Chapter Six: Message in the Dust

Welcome back, here, I am with the next chapter and this chapter will have more creative and new information and I know a lot of these chapters have bits and pieces from before but I'm tyring to salvage some of the original but I'm almost done so some new information and problems will arise so just stay tuned be sure to follow, favorite, and comment on this story.

Third Person POV:

Natasha Romanoff ans Steve Rogers step off the jet at a secure ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. base where they plan to stock up on supplies before they storm the underground facility where allegedly HYDRA's been lurking and being as angry as they are with HYDRA due to the whole Vanya-Bucky disaster it's quite understandable. During the entire plane ride neither said a word to each other, both afraid of hurting the other persons feelings.

Although Natasha never has been one to spare other peoples feelings in her current situation with feeling a hole in her chest that her daughter is most likely dead really had an impact on her. Vanya wasn't around Natasha during her childhood but she always felt it deep inside that her daughter was alive but now she feels nothing, she watched her fall and couldn't do anything to save her.

The Black Widow doesn't fail and yet, she did. She failed and her daughter could be dead and that's a regret she'll have to live with along with all her other mistakes and bad decisions like the Hospital Fire. Another person to add to her ledger or red only this time it was her own flesh and blood.

"Do you think...?" Natasha speaks up before quickly stopping, regretting her decision.

"No," Steve replies, already knowing what she was going to ask. "I think they're still alive, I thought Bucky was dead when he fell off the Zola's Train but then I find out he's alive. If he could fall from that train when he was still human, I'm sure he could survive that fall."

Natasha looks at him, green eyes blazing. "But Vanya couldn't, that fall may as well have been her death certificate."

"Bucky could have kept her safe, he's been helping her. She mentioned knowing him when I saw her at my apartment while still under HYDRA's control so obviously she and Bucky have some kind of friendship."

"Or relationship."

Steve looks over at her, somewhat grossed out. "No, there's no way he'd date her, considering she's only seventeen after."

"Age has never stopped people before."

"It'll be fine Natasha, eventually we'll know for sure if they're dead or alive but right now we need to stay focused on this mission, we can't risk making a mistake, that could be fatal."

She nods her head in agreement. "You're right, mission first, Vanya and Bucky after."

They enter the base, heading straight for the weapons vault.

Vanya's POV:

An old, rotting wooden fence lines the entire forest to prevent trespassers from entering but when I pull the truck forward, the crunching gravel can't distract me from the memory replying over and over in my head. When the pickup truck reaches the gate, I hop out of the car leaving Bucky without saying a single word and stop by a tall oak wood tree.

Reaching for my knife I jam the knife into the closed up hole in the tree and carefully pop the fake piece of wood out, letting it fall to the ground. I move my hand forward, watching myself do it now as well as see myself do it before in the gray colored memory. The cold metal feeling of a key is my first indication of my having stayed here before.

A heavy metal lock rests on the gate, keeping it locked to the public so I step over to push the key into the lock and turn it. It proves accurate when the lock clicks and falls open, allowing us access. Stepping aside, I pull the doors open and wave for Bucky to pull the truck in and when he does I take the lock and re-lock in but on the inside of the gate instead.

Bucky switches seats with me when I get back to the truck. We say nothing to each other as I drive down the dirt path carved into the once green grass. My grip on the steering wheel tightens as we drive underneath the forest and trees that I recall from my faint memory recollection. The vehicle jerks from side to side as we cross the rough terrain.

With each passing rock, or tree, or ditch in the dirt, I can see pieces that tell me I've gone in the right direction which is great considering my memories have been torn away from me and I can't seem to recall anything that's happened. I don't remember much but I've been told a lot of things, for example Bucky told me that my mother is the Black Widow which i didn't remember.

I met her, or so Bucky told me but I-I can't remember anything because HYDRA wiped my memory when I was captured by them again after I'd managed to get away by being captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. whenever that was. It's so frustrating that I can't remember anything but the feeling of not knowing, not remembering anything is familiar.

While I can remember my full name Vanya Gemmanova Romanova, my age 17, and my alliance with HYDRA under the Red Room's order but I can't remember any of my missions except for the one's that I've just recently been on with Bucky. Then I also remember a cave, an explosion, falling into a pitch black abyss and my name cried out in utter agony. My mother.

Blinking a few time I stop the truck when we arrive at a patchy section of the woods covered overhead by the large, leafy trees, and down here on the ground hidden by the bushes, fallen leaves, and all the large and bulky rocks all across the land.

"Vanya, what the hell are you doing?" Bucky asks, getting out of the car a second after I do, taking the keys with me.

"We're here."

he glances around, sighs, and runs his human hand through his messy brown hair. "This is the middle of the forest, there's no way in hell we're going to be able to hide out here without being found. I think you need to take a nap because clearly, you're not thinking straight."

Turning back to him I roll my eyes and step forward and find a large rock placed over what my memory tells me is the opening. Pressing the palm of my hand against the rock a green light from the scanner zips over my hand before accepting my DNA. The rock shifts, moving out of the way and a dirt and grass covered metal door appear, then opens, revealing a metal latter that takes us down.

"Still think I need a nap Bucky?" I reply, hopping down the tunnel, not bothering with the stairs at all. When I hit the ground, I instantly roll out of the way and Bucky hops down into the tunnel as well. The tunnel is dark but the only sound is the faint dripping of water somewhere off into the darkened distance but I keep silent and start forward, my mind filtering my concern for what lies ahead.

As we pass through the tunnel, our footsteps echo down the rest of the way and bounce back at us. If my brief memory serves well then it should be down here and if I'm right, we'll be safe. At least for a little while. In the span of a few seconds bright lights overhead flicker to life allowing us to see the concrete circle we're walking in and the large square just a few feet ahead, that must be it.

We step through the square and in the back of the concrete room is the house I saw in my memory but instead of being in black and white the house in actually a dull purple color with chipping paint. The windows are boarded up and the concrete steps leading up to the wooden porch are chipped and cracked with black spray paint writing: 12/14/09 DOOMSDAY. 0293649-036 staining the wall. T

"You were right," is all Bucky has to say.

Everything is black and white again and Bucky is gone. I watch as clear tears falls from my face and the blood staining my clothes, looking down at my hands I see the black can of spray paint in my hand, the paint staining my hands.