fragments

2 1 0
                                    

12:00 pm// noon
Harlem Beach

"Tell me again all that you remember," Tony urged.

She breathed, in and out with the waves.

"My name is Audrey Rolf. When I was young I joined the military. I fought with the Allies in World War II. There was a man," she paused. She couldn't remember him. "One day, I was caught behind enemy lines and tested on. I was brainwashed and used by HYDRA, an Axis force..."

Her voiced trailed off.

"What happened with HYDRA?" he aided her.

"I killed people, targets," she admitted. "I was forced to. I did. Years and years passed of murder and cryo-freeze until one day I went after a woman, a witch," she paused. Again, she could not remember the specific woman.

"It's okay to not remember, continue with what you know."

"You stopped me at first, but I hurt you and continued. I had to fulfill my mission," she clenched a fist. "I needed to. Two other men appeared; one helped the witch and the other stopped me. The one that stopped me was beyond skilled. He must've had professional training to be able to stop me. I was taken somewhere you were and it helped and somehow I got better, but not too better..." she stopped and watched the ocean.

"I killed a kid and ran away. I broke my hand," she looked at her metal replacement. "I was taken back by the man that helped you, from that first mission. Who were those two? Why don't I remember?"

"The man who helped me, his name was Steve Rogers. Captain Steve Rogers," Tony stated quietly. "But you have to figure out who the second man was on your own. You must."

"Why don't I remember anything else after running away?"

"The jail break affected your memory. If I fed it all to you, it wouldn't be right and you wouldn't believe me. It's there inside you, staring you in the face. You have to stare back at it and take ahold of yourself."

"It flooded, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did. Do you remember why?"

"People came with you. Who?"

"The Avengers."

"You're one of them?" It was an educated guess. He nodded. "Superheroes, right? I thought superheroes didn't hurt people."

"They don't try to. We didn't try to. We needed to recover you."

"Recover me? Did you send me there?"

"You tell me."

~A Memory~
"I'm proud of you."
Audrey and Tony stood in a police station. A signature, a pair of handcuffs, a glass cell behind doors.
"No man left behind."
A man, rather woman, left behind. She was taken to an underwater prison, put inside electric cells, and tested on by a guest 'specialist' whom she had history with. Her HYDRA doctor. Doctor West.

"You didn't send me there; you allowed me to go," she answered her own question. "The police took me to the prison where Doctor West tested me."

"Doctor West was there," Tony repeated. "He could've aided the memory loss."

"I'm sure he was part of it," she paused. "You told me you'd come and get me. You did, and it flooded. The Avengers are the reason I can't remember."

"We needed to get you back, we needed to know you were okay."

"You guys broke me. Didn't you?"

"Audrey-"

"Why'd you come here to talk to me? Why'd you want to try to coax me to go back with you?" She stood. He stood too and began to walk back with her, waiting to answer her question.

"It's Bucky, he's dying without you. Deteriorating without you. He needs you. You're going to see him today."

"I don't know a Bucky. Why would I go with you if you're the reason I'm like this?"

"If you see him, you'll remember him," he insisted. A car pulled up with a man inside. Tony opened the door for her. "Worse case scenario, you can always kill us. You have the training after all."

She got in.

"You've got a point, Stark," she glanced at the driver who looked back at her.

"Steve?" he smiled, she remembered him.

"Hey Audrey."

oh captain! my captain! | barnesWhere stories live. Discover now