Chapter 12

"I have no alliances with Hydra or the KGB."

"If that's true, what is this?"

Their lawyer showed a picture of a row of ballerinas, Brooke among them.

"After my mother 'died', my father gave me to the red room. I was not willing."

"And we are supposed to believe you? Your own mother was afraid of you."

"I don't know how to respond to that."

"There was a video released recently, of you in an altercation with a SHEILD agent. Isn't that right?"

Fuck. "Yes."

"So you aren't harmless."

"I wouldn't hurt anybody on purpose. He was fine."

The layer continued on as if she had not spoken. "As a result of that public altercation you have been placed on house arrest, is that correct?"

No response.

"Someone that is not a danger to society usually is not in the custody of the Avengers."

"Was that a question?"

"Your honour, I would like to request that Miss Brooke Mitchell be taken into custody while the courts discover her true connections to both organizations, Hydra and the KGB."

"Request granted." The judge banged their gavel.

Brooke looked to Bucky who was already on his feet, Steve and Sam backing him as he growled for Tony to 'fix this'.

"Quiet!" The judge demanded. "We will have order."

Bucky continued to talk to Tony in hushed tones.

"As for the reason we were all gathered. Kia will remain in the hands of the Avengers. Court adjourned."

Brooke was put into handcuffs and taken from the courtroom before Bucky could reach her. She could hear Bucky shouting and Steve and Sam reasoning with him.

"Where am I going?"

"DC penitentiary."

Her mom was alive, and she was being taken to prison.

She was brought into what looked like an interrogation room. Wait here, transport will be here soon.

Dropping into the metal chair, Brooke placed her face in her hands.

What the fuck?

Transport took nearly an hour to arrive, they stuffed her in the back of their SUV. One getting in next to her, the other into the driver's seat.

"Mom?" The woman who raised her typing in navigation in the passenger seat.

"Close." Her voice distorted as she pulled at the skin of her face. Pixels danced across the foe skin as she shed the fasaude

Brooke's jaw opened as ice filled her veins. No.

The face looking back at her was one she had only seen in pictures. Had no memories of the real person.

"Good, you remember me. After what you said in the courtroom, I actually believed you did not remember your own sister."

"Abby."

The woman smiled, turning back to her task.

"Mom-?"

"Dead." She said with no feeling. "Killing her was my first assignment."

"You killed her."

"She was weak and pathetic. Dad had me fucking that waste of space Kai, even planned to have Daniel take advantage of you. I convinced Daniel to come with me one night, I hook him up to one of Dad's machines and watched him beg and squirm for it all to stop, but I watched it suck all the blood and marrow from him."

"Dad was mad of course. Punished me. I was stuck fucking Kai for another few months, even had his baby."

Jesse

"Jesse was your baby?"

"He wasn't mine anything, he belonged to Hydra."

"He was your son. Kai killed him, you know that right?"

Abby shrugged, "We are getting off track here-"

"Pull over!" She was going to be sick.

Abby nodded to the driver. Brooke's door was locked from the outside, she breathed deeply through her nose until the driver got out, taking his sweet time.

Brooke did not have time to get out of the car, she leaned over and puked. Her body was heaving and vibrating, if she did not calm down she was going to pass out. He had been her nephew, Kai had killed her Nephew.

Once she got her wits about her Brooke was locked back in the car.

"Where are we going?"

"Out of town."

"Where?"

Abby sighed, "You always were a nosey brat. Be quiet, I'm trying to think."

"Abby, it doesn't have to be like this. Hydra isn't-" She threw her head back and laughed.

"You think I'm with Hydra? Try the KGB." The red room.

"They sent you to bring me back?"

"Kai gave us the perfect setting. I sweep in as mommy dearest, spin the narrative enough to incriminate you, placing enough lies through the truth to make it believable. Separate you from the Avengers."

Oh my god. "Why even bother now? Why not take me before when we were little? You knew Dad was a monster, but you left me with him anyway."

"I did. I was the one who told the KGB about you."

"You are the reason he handed me over to the red room?"

"All he was going to do was use you in his breeding experiment. You had more potential than that. So I killed Daniel to buy some time and then I-"

"Pimped me out to the red room."

"A thank you would be nice."

"You want me to thank you for killing my mother and-"

"Oh my god, all you do is whine. Shut her up."

Before she could react Brooke was stuck in the arm with a needle, her vision darkening almost immediately.

.

"Rise and shine sweet heart." Brooke was being pulled from the vehicle before she was fully conscious. "We need to switch cars."

Her movements were sluggish, whatever Brooke had been dosed with had a sedative in it.

Looking around Brooke noticed they were still in DC. They were near the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. Almost near the place Bucky and Steve had plunged into the icy water of the platonic. If Brooke let Abby take her now, she may never make her way back to Bucky.

Throwing all of her weight into him. Brooke side-checked the guy holding her wrists. He stumbled not expecting the blow. She screamed for help as she ran away from them. Hoping someone was nearby, but knowing the chances of that were pretty slim. They had stopped in a remote area.

Her body dropped instantly, sensing as waves of electrically pushed through her body. The red room did love their taser batons.

"I've had enough of her, put her in the trunk."

Brooke was pulled roughly from the ground. She could not fight, her body was still spaseming.

Abby came up to her, grabbing her by the hair. "Why are you so ungrateful?"

Brooke pulled her head back as far as she could in her sister's grip, throwing her head forward. Abby's nose crunched under her forehead, blood hitting her face and getting on her shirt.

Abby roughly shoved her into the trunk slamming it shut.

Brooke relaxed back, a small smile on her face. Her hands gripped Abby's cell phone. She had taken it from her pocket at the same time she had broken her nose. The only problem was she knew no one's phone number by heart. The next best thing she had was Google.

So Brooke found the number for Stark Labs. Libby answered.

"Hi, Stark Labs how may I assist you."

"Libby," Brooke whispered. "It's Brooke. I need you to connect me to Bucky."

"Brooke? Aren't you all in DC?"

"Yes. I'm- Libby I'm in trouble, I need you to get me Bucky's number."

"I-" she started to stammer as she rushed around. "I only have Doctor Banners."

Bruce would be with the team, "What is it?"

Hanging up Brooke called Bruce, slowing down her breathing to calm her nerves.

"Doctor Banner's phone."

"It's Brooke. I'm in the trunk of a Grey SUV, I didn't get the plate, we switched cars near the Roosevelt Bridge.-"

"You're on speaker, repeat that."

"We switched cars near the Roosevelt Bridge. But we haven't gone over it, which we should of by now. It's not Hydra, it's the KGB. There is nothing in the trunk, and I can't kick the tail lights out, they are reinforced."

"Tony, can you track her?" Steve asked.

She assumed Tony was on the phone, he was speaking in a quick voice.

"Are you hurt?" Bucky asked her.

They sounded like they were moving now, talking to each other, doors opening and closing. If she had to guess they had been either still at the courthouse or back in their hotels packing up to go home.

"No. The trial, it was all a setup." The car jolted as they drove over the metal that connected the road to the bridge. "We're on the bridge."

"Did they say where you were going?"

"Abby said we were going 'out of town'."

"Abby?" Bucky questioned. "Your sister Abby? Where is your mother?"

Steve took the phone. "Brooke it's Steve. We have traffic cam footage of the bridge. There are three grey SUVS we need to know which one to follow. Was there anything distinct about the car? How many people are in the vehicle?"

"Three and no. It's just grey."

There were muffled voices on the other side of the phone as they talked to each other, planned. Brooke let her mind wander to a conversation she had with Bucky not so long ago...

"Ok, here's Bucky."

"Brooke-"

"I'm alright. Maybe, I should let them take me."

"...What?" His voice was hard steel.

"They are taking me back to the KBG. This could be our opportunity, if I let them take me, we could take them down from the inside."

"Have you lost your mind? They could take you who the fuck knows where, and we may never get you back."

"Is it a bad plan because we're dating or because it's a bad plan?"

"Both. Stark has a track on this phone number. We're going to follow you-"

Brooke groaned as her body was flung into the seats, the SUV breaking hard.

"What happened?"

"They stopped."

"You should still be on the bridge." Doors slammed.

"Shit." Brooke hid the phone in the band of her pants, untucking her shirt to cover it.

The light burned her eyes. "Where the hell is my phone?"

Brooke kept her mouth shut, trying to kick the man who roughly groped at her, looking for the device. He took it and handed it to Abby.

"Get off!"

She chuckled seeing the phone was actively on a call.

"Hello, who might I be speaking to?"

"If you hurt her I swear to god-"

"Oh settle down. Sargent Barnes, is it?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"I hope you enjoyed talking to my sister. It's the last time you're going to hear from her. Bye bye now."

Abby flung her phone off the bridge, no doubt they were already tracking her call. This definitely changes things.

"Get her out of the trunk."

"What?" They were stopping in traffic, horns honking at them.

"You heard me Gabrial!"

Brooke squirmed and kicked, screaming for help as she was once again roughly pulled around and thrown into the back seat of the SUV.

They speed off, a traffic light, they make it off the bridge and speed out of the city. If Brooke had to guess they were headed for a plane, or something like that. No way they planned to drive to where they were going.

"Tell the pilot to be ready."

Brooke could not let them get her on that plane. Once they did, it would be over.

The team had to have seen her being pulled from the trunk of the car. They would know what direction they were headed, but after a certain while, they would have run out of city service. She needed to give them time to catch up with them.

Leaning back in her chair she sharply kicked out at the head of the driver. The car swerved and she was grabbed by the man sitting beside her. Brooke got in a second kick to the man's temple. She groaned slumping against the wheel. The sting of the taser made her yelp.

Abby lurched forward to take control of the wheel.

"Fuck!"

The driver was big and his foot was dead weight on the accelerator. Abby yanked up the parking brake and the car jolted to the side, they veered off the road and as soon as they hit the guardrail they flipped.

Brooke placed her hand on the roof of the car, hoping to avoid hitting her head. Smoak filled the vehicle.

The man beside her groaned. kicking out his window.

"Get her!" Abby choked on the smoke that filled the car. "We're only a few minutes away, we can make it on foot."

Brooke kicked and screamed, fighting every second until she was thrown over Gabrials's shoulder and electrocuted for her trouble.

"What's your plan for me?" Brooke asked when she was tossed into the aircraft.

Abby turned and raised her brow. The look might have been intimidating if her eyes were not black from her broken nose.

"Why the sudden cooperation?"

"We're in the sky, it's clear I've lost whatever high ground I could have had."

"I always planned to get you out, Adria."

"To do what? You can't have some white picket-fenced home you plan for us to live out our days in."

"I have a whole organization wrapped around my finger. I'm in the boss's bed every night, keeping me in his ear. Everything's about money in this world A, except for sexy, sex is about power."

"Kai took mine away, and so I took his right back. What I'm doing now is not any different than what they were doing to us."

"And killing mom?"

"She should have protected me!"

Brooke dropped her gaze. He had thought the same thing about her mother. Wondered why she kept allowing her to go with her father.

"We have the power now."

"No, Abby. I don't want that. I ran from it."

"It will be different this time. And we'll be together." Abby nodded to herself.

Brooke rested her head back against the metal wall of the plane. They were still in the cargo hold.

"The Winter Soldier, Huh?"

"What?"

"I remember you used to talk about him when you were little. He couldn't take his eyes off you in that courtroom. Are you two-?"

"We're together."

Abby smiled, "Wow, nice pull."

"Why don't I remember anything? I didn't remember you, Daniel- that whole part of my life, I can't remember it."

A bell went off, echoing around the empty space.

"That's our cue, you ever jumped out of a plane before?"

Brooke's stomach dropped, "We're jumping!?"

"The Avengers will be tracking this plane. We can't be on it when they make contact. I have a car waiting for us, near the landing site."

"I don't know how to do this."

Abby grabbed two backpacks off the ground. Nodding for Brooke to stand and take one. She stood but did not take it.

"Don't be difficult." Abby pulled a gun from her thigh holster.

Brooke stared down the barrel, taking the bag she slid it onto her back. Securing it to her body. Looks like she would be jumping whether she wanted to or not.

This was her sister she was staring at, her last living family... Sure, she was doing some bad things, kidnapping her at the top of that list, but she was hurting. Like Brooke Abby was forced into Hydra via their father, her mother never stepped in. She was a victim... but now she worked for them, did the same things that had been done to her.

Where had Abby been all this time? With them, climbing the ranks? Maybe it was nieve of her, but Brooke could not help thinking maybe with just a little time she could convince Abby to turn sides.

"Ok, 40 seconds." Abby nodded for Brooke to move closer.

"Abby." She looked into the eyes of her older sister. "I don't know how to do this."

A flicker in Abby's eyes, something soft. "We'll jump together. Pull this cord when I do. Our landing area is big, as long as you follow me, you'll be alright."

Brooke bit her bottom lip, knees shaking as she took small steps toward the opening back door of the plane.

"10 seconds." Abby reached out for Brooke's shoulder.

Allowing the guester to comfort her, Brooke screamed as Abby pushed her into a spiraling free fall. As she hurled toward the ground a hard body slammed into her then with a jolt Brooke shot upward. Abby had pulled her parachute for her.

Highs were not her things, Brooke focused hard on Abby's chute, following its directing as best as she could without jump training.

As the plane flew overhead Brooke could not help but think what a shit show she had gotten herself into. The team would find the plane empty and have no idea where she was, no way to track her.

She wished she had a couple of minutes alone to leave some kind of note behind for Bucky. She could not help but think about one of their first conversations. How she had warned him about her situation, her inability to protect his heart. She had proved herself right, she was going to disappear and it was going to impact him.

Or maybe she was too full of herself...

The free fall took her breath and her train of thought. All Brooke could manage to think about was the ground fastly rushing up toward her.

.

Steve stood with Bucky inside the plane, Two men were inside but no sign of Brooke, Abby or Anetta.

"Where are they," Bucky growled in the man's face.

They were met with silence, they were not going to get any answers out of them.

"We'll look at the logs, see where they flew over and trace back their path, Brooke maybe never even got on the plane in the first place, or maybe they let them out somewhere."

"We have no record of Abby and Anetta, no idea what they've been doing under the KGB. They know how to get gone and stay that way, we're never going to find her."

Bucky had his share of panic attacks when he first came back to Steve. He had learned how to head them off before they started. The last time he had one was right after Brooke had come back. It was following a dream where she had come to save him, they captured them and she was in his electric chair.

"Bucky- Just breathe." Steve's voice sounded far away.

.

"Where are we?"

"A safe house. We will send word that we are here and they will send someone to collect us."

"Why can't we just drive there together?"

"After your boyfriend started hunting down Hydra operatives, blowing up their bases of operations we decided to conduct our business elsewhere. Unless you have a flying car, we can't drive there, hence the waiting."

So the KBG's home base is in the sky? How big was their aircraft? Or were there multiple aircraft, or was it more like a space station? No, they could not be in space. There was no way to settle back and forth in a timely manner.

"How long are we going to be here?"

"48 hours, then we'll be on the move. The fridge has a few things if you get hungry." Abby looked her over. "If you try to escape, you will be electrocuted."

Once Abby walked out of the room Brooke eyed the front door. This whole house could not be electric, right? Maybe it was just a lie to keep her contained... Deciding that even if she did get out, she was surrounded by homes, she did not want to put anyone else in danger. For now, she was alive and 48 hours gave her enough time to figure out a plan.

Brooke looked around the home. It was drab, clearly no money had gone into this place, but it seemed unused. She doubted lots of people spend time here.

She doubted there was a phone lying around, but Abby had to have a phone, right? She would wait till either Abby was asleep or distracted and she would try to take it and get in touch with Bucky.

... Something occurred to her then. Abby had taken off the face of her mother, was someone else hiding under Abby's face?

"Are you going to stand there for two days?"

"Is that your real face? Are you really Abby?"

A face that had similarities to hers smiled at her. Abby raised her hand and pulled at her cheek, when she could not pull anymore she let go. The skin pinked at the rough treatment.

"It's me, little sister."

"What happened to you?" Brooke was honestly curious.

Abby tilted her head, observing Brooke. "I am more interested in your story."

"You know it already."

Abby nodded, she did, she had been watching Brooke on and off for many years now.

"There is something I don't understand. Why give up vet school for a guy?"

"I didn't give up vet school for James. That was never my life, clearly, if you already know about it. If you guys were always watching me, why leave me alone, why not come for me years ago?"

"Dad was still around, I didn't want him to get his hands on you. When he died I planned on coming for you, but you were with Hydra, or so we thought. I needed to watch you a little while longer, see if you had an alliance with them that I missed."

"Why don't I remember you? Daniel? From 10 to fourteen I have little to no memory, why?"

"You were always a wildcat, the second child usually is. They couldn't control you, Dad had you on a cocktail to keep you as subdued as possible. It made you easier to handle when you were so agreeable. I can only assume your brain was too muddled or unable to make memories and that's why you don't have many."

Brooke felt her spit thicken. He really had been a monster, hadn't he?

"And Mom... When you were wearing her face, you said some things about me 'killing you' and that she was afraid of me-"

"That was just to destroy your credibility. We did start a fire, but it was both our faults and we were trying to burn the place down, get away from Dad."

"Oh." Brooke played with the ring on her finger.

"I am going to cook some food."

"I could help."

"Sure." Abby nodded, leading the way.

Brooke felt like she was battling between two realities. The one where her sister was just as hurt by their parents as she was and was trying to protect her and do what she thought was right. Or she was also a monster, brain warped during her upbringing she was out of her mind as much as the rest of her bosses.

There was only one way she was going to find out the difference.

"What are we making?"

"Chicken alfredo. I used to-"

"You used to make that for us all the time." She remembered.

"I did. No one really cooked at the lab. It was a lot of junk and after a lot of upset stomachs I decided to learn a couple simple meals."

Brooke looked at the women flitting around the kitchen. "Thank you."

She froze, back turned to her. "You are welcome."

They moved around the kitchen together. After the cooking she had done with Clint, she was not useless. They made the food together in silence. Mainly ate in silence. Brooke had a lot on her mind, a lot to digest, she wondered if Abby did too.