CHAPTER 29

There was silence. Allie stayed where Natasha left her, only being able to hear the sound of her breathing and fire roaring. She inhaled sharply when she heard Natasha's echoed through the streets. "Civilians threatened. I make an LZ, twenty-three hundred block at Virginia Avenue. Rendezvous two minutes."

There was an explosion that followed. Allie peeked behind the car to see what was going on. She saw Natasha jump onto her Soldier and attempted to choke him with some sort of wiring. He kept his hand at the level of his eyes to prevent the wire to wrap around his neck, and threw her off of him. As Natasha ran away to warn civilians to leave the scene, the Asset shot Natasha through her right shoulder. Allie stood from her hiding spot and ran up to her Soldier. He was wearing the same mask he wore the night they first met. He slowly lowered his gun and peered down at her as he stood on top of a car.

"Is this all because of me?" She questioned him as they locked eyes.

His once predatory stare softened when he saw her face. he slowly nodded his head in response.

Her eyes watered. She knew what was to come and she accepted it. So, she made her way across the street toward him. Before she got close enough to reach him, Rogers sprinted toward her Soldier with his shield in front of him. The Asset took his metal arm and punched the shield which cause it to ring similar to a church bell. When he realized his punch had no effect, the Asset pushed Steve's shield aside and kicked him in the torso. She watched Steve fly back from the force and her soldier land on his rear end on top of the car he once stood upon. The Asset shot a few rounds from his firearm, but the bullets were successfully blocked by Steve's shield. When he ran out of bullet, he rolled himself off the hood of the car and planted himself in front of Allie. He took out another gun from his side of his pants and shot at Rogers. Steve ducked down behind a car. Allie watched them continue to fight. Suddenly, Steve managed to unmask her Soldier.

Allie gazed at Steve's reaction. She felt the pain he wore on his face. "Bucky?" He managed to choke out at the Winter Soldier.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" She heard her Soldier ask in a tone that surprised her. He sounded as though he heard that name before.

"Bucky!" a faint, familiar voice called out in the back of his mind. Like a memory.

When he heard the sound of police sirens coming from a distance, he threw a bomb at Rogers before grabbing Allie by the arm and escaped without notice. They ran through an alleyway before her Soldier stopped in front of a dumpster and pinned her against the wall. He peered down at her with a solemn look.

"You ran away," he said gruffly.

"Yes," she answered quickly. "But, only from my father. I wasn't going to leave town without you." She looked deep into his eyes.

He knitted his eyebrows together, "Why?"

"Because-," she paused for a second as she searched for the right words. "Because I need you."

He stared at her for a while before he noticed the blood that dried on her left temple. He took his normal hand and lightly wiped away the blood. Allie seethed and flinched from the sharp pain that spread through her head.

"You're injured," he noted out loud.

"I'm- I'll be f-fine," she gulped as she tried to speak the words that she wanted to say. As she felt his chest press against hers, she felt a flutter in her chest.

The Asset sighed at her stubbornness and decided to say nothing more. He gingerly wrapped his metal arm around her waist, protectively as they continued their walk.

15 MINUTES LATER...

A slender, short blond man stood before him. The sorrow in his eyes caused the Asset's chest to tighten.

"-at the end of the line, pal," he heard himself say.

"Sergeant Barnes," a male voice echoed.

Suddenly, he remembered that same voice he heard earlier, "Bucky, no!" as he fell into the snow. There was so much snow, and it was cold. He thought he would die, alone. Then, someone (or many more than one person) grabbed his limp body and drug him into shelter. He remembered doctors performing a surgery. That was how he got his arm. Yes, he remembered. He lost his arm when he fell. There was a face that appeared before him. The face that filled every inch of his soul with anger. The face of Admin Zola. His round face sneered at him as he pushed his round spectacle up on the bridge of his nose.

"The procedure has already started," Zola smirked."You are to be the new face of H.Y.D.R.A." The Asset remembered being locked in a box he always dreaded. "Put him on ice."

As a doctor continued to fix the Asset's damaged metal arm, the Asset abruptly flung his arm against the doctor's chest and knocked him over.

Allie was about to calm the Asset down, but stopped when she saw her father enter the vault. Pierce glowered at her as he walked up to the Asset.

"Sir, he's... he's unstable. Erratic," a scientist spoke out as he stood in front of the entrance.

Pierce ignored the scientist and continued to make his way into the vault. Rumlow dutifully followed. Pierce stood in front of her Soldier after giving Allie a bone chilling glare. "Mission report," he ordered. Allie kept her eyes on the Asset. He looked different. There as an expression he held on his face, she never expected to from him again: pain. The very same look he gave her after she kissed him. She lump caught in her throat and she had a hard time choking it down. "Mission report, now," her father demanded, harshly. Her Soldier looked distant, unresponsive. She jumped with a start when the sound of Pierce's hand collided with her Soldier's face.

"That man on the bridge," the Asset began.

"Bucky?" the voice echoed.

"Who was he?" the Soldier eyed Pierce.

"You met him earlier this week on an assignment," he answered, nonchalantly.

"I knew him," He glanced up at Pierce, who took a seat in front of him.

Rumlow gave Allie a look that made her skin crawl.

Pierce tightened his jaw, "Your work has been a gift to mankind." When the Asset didn't respond, Pierce continued. "You shaped this country, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at it's tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and H.Y.D.R.A can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

"But, I knew him," the pained expression spread across her Soldier's face again. It was excruciating to him suffer this way.

Pierce stood from his seat, patience lost. "Prep him," he ordered a scientist nearby.

"He's been out of cry-freeze too long," the Scientist warned him.

"Then wipe him and start over," Pierce said as he glared at his daughter.

Allie was then grabbed by Rumlow and dragged out of the vault and the sound of her Soldier's scream echoed in her ears. When Rumlow came to a stop, Allie was forced to face her father. "You compromised him," he accused.

"I didn't do anything, I swear," she answered, honestly.

"Take her to the house," Pierce ordered Rumlow with a hint of annoyance in his voice before he walked away.

Nick Fury stared at the picture of Alexander Pierce in his hand.

"This man denounced the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, 'Peace wasn't the an achievement but a responsibility.' See, stuff like like this that gives me trust issues," he said as he turned to look at Maria Hill, Natasha, and Steve.

Allie smiled softly to herself as she stared out into the dark sky from the car window. 'Glad you're still alive, Nick.'