I landed on the icy Siberian tundra, my breath catching as the cold bit through even the advanced insulation Tony had built into my suit. The world here was silent, save for the crunch of snow underfoot, a vast emptiness that echoed my racing thoughts. The facility loomed ahead, its cold steel door ajar. Not a good sign. I slipped inside, the chill replaced by a tense stillness. As I wandered through the labyrinth of hallways, faint voices started to reach me—familiar voices.
"No idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I'll have to arrest myself." That was definitely Tony.
"Sounds like a lot of paperwork," Steve quipped. "Good to see you, Tony."
Stepping from the shadows, I made my presence known. "Never thought I'd hear those words from you again, Rogers." They turned to me, Steve's eyes widening in surprise. Bucky, though, wasn't as welcoming. His gun was up, aimed right at my head.
"Easy, Manchurian Candidate," I said, raising my hands in mock surrender. "I'm the least of your worries right now." Steve gestured, and Bucky reluctantly lowered the weapon. "Thanks."
"Alice, what are you doing here?" Steve asked, still processing my sudden appearance.
"I should be asking you the same thing," Tony interrupted, turning to face me. "Why are you here?"
"Making sure you three don't tear each other apart," I replied flatly, unimpressed by the testosterone-charged reunion.
Tony waved it off. "We've got a truce, right, Cap?" Steve nodded, still clearly thrown by my presence. "See? No drama. You can head back now." He added with a dismissive wave.
"As if," I shot back, unimpressed.
A tense silence fell over us as Tony filled in the details about Bucky's framing. We moved cautiously through the corridors, every step weighted with unease. The further we went, the more I sensed something was off. We weren't alone.
"I'm picking up heat signatures," Tony confirmed, his voice cutting through the tension.
"How many?" Steve asked quietly, his eyes scanning the shadows.
"One," Tony replied as we stepped into a cavernous chamber. Lights flickered on, illuminating a scene out of a nightmare. Capsules lined the room, each containing a corpse—soldiers from some forgotten era.
"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep," a voice echoed from above. Helmut Zemo. His words dripped with cold calculation. "Did you really think I wanted more of you?"
"What the hell..." Bucky muttered, staring at the lifeless bodies in disbelief.
"I'm grateful to them, though," Zemo continued, his figure appearing behind a glass wall. "They brought you here."
Steve's shield flew towards him, but it clanged uselessly off the reinforced glass, falling to the ground.
"Please, Captain. The Soviets designed this chamber to withstand rocket blasts," Zemo mocked.
Tony glanced at me. "I bet I could break it."
I rolled my eyes. "Not the time, Tony."
Zemo remained unfazed. "Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then, you'd never know why you came."
"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to lure us here?" I demanded, my voice laced with disbelief and disgust.
Zemo's gaze locked onto mine. "Oh, Alice. I've thought of little else for over a year. I studied you, followed you. But now, seeing you here, I realize... you are so much prettier in person." His words sent a shiver down my spine. Steve instinctively moved closer, protective.
"You're Sokovian," Steve stated, his voice low with understanding. "Is that what this is about?"
Zemo's expression darkened. "Sokovia was a doomed state long before you destroyed it. No, I'm here because of a promise."
"You lost someone," Steve guessed, watching Zemo's every move.
Zemo's face hardened. "I lost everyone. And so will you."
Suddenly, the room filled with the hum of a monitor. Footage flickered to life on the screen, grainy and haunting. "An empire, toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumpled from within? That's dead... forever." My heart stopped. December 16, 1991. The date burned into my memory. My pulse quickened, and my breath came in short gasps as I watched the scene unfold—a car crash, violent and sudden.
"I know that road," Tony whispered beside me, dread creeping into his voice. "What is this?" he demanded of Zemo, but I could barely hear him. The realization hit me like a sledgehammer. This wasn't just any car. It was my father's.
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Choices || CAPTAIN AMERICA (Book 4)
FanfictionBOOK 4 Steve gave her that familiar look, the one that said he understood but had already made his choice. His gaze flickered back to me, searching my face for any sign of hesitation, of the Alice he'd known before all of this. I stayed silent, the...
