PART 2 – THE END OF SHIELD
Fury
(In which Skye's boss almost dies)
He'd been stoic when she met him despite the facts that he was covered in sweat and her ears were still ringing with his screams. He was stoic when he was given orders to ensure the death of the director of Shield, and he was stoic on the drive their target. Skye was beginning to think that they'd managed to wipe all of the fallible humanity clean out of him after all.
Things were different by the end of the mission. He was different, or perhaps she just saw him better. It hadn't gone quite the way Hydra had planned. Director Fury had been guarded by two of Shield's resident Avengers- Cap and Natasha- after being discreetly warned by Skye's teammates about the impending attack. The regular Hydra soldiers had failed, so the "Fist of Hydra" had been sent out to finish the job. Then he'd run into Captain America and the Black Widow. Fury had gotten away and his mask had come off, and Skye had heard enough over the comms to realize that things were a lot more complicated than they'd seemed at first glance.
Big surprise.
"Get in the car! Soldier, get in the car!" Skye hollered out the window. She couldn't look at Steve's expression or she'd give herself away, she just knew it. No sympathy, she told herself. No regret. Just get the asset out of there. Her orders from Hydra had come in loud and clear. With the mission failed and Fury gone, she was to get their sniper out of there at first opportunity and get him back to base to be prepped for plan B. Natasha was injured and Steve was too stunned to interfere; she had to take the opportunity or risk her cover.
The soldier- Bucky. Bucky Barnes. Steve's dead best friend- bolted away from the Avengers as sirens filled the air. He jumped into the passenger seat and Skye slammed her foot down on the gas.
They were some miles down the road, far enough that the sounds of sirens had faded before he spoke. There nothing in his voice of the fierce, focused, unshakeable soldier he'd been earlier. "I knew him. How is that- How is that possible? Who was he?"
It killed her to say it, but for the sake of her cover, and for the sake of his mind, she forced the harsh words out. "Leave it alone. You have to stay focused. Keep your head in the game."
"But I knew him..."
And he sounded so lost... it broke her heart. Skye looked at him, catching a glimpse of dark, haunted eyes. Then she cursed under her breath and took a chance that was totally going to get her chewed out later. If Bucky told anyone about what she was doing, her cover would be history. But she had to. She hit the button on the dashboard that Fitz had assured her would make it so that Hydra couldn't hear anything through their comms or bugs without letting them know that they were missing anything.
"You can't say things like that," she told Bucky. "They'll fry your brain again. Make you forget. You have to keep this quiet. Pretend it doesn't matter or they will take it from you."
He looked startled for a very brief moment, then grim disgust settled into his expression. "This is a test."
"What? No! Bu-" Skye bit back a wince. "Soldier. I'm not testing you. I shouldn't be saying any of this, but I'm trying to help. I know what it did to you, heard what it did to you when they used that machine to clear your mind. I just... don't want that to happen again. If it isn't necessary." She made a terrible Hydra employee; too much sympathy. She just had to hope he'd believe that was all it was. She tried not to squirm beneath the intensity of his stare.
He looked away at last and slumped back in his seat, lost in thought, leaving Skye to her silent, fervent hopes that he'd take her advise and keep his mouth shut about all of it.
She wasn't sure she could stand by and do nothing while he screamed again.