thought about it that way before."
"It's solid advice…but what reminded you of it?"
She began to shrug but then corrected it, forcing out the words that seemed to stick in her throat. "It's hard not to be reminded of it. Ninety percent of my skin is covered in scar tissue. Seems like it is one of the only problems that the serum couldn't fix."
Bucky's expression faltered for a moment, an indescribable emotion gleaming in his eyes. She only caught the back half of it and briefly wondered what it had been. He broke away from her gaze, clearing his throat. "There's nothing wrong with how you look, Brie. There's especially nothing wrong with who you are. The serum doesn't have anything to fix because there's nothing wrong. At least not anymore."
She didn't know what to say to that. Aubrey hadn't expected Bucky to go there, to so quickly look through her words and pick out where the pain stemmed from. Although deep down she had known to expect it. Bucky had always known her thoughts, sometimes more than she even knew them.
"As much as I hate to break up whatever pity party you two are having, we're getting ready to land." Sam's voice cut through her thoughts and Aubyre's eyes flickered up to find him standing in the doorway, eyes glowing with an odd sort of suspicion. After a moment, Bucky got to his feet and crept toward Sam. He growled the next words so softly that Aubrey almost missed them and part of her wished she had.
"You have crap timing Sam. I was finally going to-"
Sam shook his head, sighing. "You chose the worst time to-"
Footsteps cut through both of their words and vaguely, she heard Zemo in the hallway.
They had arrived in Riga.
The cobbled street clicked beneath her combat boots as Aubrey followed Zemo, Sam, and Bucky through the ancient streets. Tightly packed buildings rose up around them and street vendors called to tourists.
Plink
A high-pitched noise played once, immediately catching her attention. Aubrey's head swiveled and in her peripheral, she saw Bucky's do the same. He had heard it too.
Plink
Her eyes snapped towards the direction the sound had come from and after a moment, they fastened on a small metallic ball. It flashed purple once, then twice.
Plink
She'd seen gadgets the size and shape of this one before. They came from a reclusive place…they came from the place that had freed her and Bucky.
They came from the place whose king had been murdered by Zemo.
Aubrey swiveled her head back, finding Bucky's eyes burning into hers, they said a million things at once. Giving him a slight nod, she called to Sam and Zemo, who were climbing the stairs to a blue-doored, tan-bricked building.
"I'm going to take a walk."
Sam frowned and then shot Bucky a look. Bucky shrugged. "I'll go with her."
"Alright, be careful." Sam nodded once more, pulling open the blue door.
"Yes, mom." Bucky's voice dripped with sarcasm as Aubrey turned back towards the Koyomo bead. It was warm in her bare fingers and as she closed her palm around it, the bead buzzed once more. But this time, the pattern was different. Morse Code.
- .- - / -... .-.. - -.-. -.- ... / .-.. . ..-. -
Two blocks left.
After translating the message to Bucky, they followed the instructions. Soon another Komoyo bead joined the first, then a third. Each one buzzed its own message and after the fourth, they entered an alleyway.
Instinctively, Bucky turned and Aubrey faced the opposite direction. She could feel eyes on them. Both she and Bucky spun around as light, trained footsteps sounded to their right.
"I was wondering when you were gonna show up," Bucky murmured.
Ayo did not smile, her eyes did not glow with warmth as they once had. Aubrey's mind whirled, of all the Dora Milaje they had sent Ayo. The woman who had shown them Wakanda, Ayo had been the first to test their freedom. She had been the one to test the trigger words after she and Bucky had been healed.
It seemed now that Ayo did not wish to bring up her grandmother nor did she wish to ask them how they were.
"Silapha kuZemo" [I'm here for Zemo]
The Wakandans had tracked them down. Aubrey had known that eventually, they'd come calling for Zemo. But that was before they needed him to find Karli.
Aubrey had once thought that she would happily hand Zemo over to the Wakandans…but now she thought differently. He was the only lead they had to finding the rogue super soldiers…he was the key to ending the Flag Smashers.
Ayo stalked closer and it was only then that Aubrey noticed the betrayal in her gaze, the pain written into her features. Sidling a step closer to Bucky, Aubrey felt every muscle in her back tense when Ayo spoke again.
"How could you free him?"
"We need his help." Bucky flashed a look in Aubrey's direction. Let me do the talking. Part of her wanted to argue with it but she knew he was better at handling these types of situations. Ayo's steps turned and she circled around them, hissing.
"With time, will, and the resources, both the Winter Soldier and Eagle programming was removed from you like rotten fur." Her piercing gaze snapped to Aubrey and she spoke before Bucky could.
"We're grateful for that….grateful for everything you and Shuri have done.-"
Ayo's eyes broke away, going back to Bucky as she cut Aubrey off.
"Zemo murdered our King T'Chaka at the U.N. The man who chose us. Who chose me to protect him."
"I understand-" Bucky didn't get farther than that.
"Very little, if anything, of our loss and our shame. "
Bucky's head dropped and Aubrey could sense his mind closing off. Her tongue switched to Xhosa and the language of the Wakandans came easily.
"Uyindlela yokufikelela esiphelweni." [He's a means to an end.]
Ayo paused, both with her speech and movement. It was only then that Bucky's head raised.
"Eight hours, Eagle, White Wolf. Then we come for him." Ayo's hand raised and Bucky dropped the four Koyomo beads into it. Ayo didn't meet their eyes again. She turned, movements robotic and back stiff as she walked away.
Aubrey felt a sigh shuddering through her body as Bucky's head dropped.
"That's nowhere near enough time."
"It'll have to be. We both know that the Wakandans are true to their word."