Rewritten 2018

Make You Feel My Love ~Book II~

Disclaimer: I do not own The Winter Soldier movie! All rights go to Marvel. All I own is my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 23~
The Return of Fury

Hill led the four heroes towards a van parked a few feet away from where they exited the sewers. They ignored the confused looks from passing-by civilians whom had seen them come out the sewer grate, though Maria couldn't help but smirk slightly when a small boy gasped and pointed towards Steve, recognizing him as Captain America. Although Steve didn't react, Maria could see the faintest hint of a smile in his eyes, knowing he enjoyed it as well. Children being given hope, someone to look up to, was the best part of being an Avenger.

Though if ever anyone would find out what Maria had done in her past… she feared children might no longer look at her at all with anything but disgust.

"Here we go," said Hill, opening the back of a black van. "We'll take you to our hide-out."

"We?" asked Maria, entering the van after her friends.

The moment she did though, she got the answer to her question as she gained a view of the front seat. Her lips curled up into a happy smile at the sight of her friend.

"Martin!" she exclaimed, pushing past her friends and up to where he was seated, a laptop in his lap and his glasses far down his nose.

He smiled at her before his smile was replaced by a surprised look as she wrapped her arms around him, causing Martin to drop his glasses and nearly his laptop. Maria smiled even though the man was tense throughout the entire hug. She had been worried about him and after their phone call. Now, though, she was only curious about where he had gone.

"You made it," she said as she let go of the man, Hill starting up the van and driving away.

"Yeah," he said simply, his eyes glancing over at the three other heroes sitting in the van, looking at Maria and Martin with interested eyes.

"How'd you get away from Hydra?" asked Steve.

Neither Natasha nor Steve really knew Martin. Of course, they had heard of him and seen him before, but since he had worked mostly with Maria, they didn't really know each other. Martin was still an outcast at SHIELD, a newbie, and so, not a lot of people knew about him. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he had managed to slip away as successfully as he had. That, and because he still had no office at any of SHIELD's bases, which meant Hydra had had no means of going after him quickly.

"After Maria warned me about the entire thing happening at SHIELD, I left and kind of jumped between motels for a day or two. Then, out of the blue, I get a strange call from none other than Maria. Uh- Hill. Before I know it, I end up with what remains of those loyal to Fury. Well, we do know that there are some more inside who are loyal to us. Like Agent 13, Phil Cou-"

"There's a secret base somewhere that still follows Fury? Even after his death?" asked Sam, interrupting the last ramblings of Martin who finally picked up his glasses and put them back on.

None of the Avengers took not of the last name Martin had almost said. Perhaps they would never find out the truth either.

"Yeah, of course," said Martin, frowning slightly. "Um… who are you?"

"Sam Wilson," replied Sam, stretching out his hand to Martin. "So, are you like, SHIELD's Q or something?"

Martin blinked a couple of times, a silence filling the van to which Sam cringed.

"What's Q?" asked Steve innocently to which Maria smiled.

"Q's James Bond's… co-worker," replied Maria before smiling over at Sam. "He is."

"Okay, very funny," said Martin quietly, earning a smirk from Maria. Quietly, he whispered; "I'm not a nerd…" to which Maria only continued to smile. The happy feeling in the van disappeared however as Martin noticed Natasha sitting at the far end of the van, looking hurt and pale; "Is she alright?"

All eyes were diverted to Natasha who noticed this and groaned, furrowing her brow. "I'm fine."

"She got shot," answered Steve. "By the Winter Soldier."

Martin widened his eyes, closing his laptop and placing it on Maria's lap instead. Quickly, he took out a small first aid kit before shuffling his way past the heroes to where Natasha was seated, crouching down next to her.

"You fought him?" asked Martin, looking back at Steve who nodded.

"Yeah, we did. He's Bucky," revealed Steve. Martin frowned shortly before focusing on Nat's wound, starting to work on how to stop as much of the bleeding as possible with what he had; Bandages, Band-Aids and tape. Yes. Duct Tape. The end results were rather funny, though nobody laughed.

"Well… whoever he is," Maria rolled her eyes at Sam still not believing Steve, "he's working for Hydra." Steve stared down at the floor of the van at Sam's words. Hesitantly, though, Sam continued to speak, "We can't really let him simply be."

"He's going to try and stop us," agreed Natasha. "You saw proof of that today."

Steve nodded, Maria's heart aching slightly at the thought that they were going to have to fight Bucky at some point. Knowing Steve, he'd want to do it himself and since he was, whether you believe it or not, a very sensitive man, he'd end up not wanting to hurt Bucky and try to talk him out of whatever trans he was in.

It might not end well…

Maria didn't want to lose Steve in any way.

"What did they do to him to make him turn into that?" asked Martin, double checking Natasha's shoulder before placing her own hand over it, silently telling her to keep putting pressure on the wound.

"No idea," replied Steve. "All I know is that it can't have been pretty."

The thought of this clearly haunted Steve tremendously. Maria could tell from the way he avoided looking at anyone as he spoke. So she shifted to sit next to him, offering the only support she could by remaining quiet and holding his hand in her own.

While he still avoided to look at her and anybody else, he did squeeze her hand gently, telling her he appreciated the gesture.

Throughout the remaining journey, Steve did not let go even once of her hand.

The doors of the back of the van were opened by Hill and all five of them exited. The four heroes were surprised to find themselves somewhere out in the woods. The van had stopped in front of, what looked like, an old hydroelectric power plant – a word Maria learned only once Sam had said so himself. However, it wasn't in use anymore. The place looked overgrown with nature and its doors looked rusty. Not to mention that it was rather silent for a place where people worked.

Steve and Sam helped Natasha out of the van before following Hill towards the entrance. Martin and Maria followed suit, shutting the van's doors behind them.

"So, this is where you've been hiding then?" asked Maria, her eyes taking in her surroundings as she walked next to Martin.

For some reason, the main thing she noticed were the birds chirping. Since, for the past couple of days, Maria had had no real time to actually relax - apart from when they stayed at Sam's house - the sound of birds caused her body to long for some relaxation. Only now did she notice how fatigued she actually was.

"Yup," said Martin, carrying his laptop underneath his right arm. "No one knows we're here."

Maria didn't reply. Instead she watched as the doors were opened for them by a soldier, Steve and Sam helping Natasha inside.

"I'm scared of what's going to happen," she said suddenly.

Martin stopped walking, causing Maria to stop as well. She didn't look at him as he barely even knew where those words had come from. It was just that, now that they could relax slightly, everything seemed to sink in. Artur was after her. The Winter Soldier was after her. And Hydra was after killing the majority of the population on Earth.

"I never signed up for something this big," she continued. "I was just a girl from Hell's Kitchen, stopping thieves from getting away. And now, I'm saving the world. For the second time."

"That's not what's bothering you though, is it?" asked Martin, using his index finger to lift his glasses up slightly as they had slid down his nose again. "I mean you signed up for the Avenger Initiative yourself. You knew you were going to have to save the world again – or at least, you knew the possibility was there."

Maria sighed. "It's just… They know something about me, Martin. And it scares me that they, of all people, know more about me than I do," said Maria quietly, noticing how Steve had turned towards them over by the entrance.

"Maria!?" he called. "Hill wants to show us something."

Maria nodded her head before starting to walk again. However, Martin placed a hand on her arm, hindering her from doing so.

"Whatever it is they know… We'll figure it out," said Martin. "I know we will."

Maria nodded before the two of them walked over to Steve who looked between them; "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, of course," replied Maria simply before walking past him into the building, not quite sure if she believed it.

Behind her, Martin and Steve shared a look. They quickly started to follow Hill down the power plant, the lights above their heads only dimly lightning up the hallway as they walked. However, it was light enough for them to notice a man in a suit running towards them.

"GSW," called Hill to the man, seeming to recognize him. "She's lost at least a pint."

Maria realized they were talking about Natasha and she quickly glanced over at her, seeing her pale face and tired eyes.

"Let me take her," said the man as he continued to run towards them.

"She'll want to see him first," replied Hill, the man, a physician no doubt, nodding his head.

Maria glanced between Hill and the unknown man before the four heroes and Martin started to follow Hill and the man down the corridor. They were talking silently and quickly about things Maria couldn't hear, though she didn't mind not knowing what they were talking about. Her own mind was only thinking about Hydra and what they possibly could have on her. Sure, she accidentally used to work for them, but surely that wasn't it?

Suddenly, she felt a burning sensation where her jeans pocket was and she remembered the purple bullet that was in there; those purple bullets that the Winter Soldier had fired at her. She contemplated whether or not they knew something about her abilities. Did they know where they came from and how they worked? In that case, how had they figured that out?

"In here," said Hill, loud enough for them to hear as they followed her and the man through a rusty door.

From having walked through a dirty old hallway, they now were in an equally as dirty and old looking hallway filled with technology and better light. Though, as Hill and the man once again entered a door, it wasn't the light that interested Maria anymore. Instead, it was the bed at the end of the room and the person who was lying in it.

"About damn time." Fury's voice came from said bed as he noticed the four heroes who had entered. "Doc, agent Romanoff looks like she needs you as bad as I did."

Maria parted her lips slightly in shock before she came to her senses and shook her head softly. She and Steve had seen him die. They had seen him get shot. They had watched as the doctors tried to save him… How was he alive?

Softly, the doctor who had approached them earlier helped Natasha over to a chair before he started to care for her wound, ripping the duct tape off and giving Martin a glare as he saw the bad attempt of a bandage. Natasha, however, barely even noticed the doctor ripping the duct tape off as her eyes were focused on Fury's weak form.

Nobody said anything. Everyone was in shock. Hill and Martin watched, amused, as Fury grew a little uncomfortable under the stares of said heroes. Well, Sam didn't quite know who Fury was, but was still staring as he was trying to figure out if he should know who his new friends were gawking at.

In order to fill the silence, Fury began to speak. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache," said Fury with a sigh.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung," reminded the doctor, causing Maria to glance at him and then back at Fury.

"Let's not forget about that," he said sarcastically before using a remote control to lift part of the bed up slightly so that he could sit more upright. Although it seemed to hurt him, he still did it, his eyes scanning every single hero before nodding his head ever so slightly. "But otherwise, I'm good."

"They cut you open and your heart stopped," said Natasha, saying the thing Maria knew everyone was thinking.

"Tetrodotoxin B," said Fury simply. "Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy?" asked Steve, his hands tucked into his pockets. "Why not just tell us?"

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful," replied Hill, causing Maria to look over at her, remembering how sad she had looked when Fury's heart had stopped. Truly, she was a good actor.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead," continued Fury. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."

"Sir, he's unstable," said the soldier who was standing guard outside of the chamber.

Both Rumlow and Artur followed Pierce as he ignored the soldier's words and simply entered.

"Mission report," said Pierce, stopping in front of the Winter Soldier. As he didn't reply immediately, Artur narrowed his eyes, looking into the soldier's eyes and seeing what Artur had seen that night a couple of months back.

Hydra had sent the Winter Soldier to Artur once to help in his search for Maria. They had found her together though she hadn't been alone. She had been with Steve Rogers and the Winter Soldier had started to act… different. Emotional even.

As Artur hadn't wanted to interfere Steve and Maria's business – besides, Steve wasn't his target and Artur knew he would have to be taken down if Captain America saw someone kill someone else – Artur had ordered one of his men to do the dirty work instead of either Artur or the WS. This had nearly caused the Winter Soldier to look relieved.

After said man had failed, they had ended him as he would've told someone about how they had used him which had been against their orders. The Winter Soldier hadn't always been cold. Artur had seen that their last night together. Because he actually looked scared for a minute. And neither seemed too keen on getting rid of either Maria or Steve.

The next time they had met, he hadn't even remembered Artur. They had erased his memory again, saying he had been unstable. That same look was in the Winter Soldier's eyes now as had been that night when he had seen Steve Rogers. A look of confusion topped with some sadness.

"Mission report, now!"

Pierce walked over to him, leaning forwards slightly and, seeing as his words had barely been heard by the Winter Soldier, he slapped him right in the face. Artur flinched though composed himself fast enough for no one to notice.

"The man on the bridge. Who was he?" asked the Winter Soldier, causing Artur to glance over at Rumlow and the rest of the soldiers guarding him, not seeing any real reaction from them.

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment," said Pierce simply.

"I knew him," said the Winter Soldier, his eyes suddenly looking over at Artur for confirmation. Perhaps he did remember him and their shared fear? This whole mind-trick thing Hydra was doing to the poor man was confusing. "I knew him?"

Artur discreetly nodded his head at the soldier's words, making the Winter Soldier widen his eyes slightly. Rumlow turned his head towards Artur who simply ignored him, trying his best to act as though he hadn't done anything.

The man deserved to know the truth, didn't he? Was it really too humane to let him have some kind of personality?

"Your work has been a gift to mankind," said Pierce, sitting down on a small chair in front of the Winter Soldier. "You shaped the century. And I need you to do it one more time. Society's at a tipping point between order and chaos. And tomorrow morning, we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine. And Hydra can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

"But… I knew him," pressed the Winter Soldier simply.

And that was when Artur realized that allowing the Winter Soldier to have any kind of personality or memories would cause him to have moral conflicts, emotions and… he would remember his old friend.

Albeit it was inhumane, Artur now understood why they kept Bucky's mind erased. In a way that was almost the most humane thing to do.

Pierce sighed before standing back up again and turning to the two scientists who had been standing in the room with them.

"Prep him," he said simply, causing the Winter Soldier's eyes to glance over at Artur again.

"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long," said one of the lab coated scientists.

"Then wipe him and start over," said Pierce through gritted teeth before he walked out of the room again, Artur and Rumlow following.

Before Artur exited the room, he looked back at the Winter Soldier one last time, not missing the scared look he had on his face as the scientists walked up to him. With a lump in his throat, Artur turned away and walked out of the room before the soldier's agonized screaming could start.