Finding Death

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Captain America

I arrive outside the assassin's cell just in time to watch her stab her fingers into the bullet wound, rooting around.

"Stop!" I cry, opening the door and heading in there. All she does is stare at me, jaw clenched painfully tight, as she slowly pulls out a shining bullet, purposefully placing it delicately upright beside a mound of gory glass that must have emerged from her skin. "We have people that could've done that for you," again, her eyes simply bore into mine, deep hazel meeting aqua blankly. It's odd; somewhere deep inside me there's a stir of recognition for the assassin, but my brain tells me, quite rightly, that what I think isn't what's correct.

And somehow that breaks my heart all over again.

"Cap, we need you," Clint says from just outside the door, seemingly unwilling to come any further. I'm not surprised, to be honest. After what she almost did to me...

I follow him up the stairs, ensuring Thor's behind us. Let's face it, the assassin doesn't really need a guard down there; there's no way she's getting out of there without help.

"HYDRA are getting real cocky now," Tony's saying when the rest of us arrive in the lab. "Trying to kill Cap in his own place? With the rest of us?"

"That's not really how HYDRA play," Nat contradicts, frowning after glancing at the CCTV that allows us to watch the assassin's movements. So far, none. But Natasha's right, something really doesn't add up.

"But we can all agree that the way she pulled that bullet out of her shoulder was freaking awesome, right?" I glare at Tony, noticing Clint's agreeing expression. Such children. Especially the way Barton refused to enter her cell, earlier.

Natasha sighs. "Rogers, do we know who it is this time?" Thor glances at her, confused. Ah, we probably haven't told him about the last time.

I shake my head. "I've got a hunch, but it can't be right. It just can't."

"If a guy from World War Two tried to kill you a few months ago, I'm pretty sure anything is possible at this point," Bruce adds, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

"That's different. I didn't have concrete proof that Bucky was dead," I shrug. "If you think about it, if I can survive being frozen for seventy-odd years, then he can survive falling out a train. But this time, I actually saw Peggy's sister die. There was no pulse and metal went straight through her back."

"Okay, yeah, she sounds pretty dead," Clint remarks with a yawn. Is anything he says ever helpful?

"Peggy's sister?" Tony questions, shocked. Everyone ignores him. Sometimes (most of the time) it's better to.

"If you want, I could do a DNA test," Bruce says. "We've got some of her blood from the bullet, or what was on your face," he nods at me. "I could run it through some databases, see what I can find out. Or I could compare it to Peggy's DNA and see what we get. If the results match then there's definitely some relation."

Thor volunteers to fetch the bullet- brave- and it's agreed that when it's a respectable time of day and not six twenty-seven in the morning, I'll go and see Peggy to procure some DNA. Clint decides to return to bed, Tony too, whereas Nat and I are too on edge to sleep.

"So you really think it's her? Peggy's sister?" the redhead queries while Bruce is busy setting up some machines. Her eyes trace his outline, making me crack a small smile. They should really do something about the almost unbearable romantic tension. If I can see it, then everyone else can too. It's me, for God's sake.

A resigned breath escapes my lips as I mull it over. "I don't see how it can be."

"But?"

"But... I just have this feeling. Something along the lines of recognition. And if it is her I have to do something about it."