Lilith-Captain America: The Winter Soldier AU

Chapter Eight

Heather and Bucky pointed their guns at Steve and Rachel, preparing to shoot. They were stopped when Sam flew into them, knocking them over. They got back up, making eye contact with Steve and Rachel immediately. They looked slightly scared as they raised their guns once again, but Natasha shot at them from afar and they ducked, the car behind them exploding. Steve and Rachel exchanged a shocked look as they looked back over to the car but Heather and Bucky were gone, as if they were never there at all. A bunch of black cars with flashing lights and police sirens arrived and Rumlow and his team got up, holding up their guns. "Drop the shield, Cap! Get on your knees!" Rumlow yelled. "Get on your knees! Get down, get down! Get down on your knees! Down!" They did as they were told, getting down on their knees. They got behind Steve and pressed a gun to his head. Rumlow looked up to see a helicopter circling them. "Put your gun down", he instructed. "Not here. Not here!" They were all rounded up, their hands tied and put in the back of the cars. Steve and Rachel were unfazed by it, too busy thinking about the two familiar faces they saw a few moments prior.

"They looked right at us like they didn't even know us", Rachel stated as they all sat in the back of the moving car. "How is that even possible? It was, like, 70 years ago", Sam replied. "Zola", Steve said. "Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall". "It's the same with Heather", Rachel added. "We were both experimented on. Obviously it helped her survive, too. They must have found them...". "None of that's your fault", Natasha interjected. "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky", Steve said and Rachel nodded, feeling the same about Heather. Sam looked at Natasha's shoulder, noticing the blood spilling out of it. "We need to get a doctor here", he said to the two soldiers sitting with them, wearing large helmets. "If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck". The first soldier raised a stick and put on the other one, electrocuting them and kicking them, knocking them unconscious. They took off the helmet, revealing Maria Hill underneath it. "Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain", she sighed, looking at them and then at Sam. "Who is this guy?"

They had escaped the truck and arrived at some kind of base, surrounded by a small body of water. Maria opened a door that looked like a cell, letting them in as they all helped Natasha. "GSW. She's lost at least a pint", Maria said as a man ran towards them. "Maybe two", Sam suggested. "Let me take her", the man said. "She'll want to see him first", Maria said. They all looked confused until Maria took them behind a tarp, revealing Nick Fury lying in a hospital bed, alive. "About damn time", he said.

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache", Nick explained as Natasha's bullet wound got treated. "Don't forget your collapsed lung", the doctor added.

"Let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good"

"They cut you open. Your heart stopped", Natasha said.

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it"

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Rachel asked him. "Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful", Maria said. "Can't kill you if you're already dead", Nick said. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust".

At HYDRA, Bucky was getting his metal arm fixed and Heather was getting a cut on her arm patched up.

"Sergeant Barnes", Zola said. "Agent Anderson".

"No!" Steve yelled. "Bucky, come on!"

They screamed all the way down as they fell.

A man's face came into view.

Bucky's arm wasn't there anymore, just a bloody stump as they were both dragged through the snow.

"The procedure has already started", Zola stated. "You are to be the new fists of HYDRA. Put them on ice".

Suddenly, Bucky snapped and elbowed one of the scientists, sending him flying across the room. One of the soldiers pointed his gun at him.

Alexander Pierce walked in with Rumlow and some other sidekicks to see everyone's guns pointed at Bucky. He held up his hands and they put their guns down. "Mission report", he demanded. Bucky and Heather stared into space, saying nothing.

"Mission report now"

Still, nothing.

Pierce bent down to look at their blank expressions and slapped Bucky across the face, then Heather. "There were two people on the bridge", Bucky said. "Who were they?"

"You met them earlier this week on another assignment"

"I knew them"

"I knew them, too", Heather added. "Your work has been a gift to mankind", Pierce said, sitting down in front of them. "You shaped the century. And I need you to do it one more time. Society's at a tipping point between order and chaos. And tomorrow morning, we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine. And HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves".

"But we knew them"

He sighed, getting up. "Prep them"

"They've been out of cryo freeze too long", one of the scientists said.

"Then wipe them and start over"

They gathered around them, pushing them back against the chairs and putting in a mouthguard. The machine clamped around their arms and clamped over the sides of their heads. They screamed in agony.

Nick looked at a picture of Pierce. "This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize", he stated. "He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility. See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues". "We have to stop the launch", Rachel said.

"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore"

He opened up a briefcase next to them. "What's that?" Sam asked. "Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponised", Maria explained. "We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own", Nick added.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all these carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die"

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We have to get past them, insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left..."

"We're not salvaging anything", Steve interjected. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down SHIELD"

"SHIELD had nothing to do with this"

"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised. You said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed"

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed"

"How many paid the price before you did?"

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes or Anderson"

"Even if you had, would you have told us? Or would you have compartmentalised that, too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes"

"He's right", Maria said. He looked at them all in turn. "Don't look at me", Sam said. "I do what they do, just slower".

"Well... It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain"

hope you enjoyed! comment your opinions!