Race to Redemption (BuckyBarnes x OC)

9; A Broken Past

    "Holy shit, are you guys okay?" Sam flew by our heads in his Falcon suit, landing on the pier as we got the last passenger from the water, handing them to the paramedics who were called on the scene after the explosion. There were only three casualties out of sixty passengers, though a lot of the people caught in our way suffered injuries. Still, I was convincing myself it could've been a lot worse.

    "Sam," I greeted him gratefully as I collapsed in his arms, just content to have him present, "How come you're here?"

    His eyes widened at my sudden wave of affection. "I was in the Tower when the distress signal went off, so I came to help. I was trying to spot the black van you warned us about, but I didn't see one anywhere. It's like they disappeared into thin air," he explained as he rubbed my back in circular motions.

    "Let's get back to the Tower," Steve waltzed by, "The medics assured me they can take over from here. I gave a statement to the NYPD, but there's not much more we can do at the moment."

    I nodded and straightened on my own two feet, saying to Sam, "I'm sorry we didn't get your dry-cleaning."

    He chuckled lightly, "I'm just glad you're alive."

    As our Captain ordered, we boarded the quinjet, leaving behind the medics and the police to deal with the aftermath of the attack. I was sure we could've done more considering this happened because of us, but we'd just be in the way of people who were trained to deal with situations like these. The exhaustion of Steve and I wasn't discreet since we collapsed on the seats inside the jet as soon as we walked in, but that didn't mean the team would leave us alone. As soon as Tony fired up the jets, Natasha started with the questions.

    "Let me get this straight. You were attacked by a bunch of guys that waited for the ferry in a black van and not even one of you was able to see anyone's face? I can hardly believe you two were America's best agents in the fifties," she snorted, sitting beside Steve and folded one of her legs on the other.

    "They had their faces covered, it's clear they didn't want to be recognized," Steve opposed, glancing towards me with a frown, "And she's the agent, not me."

    "I'm a little out of practice," I shrugged, though I cursed myself for not paying more attention, "But it's not like they knew that."

    "You shouldn't have shown them you were skilled, Willy. They were after me," the blonde proceeded to argue.

    I immediately rolled my eyes, "Well, what was I supposed to do, Rogers, let that poor woman die? I'm just as capable of handling the situation as you."

    "Wait, the guy didn't know you?" Sam jumped in.

    "I guess not. He did say something about hearing my stories, whatever that meant, but he was clearly not familiar with who I fully was. Or maybe he didn't know I was still capable of fighting," I ran a hand through my hazel locks, "He was Hydra, though, he was pretty obvious about that."

    "How do you know?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

    "He told me himself. He said Hydra didn't use my full potential," I responded. The team exchanged a few glances, confusing me all the more, "What was that for?"

    Sam took a breath to speak, but Natasha beat him to it. "Your existence was not well known. To some, you were known only as of the attendant or aide to the Winter Soldier," she said with arms crossed.

    "But they were Hydra," I argued, "Doesn't all of Hydra know about him?"

     "About him, yes, it's you that were highly classified, only known by the highest ranks. They probably didn't want the primary agents to know," Steve stated.