Winters War Phase 3: Some Kind of Monster

Chapter 6

Bucky jolted awake screaming, disturbed by another nightmare. Sweat dripped from his forehead and stung his eyes. He stumbled into the shower and let the cold water pour over his head, breathing rapidly as he sank to his knees. With the cold tiles to ground him he slowly calmed under the jet of cold water. His cellphone ringing in the bedroom cut through his trance and he shut off the shower. Not bothering with a towel, he took his phone from the nightstand and saw it was Sam.

"Hey."

"Hey, Bucky. Listen, some things happened yesterday and I want to talk to you."

"What happened?" Bucky asked, confused and still not fully awake.

"Ambush. Two of them, actually. Peter and Natasha got hurt, badly."

A wave of shock went through Bucky's body. He leaned against a wall.

"Oh my God. Who did it?"

Suddenly a figure dressed in black burst through the window next to Bucky, showering him in broken glass. Before Bucky could recover from his surprise the figure kicked his legs out from under him and made to tackle him. He rolled away just in time and the figure's fist plunged through the floor right where his head had been. They both rose at the same time, staring at each other. It was another Winter Soldier.

"What the hell?" he whispered, amazed. He couldn't see the face behind the mask, but he knew the soldier was looking at him.

"Bucky? Are you okay?" Sam's voice crackled from the phone on the floor.

Bucky took a deep breath to yell something, but the unknown person stamped on the phone and crushed it to pieces with their foot. Bucky looked up just in time to use his vibranium arm to block the punch he hadn't seen coming.

Then Bucky was flying backwards through the bedroom wall and he landed on his back in the middle of his living room. The soldier jumped on to him and threw several punches at his face. Bucky felt massive power in the blows until he grabbed their fists and pushed the soldier away from him. They stumbled backwards while Bucky jumped back to his feet. For a moment they stared at each other.

"Who are you?" Bucky wondered.

"The Destroyer of Lives," they answered in a growl.

His eyes widened when he heard the female voice. There was something familiar in it. He shook his head in disbelief. "No. No. You can't be her."

In a quick movement, the soldier pulled a gun from her suit and fired a bullet at the still-staring Bucky. The shot embedded in his femur and he screamed. She pointed the gun again and there was a click as the gun jammed. Bucky lunged to grab the weapon, then swung round her and held his arm around her neck from behind.

"Don't be her," he snarled desperately in her ear.

He pulled off her mask. Suddenly she grabbed him by the neck and hurled him over her shoulders. He flew through the air and landed on the carpet. The mask dropped on the floor. Bucky looked up, and his fear was confirmed.

"Julia?"

Her face was a mask of anger as she slid her weapon that he'd dropped in the belt of her suit. Bucky noticed the color of her eyes was slightly different.

"It's me, Bucky! Please remember me," he pleaded.

She turned to his armchair, grabbed it by the sides, and held it above her head. His eyes widened at her strength and he froze in fear.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" Julia snarled and swung the item towards him. Everything went black.

For a moment, Julia gazed down at the motionless body of the former Winter Soldier. She strode towards the front door and left the apartment. She climbed the stairs off the porch to reach the roof. Suddenly she felt a metal cold hand close around her ankle. She looked down and saw Bucky again. His blue-green eyes were filled with anger as he walked up the stairs.

"Stop it, Julia! Somebody is messing up your mind."

"SHUT UP!" she yelled, and she kicked him in the face.

He let her go as he fell. She ran up the stairs and had almost reached the door to the roof before Bucky grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up.

"Your name is Julia Berger," he growled in her ear as he dragged her away from the door. She screamed as she tried to fight her way out of his grip but he was stronger. "I don't want to hurt you."

Suddenly his foot slipped off the step of the stairs and they both went down. Together they lay on the platform. Bucky pushed himself up with a groan and looked at Julia, who lay on her back with eyes closed. Blood covered the side of her face from a cut above her eyebrow.

"James?" she moaned, softly.

It was weird to hear her calling him James instead of Bucky but it didn't matter to him. She remembered who he was. With relief Bucky crawled to her.

"I'm here," he reassured her, as he held Julia gently by the shoulder. "You'll be fine. I'm here with you."

He saw her lips moving but couldn't hear what she said. He moved his ear close to her mouth.