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17.

No, he needn't go that far at all. After three weeks of searching all around the United States, Steve decided it was time to leave for Europe.

But he needed some things before he left.

The Captain finally returned to the tower, exhausted, and while he was packing, fell asleep.

He couldn't have kept his eyes open even if he had wanted to.

How great a thing Hydra technology was! Yes, the original machine was genius, but this was just pure brilliance! He could wipe away any memories he decided to, and keep others if he wanted! That was what he had done with Barnes. He had kept the memory of her voice and of his love to use solely for Hydra's advantages. But now it was time to wash away all of them. Every single one.

Now it was time for the girl. Ah! What beautiful memories! So pure and foolish! He could actually see them on a screen! Yes, what GENIUS!

"Ah! What is this? A suppressed memory? Let us see..."

She was only a little child. Maybe three of four at most. A woman was standing there.

"Well, that is a strange dress... Where...?"

He stopped. No. It couldn't be. She couldn't be. Not that girl. She had nothing special about her. No. It was impossible.

But he kept that memory, just in case.

When Steve awoke a figure was standing in front of him. A small female figure.

The Captain jumped up and moved towards her. The figure was oddly motionless.

"Anne?"

The figure jumped forward and attacked him with a knife.

Just in time, Steve was able to grab his shield and defend himself against the sudden attack.

"Anne, what are you doing?!"

But her eyes were empty, as if she didn't even know who he was.

Despite the mask, just like Bucky's, he had recognized her immediately. But there was something different about her. She was wearing the same clothes Bucky wore, but fit to her feminine figure, and her gaze looked menacing.

Anne kept attacking, leaving Steve no choice but to fight back.

In the meantime though he tried talking to her. Maybe he would say something to make her remember.

"Anne! It's me! Steve!"

But that obviously meant absolutely nothing to her.

"I love you!"

Nothing. She kept attacking with all the strength in her body. And, truly, it was a lot.

As before when training. They were equally matched. Anne would try a stabbing maneuver and he would block it. But this time it was different. Steve had already lost. He would never hurt her and they knew this, that was why they had sent her.

That fight reminded him of the time he first fought Bucky in the parking lot.

She twirled in the air, kicking him in the face. Then she tried another frontal attack. Steve got hold of her, and was at least able to remove her mask.

Her face was impassible. She was there for a mission and wouldn't leave until it was finished.

At first, he thought her mission was to kill him, but he had no idea of how wrong he really was.

After a while, Steve was ready to give up. Anne was dead set upon beating him, and nothing he said or did changed that. They had made a mistake with Bucky, they would not do the same with her. Anne's memories of him were gone. Maybe forever.

It wasn't Anne anymore. Just a war machine. A very dangerous one.

When, finally, he let his shield fall and she was about to give him the deadly stroke, Clint and the rest of the Avengers burst in.

The girl looked up. Her mission was terminated.

She jumped up and with extreme agility, jumped silently out of the window.

Everyone just stood there. Shocked. No one could believe what they had seen.

Anne beating Steve to a pulp? No, it wasn't possible. But no one was more surprised than Steve.

Bruce and Tony helped him into the healing room, where they set him down on the bed and Bruce started curing his wounds. Since Anne had left, he hadn't said one word.

Bruce saw the pain that seeing Anne like that inflicted on him. She didn't remember him. How could she not remember him?

They had brainwashed her, but they had done a better job this time. Everything he had said didn't even make her quiver. Not even a stutter. Her attacks had continued to be precise and determined.

And the purpose for her being there was all the more cruel. Just to let them see her. Hydra just wanted them to know what they had lost. They wanted them to know that now they had no chance of beating them, ever. Because no one was going to hurt Anne, but she was surely going to hurt them.

That had been their plan since the beginning. How clever Hydra truly was. Most definitely more clever than them.

"Now what?" Tony asked when they were all in the same room again.

"Now we find her and try to make her remember."

Steve's voice was coarse. They could plainly see he was suffering.

"No. That's not an option. They've brainwashed her, Rogers. And pretty well this time."

"Natasha's right. Even with all our advanced technology, I couldn't even reverse the effects."

Bruce was grave. He had cared for that girl like a father.

"But maybe we could."

Everyone turned to Thor.

"In Asgard, we have many instruments of healing, of the sort you humans call "magic". "

"And would that bring her memory back?"

"I do not know. But we can make the attempt."

Silence fell once more. So they had to find Anne. Great.

"So, let me just get this straight... We're going to go after a psychopath Anne who wants to kill us, tie her down and drag her to Asgard?"

They nodded.

"Great. What are we waiting for?"

Tony's humor usually pulled the mood up, but not that day.