He knows Malka has seen him slip into the Winter Soldier many times, seen his fear and his pain as everything he was disappeared beneath what she put under his skin. It must have terrified her because watching the woman he's come to rely on dissolve beneath something not totally human almost makes him recoil.
The Winter Soldier had never seen Aura activated. She always appeared perfectly content with following orders, except for that one week in 1974. There were a few other times he saw the woman behind Aura, saw the hesitation and the fear behind Aura's confidence and bloodlust. Malka never told him how she modified the program.
He had been raging, fighting with every breath to stop the words from resonating in his mind. She placed that safeguard in his head. It seems she removed it for herself. Malka simply stood there, his shouts meaning nothing as Zemo spoke.
Bucky knows what Malka would want. He knows what the Winter Soldier would do, but he can't bring himself to end her before she can cause harm. She wouldn't do it to him; in fact, she had the chance before and stood by him every time. He knows she's in there.
"Bereit zu gehorchen." (Ready to obey)
Bucky takes a step back from her as she tilts her head, her one eye staring into space, yet something sinister lurks in her expression.
"Yo, Mal," Tony calls out. "You good?"
"Turn on the computers for me, Aura."
She moves silently to the screen and turns it on, taking a step back and clasping her hands in front of her.
"An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again, but one which crumbles from within? That's dead. Forever."
Bucky wants to shoot him, but the glass is too thick. Maybe it would be cathartic, maybe it will snap Malka back into control. Maybe it will only make matters worse.
"I know that road," he hears Tony say. "What is this?"
"Mission report." Her voice is the same as it was years ago, her accent heavy and consuming. "December 16, 1991. Remember, солдат? Recover what I made for them. What Howard Stark asked me to make."
Voices he only hears in dreams now echo from the screen. He forces his eyes shut in an attempt to block it out, but he knows can't. Not with Tony realizing what he's done, what Malka had done.
"Don't be sad, солдат," Aura coos. "You were the clean-up squad."
It's strange to hear her be cruel again. He knows the Malka he wants doesn't remember this—doesn't remember that it was Stark who asked her to create the serum once more or that the Winter Soldier was sent to clean up the mess. Maybe she figured it out, but the memories are blocked, maybe even gone. She had explained that her mind wipe was something her superiors wanted for confidentiality so they'd be safe. They never were, not from HDYRA and not from him.
Tony lunges forward, and Bucky can't quite find the strength to fight back. Luckily, Steve intervenes.
"Did you know?" Tony asks.
"I didn't know it was him," Steve replies.
Aura smirks. She knows he's lying.
"Don't bullshit me, Rogers. Did you know?"
"Remind me, Aura." Zemo's voice seems secondary now, even in the silence as Tony waits for an answer. "You failed your last mission, correct? What was that?"
Her eye lands on Steve with his attention diverted, her fingers tightening around her gun. "Eliminate Steve Rogers."
"What—"
"Finish your mission."
As Tony attacks Steve, Bucky lunges into Aura's path before she can shoot. He tackles her to the side, but she swings her legs around, trapping his arm and twisting before detangling herself and pouncing forward.
Bucky doesn't have a chance to move before Tony is on him, Aura lifting the gun towards Steve. The bullet bounces off the shield before the shield itself hits Tony while Aura kicks Steve in the gut.
Tony tosses restraints at Steve before he grabs Bucky and slams him into a generator, the metal bending against his back. He narrowly crushes Tony's armored hand and deflects the rocket aimed for his head, but he catches sight of Aura advancing on Steve, knives flickering in her grasp.
The generators begin falling, and Bucky slips out from under Tony's punches, rolling on the ground to avoid getting crushed by the metal rafters. For a moment, he looks for Malka only to find Aura pushing herself to her feet, anger clear in her eye.
"You know, we should really talk about how your partner wants to kill me, and my partner is after you. Do you regret telling me to give her the gun now?" Bucky mutters.
"Get out of here!" Steve shouts. "What's Malka doing—"
"I'm getting tired of this." Bucky hears Aura say. When he looks around, he finds her climbing the silo and looking down, her fingers spread. "Good luck breathing."
Bucky chokes as the air around him thins to the point of nothingness. He reaches for Steve and shoves him close to the ground as fog rolls over the destroyed control room. "Careful," he warns, "she'll kill you without touching you."
"What's she doing?" Steve whispers as they crawl along the ground. "How is she doing this?"
"Effect of the serum. They wanted more than just super strength, so she did what she could, and they tested it on her. She's connected to the gas particles in the air, can feel when they shift or react. How do you think she's so good at knowing when someone's coming? She can feel the carbon dioxide from their breathing."
"And?"
"And Aura is known for killing everyone in a room without moving an inch. She'll make the air toxic or take it away. She once walked into a conference center and killed four hundred people in a minute while sipping coffee. Doesn't use it too often."
"Why?" Steve looks horrified.
"Not satisfying, and it hurts."
"Didn't think that was important to tell us?"
Bucky shrugs, slamming his hand up to open the top of the silo. Fresh air fills his lungs as the fog clears. "Don't let her see you," Bucky says before he launches himself up through the metal grates of the silo.
Aura jumps down, and she meets his gaze for a brief moment—long enough to see her confusion and her annoyance—before she lands on the ground and takes off her garrote. "Come out, Capsicle," she whistles. "Been waiting for years to do this—"
The shield slams into her chest, sending her into the back wall as Tony flies up towards Bucky. He runs, but his gaze keeps drifting to Aura who tosses the shield to the side and begins hacking away at the rubble Tony left in his wake.
Bucky misses a step and falls to a lower grate, Tony already waiting.
The shield bounces the shot back at Tony as Steve helps Bucky to his feet. "He's not gonna stop," Steve pants.
"Neither is she."
"Go."
Bucky nods and runs once more, this time, he has a different shadow. "I'm wounded, солдат," she says. "You fighting against me? You won't last long."
Bucky makes it to the top of the silo before Tony shoots the top down. He falls onto the top-most grate, but Aura is waiting for him. Her garrote wraps around his metal arm and tugs him towards her, pressing him to the wall with a knife aimed at his throat.
"Don't make me do this," she says quietly. "You are not my target."
"Are you his? If not, duck." He takes an exposed pole from the wall and swings above Aura's head to slam into Tony. He remains unfazed as he locks his arms around Bucky's head and squeezes.
"Do you even remember them?" Tony asks.
"I remember all of them."
A bullet shatters one of Tony's iron cheeks as Aura shoots again, this one aimed for an eye. "Отпусти его." Malka continues advancing towards them, her teeth bared and her brow furrowed. Bucky pushes himself and Tony off the ledge, Aura leaping off after them. When Steve joins their group, Bucky detangles himself from Tony and launches himself and Aura onto one of the grates instead of the concrete ground. (Let him go)
Aura groans as she pushes herself to her elbows. "You won't stop me. I won't fail again. I can't fail again."
Bucky winces as she stumbles to her feet, her gaze locked on the ground. "Why are you after him?"
"I have orders."
He stretches his arm towards the discarded shield. "He's your friend, Malka—"
"Malka is dead."
"Funny, she says the same thing about you." He hits the vibranium against Aura's legs. She shouts as she falls forward, rolling to a stop before she launches herself at Steve. Bucky rushes to his aid, knocking Tony's hand away with the shield.
It's a strange dynamic with everyone trying to kill someone. Tony wants Bucky dead, Aura wants Steve's blood running over her hands. Steve and Bucky just want to save their friends.
A beam of energy explodes from Tony's hand and knocks Steve into the wall. Bucky shouts as he rushes Tony, pinning him to the wall as his fingers rip into the armor and pull at the glowing heart.
He needs to be fast. Aura will kill Steve—he can already taste the difference in the air. He smells almonds, like cyanide. Poisonous air.
A blast of energy throws him back, and he tips towards his right side, his metal arm half gone. He hears it clatter somewhere next to him but does not see it as pain erupts from his back, his body flying into the back wall.
"солдат!" He faintly hears as his ears ring. "солдат, can you hear me? солдат!"
Her hands cup his cheeks, but he can't find the strength to open his eyes. "No, no, no," she mutters. "She made you. I was supposed to protect you. Wake up. солдат. James. Wake up!"
His eyes flicker open. She almost looks worried when she meets his gaze. Then, the rage pours in.
"Aura, no—"
"You'll all die." She twists and throws her hands out, grinning as the air turns a slight red. Steve doubles over and coughs as Tony gasps for breath in his helmet. Aura simply smirks. "Welcome to hell, boys. Enjoy your stay."
Bucky reaches forward and grabs her ankle. When she looks down at him, he pulls her foot out from under her, her head slamming into the ground next to him before her body falls limp.
The color in the air dissipates, and Steve tosses Tony to the side and into a concrete structure. Bucky doesn't care about them as he crawls next to Malka's head, his fingers coming back bloody when he drags them against her temple.
He groans as he sits up, pulling her into his lap with his one good hand. She looks so peaceful just resting there as if it were just another morning in their apartment. Bucky doesn't even notice Steve come up behind him until he hoists Malka into his arms and helps Bucky to his feet.
"That shield doesn't belong to you," Tony calls out from behind them. "You don't deserve it. My father made that shield."
Steve drops the shield, and they walk away.
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HEHEHEHEHE! 1 more chapter!
Hope you enjoyed!
-L