Sorry it's taken me so long! I sort of wrote myself into a corner so I had to reimagine some things. I'm hoping I'll be able to finish the story by the end of February. Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed!

Bucky dropped to the floor, the blade sticking out of his chest. Jenny fell over him, tears streaming from her face. She took his face in her hands. "Bucky, Bucky, oh my god. Please, stay with me." He reached up toward her.

"Go…" he whispered.

"Go?" she asked, running her thumbs along his cheeks as her tears dropped onto his neck. "No, don't tell me to go, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to…"

"Go…" He put his hand on her cheek. "Go… kick his ass."

Jenny's eyes widened. She looked up at Max. All his teeth showed in his mouth with sadistic glee as he watched Bucky breathe heavily on the ground. Max reached into his jacket and took out another knife.

Jenny stared Max down.

"Huh. Well, that didn't last long," said Max. "Defective. I thought Pierce had worked out all the bugs with you."

"You bastard…"

"You've thought you had a choice this whole time. But you're just like him."

She felt the truth of his words. He was right. She'd never had a choice. Her whole future was laid out for her, and Bucky was the only thing she'd chosen for herself. And he seemed so out of reach now. The well of lava inside heated her core.

"Kill Steve Rogers," he said. "Do it, and I'll save the freak's life." He held out the knife to her. Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. He pointed it at Bucky.

Jenny gritted her teeth so hard her jaw locked.

"Kill him Jennifer," said Max. "Or your fellow freak dies."

She squeezed Bucky's metal shoulder and looked over at Steve. He wheezed as they locked gazes. His eyes held hers steady, and she perceived the smallest nod.

She walked slowly over to Max. She reached for the knife. He smiled.

"Good girl," he said. "Once you give in, you'll be one of them."

She hesitated for a moment. She recognized it now. A sizzle in her blood. The serum, always there, always under the surface. A latent power. Like she could reach in and harness it. Push her molecules together to work in sync. Become stronger. Become faster.

Become what she'd hated.

She looked down at Bucky, prostrate on the ground, struggling for breath. She'd done that to him. And she'd almost killed Steve. If she gave in, she'd be a mindless super soldier. Just a weapon. But she had to for his sake.

Is this what it felt like to be an Avenger? To let go completely of who you were, lean into your power and sacrifice everything? She'd lose everyone. But she knew what she had to do now.

"I love you," she mouthed in his direction.

She pushed down Max's arm that held the gun. It shot into the floorboards next to Bucky's head. A growl rumbled in her throat. She pulled her atoms together and pushed harder.

Max used his height against her and twisted. He pointed the gun at her and she ducked as he fired again. The bullet grazed her arm. She cried out at the burn as the acrid smell of gun powder filled the air. Just like her ear, it took her breath away. She tossed her hair out of her face and clenched her fists. He would pay for that. Dearly. The serum pumped harder through her veins.

Swiveling, she grabbed Max's arm and twisted it under hers to hold it straight. He groaned and thrashed wildly. She reached for the gun in his hand, as he struggled to keep it from her.

Finally, she was able to grab the barrel. She pulled at it. Max held fast, his grip on the hilt. Straining, he grunted as he slowly pushed his wrist toward Bucky. The gun barrel was coming dangerously close in line with his head. She strained with everything she had, but he had the leverage.

Bucky rolled his head toward her with a groan, as he struggled to get up. Primal power pulled up from inside her core. Her heart.

She let go for only a moment, then threw her elbow back into Max's stomach. He grunted and let go just enough. She knocked the gun out of his hand. He fell to the floor reaching for it. She kicked it away.

Max rolled onto his back and kicked her in the stomach. She doubled over, and Max leapt off the ground. He pulled out another knife. He smiled at her. "This is where you lose freak." He marched toward Bucky's prostrate form.

This was it. She let go completely. The super soldier inside was all she was anymore.

"No!" yelled Jenny. She threw herself at Max. He knocked to the floor. She wrenched the knife from him. Throwing it across the room, it stuck in the wall with a wobble of the hilt. She took his head and bashed it into the floorboards. Over and over as she screamed, a primal cry coming up all the way from her toes. Finally, the light went out of his eyes.

She let go and slumped to the floor. It was done. In her blood, the serum hummed. She was someone new now.

A killer.

She wanted to cry. To scream, but all she felt was numb. Empty. A strangled croak from both Bucky and Steve's bed met her ears. She looked up. In the bed, Steve was still. Bucky groaned, rolling to his side. She struggled to get up, pushing against the floor. Her body moved as if through Jell-O. Her muscles had gone cold. But she had to make it.

As she locked up on the ground, the front door to the house exploded. The French doors to the parlor broke apart, the red and blue glass shattering across the floor. Sam burst into the room, followed by several FBI agents in black with guns. She watched as he ran to Bucky on the floor.

She tried to call out to him. Before she could make a sound, agents grabbed Jenny's arms painfully, and she was wrenched from the floor. She winced as they pulled her arms behind her back. She let them though. It was what she deserved. As they slapped one cuff on her wrist, she saw the paramedics push Sam away from Bucky. He turned, his face filled with confusion.

Then he locked eyes with Jenny.

"Hey!" he cried. He shoved the agents from Jenny and took her hand out of the cuffs. "Not her," he said. He put his arm around her waist as she slumped against him. The pain in her arm began burn like fire. "You ok?" he asked Jenny.

Jenny just looked at him. She couldn't nod or speak.

"What happened? Talk to me," he said, nodding at Max.

"I… I tried, he…"

Sam started to turn her.

"No, Sam, wait…" She'd failed to protect Bucky and Steve in every conceivable way. The promise she'd made to Bucky. To never let Sam know.

Sam's eyes landed on the bed in the corner of the room. There was a whoosh of breath. His mouth fell open.

"Steve…" he said. "No…"