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2016 - Cleavland, Ohio
Marcella quietly opened the door of the house. It wasn't locked like she expected it would be. It wasn't fortified either. On the balls of her feet, she slowly walked on the hardwood floor barely the sound of a crack beneath her.
She had waited a long time for this day. Many nights she stayed up thinking about what she could've done differently if she hadn't jumped out of that plane into the icy waters below. She was here now for him to do what she needed too. Marcella journey down the steps into the basement after surveying the upstairs. It wasn't barren and empty of life. Karpov lived here with his wife and whatever family he had.
Marcella could hear the water running and carefully walked to where the sounds came from. What she found there shocked her.
She recognized the shoes immediately from so long of looking down at them in Siberia. His head was under the water in the sink. Unmoving. Drowned. The red would never even grace her ledger. Marcella walked over to the body hanging from the ceiling of the basement and turned off the tap. She didn't know what to do next because she never thought this would happen. She thought it would be her to would kill her demon. A new one took that from her.
Marcella pulled a chair up the sound echoed through the basement. She sat down across from her dead creator. All that pain just for this. It felt pointless.
Fuck you. Fuck you fuck you fuck you.
Marcella stood up from the chair and it crashed to the ground. She walked over to the body with a knife in her hand and slashed the rope that held him up. As he fell head first she caught them, habitually, and she pushed him to the ground.
She stared at his face; aged and ghastly. She watched this man grow, taking her when he was just a young man. Now, she saw him at his death. It was a strange feeling.
Marcella turned around and walked upstairs. She turned off the light as she went up. Marcella searched around the house looking for something that meant even more to her than his death. Her freedom. She searched and searched until she found a large hole in a hallway wall. The drywall had been ripped out and whatever was there had been taken by Karpov's killer.
Marcella almost screamed. Not only had this person taken her revenge but they took the command book. She kicked the drywall bits thinking about the book and the Winter Soldier. That's why someone would want it. Him.
Marcella couldn't remember the date of the last time she saw the Winter Soldier but she could remember his name. His real name. How could she forget? It was one of the only things she remembered when she washed up on the shore of Nova Scotia. Marcella was sure he didn't come for it, he promised her in '82 if he had the chance to run he would.
James.
Marcella was angry at him for so many things. For being the reason the book was gone. For not remembering as hard as she did. For feeling for him at one point.
