The Long Game

Chapter Nine: Why?

Every single person turned to face Steve, his face went bright red and immediately he scrambled to interpret what I had said but it was too late. Tony was pissed. "SHE'S NOT HERE FIVE MINUTES AND YOU'VE SLEPT WITH HER?!" The words came from Bucky, anger written all over his face. Tony glared at Bucky then looked at Steve. "You have five seconds to explain yourself, Rogers." Tony spoke, doing his best to remain calm as both he and Bucky moved closer to Steve. Steve held up his hands in front of him, eyes going between the two men. "I didn't sleep with her! She needed me so I..." "That's not any better! Needed you for what!" Tony interjected. This is fun. I like this! Break them from the inside out. Bucky had turned to stop Tony from stepping any closer to Steve. "Back up, shes obviously lying or she tricked him. There's no way Steve would do that with her" Bucky jerked his head in my direction, I merely smiled and waved as Bucky's words fuelled Tony's anger all the more.

"WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN? SO NOW MY SISTER ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA?! IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK?!" Tony was furious now, did he want me to sleep with Steve? Honestly I couldn't keep up. The only person not involved was Clint, I had forgotten he was here until he cleared his throat. "Let's all just calm down, shall we." He spoke calmly, approaching the three men. No! Don't ruin my fun. Sigh. "This is what she does. She turns people against each other." Bucky realised with a gasp, turning to me. "You didn't sleep with Steve, did you?" He already knew the answer to that question, I wondered if he was jealous.. the thought of Steve and I in bed together, our bodies moving as one, his hands caressing my body.. whoa, ok let's not get too far into that. I held Bucks gaze as I spoke. "Hydra took your memories.. I wonder, did you get them all back?" The tension is so heavy in the room now, Bucky looks at me as if I am insane. "What the hell are you talking about?!" He demands to know, all eyes are on me now. I do love being the centre of attention.

"They robbed you of so many fond memories..." I don't know why I'm telling him this, it won't change a thing. He's still my mission. "Memories of us." The words were barely a whisper, he might have been a brainwashed soldier but I hadn't been.. I still remember every single mission with him. Bucky is looking at me in disbelief. "You're lying." He said simply, shaking his head as he turns his back to me. "She's lying. I remember everything from Hydra." Even though his back is turned to me, I know that he doesn't believe those words. His body is tense, I can see the muscles in his back through his shirt, he's angry. Tony clears his throat and looks to me but it's Steve that speaks. "What do you mean, Echo?" His use of my name takes me by surprise, my eyes move from Bucky to Steve, I find myself wanting to tell him everything, to be honest for a change. This is going to end badly...

"While in Hydra I went on many missions with The Winter Soldier. They wiped him each time, a clean slate, a perfect soldier.. but I was compliant so they never wiped me. I was Hydra through and through so they never saw the need, him on the other hand, the cracks were showing, his emotions betraying him. They needed to keep in control.. so, they assigned me to him." I'm speaking directly to Steve but I can see Bucky from the corner of my eye, he's moved as far from me as he possibly can and his back is still to me. Everyone is listening, waiting for me to continue. "At first it was to just monitor him when he went on missions, to be his handler.. to patch him up when he came back, to make sure that he was ok and not breaking.. but then something changed.."

I closed my eyes, I didn't want to relieve these memories. There's a scuffle going on and then something cold is pressed against my forehead, I open my eyes and he is stood in front of me, holding a gun to my head.

"Why?!"