"They're credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years."

"So they're a ghost story."

~~~

"Pierce said that he wants me to do this one on my own." Bucky threw a file in front of you and sat across the table with a curious look on his face. "I'm not sure why, but he was insistent that you not be a part of it. I think he's wrong, so I'm bringing you in with me."

You opened the file to see pictures of a skinny blonde man, maybe about 90 pounds when soaking wet, and you weren't impressed in the least. "This guy? I don't see the risk here?"

"There's more." He grabbed the paper from your hand and flipped deeper into the file until a current picture of Steve Rogers was at the top of the pile. "This is him today. He possesses the same strength and skills that we have. He's a direct threat to Hydra with the means to take us down if we don't stop him now."

You sighed, nodding your head in agreement at what you were reading. "Wait, who's this?" A picture of a red headed woman was behind the picture of Rogers; her records showed her as Natalia Alianova Romanova, her current alias listed as Natasha Romanoff, master-level SHIELD spy with advanced training in combat and weaponry. You held the picture up for Bucky, a smile beginning to cross your face. "Well, if you get him, then I want this one."

~~~

"Insight's launching in 16 hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here."

"I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly."

"Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea!"

You both landed solidly on the car that held each of your targets. Bucky reached into the back of the car and pulled Sitwell out, throwing him in front of an oncoming truck, while you positioned yourself to take out your two assigned hits of the three left inside. Romanoff had managed to evade each of your shots, and when the car jerked to a stop, both you and Bucky were flung forward and onto the freeway. He instinctively wrapped his arm around you and dug his metal hand into the asphalt to slow your fall.

As you stood to look at the people inside the car, a pang of recognition hit you when you saw Rogers; a recognition that you didn't have when you saw his picture just days before. "Do you recognize him? I feel like I should know him?" you asked Bucky.

"There's no time for that. We need to move."

As the fight ensued, Romanoff and Rogers were separated, allowing you and Bucky the perfect opportunity to complete your individual missions. She ran from the rain of bullets, hiding in the flashes of explosions to conceal her direction. "She's good," you mumbled as you watched her jump from the overpass, but she had yet to emerge on the other side. You leaned over the edge to see her, but a barrage of shots fired past your head and you ducked behind the concrete barrier. As she began to retaliate, Bucky rushed to your side and sprayed bullets in her direction.

"I have her," you assured him, "you go find Rogers."

She was fast and agile, but still no match for you. Within minutes, you had her pinned, wounding her enough to keep her scared and still. When she looked back at you, you knew you had won and you were eager to finally take the definitive shot. Bucky leapt onto the vehicle next to you, aiming his gun at her with you. "Did you find him?" you asked, looking around for any sign of the Captain.

"He came this way. You finish her, then return to me."

You nodded and were just about to pull the trigger when your periphery caught the flash of light bouncing from Steve's shield. Bucky hit the shield with his metal arm and the resounding impact sent a shock wave around you. You were torn between shooting Romanoff and helping your partner, and in the instant of doubt, she escaped your view.

"Dammit!" It was a cat and mouse chase with you two, fueling your anger with yourself, knowing that you had let yourself lose sight of her when she was right there only seconds ago. As you searched inside and under the vehicles surrounding you, you glanced up at the fight between Bucky and Steve; it was impressive and actually quite beautiful to watch. Their skills were almost perfectly matched. If you assisted, then Steve would have no chance to survive, but this was Bucky's mission, and you were instructed to not interfere.

You gasped as Bucky was suddenly flung over Steve's shoulder and his mask was ripped from his face; he glanced at you, then back at his prey. Steve was frozen in place, and you didn't know why he had suddenly stopped.

"Bucky?"

Bucky looked at Steve then at you and back. "Who the hell is Bucky?" His face was awash in confusion and an almost pained expression. Hydra vehicles began to swarm around you, so you rushed forward and grabbed his arm to run to your escape. Once you had reached your designated vehicle, you pushed him inside and tried to shake him out of his entranced state, pulling off your own mask.

"What the hell was that? Why did he call you Bucky? Does he know you? Do you know him?"

"I...I knew him," he stammered. His head lifted to meet your gaze and locked in with a sense of urgency and panic. "I knew him, (Y/N)."

~~~

You stood silently against the wall as you watched them put Bucky into the machine, your mind frantically chasing thoughts that flashed through. You did your best to maintain an outward appearance of calm so that they wouldn't suspect and put you in there next. You wanted to work out what was happening to you, and possibly to your partner as well.

"Your work has been a gift to mankind."

This didn't feel right. For the first time in 50 years, you began to question what you were doing. Pierce looked back at you, but you didn't notice his stare immediately.

"Are you having doubts too? Do you need to go next?" He stood up and walked towards you, and your stomach became queasy with each step closer. "I won't risk losing the work my father began just because the two of you had your heads played with by Captain America."

"No, sir. No doubts." You straightened your posture and averted his eyes. "I'm merely concerned for my partner."

Bucky looked at you, his eyes filled with bewilderment and doubt. "It's okay," you mouthed silently, preparing yourself to watch the pain he was about to endure. They had always made you watch each other, but it had never bothered you until today. Something was changing, and it was going to be up to you to figure out what it was.

One of the guards moved to stand next to you as Bucky began to scream and once Pierce had left. His hand bumped yours, but the rest of his body was perfectly still, knowing the room was being watched at all times. His fingers pried their way into your hand, leaving something behind as he withdrew and walked back to his post, having never uttered a single word.

"Excuse me," you announced to the room, "I have business to attend to." You turned and exited, keeping your hand tightly closed until you were out of sight and within the safety of your personal quarters. Opening your hand, you sighed at what you saw, not understanding it but feeling a sense of pain wash over you. What was the guard trying to tell you?

Lying back on your bunk, you held the ring up in front of your face and resolved that you would find out.

~~~

Bucky had firmly directed you to stay away from the helicarriers today, and you knew better than to disobey an order from him. Instead, you were told to accompany Pierce during his meeting with the council and act as a strong arm if they were unable to be convinced to follow Hydra by reasonable methods. With your new doubts playing in your mind, you asked Bucky to stay connected via communicator so that you could hear anything that Rogers might say that would give you clues into what was happening with you and your partner.

"Attention all SHIELD agents, this is Steve Rogers."

When you looked at Pierce, he didn't seem fazed at all by what he was hearing; he looked at you and nodded, knowing that the moment was soon to come that you would need to overtake the room.

"SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader."

It surprised you when he motioned for you to leave, but the STRIKE team had arrived so you obeyed and quickly made your way to find where Rogers was transmitting from. Before you could lock down his signal, he had finished and you could hear explosions and yelling from the launch pad below. You ran to a window in time to see your partner commandeer a jet and leave for the helicarrier above, without you. You couldn't help but feel a slight sense of relief; you had never shied away from a mission before, but your mind was clear during those times and now it was anything but.

With Pierce busy in the council chambers, you took the opportunity to break into his office, in search of information on you and Bucky. He surely wouldn't be so stupid as to keep those materials at the facility where you both lived, so it was likely to be here. You slipped a pair of latex gloves over your hands and made your way in.

"A lot of people are gonna die, Buck. I can't let that happen."

Rogers keeps calling him Bucky, so that's the name where your search began, and it yielded immediate results. You found both paper documents and multiple files on Pierce's computer, filled with the life history of your partner as he used to be. When you picked up the wrinkled manila folder that held numerous Army papers shoved haphazardly into it, a small group of pictures fell out and onto your feet.

"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes."

"Shut up!"

Your partner was becoming more and more agitated; his voice was growing louder and deeper in your earpiece. You had to hurry so you could get to him. The first picture was of you and Bucky, sitting on a small and ragged blanket in what looked like Central Park. You appeared to be quite happy together, and your heart sank just a bit at the sight. Another picture was of Bucky with Rogers, before he received his enhancement; when he was small and meek. Bucky had his arm resting on Rogers' head, laughing as Steve looked annoyed with him. The final picture was all three of you, together and looking young and vibrant, waiting outside a movie theater. Steve was wearing his same old dorky grin, looking like the ever-present third wheel, while you and Bucky were smiling and looking at each other without a care in the world. Steve never did seem to care about being a third, but you and Bucky never saw him that way.

Wait. How were you remembering this? Where was this coming from?

"I'm not gonna fight you. You're my friend."

As you stood over the old box of paperwork, you began to feel a bit dizzy and your head started to pound. You tapped on your earpiece, thinking that maybe the signal was interfering or that there was a short in the system. The more you thought about the items you had found, the worse the pain became.

"Cuz I'm with you till the end of the line."

You had heard that sentence more times than you could count. It had become the motto of your group, used anytime you needed to support each other, or to show your commitment when times got rough. "I'm with you..." you whispered, searching your brain for recognition, "I'm with you..." You shook your head as if you were trying to jar your memories free from where they had been locked away for so many years. Your mind played the sentence again, with a picture of Steve and his arm around yours filling your vision. "I'm with you...till the end of the line."

A thunderbolt of pain filled your head, and as quickly as it arrived, it was gone. Panic filled your body as the wall in your mind crashed down and you remembered Steve and Bucky; remembered them as they were, as your best friends and loves, and as the two most important men in your life since the day you met them at the age of six.

You ran to the window, fear gripping your heart as shots rang out and hit each of the helicarriers, knowing that both Steve and Bucky were on one of them. The building shook around you as one of the ships crashed into it, while another loud explosion shook the windows that surrounded you. You looked up just in time to see a body falling towards the river, but you had no idea who it was.

You had no idea which of the men you loved was falling to their end.