His Angel

Haunted Past

Steve

I stared down at my hands as we rode in silence. SHIELD had found us. Angelina lay next to me unconscious. I sighed looking down at her my find going back to the fight. I'd just sat up when Angelina punched the Winter Soldier knocking him into a building. When he came out, the two just stood there. I couldn't figure out why neither was attacking the other. They just stood and stared at each other. Then he took the mask off and I could see clear as day who it was. Bucky. But why he didn't attack her still didn't make any sense.

"It was him. It was Bucky," I breathed shaking my head, "After all these years. And he just stood there. Staring at her."

"But how is that possible? That was like seventy years ago," Sam questioned.

"His unit was captured by Hydra. Zola must've given him the serum. That could explain how he survived the fall. They probably got him after he fell," I answered.

"It's not your fault," Natasha said through gritted teeth.

I looked back down at Angelina. Her eyes fluttered restlessly and she twitched a lot. Nightmare probably...or memories.

"Can we get a doctor back here or something?" Sam asked the two guards, "If we don't put some pressure on that wound, he's gonna bleed out."

The guard closest to him pulled out a taser. We all froze. Then the guard did something unexpected. He hit the other guard with it before slamming both feet into the guard effectively knocking him out. The guard pulled off his helmet to reveal Agent Hill. She shook her hair out a bit.

"Jeez, that thing was squeezing my brain," she breathed before looking at Sam with a raised eyebrow, "Who's this guy?'

The Winter Soldier

I tried to sit still as the man worked on my arm. Images kept flashing in my mind. Most of them were the man and the woman with the blonde hair. Both kept appearing in my mind. Without thinking, I lashed out striking the man as hard as possible. I froze again when several guns were trained on me. More images appeared. The woman...her eyes... her face.. I've seen them before.

"Mission report."

Why is she so familiar? Why do I see images of her in my mind?

"Mission report now."

Why did I obey her? Why did I take off the mask? Why did she call me that? A sharp pain across my cheek brought me back to the present. Pierce stood over me glaring down at me.

"Mission report," he repeated angrily.

"T-the woman... on the bridge and the man... who were they?" I asked slowly.

"Just some people you met on an earlier mission," he answered.

"I know him...and her..."

My mind felt fuzzy, strange. I tried to piece together thoughts with the images but it wasn't making sense. Pierce sat down seeming to be listening for what I had to say. I hardly noticed the gesture still thinking.

"Your work has been a gift to mankind," he said gently, "It has shaped a century. And I need you to do it, one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. We're planning to give it a push. You do your part and I'll do mine."

I kept seeing her face though. Hearing her voice.

"But I knew them," I repeated, "She knew me."

He sighed and stood giving out orders.

"Wipe him and start over," he ordered.

"Sir, the woman might be a problem."

I pretended not to be listening as one of the doctors spoke to Pierce in a hushed tone.

"He remembered her after the night of Fury's death too. His memory of her is stronger than anything else," the doctor continued, "She might be able to reset whatever we do. She is the Guardian after all and her mind is the most intricate piece of science to ever exist. I have a theory that she might be undoing it through ocular methods."

"What's that supposed to mean to me?" Pierce snapped.

I bit down on the mouth guard keeping my eyes trained forward.

"She can undo it just by looking at him. We can't risk that happening again," the doctor explained.

"Then we kill her first."

Angelina

I woke up in a dimly lit area. My eyes flickered around the room only to land on Natasha and a doctor who were only a few feet away. I sat up carefully. When nothing hurt, I stood.

"Angelina," Natasha called over.

I walked over cracking my neck and rolling my shoulders. The doctor tending to her bullet wound looked up with a look of surprise.

"You should be lying down," he said.

"I'm fine. I think I've spent enough time lying down today," I huffed running a hand through my hair.

"What happened? On the bridge," Natasha questioned, "You just froze. Sam said you did it before too."

"It was nothing."

She gave me a no bullshit look. I sighed looking over at the doctor. He took the hint and left. She scouted over and patted the spot on the ground next to her.

"You've never frozen before according to Steve, so what happened?" she asked softly.

"Honestly, the first time was just in pure shock. Of all the people in the world, I never expected to see Bucky," I answered with a slight chuckle.

She nodded cracking a small smile. My face fell as I thought back.

"How do you fight the love of your life?" I whispered my voice coming out hoarse as I tried to fight back tears, "All these years... all this time I spent alone. Steve was off with the Avengers being a hero or whatever and I couldn't even live in New York because I couldn't stop living in the past. I couldn't move on and just forget or bury it so deep that no one even had to see it. I spent three months in Paris trying to be normal, trying to move on. And I couldn't. I still couldn't. But then Fury called me in because my idiot brother and his friends decided to destroy New York, no offense. Dr. Banner and Stark tried to help me, but before we could even make any type of progress BAM! SHIELD's compromised and Fury's dead. And now to find out that my dead boyfriend is not only alive but suffering in the hands of Hydra, not to mention trying to kill me and his best friend because they've taken his memory or something!"

I took a deep breath putting my head in my hands. I just wanted it all to be over. The feeling of her hand on my shoulder made me look up. She had a soft look on her face that I'd never seen before.

"You've been through a lot and I know it's hard, but look how far you've come. This has definitely been the most stressful couple of days that I've ever lived through and I can't possibly imagine what this must be like for you. But I know one thing for sure," she said gently, "Angelina, you've been through hell and back and yet you still keep going. You still keep fighting when you're needed and risking your life for the lives of others. As crazy as this sounds, I one hundred percent believe that he remembers you."

I stared at her as if she'd grown a second head. She chuckled shaking her head.

"I'm being serious. He didn't even try to attack you. And when you ordered him to take the mask off, he did. Without even questioning it. For a split second, I saw that second mask, the one of the Winter Soldier, crack. He became Bucky again, just for a moment. I think that one day, when this is all over, you should find him again. There's a chance that you two could start over or pick up where you left off. It's gonna take a hell of a lot of work but I can see that in your future. I can see you happy again."

A smile formed on my lips. I hugged her tightly being careful of her wound. She hugged me back just as tightly. When we drew back, we smiled at each other.

"Thank you, Natasha," I breathed.

I could get him back, someday.