Washington DC, 2014
Day of the Helicarrier launch
Hidden from the chaos, Chase Underwood watched as the destruction unfolded outside, in the city of Washington DC. She knew that after this, S.H.I.E.L.D. was done. With all their classified files, though written and recorded in a code that was almost impossible to decipher, leaked into the net along with HYDRA's files, everyone, even their enemies, would know about the organisation.
She shook her head in disappointment. She couldn't believe S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't realised the existence of HYDRA all this time. She turned away from the window, but her head snapped back when she saw movement without her premises. Her eyes narrowed at the strangely familiar figure that climbed over the walls surrounding her house. She heard her dogs barking relentlessly, then quieted down instantly. At first Chase was confused to why her dogs would stop barking, but then she saw why.
Stumbling her way towards the house, one bloody hand covering her stomach, was Anastasia Volkov.
Chase rushed outside to help Anastasia. She was baffled by Anastasia's current state, but then again, after all that had occurred surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D.'s war against HYDRA, Chase shouldn't be surprised Anastasia was caught in the crossfire. She and the Captain were close friends.
"Ana! What happened?" Chase exclaimed, wrapping an arm under Anastasia to support her wounded body.
"HYDRA." She gasped, breathing heavily. Chase brought Anastasia inside and began cleaning the wound. There were two bullet holes, but thankfully the bullets weren't stuck in there. Anastasia tried her best to not scream when Chase stitched the wounds, but several tears escaped her eyes.
"How did you get involved with HYDRA?" Chase questioned, cleaning her hand and trashing the bloody tissue papers. Anastasia sighed, relaxing onto the sofa.
"Well... They needed someone with a particular set of expertise to 'fix their asset'." Said Anastasia, making hand gestures.
"Asset?"
"The Winter Soldier, he's real." Anastasia whispered, gazing out the window at the thick, black smoke that decorated the sky, the only evidence she saw of the destruction that took place deeper in the city.
Chase's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. "The Winter Soldier?! I-I thought he was nothing but a ghost story..."
"That's what I thought too." Said Anastasia, "but he's real Chase, and it only gets worse..."
"How so?" Asked Chase, handing Anastasia a glass of icy water.
"The Winter Soldier... they're brainwashing him to do all their killings. All those deaths, all that suffering, it was done by a man who didn't even realise what he was doing, who had no control over what he was doing." Anastasia murmured, "and they expected me to help them control him again. They expected me to assist them in... in improving him, in making him even more dangerous."
Chase swallowed, "but... how are they keeping him alive all this time? He's been around for decades Ana, it's impossible..."
"I-I don't know... I overhead them talking about... him being out of cryofreeze for too long?" Anastasia rubbed her forehead, "my guess is... they've been keeping his body preserved in ice, at least until.. until they need him again."
"What kind of monster would do such a thing?" Chase muttered, feeling disgusted by the cruelty of HYDRA. To think they'd do something like this...
Anastasia nodded, looking incredibly disturbed and upset by this. Chase knew seeing it first-hand must've had an impact on her.
"Chase... Can you do me a favour?" Anastasia said in a hushed tone. Tilting her head in curiosity, Chase nodded.
"Can you... can you find e-everything you can about... Arnim Zola? Any file, any report, anything. And while at it, can you also find me information on... a man named James Buchanan Barnes?" She requested. Chase frowned, confused to why Anastasia would make such a request. Nevertheless, she brought her laptop next to Anastasia and began to search for everything she could get on those two men.
She found information on James Buchanan Barnes first. He was incredibly easy to find, being Captain America's best friend and all. Chase didn't understand why Anastasia wanted information on him though, the man died decades ago when he fell off the HYDRA train to his death.
Arnim Zola was a much harder man to gain information on. Almost all files on him were classified, but she managed to get the basics; name, nationality, birth date, death date, family etc. When Chase told Anastasia, Anastasia said it was enough.
Anastasia scanned the files carefully, her eyes harbouring an expression of guilt and remorse for both men. Her face paled considerably when she was studying Arnim Zola's files though.
"Ana...? What's wrong?" Chase questioned, frowning.
"It... It's nothing..." She responded, biting her nails. Chase knew what that action meant immediately; Anastasia had a habit of biting her nails when she was thinking or when her heart of beating fast.
"You're nervous." Chase stated, "and obviously lying," she smiled, "you've never been an excellent liar."
Anastasia couldn't help but smile a bit at that comment. Though they rarely saw each other now that they lived completely separate yet strangely similar lives, they still knew each other like the back of their hands.
"So what's up?" Asked Chase.
Anastasia ran a hand through her brown tresses, her eyes showing the state of her body; frail, weary, weak. She looked like she had been through hell and honestly Chase could bet that she had.
"When... When HYDRA had me, they... They told me... Things," Anastasia whispered, "things about... My family, things I never knew."
"Apparently, my mother she... She never meant to abandon me," said Anastasia hesitantly, "she was only trying to protect me. I-I was born in the Soviet Union but when it... It collapsed my mother came to America. HYDRA... They followed us, though. They... They wanted to kill my mother and I so she left me on a-a stranger's doorstep and ran..."
"Oh Ana..."
Anastasia shook her head, "no, there's more to it. My mother was killed by HYDRA not long after leaving me, but there's a reason why they wanted to kill us, why they chose me to help the Winter Soldier, out of everyone out there."
"What is it?"
"My... My mother, her name is Diana Eva Volkov... Her maiden name was Zola, making me the granddaughter of Arnim Zola, HYDRA's favourite scientist." Anastasia laughed weakly, the noise sounding cold and humourless. "I checked the files... He did have a daughter, and she was my mother."
Chase's throat went dry. She's heard of the infamous Arnim Zola. He was a despicable man who created countless inhumane things in his life, many which still affected the world today. She thought the man died alone, the way he deserved to. If she wasn't so close with Anastasia, she would've called any offspring of his a 'spawn of Satan', but that wasn't true. Anastasia was a kind, gentle woman, and she respected her mother greatly. If her mother was willing to die to save a child, then perhaps the daughter of Arnim Zola wasn't so bad.
"Ana, I-" Chase stopped, knowing Anastasia preferred to not talk about it. It was better to leave her alone to think about it, Anastasia was uncomfortable with talking about her feelings, even when she was young. Instead, Chase shifted the topic to another, more current matter.
"What about James Buchanan Barnes?" she asked, "what do you want with his file?"
Chase moved to look at the files on the man. She admitted he looked quite handsome; neatly combed hair, piercing light eyes - Chase couldn't tell the colour of his eyes due to the black and white picture - and a structured face. However, she didn't see anything significant about him.
"Don't tell me..." Chase gasped, staring at Anastasia in mock horror, "you have a crush on a guy who's been dead for 70 years!"
"Wait what?!" Anastasia cried, her cheeks turning red. Chase grinned, "I mean he's cute but this stalking's got to stop."
"I-I am not in love with him!" Anastasia exclaimed, hiding her face with her hands. This caused Chase to widen her grin.
At least this distracted Anastasia from her grief.
"But seriously, what's he got to do with any of this?"
"I... I may be wrong but I'm quite sure that... He's the Winter Soldier." said Anastasia once she lifted her face up, "I saw the soldier's face and he was questioning who Steve was. I'm sure that seeing Steve might've triggered something, broke through the barriers in his head but... They brainwashed him again, before he made any progress."
"Are you saying that they made him go after his best friend, Captain America?" Asked Chase, "HYDRA is a lot of things, but I never imagined they'd go so low."
"He's been stuck, trapped in time for decades mindlessly following orders and doing things that were beyond his control." Anastasia stared at the portrait of Bucky in front of her, "all this time. How much does he have to suffer before they give him the mercy of freedom?"
"He... He looks so different, you know?" Whispered Anastasia, her gaze still fixated on the picture of the man. It was then that Chase realised maybe Anastasia did harbour unintentional feelings for the soldier.
"He has more scars, both inside and out. I could see the damage they've done in his eyes, he is lost and scared, but most of all he is... He is broken. And here," she reached out to touch the screen of the laptop, right above the portrait of Bucky, "he looked so young, so determined, full of... Hope. They've torn him apart, broke him perhaps beyond repair and turned him into a soul imprisoned in his own body, while they control him."
"I wish I could save him Chase." Anastasia sighed, closing her eyes, "I wish I could. When he looked at me with those eyes, they were as icy as winter yet underneath that sheet of ice he was pleading for help, and I couldn't help him."
"You couldn't do anything, they would've killed you. They would've killed you both." Chase uttered, squeezing Anastasia's hand.
"He spoke to me before he left for his mission," Anastasia smiled dazedly as she recalled the memory, "he thanked me for helping him, and asked if he could do anything in return."
"What did you say?" Asked Chase.
"I told him to stay alive, and keep fighting, for his sake."
Chase smiled. This was something only Anastasia would do. Even though she had been kidnapped, most likely imprisoned and surrounded by guards with guns, she still cared about someone else's life more than her own. It was strange how she could smile to such a memory, like it was a memory she treasured. Even during her darkest hours, she still found a source of light.
However, Chase shouldn't be surprised.
It was Anastasia after all.
➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳ ➳
"You know... If I knew I was going to get arrested for helping you back then, I wouldn't have let you in." Chase stated, sitting on the bed of her new room.
Anastasia giggled, shaking her head at Chase's childishness.
"That sounds reassuring." She paused for a bit, "thank you."
"For what?" Asked Chase.
"For doing this, for keeping it all a secret despite what I dragged you into." Anastasia murmured.
"What are friends for?" Chase smiled, "when I asked you about it I was ready for the responsibility. I don't regret anything, and neither should you."
"You know, sometimes-"
"Ana."
The two women snapped their head towards the source of the disturbance. Bucky stood awkwardly in the doorway of the bedroom. He wore a blank expression, but from his tense body and clenched jaw Anastasia could tell he was irritated.
"Bucky, what are you, um... Doing here?" She inquired.
"I need to talk to you, alone." He said, glancing at Chase wearily. Anastasia climbed off the bed and followed Bucky out of the room, but not before sending Chase a worried look.
Once they were alone, Anastasia asked, "w-what do you need Bucky?"
"Why is she here?" he demanded, his periwinkle eyes gleaming with anger, "why is Underwood here?"
"D-Director Fury told you, she-"
"Cut that bullshit Ana, I know you, all of you, are keeping something." He said through gritted teeth.
"Buck-"
"She's dangerous Ana, I've seen the things in her home, the things she can do. We can't trust her, but now you act like... Like best buddies and-" he sucked in a sharp breath, "I just want you to tell me the truth."
Anastasia turned away, chewing on her lip nervously. She told Nick and Natasha because she had to save Chase, but the others? Would they still accept her?
However, she didn't have to tell them the whole story, but knowing them, they'd press her until she tell them. Would she still risk it?
Chase had accepted the fact, and thankfully so did Nick and Natasha, but she knew they were flexible. Someone like Steve or Tony with set morales and somewhat closed minds were difficult to convince, they may not be so understanding.
And Bucky... He hated anything associated with HYDRA.
"I... I can't, I'm sorry." She squeaked, hoping he'd leave the matter alone.
"Why not?!" Bucky exclaimed, exasperated.
"I just... Can't..."
Bucky stared at her for a moment, his periwinkle eyes filled with confusion, hurt, anger and most of all, betrayal.
"You... You don't trust me..." He murmured. Anastasia's eyes widened.
"That's not true!" She retorted.
"No, it is." He shook his head. "I... I thought that... After... And to think that I fell... I can't believe it."
"Bucky please... I do trust you it's just..." Anastasia trailed off.
He was, in a way, correct. She didn't trust him, at least not with this secret of hers. She didn't trust him to not hate her, she didn't trust him to understand.
"I can't be here with someone that doesn't trust me as much as I trust her." Bucky muttered, walking away. Anastasia desperately wanted to go to him, to follow his disappearing figure and tell him that she did trust him, it was just that she was scared.
However, her body wouldn't obey her mind. She stood, as rigid as a statue, and watched the soldier of Winter build his barriers to block her out once more.