𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

I'm woken up by my phone ringing and I groan in pain, reaching into my pocket for the device.

"What do you what?" I huff, dragging myself off the ground.

"Hello to you too" I hear Natasha's voice.

"Where are you?" I ask, stumbling out of the alley.

"Black SUV to your left. You look like shit by the way" She replies.

"Fuck you, Nat" I retort, hanging up.

I get into the back of the car and my eyes widen when I see Maria in the driver seat.

"Maria" I greet the woman.

"Anastasia" She nods, swerving the car back into the road.

"How was Loverman?" Natasha asks almost smugly.

"Oh, lovely. We had a picnic in the park and talked about our feelings" I answer sarcastically and she snorts.

"Seriously, Ana" She presses.

"I thought I was getting through to him...Maybe I did. Either way, he freaked and knocked me out" I tell her truthfully.

"I knew it" She scoffs.

"Then why let me go?" I ask curiously.

"Because you deserved to see for yourself. He's gone" She declares.

"I'm never going to give up on him, Nat. I'll never stop trying to bring him back" I respond, looking out the windshield in determination.

"I know" She sighs.

We spend the rest of the ride in silence and soon reach our destination. Natasha and Maria lead the way inside the old looking factory. They lead me into a room and the first thing I see is Nick Fury sitting at a table with Steve and Sam.

"You son of a bitch" I gasp in disbelief.

"It's nice to see you too, Agent Novikov" Fury replies with a smirk.

"Did you find him?" I hear a voice ask and I look to Steve who is looking up at me hopefully.

"Yeah. He slammed my head against a brick wall" I inform him and he frowns.

I see Fury looking at a photograph of Alexander Pierce and I sit down on the table, waiting for him to speak.

"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility" Fury scoffs, dropping the photo onto the table "See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues"

"We have to stop the launch" Natasha declares.

"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore" Fury replies, opening a case to reveal three tech chips.

"What's that?" Sam asks as Maria turns her computer screen to show us a video.

"Once the helicarriers reach 3000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponised" She clarifies.

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

"One or two won't cut it" Maria continues "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 have to get past them, insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left-" Fury is cut off by an angry Steve.

"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 states.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with this" Fury argues.

"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" Steve accuses.

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

"How many paid the price before you did?" Steve retorts.

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

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

"He's right" Maria tells her boss.

Fury looks from his wingwoman to Natasha who leans back in her chair, saying nothing. He looks to me next and I nod, tell him it's the right thing to do. He then looks at Sam who takes a step back.

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

"Well...It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain" Fury shrugs.

‎✪ ‎✪‎ ✪

I find Steve leaning on the railing of the dam and I walk up to him, leaning next to him.

"You call him James?" Steve speaks up and I nod.

"That's all we were allowed to remember. Our first names" I answer.

"What was he like?" Steve mumbles, almost as if he doesn't actually want to ask.

"He was quiet, didn't speak unless spoken to...but I guess we were trained that way. He's not always angry and murderous, at least not with me. He was gentle and kind, he took responsibility for me when no one else would" I explain with a small smile.

"He took responsibility for you?" Stiles frowns in confusion.

"Mama said I'm a pack animal, not a lone wolf. I couldn't be trusted on my own so I needed a partner, but no one would accept me...until I met James. He took me under his wing, showed me the type of kindness I hadn't felt since Natasha in the Red Room. Mama would try to fix me and James would be there at the end of the day to clean me up, remind me that I wasn't alone" I rant to the Rogers man.

"She would try to fix you?" Steve questions and I turn to him with a broken smile.

"It was torture, Stevie" I respond "Years of agonising torture"

I don't even realise I'm crying until Steve wipes my tears with a sad smile.

"What was he like when you knew him?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"Bucky was bright and smiley, always joking around. He was a ladies man, a natural flirt with all the girls. No matter what happened in life, I knew I had Bucky. He was my best friend" Steve tells me happily and I smile.

"I wish I knew him then" I comment.

"You would've really liked each other" Steve chuckles.

"So, is Bucky a family nickname or one just for you?" I wonder aloud.

"Everyone called him Bucky, he hated James" Steve informs me "I guess you changed his mind"

"Or he just forgot that he hated it" I shrug.

"Maybe" Steve sighs.

"He's gonna be there, you know" A voice announces and I turn my head to see Sam walking towards us.

"We know" Steve replies.

"Look, whoever he used to be and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop" Sam tells us in a serious tone and I frown.

"I don't know if I can do that" Steve says.

"I know I can't" I mumble.

"Well, he might not give you a choice. He doesn't know you" Sam presses.

"He will" Steve responds simply "Gear up. It's time"

He starts to walk away and I share a confused look with Sam.

"You gonna wear that?" Sam calls out.

"No. If you're gonna fight a war, you got to wear a uniform" Steve declares.

"You heard him, Wilson. Let's gear up" I huff, walking back into the base.

"Hey, Maria. Do you have my suit?" I ask curiously, walking up to her as she hands Natasha a case that holds her own suit.

She slides a case across the table to me and I open it to see a suit much like my sister's one, just in grey. I shake my head and close the case, sliding it back to the woman.

"My suit" I stress and she sighs, nodding.

She grabs a black case labelled 'A. Novikov' and slides it to me. I catch it and exit the room, finding a place to change.

The charcoal grey suit clings to my body like a second skin, the black straps and details making the red star on my belt stand out. I slip on the black knee high combat boots, the chunky heels giving me some extra height.

"You don't have to wear that, Ana" I hear Natasha's voice as I strap my weapons onto my person.

"Yes, I do" I argue.

"You haven't worn that in six years. Why now?" She inquires.

"I need him to recognise me. I need him to remember...to remember us" I state in determination.

"This is killing you" Natasha sighs "You can't keep doing this to yourself"

"Then I'll die knowing that I tried my hardest" I retort.