𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐄.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
act one ━━ 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿.
· 。ﾟ୧ ⋆. 𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗞𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚. ₊˚.༄
━━━ THE WINTER SOLDIER,
❝ everyone is capable of being saved ❞

𝓜elody, Natasha, Steve, and Sam sat in the back of the rover. Their hands were cuffed, unable to move or provide any sort of defence or distraction. Melody silently cursed looking down at the glowing green forcefield against her own; weakening her power. She glanced to her right to the two guards perched next to them, her eyes squinted slightly.

"You okay?" Natasha whispered, with a small grunt.

Melody nodded, her worried eyes looked to her bleeding shoulder. "You need to be healed." She noted. "I don't have anything to heal you with, I am sorry." She whispered earning a small smile from the red head.

"It's okay." She whispered back.

"It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me." Steve blurted out, his eyes focused on the floor.

"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago." Sam argued in disbelief.

"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and . . ." He trailed off with a shrug.

"None of that's your fault, Steve." Natasha assured the man.

Steve looked down with a frown, "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

Melody frowned not sure how to help the man in front of her out. Perhaps they could save the soldier, but there was also a chance they couldn't. But seeing the look of heartache once again on Steve's face broke her.

"We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out here in the truck." Sam spoke up looking to Natasha.

One of the guards pulled out an electric rod and neutralized the other guard. Knocking him out cold. The guard removed their helmet revealing Maria Hill.

"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." She sighed placing the helmet down next to her before turning to Sam in confusion, "Who's this guy?"

𝓐rriving to a secret facility the group exited the van. Melody's brows furrowed looking around the area, she breathed in deeply the smell of fresh air hit her lungs resulting in a sigh of contentment leaving her.

She turned back as Steve assisted Natasha out of the van, the four followed Maria into the disclosed building.

"GSW. She's lost at least a pint." Maria announced to the doctor.

"Maybe two." Sam added glancing to the weak red head.

"Let me take her." The doctor rushed over helping steady Natasha.

"She'll want to see him first." Maria escorted the four to secluded part of the building, behind plastic curtains laid Nick Fury. The four looked to the man in shock.

"About damn time."

"You were dead." Melody whispered in disbelief before approaching the small bed.

"Indeed I was." Fury nodded, a hint of a smile lingered on his lips. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache."

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor added as he began treating Natasha's wound.

"Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good." He joked.

"They cut you open, your heart stopped." Natasha shook her head in disbelief.

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve questioned slightly offended he didn't know about what was going on.

"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful." Maria answered from next to Fury's side.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust." He shrugged looking between the four.

"𝓣his man declined the Nobel Peace Prize." Fury said holding up a photo of Pierce, "Pierce said, 'Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility.' See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues." "We have to stop the launch."

"And how do we do that? As soon as we get in, they'll grab us. Everyone thinks we're the bad guys." Melody voiced up leaning against the table, "Even with me going in I can't control that many people at the same time."

Fury nodded to nymph, "And, I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." He said as he opened a case containing three chips.

"What's that?"

"Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized." Maria answered showing the industrial laptop to Steve.

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own." Fury added.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die."

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We need to get pass them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left . . ." Fury finished.

"We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve shook his head at the man.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with it." He defended.

"You gave me this mission, this is how it ends. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been compromised, you said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed." He argued.

"And how many paid the price before you did?"

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes." Fury defended himself.

Melody looked down glancing to Steve who remained composed.

"Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, it all goes."

"He's right." Maria nodded, as Fury looked between Natasha, Melody and Sam.

"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower." Sam nodded towards Steve.

"Well . . . Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain." Fury smirked to Steve.

Melody turned to Natasha who rose a brow at her, "Can you teach me Russian?" She questioned. Natasha eyed her oddly but nodded nonetheless in confusion.

𝓜elody watched as Sam walked away from Steve, he shook his head at the brunette. She frowned approaching him cautiously. She glanced around her as she stood next to Steve, the two stood in comfortable silence. She assumed he'd be happy to have Nick back but she wasn't stupid. She knew he was still in shock seeing the man whom he thought had died in an accident years ago only to be the one they have to go up against.

"How are you?" She asked softly glancing up at the much taller man.

Steve shrugged, "Sam already talked to me about it." He sighed, "I know we have to fight him. Just don't know if I'm ready for the end result."

Melody nodded in understanding, "You know what I think?" She asked her eyes looking ahead of her, "I think he's still in there." She admitted, Steve turned slightly to the brunette. "I don't believe someone's memory of someone they care for could be taken away from them. There will always be something to trigger it. That's why having hope is important." She smiled sadly before looking up at him, "My muña used to say that to me. She said no one is truly evil and to always forgive." She said proudly.

Steve smiled softly, "She'd be proud of the woman you've become. The queen you'll be."

Melody shook her head, "I don't want to be queen." She admitted, "I'm not ready for that and I know I will never be as much of a woman as she was. She always forgave people, even the ones who tried to harm her or those she loved, in the end." She turned to Steve, "Your friend, Bucky? I saw him hurt Natasha and - and I got so angry I wanted to kill him." Steve's head tilted at her words, "But, when you said his name there was something - something flickered in his mind and eyes. There was a moment on the bridge where I tried to read his mind, have something to distract him with, trigger him . . ." She trailed off, "But there was nothing."

"I don't understand."

"It was darkness." She said softly, "Like a pool of emptiness. No memories, no dreams, nothing. That's never happened to me before."

Steve sighed, "I don't know. I looked in his eyes and he had no idea who I was."

"Maybe after today he will." She placed her hand on his forearm. "Everyone is capable of being saved."

Steve nodded his head at her words, he hoped she was right, "We should get going."

"You don't have your suit." She frowned glancing to his clothes he had been wearing curtesy of Sam Wilson.

"I know where to get one." He smirked slightly.

❨ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 ❩
🐚ঌ ࣪₀🧺 .˚🌿✦

● 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱
○ 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱

shorter chapter i'm trying to not write such long chapters so i have enough for other ones but i'm loving how its going so far and im so happy ya'll are enjoying it as much as i am writing it !

𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍, 𝟣𝟧𝟥𝟣