The ride back was amazing. You haven't lived until you've ridden a motorcycle behind Captain America. He steered like a dream and even when he was going way above the speed limit I wasn't afraid of falling off. He dropped me off at my apartment building. I waved to him as he drove away.
The lobby of my building wasn't very full, only the doorman and his dogs were there. I smiled at him as I pressed the elevator button. He glanced up at me from his book and smiled. I hate my job. Was hovering over his head. I snickered a bit as I rode the elevator up to my floor then stepped off. My apartment was all the way down the hall from the elevator so I walked there quickly and unlocked my door. I ducked inside, closed the door and looked around my apartment. My apartment seemed to be in proper order when I walked into the kitchen. I looked around then went and laid down on the couch with a sigh. I held my hand up and flexed my fingers. I held such power now, it felt different from before, like I could actually have an impact on the world. Maybe even save it… I waved my hand in the air, looking for nearby thoughts. None that I could sense, other than other people who lived in the apartments and, wait, that's odd. I focused in on this strange blip. I could sense thoughts, very close thoughts. But it was weird, they seemed like they were coming from a, very literal, one track mind. The mind was having the same thought over and over.
"Complete the mission, find her, bring her. Complete the mission, find her, bring her. Complete the mission, find her, bring her. Complete the mission, find her, bring her…" over and over and over again.
The rhythm of the words pounded in my mind, each repetition got louder and louder. I clutched my head and used all of my mental strength to block the voice out. It finally faded to a murmur. I collapsed back on my couch.
"What the hell?" I whispered.
I grabbed my opposite elbows across my chest. What is going on? That voice, is it coming for me? It seems like it's so close. It's getting louder, does that mean it's getting closer? I stood up and grabbed my gun, which was lying on the tiny circular coffee table I had next to the couch. Then I pulled out my phone and dialed Tony Stark's number. The phone rang a couple of times before he picked up.
"Hey this is Tony."
"Tony, it's Cressida. You know where my apartment is?"
"Yes, why?"
"Someone is coming for me. I don't know who but they're coming fast. I need help. Can you get someone, anyone, down here to help me?"
"No problem."
I heard a loud banging on the front door.
"They're here Tony, I have to go."
He started to say something but I cut him off when I hung up.
The banging got louder and I positioned myself so I could see the front door.
That was when a metal hand broke my door open.
It burst through the door and as it went back out it ripped an even bigger hole in the door. I saw a face with a mask over its mouth and goggles over its eyes. We both paused for a second before he resumed beating the door. I saw a flash of shiny red near his shoulder.
"Who are you?" I yelled.
He stepped through the hole he had made. I could hear his thoughts again. The same ones.
Complete the mission, find her, bring her. Getting louder and louder. I tried to block it out as I backed up as he came slowly towards me. I tried to pull up his mind as I backed into my living room. I felt like prey, as if any sudden movements would set him in on me, like a lion. None of my powers would work on him. It seemed that having the one track mind made it impossible for me to manipulate. Maybe it was something else. I felt my back hit the living room window. The fire escape! I slid my hand up to the latch and pushed it open. I leaned up against the frame, tensing my muscles and getting ready to bolt. The man held stock still, watching me for any movement. The thoughts continued, beating, almost like a heartbeat. Getting louder, and louder and louder. I slowly put more weight on the window. He watched me, his black hair hanging over his face.
I slowly raised my gun with my finger on the trigger.
I squeezed the trigger and
I fired.
Quickly, I flung the window open and jumped through. I closed it and started descending the fire escape. I looked up to see the man jump through the window. Glass rained down on me and I quickly looked down to avoid losing my eyes. I felt the shards on the leather of the jacket I had borrowed from Steve. The shards fell past me and I shook the rest off my back as I kept going down. I looked up, the man stood looking straight down at me. His brown eyes were piercing but dull, like he wasn't all there, his goggles must've fallen off. Maybe I hit them with the bullet. Foot after foot, I kept going down the ladder. I heard a solid thump, thump, thump much faster than me. He was going to catch me. I jumped off the ladder at the next platform. Then I jumped through one of the windows. I heard someone scream and a woman was standing in the doorway leading to another room.
"Sorry!" I yelled. "You may want to hide." I ran through the front door and down the hallway. My feet had trouble getting good traction on the carpet so, once I burst into the stairway I ran as fast as I possibly could. My feet slammed on the cold stairs as I charged down. I heard the stair door above me slam and pounding steps coming down. I moved my legs faster, which was a mistake. The next stair I hit, I tripped over my own foot. Falling forwards, I managed to twist so I hit the wall with my shoulder instead of my hand. Pain spread through my shoulder. I bit my lip and stood up. I took my gun out from my belt. He would chase me everywhere, I needed to stop him. I hid right around the turn in the stairs, holding my gun at the ready. His steps stormed down the stairs, echoing loudly. I saw a flash of movement and held my gun up. He smacked his forehead against the barrel of my gun. He stumbled back a couple of steps.
"Hands up!" I shouted.
He glared at me, his brown eyes glinting with ferocity. He slowly raised his hands. Then he ducked and kicked out with his whole leg. I fell back and I saw a flash of metal in his hand. I smacked my head on the floor and my vision went white, then dark for a few seconds. Once it cleared I could see the soldier holding a knife to my throat with his strange metal arms. I swallowed and dropped my gun. He grabbed me roughly by the shirt collar and picked me up. He lifted me and slung me over his shoulder. My hands weren't bound so I did the first thing I thought of. I grabbed the strap on the back of his mask and yanked it backwards. It came undone and the mask fell off. He grabbed me by the calves and swung me forward. I felt a tug on my collar just before my head hit the ground. I opened my eyes and looked up at his face. A strong jawline and a short black beard coated his chin, making it look like he hadn't shaved for a couple days. His face looked familiar, very familiar. I had seen him somewhere before.
"Don't make me knock you out." He growled. "Because I will."
I stared at him for another few seconds.
"Bucky!" I gasped. "You're James Buchanon Barnes. The one who fell from the train. They never found your body. I recognize your face, Steve had your obituary on his wall."
I felt a flicker of something different in his mind before it went back to the dreadful chant.
Complete the mission, find her, bring her. Complete the mission, find her, bring her. Complete the mission, find her, bring her. They must be orders echoing, this wouldn't happen naturally no human could be so focused on one thing. He grabbed my neck with his metal arm.
"Stop talking." He said blankly.
"Why are you doing this?" I could see an undercurrent of thought below the orders. "You know Steve."
"Shut up!" He yelled, squeezing my throat harder.
The orders were getting more intense, he wasn't going to be able to hold up for much longer. I saw a shiny red star on the shoulder of his metal arm.
"Remember, Bucky." I whispered.
"STOP IT." He shouted and let go of me, using both of his hands to cover his ears. I saw a bright light when my head hit the ground. The last thing I heard was a resounding crack before the world went dark.