What Fades Away

chapter 12: dream a little dream of me

a/n: descriptions of violence, angst, comfort, smut

He takes a deep breath, blood dripping from his fingertips. This one was a fighter. She clawed and scratched at him until the end. Too bad for her that she didn't realize that only made him more vicious, more eager.

Her lifeless brown eyes look up at him, bloodshot from the pressure he put on her throat. The wheels are already turning in his head. He knows where he wants this one to be, sitting nice and pretty for everyone to see. They still haven't found the heartless girl which makes his skin tingle with excitement.

A banging noise startles him as the warehouse door opens. The horns from the ferry and the beeping of cargo trucks fill the air. He hates that sound. Too much fucking noise.

"We gotta get this shit under control. They are too close."

He looks up at his "partner", if you could even call this idiot that. He's pacing, gripping the gun at his side. Always in the way, getting scared of being caught. Pathetic.

"We don't have to do anything. You keep doing what I fucking told you to."

He stands and walks over to the frightened man, handing him a set of keys.

"Get the car. I have the perfect place for her."

The other man scurries away, fear radiating off him.

He turns back to the girl, her broken body laying on the cold concrete floor. He picks up the discarded knife. With a steady hand, he cuts the next word into her cooling skin. Nine.

Four words left. Four more chances to bring out what he wants.

The Winter Soldier.

*****

Mara's eyes feel like they are going to explode.

It's been almost two hours since Torres accessed encrypted files, encryptions placed by Stark Industries themselves. As a part of his pardon, Bucky asked that the details of the Winter Soldier's missions be classified. The public can only see the names and dates. Mara and Torres have everything.

She's been scanning and reading, making notes in a scribbled shorthand that only she would recognize. If anyone finds these, they will probably think Mara is insane. Maybe she is.

It's hard to believe the same hands who held her so gently last night, and the night before are the ones who have committed such horrible acts. The list reads like the plot of a horror movie.

Asphyxiation.

Decapitations.

Headshots.

Broken necks.

Drownings.

Bombings.

Fatal blunt force injuries.

Bodies thrown from buildings.

Car accidents that weren't really accidents.

Over 50 years of chaos and brutal force executed by a man with blue eyes that make Mara's knees weak and a laugh that has to be earned and it's completely worth it.

Torres watches as Mara reads and scribbles furiously. She doesn't speak, only if there is a file or a photograph that she can't access. It worries him a little, the toll seeing this carnage might have on her. It also worries him what Barnes will do when he finds out what she's seen.

"Oh my god."

Mara's voice nearly makes Torres jump. He rolls his chair over to hers, looking over her shoulder. On the screen is a photo of a car crash, a body slumped over the steering wheel.