CHAPTER 32

She felt empty and numb. There was nothing left of her. Her Soldier's future was unclear, which caused her to come up with one conclusion. He was dead. Her eyes welled up in tears at the very thought. She hadn't moved from the couch in what seemed like an hour. She stared at the black television screen and wore a blank expression on her face. There was nothing for her to live for anymore. So many times he had been taken away from her, but he always came back. This time, she couldn't see his future and therefore, assumed his death.

She was in such a state of shock, she didn't even flinch from the sound of gunshots and yells from the outside of her house. Since she had fallen into a depression, her death didn't seem that bad. Allie waited patiently for the end when she heard the front door slowly open and a few footsteps followed.

Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Agent Hill cautiously entered Pierce's home with guns ready to fire and discovered Allie sitting alone on the couch. Agent Hill and Natasha gave each other a look.

"Allie?" Fury spoke out as he gingerly rested his hand on her shoulder from behind the couch. When she didn't respond, he became concerned and walked around the couch to face her. "Hey, you okay?" Has he cupped her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes. They were always so vibrant, impossible to miss, but when he looked into her eyes that moment, he noticed how dull and tired they looked. "Allie!" He exclaimed through creased eyebrows and shook her once by the shoulders.

She finally looked at him in a daze. It took her a few seconds to realize this was real and she was not dead, nor was this a vision or an illusion. She sighed in relief as her eyes began to water again. She leaped into his arms and gave him a tight squeeze as he hugged her back. "The future was so fuzzy, I wasn't sure if you'd come."

"My father?" She asked with curiosity. She hadn't seen him since the night he brainwashed her Soldier for the last time.

"KIA," Fury answered shortly.

Allie nodded slowly. She felt the need to be sad and yet... she wasn't. "And Cap? Did he make out?"

"Rogers is in the hospital as we speak, but he hasn't woken up yet. We have a speculation that the Winter Soldier is still alive. We don't know his whereabouts-" Fury was cut off by Allie.

"And you were hoping I would help you locate him."

Fury leaned back in his chair at the dining room table as he let out a sigh. "I don't know what he is to you, but I know you've been protecting him."

She gawked at Fury, "He's just- He was a bodyguard. You read the files, he was brainwashed and forced to be an Asset to HYDRA."

"I know," he was losing his patience. "Which is why I need to find him before someone else does. You know what your father made him do for the past twenty-four years. Imagine what would happen if someone else got a hold of him, someone worse?"

She hadn't thought of it, to be frank. She had been selfish and so focused on her own needs, she didn't think about him at all. She glanced up at Fury, "I tried looking for him. I really did, but... I see nothing. I just assumed he was dead."

Fury looked back at her in deep thought as he rubbed his chin, "Or maybe he's just taking a long ass nap?"

Allie chortled from his light joke and looked down at her hands on her lap.

"I don't mean to change the subject, but you don't look surprised to see me."

"I had a vision last night. You were talking about how my father deceived not only you, but the world."

He looked at her with interest, "What time last night?"

She closed her eyes to revert back to her memory. She remembered looking at Rumlow's watch before the vision came. "9:17, exactly," she replied as she reopened her eyes.

He was shocked. "Allie, you saw the present."

She tried to absorb what Fury just told her. "I what?"

He grinned at her, "I think I finally get it, now. Damn, I'm good."

Allie shifted her eyes, "Nick, you need to explain a little bit more. I can't read minds."

"Actually, you might," he responded.

"I think you're-" she began.

"You say your 'visions' are based from decisions and that gives you the future. I think there's more to it than that. You see, there are millions of muscles in the brain that control different things. When you were experimented on, you were injected with a serum that was meant to enhance your ability. Because of this, it also enhanced other brain cells. Such as muscle memory, enhanced thought processing, photographic memory. The list continues, but the point is: the serum may have given you other psychic abilities that you might not even know about..."

Her eyes widened about Fury, "You must've had a lot of time while playing dead."

"Al," Fury warned to stay on topic.

"Sorry, this is just," she sighed as she ran her fingers through her unwashed, tangled hair. "This is all a bit much for me right now. I think I need some time alone. I just have a lot on my mind and I'm struggling to stay focused."

He nodded his head and stood from his chair. "Well, if you feel that's what you need to do, then I'll leave." He turned his head to look out from the kitchen window. He watched Natasha and Maria laugh together from outside. He smiled softly to himself. "You know what sounds really good right now? A Charleston Chew."

"I don't understand."

He turned back to Allie and clasped his hands behind his back. "I know you haven't opened the box, yet."

"What box?"

"The one that Coulson gave you on your thirteenth birthday party," he answered.

She squinted her eyes at him, "How could you possibly know that?"

"If you did, you wouldn't spend your time at an empty grave."

After Fury left, Natasha stayed with Allie as SHIELD agents confiscated computers, files, and weapons that were owned by Alexander Pierce.

"You gonna be okay?" Natasha asked the young woman.

"I'll be fine," she didn't sound convincing.

"You know, you can join the Avengers," Natasha shrugged. "It'll be fun."

"I'm not sure if that's really my thing."

"Then, what's your 'thing'?"

She tried to think about the answer, but her mind was distracted. She couldn't stop thinking about her Soldier. Suddenly, she had a vision.

Natasha watched Allie's eyes roll to the back of her head. "Allie?" She gave the girl a strange look once she saw a pair of amber eyes stared back at her.

"Sorry, what?" She saw her Soldier, but there was no way she was going to tell Natasha that.

"Did you - Is that what it looks like when you have a vision?" she asked, concerned.

"Oh, that. Yeah, that's why I always close my eyes. Plus, it helps to stay focused.

"What did you see?"

"Oh - uh - Yeah, Rogers wakes up," she lied.

Natasha looked at her for a long time before she decided to believe the girl. "That's really good news," she gave Allie half a smile. "Just think about what I said. You would be a great asset to the team."

'Asset,' she thought to herself. 'Irony.'

There was something she needed to do. Her fate was not with the Avengers, at least not yet.

MARCH 4, 2014 2:27 PM

The Smithsonian was more crowded that usual. She wondered if it was because of the events that occurred in the past seventy-two hours. But, still, she searched the crowd as she leaned against a wall. It had been a day since she snuck off to find the one thing that made her feel... human. She spent the whole afternoon on the previous day, watching out for him. But, he never came. When the day grew dark, she decided to stay at a park nearby. She kept her face and hair covered to prevent anyone from recognizing her. Now, she spent the whole morning, waiting.

Just when she almost gave up, he walked up to the very spot she saw him in her vision. He stood a few feet away from her as he stared at a panel. As she advanced toward him, she realized what it what that caught his attention. She gaped at the memorial panel when she saw the pic of him on it. Underneath his picture, bold lettering read:

BUCKY BARNES

Just as he turned around, Allie stepped forward to get a closer look but collided with him. Before she stumbled backwards, he caught her elbow with his hand. When he caught eye contact with a familiar pair of amber eyes, memories flowed through his head. And for a moment, they both felt as though time had stopped and everything around them no longer existed.

AN: Okay, so there it is... My first fanfic (one-shot doesn't count) I have ever written and it's now completed. I have a sequel coming out soon, it'll be called Dawn Before Light. It will take place before and during Civil War. Please let me know what you think. I know I need to fix some grammatical errors, which will be fixed... I promise.. Thank you all for your reviews and follow/favorite this story. I really hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.