Chapter 15:
[Spartan POV]
[Quinjet.] It's a quiet ride. We're all still processing what Sitwell told us. HYDRA's end goal is to use an advanced prediction system to eliminate any potential threat to their bid for power, now or in the future. 'Clever.' "What's the play, Cap," I ask the leader of the AVENGERS. Just as he's about to answer, the radio abruptly comes to life with Coulson's voice calling for help. "Mayday! Mayday! This is 6-1-6; we're under attack! I say again, we're under attack by two unmanned drones! We need immediate support!" Cap grabs the radio receiver, "Coulson! We got your distress call! On the way, just hold on!" Rhodey checks the radar to pinpoint Coulson's location, "The SHIELD-BUS is five minutes northwest from where we are." The quinjet sharply turns its trajectory and jets forward.
As we get within range, the whole team spots two drones in hot pursuit of Coulson's craft. The SHIELD-BUS tries to shake them off, but the drones are locked on tight. Rhodey fires the main gun. The drones sharply maneuver out of the line of fire. 'Oh, fuck, they're smart drones.' Splitting up, one of the drones goes after us. Rhodey evades the oncoming shots. Being trapped inside an iron box suspended in the air is one of many reasons why I hate flying. The lack of control or means to defend yourself. The helplessness. It's enough to drive me crazy. Now behind us, the drone shoots a multi-seeker missile. Rhodey did everything within his power not to get hit. He pushes the quinjet to its absolute limit. Once the seeker is in range, it releases multiple smaller projectiles. "Break for impact!" Caps yells. I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the end. Nothing happens. Unsealing my eyes, I gaze around; we're all still alive. Cap, Natasha, Rhodey, and Karai all stare out the window, eyes wide in disbelief. The drones and missiles are frozen in place, wrapped in an aura of scarlet energy. They're vaporized before our eyes.
Another quinjet appears in the distance. "Are you guys alright?" a familiar voice blares over the radio. Natasha seizes the receiver, "Clint?! Clint, is that you?" "Yeah, Nat, it's me. Good to hear you're okay. Who else is with you?" "Rogers, Rhodey, the PARAGADES, and myself. You?" she states. "It's just Wanda and me." Suddenly Coulson cuts in, giving his thanks for the save.
[SHIELD-BUS]
[Mission-room.] The whole team rendezvous on the SHIELD-BUS. Cap finishes running Coulson and his team on everything that transpired. "NEO-HYDRA? This whole thing is their doing?" Coulson states disbelievingly. Cap nods. The man appears older than he should. He drags a hand down his face, tired. "Where were you guys heading to?" Natasha asks Coulson and his team. Coulson flashes his badge and points to a set of numbers, "Following these coordinates." "Coordinates to where?" Rhodey interjects. "The Canadian mountains," Skye answers. "I believe it's one of Fury's contingency plans," Coulson says, staring at the badge. "Are you absolutely sure? It could be a setup by NEO-HYDRA," Cap presses. The man stares into the super-soldier's eyes, "I serve with Fury nearly my entire military and SHIELD career. No one knows that man better than me. This is him. I know it." With a nod, Cap turns to the team, "Be ready for a fight. If this is a trap, I don't want us to get blindsided." Everyone gives the man an affirmative nod and heads off to get prime.
[Steve Rogers POV]
[Canadian mountains, Canada]
The BUS touches down on an open field. "The coordinates point to a 7-mile hike from here," Coulson says, "Terrain's pretty rough, even if it wasn't covered with snow." Spartan smacks a mag into his assault rifle, "Expect the unexpected." As we all exit the BUS, I signal the PARAGADES to run recon. Weapons at the aim, they dash off ahead, switching on their stealth-camo. Taking the lead, I move into the snow-covered woods, the team following behind me. We walk for nearly an hour. "This is it," Coulson calls out, "Stay alert." Everyone sweeps the area for threats. A secret passage opens on the mountain wall. Agent Hill stands on the other side, arms crossed over her chest, "You finally made it."
[SHIELD HQ, Canada]
We follow Hill into the base, where she leads us into a spacious mission-room. What we saw waiting for us filled me with a little bit of optimism. In the core of the room stands Nick Fury. Battered and bruised but definitely him. Everyone looks at the man, both shocked and confused. "How? We saw you die on the operating table?" I challenge. Fury smirks knowingly, "Tetrodotoxin-B. Slows the pulse to a beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so well with him, but we found a use for it." "Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" I ask. "Any attempt on Fury's life had to look successful," Hill interjects. "Can't kill you if you're already dead," Fury says with a nod, "Besides, I didn't know how deep the conspiracy went."
[Mission-room.] Fury holds a photo of Alexander Pierce, "This man declined a Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement; it's a responsibility. See, it's things like these are why I have trust issues," putting the photo down. Nat leans in, "We need to stop those Helicarriers from launching." "Easier said than done. Plus, Pierce already locked me out of the system. It's just us. Everyone in this room," Fury states. Hill jumps in the conversation, rotating the computer to face us, "Once the Helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate the insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized." Fury eyes Karai, "You think can cook up a virus that can destroy all traces of the Insight system?" Karai bows, indicating she can get it done. "One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work because if even one of those ships remains operational, a lot of innocent people will die," Hill says. Fury sighs, "We have to assume everyone on those Helicarriers are NEO-HYDRA. We upload the Virus and take down HYDRA along with Pierce." A trusted SHIELD agent runs into the mission room, "We got a serious problem. The HUB is under siege by mercs." Fury stares directly at me, "Cap, this is yours." "What's at the HUB?" I ask, curious. "Everything. Specs, weapons, and high-end tech. Things that can bring the world to ruins if it falls into the wrong hands," Fury tells me and the others. I gaze at the team. They stand ready. For a moment, I'm reminded of another unit from another life. "Gear up. We have a job to do," I say. "Yes, Sir," they all voice at once.
[Spartan POV]
[The HUB, USA]
The quinjet flies in hot toward the HUB facility. In range, the team jumps out of the exit. Everything is in complete disarray. Both SHIELD and NEO-HYDRA commandos are engaged in a heavy gunfight. By the carnage, SHIELD is losing. Peek out of cover, the HUD marks the enemy's leader, a man in a black-clad combat-suit with a metal arm. He fit Cap's description of the assassin who tried to kill Fury. 'Winter Soldier.' The mercs start to open fire on us. Wanda forms a protective barrier around us. Acting fast, I fire back, killing one of the mercs with a headshot. The assassin grabs hold of a grenade launcher, shoots off a charge. It blows the barrier. He fires another shot at us, but Cap dashes in front and takes the hit himself, sending him slamming into a nearby vehicle. "CAP!" I yell. Still firing, the HYDRA soldiers push forward. We return shots. The man with the metal arm starts to spam grenades.
One almost gets Nat, but she manages to avoid it. Popping off a blast with her Glock, Nat grazes the Winter Soldier, knocking off his goggles. Enraged, he takes out an M4 rifle and shoots. Nat dodges the oncoming fire, makes a break for it. The Winter Soldier goes off after her. Rhodey takes to the air, blasting shots at the approaching mercs. From out of nowhere, a goon nails shock bolas at Rhodey, bounding him. He drops, screaming out in pain as electricity fills his body. Sam rushes to his aid, trying to get the device off. Two mercs ascend on them, gun set at the ready. Clint gets the jump on the pricks and takes them down. Sam gets the bind off of Rhodey. "Thanks, Sam," the man tells him. "No problem," he says, glance around, "Seems these guys are packing high-end gear." "Worst. They're using weapons SHIELD use to take down rogue SUPERS," I say, peer around, "I hate to say it, but the HUB is a lost cause." "We need to get to the NERVE center and wipe the system," Skye says, laying low. I nod, "Karai, Wanda, go with her. We'll hold the fort." The three of them run into the building.
[Karai POV]
We prowl the main corridor. Skye taps my shoulder, holding up the hard drive, "Take it. I haven't been trained to hold up under torture yet." "Oh, fun times. You'll like it," I say sarcastically. She rolls her eyes. Getting close to the NERVE center, we hear footsteps coming our way. Skye, Wanda, and I duck into a nearby room. Leaving the door open just a crack, I could see a squad of mercs running through the hall. 'Shit.' Peer back to Skye and Wanda, "Stay here." "What are you going to do?" she asks, concerned. "I'm going to pave a path," I say. Skye places a hand on my shoulder, "There's like a hundred armed guys out there." "Seven actually," I correct, "It'll be fine. I got this." Through the crack of the door, I toss a smoke grenade. When it goes off, the whole hallway fills up with thick white smoke. Using the smoke as cover, I jump to action.
Stepping out of the room, I take out the first person I see with a double-tap. The goon behind him goes for his weapon. I close the distance fast, pin his gun to his chest, shoot him in the leg, force the man to double over, and then finish him off with a shot to the head's back. A HYDRA commando tries to get the drop on me through the smoke, but I quickly grab hold of him, use him as a human shield. I push the merc forward. Thinking it was me, four HYDRA goons open fire on him. I quickly gun down the four before they could react. I do a scan for threats; it's clear.
For now, at least. I make my way back to Skye. The girls jump back as I open the door. "See, told you I got this," I say. We rush toward the Nerve center. Skye jakes in the hard drive. The drive starts to wipe clean the data. "Damn it," Skye shouts. "What's wrong?" I ask. "HYDRA managed to extract some of the equipment housed here," she tells me. I sigh, "We can't do anything about that now. We can at least make sure HYDRA doesn't get everything." Skye nods understandingly.
[Steve Rogers POV]
Regaining consciousness, I start to get to my feet. Just then, the bus is being peppered with bullets. Using my shield as cover, I dash forward and out the rear window. They spot me. The commandos begin to focus fire, pinning me down. I couldn't move. It was only a matter of time before one of them flank me. Upon the bridge, the team covers my flank. I sprint forward to the heavy gunner, leaping into the air, smashing my shield's edge at his skull. Glance up at the four on the bridge. "Go! We got this!" Sam calls down to me. I run off to find Nat.
Down the path, I saw Nat running. She yells to the civilian workers to get out of the area. A shot booms through the air. Nat yelps, drops to her knees, blood flowing freely from her shoulder. The Winter Soldier springs on top of a car, getting a clear view of Nat. He readies the rifle. I speed to the assassin, gaining his attention. He turns and slams a punch with his metal arm. I manage to block the strike with my shield. The assassin knocks me back with a kick, sending me falling off the car. The man draws a machine gun pistol from his back, shoots. I dodge behind the car, holding my shield up to protect myself from the ricochets of bullets and flying glass. Just then, there's a click. A sound that indicates a weapon ran out of ammo. My opening presents itself. I leap from behind the car, kicking the pistol away. Acting fast, the Winter Soldier pulls out another gun. He gets off a few shots, but I block it. I jump, hitting him with a jump-punch. The blow causes him to drop the weapon. I try to finish the fight with a shield strike, but the Winter Soldier grabs the shield. We wrestle for control. He slips me and punches me in the chest, taking my shield. I sprint forward. The assassin throws the shield at me. I avoid the disk as it embedded itself in the back door of a van. Now a knife in hand, the Winter Soldiers come at me. We both trade powerful blows, all the while I avoid being slash by the blade. Getting the upper hand, I tag him with a solid right-hook-punch. He staggers. Jumping, I back-spin-kick the Winter Soldier in the chest, sending him flying toward a wall.
Dazed, the assassin forces himself to stand ready for another round. I jump-knee him back to the wall and hip-throw the masked assassin to the ground. The Winter soldier jumps back to his feet and grabs me by the neck, lifting me up, choke-slams me to the ground. The man tries to smash my head in his metal fist, but I roll out the way. Getting to my feet, I call back my shield with my gauntlet. 'Thank you, Tony.' Both of us go at it one last time. It's becoming more apparent to me that his man wasn't normal. He matches me in almost every category. Must be another SUPER-SOLDIER like me.
I throw a combination of strikes, getting the Winter Soldier off balance, take his back, grapple him, flip the man over my shoulder. The assassin's mask drops to the ground. The Winter Soldier lands into a roll, gets up, and turns to face me. I gape at his face. 'No. It couldn't be. It's not possible.' The soldier in me was yelling, screaming what I was seeing wasn't real. It's a fake! A cruel and horrible trick set up by HYDRA. 'They're trying to get into your head, old man!' Yet, my soul was telling me it was genuine. "Bucky?" I say, shocked. The name didn't seem to mean anything to the assassin. His cold, emotionless eyes stare straight at me, "Who the hell is Bucky?" he asks rhetorically. The Winter Soldier aims his pistol. I just stand there frozen. Sam flies to the rescue, kicking the assassin away. He recovers and tosses a smoke-grenade. When the smoke clears, the Winter Soldier is gone. The quinjet hovers over the ground. Someone is yelling; I don't know who. In the distance, I could see multiple armored vehicles moving on our location. One of the cars I recognized is Rumlow's. "Boss, we need to get the fuck out of here. Come on!" Spartan shouts, pulling me to the aircraft.
[Years earlier, Brooklyn, New York City]
Bucky and I are walking to my apartment after Ma's funeral. "The Service was nice," Bucky says. "Yeah, it was," I state in a low voice, still feeling the hurt of the loss. We stop at my apartment door. "Mom and I tried looking for ya after it was all over," he said, "But you were long gone." "Sorry. I wanted to be alone for a while," I tell him. He nods, "I understand. Also, I was going to tell you; you could always stay with us. Know we would never turn you away. It'll be just like when we were kids. All you gotta do is shine my shoes and take out the trash," jokes half-heartedly. "I know Buck. But I could get by on my own," I voice. I pat myself down, trying to find my key. Bucky kicks over a brick where a key lay under it; picking it up, he hands it over to me, "The thing is, you don't have to," places a hand on my shoulder, "I'm with you to the end of the line, pal."
[Present time, SHIELD HQ, Canada]
[Living-area.] I sit alone in the room, dwelling on the event that ensued. Worst of all… Bucky. The memory of his death runs on a content loop. He wasn't dead. My best friend and brother in every way, but blood is still alive. He looked directly into my eyes and didn't even recognize me, but he hesitated for a fraction of a moment during our fight. I'm sure of it. My brother was in that shell somewhere. I just need to break through. Fury walks in. "Did you know?" I ask with a sharp tone, almost accusingly. "No," he says, taking a seat next to me, "If I did, I would've told you." For the first time since I met the man, he sounded genuine. "How is it even possible for Sergeant Barnes to still be alive?" he asks, wanting an explanation. I express the only answer I could draw up at the moment, "Zola. Back during the war, Zola Captured Bucky along with his unit and experimented on him. The mad man was trying to create his own version of the SUPER-SOLDIER BIO-ENHANCER. They must've found him after the fall." A wave of guilt runs through me. "None of that was your fault, Steve," Nat says, standing by the door. I sigh, "Even when I had nothing. I had Bucky at my side." The whole fiasco was a hard pill to swallow. What's worst, we're going to meet each other again in combat as enemies, aiming to take the other out.
[Spartan POV]
[Armory.] "What happened out there?" Karai questions. "Bucky happened," I state simply. Karai tilts her head in confusion, "What?" I fill her in on everything she missed when she was off with Skye carrying out the mission's secondary objective. "Wow. So Bucky's alive," she says, looking to Cap, who was in the living area with Fury and Nat. "And working for HYDRA," I say dryly. "Shit. Poor Cap. I could only imagine what he's going through right now," She says, "Still. Do you think this is going to be a problem?" she asks, keeping her eyes on Cap. I sigh, "I don't know. No doubt Cap is going to try to save Bucky. And if he's forced to, he'll do what's necessary." "If he can't?" Karai inquires. "He'll make the right choice. No doubt," I say, confident.