Last Legacy

Chapter 1

Steve and I drove for hours.

The tiny Alaskan highways were so under maintained and curvey that they didn't leave much room for speed, so I sat back and made myself comfortable for the time being. It started snowing too, right after we got out of town. I found it ironic because Loki and I had previously agreed to go back to Asgard after the first snow of the season.

Loki had gone to Asgard, but I stayed here.

I leaned my head back to rest on the seat and gazed out at the pine trees passing us by in a green and white blur. Steve managed to find a radio station earlier, but it had long since turned to mind-numbing static.

Steve's voice broke the silence however, just as I had calmed down enough to drift off. "Do you have any idea how to find him?"

"Yeah. I may be a little rusty but I'm sure all the know-how is still there. James is probably the best assassin in the world. He knows how to hide. So hopefully we'll get to him before anyone else does." He nodded.

"Why do you call him James?" He asked suddenly.

I pondered his question. Why did I call him James? Steve called him Bucky, I guess short for his middle name, 'Buchanan'. Perhaps that's what he went by in Steve's time. In Hydra though, his name was just James. "That's just what they called him. They called him James and they called me Alexis. It's all I've ever known him as."

"He likes Bucky." He said quietly.  I could tell he was really torn up over his friend. It's not often that one finds out their best friend's not dead like they thought, but instead is alive and well and working as a brainwashed assassin. He was probably scared of what he would find in place of what used to be Bucky.

"Steve...Bucky's not gonna be the same person you remember."

"I know. Remember, I fought him myself back in DC. He was sent to kill me, but he didn't. He ended up saving my life."

"Yeah. He did the same with me when he helped me escape."

It was silent for a few moments then. I resumed my habit of watching the passing trees. The snow had stopped by now, or perhaps we just drove passed it. I wasn't sure.

Of course I didn't have time to ponder the reason, because Steve continued to ask me questions.

"Why are we going to Russia? Shouldn't we be going to the last place I saw him?"

I knew he was anxious. I knew he wanted nothing more than to find his friend, and shelter him from any further harm, but I couldn't help but grow annoyed at the never ending interrogation. "No. He would've gotten out of there as fast as possible without leaving a trace. That's why you couldn't find him." I told him bluntly. "Hydra owns several safe houses all over the world. Well, safe houses for Hydra agents. I'm guessing with Hydra completely exposed and quite frankly in shambles, we'll either find him at one of them, or find someone that knows where he is."

"And you're sure you'll find him that way?" He asked.

"Look, do you have faith in me or not? And if not, why'd you ask me to help?"

His fingers visibility tightened around the steering wheel at my words. His knuckles were turning white and I wondered if the wheel wasn't about to break. I wasn't scared of course, I took down the great Captain America before, and I knew I could do it again, especially now that I had the strength and endurance of the Aesir.

"I don't doubt that you can do it. I don't doubt you're the only one who can find him. I just find the Hydra agent that's married to Loki a little hard to trust."