17 || three names

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I didn't have it in myself to go with graceAnd you're the hero flying around, saving faceAnd if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?Cursing my name, wishing I stayedLook at how my tears ricochet-my tears ricochet, Taylor Swift

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I didn't have it in myself to go with grace
And you're the hero flying around, saving face
And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?
Cursing my name, wishing I stayed
Look at how my tears ricochet
-my tears ricochet, Taylor Swift

I didn't have it in myself to go with graceAnd you're the hero flying around, saving faceAnd if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?Cursing my name, wishing I stayedLook at how my tears ricochet-my tears ricochet, Taylor Swift

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January 20th 2013
HYDRA Base, Washington D.C

"What happened to you yesterday?" the soldier asks, as we sit in our cell.

He's sat, legs sprawled out before him, on the floor, peering up at me curiously, and I'm perched on the cot fiddling with the ragged blanket in my lap.

"What do you mean?"

"You knew that girl. You said she was your mission. What did that mean?" he seems to stop but as I open my mouth to reply, he speaks again, "And you were both screaming. She was screaming your name."

"Well, you're feeling talkative today." I scoff.

"You have a past." he says, meeting my gaze, "I don't."

"Not that you know of." I correct, "Everyone has a past."

"If you don't remember it, is it really yours?"

"Well, we have a past, even if your memory of it is patchy in places." I lower myself to the floor and lie on my stomach resting my cheek in my hand, so I'm looking at him sideways, "But I'm not sure you'd want to hear about my past. It's a bit grim." He looks around at the entirely grey room we've resided in for the last almost seven years, then raises an eyebrow. "Hmm, I'm not sure it's wise to spill all the secrets of my past. Dreykov would have my head."

"Well, I'm not some stranger."

"Not yet."

"I may forget you, Julia, but you never forget."

I grin, "I could never forget my soldier."

"Hydra's soldier."

I scoot over, so my face is closer to his and smile cheesily, "My soldier." he just raises an eyebrow, "Fine, whatever you want. Where'd you want me to start?" he doesn't reply, his usual, less interested demeanour resumed, "Okay. Well, my mother sold me as an infant, I assume. I was raised in Russia, at 'the Academy'. Its front was a ballet school but they trained us to be assassins. We spent years learning everything we needed to hide in plain sight and destroy from the inside. We also did actual ballet, hence the... you know, leotard." I look down at my uniform; a plain black leotard, "I spent seven years there without leaving once. Then one day I got sent out on a mission, not like the ones you and I do. This one was long-term, we had to go undercover. I was in California," he looks confused, "It's a state- Wait, you don't know what California is?" he just stares at me, "Whatever. I had a fake family and everything. Our job was to befriend a really powerful family. There was a man who could've been a threat to Hydra and the only way we could get to him was through his daughter. I befriended her and for four years, we were best friends and I had a somewhat normal life. Then, the Academy was 'destroyed' as far as the world knew and we were pulled out to go into hiding. That girl that I befriended though, her name was Aurelia. She was the only friend I ever had. I cared about her, I really did. But I had to move on, none of that life was real to begin with. So, I tried to forget and I'd done a decent job of keeping those years out of my mind, until last night." I take a deep breath, "That girl in the apartment, who chased after us. That was Aurelia."

"Oh." he says quietly.

"She didn't remember me though. Not surprising, she hasn't seen me since we were eleven."

"And who was the man? Has he been there on one of our missions before?" he asks.

"No. No. He's just a famous hero." I tell him, "Captain America."

"I knew him. I've seen him before."

"Yeah, you probably have. Everybody has. Like I said, he's Captain America."

"I've never heard of him. There was just something about him- something so familiar." he stares at the wall ahead of us. His deep blue eyes are glazed over with the same emptiness he wears when he returns from the freeze each time, "I have this dream... of a man. He's yelling and I'm falling. And I have that dream over and over. Almost every night. He's the man I dream of."

"You'll have seen him on a poster or a magazine somewhere." I brush him off.

"No. No, I don't dream about people like that. I've only ever dreamt of one other person, ever... you."

My throat tightens a little and my cheeks flush but I just assure him, "Don't worry about it, we'll never have to see either of them again."

Just then, the food slip is opened and three folders are pushed through, landing on the ground quietly. The soldier stands up and gets them, bringing them over to us and placing them between the two of us.

"These are the files Pierce promised me. Let's see who we're taking out this time." I grab the first one and read the name, "Natasha Romanoff." my face pales, I know exactly who that is.

Obviously, I haven't seen her in person since I was seven but that red hair is hard to forget, even if she was 'Natalia Romanova' back then. I haven't given her much thought since I last saw her, I had no cause to. I suppose wherever she is, her life is going a lot better than mine. It's strange how two people with such similar upbringings could end up in such different situations.

She was a legend at the Academy; every little girl whispered about the Black Widow, praying we'd one day live up to her glory. Madame B obsessed over her- said she'd accept nothing less than a Black Widow. Then Natalia defected- she betrayed the Academy, she betrayed everything any of us had ever known. In our eyes back then, she betrayed us. Now the Black Widow is not a name to be looked up to, but a symbol of the evil manipulation of the West.

"Natasha Romanoff." he repeats, "I know that name, who is she?"

I place the file face down, not even having to read off it, "She was a Widow, like me. One of the best the Academy has ever seen. Then, in two thousand and one, she went rogue and tried to destroy the Academy. Now, she works for S.H.I.E.L.D, a government agency. Well, she did in two-thousand and six. Past that, I don't know, because I've been locked up here with you since then."

He picks up the next one and opens it, reading the name, "Stephen Grant Rogers."

"Captain America." I nod my head over and over, "Fury told Captain America. Just great." Bucky watches me in curiosity, "He's enhanced, super-strength and all that, but so are you." I signal to the final folder, which he's holding, "And who's that one?"

"A-" he squints at the page, trying to read it, "Aurelia Stark."

My eyes widen and my breath catches slightly, "Well... shit."











A message from the author:Here's another little update for you guys! Some Bucky and Julia cuteness! Hope you all had a good day! Remember to vote and comment! See you all next chapter! (;

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A message from the author:
Here's another little update for you guys! Some Bucky and Julia cuteness! Hope you all had a good day! Remember to vote and comment! See you all next chapter! (;

- Hannah xoxo

Word count: 1203

Date published: November 6th, 2022

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