𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

We arrive at the house belonging to Sam Wilson and Steve knocks as I take a deep breath. The door opens and Sam looks at us in surprise.

"Hey, man" Sam greets the blonde.

"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low" Steve explains.

"My feet hurt" I complain.

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us" Natasha adds.

"Not everyone" Sam corrects, moving to the side to let us in.

We usher ourselves into the house and Sam shows us where the bathroom is, telling us we can clean up. Natasha showers first before letting me in. I slip out of my ash covered clothes and step into the shower. The moment my head goes under the water, I feel a memory resurfacing.

♔ flashback ♔

My bloody and bruised body is roughly dragged along the ground, my cuffed wrists attached to a long thick chain.

"Включи воду" A woman demands.
(Turn the water on)

A hose is abruptly pointed in my direction and scolding hot water blasts at my body, causing a scream to escape my lips.

"Хватит!" The woman in charge barks after a few minutes of listening to me screaming my throat raw.
(Enough!)

The water is turned off and I let my body relax slightly, rolling onto my back to stare up at the ceiling. Footsteps approach me, causing me to tense up and I'm abruptly ripped off the ground by the chain, blood running down my arms from my red raw wrists. The woman grabs my face tightly, squeezing my cheeks as she glares at me.

"Мне сказали, что ты будешь слушать. Мне сказали, что ты будешь слушаться. Мне лгали. Теперь я должен исправить тебя сам" She sneers at me me in disgust.
(I was told you would listen. I was told you would obey. I was lied to. Now I must fix you myself)

She throws me back onto the ground and I whimper in pain, wishing that I'll die before she breaks me.

"Поверни воду обратно!" She orders.
(Turn the water back on!)

"Нет! Прекрати! Пожалуйста, прекрати!" I scream in agony as the scorching hot water hits me like a shower of bullets.
(No! Stop! Please, stop!)

♔ end of flashback ♔

I'm snapped out of my hellish nightmare by the bathroom door slamming open and I realise I'm sat on the shower floor with my knees hugged to my chest as tears stream down my face. Natasha appears next to me, turning the water off and wrapping a fluffy towel around my body as she helps me to my feet.

"Is she okay?" I hear Steve ask.

"What's wrong with her?" Sam questions.

"She's fine, just give her a minute to snap out of it" Natasha assures them, rubbing my back as I stare at my reflection in the mirror.

"Она сломала то, что обещала исправить" I mumble defeatedly.
(She broke what she promised to fix)

"What is she saying?" Steve inquires.

"Someone broke something they said they would fix" Natasha translates before gently spinning me around to face her "What did they break, Ana? Who broke it?"

"Me...She broke me" I answer numbly.

"Who is she?" Sam frowns in confusion.

"Mama" I answer the man, zoning fully back into reality "At least that's what she made me call her"

"How did you guys know I was having an episode?" I ask, confused at how they could have known.

"You were screaming, Ana" Steve tells me and my eyes widen.

"It was in Russian" Sam adds and I look at my sister.

"You kept saying stop. You were begging her to stop" Natasha breathes out and a tear slips down my face.

"Can you guys give me a minute?" I ask hopefully.

"We'll let you get dressed" Steve nods.

"Breakfast is in the kitchen when you're ready" Sam smiles warmly.

They all leave and I close the door behind them, taking a deep breath. I dry myself off before slipping on the clean pair of grey jogging bottoms and the white t-shirt. After towel drying my hair, I clean up the bathroom and head to the kitchen. I find Natasha and Steve at the table while Sam leans against the counter, the three of them looking over to me.

"I'm sorry for causing a scene. I didn't mean to bother you all" I apologise, looking at the ground in shame.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It's okay to be afraid, Ana" Steve assures me.

"The old man's right, pretty girl. Sometimes you can't control your fears. You just gotta power through" Sam explains and I smile softly.

"Thank you, guys" I say gratefully before sitting down next to my sister who slides a glass of orange juice in front of me.

I take a sip from the glass and pick up a piece of bacon, popping it into my mouth.

"So, the question is, who at S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha announces.

"Pierce" Steve answers after a bit of thought.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world" Natasha huffs, standing up.

"But he's not working alone. Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star" Steve declares.

"So was Jasper Sitwell" I speak up before taking another sip of my orange juice.

"So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?" Steve questions no one in particular.

"The answer is, you don't" Sam declares, dropping a picture onto the table.

"What's this?" I ask curiously.

"Call it a resume" Sam shrugs as my sister grabs the picture.

Steve and I get up, looking at the picture of Sam and another man.

"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" Natasha asks, impressed before looking at Steve "You didn't say he was a Pararescue"

"Is this Riley?" Steve asks.

"Yeah" Sam nods.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use? A stealth chute?" Natasha grills the man.

"No. These" He answers, handing Steve a manila folder.

"I thought you said you were a pilot" Steve frowns.

"I never said pilot" Sam grins widely.

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam" Steve tells him "You got out for a good reason"

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in" Sam retorts.

"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" Steve inquires.

"The last one is at Fort Meade. Behind three guarded gates and a 12 inch steel wall" Sam declares.

Steve looks at me and I smirk, looking at my sister who shrugs nonchalantly.

"Shouldn't be a problem" I tell the Wilson man.

‎✪ ‎✪‎ ✪

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm" Steve demands, throwing Sitwell onto the ground.

"Never heard of it" Sitwell lies, scrambling to his feet.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve questions as we back the man up to the edge of the roof.

"I was throwing up. I get seasick" Sitwell answers before gasping as he falls backwards.

Steve grabs the man, yanking him back up and I have to stop myself from laughing.

"Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof. Because it's really not your style, Rogers" Sitwell taunts.

"You're right. It's not" Steve nods, smoothing out the man's suit arms "It's theirs"

The blonde moves out of the way and I don't miss the look of fear in Sitwell's eyes before Natasha and I both send a powerful kick to the man's chest. He is sent tumbling off the building and he screams, the sound ringing in my ears.

"Oh, wait. What about that girl from Accounting, Laura..." Natasha drawls off.

"Lillian" Steve helps out "Lip piercing, right?

"Yeah, she's cute" Natasha grins.

"Yeah. I'm not ready for that" Steve retorts and I laugh at the defeated look on Natasha's face.

"Give up, Nat. Neither of us are gonna start dating" I advise her and she rolls her eyes.

The screaming gets louder as Sam flies up, dropping Sitwell onto the roof before landing himself and retracting his mechanical wings.

"Nice wings, Wilson" I comment and he smirks at me.

We walk towards the terrified HYDRA agent who puts his hands up in surrender.

"Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets" Sitwell blurts out in fear.

"What targets?" Steve asks.

"You!" Sitwell retorts "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defence, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA. Now, or in the future"

"In the future? How could it know?" Steve inquires and Sitwell bursts out laughing like a maniac.

"How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it" Sitwell explains, standing up "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores!"

"Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future" He adds.

"And what then?" Steve presses.

"Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me" Sitwell mutters.

"What then?!" Steve demands.

"Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time" Sitwell reveals and my eyes widen.

"HYDRA is going to kill everyone" I mumble in realisation.

"Not everyone. I'm sure you'll be spared, Nemesis" Sitwell grins almost smugly and my heart drops "She misses you"

"She does?" I ask, the hope in my voice a little too noticeable.

"Ana, no" Natasha warns me.

I snap out of my daze and storm away, slamming my shoulder into Sitwell's as I pass the man.