A prison van wasn't somewhere anyone would like to be, especially after what had just happened. The atmosphere was thick and palpable, but maybe that was what Adeline felt.
Her whole body was tense, and her fingers were tightly wrung together, making her knuckles turn white. Her eyes were fixed on Natasha's shoes, and she probably hadn't looked away since they were put in the van.
She didn't know if she wanted to talk about what she had done or if the others wanted to talk about it. It was unclear, and it made her incredibly anxious. Now that she thought about it, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to mention her powers in front of the two Hydra guards who sat at the front of the van.
Adeline took a deep breath and looked to her right. Her father was sitting in a similar position to hers, his eyebrows knitted together in worry. His hands were locked in much bigger cuffs, and his ankles were attached to the metal bench by thick metal cuffs.
"Are you okay?" She finally whispered.
Steve turned his head and looked at his daughter. She was being eaten alive by stress, and it killed him. He was supposed to be asking her that, but he hadn't been able to get out of his head.
"It was Bucky," Steve replied. He couldn't tell her he was alright because he honestly wasn't. He had no physical injuries, but his feelings hadn't been spared.
Adeline spluttered for a few seconds. "Bucky? Like... Bucky? Your Bucky?"
"It was him." Steve nodded solemnly. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."
"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago," Sam echoed Adeline's thoughts.
"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him," Steve theorized. "Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."
"None of that's your fault, Steve," Natasha mumbled weakly. Her eyes were closed and her head was leaned back. She was bleeding a lot.
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky," Steve stated defeatedly. Adeline reached over and grabbed his hand. It wasn't much, but it was the best she could do in these circumstances.
Sam, who sat on Natasha's left, took a glance at her wound and noticed the blood steadily dripping out of the wound. "We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck." He told the nearest guard.
The guard pulled out an electric rod and pointed it in Sam's face threateningly. Everyone froze, expecting the guard to strike. To their surprise, the guard flipped the rod and electrocuted the second guard who sat next to them and knocked him out.
The person removed their helmet, revealing their true identity. It was Maria Hill. "Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." Adeline smiled in relief, and Maria looked at Sam with confusion written on her face. "Who's this guy?"
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Maria took the group of four to a secret facility. The place was deep in the woods and resembled an abandoned hydro dam.
When they arrived, Adeline was still deep in her thoughts, and every move she made was done on autopilot. She followed the adults inside the facility, and they were welcomed by a doctor running towards them.
"GSW. She's lost at least a pint," Maria informed him.
"Maybe two," Sam added.
The doctor approached Nat and applied pressure to the bullet wound. "Let me take her."
"She'll want to see him first," Maria stated, making Adeline frown. She continued walking behind Maria, hoping that the woman would give more insight into what she had just said, but she remained quiet.
The agent guided them to a more secluded room and lifted the plastic flaps in the doorway. Adeline almost gasped at the sight.
Fury was lying in a hospital bed with a few wires attached to him. Though, the main thing that was different about him, was that he looked much more alive than the last time they had seen him.
"About damn time," Fury addressed them.
The doctor started taking care of Natasha's bullet wound as Fury explained how he was still alive. Adeline stood on her father's right, a few steps behind him. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her spine was rigid.
"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache." Nick listed his many injuries.
"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor added.
"Oh, let's not forget that," Fury answered in a tired voice. "Otherwise, I'm good."
Natasha winced as the doctor applied pressure on her shoulder. "They cut you open, your heart stopped."
"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it." He revealed.
"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked.
"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful," Maria answered.
"Can't kill you if you're already dead," Fury stated and Adeline fought the urge to scoff. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."
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Bucky fell off a train. White mountains and crimson snow. The man on the bridge couldn't save him. "Bucky, no!"
Some people helped him... No, they took him. Bucky remembered. "The procedure has already started."
New arm, new enemies. No control, no freedom. "You are to be the new fist of Hydra."
Cold stone floors. Walls littered with cracks. Rusted metal door locked and guarded. Pained screams echoed through the room.
A little girl he wanted to protect. A little girl who looked just like the man on the bridge. A little girl he helped escape. Bucky remembered. He paid the price and was put in ice.
The agent who had been fixing Bucky's metal arm was harshly pushed to the ground, knocking over the tool tray. Another agent pointed his gun at Bucky's head to stop him from attacking anyone else.
Bucky heaved, his eyes wide as saucers as glimpses of his past flashed in his mind. He was panicking, not able to distinguish between reality and what had been placed in his mind by the people who held him captive.
On the bridge, Bucky had taken a hard hit. When the blast knocked him off his feet, he almost thought he had died. That thought had brought him nothing but relief. But now, the only thoughts he had were of the girl who had attacked him to protect the man on the bridge. Who were they?
Alexander Pierce entered the bank vault that substituted for a lab, followed by multiple Hydra agents. "Sir, he's...he's unstable. Erratic." A scientist informed Pierce as he walked through the gate.
The man walked straight to Bucky, looking down at him with a sense of superiority. The scientists and agents watched from behind Pierce.
"Mission report," Pierce demanded, but Bucky stared blankly at the floor, unable to answer. "Mission report, now."
At the lack of answer he received, Alexander Pierce stepped forward and leaned on his knees so he could be face-to-face with the soldier. He struck Bucky on the face, making his head turn to the side in a way that couldn't be anything but painful, yet he didn't wince.
"The man on the bridge..." Bucky finally said as he recalled how the man had said his name. "Who was he?"
"You met him earlier this week on another assignment," Pierce answered carefully.
"And the girl?" Bucky hesitated, trying to figure out what his brain was trying to tell him. In another flash; the girl had called out his name with a terrified voice. "She was here."
Bucky didn't mean here as in the bank he found himself in at the moment, but he meant that she had been with him, with Hydra.
Pierce's jaw clenched. He hadn't been born yet when Adeline Rogers had been in Hydra's possession, but every higher-up in the organization knew about it. They also knew about what happened in New York last year and how she had gotten blasted with Power. At least, Hydra had gotten a hold of her through the facade of Shield, but now they had been discovered.
"She was here, yes, but she's a traitor now," Pierce answered. "She betrayed you."
Bucky's eyes watered slightly, but it was barely noticeable. He didn't believe Pierce; it didn't feel right, it didn't feel like the truth. He looked up at Pierce and against his better judgment, he didn't back down. "I knew them."
Pierce grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Bucky. "Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and Hydra can't give the world the freedom it deserves."
The man's poor attempt at convincing Bucky to move on from the memories that were slowly coming back to him wasn't enough. Bucky wouldn't give up. "But I knew them." His voice cracked.
Alexander Pierce stared him down before glancing at the scientists. "Prep him."
"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long." The scientist replied.
"Then wipe him and start over."
The scientists stepped forward and pushed Bucky back into the chair. He was used to the procedure and even if he couldn't particularly remember it, his subconscious did. He especially remembered how painful it was. Bucky instinctively opened his mouth and the scientist placed a mouth guard. Bucky took in deep, rapid breaths at the anticipation of the torture he was about to endure.
Alexander Pierce walked out of the bank vault, unbothered by the screams from the Winter Soldier.
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"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 put down the picture of Pierce on the table he sat at. Maria and Natasha sat with him while Steve, Adeline, and Sam remained standing.
"We have to stop the launch," Natasha stated.
"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." Fury pulled out a suitcase and opened it to show the group its contents. Three chips.
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"Once the Helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites becoming fully weaponized." Maria showed them the plan on a computer.
The image changed to show the Halicariers and where the chips were held. "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." Marie specified.
Adeline leaned against the pillar as she listened to the plan. She couldn't believe what she was hearing and it was difficult to process everything. She was also stuck on what had happened on the bridge. The longer it wasn't addressed, the more she was freaking out.
"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra. We need to get past them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left..."
"We're not salvaging anything," Steve said quite harshly, cutting off Fury's explanation. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down Shield."
"Shield had nothing to do with it." Fury disagreed.
"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 argued.
"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."
"And how many paid the price before you did?"
Tensions were high in the room. It was clear that Steve was disturbed by everything that had occurred in the last few days. He also knew very well that there was no saving shield, it had stopped being shield as soon as Hydra took the reigns.
"Look, I didn't know about Barnes," Fury stated.
"Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? Shield, Hydra, it all goes." The captain decided.
Maria agreed with him. "He's right."
Fury stared at the agent, then at Natasha who raised an eyebrow to say she was on Steve's side and lastly, he looked at Sam.
"Don't look at me," Sam answered. "I do what he does, just slower."
Finally, Furry's eye settled on Adeline. He knew she'd follow her father wherever he led her, but he had other things to ask. "What about you?"
"What about me?" She sounded almost surprised to have been addressed. Everyone's gaze turned to her and she felt self-conscious. She hoped Fury didn't know what she had done earlier, but it was unlikely. "I don't know what you want me to say."
"You have no idea how you got those powers?" Fury questioned. "Anything you might've not mentioned after the New York incident?"
"Fury," Steve said sternly. "This isn't an interrogation."
Everyone in the room was curious about how Adeline had delivered that purple power blast at the Winter Soldier, but how could they even begin to talk about it?
"I need some air." Adeline pushed herself off of the pillar and walked out of the room.
She walked until she reached the place they had arrived at earlier. She stood on the top of the dam and looked down at the bit of water that remained. The place had undoubtedly been abandoned a long time ago.
Adeline leaned against the railing, a million thoughts running through her mind. She examined her hands, hoping to see something that would explain her peculiar abilities, but there was nothing. She felt bad for having kept it a secret but turns out it hadn't been such a bad thing because if Shield had found out, Hydra would've as well. Adeline would have to find a way to control those powers, but who could help?
She heard footsteps on her right and looked to see her father walking towards her. Adeline stayed quiet as he reached the spot next to her and leaned against the railing as well.
"I'm sorry."
Steve looked at her, surprised by her words. She had nothing to apologize for, if anything, Steve believed he should be the one who should be sorry.
"What for?" Steve turned towards her, looking at the side of her face.
"I don't know... For Bucky" She trailed off. "And Fury was right. For New York."
Steve waited patiently for her to express what had been haunting her for so long. He didn't want her to feel judged or to think that he was mad at her.
"I was hit by some sort of energy and I didn't think much of it at first, but then I started to feel things whenever I'd get too stressed or something," Adeline revealed with a guilty expression. "And I didn't know how to tell you, because I didn't want you to worry."
Steve didn't answer right away, wanting to find the right words. He instead placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. Adeline had probably as if she'd be burdening Steve with her problems because no matter how much he loved her, she had this imposter feeling she couldn't shake off. Hydra had created her; It wasn't Steve who had wanted a daughter and he got one anyway.
"I will always worry about you, Adeline. Not because I don't trust you or because I think you're not capable of taking care of yourself," He said softly. "And after today I think we can all be damn sure that you can. I'll always worry because you're my daughter and I love you."
Adeline smiled and finally turned towards her dad, her body language showing that she was slowly starting to relax.
"But, me being worried doesn't mean that you have to feel like you can't share things with me," Steve stated. "I won't ever force you to talk about something you don't want, but I'll always be here when you need me."
Adeline nodded and wrapped her arms around him, her head safely tucked under his chin. He rubbed a hand on her back as he knew it was something that would always comfort her.
"Earlier, when the Winter Soldier, well Bucky, aimed his gun at Nat and me," Adeline started. "He stopped."
"Before I hit him with my shield?" Steve asked for precision.
"Yeah, he lowered his gun. He could've killed me but he didn't." She recalled. Adeline had few memories about her past, but there was one thing she was now sure of. "I think I knew him."
Steve processed her words slowly. It would make sense. If Bucky had been alive this whole time and in Hydra's possession, that meant that he and Adeline would've been with the organization at the same time.
"We will figure out all of this, baby girl," Steve replied. "I promise."
Adeline hummed in agreement. All of this would be a problem for later. Now, they had to take down those helicarriers before millions of people would be killed in cold blood.