Ever After

Part 18 - You Shouldn't Be Here

"You know," Jarvis' voice echoes over the headset. "It would it would help me massively if you were to tell me where we were going Miss...Bella. Why are we in Siberia?"

"You know too much already Jarvis," You sigh back, unstrapping yourself as you see the coordinates matching up with your memory. "Slow down here and I'll parachute out."

"That wasn't the plan." Jarvis yells at you, but you ignore him as you stand and strap the parachute to your chest. "Mr Stark..."

"Mr Stark, nothing." You yell back. Fighting with yourself once again whether or not to spout the truth out to him, you walk back and place a kiss on his cheek. "Look after yourself J," You sigh, looking out once more to the horizon; seeing the snow peaks form as the clouds darken. "Get out of here ASAP."

"BELLA..." He yells as you head to the plane door, opening it and preparing to drop. 

"I never told Howard," You shout over the wind that envelops the plane. "But thank you. For everything. I miss you both." With that you jump from the plane, feeling the cold air whip your face as you drop. Thanks to the serum running through you, the icy temperature and your lack of clothing doesn't faze you as the snow begins to pelt down just as you open your shoot. 

Thankful at least that the fresh blanket of snow on the ground makes a softer landing, you quickly stow away the parachute, before looking up at the sky. The snow storm beginning to rage makes it difficult, but you can just make out the small plane as it turns; a tiny speck of grit in an almost grey sky. Hoping you haven't already drawn too much attention to yourself, and hoping Jarvis will have sense enough to listen, you start the slow march towards the HYDRA base.

***

After trudging through the thick snow, you start to feel the effects in your legs; once again the serum the only thing stopping your body from shutting down completely at the temperature alone. Despite the storm, your mind is racing, running through everything you knew about the HYDRA base in Siberia; recalling every detail from when you had last been there, trying not to let the massive fight that had happened between Steve, Bucky and Tony distract your determination.

Hoping that you had judged your timing right, you make your way to the top of a small hill, assuming that the base would be located just at the bottom of it. Crawling over the last few feet on your stomach so as not to be seen whilst pulling out a gun, you slowly peak over the top; heart starting to pound in your chest when you see it. Dismayed at the amount of HYDRA vehicles parked outside. "Shit," You scold yourself, why hadn't you thought of that; why hadn't you remembered that the base would be fully operational now. 

Turning so you can lay back in the snow, you try to come up with another plan, still berating yourself internally at how reckless this had been, however, when you close your eyes all you can see is Bucky; imagining what they were doing to him right now, what you know they had done to him. Taking a deep breath, you prepare yourself just to go; to hell with the risks, to hell if you got caught. This was for Bucky, and it needed to be done.

Feeling a shadow crawl over you, a slight panic rises in your chest. Trying your hardest not to show it, you keep your breathing focused whilst keeping a tight grip on your gun, ready to take a stand. "You shouldn't be here."

Immediately you open your eyes and see Steve standing over you; fire filling his eyes. "Neither should you." Barely having time to register what's going on, Steve grabs you by your arm and starts dragging you through the snow; heading the way you had just come. Punching his arm as hard as you can, he still manages to keep a hold of you before you twist on your hip, giving a swift kick to the back of his knee, sending him flying down.  "I have to do this Steve."

You stand, brushing as much snow as you can off you, before trying to head back once again; this time Steve tackles you, before throwing his weight down on top of you, pinning you to the ground. "I know you want to help him Belle, but we can't do this. We can't interfere."

"Maybe you can't." You almost yell before elbowing hard into his ribs, making him move off you slightly. "But I won't let him down again." As you try to squirrel away, Steve grabs your ankle, pulling you back to him. When you try to turn on your back, desperate to try and kick him off you, he manages to avoid the kick; straddling you and pinning your arms above your head.

"Belle, please." But you try your hardest to fight him off; once again even with the serum Steve was still much stronger than you were. "Don't do this Belle, you're breaking my heart." His voice is a whisper, but his eyes are filled with anger; anger at you leaving him behind, and once again, choosing Bucky. You try once more to buck him off of you, but fail miserably. Resolving yourself that you'd lost, you let your body sag; chest heaving as you struggle to breathe with the weight of Steve on top of you. 

Taking your relaxed state as a win, Steve lets go of your wrists. He leans back with you still stuck, pinned underneath him. "I'm sorry Steve," You start to cry. "I had to try."

"I know Belle." Steve doesn't look at you; having a quick look around at the snowstorm as it starts to get worse. Planning it perfectly, you wait until he starts to lift himself off you, before throwing a pile of snow in his face; the shock making him jump enough for you to push him off you completely before quickly scrambling out from under him and making a run back for the ridge. "BELLE, NO!" 

You can hear his heavy footsteps behind you; even in the thick snow Steve was quicker and would gain on you any minute. It breaks your heart, but you stop, pulling your gun and turning to face him; the barrel almost meeting his face.