Niko
Niko stood by a door and he was staring at the wall and he looked at its emptiness. Niko had completed phase one of his plan, now he needed phase two. Niko needed equipment, he had all the equipment that he needed, but he needed it look like someone else's doing. He knew just who to use. He just needed to take it from him. Niko put his hand to the wall and he felt the rough texture and it was cold to the touch.
Niko turned and he saw Dimitri standing close by, he was smoking a cigarette. Niko noticed that Helix was sleeping and Chernov was looking at his old clothes that he could no longer fit in. Alexie was sitting quietly and he glanced at Niko and adverted his eyes to the floor; where they were before he glanced. Niko was going to destroy the Kremlin, and he was going to use Hydra's equipment to do it. Niko chuckled at the idea and Alexie noticed and he sat up in alert.
"Niko?" Alexie asked
Niko nodded and he chuckled again, he could use Hydra for the blame, show the world that there is more than a simple character to fear, but an organization. Niko was going to put all the pressure on Hydra and his Shadow Games will rise to the top. That was going to happen, even if Barnes stopped him. Niko was going to show the world, that it's not about money, or power, just chaos. Niko liked the idea and he looked at all of them, who were now standing closer to him; noticing that he was thinking about something.
"Come, we have much to do" Niko said
They walked closer and Alexie stood silently and Helix seemed calm. Niko looked at Chernov and he seemed nervous, Dimitri was excited.
"To move forward with the plan we need Hydra"
"Hydra?" Alexie asked "Why?"
"They have something I require, that we all require"
"And what is that?" Dimitri asked
"Equipment" Niko stated bluntly
"Don't you have equipment?" Helix asked
"Yes, more than enough for something like this, but I am going to kill two birds with one stone. I am going to knock Hydra out of the game, and hurt Russia and show the world something beautiful."
"You're going to frame Hydra" Chernov said
"If everything goes to plan, which is unlikely, but I like our odds."
"Ok, where are we going to get this equipment?" Alexie asked
"There is a Hydra base not far from here, and Hydra is known for collecting rare artifacts"
"So we're just going to steal equipment?" Helix asked
"To put it lightly yes"
"Ok, point me in the right direction"
"Well, first we need to get you all new clothes, since you can't wear your old ones"
"That would be nice" Chernov said wearing his shirt that was too small and it was ripping at the seams.
"Then come and get your new gear" Niko said and he opened the door to the armory
Niko let them walk into the dark room first and he followed and he had a huge grin on his face and he flipped on the lights. Niko watched as they stood in shock by the large amount of armaments. Helix took the first step and he walked toward a rocket launcher and he grinned and he picked it up. Niko smirked and he watched as they drooled over the weaponry.
"Your suits are in the back" Niko said
"Suits?" Dimitri asked
"Yeah, can't have you guys going into battle naked"
"I've done that once, it wasn't pretty" Helix said
Chernov looked at him and Helix shrugged and went back to admiring the rocket launcher. Niko almost laughed, but he kept it together and he walked past them and he opened a second door. Alexie was the only one who was directly behind him. Niko walked into the room and Alexie followed, leaving the others in the armory.
"Niko, I will admit. This is crazy"
"We've done worse"
"Yeah, when we broke out of the Gulag. That was insane, but this is beyond insane and I didn't know that was possible"
Niko frowned and he looked at him "You backing out?"
Alexie was quiet for a minute and he finally spoke "No, just speaking my mind is all"
"Good, now suit up" Niko said and he pressed a button on the wall and the floor rumbled and opened up.
Alexie watched as four huge pods came up out of the floor, they were similar to the contraptions they had just been in. Alexie watched as they rose then stopped and then they hissed and air was blown out from their edges and they opened. Alexie walked toward the one that he noticed was his, the front of the pods opened and went sideways and ammo and weapons were hanging on them. In the center was a suit that had armor around the calves and the thighs, and it continued to the gauntlets, and then to the shoulders. The large chest piece was broad, but it seemed light and thin. He took a step forward and the suit suddenly opened and the metal shifted from the center and went back. He looked at Niko, Niko chuckled lightly and put his hand out waving him forward. Alexie took a breath and he turned his back and he stepped back into the suit and he placed his feet into the boots.
The suit hummed and it seemed to charge up and then it closed and Alexie felt his heart jump a little and the suit encased him and the chest came back together and then the neck and then the helmet attached to his face and then the face plate came down and it sealed and then a green HUD came to life and it showed his heart rate. He also had an inventory of his weapon in his pod and he chuckled.
He put his hand out and he looked at his now armored hand and he laughed again. He looked at Niko and he was smiling "Like it?" he asked
Alexie took a step and he felt the boot clank against the concrete floor and he heard the suit make little noises as if he was a robot. He saw a display of his suit come up and it ran a diagnostic of the parts and all seemed to working fine. "I like" Alexie said and he turned toward the pod and he grabbed his weapons.
He held a pistol in his hand and then small metal wired came out of his gauntlet and they wrapped around it and pulled it into the gauntlet and then stored it inside of it. Alexie grabbed the knives and more metal wires came and pulled them to his left hip and two went to his elbows. He turned toward Niko again.
"They store all your weapons, and they can take quit a beating"
"What kind of beating?" Alexie asked and he noticed the others were now just realizing their new toys.
"A tank shell won't even dent it"
"Niko my friend…"
"I know, I'm awesome" Niko said and he smiled.
As the others climbed into their suits Alexie followed Niko out of the room and he entered a huge control room and he looked at all the consoles and the huge table console in the middle of the room. Alexie watched as Niko pressed a few buttons and the console in the centered powered up and it glowed blue and then files appeared before him and Alexie looked at a few. Niko pressed one highlighted: Hydra Bases. A large list appeared and Niko scrolled through them and he pressed the one he wanted.
The entire compound from ground to the blue prints appeared before them and Niko swiped a few out of the way.
"This is the base?" Alexie asked
"Yes" Niko confirmed
"How long will it take us to know their entire routine?"
"Few months" Niko said slightly disappointed
"Well we better be thorough and running in blind, not to mention it will let Helix play with his new toy" Alexie said smiling
Niko chuckled "He'll like that"
"Yeah, now where do we start?"
Niko inhaled and he looked at the large hologram projection of the base, or castle "Guard posts and then shifts"
"Well, let's get to work" Alexie said
"Let's, now Struker may have gotten the Avengers to follow a cold trail to bases, but they are catching up to him, now we are going to get into that place and take some equipment, without him even knowing"
"Well, it was poor place for a base, a castle on a hill?" Alexie said not impressed
"Struker likes to think he's clever, but he isn't a major player"
"And we are"
"Exactly"
Bucky
Bucky opened his eyes and he was alone in a bed and he sat up and Hill wasn't next to him. Bucky rubbed his eyes and he looked at the clock: 10:34 am. No wonder she got up. Bucky stood up and he got dressed, he walked to the door when his phone pinged and he looked at it. He had a message from Clint and he looked at it.
Clint- The bar near the grand central station, 6:00 pm. I'll see you there, the owner is a friend. His name is Hicks.
Bucky responded his message.
Bucky- Got it, see you then.
Bucky put his phone back into his pocket and he walked toward the door and he opened it, he walked through the hallway and he saw Hill sitting on her couch, she was looking at files. Bucky had to guess that she was working on the scepter. Bucky walked over and he sat down next to her, luckily there was an open space that wasn't filled with papers. Hill glanced at him and he grabbed a filed and he opened it up.
"What are you doing?"
Bucky looked at Hill and he suddenly felt like he was intruding "Um.., heh helping"
"Don't you have your own work to do?"
"I'm waiting for Gerald to get back to me, so in the meantime. I want to help you and get the scepter. It'll be faster and the quicker that we do this the more time we can have together"
Hill smirked and she lightly chuckled, Bucky looked at her "What?"
"Nothing, just it's funny. All the stories of you being nothing but ruthless and once you meet a girl, you're ready to get work out of the way so you can spend time with her"
"One thing, the ruthless guy, not me, Second you're not just some girl" Bucky said leaning close to her and he kissed her
Hill smiled and she laughed and Bucky shook his head at her "Of course I want to spend time with you, Maria Hill, do you take me for a workaholic?"
"No, just its unexpected" she said smiling
"Really" Bucky said and he kissed her again and he felt her hand on his arm and he pulled away "Besides you can't control yourself around me" Bucky said seeing her face as he pulled away from her, her face seemed to be filled with disappointment.
"I can control myself, I just choose not to" Hill said and she gave him a quick kiss and she looked back at her file. Bucky smiled and he looked at her for a few seconds and then he went back to the file in his hand and he began to read.
Bucky never liked paper work, but the months of going through papers on the Helicarrier made it easier. Bucky had gone through so many files, and he felt like his brain was melting from all the information.
"Where did you get all of these?" Bucky asked as he looked at the huge pile of papers.
"Cap, it's the files that he found in that Hydra base" Hill said not looking at him, she kept her nose buried in the file she was reading at the moment.
Bucky let out a quiet exhale and he read another file and he slightly frowned and he saw a base that was on top of a hill and was basically a little villa. Bucky squinted and he recognized it and he felt a sudden chill. He glanced over at Hill, she didn't notice his sudden change in comfort. He looked at the pictures of the base and he saw the deep levels and he exhaled a little more loudly and he felt a painful pulse in his head. He really didn't need a memory flash right now.
Bucky kept the pain away and he was just going to fight through it, he knew it would pass eventually. He just needed to keep his thoughts here, and at the current moment. Bucky found that quiet difficult and he every time he looked at a new picture, it seemed to be getting worse, but this had happened before and he got through that. Bucky glanced back over at Hill and she was rubbing her eyes, she was clearly tired. Bucky kept his face behind the file and he desperately tried to keep his face normal, but the increasing pain made that difficult. He shied away from her and he lowly groaned as another pulse of pain attacked him.
Bucky read a few lines and he felt the pain subside and he exhaled in relief. He felt the pain go away and he was back to normal. He brought the file away from his face and he laid it onto his lap and he looked at Hill. Hill looked at him and she smiled, her smile was more of a 'sorry for the paper work.' Bucky smirked back and then Hills face began to change. He saw her lips change and her hair went from brown to blonde and her eyes changed as well and her smile became more chilling than welcoming. Bucky frowned at her and he saw her smile disappear and she frowned back at him "What?" she asked and he voice contorted into her icy voice and he put his hand to his head and he began to shake.
Hill watched as Bucky suddenly began to shake and he shuttered and he put both his hands to his head and he groaned in pain. Bucky felt like his skull was splitting open. He clenched his jaw and he flexed every muscle in his body and he still couldn't take it and he exhaled and tumbled to the floor. Hill felt her heart suddenly jump and she began to freak out as he hit the floor and his eyes were closed and he was still shaking and he made slight yelps in pain. Hill pushed the coffee table away and she knelt down next to him and she put her hands on his shoulders.
Bucky saw the base again and now he was in the lower levels and he was standing behind the blonde woman and she turned toward him and she put her hands on his shoulders and she kissed him and he lips felt like ice and he opened his eyes and he had a large needle shoved into his gut and then the burning pain as a unknown substance was pumped into his system. He grunted and he fell to the floor and she stood over him and she knelt down to him and whispered something in his ear.
Bucky grunted and gritted his teeth and she smiled at him, that chilling smile. He groaned and he contorted his face in anger and he saw her laugh and he moved his metal hand up and he grasped her throat. Her eyes shifted to be filled with shock and fear. Bucky increased his grip and she began to choke and she said something through her struggle.
"Bucky"
Bucky's eyes widened when it sounded like Hill and he shook his head and he saw a flash.
Bucky saw the apartment and his metal hand was around Hill's throat and his eyes widened and he felt fear enter him and he let go of her throat and Hill fell onto her back and she leaned to her right and she coughed and she breathed deep breaths desperate for air. Bucky sat up and he had tears in his eyes, how could he have done that? He looked at his metal hand and he shuttered and he let the tears fall and he felt disgusted with himself and he crawled away from her and he hit the wall and he was shaking still and he was looking around frantically. He looked at his metal hand again and he saw the blonde woman's face as he crushed her throat and he yelped and he looked at Hill, she was sitting up, her hand was on her throat and she looked at him. Her eyes made Bucky feel horrible, she got closer to him.
Bucky put his real hand up and he swallowed "Stay away" he said
Hill came closer, Bucky suddenly felt threatened and he stood up, he looked down at her and he walked toward the door, he grabbed his coat and he put it on and walked out of the apartment. He looked at her and he looked away like he was seeing something hard to look at "I'm sorry".
He left and he walked to the stairs and he walked down them quickly and he came to the main floor, he walked past the desk and he left the building and he walked down the street. He passed numerous people and they didn't seem to notice him and he walked in the direction of the park and he crossed the street and he was almost hit by a taxi. He put his hands up and he walked passed as the taxi driver yelled at him. He put his hand to his head and he saw her face again and he blinked and he suddenly felt like crawling into a ditch and dying. He had hurt Hill, he needed to get away from her.
Bucky made his way into the park and he went to the most secluded place he knew and he found four rocks that were almost like a cover or den and he climbed in between them and he sat there and he leaned against the rock and he closed his eyes and he hid himself from the world, for the world would shun such a thing like him.
Bucky opened his eyes and he noticed that more snow had fallen, he was covered in it. He blinked and looked at his watch, the clock read: 5:34 pm.
"Shit" Bucky said and he stood up, he brushed the snow off of him and he looked around. There wasn't anyone nearby, he felt relieved. He pulled out his phone, he had thirty messages from Hill. He was going to put it away when he got another message. He decided that he would listen to them or read them after his meeting with Clint. He walked toward the exit of the park. He spent the next half an hour going to the bar that Clint mentioned.
Bucky saw it from across the street after he had just got bumped into by several New Yorkers. He saw that the bar was closing, he frowned. What bar closes at six o'clock at night? Bucky walked across the street and he saw an older man closing the door.
"Excuse me, why are you closing?" Bucky asked
"Special business is being conducted inside" Hicks said
"Are you Hicks?" Bucky asked
The old man seemed a little surprised and he eyed him closely "Do I owe you money?"
"No, I just have a meeting, well I don't even know what to call it. Anyway I am meeting a Clint Barton" Bucky said hoping that it would speed up the old man's memory.
"Ah you must be J.B."
"Yeah I guess"
"He's inside waiting for you"
"Oh, thanks" Bucky said slightly confused and he walked past Hicks and entered the bar and he saw Clint in a corner booth, it was the farthest one from the window.
He saw that Clint noticed him and he waved him over. Bucky unbuttoned his coat and sat down.
"Barnes, what do you want for drink?"
"Vodka if they've got it"
"Hicks has everything" Clint said smiling
Bucky glanced over at the old man and he was pouring a glass of vodka for him "Hmm special service"
"Well I helped Hicks out years ago and I get to drink for free" Clint said and he took a sip of his drink
"Nice reward" Bucky said, Hicks placed the vodka in front of him and Bucky took it and drank the whole thing.
Clint looked at him and he smirked. "I hope you don't mind if someone joins us"
"Matters who it is" Bucky said
As he got his second glass a man sat down next to Clint and Bucky recognized him immediately.
"Sam Wilson" Bucky said
"Hi" he said and he seemed to still not trust him very much, well if he was in his place he wouldn't either.
"Don't take it as an offense, but what are you doing here?"
"Us three are the only ones that know about Cap and Natasha's relationship" Clint said
"Oh and how did you find out?"
"He told me, but only after they tried to hide it, that didn't work"
"Yeah they got better later on" Bucky said
"So you and Hill?" Clint asked
"It's fine"
"Fine that usually means something happened" Sam said
"There was an incident" Bucky began to say
"What?" Clint asked
"I kind of had a memory flash and it turned out I choked her and almost killed her" Bucky said
Clint and Sam looked at him and they glanced at each other "Wow" Clint said
"Yeah, so I freaked out and walked out and now here I am, I'm still getting my memories back"
"Well remind me not to be next to you" Sam said
"I'll have to remember that" Bucky said and he drank his second glass.
"So Sam what are the development of tracking down the Winter Soldier for Steve?" Bucky asked curious
Sam glared at him "Nothing but dead ends" he said
"Hmm" Bucky said
"Ok guys, look this evening was supposed to be laid back, not being at each other's throats" Clint said
"Hard to get laid back when you don't trust someone" Sam said looking at Bucky
"I'm not going anywhere Wilson" Bucky said
"Still doesn't mean that I don't trust you"
"I don't blame you, so who else do you have low trust with?"
"Almost everyone"
"But not Steve"
"I trust Steve, Stark don't trust"
Clint chuckled and he stopped when they both looked at him "What?" he asked and he drank the rest of his drink.
Bucky looked at Sam for a good long while, he noticed the high tension between them. He drank his third glass and he smiled at him.
"Well I see that I am not entirely welcomed" Bucky said and he stood to leave
Clint frowned and he grabbed his wrist "Barnes, come on. Sam didn't mean anything by it" Clint said
Bucky looked at Clint then at Sam and he still saw the glare "Heh yes he did" Bucky said and he left and he buttoned his coat and walked out of the bar and into the crowded street and disappeared in the crowd.
Clint watched as Sam stood as well and drank his glass and he set it down "Thanks for the drink Barton" Sam left and Clint was alone and he stared at the empty glasses.
Clint sat back and put his head back, he rolled his eyes in an annoyed fashion.
"I really need to get those guys to get along" he said more to himself
Hicks walked out noticing the lonely archer and he put down the tray in his hands "Well can I open my bar back up?"
Clint looked at Hicks and he closed his eyes.
Bucky came to the long hallway in which Hill's apartment resided. He paused standing still, afraid to make a noise as he looked down the long empty hallway. He looked at Hill's door, he took a quick breather and he walked forward. He raised his real hand and was about to knock on the door when he heard the door unlocking.
Bucky watched as the door swung open and Hill was standing before him. She was in lounging clothes and he noticed that she was wearing one of his shirts. He saw her, and she looked at him, her eyes filled with worry and she rushed forward bringing him into a tight embrace. Bucky was surprised by her sudden action and he was also filled with relief, she didn't hate him. He brought his right hand up, leaving his metal hand where it was.
Bucky heard her slightly crying and she kissed his cheek, he didn't know how to react to this. He looked at her and her hand went through his hair and he adverted his eyes away from her and to the floor. Bucky felt her hand on his face pulling his gaze back up and he his eyes made contact with hers. He felt tears forming and he smirked slightly and it quickly dissipated. Hill lightly smiled and she put her hand in his and pulled him to the couch.
They sat down, Hill rather calm and Bucky slightly hysterical.
"Are you ok?" Bucky said softly. He looked at her throat and there was very slight bruising and he slightly grimaced at it and he looked away.
"I'm ok" Hill said, her hand going to his face again
"I'm so sorry" Bucky said
"It wasn't your fault" Hill said
"Yes it was"
"You were reliving a past experience" Hill said
Bucky's face started to contort and tears fell down his cheeks "I just want them to stop"
"Fury said with time"
"No he said I would learn to live with them" Bucky said remembering the conversation that he had listened in on back on the helicarrier.
Hill almost said something and she went quiet then spoke "He also said in terms that you needed to move on from them"
"I don't know how" Bucky said rubbing his head
"You'll figure out a way, you always do" Hill said
Bucky smirked lightly "Thanks for having faith in me"
"If there is one person that could get through this it's you. You have lived so long with the pain of no memories"
"Yeah that makes me feel better" Bucky said
"You need to start having some faith in yourself" Hill said
"I wish I did, but I don't fully trust myself"
"If you need anything, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere"
Bucky smiled and he put his real hand on her thigh and he saw her hands grabbing his metal hand.
"Wait" Bucky said
Hill paused for a second and brought his metal hand up and she guided it to the side of her face. It was cold to the touch, but she knew it would make him feel better.
Bucky inhaled shakily "Thank you Maria" he said
"Anytime" she said with a kind smile.
Author's Note: Hey what do you guys think of the story so far? What are somethings that you find interesting? I would love some feedback, review.