*Warning ahead: This chapter may be a little graphic or violent for some. Please do not comment anything like 'that's disgusting and morbid' or stuff like that. There is a warning for a reason.*
Kepler looked up as the HYRDA guards shoved him in front of Vic, the Red Skull's henchwoman. Bucky realized around the same time as Ally did and covered her mouth. Ally started to scream and thrash around, knowing deep down inside it was useless. She started pleading that she go to her family. What was Kepler looking at? Ally didn't know until she saw the fear in his eyes as he dropped to his knees.
"I told you," Kepler said bravely. "We. Don't. Know."
Ally could see the love Kepler held for her as he refused to tell Vic where she was. Her gun rested against his forehead but he didn't move a muscle. "I'm giving you one more chance kid."
"It must suck," Kepler smirked, his eyes glued to the ground. "Being bossed around like you're someone's bitch."
The bullet spat out from the back of his head, red replacing the white of his shirt. His body fell to the ground, hitting the soft grass with a slump.
Vic then proceeded to shoot Rosa, not giving her a chance to say or plead anything. Ally's mother fell on top of Kepler's lifeless body, both belonging to another world now. Nico watched as Vic reloaded the gun, taking her time as the painfully memorable night went on. For a few seconds, Nico looked up at the moon as if trying to admire it one last time. The bullet spat out of the gun and hit Nico in the chest, propelling him backward. "Move out," Vic shouted viciously. "We don't want the American government finding out we are in their safe land."
The HYRDA members all scattered around the backyard, each hopping into one of the many cars as three innocent bodies began to rot away. When the last set of headlights faded away, Ally shoved Bucky off of her and ran. She ran so quickly to her family that she sprained her ankle.
Ally had found herself wondering what Vic's childhood was like. She imagined Vic being rather happy, spoiled with porcelain dolls and having very merry family gatherings. Vic was probably showered with love from her fiancé at one point and probably had the most gorgeous wedding gown anyone could ever think of, but her fiancé died and so did the good in Vic. Now she was a murderer, she killed Ally's family.
They lay like dolls over the cool grass, limbs at awkward angles and heads flung back in a way so terrible, Bucky almost threw up. Ally approached Kepler, her warm but shaky hand falling softly on his cooling skin. She carefully placed her hand over his heart which didn't rise or fall. Ally's tears splashed onto her brother's shirt. "Why did this happen?" she looked over at Bucky, who was holding Rosa in his arms. This time she screamed it. "WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?"
"Ally?"
Ally's head shot up and she saw Nico, squirming as the life was sucked out of him. She wiped her nose and crawled towards him, immediately applying pleasure to his wound. "Oh my god." she shook, too in shock to cry.
"You came back," he croaked. "No goodbyes."
"A promise is a promise."
"Am I dying?"
"No," she told him. "B-B-Bucky go get help."
Although it was pointless, Bucky sprang to his feet and began to run.
"Why did they shoot me?"
"Because of me," Ally let out the most heartbreaking cry. "Because I knew and had what a bad guy wanted."
"A villain?"
Ally nodded, carefully stroking her brother's cheeks. They were cold. So cold. The life that had come from within them was slowly becoming just a vast dream. "Exactly."
"Are you a superhero?"
"There's no such thing," Ally reasoned. "Just the good and the bad."
"You're my hero," Nico spluttered, wheezing as his heart began to slow. "It doesn't hurt anymore."
Ally felt a horrible pain surface as her brother's eyes fluttered shut. No harm could come to him now. She held her little brother in her arms, moving to hold onto Kepler's hand. She watched in disbelief as a group of SSR agents came through the backyard, each stopping to take in what cruel act just happened. Bucky came from behind them, pushing through a bunch of people to get to Ally's side.
"They're all dead," she said lifelessly, almost as if she was dead too. "All of them, because of me." Bucky cradled her, kissing her head as she let her hand dance over the gun that was used to murder her family. Bucky was muted, he wasn't sure what to say. "It's all my fault."
"No it isn't," he tried. "Don't say that."
"It is," she swore. "It should have been me."
Colonel Chester Phillips approached them, bowing his head. "We need to remove you from this scene Doctor Jones."
"No."
"Barnes, please."
Bucky sighed, picking Ally up and carrying her towards the house. She didn't come quietly, she started screaming and thrashing her legs. She had just lost most of her family. She lost a piece of her. He handed Ally to a kind looking doctor and asked him to sedate her. It'd be better for everyone, including her. "I love you."
Bucky was so determined to marry her now that he watched her lose everything. He was so determined to be her new everything, no matter the cost.
Though heavily sedated, Ally still felt all the pain of the deaths she had witnessed, it was just slightly numbed. A thousand thoughts rushed through her head but she couldn't move. Nico had called her a hero but she was nothing of the sort.
She could be.
She could be like Steve.
For her little brothers.
For Nico.
Suddenly, taking down HYDRA didn't seem like a plan just for the men of the SSR. It now became her plan of revenge, her own rebirth into what Nico saw her as.
—
She started pleading that she go to her family. What was Kepler
looking at? Ally didn't know until she saw the fear in his eyes as he dropped to his knees.