The team would be leaving very soon with the intention of finally putting an end to HYDRA. Seren used the chaos of preparations to maneuver her way through the base. Nobody batted an eye on her. Before she knew it, she was right where she planned to be.
One of the guards saw her approaching the doors and moved in front of her. "You can't go in there—"
Seren never used her powers to intimidate people for her personal gain, but this was a special case. "I need to talk to him." As soon as she showcased her powers through her fingers, the guard stepped down and she was granted access into the room. Truthfully, she took a few breaths before being able to step inside. As brave as she wanted to portray herself to be, there was a subtle slowness in her pace when she took steps forward.
"Aah, you. I was wondering when you'd come to visit." Arnim Zola straightened up in his chair as Seren approached the table. His wrists were still cuffed. "I imagine your entire team must be on the race to stop Schmidt."
Seren swallowed very hard and pressed her hands on the top of the chair she was supposed to sit in. She noted the way he looked at her from head to toe. "Stop it," she ordered. She despised the smirk on his face. "If I could, I'd—" The harsh sound of metal cramming together cut her off and Seren pulled her hands off the top of the chair to see it ruined.
Zola let out a low hum as he examined the damage on the chair. "Your strength seems stronger than I remember…"
"That's what happens" — Seren couldn't help it; she slammed her hands down on the table, leaving a dent — "when you stop drugging me and cutting me open over and over!"
"Perhaps an oversight on my part…but thanks to you, we discovered so much. You helped fuel HYDRA. Had you been on our side willingly, you would have made a perfect soldier."
"Your 'perfect soldiers' end up dead," spat Seren. "We've killed so many of them and I can't wait for all this to be over because you are going to be under my jurisdiction and let me tell you that I come from a ruthless matriarchy. My grandmother taught me well and while we don't always see eye to eye, we'll both agree on the perfect way to punish you."
"Vengeful," Zola remarked, "You didn't give that kind of energy—"
"When I was lying half conscious on an examining table? Hm," Seren crossed her arms, "I might have been a little bit exhausted then. You did use me as your 'fuel' 8 out of 10 times when you were experimenting on humans. Seven of those were on Sergeant Barnes, by the way."
"It's true that I had my favorites," Zola said. "I knew that you and Barnes would have been my best creations had I had more time."
"More time?" Seren said incredulously. "YOU HAD ME FOR A WHOLE YEAR! YOU WANTED MORE!?"
"Science takes its time, Seren—"
"YOU DO NOT USE MY NAME!" Seren shoved the chair out of her way and reached for Zola over the table.
Not a second later did the guards burst into the room to pull her back.
"Let me go!" Seren exclaimed, trying to take Zola's handcuffed wrists with her even if it meant ripping them off him. "I SAID LET GO!"
It took three of the guards to drag her out of the room and even then, she almost managed to get back inside.
"What is going on here!?" Phillips came storming down the hallway to see the guards still fighting to hold Seren down.
"She tried to—"
"LET GO!" Seren yelled and, just like before, the moment her hands started glowing, the guards let her go.
"What is the meaning of this?" Phillips demanded to know again just as Seren tried getting through the guards. "Seren—"
Seren whirled around, filled with ire and glowing hands. "WHAT?"
Phillips was startled with her but quickly overcame it and demanded her to calm down. "You shouldn't be here. Everyone else is getting ready to leave."
"I had to see him," Seren walked up to him. "I had to tell him what was going to happen once I had him."
"Excuse me?" Phillips raised an eyebrow at him. "Once you have him? That's not…that's not happening."
"In your words, excuse me?" Seren returned the favor with the same raised brow.
"It's not in stone yet but the SSR has plans for Zola—"
"What—?"
"—therefore, nobody touches him."
If there was ire in Seren's eyes before, now it was more like pure fire blazing in them. "You want to — do you know what he did? Do you know what he did to me? To Sergeant Barnes? To half of your army!? Are you insane!?"
"It's not ideal but we're not in an ideal world, Seren. This is what the higher ups want and we must fulfill the orders."
Seren smiled sourly. "Unfortunately, I don't officially work for the SSR, do I? You don't even have my full name, right?" Her smile dropped and suddenly, Phillips was facing a very different woman from the one he'd known so far. "You met me at my lowest, but I am not there anymore. There's a reason that HYDRA kept me for so long, and I wouldn't want to unleash that on the side that I have grown very fond of."
"I don't appreciate threats," Phillips said, frowning. "You don't work for us, fine. You can leave the headquarters and go about your way. But that means you can kiss any kind of communication assistance with your mother goodbye."
"Don't threaten me with something out of your power, commander. Howard Stark can do whatever he likes after hours and I'm sure he'd be more than helpful. Like it or not, I will be taking Zola into Celessian custody because I guarantee you that once my mother and my grandmother find out what happened, they aren't going to let you use him for your 'plans'," Seren smiled tightly. "And if you think I'm bad, wait till you meet them."
"Seren, wait—" Phillips watched her take off in a storm. "Seren!"
~ 0 ~
It didn't take long for Steve to get word of what happened with Seren and Zola. When he first heard about it, he was readying their team up for their entrance strategy. He wished he could have left the moment Peggy spoke to him, but it wasn't until an hour later that he managed to get out. Curiously enough, he found Seren in one of the bunkers. She was lying flat on her back on a lumpy bed when he walked in, eerily calm. He had heard she'd been quite the struggle to "put down", a description he wasn't very fond of.
"Hey…" He took small steps towards her.
Seren still felt like she was being consumed by her anger and the last person she wanted to take it out on was Steve. She swallowed, pushing down the swirl of emotions. "How did you not murder Phillips when he was so disrespectful to you in the early days?"
Steve mused on the answer. "I don't know, guess I was never one for throwing hands when I didn't have to."
Seren propped herself up on her elbows and deadpanned him. "You're joking right? You really think Bucky didn't tell me stories about you in New York?"
Steve rolled his eyes. "That punk."
Seren cracked a smile at him. "Just so we're clear, if I had my way, I would've been happy to throw a couple punches at Zola and Phillips." The look on Steve's face implied that he'd felt the same at some point. With a sigh, she fell flat on her back again and looked up at the shabby ceiling. "I'm not sorry for what I did. I'm only sorry that you felt responsible for me that you had to come and talk to me. And I'm sorry that...that I looked more like an alien than a human back there."
"What?" Steve looked at her with wide eyes. "I didn't think — I would never think that."
Seren's smile spread across her face. "That sounds like you."
Steve came over and sat down on the foot of the bed. Seren shifted her body closer to the wall to make more room for him. Nobody said a word for a while, ironically leaving a heavy feeling in the air. Eventually, the nagging question made it out of Steve's lips.
"Seren…why?"
"Why do you want to get Schmidt?" Seren countered perfectly with.
Steve sighed. "Seren—"
Seren sat upright as she let her own sigh out. "It all stems from the same place, Steve. I needed to see Zola. For once, I needed to be on the other side. I needed to be in control. I needed to tell him what was going to happen to him."
Steve had heard a few things from Peggy who had gotten her information from Phillips. To say that he was surprised that Seren was out for blood would be a flatout lie. He was out for blood too. To argue that they were better than this would be entirely hypocritical.
"The SSR wants to keep him, Steve," Seren said, bringing her legs on the side of the bed to sit next to him. "He's not going to be a prisoner. He's not going to pay for what he did to me, to Bucky, to everyone else. Does that sound fair to you?"
Not in the slightest, Steve thought. He had no idea what the SSR had in mind for Zola. He never thought to ask. He just assumed that Zola would be punished.
"I want to take Zola," Seren said sternly. "If the SSR won't make him pay for what he did to the humans, then he can answer for my pain with Celessian jurisdiction."
"You want to…you want to take him to your home planet?" Steve met her gaze. "But that means…you'd leave too?"
Seren swayed her head. "It's not like that, Steve. I meant every word I said to you before. I want to be with you, I want to see New York with you…but I also need to do this for me. When my mother finds out what happened, she's not going to want to take Zola for trial. She's going for blood. My grandmother already dislikes humans. I don't even want to know what she would do to Zola if she got the chance. I want justice and I'm trying to follow the best ethical path here."
Steve reached for her hand and held it between them on the bed. "You don't have to explain things to me, Seren. I just want you to be okay. If you need to leave for a while, I won't stop you."
"I don't intend on leaving you behind," Seren reiterated, squeezing his hand. "Couldn't do it even if I tried."
As selfish as it might be, Steve felt a wave of relief wash over him. He couldn't let go of Seren. "Good...Just know that I have a lot of things I want to show you after this."
Seren rested her head on his shoulder. "Yeah? Like what?"
"New York is big. We'd start with Brooklyn, of course."
"Ah, gonna show me where you grew up?"
"Yeah. I figured I'd go talk to Bucky's family anyways. He has a little sister, you know? Don't want her to feel like she's going to be all alone now."
Seren felt herself smile again as she grew even fonder of Steve. "That's so sweet of you. You think I could meet her? I, um, I spent a lot of time with Bucky when we were with HYDRA. I don't know, I...maybe I could help comfort her?"
"Of course," Steve nodded, dropping a kiss on her hair. "And then, we could go get some cinnamon rolls." Seren chuckled. "There's this place Bucky and I always went for sweets. I think you'd like it."
"Well, that does sound very tempting, Mr. Rogers," Seren said, smiling from ear to ear. These little things are what stopped the darkness from completely consuming her.
They stood up together, hands still interlocked. Seren felt Steve's gaze was lingering on her for a reason.
"What…?" She ultimately asked, figuring he was reluctant to say it out loud out of fear.
"Please don't go looking for him again," Steve said. "Trust me, I'd like nothing more than to rip that man to shreds but the idea of you and him in the same room together makes me sick."
"Trust me, I wasn't fond of it either," Seren admitted. "I just had to do it, I'm sorry."
"It's alright, you don't have to apologize."
Seren leaned up on her toes and kissed him for a short moment. "I'm so lucky to have you," she whispered inches from his lips.
Steve nuzzled his nose beside hers, taking the moment to relish in her presence. "Me too."
They had just kissed again when the door opened.
It was Howard on the other side, looking apologetic but for some reason excited. "Oh, I, uh…Seren! Great news!"
"What, Phillips isn't demanding my formal resignation?" Seren said with a snort.
"Whaddya mean, you're like me," Howard grinned. "We're untouchable because of our amazing qualities."
"He's got that right," Steve said, turning to see Howard's smirk. "I was talking about Seren."
Howard rolled his eyes. "Anyways — Seren, you gotta come! It's important!"
Seren wondered what the hell could be a reason to be so happy about given what they were preparing to do.
"It's the transmitter!" Howard said before taking off.
Seren's eyes widened when she looked up at Steve. Curious, they went after Howard and followed him into the lab.
It was there that Howard showed them the transmitter that, according to him, had not stopped beeping for the past 10 minutes. Howard told them he believed that there was an incoming transmission but had not played it until Seren showed up. Now that they were together, he let the transmission play. As soon as it started, a female voice came through. While it played, both Howard and Steve looked at each other with the same bemused expressions. The woman spoke in a language that neither of them knew, although Steve did recognize it as Seren's mother tongue — Celessian.
Seren's expression was entirely different, of course. Her entire face had lit up like the sun. Her face was as close to the transmitter as possible, cheek nearly pressed up against it as if the volume was too low. She replayed the transmision twice before letting out a loud shriek of laughter.
"That's my mom! That was my—" she straightened and spun around to Steve and Howard, grinning from ear to ear. "My mom heard it! My mom heard our — she knows I'm alive! She's coming — she's coming to get me!" She bounced like a child until she met Steve in an excited hug. "That was my mom! It was her voice! It was my — that's my mom!" Tears filled her eyes as the emotions started swirling inside her.
Steve felt her bone crushing grip around him and kissed her hair. He was so happy for her and wanted nothing more than to help her reach her mother.
Seren soon pulled away from Steve and went to thank Howard with a hug and kiss on the cheek. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks at the thought of seeing her mother again.
"She said she's coming," Seren said, looking between Steve and Howard. "She's — she's going to come here! She's following the transmitter's location."
"I-I can't believe it honestly worked!" Howard said.
Seren laughed. "It did because you're a genius! She heard my voice and she's coming here, for me!"
"How long will it take for her to get here?" asked Steve.
"Time works differently, remember?" Seren said. "So does travel. She could get here in 5 minutes, or tonight, or next week. But it doesn't matter how long it takes because…she's coming." Her smile started to spread again. "She knows that I'm alive. My mom is coming for me." She walked over to Steve who already had his arms opened for her. He wrapped his arms around her and let her excitedly babble on.
The air of joy lasted until it was really time to get ready again. It brought the reality which was that most of them needed to head out.
"Seren, if you want to stay here in case she shows up…" Steve started to say when they were about to leave. They had piled on their equipment out on the road and nearly everyone was already in their modes of transport which varied between cars and motorcycles.
Seren was the only one who would fly, of course, which was why she was the last one out. As soon as she heard what Steve was saying, she shook her head. "No, I…I told you I was coming. What Schmidt helped do to this world, to Bucky, I'm not forgetting. Besides, my Mom will understand why I'm doing this."
"And she's going to be happy knowing that we got you out of experiments only for you to head into a war that's not yours?"
Seren hummed with a sway of her head. "I'm sure she'll understand once we explain everything. Besides, I think she's going to be over the moon about the people I've met here. Peggy, Howard…you."
"Me…" Steve suddenly felt more nervous about meeting this woman than he had about the entire war. He gulped and smiled down at her.
Seren giggled at his reaction. "My mom is going to love you," she cupped his face and kissed his lips. "You're Captain America, for God's sake."
"Pretty sure up there," Steve looked up at the sky, "that means nothing."
Seren laughed. "Still, she'll adore you almost as much as I do. Now c'mon." She dragged him towards the others to go out together.
~0~
The ride through the forest was planned down to the last dot. Sure they may have accidentally tapped one of the warning wires on the ground but it really only sped up the process. Steve led from the ground on motorcycle and Seren was farther up ahead in the air, warning the others what was coming. She was glad to see Steve literally set fire in his trail with HYDRA agents. Another HYDRA agent pulled up alongside Steve, ready to attack with a grenade. Steve had just plucked the grenade out from the man's arm when a ball of fire collided against the man, taking him and his ride out. Steve knew that was no fire ball — stars were very pretty and menacing. He then chucked the grenade behind him, making sure to finish the job altogether.
Seren stopped near a crowd of trees that just overlooked the HYDRA compound. This was the only part she hated about their plan but she focused on the outcome of it. Steve was "captured" by the HYDRA agents after being overwhelmed on ground and was soon taken inside the compound. Seren watched it all happen and waited just like they planned. Then, she quietly slipped from the trees and flew over the compound's wire-barred gates.
A few agents on top of the roof spotted her and began to fire in her direction. She threw spheres of star matter down at them, enveloping their weapons in a raging fire. She then landed on her feet and collided her fist against an agent's face. She heard the distinct noises of ziplines just around the corner and hurried to finish. She rushed down the open corridor, shoving agents into and through the wall. She ducked just as another agent fired on her — she recognized the tesseract-infused weapon and, angrily, fired star bolts with both hands at the man. Once he was down, she went through the hole in the wall and found herself in the highest floor of the compound.
Shit. Seren looked over the rail and saw a bit too much of HYDRA for her taste. Flashes of her time in the med rooms filled her vision for a moment, the collective laughs of agents, the prodding, the cutting…
Seren felt her heart pound under her chest. She'd notice that her nightmares had started seeping into her day life, especially when she was in close proximity to HYDRA bases. Her breath shortened and no matter how hard she breathed, it didn't feel like it was enough. She had no idea what it was. Get it together! This can't happen right now! She couldn't afford to go through one of her episodes right now, not when they were so close.
For some reason, her mind went to Bucky; the one who wasn't with them anymore. They'd gone through very similar procedures and they managed to kill him. You're so close now…get them. Seren wished she could have talked more to Bucky about these times because as much as Steve offered to be with her, HYDRA had not messed with him the way they had with her and Bucky.
You're still here. Make sure that they never do the same to another person again. Seren balled her fists. This one's for Bucky.
She jumped over the rail and as she landed on her feet, the agents nearby turned on her. Bullets and fire came from every direction around her. She put her hands together, creating a shield of star matter impenetrable to the incoming fire. Seren waited for the right moment and then disbanded her shield, sending waves of star energy around her, knocking the agents in her wake. She stormed off further inside the compound, hearing screams and more bullets the closer she got to the end of a corridor. She also heard the entrance of the compound come down as hundreds of their army came crashing into the building. The Allies were in.
She continued down the hallway, striding the more terrified HYDRA agents she heard in the background. There was something so inexplicably satisfying hearing the enemy nearly cry as they crumbled to their feet. It made her breathing easier. She followed the trail of undisturbed HYDRA agents and forced them down to their knees. The only moment she stopped was when she stumbled into a room that resembled another med-room. Her eyes scoured over the familiar tools and her mind immediately thought of the implications. Med-rooms, tools, med-bed…their experiments were not done, not by a long shot.
And just like that, she felt her air cut again. Her eyes continued to take in the details of the room and suddenly, she wasn't there anymore. She was back on the examining table, strapped, screaming for help.
She opened her eyes and she was back in the desolate room. She swallowed hard, feeling a sheet of sweat with a horrid heat accompanying it. She raised her arms, noticing her trembles, and opened fire on the room. She screamed at the top of her lungs as she burned everything inside.
She stumbled out of the room, hand gripping the door ledge on her way out. She panted for air, feeling monumentally exhausted. She blinked fast, hard, to rid herself of the memories. She could hear herself screaming again, and then Bucky's. They were both in the same room for a procedure...
Nearby bullets pulled Seren out of her memory. She used the wall to support herself and made it out of the room. She had to calm herself down before she got hurt. Little by little, she gathered more strength (even if it was by force) and picked up her pace down the corridor. She spotted another HYDRA agent down the hallway at an intersection with what she recognized as not one but two more tesseract-infused guns. She hurled a series of star bolts at the agent, throwing him and his weapons down the other end of the corridor.
To her surprise, Steve stepped out from the other corridor, looking just as surprised as she was to see her. "Hey, you…" He immediately saw the fatigue in her eyes and the slow in her pace. "Seren?" He made a rush towards her but she waved him off just as they met halfway. "What's — are you alright? Are you hurt?" Before Seren could tell him she was fine, Steve verified for himself if there were any visible injuries on her.
"Steve, it's okay, I'm good…" She let out a breath, "I...I'm good." No, she was not. She was far from it but she couldn't turn her back now.
Steve nodded with her. "Schmidt went through the doors, I'll—" But Seren already knew what he was going to say.
She grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him down into a kiss. They would have liked to stay there for longer than they actually did but the sounds of nearing bullets forced them to break apart.
Steve took one of Seren's hands from his face and gave it a gentle kiss. "Please be careful," he looked down at her with nothing but love. Seren felt it and smiled. "And I'll see you soon."
"You be careful too."
Steve let go of her hand and she had to let him go too. She watched him backtrack until he turned and broke into a run to follow after Schmidt. Taking in a breath, she continued on her way down the corridor in search of more med-rooms. She couldn't risk there being another room with another victim.
She was rocked on her feet after what she presumed was a bazooka had gone off. Who let Dum Dum near another bazooka? She could only wonder how gleeful the man was right now.
She encountered another med-room at the other end of the corridor and this one seemed only recently used, with some blood still dripping from a slicer. Gritting her teeth together, she looked around for any little HYDRA agent hiding around in the room. She wasn't naive; the victim was no longer with them. So, just like the first room, she burned it to ashes. She wasn't sure if this was healing her or making it worse…but it didn't matter. She was doing it for reasons and people, and there was nothing that was going to make her stop.
She only stopped when her feet stumbled and it wasn't of her own doing, nor a bazooka. The rumbling that the base gave didn't seem to be of any weapon, but Sereon soon recognized the sound the stronger it got. A plane.
She hurried back into the corridor, and saw a mixture of allies and HYDRA agents at a crossfire, both sides stumbling with the great roar of the plane. Schmidt had to be trying to make his escape with the bombs.
"Seren!" She heard her name and whirled around to see Dum Dum himself calling her over. "We found the monitors!"
Seren didn't waste a second and ran after the man. They burst into the monitor room where a few of their other allies were, all trying to hack into the tech. Seren made her way to the front of the room and saw the visuals of the entire compound, including the hangar. She'd been right; Schmidt had taken possession of a plane that had just taken off. She searched through the controls, ordering everyone else in the room to, quite kindly 'shut the hell up' so she could focus and find the right ones.
"What are you trying to do?" Dum Dum was the only one who dared to near her in her frantic state. "It's locked. There's no way we can turn it back from here—"
"I know," Seren gritted her teeth. "But we can at least open a line of communication. My gut is telling me that dear old Captain America boarded that plane too. I need their coordinates now."
Dum Dum wouldn't argue with that intuition. He looked back at the rest of Howling Commandos and shared the same concern. They knew what fury in Seren looked like and they were not interested in being in the same room if she unleashed it. A few minutes later, the entire room froze in their spots as a fierce blinding light shot from the distance. Seren looked out the window, trying to make it out despite the great distance they were at.
"What the hell is that?" Phillips' voice carried in seconds before he and Peggy joined the room.
Peggy rushed forwards until she stood beside Seren who had not stopped gazing and really only looked miserably pale. "Seren?" she touched the woman's arm. "What is it?"
"It's the Tesseract," Seren swallowed hard. "It's…it's sent a beacon."
"A beacon? To where?"
Seren could only shrug. "I have no idea. The Tesseract is not supposed to be trifled with, much less experimented on. Only the Asgardians know what it does but I learned enough to know that it's never supposed to act like that. Steve, he's there and…" Her stomach began to churn with knots. "I should be there — I should go out there—"
"Seren!" Peggy grabbed Seren's arm just as she made a turn to leave. "You can't!"
"The Tesseract is volatile and I don't care how enhanced Steve is, he is not immune to it! I'm not even immune to it!" Seren ripped her arm out of Peggy's grip with all the intentions of heading out when a static noise came from the radio.
Everyone turned to the controls, eyes falling on the radio just as cut-up words came through. Little by little, the sound corrected itself and Steve's calls were coming through, asking for help.
Seren beat everyone out to the radio and grabbed it. "Steve? Steve, what's going on!? Are you alright!?"
"I'm fine!" Steve said, though Seren doubted that considering where he was.
"Where's Schmidt?"
"Schmidt's dead."
"One piece of good news. And the plane?"
"That's a little bit harder to explain…"
"Just…just give us your coordinates," Seren said, swallowing hard. "We can —we can find a landing site or I can—"
"There isn't going to be a landing. Schmidt's locked the navigation system. And there's more than enough power to reach the East Coast."
Seren was flabbergasted, so much that she turned to Peggy, to Phillips, the Howling Commandos — anyone who could help her.
"Maybe…maybe we can get Howard on the line," Peggy made the suggestion that first popped into her head. She glanced back at Phillip, the man already grave in the face knowing what was going to happen.
Seren took the offer and repeated it to Steve. "He's a genius! He can help!"
"I'm sitting on a hundred tons of explosives. Hotwiring this thing's not an option," Steve replied, forcing himself to appear calm. The fact was that facing death while completely lucid was not as glorious as the drafters made it sound. "I've got to put her in the water."
"But you said you couldn't steer it…" Seren said weakly.
"I can't. But I think I can crash it."
"Oh, that's a whole lot better…" Seren despised herself for actually feeling a genuine anger towards him right now.
"It's hard, I know, but right now, I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer, a lot of people are going to get hurt." And that was something that Steve couldn't and wouldn't let happen. It was the whole reason he signed up. He wanted to help and protect people. He couldn't be selfish.
"But…I can…I can fly out there, I can go after the plane and…"
"No, you won't." Steve had no doubt in his heart that Seren wouldn't hesitate to chase after him in the vast ocean. He just couldn't let that happen. "You're fast but this thing is faster and by the time you get here…I don't think there's going to be much left to find."
"No, but…" Seren's eyes filled with tears pretty fast. She fell into the chair beside her, feeling like she was losing the air in her lungs in a whole new way. "You were supposed to…we were going to come back together…"
Steve actually felt his heart break little by little remembering what they had planned for themselves after the war. "Seren, listen to me, okay? You're…you're going to go back to New York, alright?"
"But what am I sup—"
"Brooklyn, you hear me? The bakery? It's been there since I was born. My mom used to bring me bread from there all the time growing up…she would say have one and I had about five instead."
Seren chuckled through her tears. "You stuffed your face with bread?"
"It was sweet bread, thank you very much. Filled with sugar."
"Oh God…"
"You're going to go there and buy yourself a cinnamon roll. Have some on me, okay?"
"N-no..." Seren tried breathing normally but her breath hitched in her throat and suddenly she was shaking with tears.
"And then when you're ready, you're going to see your Dad, okay?"
"I don't know about that…"
"You will," Steve insisted, smiling through his own tears. The vast ocean was getting closer and closer to him. "Because he's going to love you."
"But he has no idea I exist."
"So imagine how much he's missed out on? You are an amazing woman, sweet, strong as hell, and so brave." In those last moments, Steve would only remember his moments with Seren and only her. If darkness was going to come for him, he'd lean back on his star to light his next route. "Everything you went through and you still hold so much love in your heart. That's why I love—"
There was a loud hiss and then static as the radio went silent.
Seren squeezed the radio in her hand until it broke into pieces. Tears of anguish and anger spilled from her as she slammed her fists into the controls. She smashed once, twice, and a third…then let herself collapse over them and sobbed.
~ 0 ~
Getting back to headquarters was like a dream sequence, if anyone asked Seren. She remembered that Peggy had to physically walk her out of the control room and the compound altogether. She remembered she did not fly — she couldn't fly — and that she rode with some of the Commandos. She didn't remember what they talked about, if they talked at all. What she did remember was Peggy telling her that she had a home with her for however long she needed/wanted.
Seren followed Peggy inside headquarters, and heard the bustling noise of the other agents until one stood out. Howard Stark had never ran so fast.
"Agent Carter! Seren! You'll never guess—!" He stopped in his tracks upon seeing Seren's tear-stained face and Peggy's grim one. His own expression changed in that moment. Eyes looking past the two women, he could easily tell who did not make it back.
"Seren is going to need to rest," Peggy spoke on the woman's behalf. She got the feeling Seren wouldn't be much of a talker for a while.
"Um, yeah," Howard cleared his throat, "I actually have something Seren needs to see."
"Howard, now's not the time," Peggy said, trying to pull Seren with her but Howard blocked the way. "Mr. Stark, this isn't—"
But someone else spoke and it was not in any language that Peggy knew. Seren's head snapped up, twinkling eyes scouring the place until she found the source of the voice. A short woman with shoulder-length brown hair and dark eyes stood a few feet behind Howard. She wore a strange suit, one that Peggy knew for a fact Howard wasn't responsible for.
The woman spoke in the strange language again and suddenly Seren was pushing past Peggy and Howard. "Mom!" she cried and ran into her mothers arms where she burst into tears again.
Liana Dade stumbled back with her daughter's force but held onto her like she would slip away. She wrapped a protective arm around Seren's back, dropping kisses in her hair.
Peggy stepped closer to Howard, quietly mumbling to him without ever tearing their eyes off the mother and daughter. "When did this happen?"
Howard used the same mumble tactic to answer. "An hour ago. Speaks English, by the way. Came tearing a new one through headquarters raging that we let her daughter go. Took me a while to explain things to her."
"How did she get here so fast?"
"Apparently, the Tesseract acted as a beacon an hour ago."
Peggy knew exactly what that had been. The blinding light they'd seen from the control room. Seren's mother must have seen it or captured its readings.
Seren was a mess when she pulled back from her mother, mixing her English words with Celessian. Liana held Seren's head, urging her to calm down for her own wellbeing.
"It's alright, you're alright now," she said to Seren, smiling brightly through her tears of joy. "You're safe and we're—we're going home now. I'm taking you home."
"No! No!" Seren shook her head fervently. "No, Mom! Steve — he's — the ocean — the Tesseract — all their fault — he's stuck!"
"Seren—"
"We need to find him!" Seren started pulling on her mother's arms to follow her God knew where. "You're faster than me! Steve could be—"
"Seren, honey, what are you talking about?" Liana pulled against Seren, trying to keep the young woman in her place.
"MOM, PLEASE!" Seren screamed, shocking Liana as she fell to her knees, begging to be listened to. "We need to — I need to — please…" She squeezed Liama's hands, forcing her mother to look at her pleading face. "I need to find him! Please help me! Please! I'll do anything, please!"
Whether they were from Earth or another world, it was clear that Liana had no idea what to do with Seren. She looked up and met Peggy's and Howard's gazes, silently asking them for help.
Peggy cleared her throat as she stepped forwards. "Um, my name is Agent Peggy Carter and, uh…I'd like to explain some things to you…if that's alright?"
Considering that her daughter was still crying her eyes out, Liana quickly agreed. "Yes, please…please do." It took her, Peggy and Howard to make Seren get back on her feet. After that, getting her to calm down was a whole other mission. Eventually, Seren's exhaustion caught up with her and she collapsed into a short sleep.
Liana was not going to take her eyes off her daughter anytime soon and so Peggy had to explain everything from beginning to end in Howard's lab while Seren sat and slept at a desk. Neither Peggy nor Howard knew what to make of Liana's silence after hearing everything that her daughter went through in her absence. It was clear, though, that like many of them there, Liana grew an instant hatred for HYDRA.
"They cut my daughter up?" Her hands balled into fists. Familiar power danced at her fingertips. "You said they're gone?"
Peggy nodded. "Uh, yes, we just wiped them off today, actually."
"Good," Liana said, glancing at her daughter still sleeping. "And so…this man…him and my daughter — they had a…a…relationship?"
"Sort…sort of?" Howard checked with Peggy to make sure he had that right. He never asked straight forward and he wasn't going to start there.
Peggy nodded at Liana. "Steve was the one who rescued her from HYDRA. He helped her trust us."
"And now he's…"
"Gone," Peggy confirmed the news with a sigh. "He brought down a plane filled with bombs before it could strike New York."
"New York?" There was an undeniable recognition in Liana's eyes when she glanced in their direction. Peggy nodded again. Liana ducked her head and slowly processed it all. Eventually, she drew in a breath. "Well, it seems like I have missed a lot in my daughter's life. I should be honest with you," she looked up again, "The Tesseract is an unpredictable thing. If this man went down with it…I hardly think that he would have survived."
Both Peggy and Howard lowered their heads. Yes, they knew the chances were low bit they were still crazy to believe that Steve would win against the odds. Still, Liana confirming it was just further proof of the opposite.
"And that being said, I'm going to need your help solidifying that idea in my daughter's head," Liana said, casting a grim glance in Seren's way. "Steve is dead and the best thing she can do is leave Earth with me."
~0~
Seren rested a lot in the days that followed. She'd exhausted herself between the fight and her grief. She heard a lot of commotion around her. The war was over. Finally, officially over. People were celebrating everywhere. Everywhere and everyone except for her. As much as Liana tried and tried to get her to leave right away, Seren refused. She just had no energy to make that big of a trip and, what's more, she had things she wanted to do first anyway. The morning she stepped into the lab, it was a chaos of cleaning up. Somehow, it made her feel worse. Things were ending, things were moving on.
Seren wasn't sure what she was doing, nor why she was even there. The act of floating was her best move in these moments.
Howard wasn't expecting to see her in the lab and when he did he walked over and gave her a big hug. Seren appreciated the gesture. He walked around his lab which was nearly cleared away and tried making small talk to keep her engaged.
"I'm heading back to New York with the rest," he said, eyeing Seren specifically, "I know Agent Carter is returning to London…"
Seren nodded. She knew that as well. Peggy had already sat her down to explain what was going to be happening with the SSR, going as far as extending an official place of employment for Seren if she wanted it. Seren refused. She had not forgotten where Zola was and although she wasn't going to fight over that — these days, it felt pointless getting justice when the one person that mattered was gone forever — she didn't want to be anywhere near the man. Peggy accepted it and didn't push any further on the matter, only stating that she would be there whenever Seren needed her.
"Can I…can I go to New York with you?"
The question initially caught Howard off guard but then slowly, he began to smile. "Of course. Would that be by plane or flying?"
Seren managed a half smile at his words. "The plane would be nice, thanks."
"You are welcome anytime," Howard said, bringing a hand on her shoulder. "I would also be open to having a working partner, if you're interested. There's no one else with your knowledge on this planet."
Seren chuckled lightly. "I'm actually not that smart, Howard. It just looks like it because I'm from a different planet."
"Nobody has your knowledge, Seren," Howard tapped the side of Seren's head. "Makes you one of a kind."
"Thanks, Howard," Seren nodded and lowered her head. "If I'm being honest, there's a reason I want to go to New York."
Howard hummed, drawing Seren's attention. "Wouldn't happen to be a certain bakery shop you're curious about?"
Seren flushed, nearly forgetting that a whole group of people heard Steve's last wishes for her. "That, yes," she nodded, "but I also want to find my father. He lives in New York and I want to see him."
"Oh, well, say no more," Howard clapped his hands together. "I can help you find him."
"I already did," Seren said, "Well, Steve did. He had the SSR track him down. He's in New York."
"I'll let you know when we leave," Howard said, "Of course your mother is also welcome to join."
"Mm…my mother…" Seren had yet to explain to Liana that she knew where her father was and, much more, who he was. She hadn't really spoken much to her mother, not when she spent her time either crying or sleeping.
There was a clearing of a throat and soon Peggy walked into the lab, carrying a box in her arms. Seren regarded her with a small nod. Assuming that Peggy had some things to discuss with Howard about the SSR, Seren excused herself to leave.
"Ah, wait Seren!" Peggy's call stopped the woman in her tracks. She looked back just as Peggy placed the box on an empty table. "I have a couple things you, uh, might want."
"Me? I doubt it…" Seren mumbled. There was nothing left for her…until she walked back.
~0~
It took Seren several breaths to be able to unlock the door and actually step inside the apartment. For a while, she just stood at the front of the apartment frozen to the ground.
It was darker than she remembered, colder. Her eyes landed on the couch — which seemed a lot shabbier than she remembered — and sucked in a shaky breath. She glanced at the kitchen and felt a whole new rush of despair seeing the dirty dishes they'd left on the counter. They were supposed to have come back and cleaned everything up to finally head out of there forever.
Her breath was shaky again. It felt worse than when she'd been cut open. She didn't even know that was possible. All her nightmares were rushing over her like waves crashing one after the other. Then she remembered all the good that she had been through since then and somehow it just broke her heart all over again. To have all that and lose it all in one go…
She didn't know how long she stood in her place, except that when she moved her legs were wobbling. She stumbled towards the couch and sat down.
For a long while, Seren sat by herself in the dark room, knees pulled up to her chest, head down. She had no concept of Time and had no desire to. She had no desire to do anything, not when it felt so pointless. She could have easily stayed in the dark apartment for the rest of her life if they let her…
But they wouldn't.
Some time later, Seren heard the door opening. She heard the footsteps, careful at first and then just slow as they approached her. In her darkest moments within HYDRA, Seren would remember the little things about her mother. She missed and cried for Liana during the moments she thought she would finally die. She would have done anything to get a hug from her mother back then, and now here Liana was and it wasn't doing anything for her.
Liana sighed after a while and pulled her arms from Seren. "At least look at me, honey."
Seren missed her mother's voice. She used to hear it a lot while she was imprisoned, using it as a coping mechanism. "How'd you find me?"
"Think I'm gonna lose you again?" Liana offered a smile that Seren didn't return. She gave up on the tactic. "Your new friends, they, um, they're kind. Humans — they're just like I remember."
"Not all of them," Seren said, finally picking her head up from her knees. She drew in a big breath. "But some of them…some of them are amazing. Were, anyways."
A brief silence fell over the two women. Liana watched as her daughter stared off into the distance, all life vanishing from her eyes.
"I wish I would have found you sooner," Liana said, dropping her head in shame. " Better yet I wish that I would have taken the assignment myself."
"No." Seren snapped back to the present and looked at her mother. "It was my mission and I failed it…just like I failed this one." Tears shined in her eyes as she looked around. "A few days ago, Steve lost his best friend Bucky. He was killed in action and Steve lamented how they had left this apartment together in the morning and by night, only Steve came back. I told him that we would get justice for Bucky…but all that happened is we left the apartment in the morning together…and only I came ba-ack." Seren sniffled until the tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Seren." Liana leaned over and kissed Seren's head. "I've…I've been hearing things, talking to your friends. I've gathered what you didn't want to take." She motioned to the table in front of them and that was when Seren realized that her mother had quite literally grabbed all her things and put them in a box.
"No…" Seren started shaking her head. "I don't want anything from the SSR. Peggy, she tried to get me to look inside but…I don't want it, mom. It hurts too much knowing that's all that's left of this past year." It truly felt like it was just yesterday when she led Steve on a chase through the woods after knocking out their infirmary ward.
"I think it would hurt more to throw it away without even giving it a chance," Liana said expertly. "It hurts more to leave behind a world without a single memory you can hold onto." Seren met her mother's knowing gaze. "I got lucky with you, though." She reached over and tucked some of Seren's hair behind her ear. "All my memories are in you."
"But you still wish you had more…" Seren concluded, nodding to herself. "You know…I don't even have a picture of him. I'm sure there's videos but…not a picture. And I'm not going back to the SSR to look for one."
"Course not, that's why you have your mother," Liana flashed a smile. She reached inside the box and pulled out a manila folder. "I did peek, sorry…"
Seren only found the energy to smile very little but Liana would take it. She handed Seren the folder for her to look through. It was titled 'Classified - Captain America' and there was a bright red stamp over it with the word 'inactive'.
Seren gulped. She opened the folder and let out a breathy chuckle. The first thing she saw was a picture of Steve, but it didn't look much like the man she knew, at least not initially. "Steve told me all about the, um, the experiment they did on him. Made him bigger, basically. He used to look like this…but it's still the same face…same spirit…and heart."
Liana hummed and leaned over Seren's shoulder. "Good looking," she said, making Seren actually chuckle that time.
"Yeah," she nodded. "Very." She unclipped the picture off the profile. She wasn't interested in any of the information, just the picture. "You would have liked him, mom. He was everything I could have wanted. From the day we met, he was very different. And honest. I don't think I've ever met someone who was always so honest. He was a bit naive, don't get me wrong, but just the right amount."
"All the good ones usually are," Liana said, smiling nostalgically.
"I told him about me, all of me…" Seren looked up just as Liana's smile dropped. "He knew who I really was…and he loved it. He loved me. The thing that makes me different didn't ruin it. He loved me."
"That was brave of you for telling him," Liana said, touching Seren's arm. "I'm glad he took it well. I know that it's been a hard topic ever since you can remember. You're right. I would have liked him."
Seren swallowed hard, closing the folder in her hands and keeping Steve's picture on top. "Steve found him, mom."
"Hmm?"
"He found dad. He found Brooks."
Liana's hand fell from Seren's arm. Seren grew more nervous as the silence stretched.
"He's in New York. Um, he had the SSR look for him and they found him." Seren glanced at her mother with new hope in her eyes. "I want to go to New York."
"Seren, that's—"
"Please," Seren shifted on the couch to face her mother, "I lost Steve, I lost the plans we had. Before he, uh, before he died…he told me that I should go meet my dad. We can go together. Howard says he'll take us both."
"Seren, I don't think that's a good idea, honey…" Liana rose from the couch, visibly growing nervous.
"You said that if he met me he would love me!" Seren argued, frowning as Liana refused to meet her eye. "You said he knew everything about us—"
"I know, I know!"
"Then?" Seren stood up from the couch as well, forcing Liana to look at her. "Am I not in my right to go see him?"
"Yes, yes, of course you are but…" Liana laughed shakily, "Maybe I'm the one who's nervous about seeing him again! This was years ago and…he could have a family now and…"
"He does," Seren nodded, "He has a son and a daughter, but his wife died. He's widowed."
"That's terrible," Liana said, bringing a hand on her chest. "Is he…was he…okay?"
Seren smiled at her mother. "I'm assuming he is now. You see? We have to go see him. At the very least, I have to go to Brooklyn."
"Brooklyn?" Liana sighed. "Let me guess—"
"Steve was from there. Mom, I have to go, please?" Seren held one of her mother's hands, squeezing it tight. "Please, I need to go. If-if I ever want to feel some kind of peace, I need to go there."
Liana knew there was no way in hell she would be able to say 'no' to Seren, not when she'd gone through so much and she hadn't been there to stop it. "Okay," Liana replied, "But you and I together, alright? I'm not letting go of you again."
Seren jumped into her mother's arms, hugging her tight. "Thank you, thank you…" She sniffled.
~ 0 ~
With tearful goodbyes, Seren left the SSR with Howard and her mother. She had nothing else to do there. It took a lot to convince Liana to come with her without tearing through headquarters searching for Arnim Zola though. As Seren once warned, Liana wanted retribution for what was done. Perhaps if things had worked out in their favor, Seren would have gone through with her word and taken Zola for justice. But things hadn't worked out. Things had gone very differently than planned and at the end of the day, all Seren wanted to do was leave the pain behind and that included the SSR and HYDRA anything related to it. That included the infamous Tesseract.
Seren told Liana that the damn cube had disappeared with Steve in the ocean and she was not interested in bringing it back. If the Asgardians wanted it, they could come find it themselves. She was done taking assignments. Liana didn't argue that either. Besides, once she stepped on New York soil and found a particular bakery down in Brooklyn, she felt way more content. She got a familiar whiff in the air the closer she got to the counter. A nice older lady welcomed her and asked her what she would like.
Seren smiled nervously. "I wanted…do you have any, um, cinnamon rolls today?"
The older woman smiled back. "Of course! All fresh! You'll see! I don't make one foul thing in this bakery!"
Seren chuckled as the woman went to cut her a slice. "I know, my, um…someone special told me about this place. Maybe you knew him?"
"I know everyone here," the woman said as she returned to the counter.
"Actually, I think you knew him and his friend — Steve and Bucky? They grew up here." Seren felt something light in her heart seeing the way the woman's face brightened.
"Yes, yes! Of course! Oh, good boys," the woman nodded. "James, he would run in here and try to pull one over me to get an extra slice. Steve, poor boy, he'd apologize and then they would do it all over again the next day."
Seren laughed softly. "Really? I thought Steve was more of the troublemaker."
The woman raised her brows inquisitively. Seren took the cinnamon roll she ordered and put the money on the counter.
"If you have time, I would like to hear more about them," she then said. "And afterwards, if you would be so kind as to point me in the direction of Bucky's home and the cemetery? I'd like to speak with Bucky's parents. Then go leave flowers on Steve's mother's plot?" She'd gotten that little bit of information through Howard and Peggy. She wanted to make sure she took care of everything Steve left behind.
"A…ha…?" The woman was dumbfounded as Seren walked to the table closest to the window and sat down with her cinnamon roll. She watched the brunette eat by herself, watching through the window the people who walked by, every now and then some kids running as they played. In the end, the woman walked over to the table, silently getting Seren's attention and sat down with her.
Seren smiled.
"How long do you have?" the woman asked her.
"All afternoon. My mother is, um, speaking with my father. We thought it best if we did it that way." Seren licked her lips nervously. "Hopefully, they'll both come get me. I haven't met him yet, you see. But Steve told me this place was amazing and that I should come here. He was going to bring me…"
The woman nodded, now beginning to understand what was happening. "Ah, I see."
Seren's smile waned slightly as she looked down at her half eaten cinnamon roll.
"He was a really good boy," the woman started, her words lifting Seren's gaze. "He used to be smaller, did you know that?"
"I did," Seren chuckled. "I also heard he used to get sick a lot…"
"Oh, did he ever!" the woman let out a dramatic sigh that brought out another laugh from Seren. "The times that he gave Sarah a scare!" She began to tell Seren about the jumpscares Steve was responsible for, and she clung to every single word.
And much later, quite close to the closing time, the entrance doors opened with a small ding.
Seren's eyes flickered to the doors and saw her mother walking in first. For a moment, Seren's stomach twisted as Liana walked in on her own. He didn't want to see me, was Seren's first thought. All the good stuff that she had hoped for — all the other good stuff anyways — was about to crumble as well.
But just as the thoughts started creeping up on her, the doors opened again and in came a familiar tall man with bright green eyes — she saw those eyes every single time she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She stood up from her seat, and met Brooks' gaze. He looked at her with a growing smile and an unbelievable expression, like she was something he had only heard of. And perhaps he had.
Liana whispered something in Brooks' ear and the smile on his face turned into a full fledged grin. "She's so big…" Seren heard him say and saw the fondness in his eyes just for her.
She swallowed hard and stepped towards them. She'd only taken three steps when Brooks rushed towards her and hugged her as tight as he could. Stunned, it took Seren several seconds to realize what was happening and once it dawned on her, she hugged him back and broke into tears.
~ 0 ~
77 years later.
There was supposed to have been a break. A real break, but all Steve ever saw was a pause before the next battle. Even when this one was lost, somehow there was still a battle within. One moment, their pager had stopped transmitting their signal and the next, they had come face to face with an unknown blonde woman hellbent on getting answers by any means necessary.
"Hey, hey, hey, HEY!" Steve managed to cut in between the blonde woman and Natasha before they went head to head with each other.
Banner was on the other side, trying to pull Natasha back with him while Rhodey tried pulling on the blonde woman's arm in vain. The moment she felt his hand around her arm, she shoved him back. Steve only just caught him before he fell and with his assisting tech around his legs, it would not bode well to have another injury.
"Alright everyone ENOUGH!" Steve yelled over the entire room, freezing the group in their tracks.
The blonde woman shook off Banner's hand and stepped towards Steve, repeating her question again. "Where's Fury?"
"Hard topic to answer," Steve replied in the same cold tone. "But it'd be a lot easier if you stopped the hostility."
The woman scowled at him and the others. "That" — she pointed back at the pager — "is the pager I gave to Fury for emergencies. It went off all of a sudden and we raced back here and he's not here. So," she strode up to Steve, leaving them face to face, "where is he?"
Steve didn't appreciate the faint accusation in her voice. He didn't understand why this woman was on the receiving end of that pager except that Fury had to have a reason. Plus, it was their only other option right now. If it wasn't the pager, then they had nothing left to fight against Thanos. Bearing that in mind, he relaxed his voice and started again.
"Something's happened to Fury and we found this pager with no idea who was on the other side," he explained slowly, "We didn't know it was you."
"Who are you?" Natasha beat him to the punch.
The woman flipped her head back, glaring at Natasha. "I'm Carol Danvers, who the hell are you?"
"Hey," Steve called and got her attention again. "We're on the same side."
"Mm, I don't know you," Carol countered. "So who the hell are you?" she punctured her words sharply.
"Fair enough," Steve nodded, "We are on the same side. My name's St—"
"Steve?"
Steve froze in his spot. This wouldn't be the first time he imagined that sweet voice calling to him and during these hard times, it wouldn't be surprising if he imagined it to ease his nerves. But this time it was different. This time, Carol Danvers in front of him looked around him, her lips curling into a frown as she muttered 'you were supposed to do a reconnaissance'. If she spoke to the voice, then the voice was real and not in his head like it had been for years.
But Carol's partner seemed to have ignored it in favor of walking a few steps, at least that's what Steve heard before he finally turned around and got the wind knocked out of him. She couldn't be a figment of his imagination this time, not if someone else had acknowledged her presence…
"Seren?"
A/N: I swear I'm wrapping this up in the next chapter. It's October and I wanna write some spooky season shit, plus I have more ideas for one-shots. I literally found an actress in one of my novelas (I am a freaking telenovela addict, have been since I was 7) who I swear could pass as Seren's and Steve's daughter. I'm gonna leave it at that :)
P.S. As always, I have an AO3/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)