The Girl With Six Marks

Brotherhood 3

The Girl With Six Marks
Brotherhood
Chapter Three

S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters

Alyanna and Steve didn't even return to their room for their stuff. Instead they went straight to S.H.I.E.L.D with the new information they inquired. Alyanna was currently in the med-hall getting her nose healed while Steve stood on the roof looking off into the distance.

His mind was swirling with questions and he felt like everything he knew was a lie. Was that really his best friend from the past? He looked the same but also different. The metal arm was obviously different, but his eyes held so misery coldness that it made Steve question if he knew what he was doing or not.

There must be an explanation for why he was alive and working for the Brotherhood of the Markless. He remembered his friend being brave and courageous, not vengeful and dangerous. He didn't have a soulmate, from what he could remember, and he definitely looked like he hadn't aged.

He had hurt Alyanna. And Steve was upset. When he saw him standing above Alyanna who was laying on the ground with a bloody face, he lost it. He felt the one thing his morals went against.

He wanted to kill.

Killing the aliens were different because they weren't humans. But the anger he felt towards the one who had hurt his mate was so intense that if he hadn't been shocked at the fact that it was Bucky, he probably could have killed him.

His fist clench in frustration.

He wanted answers.

He wanted to save his friend.

Next Scene
Conference Room

Steve walks into the room and immediately goes to Alyanna who was sitting at the edge. His eyes lit up at seeing her healed nose.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, both of his strong hands coming up to cup her face.

She gives a sigh of content at feeling her soulmates touch. But she could tell something was off. Ever since the run in with that crazy half robot man, Steve's emotions have been all over the place. They had been too busy trying to escape and get her nose to stop bleeding that she didn't question him. But now that they were alone...

"I'm okay babe, but how are you? Where were you just now?"

His face hardens into a frown and his shoulder slumps as his hands come off of her. "I don't want to talk about it," he says dejectedly, causing Alyanna to narrow her eyes.

"Steve, you should know by now that you can talk to me about anything," she tells him sincerely.

A low sigh escapes his lips and he takes a seat in one of the chairs. He motions for her to come sit in his lap she obliges.

He hugs her tightly as he begins to tell his story.

"When I was a young kid, I had a good friend named Bucky. He was a few years older and while I was that scrawny kid he was the strong big brother. He defended me from bullies and he was who inspired me to enlist. He was one of the only family I ever knew. Well he disappeared shortly after I enlisted and when I became Captain America I was able to save him and his whole unit. While he was helping me defeat Hydra, he fell and I presumed was killed. I mourned for him. Even after waking up from being frozen. But..." he pauses, voice beginning to crack.

"That man we fought at the end. The one with the metal arm...he was him."

Alyanna's eyes widen. "Who?"

Steve's eyes flash to hers. "That man was Bucky."

"A-are you sure?"

He nods solemnly, his arms around her tightening. "It was him, but it wasn't at the same time. It was like he was being controlled somehow. Kind of like how Loki's scepter used you and Barton, but this looked to be more powerful."

Alyanna could see why Steve was feeling the way he was. He must be so confused on how his best friend was alive and working with the enemy. She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses her forehead. "We will figure it out. If it really is Bucky, then maybe we can reach him and break whatever this hold is on him."

Steve felt a little better after confining in Alyanna, but he wasn't sure exactly how they would be able to do that.

The door opens and Director Fury walks in, causing the couple to pull apart and stand. He motions for them to sit and they wait to hear what he has to say.

"Good work on getting these documents. They were a compile of victims and future targets as well as some interesting information that could lead us to figuring out who's the leader of this organization."

Fury continues, the screen behind him showing all the files. "We notifies the hotel to the camera and they claim they have no idea who was in the room before you. The guest that had stayed before you came out with a fake identity and credit card used was reported stolen a few nights ago."

"My question is, how did they know we were in D.C and how did they know which hotel and which room?" Alyanna questions, her hand coming up to rub her chin. Her skin began to crawl at the thought of those people watching her and Steve and what they had done in that room.

Fury's eye flashes to Alyanna with concern. His voice was quieter as he walked closer to the pair. "We have speculations that we have a rat among us."

Alyanna gasps and looks to Steve who stared back at Fury with shock. "Are you saying there's a spy in S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"We are currently screening all agents, including you two," he admits firmly.

Alyanna stands to her feet. "What? How could it possibly be us?"

Director Fury doesn't react to Alyanna's outburst, instead he turns to Steve who straightens up under his stare. "Were you not just informing Agent Jones about a connection you have with one of the men?"

This time Steve stood up, his height becoming prominent as he give Fury a stern look. "If you think I would be part of any of this then I would have some questions about your loyalty. My connection to whoever this person may be, does not affect my stand on justice," he declares boldly.

Alyanna looked between the two men, the tension thick in the air. She understood where both were coming from, but she knew and trusted her soulmate with her life. There would have been no way that Steve was part of this, no matter who he was connected to.

Director Fury finally broke the stare, turning to the screen to pull up the next file. "The next thing we found interesting was in the video footage of the press conference. You claimed that the 'man,' you arrested was in fact not involved in the shooting. However, according the video, it was a woman who you chased down."

Both Alyanna and Steve snapped their heads to each other. "That's impossible, it was definitely a man," Steve confirms.

"Well take a look of the video you shot," Fury directs them to look at the screen.

Video footage of the press conference shows on the screen, Steve panning around the room. The sound of shuffling was heard before the video snaps to a woman dressed in a long coat walking out of the room. "Should we go?" Alyanna's voice filtered through the speaker before the camera panned downwards and then going black.

"Okay, that was definitely a woman. But I swore it was a man, even the officers who questioned him treated him as such," Alyanna pipes up, her voice filled with shock.

Then it finally dawned on her. Her stomach twisted in knots and she stood to her feet immediately.

"What is it?" Steve inquiries, looking at his soulmate with a confused expression.

She grabs the remote from Fury and rewinds. She stops as the camera catches the woman's face slightly as she was turning to leave the room. "Can this zoom?" She asks and Fury nods before touching the screen to zoom in on the womans face.

What they saw made Alyanna's blood run cold. She should have known. It was too obvious. She's so dumb for falling for it!

"Wait is that...," Steve trails off as Alyanna's fist clenches in anger.

Alyanna stares at the woman she hated most in this world.

"Pepper Potts."