Until a second later, Natasha's hand shot out and grabbed Mallory's. She dangled in the air, with only Natasha's strength keeping her from death. Sam pulled Natasha's waist and between the pair, they dragged Mallory up to solid ground where she fell back against the helicopters leather seats, her sweating anxiety beginning to wear off as she realized she was not going to die.

"41st floor!" Sam breathlessly yelled, as he steadied himself. "41st!"

Mallory realized Fury was in the front seat as he turned and said, "It's not like they put the floor numbers outside of the building."

As the chopper flew under the crashing Hellicarrier, Natasha watched it with concern plastered over her face. She pulled her mic to her mouth.

"Hill, where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?" She sounded anxious and exchanged a look of worry with Mallory as she steadied her breathing. Mallory did not hear Maria's response but whatever it was seemed to make Natasha look as if she was about to be sick. She opened her mouth to speak again and Mallory heard the low buzz of Maria's voice. Natasha listened intently, her face paling and Mallory grew concerned, pushing her aching body up the leather seat to eavesdrop.

Then Natasha covered the mic with her hand. "Mallory... your second name is Smith, right? Same name as your dad?"

"Yeah." Her heart fluttered again. "Why? Is he here, have you found him?"

Natasha didn't answer and seemed to ignore further prodding from Mallory. Whatever it was flared up her anxiety again before she remembered that Rumlow had been behind them in the run to safety and he was more than likely dead. She scanned the building, unwelcome tears brimming her eyes.

She had loved him. At a point in her life, Rumlow had been the epicenter of everything. If somebody had asked her a week ago about what she loved, he would've been her second answer after her parents. She felt like she'd loved him more then she'd ever loved any past boyfriends. More than Jackson, her first ever boyfriend which was a love built on danger and passion. More than Liam, the man who had stole her soul and broke it then stamped on its pieces. More then the ones that came after Liam, Todd and their lackluster rebound relationship with trust issues and lies on both parties sides. With Rumlow it had been a deep connection that she found hard to explain even after it had ended. She could spend a weekend away on a hot date in secluded area doing adult activities with him just as easily as she could stand a family gathering with him by her side. That part of her world had imploded and it seemed, after Liam, after Rumlow, she'd never learn to love anybody again. Ever. But she still wanted to cry for his death, for the memories he had left behind and his family.

And so Mallory sat as Natasha and Fury yelled at each other over the location of Captain America, and allowed her tears to escape as her heart calmed and the sight of the falling Hellicarrier faded into the distant. They landed in an impromptu site just outside of the destroyed Triskelion building, as recovery teams and firefighters and ambulances and police officers swarmed the fallen building beginning the process. Her thoughts drifted back to Barnes, to Rogers and what had happened when they'd met. Had he used Zola's now proven theory to reconcile with his old friend and they'd gone off somewhere to talk? If that was true, then why was he not answering his cellphone or comm? The more likely theory was that they had gotten themselves trapped on the Hellicarrier as it went down and splashed into the river so they concentrated their search teams to the banks.

It was over. There was no klaxon, no siren, no nothing to announce the passing of the danger but there was a feeling in the air of a grim acceptance and accomplishment that signified the end of what felt like a living nightmare. Lives had been lost by the hundreds but saved by the millions. Like Steve had said, the price of freedom was high. And with this feeling of grim acceptance, Mallory fished her phone out of her pocket and called her Dad with intentions of... well she wasn't quite sure. It was forgiveness of a sort, as she knew he'd be tracked down and put on trial and jailed for his crime, but she most certainly still felt bitter. But she didn't want to hate him. The call ended with a monotone voice telling her that the caller could not be reached. He had switched his phone off after all. She sighed and put it back in her pocket.

Beside her, someone was dabbing at Sam's face with a cloth, wiping the blood away. He didn't flinch with pain each time the cloth touched his open cuts as he was staring to the floor, eyes wistful as if he was thinking hard.

"Worrying?" They met eyes. "About Steve?"

He laughed self-consciously, his face breaking into the first smile she'd seen in hours. "How can you tell?"

"I know the look. He'll be fine." She said, feeling as confident as she sounded. She folded her arms and suddenly felt every inch of the dirt that had built up over her body. She hadn't changed in her clothes in what... two? Three days? She could barely remember. This entire ordeal had seemed to last an eternity.

"You think?"

"He's a super soldier. He had the best chance of surviving out of anyone if he was still on that ship." She repeated her words to soften the look of worry. "He'll be fine."

Sam was cleaned up and given leave to go home but refused, lingering with Mallory on the fringes of the barriers to watch the search teams, who regularly went down to the building with an empty body bag and come up with a full one. The barriers were crowded with arriving families their faces full of worry. As deaths were announced, the families would continually clutch to each other with an impending sense of grief hanging over their heads. Mallory and Sam watched it together, silent but with a sense of camaraderie that only a situation like this could force.

"Is that Natasha?" Sam said, breaking the silence. Mallory followed where his eyes rested and yes, it was Natasha. Weaving her way through the search team crowds, the Widow looked haggard in her catsuit. But that didn't seem to bother her as she continued moving quickly through the crowds to reach an ambulance that was taking away a body. The pair watched as she had a brief conversation with the paramedic, then after a moment he helped her into the back of the ambulance.

"What is she doing?" Mallory mused aloud, Sam shrugging with confusion and folding his arms a second later. Natasha came out a second later and was on the phone with somebody, a brief conversation that finished with her looking as if she'd rather be anywhere but there. She then scanned the crowds and spotted the pair watching her and started coming over. Mallory and Sam stirred and pretended to look as if they had been doing something other then staring at her when she came over.

Natasha smiled at them after she'd ducked under the barrier and found them, but the smile was a shade too uneasy for Mallory's liking. She looked at Sam and Sam shrugged.

"Sam can I talk to Mallory? Alone?"

He nodded, and placed his hand Mallory's shoulder and squeezed it as a goodbye. Mallory watched him go then smiled at Natasha.

"Something wrong?" There is most definitely something wrong. Mallory didn't like this feeling at all.

"Look Mallory there's no easy way to say this but... do you remember on the chopper when I asked you what your second name was?"

"Uh... yeah?"

Natasha took a deep breath to steady herself. "Well Maria told me that the paramedics who had done their search in the lobby they um... well they found a man who had been shot in the heart. He died before they could identify him. They ran his prints through the HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D databases, and found a match with the former."

Why should she care about some dying HYDRA agent? For some reason it didn't click for her yet. "And?"

"The prints are registered to a Sampson Smith, Director of Operations on the INSIGHT project." No. No no no no no no. She looked towards the ambulance."I'm so sorry Mallory."

In a word, Natasha had shattered her heart. It felt like somebody had set her on fire and only part of her had blackened and turned to ash. Her first thought was of disbelief. No this can't be true, this isn't true she's lying she has to be. A wave of faint passed her and Mallory swayed on her feet, heart thudding, head pounding, world spinning, mouth becoming dry with nausea. Her lower lip wobbled with disbelief but she couldn't cry not yet not until it was confirmed. Not until she had seen the body with her own eyes. She couldn't believe it.

"Can I see him?" It was a croak and Mallory cleared her throat. "Where is he?"

"I don't think that's a good idea-"

But Mallory was gone. This was faster then she had ran, even from the impending doom of the crashing Hellicarrier into the Triskelion. She was under the barrier before the cops on guard could yell at her and attempting wrenching open the doors of the ambulance before the paramedic could leap forwards and haul her back.

"Ma'am you shouldn't go back there."

"Let me see him! I'm his daughter! I'm a doctor!" She struggled against his hold and spat with venom. "I'm more qualified than you to do this!"

"Mal!" She heard Natasha's voice.

"Mallory." Sam's.

"That may be so ma'am but you still shouldn't go back there."

Natasha and Sam and the faceless paramedics voices faded into nothing as she freed a hand and yanked the door open. It swung backwards, taking both Mallory and the paramedic by surprise. They fell backwards, onto their behinds onto the ruined floor of the Triskelion's parking lot. Mallory's mouth had gone by and Natasha had ran up behind her, her low voice fading into nothing as Mallory stepped up the metal staircase to the body bag.

Her hands were shaking as she pulled on the zip, insistent like a child tugging on it's mothers skirt. Mom. This would destroy her. She wasn't sure her mother could recover from a blow like this. As she slid the zip across the contours of the body bag, the only thought running through her mind was a prayer to a God. Please don't be dead, please don't be dead Daddy.

As she pushed the black plastic of the body bag aside, the pale and corpse-like face of her father stared back, his eyes still open with the horror of being shot evident in his dead face. There was a bruise on his face where Mallory had punched him. His body blurred. The world shook around her. She rocked. Her lower lip wobbled and the first of what would be many tears fell down her face. She cupped her mouth as a wail of horror escaped her lips and could only think of her mother as she backed away from the nightmarish vision of her father in a body bag.

Someone caught her as she walked too far and fell down the steps. Sam's arms enveloped her and she sobbed into the arms of the man she had met hours ago, her cries of mercy from God incoherent amongst her howling with pain. She clutched Sam and waited for the initial tornado of emotion to pass, as it tore up her soul and ripped away part of her heart to rest with her father for all eternity. She had never felt such pain in her entire life.

Natasha's hand fiddled with the dial on the radio, turning Adam Levine's wailing voice as he sang about stereos to a faded background noise.

"Damn antique." She said quietly, to herself mostly as Mallory's eyes were staring out of the window, lost in a memory of a happier time with her father. It felt like somebody had backhanded her with all of their force, her cheeks burning and her eyes stinging with tears. The green trees that lined the perfect suburban roads and the manicured hedges that lead up to the doorways of her vast childhood home blurred onto a canvas of colour; Mallory wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and Natasha looked over to her.

"You okay?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Do you want me to come inside with you?"

The car had come to a stop on the sidewalk, but the engine was still running, the low thrum vibrating the shell of the car. The car wasn't Natasha's sleek black one but a loaned Jaguar from an onsite S.H.I.E.L.D agent who had taken one look at Mallory's red eyes and Natasha's protective arm around her and surrendered the keys immediately to her. Sam and Natasha had fought amongst themselves to see who would drive Mallory back to her mothers house to break the news as gently and kindly as possible. They both were divided, both of them wanting to stay onsite and join the search team for Steve and Barnes – or James, she had to call him James now – but they both wanted to make sure Mallory got home safe. Natasha had insisted in a low voice that a job like this had needed a woman's touch.

Natasha's hand stopped her. "You sure you don't want me with you? This isn't the first time I've done something like this."

Mallory made sure she turned her head and attempted a watery smile of gratitude to the Widow. "Thanks but I'd rather keep this in the family."

"Will she take it hard?" Seeing Mallory's questionable look, she elaborated. "You know some people clamp up, others go a little crazy."

Mallory cringed, remembering her own reaction. "I don't know. There's been deaths in the family before but she was always the strong one and a death this close to her has never really happened before. So I guess we'll see."

"Are you okay? I know that's a stupid question but... are you okay?" Mallory knew she was remembering Mallory's reaction as well. Mallory shrugged.

"I'm fine." She swallowed nervously at her own lie then decided to come clean. "Well of course I'm not fine. My dad just-" She trailed off. "But I'm over the shock. I need to be with family."

Natasha nodded knowingly. "Okay."

Her voice was soft. Mallory got out of the car but remembered something and turned back to speak through the open window. "Call me if Steve or Barnes gets found."

She nodded again then started to pull out from the sidewalk. "I'll see you around."

Mallory watched her go and offered a weak wave as the Widow drove past her on the sidewalk. It reminded her stupidly of the day in D.C when she'd first met the Widow and how everything had changed. She had lost two people she had loved strongly, if in different ways. These two people had a lot in common; they'd both duped her into doing something legally and morally damaging and they both had been men she had believed she could trust. It was weird. At the start of the day she had been certain about the outcome; the good guys would trump the bad guys and everybody got to go home to relax. But even as that happened variables had thrown her future into uncertainty. No Dad meant no emotionally stable Mom and a devastated family. No Rumlow meant no complete closure over that situation and devastation for his family, wherever they may be. With no S.H.I.E.L.D meant no HYDRA which meant no job. No Soldier meant no chance for him to regain his memories with people who had intimate knowledge of his condition. And at the moment, no Captain American made her feel extremely unsafe.

The world had gotten scarier, and she felt like she was drowning under everything that had been put to her. A chill was sent down her spine and she wrapped her arms around herself, feeling like a child again as the need for her mother fired her brain into action. She walked the short distance to her house and pushed the door open. Her mother never left the door unlocked.

The hallway was much the same as she had left it. The coat rack still had one of her father's hiking jackets and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying. She walked into the living room, and saw the TV was one but muted.

"Mom."

The word put her into action again. Her head snapped up and her eyes came alive with pain and anger and a fiery motherly instinct. She got up and wordlessly crossed the room. The pair embraced, Mallory finding sanctuary in her mother's arms as she had so many times before. The lump she hadn't realized was strangling her and she let out a small whimper, as her mother's frame hardened as her grip tightened around Mallory. Mallory opened her mouth to say something intelligent but all that came out was another small cry and that did it for her mother. Her cries were muffled by Mallory's shoulder which grew wetter by the second and soaked through her dirty tank top. Mallory held her, feeling a calmness spread over her.

Mallory pulled her mother into another embrace which caused them to sit back on to the sofa. Her mother had her head on her shoulder, and her hand was clamped tightly around Mallory's. Mallory couldn't allow herself to crumple like she had when they found the body, wanting to remain strong for her mother but it was hard, as an orgy of images of her father's cold corpse and all of the hate she had directed towards him before hand flashed through her head. They remained there as the sun began to slide down the sky and her mother's howls of anguish were replaced with sniffles and hiccups.

"Could you get me some water, sweetheart?" Her mother's voice broke the silence. Mallory nodded and felt her bones crack as she stood and walked to the sink in the kitchen. When she came back with two glasses for her and her mother, she was watching the news. It had been on the entire time they had sat there, but only now did it seem relevant. The S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA report had been playing all day.

"Thank you." Her mother took a sip and set it down on the table.

"Who told you?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. They just called. Told me how he... died. They don't know who did it yet but apparently a lot of agents were killed in the midst of things and the CCTV footage was burned by the wreckage." Her mother looked at her accusingly. "You were there weren't you?"

Mallory nodded.

"He said you knocked him out."

"I did."

"Why?"

"He was keeping me upstairs Mom. Preventing me from doing the right thing."

"Don't. Don't talk like that about your father." Her voice cracked horribly.

Mallory narrowed her eyes at her mother. "Did S.H.I.E.L.D say anything else?"

Her mother shifted uncomfortably but didn't say anything. Mallory put her hand on her knee.

"Mom?"

"We better start calling his family. His dad is dead but I know his mother is still alive. And all of his brothers and sisters..."

"Mom!"

Her mother looked at her as if she was seeing her for the first time and shrank into her seat. She seemed to consider it for a moment, hesitating as if she didn't quite want to say it. Then she did.

"They said he was HYDRA." She whispered finally, as the female newscaster repeated the breaking news headlines in case anybody had just tuned in. "It's not true. Tell me it's not true. I can't believe it."

"You have to believe." Mallory put the glass on the table. "Look I haven't been completely honest with you over these past few weeks-"

Her phone buzzed. Mallory had it out of her pocket in seconds. The text was from Natasha, and all it said was:

Steve has been found. No sign of Barnes though. We'll keep an eye out for him

A couple of seconds later it was breaking news on the TV. Her mother sat up and listened as they read the report then focused back on Mallory.

"Sweetie can I... can I call his family first? They need to know and I'd rather they hear it from me then some redundant S.H.I.E.L.D agents. I want to hear what you have to say but... can we wait?"

Maybe waiting was for the best. It would give her a chance to collect her thoughts and figure out what she was going to say.

"Yeah course. I'm going to go home and get some clothes and some other stuff. I'll help you with the calls when I get back." She didn't want to leave her mother alone but it had to be done. Mallory had been wearing those clothes for days, ever since the business on the highway. They were probably covered with sweat and grime and dirt and blood but the darkness of the fabric gave nobody any visual evidence of how long she had been wearing. Yet she merely needed to sniff gingerly at it to determine how long she had been wearing it. She needed new clothes and her mom didn't stock anything of her size in the house.

"Thank you sweetie. Here," She reached onto the table where her bag was and pulled out a wad of dollars. "Take a cab."

"Mom-"

"Take the money sweetie. Be quick." Her mother turned for the address book to start finding the first of the names who needed to be informed of his death.

Mallory went into the hallway to call the cab. He came in minutes and Mallory called a throaty goodbye to her mother as she shut the door and walked down the stairs. It occurred to her she hadn't eaten in hours but somehow she felt weighted with the heaviness of grief.

Death had not been a common occurrence in her family yet it had happened. Her grandfather had died when she was young and she vaguely remembered the funeral as a quiet affair. It was the first time she'd seen her father cry properly, her mother with her arms around him before they'd left for the church with a young Mallory at their heels. She knew from conversations when she was older that he'd never been very close to his father, or his entire family at that matter but still his death had touched him and hollowed his heart. Her father's death had hollowed Mallory's own heart, the pain was still raw and she knew she couldn't think of him longer then a few seconds without wanting to burst into tears.

The cab ride felt seconds long. The driver was quiet, humming along to a song on the radio as the darkening skyline of D.C signaled the day was at a close. Mallory found herself thinking of James, the Soldier. Where was he? Had he survived the crash like Steve had? Then ran before the rescuers could get him to safety. If he had she didn't blame his running. She hoped Steve had cracked his memories. A plethora of emotions he could've been feeling passed through her and she was swept with empathy. She hoped he was safe wherever he was and she knew he would come back in his own time.

Mallory paid the cab driver then tipped, using her key to unlock the front door and walking the flight of stairs to her apartment. She had walked it many times but this time it was long and slow. She reached her door and straightened the number which had been knocked aside. She took a moment to collect herself, knowing there would be evidence of Rumlow and her father everywhere but she had to face her fear. She unlocked the door and entered the darkened apartment. Flicking the switch she got a few paces through the apartment before she noticed the man dressed in black sitting on her bed. The scream that was on her lips was aborted as logic kicked in and she realized who it was.

Unbelievable. She took a step forwards and staggered a little. "James?"

Her voice was full of wonder. He was dressed in his damp Winter Soldier armour, sans mask and murderous expression. His hair was darker then normal and as he stood shakily she saw he had left a wet patch on her bed. He was shivering, and holding his non-cybernetic arm close to his chest like it had been hurt. His expression, although agonizing was human and as he approached her, her lower lip wobbled with fear and joy.

It had worked. Steve somehow had said or done something that had broken down the barrier of the mental torture. The Winter Soldier was no longer a robot – he was human, a moving working person with memories and feelings and a future now. Relief coursed through her veins and she wanted more than anything to throw her arms around him and maybe kiss him with gratitude for coming back to her, safe and sound. It sank deep in the pit of her stomach, a nice feeling, a happy feeling. Was it hope? She wasn't sure. He was beautiful, pitiful creature and he seemed so tall as he stood above her and closed the gap of space between them with a few long strides of his long legs.

"I'm sorry." His voice was a shade tremulous. "I had nowhere else to go."

Mallory opened her mouth to say something - a weak word of assurance, informing him of the demise of her father or perhaps an apology for all she done, she wasn't sure which – but she shut it again. What could she say? What on earth could she say that would make this guilty conscience that weighed her down lessen a little? Her father had always said actions spoke louder than words and this seemed the case. Here the Soldier stood before her, a person she had spent the hardest six months of her life battling what felt like the entire world with, who had saved her life so many times telling her that he was sorry for intruding. She owed him the world. She owed him her thanks at least.

Her arms slid around his wet waist and her body pressed against his and her head rested on his chest and she just stood there. And a second later she felt a wince of pain as he carefully lowered his arms and tightened them just the slightest around her. Not by much but somehow it was enough.

Mallory felt again that she was being held together by the Soldier just as everything was beginning to fall apart.

A/N: We have reached the end of the movie but we still have more chapters to go! Apologies for the emotional stress this chapter might have caused!