the winter soldier... aka bucky barnes
A few days later, Marlene received a very odd text from Steve Rogers. Running out of the training room, she quickly took a shower and got dressed. Marlene sent Tony a quick message stating she would be with Steve (in which he replied a very naughty thing about the old pair), and as she was leaving, she grabbed the beige cardigan she knew was comfortable. Hurrying down the elevator, she pressed the call button by Steve's name to figure out what the hell was going on.
"Hi," he stated nervously. "Are you coming down?"
Marlene was about to reply when the elevator doors opened. She saw a man dressed in a sweatshirt and baseball cap wearing sunglasses waiting in the lobby. He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Yeah," she replied. "I'm in the lobby."
"See the guy with the baseball cap?"
"Yep. Making me uncomfortable, check."
"That's Sam. Walk out with him. He'll take you to me," Steve said quickly before ending the call. Walking forward, she felt Sam flank her right side as she waved at the receptionist.
"So... you're Marlene?" Sam asked awkwardly as he pushed open the door to hold it for her.
"Yup," she replied. "Sam...?"
"Sam Wilson. Friend of Steve's," he stated. "Okay, that car."
"Is that Natasha—" she cut herself off, opening the back door behind Steve and slipping into the car. Natasha sat in the middle while a man who she vaguely remembered as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent sat behind Sam. "Hey," she greeted the red-head.
"Hi," Natasha said sweetly as Sam began to drive off. "You're looking beautiful. Did you do something different with your hair?"
Marlene snorted. "Pepper cut it a bit. Dye can't touch it. So," she paused, leaning over to look at the man, "who are you? What's going on, Steve?"
"Do you own a phone?" Natasha asked rhetorically. "Fury was killed by the Winter Soldier. Steve and I were almost killed Arnim Zola in New Jersey. We found out Hydra is infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D., and they are planning to kill millions of people. We needed your help to stop them in D.C."
Marlene stared at woman as if she was crazy.
Sam turned for a moment before glancing back at the road. "Uh oh, we broke the witch."
Steve sighed. "Marls?"
"What?" she asked. "No, no. I'm fine. Just processing. Hydra is the SSR from Germany during World War II, from your stories, Steve?"
Steve smiled to himself. "Yeah. They are still around. Jasper Sitwell here is one of them."
Marlene nodded. "And how are they going to kill millions of people?"
"Project Insight. Three helicarriers with targets all over the U.S.," Natasha said as they made it onto a bridge. "Which, by the way, launch is in less than sixteen hours. We're cutting it a little bit close here."
"I know," Steve said before a thought hit him. "Are you going to be okay to fight, Marlene?"
"Why wouldn't she be? All rested in the tall tower with Stark," Natasha said with a smirk.
"I'll be fine. The headache finally passed. We planned to access more memories today, but we can push it back. This is more important," Marlene replied.
Natasha nodded. "Finally remembering things, Galactic Savior?"
Sitwell turned his head. "You're here? Not in Sokovia?"
"Why would she be in Sokovia?" Steve said angrily.
Sitwell shook his head, not saying anything else.
Marlene bit her lip. "Ignore him. What is he for?"
"We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly," Steve said.
"What?! Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea," Sitwell said loudly before something landed directly on top of the car. Marlene let her hands light up just as a metal arm broke through the window to grab Sitwell. He was thrown into oncoming traffic, which killed him instantly. Gun shots appeared in through the roof, but Marlene used her energy to stop the bullets from landed on anyone.
Steve pulled the emergency handle to stop the car just as he reached back to pull Marlene onto his lap. Sam did the same to Natasha as another larger car rammed into the back of Sam's. Marlene used her powers to send blasts at the car behind them, smirking victoriously when the driver was killed.
She jumped as the Winter Soldier landed on the hood of the car, reaching his hand through the windshield to pull the steering wheel out. Marlene went into his mind, eyes glowing brightly as she tried to make him stop.
However, there was something blocking her from reaching his thoughts. That was when she realized this was someone being completely controlled. It was unlike Loki's control on Clint where she could suck it out of his brain. She kept knocking on the thoughts, but something was kicking her out.
"Shit!" Sam shouted as Natasha started shooting at the Winter Soldier. Marlene gasped as she landed back in her body.
"I can't reach his thoughts. It's as if he doesn't have any of his own," she whimpered, throwing an energy blast at the man. He glared at her before jumping onto the vehicle behind them.
As the car began to get pulled off the road, Steve wrapped an arm around Marlene's waist and put the other on to the car door.
Steve yelled, "Hang on!" and Natasha grabbed onto Marlene as Sam held onto the agent. Steve broke open the door to slide on the car door through the streets.
When they stopped, Steve yelled, "Scatter." Hydra agents joined the fight, shooting at them. Sam took off with Natasha, and Steve jumped over the bridge. Marlene was tired of running.
Flying into the air, she sent herself into the mind's of the agents to have them drop their weapons. She even had some shoot at each other. She still tried to get into the Winter Soldier's mind, but he was doing his best to keep her out. He shot at her, but she dodged each one as she sent energy blasts to him.
When he was shoved back by one of her energy balls, she gracefully fell on the ground over the bridge before running to find Steve.
Turning when she heard more gunshots, she rolled her eyes at being the Winter Soldier's target. Turning, she yelled, "They are controlling you, Winter!" Twisting midair when he sent four shots at once, she landed roughly on bended knees to send a energy wave through the ground. It made the Winter Soldier fall back. "You are more than their weapon. You are your own person!"
She could feel one of his defenses drop. It was working.
Natasha was shooting from behind a van, and the Winter Soldier threw a grenade her way. As the bomb went off, she yelled, "Listen to me! I know how it feels to be someone's weapon!" She sent a blast when he shot two rounds at her. She was growing tired. Hovering in the air, she flew at full speed, tackling him to the ground. Another defense broke. "Look at me. Let me in," she whispered, placing her hand on his temple to try and force her way into his brain.
He stared at her, almost letting her in.
Natasha sent a few bullets at him, and the Winter Soldier bucked Marlene off of him. She was sent into a nearby truck, and she felt blood running down her neck as she hit the broken glass.
"Come on," she called quietly, pushing into his head. "Come on."
Marlene watched as Natasha took off running when the soldier's attention went to her instead. He was tired of the witch's mind tricks. Marlene flew to him as she watched Natasha get shot. Using her legs, she twisted her body around his neck to send him to the ground.
She tried again to get into his head, and she was not paying attention to her surroundings. She heard Steve yell out, but Marlene was not quick enough to turn. A bullet lodged itself in her side, knocking her from the soldier's body. Using her magic, she killed the man who sent the bullet just as Steve and Winter began to fight.
"Holy shit," she murmured, trying to figure out a way to remove the bullet from her side. She tried to force it out with her powers, but her powers did not work like that. She felt someone grab her hand. Turning, she saw Natasha holding her own wound.
"First bullet wound?" Natasha asked conversationally as Winter and Steve fought behind them.
"Yeah," she said with a grimace. "Not as fun as I'd imagine it would be."
"Never is," she agreed.
Marlene felt the Winter Soldier's brain allow her in, almost screaming for her to take a glance in his thoughts. Turning her head sharply, she saw his mask had fallen off as he and Steve stared at each other.
Memories of Steve and Bucky flashed in the Winter Soldier's mind, almost like a slideshow. It was as if this was the first time in a long time he was allowed to think for himself.
"Bucky?" Steve asked.
"Who the hell is Bucky?" Bucky asked, eyes flickering to Marlene as if he knew she was in his head.
"It'll be okay," Marlene sent into his brain just as Bucky went to shoot at Steve. Sam flew in and kicked Bucky aside. Bucky took aim again, but before he could shoot, Natasha used the grenade launcher Bucky dropped earlier to shoot at him. When the dust cleared, she knew before that he was gone by his thoughts vanishing in thin air.
Steve looked around brokenly as sirens were heard. Someone tried to grab Marlene, but she sent her energy at them. It was weak, only pushing them back, but it made her point. No one would touch her. No one would control her again.
An agent she remembered seeing before yelled, "Drop the shield, Cap! On your knees! Get on your knees! Now! Get down! Get down!" Steve held his hands up. "Get on your knees! Down!" Marlene tried to send her magic at the man as he kicked Steve's leg, but Steve shook his head as he kneeled down. "Don't move." A helicopter was flying above them as someone finally managed to grab Marlene. She was losing too much blood, and her powers were not working. She tried to take control of their minds, only able to get a few before she felt sick. "Put the gun down. Not here. Not here!"
In the van, Marlene was leaning against Steve's shoulder as her brain felt fuzzy. It was stupid that all she could think of was that Tony cared for her enough that it would crush him if she died, Peter Quill was out there somewhere, Bucky Barnes needed his memory back, and Aaron's memories still needed to be found in her brain. She was not ready to die yet.
"It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me," Steve said suddenly.
"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago," Sam asked.
"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and—"
Natasha shook her head. "None of that's your fault, Steve."
"I tried..." Marlene whispered. "That whole time. I tried to get into his head. He wasn't allowing me, but for a moment, he almost did. His eyes were scared. And when you said his name, the defenses fell. I saw every thought. He knows you, Steve," she slurred, head feeling fuzzy. "He's being controlled."
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky," Steve said softly.
Sam noticed Natasha and Marlene both bleeding from their wounds, and he looked at the guards. "We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on those wounds, they're gonna bleed out here in the truck."
Suddenly one of the guards pulled out an electric rod and neutralized the other guard. The other guard was knocked out. When the guard who did that began to take off the helmet, it was revealed to be Agent Hill.
"Ah, that thing was squeezing my brain," Hill exclaimed before her eyes went to Sam. "Who's this guy?"