Finding Death

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Nomad

I don't know who it is I'm fighting. Well, I know her, but I can't recall her name. It's either Victoria or Natalia because the other two are dead. Killed.

And only one of them died by my hand- what an improvement.

The girl I'm fighting has nearly immaculate technique, but there's too much emotion in her. Rage. Regret. Pain. HYDRA can get rid of those in no time.

The training session ends with the ring of a bell, and the girl- I'm pretty sure it's Victoria- scampers off, sporting a broken nose and maybe a few damaged ribs. I come away barely bruised, but obviously over the years I've had a lot more practice.

"There's fire in her," Bucky's voice comes from behind me. It's unusual to hear his English- odd, but pleasant. I prefer it to harsh Russian, flowing Spanish, and all the other languages we know. A normal person would call us well-travelled. I just wish we had choices in where we travelled.

I turn to face my love. "But she's good, you can't deny that," I answer, cracking my knuckles under the fingerless gloves.

"Very," Bucky remarks. If I didn't know him like I do I'd say he was impressed. "But you injured her."

"Experience," I say simply, accompanying the word with a shrug. "It's all well and good to be brilliant in practice, but without fieldwork you'll never be good enough. Someone will always get the better of you. Someone will always be better."

*

Captain America

"So what happened in London?" I ask Sam. He video called me a few minutes ago on the Quinjet receiver, and honestly, I'm glad to hear his voice/see his face. Checking up on Rikki is always good, too.

Sam laughs. 'Honestly, I have no idea. Rikki just asked for a ride from the roof of Buckingham Palace- the HYDRA base underneath has been shut down for good.'

"There's a HYDRA base under Buckingham Palace?"

'I had the exact same reaction.'

Behind Sam's head, another comes into the frame. Rikki's dark hair is tousled like she's just awoken, but her eyes are sparkling and show no signs of tiredness. It's familiar but oh, so different. 'I wasn't sure if you wanted a nap,' I hear her say to Sam as she slides into the copilot's seat beside him.

'Nah, I'm good. Had one,' Sam points to something on the far wall I can't quite see.

Rikki's mouth falls open. 'How many of those things does this jet have?'

'I don't know,' Sam smiles, before turning back to me. 'Cap, how many beds does this Quinjet have?'

"Twelve, maybe?" I smile; so that's what they were talking about.