ineffable memories / / bucky barnes

[chapter sixteen]

TIME STAMP: THE WINTER SOLDIER YEARS

All my troubles on a burning pile

All lit up and I start to smile

If I catch fire, then I'll change my aim

Throw my troubles at the pearly gates

If they had to give feedback, they'd say the mission was a complete failure, however, their night was a complete success; until it wasn't.

Kai was adjusting her dress when two men entered the room where she was with The Winter Soldier. Her lips parted as she tried to say anything, but she couldn't, and neither could he.

"What a great mission you two have going on." John Garrett, a SHIELD infiltrate grinned. "Any of you want to say anything?"

"It's my responsibility. I seduced her and I made her do it." Bucky, although it wasn't Bucky, said numbly.

"You made her, do it?" Garrett laughed. Kai trembled, realizing that some details were shared with every agent. "She's an old witch with too much power. She did what she wanted." He spit.

"If you want my power, you can come and get it," Kai said with a low tone.

"I don't take care of scumbags like you two. You'll get your punishment for disobeying orders." Garrett grinned and Kai took a step forward to him.

"If you try to do anything, I will kill you." She whispered.

"If you try to do anything, I will have Rumlow put a bullet into his head."

Kai bit the inside of her cheek, narrowing her eyes as she rearranged her thoughts. Could she easily kill Garrett and Rumlow? Yes, she could, but she didn't want to risk anything happening to him– even if he was still trapped inside of a soldier.

"Take them," Garrett said to Rumlow who grabbed Kai by the arm with brutal force.

"You can both come nicely, or I'll shoot you until you can't fight back." Rumlow, also a double agent, said.

The car ride back was quiet, and no one said anything until they stopped at a gas station and both agents stepped out to get something.

"You shouldn't have taken the blame. They're going to wreck you for showing emotions." Kai said, fighting the urge to cry.

"I don't know what's going on with me. Why is this happening?" He replied. "You know something. Please."

"I can't." Kai shook her head. "But you can run away, now. Take the opportunity and leave. I'll take care of Garrett and Rumlow."

"They'll kill you, how's that of any good?"

"They can't kill me. Only one person can." She smiled a bit, hoping she never had to experience it. Kai could see many things, but she couldn't see that in exactly 3 weeks, The Winter Soldier would pull the trigger on her.

"I'm not running. I'm a soldier and an agent."

"You're a lab rat. A contract killer." Kai complained, leaving the subject to die as Garrett and Rumlow returned.

Once they were at the headquarters of Hydra, there were people already waiting for them in the room both of them feared. Alexander Pierce was in the middle of the room, welcoming them with open arms.

"You disobeyed a mission, and you took pleasure in mundane things. You failed at getting us the target we wanted, and you failed at being a soldier. You failed as a gun and as a prototype." Alexander started his discourse as Rumlow pushed Kai to the cold chair.

"She wasn't any part of this!"

"Easy, soldier. You might seem much of a human and less of a machine." Garrett laughed while Alexander had Rumlow lock Kai into the chair.

"You can do this all night to me if you want." Kai looked at Alexander, who grinned.

"Let me guess, you want me to spare him." When she didn't answer, his smile got wider. "I'm not going to do that. I will torture him so badly that he won't remember knowing you."

He already doesn't – she wanted to scream.

"You try to use your magic in this room, and he dies. You know the rules, don't you?" Alexander tilted his head. "See the bright side. He won't remember you, but you'll remember everything."

That's when Kai understood. To her, the punishment was going through physical and emotional torture but remembering everything while to her James, it was that and the fact that he would forget things, once again.