Leave Me Bleeding [Winter Soldier] I

Human [Chapter 14]

                So with some small drive of good inside of her, she answered, "HYDRA."

                "HYDRA...?" He shook his head. "No, HYDRA died with Schmidt."

                "You couldn't be more wrong." She shuddered, the words coming off of her lips ingrained in her mind. "We grew stronger."

                "Cut off one head... two more shall take its place," he solemnly said the HYDRA motto, loosening his grip on her momentarily.

                "I can help stop them." The words escaped her mouth before she could even think to stop them. Something deep inside of her told her to do this; there was something trying to escape within her. What was it? Or who was it?

                "And why should I trust you?" He scoffed, but his question had honest intentions. "You just killed... Fury!"

                Steve pulled her to her feet and forced her to shuffle along until he reached the edge of the building, facing his apartment and peering through the broken window. With her arm stretched painfully behind her back, she knew there was no escaping. However, she did not feel the need to escape; she meant what she said about helping bring HYDRA down. Getting Steve to believe that was going to be a matter of believing it herself. She didn't even know if she had a name, she knew nothing but HYDRA. Yet something was glowing inside of her, something that told her helping Steve was going to help her. He had been just so far, that was more than HYDRA ever had been. Glancing across the buildings, she saw that the lights were on now in Steve's apartment and there was a blonde woman peering back out at them.

                "Kate!" he called to her. "What's his status?"

                "He's alive," The Huntress muttered before Kate could say anything. 

                "I've called an ambulance, they will be here in three minutes," Kate called back, her voice sounding panicked.

                "Come on." Steve walked towards the rooftop entrance of the building and opened the door, grabbing the Huntress' arm and bending it behind her. "Try anything and I will knock you out."

                "That's no way to treat a lady."

                "You're HYDRA; are you even human?" 

                She could not answer the question, and went along silently down the stairs. His words cut deep because she believed up until now that she was nothing more than HYDRA's weapons. Disposable. But she saw an opportunity to change that; something about Steve knowing who the Winter Soldier was, it made the Huntress wonder about him. There were answers that she wanted, but was unsure if she would receive. When they reached the parking lot, flashing lights blinded her, and she reached to cover her eyes, but found she could not. Steve gripped her arms tighter. "Not so fast."

                "I wasn't trying anything other than trying to shield my eyes from the light," she told him. "I'm not used to... all this."    

                "That, I can understand," he said almost sympathetically. He walked over to a blonde, who she recognized as Kate from the window of Steve's apartment. "I need you to watch her, make sure she doesn't go anywhere."

                "Who is she?" Kate asked. 

                "I don't know," he said. "But she has a role in this..." He gestured to Fury being loaded into the ambulance swiftly.