Later that evening, Erin's suspicions about Winter's mission was confirmed. According to the breaking news, Director Nicholas Fury was shot and pronounced dead at 9:04. That was all she could actually remember of the interrupting news report. There was a small portion about naming a new director for SHIELD, someone by Pierce. Her mind seemed to shut off for a while, seeing what Winter did to his SUV earlier that day. The disc of a grenade propelling through the air and slamming itself under the front wheels of Fury's SUV replayed constantly as she stared into nothingness. The screeching sound from the front bumper scraping the asphalt right in front of her made her skin crawl and her teeth grind in empathy. As the vehicle skid across the black surface, Erin remembering that she wanted to jump out of the way, but it was Winter's memory; he had waited a lot longer for him to move than she had liked. Next was when he used his mechanical arm to rip the car door off; she had felt how powerful it was and could sense that the metal limb was holding back strength. How strong was that arm of his?

The confirmation of Fury's death left Erin wondered if Winter had left to finish his mission, since Fury escaped well before the night hours. It was very likely that The Winter Soldier had to eliminate the director after their interactions with each other. Was that why he didn't want her to follow him? So he could complete the assassination? Very possible. Did that mean he would come back the same night?

He never did. She had spent the remaining night hours waiting. When it ticked around eleven, she busied herself with her book, reviewing everything she had learned in Mountain Pass. Stage One was the fundamentals and the risks of using the shadows. However, she enjoyed the part about actually starting out, about finding her tranquility. It gave a few examples on how to find your own tranquility, peace on Earth, love, it all depended on what type of person the manipulator was. Erin had found her's long ago; it was a childish type of inner peace, but it still worked for her. She felt that there was good in everyone. Since meeting The Winter Soldier, she knew it was more true than ever; if a man who's been trained to be nothing more than a weapon had a good heart, than everyone had one. It was always a matter of circumstance.

She honestly worried if her tranquility had changed; the tome was clear that many manipulators have had people be their centers. A strong connection, whether a child or soulmate, gave the manipulators a stronger connection to their shadows. However, almost every time they used a person for their tranquility, their anchor that weighed them down died long before the manipulator. If a manipulator loses sight of their tranquility, or if their significant other dies, it always ended the same; the shadow master would plummet into madness. Erin wondered if her tranquility shifted from everyone's good hearts to simply Winter. It was confusing to tell for certain, and it annoyed her that there was no easy way to know. A few test runs showed that she still had the power, but regardless of what she was thinking of, her shadows were weak. "Internal conflicting tranquility can result in minimal connection," she whispered to herself.

Hours began to pass her as she went on a soul searching training. She was no help to Winter if she couldn't perform the basic techniques. Erin couldn't ignore this issue; if she was going to get Winter away from HYDRA, then she needed to recenter her tranquility. She was only scared that he would end up being her new center; she didn't want him to die and she didn't want to descend into madness. So, proceeding to the Stage One instructions on how to find her inner peace, Erin drifted into a mediation so deep that she searched for hours for her serenity. To The Shadow Stranger, only a few minutes passed her before she emerged, for the rest of the world, nearly two days had gone. What brought her back was her hunger; at that point, she hadn't eaten for almost three days. Erin was frustrated that her tranquility search would have to wait until she feed herself. Before leaving her basement, she realized that a shower wasn't a bad idea either.

Because her tranquility was a question at the moment, she didn't want to risk using her shadows; she was all too familiar with the consequences. So, she settled with using a fake name to rent a car and a motel just a few streets away. Erin didn't like the idea of staying so near to her base of operations, but she couldn't walk anymore with the lack of food. After scrubbing away three days of grime and changing into a fresh outfit, Erin took a moment to remember how to drive. The steering wheel was familiar, but all the gadgets on the dashboard confused her. Rearview camera? Oncoming sensors? Why in the hell would she need to check Facebook while driving? Those all seemed unnecessary for her. In fact, they seemed more distracting than helpful to her. So, Erin shut off all of the devices and simply drove away from the small motel.

Not wanting to actually make her own meal, she spent the extra forty minutes to drive across the capitol to one of her favorite restaurants. Eating over half of a party platter, The Shadow Stranger paid the large bill and packed the rest in containers to bring back. It was just before noon when she got on the freeway back to Jessica Glew's motel room across town. Quietly listening to the radio as she drove, a commercial informed her that Captain America, Steve Rogers, was still being searched for. "A manhunt?" she muttered to herself. "For the most patriotic man in existence?" And Nick Fury being scared and seeking her help, what is this world coming to? Something wasn't adding up. Was this the work of HYDRA, or was it another invasion like in New York?

While she was driving, just before the overpass at Russell, traffic had been stalled. None of the other cars were moving, but, according to her dashboard monitor, there wasn't an accident on the bridge. "So what's the hold up?" Within walking distance in front of her, Erin saw a few men in black tactical uniforms stopping the vehicles. Shit, SHIELD. Were they looking for her? Did they suspect her of murdering Fury? As if she could get away with the truth, that he actually asked for her help. Watching the men carefully, she narrowed her eyes when she saw large assault rifles being carried. That's not right; they wouldn't pack that much firepower on a civilian street. Erin had seen their tactical teams before, back in Boston when they first apprehended her. The one in Boston wore their badges on the outside of their vests and kept their rifles hostered. A terrorist group? Are they trying to look like SHIELD? Sighing in resentment, Erin realized that nothing was going to get done if she just waited. If they were really looking for her, then she would give them a chase and then slip away; it would be tricky with her shadows, but she couldn't just wait around all day.

Exiting her rental car, Erin popped her knuckles as she walked in between the still vehicles. Well before she could interrogate the tactical team, multiple gun shots rang throughout the air. She dropped to her knees and pressed herself to the door of a minivan. Desperately, she scanned under the frame of the minivan, trying to get a visual of where the shots were coming from. They quickly stopped, only to be replaced with a loud explosion. Erin scuttled away from the scene, seeing gray smoke emit from a compact car. "Holy crap," she muttered.

Drivers and passengers began to shuffle out of their parked cars and run in the opposite direction of the shots. A family poured out of the minivan, a mother holding a baby and the father carrying a young girl away. A quick memory brought her back to Mountain Pass; she was at the county hospital. In her arms were The Temple Twins. Although she had thin arms, she was careful to cradle their heads evenly and rested their bodies near her chest. Mr. and Mrs. Temple were crying with joy, so incredibly thrilled to have their own children. Their own biological children. She remembered being envious of the Temple Twins; they would've had each other, growing up together as brother and sister. Erin pushed the twins back to their parents, all but refusing to even look at them any longer. Their tiny pink faces and little sausage fingers grabbing at her long black curls. That was the first time she felt the darkness in her appear in her eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Temple had seen her eyes as dark as space and became frightened; calling her a demon. She remembered running.

Another, a bit more distant, explosion snapped Erin out of her flashback. Just as she was in the delivery room, she was filled with uncontrollable anger. Civilians were screaming as they ran past and staggered guns were being used. The horrible stricken screams seemed to amplify the ones she heard in Mountain Pass on that fateful day. As the gunshots continued in a random order, she found herself becoming coated in anger. Why were they shooting? For each shot that was fired, it was one step closer to Erin losing control; she didn't have her tranquility and her memory of the Temple Twins was filled with absolute hatred, she had no idea what she was capable at the moment. She had vowed that no one else would die by her hand and that included sitting idly by and letting this tactical team killing anyone.

There was a moment of cease-fire; and Erin took that chance. Jumping up, and ignoring her own conscious, she balled her fists tight and ran towards the first member. His board back was facing her, giving her the perfect opportunity to attack. With her newly found anger, she disregarded her normal techniques and charged at him. Throwing her entire body into the member, he was caught off guard and stumbled forward. Tossing his rifle aside, he quickly wrapped his arms around her and flung her off of him. She rolled, but landed on her feet.

Now she was in the thick of it; at least six members were pointing their automatics at her. She kept her head down but her eyes sharp; waiting for the right moment.

"On your feet!" one of them demanded.

Erin narrowed her black gaze under her thick hair at him.

"Fine," he muttered, "Die whatever way you like." Raising a hand and give some sort of gesture, one of the members aimed at her. "Kill her," he commanded.

"No! Don't!" a voice sounded behind her.

Smirking at their stupidity, Erin began to manipulate her shadows, taking the risk of losing control again. To shield herself, she raised a third dimensional shade from under her. The bullet that was meant for her head bounced off. She sensed a hesitation from whom she guessed was their leader. Again, she seized the opportunity. At least, she tried to; the man who spoke earlier popped his head out from the side of a car and kicked in the back of a member's knee. He fought quickly with a small knife and disarmed him. Erin saw the remaining members change the direction of their barrels to aim at the new threat. She wasn't going to let him get hurt. No one was going to die.

Slamming heavy hands to the ground, she willed her shadows to spring from under the rest of the tactical team and snatch the rifles right from their hands. Dazed and confused, the man took his chance to incapacitate two of the members. Only four left.

While two men lay groaning on the bridge, the strange man helping Erin was fighting hand to hand with another. Erin jumped upright and faced the remaining members. Two pulled their handguns out and aimed at her; her black eyes daring them to try.

"Don't shoot! He would want her alive!" the third man declared.

"I'm not going without a fight," she hissed. From her previous experience with SHIELD, the last thing she wanted was to get "arrested" by anyone.

"Put your guns down!" he commanded his men again. Finally, they listened.

"Your mistake." With a huge flick of her arm, all three men were dragged to the far side of the bridge. Their bodies flew across the air but immediately slammed into the concrete barrier. The impact made the men lose their firearms and become constricted. For extra incentive, Erin took double precautions and wrapped her shadows around the men. Even though her body was seeping with terrible emotions, she was able to tone down her rage just enough to not crush the men under her shadows; she didn't want to add to her body count. No one was going to die.

With all of the tactical team restrained, she took deep breaths, hoping to find a way to calm herself before things got too serious. She wasn't a monster.

"You okay?"

Erin spun her head around and found the man who helped her. He was holding one of the assault rifles but kept the barrel away from her. The man was staring at her eyes; she knew he was terrified, but he didn't show it.

"You're not hurt, are you?" he asked, taking a step towards her.

He has a good heart, she determined. He doesn't see me as a threat. "No," she said, trying her hardest to bring back her anger to regain her green eyes. Taking rapid blinks, Erin bottled her old anger for the Temple Twins back into the pit of her stomach. Bright eyed and soft faced, she gestured to the three men held against the barrier, "Who are these guys?"

"They're with HYDRA," the man explained, drawing her attention to the street below them. Erin did her best to follow his gaze with her own eyes, failing to see what exactly he was looking for. Underneath the overpass, civilians scattered all around the cars and buildings. More gunshots could be heard, but Erin just couldn't find where it was coming from. HYDRA? That's a name I never wanted to find at the trigger end of a gun.

"What did you do to piss them off?" she asked, trying her best to hide the fact that she knew quite a lot about them. The less this man knows the better.

"Not me," he said, kneeling down and resting the barrel of the rifle on the barrier. He used the scope to continue his search as Erin followed his lead and crouched behind the cement rail. "Over there," he said, looking away from the scope and pointing down the street. "One more, the guy with the metal arm." She squinted her big eyes to focus further along the road. She could see a man with a black tactical suit on and a shining mechanical arm fighting hand to hand with a woman with red hair. It was almost instantaneous that she realized it was Winter; it also explained why HYDRA members were out in the daylight. Did he have a new mission? Possibly; she had been meditating for nearly two days. Apparently a lot could happen in that time frame. "Can you help them?" Them? The man with the rifle glanced at her and seemed to plead to her with his eyes.

She was taken back; did he trust her? Doesn't he know that she's The Monster of Mountain Pass? "How you know I'm on your side?" Honestly, she didn't like this underground war of SHIELD against HYDRA. Her preference was to stay the hell away from both sides; and maybe sneaking Winter away from the fighting as well.

"You just saved my life, I think I can tell a friend from an enemy." He gave her a reassuring wink.

Saved his life? Was that the first person she actually saved with her shadows? Clearly, she hesitated. Was this man living proof that she wasn't a monster? Of course, one life stacked against seven hundred and eighty eight lives meant nothing. But to her, at that moment, it was everything to her. You've saved a life. If you did it once, you can do it again. Erin almost couldn't comprehend that to this man, to this one man out of the entire country, she was good. To him, she wasn't a monster, or a terrorist; and definitely not a demon.

Since her mind took a minute to register what exactly what this stranger said, she dropped her guard long enough to accidentally lose connection with her shadows. The three men against the barrier were released. Neither Erin or the man noticed this until it was too late; all three of the members scrambled for their handguns. By the time their leader cocked his pistol, the man Erin saved caught sight of the HYDRA agents.

"MOVE!" he shoved Erin away from him and behind one of their armored vehicles. Rather than letting him get shot, she quickly contracted her hands to create another shadow shield. At first he flinched, bracing himself for the barrage of bullets, but once he realized he wasn't shot, he peeked to his surroundings.

Before he could question the odd barrier in front of him, Erin shouted instructions to him, "Get to your friends!" Placing a hand on the ground, she willed a portal to form under the man. A black hole quickly consumed him, lowering him under the overpass and to fall onto the street below. Once she knew he was safely away from the firing squad, she immediately dropped her shadows again.

Breathing heavily, Erin strained her ears to listen to the gunshots and maybe the footsteps of the HYDRA members. This was dangerous; every time she resorted to her shadows, she could physically feel herself losing control. The more she used them, the chances of her burning down another city was increasing. No more. She couldn't risk mass murder again. She had just saved one man; killing the entire population of the capital seemed like the wrong way to go. But, how was she suppose to get out of this?

Another cease-fire. Erin held her breath and took the chance to peek around the rear bumper. A warning shot whizzed past her head, causing her to retreat and tease behind the vehicle again. The temptation to use her shadows and escape creeped into her mind; but she couldn't. The urge to call upon her inner darkness and just simply snap these men's necks also played into her thoughts. No, you are not a monster. No one was going to die. Not by her hand. If she gave into the temptation, that would be the start of her madness. She silently cursed Winter for ever causing her to question her tranquility. You're getting slapped again when I see you next.

During her deliberation, she didn't notice that one of the members snuck around the front end of the vehicle. Although he wore combat boots, his steps were silent and his movements were fast. Just like before, she didn't see him until it was too late. When the member swished out his electric prod and charged it was when Erin snapped her face at him. There wasn't enough time for her to roll out of the way or even put up a decent fight; the HYDRA member slammed the electrical charge end into her ribs. An immediate surge of unknown voltage jolted Erin to tense up and shout out. The prod only connected for a few seconds before the agent pulled it away from her side. Her vision began to spin and no matter what she looked at she couldn't focus.

"Again?" she muttered while trying to glare at the tactical member. She saw three of the tough looking man and all seemed to fade in and out. "You all and your damn tasers."

Her body couldn't withstand it's own weight and crumbled. Erin did her best to avoid hitting her head on the ground when she fell. Once her head was resting on the concrete, the rest of her body became limp and twitched periodically. Erin thought back to two days prior, when Romanoff threw the mini device at her stomach and shocked her into unconsciousness. As her body did it's best to keep the small spazzes under control, Erin forced her eyes to remain open. She would be damned if she let that happen again.

With convulsions in her muscles and an abnormally fast heartbeat, the man who gave her the small electrocution positioned himself to pick her up. Scooping her under her knees and behind her shoulders, he easily stood up and allowed Erin's heavy head rest on his rough shoulder.

"Call Pierce," he instructed one his stumbling agents, "He'll want to know about her."

Without directions, a different agent opened the back seat of the vehicle for their leader to lay her down in. Even though she barely moved, he didn't take the chance to allow her to escape; he handcuffed her hands and ankles together. She wanted to kick this man in the face, punch him in the stomach, do anything to fight back. But her body wasn't responding to her requests to move. All she could do was grunt with a leg cramp or arm spasm. Every joint felt locked and refused to move. The handcuffs around her ankles and wrists were cutting into her delicate skin while her muscles would randomly erupt in pain. Green eyes stared at the two agents who entered the front seat. Under the uncomfortable seat, Erin could feel the engine rumble to life and quickly change gears. The wheels under the vehicle peeled out of the lane and zipped past the abandoned cars on the bridge.

"Get the asset," their leader demanded.

The Shadow Stranger's eyelids were beginning to fall as she slid across the back seat while the driver took sharp turns and sped down the off-ramp. Don't fall asleep. She kept trying to couch herself to stay conscious, but it was slowly failing. You have to know where they are taking you. The vehicle came to a screeching stop, almost having Erin slid completely off the seat. The door next to her head popped open; she strained her blurry eyes to see who was standing over her. All she could see was that it was a muscular man wearing black.

"Get in," the leader growled at the man.

Without a word, the man quickly lifted up Erin's swimming head and slid under it. He placed her head so it was resting on his side and slammed the door shut. The driver hardly waited for the door to be completely closed before peeling out again. With the man's face a bit closer to her uncertain eyes, Erin concentrated on figuring out who he was. His shoulder length hair covered half of his features, but that didn't discourage her. Narrowing her eyes and blinking feverishly, she eventually realized who it was.

"Winter?" she wanted clarification.

He shifted his left arm a little; it was made of metal and coiled all the way to his fingers. There was no mistaking him now.

"What the hell happened?" As the ride in the mysterious vehicle continued, Erin gradually regained her motor skills to form a complete sentence. Her eyes continued to play tricks on her, making her plan to memorize the landmarks and street names impossible for her.

"Don't answer her," the leader in the passenger seat ordered. Under her head, she felt Winter tense up in frustration. His hands balled into fists but remained by his sides.

"Please Winter," her voice was soft and clearly full of agony, "What happened?" Why was he still with HYDRA? Did he still want to get out? What was going on?

In the passenger seat, Erin heard the familiar sound of the electrical prod click awake again. Her ribs contracted with just the memory of the pain. The leader turned around in his seat and forced the charged end down at her. She flinched and rolled into a ball; awaiting for the second voltage to strike her. It never came. Daring to open her eyes, she saw that Winter had used his left arm to grip around the prod. Before the leader could retract his weapon, The Winter Soldier forced his hand tighter to break it. Pieces crumbled under his pressure and fell to the floor. Seeing the electricity fade away from the weapon gave Erin's weak heart a chance to relax, if only for a moment. Obviously, the leader did not like that Winter intervened; he immediately pulled out his handgun and pointed the barrel at Erin.

"Let's see if you can stop a bullet," he warned.

Although her vision was hazy and blurry at best, she could make out that Winter and the leader held a harsh gaze at each other. She felt the suspenseful stare over her and the battle regarding obedience and leadership. The man flicked his gun away from Erin but held his dirty look at Winter; he wasn't admitting defeat, just continuing to threaten her. Once he turned around to face the windshield, Erin glanced up at Winter, silently questioning him. He only quickly glanced at her then shifted his eyes to the blackened window.

Just under his breath, incredibly quiet that Erin thought she imagined it, he said, "Told you not to follow me."

The Shadow Stranger couldn't refuse the urge to sleep any longer. Something inside of her begged her to shut her eyes and drift away. For some reason, she felt safe with Winter there, even if he was still taking orders from HYDRA. Maybe because he stopped his leader from using the prod on her again? Or was her heart overpowering her mind? It didn't matter; with handcuffed hands and ankles, and a heavy head, she ceased fighting the call of unconsciousness and fell under a deep sleep.

The time elapsed while she was blacked out couldn't have been long. When she was startled awake, her ribs were still freshly burning from the first use of prod and her initial thought was to sleep more. However, covering her body was ice cold water resulting in her entire being shiver and shake uncontrollably. With chattering teeth, Erin tried to move her hands to wipe the dripping water from her eyes; she couldn't move them. Her arms were wrapped around her back and her wrist were clasped tightly together and she couldn't move her hands. Her ankles were bound together as well. Struggling for a moment made her realize she was sitting upright in a chair; she could rock a little.

While looking through her water soaked eyes, she noticed a hazy figure standing in front of her. Artificial lights shone from above giving her the impression of being in a room. Blinking away as much chilling water as possible, she twitched her eyes to focus on whoever was in her line of sight.

"Ah, good. You're awake," he said with a tone of authority and confidence. Erin already didn't like this guy. "I was hoping to speak with you before the fun began."

"Di-did you throw a bucket of ice water on me?" she stuttered under the blanket of cold.

"Me? No," as he spoke he used hand gestures, "Rumlow did." Vaguely following his finger to the man still holding a tin bucket in his hands. "What are the kids doing these days? 'The Ice Bucket Challenge'? Well, I guess I did you a favor." His tone was cynical and condescending.

"Hope you're not expecting a 'thank you,'" she growled, bringing her attention back to the first man. She shook her head quickly to toss droplets of water off her hair and face. It helped clearing her vision.

"This generation," the man seemed to speak to someone else, "They are unappreciative ingrates."

She blinked the rest of the water away to finally get a clear picture. Before her stood a tall man in a lightly colored suit. His thick, graying hair combed neatly over and a thin pair of clear glasses lay on his nose. With a straight posture and large hands, it was obvious that this man had a reputation to uphold. The second man, with the tin bucket, was wearing a black tactical uniform, equipped with handgun and rifle. She squinted to focus at his face; he was the leader who used the electrical prod on her at the overpass. He was observing her carefully; hand resting on his pistol.

"You-" she began to growl.

"Don't pay Rumlow any mind," the suited man interrupted. She followed the voice back to the first man. "You see, I've been waiting a long time to talk to you," he stepped to her and pointed at her. "It's nice to finally meet you, Ms. Memmott."

Erin tensed up at the sound of her name, "How do you-"

"We've had an informant," he used his gestured to the other side of her. Begrudgingly, she turned her head to see who he was referring to. Within the same room, a small battalion of tactical members were surrounding a familiar looking medieval torture machine, only with electricity. The large black rings encircled an even more familiar man; Winter. His muscular arms were being held down with thick, tight metal straps, locking him to the bench under it. Erin saw his chest heaving greatly as he stared intently at her. At first, she was ready to bite his head off for tipping off this strange man; but upon further examination, she saw that he wasn't glaring at her, he was pleading to her. Erin's heart sank as she realized that he was being held against his will, just like she was.

"Jesus," she muttered at the horrific sight of her friend being a prisoner as well.

"Is this making any sense yet?" the suited man asked. She refused to look at him but kept her eyes at Winter, both sharing a desperate look. "Now, I had to get pretty creative in order to recruit you-"

"Recruit?" she snapped. "Do you mean HYDRA?"

He smiled, doing his best to hide his obvious annoyance of her interruption, "Yes. I want you to join our-"

"Go to hell," she glared.

Before she could elaborate her rebuttal, the suited man immediately used a stern hand to slap her across the face. Her skin was more sensitive because of the chilling water shocking her awake. Across the room, she heard Winter grunt and attempt to break free. The suited man ignored him and leaned in close to Erin.

"Don't cut me off again, or I'll be forced to hurt you more." He leaned away and straightened his jacket. She chewed at her bottom lip before regaining the courage to stare him down; she heed his warning and only waited for appropriate times to answer.

"Now, do you know who I am?" he asked.

She hesitated, making sure he was completely done talking. "No."

"Oh, well that's news to me," he said behind a cocky grin, "Alexander Pierce, newly appointed director of SHIELD, but more importantly, chief commander of HYDRA."

Erin wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer him, so she didn't. That name again, Pierce. She had definitely heard it before. The most recent was from the news report right after Winter left her safe house; informing her that Nick Fury was dead. But, she had a nagging suspicion that she could recall it before then. It took a minute, but she thought back to all previous discussions with Winter before this point. He had mentioned a Mr. Pierce back in Dallas. She guessed that this was the same man.

"I am giving you a chance to join the winning team here," he continued when she didn't say anything. "The Asset," he gestured to Winter, "Has been all too kind in informing us about you. And that book of your's. Very intriguing. Very captivating, and down right amazing. Can you really walk around in someone's mind?"

"I don't know," she studying both Pierce and Winter; the suited man's face seemed honest and held no lies, the way he presented himself was too equitable. Winter, on the other hand, was frenetic and glaring daggers at Pierce. His once blank and strong face was now littered with anger and desperation.

"If you haven't already figured it out," Pierce continued while walking over to Winter, "Our perfect soldier here has strayed too far along my path." He put a fake comforting hand on his shoulder, making Winter tense up and flinch at him, trying to punch his stomach. "Starting to disobey orders. I can't have my ultimate weapon getting a conscious, now can I?"

"Why do you even want me?" she asked, taking the risk of the reprimands.

"You did some impressive work at Mountain Pass, it was truly inspiring," Erin dug her nails into her palms, he wasn't allowed to speak of her hometown. "I feel, that with the proper motivation, I can help you. In controlling her shadows and making you stronger."

"I don't want your help," she muttered.

"Oh, but you will. You see, I'm not exactly giving you a choice," he gestured for two man to examine the machine's rings over Winter. Erin didn't know what this was used for, but by the way he was frantically trying to break out, she knew it wasn't anything pleasant. "You can either willingly swear your devotion to me and dedicate the rest of your life being controlled by HYDRA, or I can-"

"Hell no."

She forgot his rule about interrupting. He rolled his eyes and sighed. She expected another hard slap across her cheek; however, he grabbed a handgun from one of the neighboring agents and quickly fired off a shot. It immediately hit her thigh. Erin screamed out in torture and bowed her head over as far as it could go. Winter fidgeted more, trying to stop Pierce from hurting her more. Pierce only needed one shot to get his point across.

"I warned you, dear," he shrugged his shoulders at the whimpering girl. "You really don't have any option but to be recruited."

That was it. She couldn't take it anymore. Her self control, her heart, and any more of tranquility she had clung onto disappeared. From the pit of her stomach, her inner darkness erupted to her eyes. She snapped her black gaze to the suited man. The agents aimed their rifles at her, allowing a short barrier around Pierce. She knew what the ending result would be; nothing but death and destruction. This entire fight of SHIELD against HYDRA wasn't her battle; all she wanted to do was save Winter from it. He had asked for it; but that turned out that it was a lie. He had played her, secretly gaining information about her. She had trusted him. At that moment, he was just The Winter Soldier, HYDRA's pawn, just another body to add to her total count from Mountain Pass. Just another HYDRA agent standing in her way.

Effectively scaring her captors, Erin easily willed the shadows all around her to break off all of her restraints. Ignoring her sore muscles and stiff joints, she jumped up, causing a trail of blood to roll down her thigh. Grimmed face and determined to make this room burn, she twisted her hands. The agents began to squeeze their triggers, in order to stop her. The bullets were suppose to hit her, but her wrath and use of the shadows caused an invisible shield to have them bounce off. Her wrath would protect her; just like it did in Mountain Pass.

She felt the familiar flame emit from her small hands; black fire engulfed her battered fingers and cut wrists. Small traces of red smoke began to circle her palms and lift into the air. If she just held this, the smoke alone would kill them. Destruction wasn't necessary, but their deaths was essential. While she was concentrating on her flaming hands, she didn't see that Winter was screaming in pain. His wails drew her attention away from the blaze and back to him. The metal rings were moving, circling around his head. Small electrical shocks were visible every time they pierced his head. Using his strong hands, he kept his grip on the armrests clinched tight, to exert some pain.

The HYDRA members stopped shooting at her and allowed the suited man to speak clearly, "You've forced my hand, my dear. As we speak, his precious little mind is being wiped clean from any memory he could have had of you. He's going back to simply following orders."

Winter's pain inflicted howls brought her back from the darkness. She got a small flashback when they were still at the doughnut store basement; he had something important to tell her. Before he left, he told her to not follow her. Was he warning her? Was he protecting her from Pierce? Seeing him in such agony caused Erin to drop her shoulders, but not her anger. Rather than having her emotions spill over into physical manifestation of fire, she had her rage shimmer in her.

Black eyes and smoking red hands, she moved past the HYDRA agents and stood next to Winter. The remaining agents kept their barrels at her, but she was focused on him. That's why he never knew his name; Pierce would wipe his memory. This explained so much. One of the HYDRA agents said something to her, but she wasn't listen. She was too consumed in her thoughts to understand anything. With locked eyes with the tortured Winter, she never noticed that his eyes were blue; it was always dark when they met up. Erin ignored all safety precautions and simply laid a hand on his metal arm. The hot metal from the electrical shocks immediately burned her hand; when she retracted it back, a red hand print mixed with blood and her smoke was left. The pain of scolding her palm caused Erin to realize that she was willing to kill these people. She had turned back into The Monster of Mountain Pass.

"What do you say, my dear?" Alexander Pierce cleared his throat and spoke loudly to her while Winter continued to scream. "Are you being recruited?"

She glanced at him, still black coated her once green eyes. "I'm getting my friend back."

While she still had enough control over her shadows, she quickly stepped away and jumped into the wall. Behind her, the agents were firing at her again, as Pierce cursed at her. Faster than she thought possible, she made a long distance portal and hopped through it. Within one leap, she went from Winter's cryostasis chamber to her basement. Once her feet touched the ground, the portal closed. Her inner darkness subsided back inside, her smoke drifted and faded away. She had found her tranquility; she had saved that man on the bridge, so she could save another. No matter what Winter was going to tell her two nights ago, she knew that he wanted to protect her from HYDRA. That's why he stopped Rumlow from striking her with the prod. She would bring him back; she just couldn't do it without her book.

Woah, that was a long chapter! Sorry if it's a little weird or you guys notice any mistakes. I'm trying to get into the habit of putting up a new chapter every Sunday/ Monday (my days off) and since this one is so big, I just wanted to rush it out and put it up. If there's anything too confusing or you just want to ask a question, please feel free to review (nicely!) or message me.

Hope you enjoyed it!