Twelve-year-old Noelle was led down the dark hallway, her head pounding. She was being given her first mission. She was led into Colonel Strucker's office, and he smiled slightly when he saw her. 

    "Доброе утро, солдат." (Good morning, soldier.) She nodded sharply, looking him right in the eye. 

    "What do you have for me, colonel?" She asked, her voice laced with the Russian accent she'd learned from her father and had been surrounded by for the last five years. 

     "Your first mission, soldier. Are you ready?" He asked, his English also heavily laced with Russian. She met his eyes, staring him down.

     "I am ready, colonel. Who is my mission?"  He slid a file over to her, and she opened it.
      "Agent Phil Coulson. He's a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D officer and officer." She opened it, her eyes narrowing slightly.
      "S.H.I.E.L.D." She hissed, her eyes darkening at the sight of the name. Noelle's head snapped up, and she closed the file.

      "It will be done, Colonel. Do I leave right now?" He nodded.
       "Go get your *** on the plane." She turned to leave, and he spoke up again.
     "Joelle." She froze at his harsh voice, and turned back to him. She turned back, almost worried when she heard the name that they'd given her.

      "Colonel?" She didn't think Joelle was her name, but that's what they called her, so that's what she answered to.

       "Do not fail us, Joelle. You know what will happen if you fail." She nodded, pushing away the fear that popped up, along with some very......painful memories.

       "Yes, colonel." She left, going to her room and changing into her uniform and placing her mask over her face. Her uniform was exactly like that of the Winter Soldier, as well as the mask. The uniform had one sleeve missing, which revealed her metal arm, with its single red star on the shoulder. She removed the arm, studying the warped, scarred skin, and remembered what had happened the day she lost the arm. 

The newly twelve-year-old girl stood, using the back of her hand to wipe away a trickle of blood from her mouth. She had a variety of cuts and bruises all over, and she was almost to her breaking point. Her opponent, one of the Hydra soldiers, pulled out a long knife. She took a deep breath, charging at him again. He dodged her attacks easily, laughing.

"You little *****!! You call that fighting?!" She felt a boot hit her ribs, and she dropped to the floor, crying out in pain.

"You would be dead by now if the Winter Soldier were still here!! He would be ashamed that you're supposed to fight with him." Strucker hissed, continuing to kick her and beat her. She felt a knife slice through her back, through her shirt, leaving bloody cuts on her back. She tried to fight back tears, but couldn't stop them.

"You don't cry, you little ****. You cry, you show the enemy that you're weak." His boot hit her ribs again, and she cried out in pain as she felt her ribs crack. Then, the knife plunged into her left shoulder. She screamed, curling up as white-hot pain flowed through her whole body, and she heard the bone snap. Everything became a blur, but she remembered cursing, and she remembered hearing voices, and bits of conversation.

"Bone was completely shattered...."

"Can't actually save the arm......"

"It'll be scarred for the rest of her life...."

"If it had gone in from the tip, not the side, we could save it......"

"It's too jagged, like someone tried to saw it off...."

She shook her head slightly, pulling herself out of that memory, but remembering when she woke up a few weeks later, her arm now healed but badly scarred. They had frozen her again, so that she could completely heal. Her whole body was already littered with scars......Scars that would forever remind her of the torture they had forced upon her. She replaced the arm, heading to the plane. Four hours later, she was outside the Avengers Tower, waiting patiently for them to exit. Coulson came out, followed by Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Captain America, and....Winter Soldier, but none of them were in uniform. She sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes landing on Winter Soldier. 

"I know him......." She murmured, a dull ache growing in her chest. Then, the feedback in her comm unit squealed in her ear. 

"Take the shot. Don't worry if anyone sees him fall." She raised the gun they had given her, her aim perfect, but she couldn't take her eyes off Winter Soldier, the ache growing sharper and sharper until it was nearly a stabbing pain. 

"I'm sorry." She whispered, and squeezed off the first shot......And missed. It slammed into Captain America's shoulder, and she gasped, firing the next two at Coulson. But it was too late. Hawkeye had his bow out, and shot three arrows towards her. She easily dodged them, stepping up onto the ledge, staring right down at them. She squeezed off one last shot, and that one actually his Coulson in the stomach. Then, she turned, leaving them behind. When she arrived back at the base, Strucker was waiting. 

"You little *****." He hissed, slapping her across the face. She stumbled back, and his ice-cold gaze pierced her.

"He was hit, yes, but he survived. You failed." Realization hit her like a knife, and she froze. Strucker turned away, looking at the three soldiers nearby. 

"Делай с ней то, что хочешь. Она должна быть наказана." (Do with her what you want. She must be punished.)  One of them moved over, grabbing her wrist, and started practically dragging her away. She gasped in pain, the other man's fist connecting with her stomach. For the next week, every single day, she was beaten brutally. When she finally recovered, she began training again with a newfound vigor, not remembering the glimpse she had gotten of the man she knew. But he remembered......And little did she know........Remembering was nearly killing him.

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Bucky sat on the edge of his and Emily's bed, replaying what had happened, that one glimpse of the girl. She had a metal arm, almost exactly like his, a mask covering most of her face, and a long, brown braid. He just couldnt get the image out of his mind. He felt the other side of the bed sink down slightly, and then he felt Emily's smaller hands on his shoulders, gently rubbing. 

"Steve's going to be out tomorrow. What's wrong?" She asked softly, and he shook his head slightly. 

"I just......I thought I saw Noelle." He whispered, the tears finally coming. Their daughter, who had been missing for the last five years, with no leads. Emily bowed her head slightly. 

"But it wasnt, was it?" He shook his head slightly. 

"I don't think so. I just......She looked almost exactly how I imagined she would." Emily nodded, tears trickling down her cheeks. The pain of losing her hadn't lessened since the day it had happened, and they still kept trying to find her. 

"We'll find her, James. Someday. We'll bring our girl home." She whispered, but now.....Now it was mostly her trying to convince herself. She wasn't going to give up......But she was losing hope, and quickly.