Winter & Summer: A Marvel Story in an Alternate Universe!

Chapter 2

A series of photos and videos flashed on a transparent glass screen as Bucky and Sam, now clad in civilian attire, stood beside a small group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in a briefing room back at headquarters.

"So you wanna know more about the hijacker," said Agent Carrie Scarborough as she slid by on her rolling chair. She had pixie-cut curly red hair and spoke with a spunky rasp in her voice. "Lucky for you, Agent Miles' little reconnaissance mission just so happened to cross-pollinate with yours. But let me warn you, it's all going to lead up to some very, very bad news."

She typed something onto a keyboard, and up came the photo of their person of interest. And there she was - the woman on the train, unmasked and looking human. There was a certain innocence to her countenance, with bright brown eyes, rounded cheeks and just barely a smile on her closed lips.

Bucky blinked as he took in her face, seemingly enraptured by the screen. He didn't notice Sam side-eyeing him with mischievous suspicion.

"Her name is Summer Hidaka," Agent Scarborough explained, while photos from their subject's life appeared around them. "Daughter of Japanese immigrants who settled in New York in the 1920s. Grew up to see World War II and, given her background, she ended up serving in Japan as a spy for the U.S. in the 1940s. Sound familiar?"

Bucky nodded slightly as he kept his eyes to the screen. "What happened to her?"

"Well, an explosion took out both her legs..." Scarborough went on, as Bucky winced and shook his head. "As you'd probably guess, she was rescued by HYDRA, who then injected her with the Super Soldier serum and outfitted her with a pair of high-tech prosthetic legs."

"And cryostasis kept her alive, right?" Bucky asked.

"Same story," Scarborough nodded. "You can guess what they called her too."

"The Summer Soldier," Sam and Bucky said in unison.

"In Japanese, but yes," Scarborough replied. "Now, here's the kicker - the Japanese chapter of HYDRA found Summer some time after the Soviet chapter found Bucky, so Summer's tech was built off that of the Winter Soldier, but just a bit more advanced, with the purpose of advancing it even further. In other words, the Winter Soldier was the weapon of choice. If HYDRA had a threat that needed eliminating..."

"They'd send me," Bucky finished.

"Exactly. But Summer, on the other hand, was primarily used for research. The goal was to perfect her - to turn her into a better, more powerful, more capable machine. Now, HYDRA used her for missions too, but mostly to test her latest upgrade which, sadly, meant a lot of under-the-radar jobs that resulted in a pretty high kill count anyway. If you read some of the things she did - whew, they make the Winter Soldier look like a petty thief." Bucky flinched at the remark.

"So Summer Hidaka is a Super Soldier," Sam clarified, "but Zemo killed all the remaining Super Soldiers and basically stamped out the program so..."

"Out of HYDRA's flagship initiative, Bucky and Summer are the last known living Super Soldiers on the planet," Scarborough said. "But that's not the really bad news."

Sam nodded. "Let's hear it."

Scarborough turned her chair around, placed her hands on her knees, and sighed. "S.H.I.E.L.D. also discovered that underground pockets of HYDRA exist around the globe, likely using Summer's blood to attempt to create more serum and restart the Soldier program. A scientist by the name of Dr. Jon Kirishima seems to be the one putting in the work - we also believe him to be Summer's 'handler,' so to speak - but he is so underground and moves quickly, so we can't get a single lead on him. Either way, we think that Summer being more 'out in the open' may be a sign that HYDRA is preparing to fully come to the surface with its intentions."

Bucky shook his head. "I can't believe it's this all over again," he whispered.

"I'm going to need more information," Sam said. "And then sit down and come up with a game plan to crush HYDRA for good."

"Glad you're on board, Captain America," Scarborough replied. "We were hoping to have you at the forefront of the initiative. Hunt down the sympathizers, eliminate them, eliminate the Summer Soldier..."

"No," Bucky interrupted, softly but firmly. "We eliminate HYDRA, but we need to help her."

"You want to give her a chance because you went through it too - I get it," Scarborough countered. "But I think we have something different on our hands this time."

"Well, no, what if we don't?" Sam said, turning to Bucky, listening.

"She might be one of the deadliest weapons ever created," Bucky went on, speaking solemnly, just above a whisper, "but when I look at her, all I can see is a person living in constant pain, that's just begging to break free."

Sam put a hand on Bucky's right shoulder. "We'll get her back, Buck," he assured. "We'll send her to Wakanda and have them help her the same way they helped you."

"Well then, all of that can be easily arranged," Scarborough said. "We just need to find out where she is. I'll get our agents on it."

Sam tilted his head back as he looked up at the screen, analyzing the information. He stopped at Summer Hidaka's profile, reading her background.

"Hey!" Sam called, his voice a little bit lighter, aimed at Bucky. "Did you see the year she was born?"

"No, I couldn't see it," Bucky said as he walked up closer next to Sam.

"Yep, 107 years old," Scarborough chimed in.

Sam smirked as he gave Bucky a look. "She's your age," Sam said with a wink, jabbing Bucky gently with his elbow before leaving the room.

Bucky squinted, dumbfounded. Now what could he have possibly meant by that?