Infatuation | Bucky Barnes

Chapter Twenty Eight

Steve day next to her. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine Steve." She reassured him.

"Let me look, please?" Steve asked.

Catherine nodded and felt Steve lift the hem of her shirt up slightly, revealing a large bruise. His eyes landed on a scar near it. His finger traced part of it.

"Don't ask." She told him quietly.

"Nothing looks broken. It's going to hurt though." Steve told her.

"Already does. I'll be okay. I promise. What about you? You look shaken up." She asked.

"He was my best friend. His name is James Buchanan Barnes. He didn't even know me." Steve said.

"He was the man in the museum. Steve, it's not your fault. Hydra...they did something to him. It was a machine. It erased his memories. They could make him do whatever they wanted. Forget years and years of information and people." She tried to explain.

"You've seen it done?" He asked.

Catherine looked at him sadly as the memory of them forcing James into the machine and strapping him down appeared in her mind. "Yeah. It's awful."

"He meant something to you. I can tell when you talk about him."

"He trained me, but he was also my friend. We grew closer and hydra didn't like that."

"You fell in love with him?"

"I did. I tried to push my feelings away but...I suspected he knew more then what he let on. He told me his name was James. It's fitting for him." She told him with a forced smile.

They brought Natasha back into the room and everyone walked to Fury.

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache." Fury explained his injuries.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." Wynter added.

"Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good." Fury said.

"They cut you open, your heart stopped." Natasha told him.

Fury explained how they were able to 'kill' him and why they didn't tell anyone the truth. They all moved to sit a table to talk about their next move. Wynter has given Catherine some ice and pain medicine which was helping with the pain.

"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, "Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility." See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues." Fury said while holding up a picture of Pierce.

"We have to stop the launch." Natasha told him.

Fury produced a case and reveal three chips inside of it. "I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore."

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized." Mafia explained.

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own." Fury continued.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die." Maria said.

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We need to get pass them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left..." Fury said.

Steve cut him off. "We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down SHIELD."

"Steve, we can't take down an entire agency." Catherine said.

"SHIELD had nothing to do with it." Nick told him.

"You gave me this mission, this is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised, you said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed." Steve said.

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed." Nick shot back.

"And how many paid the price before you did?" Steve asked hurt.

"Look, I didn't know about Barnes." Fury told him.

"Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes." Steve said.

"He's right." Maria finally chinned it.

Fury look at Sam, Natasha and Catherine.

"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower." Sam said causing Catherine to smile to herself.

"Well... Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain." Fury told Steve.

****
Images flashed through the Solider's head. Flashbacks. Memories. He couldn't make sense of it. They all got lost in what he had been commanded to do. The man and the woman on the bridge, he knew them. From where, he didn't know. The man he saw children, them growing, laughing, dressed in military clothing, a train, him falling, a surgery. The woman was slightly different. The memories were fresher.

A smile. She smiled a lot. It was a perfect, almost charming smile. He could feel her touching him, whispering. They were close. Very close. He was losing control. Or was it Hydra that was losing their grip on him? His arm shot out suddenly, knocking one of the scientists over. In an instant, all guns were turned onto him. The man walked in. The leader, behind him a younger man with an earpiece in. 

"And Catherine never knew?" Another person asked the younger man.

"Never. I had her fooled the entire time. I wish I had got one night with her though, especially after seeing that tape. That brainless idiot has no idea how lucky he was." The younger guy, his name had an 'R' in it, but the Solider couldn't remember.

Catherine. Now that was a name he knew. Was it the woman from the bridge? His agitation was growing more. He needed to know who they were. The man slapped him, bringing him to reality.

"The man...and woman on the bridge...I knew them." He said almost brokenly.

Everyone in the room looked around. He knew he had fucked up. He should have kept his mouth shut. He couldn't hear what the man was saying, all he could hear was her voice.

"We could leave you know?" She asked.

She had no clothing on, an almost hazy look in her eyes. He swore he could feel her skin on his fingertips.

"They would catch us."

She wanted to run, but he didn't. Maybe he should have listened to her. He felt them shove his body back, pushing the mouthpiece in. No. He didn't want to forget. He didn't want to forget the man or the woman. He could hear his own voice in his head. He could see the woman, being held back, tears in her eyes.

"Catherine, it's going to be okay doll."

It was going to be okay.