He wakes as the other guy is climbing back up to the top. He fires, hits him, keeps firing, trying to stop him. But he can't follow. He's too injured to try, his head pounding, his body aching. The failure hits him first, and then the craft quakes and the beam hits him second, trapping him underneath. Blasts and booms sound, fire coming from all directions. Death stares him in the face once again.

And the other guy jumps down.

He starts pulling on the beam, helping him. Why? Are they not enemies? Isn't this victory for him? They were fighting ten minutes ago. He shot him. What reason does he have to help?

Whatever it is, he'll take it.

He wriggles free, crawling out from under the beam. It lands with a thud, and he catches his breath, wondering why he's alive. Why he can move, why his mission is sitting next to him, having just saved his life.

Why he sounds so familiar.

Something tugs in the back of his brain, a door locked in chains, the key thrown away a long time ago. It won't open, and he wants it open, wants to know what's in there. And he can't, no matter how hard he tries. It infuriates him.

"You know me," the other guy says.

Rage builds in him, and he swings. "No, I don't!"

"Bucky," he persists. Who is that? Why does that mean something? "You've known me your whole life."

He can't have. He can't. This is his mission, not his past. His past is...

His past isn't there. Everything is gone. The door is locked, though something on the other side is fighting to get out. He swings again. Confusion grips him, producing rage. He can't know him, he can't know his mission. How can he kill someone he's known his whole life? And how can he have a whole life that he doesn't remember?

"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes-"

"Shut up!" he swings again. The locked door splinters. But it stays locked. The chains grow tighter. Why won't it open? What's on the other side?

The other guy stands. "I'm not gonna fight you." He drops his shield, lets it fall to the water below. "You're my friend."

No, no, he doesn't have friends. He never has. Why does he keep insisting things are different? Why does that locked door want to know?

He tackles him, wanting the confusion to be over, hating that he's failed. At the very least he can get this part right.

"You're my mission," he insists, slamming him down, his head over the edge of the broken glass. He punches him, over and over. "You're my mission!" he screams. But when he stops, the other guy still doesn't fight back. Why? Why won't he fight back? Why does his face look familiar, even bruised and bloodied and swollen?

Why does he know him?

"Then finish it," he says. "'Cause I'm with you to the end of the line."

A chain unravels, and the words slip out. He can hear himself saying it, feel the words coming out of his mouth. He was with him. He knows him. His friend. He had a friend, he had a past. And all it consists of right now is that face, that string of words. And a name.

Something crashes into the glass beneath them, and they go falling. He grips onto a metal rod above him, but Steve falls into the water.

Without thinking, he lets go, dropping down. He grabs his friend, and he pulls him out, tugging, straining against his injuries and the rolling water, avoiding the debris. On the shore, Steve starts breathing, coughing up water.

Nothing makes sense now, but it will. It has to. He has to figure it out.

So he leaves him there, hoping quietly that he'll survive, not glancing back.

~_~_~_~_~

They found Steve on the shore of the lake, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. Kate, Nat, and Sam rushed him to the hospital, and Hill followed later. Soon, Hill had to go with Fury, sort some things out. But Nat and Kate lingered.

Sam smiled a bit. "I'll watch over him. Don't worry about it."

Nat sighed, eyes locked on Steve. "Call with any updates, okay?"

"You got it."

Kate walked over to the bed. Steve's face was swollen, bruised. That mechanical beeping rang out, monitoring his heart rate. It was strong, thankfully. She pushed some hair out of his face, frowning. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and then she left with Nat.

Sam called when Steve woke, then once more after, saying he's still tired but improving fast. Steve got on the phone, told them what happened: He stopped fighting, but Bucky didn't, and then they fell out of the ship and into the water, Steve unconscious until he was laying on the shore, watching Bucky walk away.

He saved him. It makes Kate smile, gives her hope that the real Bucky Barnes is still in there, one day ready and willing to answer every question she's ever had that Steve can't. But unfortunately, in the following days, all Kate will be doing is joining Nat on Capitol Hill. Fortunately, though, it's just Nat who's doing the talking.

"Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" the bailiff asks.

Nat, one hand on a Bible, the other up, responds, "I do."

She sits down amid camera flashes and recorders, answering questions calmly.

"Why haven't we yet heard from Captain Rogers?"

"I don't know what there is left for him to say," she replies. "I think the wreck in the middle of the Potomac made his point fairly eloquently."

"Well, he could explain how this country's expected to maintain its national security now that he, you, and Dr. Kate Carson have laid waste to our intelligence apparatus."

Nat's brows twitch, a bit of irritation creeping into her tone. "HYDRA was selling you lies, not intelligence."

"Many of which you seem to have had a personal hand in telling," he retorts. Kate frowns, crossing her arms.

Another voice joins the conversation. "Agent, you should know that there are some on this committee who feel, given your service record — both for this country and against it — that you belong in a penitentiary. Not mouthing off on Capitol Hill."

Kate can tell that Nat wants to laugh, though she's hiding it well. "You're not gonna put me in a prison. You're not gonna put any of us in a prison," she replies. "You know why?"

"Do enlighten us."

"Because you need us. Yes, the world is a vulnerable place, and yes, we helped make it that way. But we're also the ones best qualified to defend it. So if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me."

She waits a moment, watches their speechless faces, then gets up and walks away. When she rejoins Kate, Kate grins. "That was awesome."

Nat smirks. "Thanks. Lunch?"

"Oh, definitely. I'm starving."

"I'm thinking pizza."

"You read my mind."

~_~_~_~_~

The next time Kate sees Steve and Sam is over Fury's grave. Fury himself is standing with them, wearing a hoodie and sunglasses. "So, you've experienced this sort of thing before?" he asks Steve.

"You get used to it."

"We've been data-mining HYDRA's files. Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship. I'm headed to Europe tonight, wanted to ask if you'd come."

"There's something I gotta do first."

He turns to Sam. "How about you, Wilson? Could use a man with your abilities."

Sam shakes his head. "I'm more of a soldier than a spy."

"Alright then." Fury holds out a hand, shaking Sam and Steve's. "Anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me right here." He points to the grave, and Steve nods before Fury walks off, turning back once to smile at Kate and Nat.

The latter chuckles. "You should be honored; that's about as close as he gets to saying thank you."

"I got an apology once," Kate says. Sam seems particularly impressed.

"Not going with him?" Steve asks Nat.

"No."

"Not staying here?"

"Nah. I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one."

"That might take a while."

"I'm counting on it." She smiles. "That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev." She passes him the file in her hands, but Steve doesn't open it, leaving Kate to wonder. Nat goes on. "Will you do me a favor? Call that nurse."

"She's not a nurse."

"And you're not a SHIELD agent."

Steve sighs. "What was her name again?"

"Sharon. She's nice," Nat replies. But Kate detects the sadness in her eyes, even as she steps forward and kisses Steve's cheek, and discomfort returns in her chest. "Be careful, Steve." She nods to the file. "You might not want to pull on that thread."

"Call me," Kate says.

Nat smiles again, hugging her. "I will."

They all watch her go, waiting until she's further in the distance to speak again. Steve goes first, musing as he nudges her shoulder. "You know, Kate, you never did explain that jar of dirt thing."

She bursts out laughing; she'd completely forgotten about it, and it's hilarious that he remembered. "Unfortunately, my lips arrr sealed."

"That was so bad," Sam laughs, shaking his head. Steve merely looks amused, glancing between them, as he doesn't quite get the joke.

"It's a movie," Kate explains. "About pirates."

"I'll have to add it to my list," he replies with a chuckle. There's another small pause, and then he sighs. "So, where are you headed?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. I think Stark installed fancy sprinklers in his lab, and I haven't been to check that out yet. Plus, Hill's joining up with him, too, so that's always a possibility — you know, now that I can't live in my apartment anymore."

He grimaces. "Sorry."

"Not your fault. But now also your problem, too." She nods to the file, curiosity gnawing at her. "What've you got there?"

He flips it open, revealing two pictures of Bucky Barnes — one as a soldier that Kate's seen before, and another in some of sort of chamber, hair long, eyes closed, bathed in blue light. She breathes in, stepping closer. "You're going after Bucky?"

"You don't have to come with me," Steve replies, frowning a bit.

Kate rolls her eyes, nudging his shoulder. "I've been chasing after him since I was, like, nine. I'm definitely not gonna stop now."

"So..." Sam says "...when do we start?"

~_~_~_~_~

Kate's eyes pop open as she's jolted out of a doze by a noise to her left. Tony's voice comes through, though it takes a moment for Kate to understand what he's saying. "And the fact that you guys have been able to help me process-" he stops, noticing that Kate and Bruce are rubbing their eyes. He squints suspiciously. "You guys with me?"

"I-I was," Bruce stutters.

"Um..." Kate trails off. "Yes?"

"Wow, you really are a terrible liar, Weasley." He sighs. "Where did I lose you?"

"Elevator in Switzerland," Bruce replies.

"So you heard none of it?"

"Geez, Bruce, at least I made it to Pepper falling off the thing," Kate chides. "I'm assuming she survived since I literally just saw her this morning, but I do wanna know how." She really was interested, but she had a late night unpacking the stuff she got back from her apartment and looking for leads on Bucky.

"You didn't even wake me up?" Bruce asks incredulously.

"I didn't know you were asleep!"

"I fought Killian, the Extremis saved Pepper from dying, she killed Killian, my suit nearly killed her and she destroyed that, too, I destroyed all my suits, we came home and I figured out how to fix her, then I figured out how to fix me, too, and now I don't need a powerful electromagnet to stop shrapnel from entering my heart every moment of every day. The end," Tony says, sighing again.

"Extremis?" Bruce mutters.

"Basically, Killian was trying to recreate me for some reason but... different," Kate replies, still confused. "Terrorism was involved. It wasn't great."

"Just forget it," Tony says.

Bruce sighs. "I'm sorry, it's just... I'm not that kind of doctor, Tony. Neither is Kate."

Kate almost laughs; she is no position to talk to somebody about their mental health. "Yeah, I am in no way a therapist."

"Neither of us have the-"

"Time?" Tony finishes.

"The temperament," Bruce corrects. Kate nods; he's absolutely right.

Tony pauses, then: "You know what, now that I think about it — my original wound. 1983, all right? Fourteen years old and I still have a nanny. That was weird."