The Blood Phoenix 6: A Captain America: The Winter Soldier Fanfiction

Chapter 12: HYDRA and the Winter Soldier

'Sir,' the voice of the scientist said. 'He's unstable. Erratic.' Some of the HYDRA soldiers were holding me. I looked at the Winter Soldier, now Bucky. He was on the chair in front of me and his metal arm was being repaired. He was looking directly at me and at the same time he was looking away, almost as if he recognised me and didn't at the same time, which was extremely unnerving. I saw Alexander Pierce walk into the room where Bucky and I were. On his motion, I was brought forward and sat in a chair. I still had the power restrainer on my neck and the cuffs on my hands. Truth be told, ever since I was separated from Steve, I was miserable. Pierce pulled a chair up in front of the Winter Soldier and sat down.

'Mission report. Mission report, now,' Pierce demanded. He was silent. Reaching forward, Pierce slapped him across the face. I let out a stifled cry and Pierce turned. 'Well, well, someone's worried.'

'Pierce, please. Don't do this.'

'The man on the bridge. Who was he?' the Winter Soldier asked.

'You met him earlier this week on another assignment.'

'I knew him. And I know her.'

'Your work has been a gift to mankind. 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 I knew him,' Bucky spoke. He raised his eyes to me. 'And I knew her.'

'Prep him,' Pierce spoke.

'He's been out of cryo-freeze too long.'

'Then wipe him and start over. Do the same with her.'

'No,' I snapped. 'I will not work for you. I cannot and will not be HYDRA's puppet.'

'If she won't work with us, then she will be our informant. Take her and torture her to find out what Rogers plans to do with Project INSIGHT. I will be there soon. Wipe him and start over.' They put a mouthguard in Bucky's mouth. He sat there, stone cold. When they turned on the machine, I heard his screams. Inhuman. Fighting it. But he couldn't.

'Ah!' I screamed. The knife digging into my skin was more painful than ever.

'Where is Rogers?' Pierce demanded. Tears flowed down my face now. I had resolved not to cry now, but the pain was too much. I was laying on a steel table, with my hands bound behind my head and my ankles restrained to the table.

'I don't know!' I yelled.

'What is Rogers planning with Project INSIGHT?'

'Why do you want to know, you sick son of a bitch?'

'What is he planning?'

'I don't know!' I convulsed as a throw of the knife landed in my side. Pierce, coming over, sharply withdrew it from my side, causing a spray of blood to come from my side. I screamed in agony at the pain.

'What does Rogers plan to do with Project INSIGHT?'

'I said I don't know! Ah!' I yelled again as the blade was thrown into my left side this time. I cried out as tears flowed down my face.

'If you won't tell us anything, then we will let you die. Take her out of her restraints and get the Winter Soldier to take her out and kill her. Tell him to do it quickly. One bullet to the head will do.'

'This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace was not an achievement, it was a responsibility. See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues,' the newly-living Nick Fury said to the small group. 'We need to stop the launch. I don't think the council's accepting my calls anymore.'

'What's that?' Sam asked. Maria Hill had taken a computer and had turned it to show the three a diagram of the three INSIGHT helicarriers.

'Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with INSIGHT satellites, becoming fully weaponised. We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own. One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three helicarriers for this to work. If even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are going to die.'

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

'We're not salvaging anything,' Steve snapped. '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 right your nose and nobody knew it.'

'Why do you think we're meeting in this cave?' Nick snapped back. 'I noticed.'

'And how many paid the price before you did?'

'Look, I didn't know about Barnes.'

'But even if you did, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalised that, too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes.' Just then there was a shout. The doctor and Natasha had gone for a while and returned with a body. Steve rushed over and they placed my limp body on the bed that Nick had been in while recovering from his injuries. Steve, who was on the other side of me, took my bloodied hand in his. 'It's okay, Adelaide. Just stay with me. How long has she been like this?'

'Two hours, maybe more,' Natasha spoke. I coughed and squeezed his hand. He looked at me as blood dripped from my mouth.

'Easy, Adelaide. Easy.'

'Steve...' I convulsed on the table as more blood dripped from my mouth.

'Stay with me. Just stay calm.' The doctor began to clean and bandage my wounds as Steve held my hand, keeping me company. Eventually, my wounds were bandaged and I was able to stand with some assistance from Steve. I sat down on a chair and watched the group.

'I thought you were dead, Fury. It's really a sight for sore eyes to see you.'

'I'm glad you're safe, Agent Lehnsherr.'

'Just Adelaide, Fury. Just call me Adelaide.'

'Now, what were we all talking about here? How to save the world and not get ourselves killed at the same time?'

'We're bringing down SHIELD,' Steve announced.

'Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain,' Fury announced.

'He's gonna be there, you know,' I said, walking towards him as he stood on the bridge near our secret hideout. He turned to me. I was wearing a casual form of my father's suit with a cape that reached down past my knees.

'I know,' he said. I strolled up to him and looped my arm through his.

'Look, I saw Bucky's eyes. When he was assigned to kill me, I saw cold. Cold, lifeless eyes. I don't know what he was before he fell from the train in '45, but whatever he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save, but that he's the kind you stop.'

'I don't know if I can do that, Adelaide.'

'I don't think Bucky will give you a choice. He doesn't know either of us anymore.'

'But he will.' I slipped my arm out of his as he walked away from me. 'Gear up.'

'You gonna wear that?'

'No. If you're gonna fight a war, you need to wear a uniform.'