Summary: Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.
Soldiers And Spies
Chapter 4
They grabbed anything that would be useful and cleared out, Bucky felt like he had failed Eva, but hoped to god that he would find her soon as they left the hotel.
Eva held a file in her hands as she looked at her newest target. They told her that this woman had been digging into their business, and HYDRA didn't take too kindly to that. Her name was Natalia Alianovna Romanova, a.k.a Natasha Romanoff. Her code name was The Black Widow. Instantly that name sounded so familiar to Eva. So much so that she had a flash in her mind, of herself talking to a young man with dark hair. She said to him. "I was their top assassin after the famous Black Widow who had been a legend in the Red Room." The memory, if that's what it was, burned through her mind with a searing pain. She tried to shake it off and continued to read the file. Romanova had been a pupil in the Red Room Training Program and now worked for S.H.E.I.L.D. 'Red Room'… that's what she had said to the dark haired man in her vision. Maybe she was seeing the future, because she had no idea who that man was. She couldn't recall ever seeing him before in her life.
Eva studied the file intently, the woman had quite a history and extensive training, and she would be a worthy opponent. She would have to focus on her telekinesis skills to be able to beat her, because it seemed they would be pretty evenly matched in hand to hand combat.
She got ready and dressed in training gear, before going out into the ballet studio as she began practising her dance moves that seemed to come so naturally but didn't know how.
She was determined not to disappoint her bosses.
Eva performed some complicated twists as dummies began to appear all over the room and she took them out with her powers, releasing blasts of energy from her hands as well as using the weapons that were scattered around the room.
The following day Eva touched down in New York. She had studied the file on Romanoff inside and out. She knew everything there was to know about this woman. She knew that she was associated with a group of people including Steve Rodgers, Clint Barton and Tony Stark. They were all part of a team of elite soldiers, spies and geniuses, some with superhuman attributes. They called themselves The Avengers. There were a lot of new articles about a huge alien battle in the middle of New York, centred on the then named Stark Tower. She found it had since been renamed to the Avengers Tower, and that was where she would find her target.
Eva knew that in targeting Natasha Romanoff, she was likely going to have to take down the rest of the team too, and she was prepared for that. She had been learning to control her powers more, and knew that they would be key in completely her mission to kill The Black Widow. She called for a cab and headed straight for the huge tower in the middle of the city.
The taxi parked outside the building and she got out. Standing on the pavement outside she surveyed the building. It was very tall with many floors. Finding Romanoff would not be easy without alerting someone to her presence, but Eva had another idea. She focused her powers on the building and began scanning mind from floor to floor until she located her target.
She was heading down in an elevator, it stopped in the garage where she hopped into a black Jaguar car. She was going for a drive and Eva got back into the cab and asked the driver to followed her calmly, but keep his distance. Barely making a sound she quickly changed into her suit, as she waited for the car to come to a stop.
Eva made sure that no civilians were around, not wanting to be seen as she calmly got out as Natasha parked in a deserted street and walked into an abandoned warehouse. She followed after the woman silently as she had her target right in front of her she unsheathed her Gerber Mark II Combat knife from her left upper holster and made a move to slit her throat.
However, Eva was taken by surprise when Natasha spun around and slammed her into a wooden beam. Clearly she had been spotted earlier somehow and she had baited her. As Natasha bent down to try and drag her to her feet Eva head-butted her hard, causing the red head woman to stumble back. Eva jumped to her feet and her eyes glowed dark red then as she stared intently at her target.
Natasha rubbed her forehead as she looked at the young blonde haired woman, her lower face was covered up by a mask that looked identical to the one that Bucky had worn, and her eyes were flashing red.
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm the one that's gonna take you down." Eva told her confidently as she threw a punch at her. Natasha blocked it and returned a couple of her own, managing to land one on her opponents ribcage. But the girl was quick and she flung herself at Natasha, spinning around her and throwing her to the ground. With all her training Nat was just as acrobatic as this woman and she rolled out of the landing to remain unhurt. This girl had some serious training.
Black Widow stood up and held her ground as the mystery woman came charging at her, she blocked her punch and followed up by sweeping her feet out from under her. The young woman fell to the ground and Natasha was quick to jump on top of her, pinning her down and landing a few punches. The woman's eyes began to flash red again and before she even knew what had happened Nat was catapulted into the air, hitting the ceiling and crashing back down to the ground.
"I told you I'd take you down, bitch." She spat as she neared her.
Nat crawled to her knees, she was in pain, and surely something was at least cracked if not broken. She had been through much worse in her Red Room days, this was nothing. She could handle one punk girl. "Oh honey, it's gonna take a lot more than that to keep me down." Natasha told her with a cocky grin.
She kicked at one of the young girls legs, making her buckle to the ground a little before striking her hard in the face, knocking off her mask. As the girl looked up at her, Natasha recognized her instantly. She couldn't believe she didn't pick up on it earlier. She was highly trained, had some sort of telekinetic powers and she wore a mask just like the one Bucky used to wear. It was Evangeline Nikolayev.
"Eva?" Nat questioned.
"How do you know my name?" Eva responded in shock. "Who warned you I was coming!?"
"No... Eva. We tried to save you, back in Berlin with Bucky. Don't you remember?"
"I've never been to Berlin, and who the hell is Bucky?"
"Eva, I need you to trust me okay? They have wiped your memory. Bucky has been searching for you, we all have. He never gave up. Let me help you remember." Natasha said gently.
"I don't know what kind of mind games you're playing but I'm not falling for it!" Eva yelled as she tackled Natasha to the ground and began to punch her.
"I can prove it. Eva Stop!" Nat yelled in between blocking Eva's blows. But there was no stopping her, she was out of control. Nat had only one choice. She got one of her Black Widow's Bites and shocked her with it, knocking her unconscious. Pushing her off, she got up and dialled Steve's number. "Steve, I was ambushed. It's Eva. I need Bucky at my location right now" she spoke through the phone.
"We're coming to you now, Nat." Steve assured her and Natasha hung up. As she looked around at where Eva was lying she realised she was gone. She cursed then as she hurried outside.
A car sped up the road and came to stop a few meters away and she saw Steve, Tony, Clint and Bucky jump out. She raced over to them with a grimace of pain and when she reached them, Clint helped her to sit down.
"What the hell happened?" Clint asked alarmed at the state of her as he began to check her ribs and Natasha grimaced again. She told them how she had fought Eva in the warehouse just minutes ago, when they saw a police car approaching. As it started to slow down, it exploded.
A young woman calmly walked down the street, holding a rocket launcher in her hands. Natasha realised that it was Eva and she clearly had come prepared.
Steve threw his shield at her, but Eva grabbed it then and threw it right back at him, almost knocking him off his feet. She glared at him as a dark haired man began running towards her.
Bucky looked at Eva and felt a part of himself break, she didn't even remember him, her eyes were completely blank, cold and ruthless as she pulled out a gun and aimed it at him. There was no recognition in her eyes at all when she looked at him.
Bucky kicked it the gun of her hands, and Eva pulled out a Gerber II Hunting Knife and tried to stab him with it. They traded blow after blow as they fought in the streets. Eva was quick, and very strong, Bucky barely avoided getting stabbed in the throat.
"Eva, it's me!" Bucky said imploringly.
"I don't know who the hell you are!" Eva snarled enraged as she tried to stab him in the chest
"Eva, try to remember. This is not you. This is not who you are!" He pleaded as he grabbed her hand with his metal arm almost crushing it until he could pry the knife from her fingers. He tossed aside, not wanting to use it on her. He grabbed hold of her other hand and spun her around so her back was pressed against his chest and he held her arms crossed tightly in front of her, so she couldn't fight back.
In desperation she flung her head back, colliding with the side of Bucky's head as he tried to avoid the impact. He stumbled backwards releasing her from his grasp.
"I told you I don't know you, stop pretending like you know me!" She yelled angrily.
"I do know you. Your name is Evangeline Marina Nikolayev. You were trained by the Red Room. We were held captive together by Hydra a little over a month ago. It has taken me this long to find you." He told her as he cautiously approached.
"Liar!" She yelled as she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backward.
"Does my face not look at all familiar to you? We spent so much time together Eva. I cared about you. I kissed you… remember. We were trying to escape, but you were trapped by debris."
An image flashed through her mind for a millisecond. She was sat on a bed in a cell with a dark haired man. The same man who stood before her now. She shook her head in frustration and pain. These visions she had in her head, they burnt. "No! You're trying to trick me."
But Bucky refused to just give up on her. He started to walk towards her again. "They gave you telepathic abilities, you could communicate with me inside my head. You could read my mind. If you look inside my mind now you will see the truth. Please Eva just try." He begged imploringly.
This man was so insistent that she knew him, she thought she may as well do it, even if it was just to prove him wrong. To show him that he had her confused with someone else. And then she would be close enough to kill him in a second. She focused all her attention on him, getting inside his head. She tuned out all the other noise around her and his mind began to open up to her. It was like a collection of clips at a movie theatre, each featuring the two of them together. They fought together, they trained together. They shared a bed in a cell together.
"No... No this can't be!" Eva cried out as a million emotions began to flood into her mind. Emotions definitely weren't something she was used to.
"Eva, it's ok. Do you believe me now?"
"We were held captive together. I know you, but I… I don't remember you." She confirmed. "I could see it. What happened to us, but why can't I remember it?"
"Look again. Look deeper. It might help." He said as he approached her. He took a huge chance and held out his hands for her to take in hers. Hoping that the physical contact might bring back some more memories for her.
Once again she focused on him, searching his memories for more clues, and as she saw them, so did Bucky. They were being escorted back to their cell when they attacked the guards and made a run for it. In a stair well they ran into some other people. The red haired woman she fought just before, and the two other men that were standing on the street with them just now. There was an explosion, she was trapped. He tried to help her, the dark haired man and his friend, but it was no use. She told him to go. She told him to leave her behind. He kissed her and made her a promise. He promised he would come back for her.
"Bucky?" She questioned, a tear forming in her eye as she remembered his name.
"I swore to you, that wherever they took you that I would find you, and I would save you. I never stopped looking Eva. Never" he whispered before pressing his lips to hers in a desperate attempt cement any memories in her mind about the two of them. Eva melted into the kiss and blinked back tears, she began to remember him. He had tried to save her.
Just then, a shot rang out from a rooftop across the street and Eva stopped the bullet with her telekinesis powers, glaring at the shooter she spun it around and sent it shooting back at him.
As memories began to flood her mind Eva whispered. "What have I done?" She vaguely remembered the people that HYDRA had sent her to kill, she felt horrified and ashamed of herself for what she had done to everyone, especially Bucky and his friends.
"Eva, listen to me. This isn't your fault, you were brainwashed into doing this and it's not your fault in any way, don't blame yourself." Bucky whispered quietly as he cupped her face with his metal hand, she didn't flinch away.
"I hurt you and your friends." She said disgusted at herself.
"It wasn't your choice, don't do this to yourself." Bucky said firmly, his grey eyes meeting her dark blue eyes.
"You came back for me?"
"I tried to yeah. We found out where you were being held, but by the time we got there everyone had cleared out and you were gone." He told her. "I was so mad at myself for leaving you behind, I hated myself. And I knew that I would never be right again until I found you."
"Don't hate yourself Bucky. I told you to leave me... didn't I?" She asked, vaguely remembering that moment.
"You did, but I should never have listened. What they did to you after that... it's all my fault." He whispered pained.
"No. No this is Hydra's fault. I still don't remember much, everything is really fuzzy. But from what I do remember, we were both made to do things we didn't want to do by these people. They are the ones to blame, not you, and not me." She said firmly.
"I never gave up looking for you. I was determined to fix my mistake. I had to save you."
"And you have. Here I am... safe. Because of you. You helped me remember. Even if it's only bits and pieces right now. At least I know who I am, and I remember you, maybe only vaguely, but I hope it will come back with time."
"Guys! We got company!" Clint yelled as he spotted a few choppers in the distance. "HYDRA's coming, and I'm betting they're pretty pissed."
"Looks like we are in for a fight." Steve added in. "Everybody up for this?"
"Let's do it." Eva replied as she grabbed a hold of Bucky's hand. They were in this together.
Bucky held her hand tightly and squeezed it before he let go as they began fighting the soldiers from HYDRA. Eva using her new found powers as she felt her eyes turn dark red and her hands glowed the same colour, she caused a few of the soldiers guns to rust and rot away, before kicking one in the face.
Bucky stood beside her, covering her back as he used his cybernetic arm to knock a few men out while using his gun on a few more. Steve, Tony, Natasha and Clint fighting alongside them.
Eva then glanced at a soldier and used her powers on him, making him turn on another HYDRA man before beating him up and they all watched in surprise.
"Remind me not to piss this Russian off." Tony commented seriously as he used his repulsors on a HYDRA helicopter as the others took out the last of the men.
Eva shook her head as her eyes changed back to the normal deep blue, Bucky smiled at her as they began checking the knocked soldiers, that's when he saw a memory stick in one of the soldier's pockets and took it out.
"What's that?" Eva asked curiously, walking to his side quietly and Bucky showed her the USB stick.
"Must be important." Steve said quietly.
She gave the USB to Steve for safe keeping until they could review the information back at their HQ. The team did one last sweep of the area to make sure that all of the Hydra agents were either dead or incapacitated before leaving Tony behind to oversee them being handed over to SHIELD.
As they made their way back to the tower Bucky turned to Eva, "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Okay I guess. I have a killer headache though."
"Do you get them often?"
"Only when I don't take my pills... oh crap my pills" she remembered as she fumbled around in a small pouch on her utility belt.
"Eva wait... don't take it." Bucky warned quickly before she went to pop one into her mouth.
"They told me if I don't take one every twelve hours, my brain and organs will start to shut down and I will die." she told him.
"They are probably what has been causing your memory loss." Steve added from the front seat.
"What do I do?" She asked Bucky.
"How long since you last took one?"
"Thirteen hours." She said a little worried.
"Damn. How long have you gone without one before. I want to get Tony to analyse them and run some tests on you to see if what they told you is true. I don't want you to lose your memory again." Bucky said wearily.
"The longest I have gone is fourteen hours without taking a pill."
"Steve, step on it, we need to get back ASAP, and can you call Tony and tell him to meet us in his lab?"
"Will do Buck!" Steve replied quickly.
They arrived back and they met him at his lab, Bucky handed him the pills that Eva had given him and Tony ran some tests on them as well as a sample of Eva's blood.
"These aren't painkillers and they definitely don't have anything that are keeping you from dying, they're some kind of pill that makes you forget your memories. Guess HYDRA wanted to keep you really badly and started feeding you these. Your bloodwork shows that you are fine. The headaches are likely withdrawals from the drug." Tony said before getting surprised as Jarvis's voice came on the speakers.
"Sir, Director Nick Fury is waiting for you in the living room." Jarvis informed them and Tony nodded as he saw a look of weariness cross Eva's face.
"Don't worry, he's a good guy. Your boyfriend was sent to kill him but Fury doesn't hate him." Tony said cheerfully as they went to greet the man who was waiting for them.
Eva could tell that, this man was dangerous and sat down next to Bucky who was tense as he regarded his assassination target while he had been under HYDRA's control.
"Miss Nikolayev, I've heard a lot about you and you too Mr Barnes." Fury stated calmly as they saw he was holding two files with their names on them in bold print.
"All good I hope?" Bucky said sarcastically, seeing Eva take his metal hand in hers, the fact she wasn't afraid of his metal hand made him happier than he should be.
"Trust me, I'm impressed by you both." Fury stated stoically.
Enjoy :)