𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐄.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
act one ━━ 𝘁𝘄𝗼.
· 。ﾟ୧ ⋆. 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥. ₊˚.༄
━━━ THE WINTER SOLDIER,
❝ it's uh, um, an open relationship ❞

𝓜elody sighed shoving a piece of pink bubble gum into her mouth; roughly her sixth one. Her knee bounced in anticipation and worry, for Nick Fury who had gone under surgery. Steve had phoned Natasha who had been with Melody that night saying he had been attacked and was being taken to the hospital for emergency care.

Natasha stood arms crossed looking into the surgery room next to Steve, Melody stood to her feet following Maria Hill next to the two. Her doe eyes darted from doctor to doctor then to the man who laid lifelessly on the table.

Nick had been the one to recruit Melody into the S.H.I.E.L.D. alongside Tony. He knew someone with her capability and power could do wonders and help the world become better; safer. Though she rarely saw him due to his work schedule she still considered the man a friend, someone she looked up to.

Chewing on the wad of gum she watched with sad eyes as Natasha spoke softly, tears gathered in her eyes watching the scene before them.

"Is he gonna make it?" Natasha asked no one in particular.

"I don't know." Steve answered.

"Tell me about the shooter." She added, trying to get her mind elsewhere.

"He's fast and strong. Had a metal arm." Steve mumbled the last part.

"Ballistics?"

"Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable." Maria answered blinking away her tears.

"Soviet-made." Natasha confirmed, her jaw clenched.

"Yeah." Maria nodded.

"What's happening?" Melody asked as the doctors began to panic slightly, the machines beeped rapidly; his health fading away as his life was by the second.

"He's in V-tach." A nurse spoke from behind the glass to her colleague.

"Crash cart coming in."

"Nurse, help me with the drape." One instructed.

"BP is dropping."

"Defibrillator! Charge him at one hundred."

Melody placed the palm of her hand on the glass with a frown, "Daor." She whispered as Steve, Natasha and Maria watched in shock as Nick began to be flatlining.

"Don't do this to me, Nick." Natasha whispered, almost pleadingly.

"Stand back! Three, two, one. Clear!" The doctor shouted, as Nick is given a shock with the defibrillator. "Pulse?"

"No pulse." A nurse answered.

"No pulse." Another confirmed.

"Okay. 200, please. Stand back! Three, two, one. Clear!" Nick was given another shock to his chest. "Give me epinephrine! Pulse?"

"Negative."

"Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me." Melody placed her hand now on Natasha forearm gently. The four watch the doctors as they continue to revive Nick, but he was still showing as flatlining.

Natasha pulled away from the sea nymph before exiting the room, as Steve turned away as they finally call his time of death out loud.

"What's the time?"

"1:03, Doctor."

"Time of death, 1:03 a.m." The doctor confirmed.

Minutes went by but what felt like hours as they stared down at Nick's body. The nurses had taken his body into a separate room for the four to say their final goodbyes before Maria Hill would take his body back with her.

Natasha stood over Nick's body, tears breamed her emerald eyes, refusing to cry in front of the three in the room with her.

Melody held onto the man's cold hand with sad eyes.

"I need to take him." Maria breathes out looking towards the two females.

Noticing they weren't going to move anytime soon, Steve approaches the two cautiously. "Natasha." He called out. Receiving no response, the red head places her hand on the man's head tenderly before exiting the room quickly. Steve following in pursuit.

Melody sniffed before removing her hand from his own. "I didn't know him as well as you did." She spoke quietly to Maria who walked over next to the brunette. "But he always treated me kindly. He didn't see me as a monster or a killer, but some sort of hero. And for that I am forever grateful for having the chance to meet someone as wonderful as him."

Maria's lips twitched upwards, "Thank you."

"I should go." Melody announced before turning to the woman and smiling and engulfing her in a hug. Maria awkwardly tapped the girl's back as she hugged her tightly, "See you soon." Melody pulled away before walking away and exiting the room seeing Natasha storm away from Steve as Rumlow glanced at the group with a harsh glare.

Steve looked to Melody and gave her a small nod to go after the red head. Melody raised her hand in a mock salute before watching him leave with the STRIKE agents.

"Hmph." Melody hummed squinting her eyes at Rumlow's retreating figure. Shaking her head she shoved her hand into her pocket, rummaging for another piece of bubblegum. She frowned seeing the final crumpled up wrapper instead. A frown adorned her plump lips.

Her eyes trailed the machine in front of her, her irises brightened at the pink sticks of gum. "Bubbly!" She gushed in excitement walking to the machine and shoving a quarter into the slot pressing the required number 510, she smiled as it began to move only for it to remain stuck in it's place. Her eyes narrowed.

Raising her hand she banged on the glass only for it to remain stuck in it's place. Huffing she placed her hands on the side of the vending machine and rocked it back and forth effortlessly; ignoring the stares of patients and nurses.

She smiled in triumph as a clattering sound was heard inside the machine. She placed the machine back in it's place before shoving her hand in the machine feeling not one but two sticks of gum, or so she thought.

Her brows furrowed at the silver object in her hand then to the pink Hubba Bubba stick, "Bubbly?" She murmured looking down at the silver flash drive. "Shiny." She whispered in awe.

Smiling she shoved the object into her pocket and opened the pink package shoving a piece into her mouth before shoving the remainder of gum into her leather jacket's pocket.

Melody met Natasha outside of the hospital who rubbed at her reddened eyes, she cleared her throat. "Ready?"

Melody nodded following the woman into her car.

The two drove in silence.

Melody mindlessly grabbed the silver object she had encountered moments ago. Raising it she bit the corner of the flash drive, a small huff left her lips.

Natasha glanced over nearly running into the car in front of her. She halted the car's movements, a squeal left Melody's throat at the sudden impact. "Where did you get that?" She questioned the brunette who froze holding the flash drive in-between her teeth looking wide eyed at Natasha.

"Inside the machine where it has bad food for you." She removed it from her mouth.

"That's - that's impossible." Natasha breathed out looking at the flash drive she had given to Nick Fury days ago after their mission. "Steve." She gritted out.

"Steve never eats the food in there." Melody murmured tilting her head to the side, "Please don't tell him I got more, he'll be upset."

Natasha shook her head, "He won't be." Melody placed the flash drive in the red head's hand, "He has some serious explaining to do."

Melody nodded in agreement though she was slightly confused as to what the object was, she knew it was of importance to both Natasha and Nick Fury. She silently cursed herself for prying into the red head's mind accidentally.

Shoving her hand into her pocket she pulled out her stick of gum and held it out to Natasha, "Bubbly?"

Natasha nodded taking a piece, plopping it into her mouth. "We've got a lot to do tonight, kid."

𝓜elody stood once again in the hospital's waiting room, as Natasha confronted Steve about the flash drive, Melody had encountered the night before; accidentally. She listened carefully as fumbling was heard down the hall from her, where Natasha had been awaiting for the former soldier himself.

"Where is it?" Steve questioned the red head.

"Safe." Natasha answered simply looking up at Steve, just as Melody entered the room behind him shutting the door quietly.

"Do better!" He demanded in anger, his eyes glaring down at her.

"Where did you get it?" Natasha questioned unfazed.

"Why would I tell you?" Steve argued back.

"Fury gave it to you. Why?"

"What's on it?" Steve demanded.

"We don't know." Melody answered from behind Steve, who now noticed the brunette was behind him staring at the two with a frown.

"You have her doing your bidding work now?" Steve asked, disgust in his voice as he looked to Natasha who looked slightly offended by his words.

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers." She bit back, "And, no. Melody found it. Should probably be careful where you leave things. Could end up in the wrong hands." She taunted.

Ignoring her comment he questioned her once again, "I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

With a shrug she nodded slightly, "Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

"I'm not gonna ask you again."

"I know who killed Fury." Natasha quickly answered him, Steve glanced over to Melody who nodded her head silently signalling she was correct. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

"So he's a ghost story." Steve scoffed.

"Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff, I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me." Natasha pulled up her shirt to show him the scar on the side of her stomach. "Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye-bye bikinis." She joked.

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now." He sarcastically said, Natasha smiled slightly.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried." She explained, before nodding to Melody who held up the flash drive. Turning back to Steve she said, "Like you said, he's a ghost story."

"Well, let's find out what the ghost wants."

"I hate ghosts." Melody mumbled before handing over the object to Steve with a frown.

𝓝atasha had explained to Melody that they needed a busy and hard place to be found whilst using the flash drive, so they came up with the idea of going to the mall. Specifically the Apple Store. Once again the trio were dressed up as civilians though their disguises weren't the greatest nonetheless no one seemed to have noticed the three.

Melody adjusted her pigtails and her black rimmed glasses as she walked alongside Steve and Natasha. She chewed on her gum nervously, hoping they wouldn't be caught in a public place with many civilians.

Steve had told her and Natasha what had occurred back at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters where he had been attacked by STRIKE men, specifically Rumlow. Melody knew something felt off about him though she couldn't place her finger on it. He was smart she had to admit, nothing suspicious came through his mind when she was around him. He was familiar with her abilities, unfortunately.

"First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk." Natasha said averting Melody's train of thought back to reality.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Steve retorted as the trio entered the busy store.

"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up S.H.I.E.L.D. will know exactly where we are." Natasha explained as they approached a MacBook, she took out the flash drive discreetly.

"How much time do we have till they come?" Melody asked glancing around the store.

"Uh . . . About nine minutes from . . ." She began shoving the flash drive into a MacBook Pro. "Now." The trio looked down as encrypted codes appeared on the screen, "Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Steve questioned glancing around them three.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly. I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that S.H.I.E.L.D. developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from." She informed the duo.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" An employee approached the three with a smile.

Melody smiled brightly at the man who flushed at the beautiful girl.

"Oh, no. My fiancé and his girlfriend were just helping me with some honeymoon destinations." Natasha smiled placing her around Steve as she placed her other hand on Melody's waist whose brows furrowed at her words.

"Right! We're getting married." Steve nodded at the man whose eyes widened looking between the two women. "It's uh, um, an open relationship." He cringed.

"Lucky man." He breathed out, "Uh, congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?" He questioned.

Steve looked at the monitor and sees the signal traced to somewhere in New Jersey. "New Jersey." He answered with a simple shrug.

"Oh." He hummed at the odd choice, the employee looked at Steve for a moment who swallowed thickly. "I have the exact same glasses." Steve let out a small breath.

"Wow, you two are practically twins." Natasha said sarcastically in boredom, typing away on the laptop.

"Yeah, I wish. Specimen. Uh . . . if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron." He smiled looking to Melody lastly who bit her bottom lip twirling one of her pigtails.

Steve placed his hands on her shoulders pulling her behind him, "Thank you." He nodded as the employee backed up from the trio nearly stumbling into a desk. "You said nine minutes, come on."

"Shh, relax. Got it." She announced as a signal popped up from Wheaton, New Jersey. Steve's lips parted, "You know it?"

"I used to. Let's go." Steve pulled out the flash drive from the computer and they walked out of the store. "Standard tac-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you two hit the south escalator to the metro." He ordered just as two agents were coming straight towards them.

"Shut up and put your arm around us, laugh at something I said." Natasha demanded.

"What?" Steve stammered.

"Do it!" She hissed. Steve quickly put his arms around the two women shoving his face into the red head's neck. Earning fake laughter from both females.

The trio approached the escalators, Melody stood in front of the two, her eyes widened as she spotted Rumlow on the opposite escalator going up. She nudged Natasha's leg who looked in the same direction.

"Kiss me." Natasha whispered to Steve.

"What?" Steve gaped at the red head.

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

Steve parted his lips and nodded, "Yes, they do."

Melody turned her head to her right placing her finger against her chin feigning a look of thought as Natasha pulled down Steve's head and kissed him making Rumlow look away in discomfort as he goes past them on the escalator.

"You still uncomfortable?"

"It's not exactly the word I would use." Steve breathed out. Melody's head tilted eyeing the blonde man, a look of confusion evident on her features.

"What does 'turned on' mean?" Melody voiced up looking from a flushed Steve whose eyes widened pulling her by her forearm after a smirking Natasha.

• • ＮＥＷ ＪＥＲＳＥＹ

𝓐rriving to their destination the trio looked around the abandoned military base. Steve had said that it was the correct location where he had come from, though it of course looked slightly different then it once did. But he knew exactly where he was. Flashes of memories formed before his eyes as he looked around the camp.

It had gotten dark side their arrival to the site. They had spent an hour inspecting the base camp only to come across nothing.

"I don't think anything is here." Melody called out walking towards the two, "No one is here."

"Mel's right. This is a dead end. Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off." Natasha nodded in a agreement. Just as Steve noticed a building ahead of them. "What is it?"

"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place." He explained before smashing his shield against the locks, unlocking the entrance.

Turning on the lights a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo was placed on the wall down the hall from them. It was an office of some sorts, files decorated the shelves alongside dust.

"S.H.I.E.L.D." Melody tilted her head at the logo placing her finger tips against the wall.

"Maybe where it started." He added with a nod to the brunette.

The trio entered a room where they find old framed portraits of Howard Stark, Peggy Carter and fellow agents that Steve had known.

"There's Stark's father." Natasha noted.

"Howard." Steve confirmed.

Noticing his eyes lingering on the photo of Peggy Carter, Natasha questioned, "Who's the girl?"

Steve walked away without an answer towards the dusty bookshelves. Melody looked over to Natasha and shook her head.

"If you're already working in a secret office . . ." The two watched as he pushed the bookshelf to the side and revealing an elevator behind it. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

The three entered the elevator coming to a large space with old computers surrounding them.

"This can't be the data-point, this technology is ancient." Suddenly Natasha notices a small flash drive port, she places the flash drive in it which then activates the computers and power within the room.

"Woah." Melody breathed out looking around the room in awe.

"Initiate system?"

Natasha typed on the computer, "Y-E-S, spells yes." She smiled as the old computer starts to light up. "Shall we play a game?" She joked turning to the two, "It's from a movie that was really popular-" She began.

"Yeah, we saw it." Steve nodded referring to him and Melody.

A voice echoed the room alerting the trio.

"Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984. Lockhart, Melody. Born 1987." An old camera moved between the three analyzing them.

"It's some kind of a recording."

"I am not a recording, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am . . ." It showed a photo of an old pudgy man by the name of Dr. Arnim Zola.

"Do you know it?" Melody asked, her eyes glancing around the screen in confusion.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years." Steve answered her question.

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain."

Melody scrunched up her nose looking down beneath her heels. "Sorry." She mumbled to the man receiving confused looks from her friends. "We're invading his mind, aren't we?" She whispered.

"No, it's okay." He assured the brunette before turning back to the old computer. "How did you get here?"

"Invited." It simply said.

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited German scientists with strategic value." Natasha finished.

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own."

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull." Steve said as a matter of fact.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

"Prove it." Steve demanded Arnim show them.

"Accessing archive." They watched as the computer screen shows them old footage of Johann Schmidt/Red Skull, and the the original S.H.I.E.L.D. founders. "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed."

"That's impossible, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have stopped you." Natasha denied shaking her head.

Melody glanced around the room in wary, why would it tell them all of this? She thought to herself.

"Accidents will happen. HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your Life; a zero sum." Steve clenched his jaw before shoving his fist through the computer in anger, "As I was saying . . ."

"What's on this drive?" Steve demanded looking to the smaller computer across them.

"This isn't right . . ." Melody voiced up from behind the two looking towards the exit then to the creepy face on the computer.

"Project Insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm." He explained.

"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?" Natasha pressed.

"Steve?" Melody called out in worry.

"Wait." Steve shook off the girl's worry as he and Natasha turned back to the computer.

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Perhaps you should listen to your friend. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear anymore." Suddenly the doors begin to close, Steve tries to stop them by throwing his shield in between it, but he's too late.

"Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops." Natasha announces looking down at her phone.

"Who fired it?" Steve questioned.

"S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it, it's better this way. We're both . . . out of time."

Melody's eyes widened. Steve looked down to a small opening on the ground, he threw the metal door aside and just as the place explodes he throws himself, Natasha, and Melody down into the hole and protects them with his shield.

Melody whimpered next to Natasha and Steve as the rocks dug into her skin.

Moments went by as the rubble settled slowly. Melody blinked herself awake seeing Steve trying to remove the boulders above them. Weakly she raised her hand as the rubble began to lift itself off of them.

Steve stood up pushing the remainder of the boulders away making a clearing for them to walk through. Kneeling down he reached for Melody who shook her head nodding to Natasha, reluctantly he carries Natasha bridal style as Melody stumbled behind him leaving the camp site.

❨ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 ❩
🐚ঌ ࣪₀🧺 .˚🌿✦

● 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱
○ 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱

MELODY needs to be protected at all costs omf

trailer is available !

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 :
daor : no

𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍, 𝟥𝟪𝟪𝟢