Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Novosibirsk HYDRA base had been abandoned for at least a few years, but it had been in use recently. The rooms were vacant of any dust, something that James Buchanan Barnes noticed as he surveyed the building that had once been his former home as the Winter Soldier. He couldn't help but feel a sense of closure. He had insisted that the bodies of the five Winter Soldiers be given a burial. Plenty of the Avengers had backed him up when Tony had refused to do so.

Anything that was of use had been taken away as evidence against HYDRA, seeing as they had been rebuilding their empire. Bucky couldn't help but remember Zola's words.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place," the recording of Zola had said gleefully. Bucky had shot the machine to pieces in case the AI had planned on blowing them up.

He was just about to leave when he found a file disregarded in one of the rooms that were used for medical use. It was mostly written in a mixture of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian. Before he could really take a look at it, though, a voice called out.

"Bucky, you ready to go?" Sam asked quietly. He nodded and put the file in his backpack, before leaving the room. They joined the others, who were also ready to leave, and made their way to the quinjet.

The young woman's dark hazel eyes snapped open as she was awakened from her sleep. She looked around the room wearily, wondering where her handlers were and if they had fled? It had been so long… She couldn't remember for how long she had been, however…but the last thing she recalled was being taken away to have her mind wiped. If that was the case, then it had been 2016. What had happened since then?

Suddenly, she heard a quinjet starting up above the base. She needed to board that plane, before HYDRA returned. That was her way out. That had to be.

Quickly, she started running up the stairs, shielding her eyes from the blizzard, and shivered slightly. However, not even the cold could stop her from climbing onto this machine somehow.

She found a back door hatchet in the quinjet, before climbing inside and locking the hatch. She made her way to the lower deck, before seeing a flash of red hair. Her eyes narrowed as she hid, but flashes of her mind came back to her.

She knew that hair colour, but she couldn't remember who had it. Damn it.

She sighed, before settling down, and prepared to get to her next destination.

Bucky sighed in relief when they landed at the Avengers Facility, but grimaced at the weather forecast. The news reporter said that it would be the coldest March on record and advised people to stay at home until the storm passed.

He intended on going to his apartment, have a much needed warm shower and then watch the baseball game with Steve, Sam and Clint tonight. He was going to spoil Alpine. He loved the white fluffy cat that he'd rescued from the streets. He went downstairs to get his backpack when he noticed that it hadn't been where he had put it. He frowned, looking around and shrugged. It wasn't like there was anything important in there from before, but maybe he had left it at the base? No, that didn't make any sense.

He lets out a soft sigh and glances away, turning back towards the facility. "Hey," he hears from before, feeling himself smile as Steve emerged, his brow raised. "What's going on? We got a whole pizza in here for you."

Bucky snorts. "I don't need that much food."

"Debatable," Steve states, chuckling lightly. "But you, okay? You look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Eh…think I'm just seeing things." Bucky nods towards the base. "Come on. I'll take a slice and then we head back. We gotta get shelter before this storm hits."

Steve nods, pushing him forward gently. "Now that sounds like a plan."

The young woman waits until everyone was gone and the voices had stopped, and only then did she allow herself to emerge from the cargo section of the quinjet, moving as quickly as possible. Jesus Christ, it was cold here too. Why couldn't they have flown to somewhere warm.

She glances up at the giant "A" that sat atop this building, and with a start, she realizes that it was an Avengers base. Out of every damn place she could have flown to…

You know what? It didn't matter. All that mattered was getting some form of clothing and getting clean.

She quickly heads in, taking quick glances around to make sure no one was there. Strangely, there was no one around. But she had a feeling it was most likely because they were in a meeting of some sorts. Great. That gave her the perfect timing.

The young woman moves as fast as she could through the halls, looking around, trying to pinpoint out the one spot that she so desperately wanted. And there, near the end, it was. A door with the label 'shower rooms.'

She practically groans in pleasure before racing inside, locking the door behind her so she could be alone. While she would like to enjoy this shower as long as possible, she knew her time was limited. So today, it would only be for the basics.

As soon as the water had turned warm, she stripped herself of her clothes and stepped in. She always had a regimen, even something she could remember with her fuddled head. Hair, face, body. Those three steps to get it done as soon as possible. And that was exactly what she did, watching as the dirt and grime began to roll of her body in waves.

By the end of the shower, the drain was clogged. But hey, it wasn't her problem. And now she smelt of lilacs, so it was even better.

She steps out and grabs a towel, unlocking the door and glancing out. There had to be rooms or something here with clothes of some sort. Maybe something she could change into. She had stolen a backpack from someone – maybe that could work.

Quickly now, she runs across the hallways to what seemed to be bedrooms, cursing the ones that were locked and then finally finding a few that were open. As she steps inside, she pillages the drawers, finding some jeans, shirts, pyjamas, underwear – the whole nine yards. Yes, this was a goldmine.

The next couple of rooms seem to have the same amount of clothing, which she steals from as well. Usually, she was never one to just take people's belongings. That was always her caretaker’s orders. If she put one toe out of line, well…that was that. It was the end.

But now, her caretakers weren't here. She could do whatever she wanted. And that meant this.

As soon as she had changed into some clothes and stuffed several other pieces in the backpack she took, she grabbed some shoes and put them on, heading towards the hallway once more and then racing out. Thank God that this meeting was going on long enough.

When she exited the building, she did see plenty of vehicles, waiting to be used. Maybe she could hot-wire a car of some sorts? But as she walked up to a motorcycle, she feels herself smile.

Whoever had driven this left the keys in it.

"Dumb fuck," she mutters, before getting on and straddling it as quickly as possible. She gives a mock salute to the base before taking off, leaving this area behind.

"What exactly did you find at the base?" Fury asks, his brow furrowed. "All I see here are some old techs that don't quite work anymore. You said this meeting was for something important."

"It is, sir," Sam says. "Bucky found this." He brings over the folder that Bucky had found. "He didn't have the time to read it while in the quinjet, but I did, and what's in there is…real fucked up. I don't know if this is going on anymore but…. just read it."

Fury takes the file with interest, putting it under a projector so they all could see what was inside.

The file detailed a program called the Black Widow Ops Program that began in the 1950's. It took orphaned young girls as young as five years old to be trained at the Red Room Academy, which was located in the Maryina Horka Forest in Belarus.

"The Red Room has ties to an agency called Leviathan. Leviathan is a Soviet deep science and espionage agency. S.H.I.E.L.D had a run in with one of their operatives - a woman called Dottie Underwood. The Leviathan program was shut down in 1963 but the Red Room was already functioning," Steve explained quietly, his voice grim.

Fury flipped through the file, his face turning grave at every turn of the file. Everyone at the table was given a copy. Most of the names were crossed out, having died during missions or from training.

Bucky glanced at the names, recognizing a few of them. Polina, Irina, Viktoriya, Zorya, Natalia and Yelena. There was another name, but it had been redacted.

"All of the people on this list are dead aside from me, Melina, Yelena and Alexei. We shut down the Red Room once and for all after Taskmaster, along with Lukin, restarted the program in 2016. We destroyed the building, and all the girls were killed or had died," Natasha said firmly, her face giving away nothing.

He knew better though. She and Yelena were hiding something.

"How can you be so sure, Romanoff?" Tony asked snidely, glaring over at her from where he sat next to Bruce and Rhodey. He had been acting like an ass since the Decimation had been reversed.

"Because we killed all of them, Stark. They were too dangerous to be allowed to live. Something that the Soldat would know," Yelena answered coldly, her brown eyes flicking briefly towards Bucky.

"Don't you dare bring her up, Yelena! You don't have the right to mention her and neither do you Natalia!" Bucky said dangerously. He grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the room.

Steve gave Yelena a look of disappointment while Sam ignored her, and both went to check on Bucky. Wanda followed shortly after, with Billy Russo and Grant Ward leaving as well.

"We'll continue this meeting in the morning, everyone. Next time, Yelena, I suggest keeping your mouth shut," Fury said warningly, before leaving with his leather coat billowing behind him as he walked out the door.

Bruce, Clint, Natasha, Tony, Kate and Yelena were the only ones left in the conference room. An uncomfortable silence hung over them. Clint was the first to say what Bruce and Kate were thinking.

"Did you really have to bring up Bucky's past, Yelena? For Christ's sake, he's been through enough. I get that you're mad at him for beating Alexei, but it's not his fault that Alexei got sent to prison!" Clint said angrily, before leaving. Kate left with him.

Bruce shook his head. He liked Bucky and didn't understand why Natasha and Yelena harbored so much distrust towards him. Tony hated the man and refused to let him stay at the facility.

Bucky had gone to the garage to get his bike. He just wanted to get away from this place. He knew he wasn't welcome at the compound, but neither was Steve, Sam, Clint, or Wanda for still agreeing with Steve on the accords to an extent.

No matter how hard he tried, people were still afraid of him. Some even said on Twitter that Tony should have killed him in Siberia when his arm had been blown off.

He sighed heavily, before starting up the engine and drove out of the garage, making his way home. It doesn't take long, thankfully, since they were so close to the city. He parked outside his apartment, heading up the stairs before opening the door and being greeted by Alpine.

The fluffy white cat purred at seeing him. He crouched down to stroke him tenderly behind the ear. The cat purred loudly before he locked the door and went to wash his bowl.

After finishing that, he gave Alpine fresh water and fresh food and biscuits. He smiled as he watched Alpine eat happily, before turning on the TV and started cooking dinner.

"You don't deserve to be an Avenger, you murderer!" Tony had snarled at him when Fury announced Bucky was being added to the team.

All he could did now was prove all of them that he did deserve to be an Avenger. It was all he could do.

He made sure to text Sam and Stave that he was alright. He didn't want to burden Steve and Sam, or Clint and Wanda. They were good to him, along with Yori and Leah, even though Yori knew it was him that had killed his son.

Anastasia had dumped the bike at the nearest garage before going to a long-abandoned HYDRA safe house in the Upper West Side. She checked to see if anyone had been there lately, but luckily, no one had ever checked the place out.

She took off the black leather jacket before checking the office and logged into the computer. She typed in the password, relieved when it was correct and was greeted with a very large amount of money.

"You were a bastard, Pierce. I fucking hated you, but at least you didn't lose the money after all this time," she remarked coldly, before deciding to make her way to Madripoor, converting the money to cash just as quickly through the machine.

It was probably the safest place for her, considering that the Avengers would soon find out that the HYDRA safe house had been slept in and the money was gone. She counted the notes carefully, stunned that she had over 4.29 million dollars in cash. She intended on donating some of the money though to a few charities that she genuinely liked.

The Red Room and HYDRA had always hated how she was still soft despite the brutal training they put her through. Not to mention the days of starvation and having broken bones from sparring sessions.

Natasha had gone to her room to have a shower and get changed into more comfortable clothing, only to realize that some of her clothes were missing. Namely one of her black leather jackets was missing along with a pair of her size seven black combat boots.

Did Yelena or Wanda take her clothes?

Her brow furrows before she moves outside. "Wanda?" She calls out as she sees the Avenger pass her. She looks up as she does. "Did you take any of my clothes?"

Wanda's brow furrows before she shakes her head. "No, not at all. Is your stuff missing?"

"Stuff from me is missing too," Yelena says, emerging from her room. "Couple of my shirts."

"Huh," Natasha mutters before turning to Wanda. "Sorry for bothering you. Think we might have just misplaced stuff."

Wanda smiles a bit. "We all do that sometimes." She waves bye to her as she heads back towards her room, but as soon as she had moved around the other side of the hallway, Natasha pulls Yelena into her room, before closing the door behind her.

Instantly, Yelena's eyes turn to her. "What's going on?"

"You and I both know what I'm thinking," she says lowly. "Why do we think that our clothes are missing?"

"Could just be some kid who broke in."

"Come on, some kid can't break into an Avenger's base," Natasha chastises. "Barely anyone knows where this place is unless told…it had to be someone who had tailed us back all the way from…you know where."

Yelena's eyes widen a bit. "You don't think-"

"We didn't see anyone there but…but what if? There might have been someone who has escaped the HYDRA base when we left and is now just…roaming around New York City. How else would our clothes be missing? They must have stolen them to get clean and then taken off."

Yelena bites her lip and then nods her head slowly. "It does make sense."

"Fury," she says quietly, bringing Yelena's attention back to her. "There are hidden cameras in the hallways. We could ask him for security access to see who it was."

"Fury isn't really in my good graces right now," Yelena mutters.

"It doesn't matter. If the safety of our organization is at stake, he will let you go through his cameras. He'll go down for SHIELD, you know this." She glances towards the door. "We need to try and take care of this. As soon as possible."

Yelena nods, sighing. "I know…I know."

She had to admit that New York City was nice.

It had been years since she had been to this place, only with the intention of missions, and even then, she could hardly remember what it was like. But with the money she did have now, she might as well buy a few things before she was on her way to Madripoor.

As she walks into a tiny coffee shop that seemed to be below an apartment building, she asks quietly for a cup of coffee black and two cookies – might as well get some good stuff in her prior to a long flight.

"What's the name?" The barista asks politely.

For a moment, she froze. Her name brought back so many painful memories. So many that she wanted to forget. She hated even thinking of her time in that spiteful, horrible prison. So, she makes a change, right here and now.

"Ana," she says softly. "It's Ana."

The barista nods, writing her name down on a cup. There, a refreshing new start. She was no longer Anastasia. She was Ana. Fair and square, no ifs ands or buts. She wasn't going to be HYDRA's puppet anymore…even if her memory wasn't the same.

She moves to take a seat over in the corner, waiting patiently for her food and drink to be done. In the meantime, she saw someone else come in, a man that looked to be slightly older than her but not by much. He had a jacket and gloves covering his hands. She had to admit he was quite handsome, but the last thing on her mind was to get infatuated with a random stranger.

Quietly, she listens to his order, what seemed to be a sweeter coffee with a cookie as well, but then he reaches into his wallet and is unable to produce the money for the second item. He sighs and only pays for the coffee, going to sit down.

She glances over at him as she hears her name called. "Ana!" Quickly she gets up, grabbing her hot coffee before looking over at the man, quietly glancing down at his phone.

If she wanted to start new, she'd start new.

She heads over to where he sits, and he looks up at her in surprise. "I…know you don't know me, but I overheard you and-I'm not good with this, just here." Ana gently lowers the cookie onto the table, and a kind smile comes over his lips before he looks up at her.

"You didn't have to do that."

Ana shrugs lightly. "I heard about the storm that's going to be happening soon…we all gotta look out for each other, right?" She asks.

He chuckles a bit and nods. "Indeed, we do…wish others saw it that way." He looks back up at her, his brow furrowed. She tilts her head. "I'm sorry, you…you just look familiar."

"Strange…quite sure I've never met you," she chuckles a bit, rubbing the back of her head.

"I must sound so weird," he states, shaking his head.

"It's okay," she responds lightly, but she had to admit inwardly the stranger did have a nice smile. A part of her wanted to sit down and talk with him more but she knew she had a flight to catch. "But enjoy the cookie, stranger. I have to get out of here. Stay warm."

He offers another smile to her. "You too."

Ana smiles at him before heading out the door, holding onto her bag tightly and her coffee in the other hand. For a second, she pauses, glancing back at the coffee shop.

Strange…he felt familiar too. But that was impossible. The only person she ever knew was long gone…or at least she thought he was. Maybe she was just crazy.

Yeah, she was crazy.

Ana shakes her head and quickly heads back towards the street, whistling out for a cab. It was time she got out of this town.

"It's nine at night," Wanda mutters, angrily coming into the briefing room with the other Avengers. "What is it that you all could need at this hour? We're supposed to be resting for the upcoming mission."

Fury sighs as everyone takes a seat. "We got a big problem – wait, where's Barnes?"

"Who cares?" Tony mutters.

Steve glares at him before sighing at Fury. "Bucky went home after the incident this afternoon."

"Goddamnit – get his ass back here. We can start then. And Yelena – keep your mouth shut!"

Yelena rolls her eyes but nods, crossing her arms against her chest. Steve grabs his phone, quickly making the call to Bucky. And hopefully, he wouldn't face the wrath of the Winter Soldier when he returned back here. Thankfully, the snow hadn't started yet but soon enough they'd be snowed in.

"Really?" Bucky asks as he comes in, his brow furrowed. "I literally just settled down to relax."

"Sit your whiny ass down," Fury states, gesturing to the spot next to Steve, which he does. "Now that everyone is here, I didn't want to wake you all up or bring you in for nothing. We've had an issue here at the compound. Something that all of you need to be aware of."

At that moment, he pulls up what seems to be security came footage, and there in the hallways was a girl.

Chapter Text

Bucky felt stunned at what he was seeing as he saw the young woman break into Natasha's room. She came out freshly showered and wearing Natasha's clothes. He couldn't see her face, as she had back turned to the cameras before walking down the hallway and going into Wanda's bedroom. She came out a few minutes later, with nothing but plenty of bottles of Wanda's shampoo and conditioner. Wanda looked stunned by what she was seeing, watching as she walked further down the hallway.

The woman then broke into Yelena's bedroom. She was in there far longer than she had been in Wanda's room, and sooner or later the woman left with a suitcase, before the security camera went fuzzy.

"We don't have any security footage of her face, as she kept her back to the cameras. She knew where she was going…but why did she go into Wanda, Yelena and Natasha's bedrooms?" Billy asked wearily. They didn't even know who she was.

"Natasha and Yelena believe that someone escaped the HYDRA base in Belarus and hid on the quinjet. I want Romanoff, Russo, Belova, and Stark to check the HYDRA base again to see if we missed something," Fury instructed sternly. Everyone nodded and left to do what the director had instructed.

"Where do you want the rest of us, sir?" Steve asked gravely. He knew this was serious. Whoever this woman was, she'd been able to remain undetected by F.R.I.D.A.Y.

"I want you, Barnes, Barton, Maximoff, Ward, and Wilson to search the nearby streets for any sign of this woman. Whoever she is, she might be a threat to us," Fury said gravely, and everyone nodded in understanding.

The flight to Madripoor was eight hours. Ana passed the time by catching up with the world events that had occurred when she had been placed in cyro by her handlers. The WHIH news was reporting on a terrorist group called the Flag Smashers being sent to an underwater prison called the Raft, along with their sympathizers. The group had blown up a GRC Supply Depot in Riga, Latvia, killing seventy-nine people and injuring plenty of civilians. Five of the victims had families, with one having just started the job, and was a father of two.

She shook her head in disgust. Ana was no saint in any way. She had blood on her hands, but she never deliberately tried to kill civilians during her missions.

The faces of the people she had killed in the name of HYDRA or the Red Room cut her deeply. She had never wanted this life when she had lived at the orphanage. All she had dreamed about was of becoming a ballet dancer, like her mother before she had passed away.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to land at Madripoor airport. There will be slight turbulence due to strong winds," the voice of the pilot announced gravely. Everyone fastened their seat-belts, and Ana avoided looking out of the window.

She loved the sea, but she had a terrible fear of drowning after one of the girls in the Red Room nearly drowned her at the swimming pool.

The plane landed gracefully with people gradually leaving. Ana allowed a couple to leave first before she went to exit. She went into the airport, as she walked to the luggage hold area, and grabbed her suitcase, heading out as quickly as possible.

Her next stop was going to High Town and getting settled in. She needed to find information on all these players, including on Peggy Carter's niece who was still living in Madripoor, despite being pardoned by the US government.

She put on her dark tinted sunglasses, before going to the garage and found a black Suzuki Ignis in the car park. She smiled slightly before picking up the keys, and saw the car had black tinted windows.

She hoped the windows were bulletproof, but she decided not to tempt fate.

At least, not yet.

Bucky was in the living room with Steve, Sam, Wanda, Grant, and Clint, reading through the documents about the Black Widow Ops program. It felt like a dead end, until he saw a name on the list of girls in the program.

'Anastasia Liukin.'

"Are we sure that Natasha and Yelena were the only two who survived the Red Room Program? What if someone else survived?" Sam was the one who asked question that all of them had been thinking. An uneasy silence fell upon them. Natasha and Yelena were very secretive about their time in the Red Room. Bucky knew both of them due to having trained them in the Red Room, and his past relationship with Natasha.

Not that it was something that either he nor Natasha liked to be reminded or think about. He didn't have happy memories of his time in the Red Room. If anything, it was something that gave him nightmares. He was the bogeyman to the girls in the Red Room. A terrifying man who would harshly discipline them if they failed in any of the lessons. Failure in ballet, languages, gymnastics, or espionage was not tolerated by the superiors in the Red Room.

Faintly, he remembered a young woman around eighteen being sent to be trained by him. She had been Yelena's age, but the superiors and other girls hadn't liked the fact that she still remained kind, even refusing to kill other girls in the class. He didn't know what had happened to her, but he knew Melina Vostokoff had worked as a trainer in the academy. He hated the cold bitch, and she didn't like him either and neither did her husband.

Hmm…he really did wonder what happened to her. Thinking about her more, all he could remember is her refusal every time they tried to trick her into doing something painful. She was so sweet…The Red Room must have ruined her. They never let anyone out who doesn't obey them.

Goddamnit…he wished his memory weren’t so damn fuzzy.

"This file really says everything we need to know," Steve states quietly, turning the pages. "Anastasia Liukin…a young girl who grew up in an orphanage after her mother died…the daughter of Melina, holy shit…Nat might know something seriously about this girl. Yelena too."

Sam takes the folder from him, looking over it quickly. "She was abandoned at an orphanage until she was seven and then they took her away to the Red Room under the guise she would be a ballerina…there they trained her." He lowers the file and looks to Steve. "They have to know something about this…but why would they keep it a secret?"

"Maybe she's really dangerous?" Wanda suggests.

"It's not like them to keep dangerous threats from us," Clint argues quietly. "There has to be another reason why."

"Hold on a minute," Steve mutters, getting up and heading over to where the taping was from earlier, playing it back on the screen. He had the file in one hand and looked back and forth as the video played. "What if the possible person that snuck into here was her?"

"But they said-"

"Wanda, I don't know if you know this, but Nat and Yelena have plenty of secrets from us," Steve says quietly, turning to her. "If this was another one of their secrets, then I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe the moment we got into the HYDRA base, we activated something, and it woke her up if she was in cyro or something, like Buck was. What if the reason she didn't activate F.R.I.D.A.Y. was because she's a spy like them? A soldier?"

Steve looks over at Bucky, who was continuously looking at a picture of the girl from before. His brow furrows.

"What's up, Bucky?"

"I…I think I saw her."

Everyone's eyes turn to him, all their attention focused on his one phrase. God, he hated being the center of their eyes. Steve walks over to where he sat, moving to sit next to him. "What do you mean?"

"I…wanted a quick drink of coffee and something sweet…Alpine was resting and I decided to head down to the coffee shop below my place to grab something and there was this girl who…bought two cookies for herself and a coffee…I didn't have enough money to get my own cookie and she overheard so she came over and gave one of hers to me…I felt like she looked familiar, I…I didn't know if it was her or not, I…" He runs his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry, guys."

"Bucky, don't apologize. It has nothing to do with you. Not like we knew any better at the time." He looks down at the file. "However, if it was, we might be able to figure out where she is now. Maybe if we confront Nat and Yelena with this information, we can figure out how to find her."

Bucky nods quietly. "Okay…okay, yeah, we can do that."

She had to admit, the Power Broker was hard to get by, but after some scrounging around, Ana was able to set up a meeting with the guy, having to stumble into his overtly large and grand apartment. She had to admit, it was quite the nice place.

Part of her wished it were hers.

"Ah, I see you've finally arrived," a voice called out to her as she walked into a large living room. She raises her brow to see a man come out who honestly didn't look like much, but she knew the power he had. "The woman of the hour. The escaped Red Room agent. The-"

"Cut the crap," she states, crossing her arms against her chest. "Let's get down to business. I have a lot of money and I certainly can't use it in the United States. I want to start up here. What are my options?"

The man chuckles and shakes his head. "You are assertive, I'll give you that." He grabs a drink for her, but she dismisses it, taking a seat down. She wasn't dumb enough to accept a drink from a stranger. The man shrugs and turns back around. "Having a tough day, huh?"

"It's any other day. I just want to make sure I can afford the place I'm staying at, is all," she states lightly, looking up at him. "And I know that you can be the man to do that."

The Power Broker snickers and shakes his head, going to sit opposite from her. "You're sweet to think you can suddenly overwhelm me like that, but if work is what you want, it is what you can get. You're a strong little girl, huh?" She feels her hands turn to fists. She hated when people said that. "I can tell from that face you got. There's years of death in those eyes, huh?"

"Are you going to give me a job or not?" She asks through gritted teeth.

"Isaiah Bradley," he states simply before grabbing a remote from the couch, pulling up a picture on the TV in front of them. "Do you know of him?"

"I've…heard of him," she states slowly. "He was a test subject for the Super-Soldier serum years ago, but they really did really bad shit to him. Have no idea where he is now, though."

"Well, I do," the Power Broker states, standing. "Isaiah is currently in Baltimore, Maryland, assumingly trying to hide out the rest of his days. But I don't plan for that to happen."

Ana stands, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You see, Anastasia-"

"Ana," she corrects.

"Ana," he answers, with a grim smile. "I'm in the business of power. I give people the power that they want for a price. One of those ways I have done it is through the Super Soldier serum…sadly, those bloody Avengers took out one of my main scientists that was recreating the serum for me…but luckily, when one person falls, two others shall take their place. They have all of the info that they need to continue making the serum and bringing me more power than before, but all I need is Isiah."

Ana stares at him in horror. "You're going to make more of those serums that killed so many people? That created those Flag-Smashers? There has to be another way-"

"There is no other way for power, my dear," the man states, coming over to her. "You want safety? You want to make sure you're in charge of your life? You capture Isiah for me with your skills, and I'll make sure that money you have will never leave your side, and the power you gain will only grow. It's your choice."

Ana didn't even know what to say. She knew what the serum did to people. She knew how terrifying it was. There was no way she was going to let someone like him take that again. Let him control people with that.

So, she swallows and takes a step back, before grabbing the drink he had offered her earlier. Fuck it. "You can't find anyone else?" she asks slightly, feeling around her belt for a moment. "To do this dirty work?"

"I could, but I'm quite positive that having someone from the Red Room do it for me would be the best option, for you and myself."

She nods slightly before turning to face him, swallowing the whole drink in one sitting. It was now or never. "You see…I've always been in favour of getting what I want, so yes, in your eyes, this might be your best option for me…but it's not in my head." She lowers the glass to the table. "For me, the best option IS Madripoor…owning the city as you do. Isaiah Washington has been through hell and back, and I don't intend to bring him forward to endure more of that pain."

The man lowers his glass to the table. "Ana, I-"

"I'm going to kill you, Power Broker," she states coldly. "You have five seconds to run."

He takes off. She counts to five, and then runs quicker, going directly after him.

She chased him through the apartment, catching sight of him trying to run through the back garden once he exited his place. She caught up to him, just as he was heading out, before grabbing him by the back of his jacket, throwing him into the side of a back entrance door. She glared at him in disgust, before dragging him towards her.

"I've seen men like you before who don't give a damn about the people they hurt," she said dangerously. The Power Broker started laughing then at her, causing her to stare at him in confusion.

"Do you really think I didn't have a contingency plan in place if you refused to capture Isiah, Ana? I sent a black ops team to capture him. I've known where he lives all this time. And if he dies, then I'll just simply use his grandson," he said smugly. Ana saw red in that moment, and promptly knocked him to the point of being unconscious.

She pulled out a disposable cell phone, typing in the number and waited impatiently as the phone rang. Finally, after seven rings, the woman answered.

"Sharon Carter of Carter Art speaking. How can I help you?" The woman asked pleasantly. Ana decided that she needed to meet with her face to face. But no way in hell, was she giving her real name. She'd use another name. There were a few names that held deep, fond memories for her.

"Hello, Miss Carter. This is Olga Omelianchik speaking. I need to speak with you urgently. Is there a place that we can talk?" She asked calmly. Sharon paused on the line.

"We'll meet at my place. I'll send a car to pick you up. What's this about?" she asked wearily, causing Ana to smile slightly. The woman wasn't stupid.

Then again, the niece of Peggy Carter wouldn't be stupid.

"Isaiah Bradley. And send me the address. I'll drive there," Ana answered firmly. Sharon agreed and texted her the address after hanging up.

She looked disdainfully at the Power Broker's unconscious body before tying his hands with vibranium handcuffs. She dragged him to the car, throwing his body in the back of the trunk, before starting up the engine and driving away.

Natasha sighed tiredly as they once again began searching the HYDRA base. There was nothing to see until she found a room that had at least ten cyrostasis chambers. One of them looked like it had been recently used, and she noticed footprints on the dust covered floor. Someone had definitely been here recently, but she had no idea who it was. Her mind then wondered to a young girl with light blonde hair, and hazel eyes but her thoughts were interrupted when a voice spoke out.

"Anything?" Yelena asked quietly, as she stepped into the room. Natasha shook her head. There wasn't any sign of the mysterious woman but whoever the woman was, she was dangerous.

"Nothing aside from an abandoned cyrostasis chamber. I found this file along with a backpack in a safe, but no dice," she answered wearily, showing Yelena the backpack, along with the files.

They were all in Russian, which would be translated once they returned to the compound. Sighing, Natasha was relieved when they left the building and made their way to the jet.

She couldn't help but feel like she had seen that woman on the security footage before.

Sharon waited wearily for the mysterious young woman to meet with her, and saw a black Suzuki Ignis parking in the driveway. A young blonde-haired young woman came out of the car, wearing a black leather jacket. She looked at her silently.

"Sharon Carter?" She asked wearily, Sharon nodded and shook her hand as they walked to the back of the car. Sharon had a feeling that this woman didn't take anyone's bullshit.

"That's me…and you are?" She asked cautiously. The young woman smiled slightly at her question. It didn't look like she smiled a lot. Her eyes were hard and guarded.

"Ana Liukin…I have a proposition for you that I believe will benefit both of us, and your friends who happen to be the Avengers? I know you helped them when Zemo killed Dr. Nadler," Ana offered. Sharon stared at her in surprise before nodding and the woman opened the boot of her car to the young woman.

Sharon was greeted by the sight of the Power Broker, tied up and unconscious in Ana's car. She stared at Ana in a stunned silence, before regaining her composure.

"What do you need my help with?" She asked cautiously as Ana admired the cherry blossom trees that were blooming in her garden.

"I need you to send a message to the Avengers about Isaiah Washington. The Power Broker sent a black ops team to capture him and his grandson. He wants to recreate the super-soldier serum," she explained quickly to her, Sharon nodded in understanding, and glanced at the Power Broker.

"What are you going to do about him?" She questioned curiously, genuinely interested.

"I'll deal with him, don't worry…I think it's time that Madripoor had a new leader, one that cleans up the place," Ana answered smoothly, before getting in her car and driving away.

Sharon watched her go, impressed but also stunned by what the younger woman was doing.

Sam felt his phone vibrate before turning it on and seeing a text from Sharon. He frowned. Sharon had been working undercover for Fury but hadn't come back after the Flag Smashers and Karli had been sent to the Raft.

'Isaiah Bradley's been compromised. The Power Broker's sent a black ops team to kidnap him and his grandson. Get them out of there, Sam!'

"Steve, Bucky, Clint! Wanda! We need to get to Baltimore NOW!" He shouted urgently.

"Whoa, whoa, what's going on?" Bucky asks, running over to him as soon as he heard him yelling.

"It's Isaiah. The Power Broker sent a team after him – we need to stop them now!" He urges. "Sharon just let me know!"

Steve nods, a determined look on his face. "Then let's get going."

They had raced out to the quinjet as soon as possible, getting on as quickly as they could until they raced off to where Baltimore was. Luckily, the city wasn't too far with their mode of transportation, and within a little bit of time, they had arrived, heading straight to where Isiah's house was. As soon as they did, they could see that there were people trying to break in. But that ended almost as quickly as it began, as Steve had used his shield to knock out several of the guys while the rest of them got to work. Bucky took out a couple with his skills, Sam with his gear, Clint with his arrows and Wanda with her powers.

It was times like this that Bucky actually remembered that they worked well as a team most of the time. He wished they were given more things to do like this. Show his worth to more people.

Once the threat was taken out, they called the police, getting them, all sent to their cars. Bucky had wiped the blood from his face as he takes a seat down, watching as Isiah talked to Steve quietly, thanking him for coming. Even in his age with the serum, Isiah was still old. He wouldn't have been able to take on all those guys at once.

"You doing alright?" He hears from above, seeing Wanda take a seat down next to him. "Seems like you're lost up here." She points to her head.

Bucky chuckles a bit and shrugs his shoulders. "Just thinking about everything we do…I feel like Fury doesn't…I don't know, trust me enough yet." He looks over at her. "It's always team missions and it's never really with the ones that work together – all of us work well but then I go on missions with Sam, and we get along fine but Tony is there, or Yelena might come…I just wish more people would trust me, but I know nothing is built overnight."

Wanda sighs quietly before gesturing to her. "When I first came here, he didn't trust me either. It takes time to gain the man's trust. You did try to kill him once."

Bucky cringes before rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, you're right about that." At that moment, Clint comes around, his phone in his hands. "Hey, did you eve

Bucky cringes before rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, you're right about that." At that moment, Clint comes around, his phone in his hands. "Hey, did you ever ask Sharon how she found that out?"

"I did but she's being sort of sketch about it," Sam answers honestly. "She won't tell me. Says there was some deal between her and a girl. Don't know who…but whoever it is, apparently she's taking down the Power Broker."

Bucky's brow raises in surprise. "Just like that? She pops up out of nowhere?"

"Sometimes that happens. A brand-new enemy comes around and makes the weaker one bite the dust," Clint remarks, sharpening his arrows. "If she is becoming a new Power Broker, we need to keep an eye out then…but if she was like the current one, then why would she warn us?"

That was the question everyone was thinking. And no one quite had the answer to it.

As soon as she had dragged the Power Broker out of her car and back into his fancy shmancy apartment, he was practically begging for his life. She had him pinned up to a chair in his kitchen, her knife at his neck. She had told him about how she stopped his plan, how nothing was going to work as he had wanted, and now, he was going to die. He pleaded, screamed, tried to bargain, but in the end, all she wanted was his seat. His place. His power.

So, she slits his neck. His blood flies onto her clothes, but she doesn't flinch.

It doesn't take long for the life in him to drain out, and she tilts her head, looking at the dead body, all she can think is how aggravating it was going to be cleaning the blood from the floor. She undoes his handcuffs and watches as the body fell.

If she had this power…she was surely going to make sure someone else took this damn body away. She was done hiding her sins.

"Excuse me?" She calls out to an intercom, which she is met with a surprising "Yes?" She responds "Your little leader is dead. I request you come up and take him before I take you out too."

There was silence on the other line for a good couple of seconds before the respond with a "Yes, ma'am."

Now THAT sounded good.

She took a shower after that, and by the time she had emerged with new clothes, the body was gone, and the blood cleaned. She smiles as she heads into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine from his wine fridge and takes a seat down, glancing outside at the skyline of Madripoor.

This whole city would be hers…at a cost.

The Power Broker would kill anyone innocent to get what he wants. She drew the line at that…God knows she had done enough of it long ago.

Ana sighs as she takes a sip of her wine, remembering her last moments in New York City. Her mind kept going back to the man in the coffee shop she had met not long before her flight. What was it about him? Was it his eyes? His hair? His beard? Why was she spending so much time-

She gasps, the glass suddenly dropping from her hand and onto the floor, shattering. A pillar of memories struck her.

That man wasn't a stranger. That man was the fucking Winter Soldier. The man that had trained her in the Red Room.

"H…holy shit," she whispers, bringing a hand to her mouth in shock. It all made sense now. Why he looked so stressed, why he thought she looked familiar too…he must not have recognized her either. She wondered if he knew now.

What a fucking day.

She runs her hands through her hair. God…the memories she had with the Winter Soldier.

Chapter Text

The girls at the Red Room would whisper about the Winter Soldier. He was a ghost story, a tale whispered to keep them in line by warning them if they didn't succeed in the classes or missions, that the soldat would creep into their room and kill them.

She remembered seeing those cold eyes watching her and over girls when he had come to the academy to train one of their classes. He had thrown a young girl called Polina Paseka across the room after she failed four times to do a pirouette in ballet class. She frowned as she tried to make sense of how the Winter Soldier had escaped the Red Room. It was rare when someone was able to make it out, almost impossible. She decided to call Carter and inquire about the soldier. Her interest was piqued by the man. Maybe she would know something.

Bucky and the others returned to the compound to inform Fury about the black ops team that the Power Broker had sent to kidnap Isaiah and Eli Bradley. The man must have been hellbent on creating the serum after Zemo destroyed the ones that Dr. Nadler had created.

"Hill is identifying the people who were sent to kidnap Isaiah and his grandson. Two of them have already been identified," Fury announced grimly. He pulled up two images of two men, one of whom that Bucky recognized instantly.

Jack Rollins. He knew him from being there at the Ideal Federal Savings bank when he had his mind wiped by Pierce after trying to kill Steve, Sam and Natasha in Washington D.C.

"You might remember the guy on the left, Barnes and Rogers. That is Jack Rollins, former member of the STRIKE Team. After fleeing the U.S., he settled in Madripoor and began working as a mercenary for the highest bidder. Tomas Calderon is a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent, who was fired after killing a group of Inhuman refugees in Nairobi, Kenya," Fury explained gravely.

He paused for a moment before glancing their way.

"Rogers, Wilson, I want you to ask Carter if she knows how long this mystery young woman has been living in Madripoor. See if there's a gang war brewing over a power struggle. Barnes, Barton and Maximoff, I want you three to talk to Russo, Karen Page, Murdock, and Curtis Hoyle. See what they know about the Power Broker," the director instructed. They nodded and all left.

The first thing Ana decided to do was renovate the whole damn penthouse that the Power Broker owned. She ordered new bedding, a new mattress, and a nice bed frame. There was no way in hell she was sleeping in his bed. She followed suit with the rest of the apartment, glad to have all this control now.

The next thing she did was arrange a meeting with all the criminals who lived in Madripoor. She was putting down some rules. She was no saint - far from it - but no way in hell was she tolerating slavery, sex trafficking, and fucking child molesters and pedophiles. She knew Madripoor thrived on crime, but she was going to be instilling some rules for everyone. She personally called off the bounties on the Winter Soldier, the Falcon and Baron Zemo, from what she had heard around. She had no quarrel with them at the minute.

Her main focus was going to be ensuring the Red Room remained shut down. She didn't want anyone else to go through what she had gone through. No child deserved that horror. The buzzer rang then, and she answered the call immediately. She had a feeling that a few of them were going to be aggravating. But she had dealt with worse people.

"Miss Liukin, this is Conrad Mack. You wish to speak with me about a beneficial arrangement between us?" the man asked politely. She smiled slightly.

"Please come in, Mr. Mack," she said smoothly. The door was unlocked and locked behind him. She might have her bodyguards, but she wasn't defenseless by herself if Conrad decided to play dirty.

Two could play at that game.

Conrad Mack entered the living room. He was a handsome man in person. He had dark brown eyes, but there was a sharpness in them, like an eagle, always watching. He was wearing casual, but smart clothing.

"Mr. Mack, it's a pleasure to meet with you. I've heard a lot of things about you," Ana said warmly. The man offered her a charming smile that showed perfect white teeth.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Liukin. I have to say that I'm impressed by your bloodless takeover of Madripoor. If you don't mind me asking, what inspired you to take over Madripoor from the Power Broker?"

She smiled at his question, as she sipped from her glass of red wine and Conrad drank from his glass of whisky. The man was a gangster, but he did have morals. She decided to give him some of the truth.

"The Power Broker wished to recreate the Super Soldier serum after Baron Zemo destroyed the vials that Karli Morgenthau stole from him. But he wanted me to kidnap a man called Isaiah Bradley and his grandson…I presume you know who he is?" she asked meaningfully. Conrad nodded, his smile turning to a grimace.

"Yeah, I know who he is. My grandaddy fought with him in World War II. The US government threw him in jail and took his blood. He escaped during the eighties and settled down in Baltimore," the man said bitterly, well aware of America's racial discrimination against African-Americans.

Ana nodded at his answer as she looked at the Monet art that decorated the walls. She disliked racists fiercely.

"Then you understand why the Power Broker had to go, Conrad?" He lets out a quiet nod at that. "As I've said before, I'm not a saint. I've done some horrible things. But I draw the line at people dragging innocents back into their dirty hands. For years I had no control of what I was able to do, and now that I do, you can bet I'm going to make sure that no one else gets hurt like that."

Conrad smiles to that. "That's very noble of you."

Ana snorts and shakes her head. "Not noble. It's called being a human. However,…I'm not a good person too. And the reason we're here is because of that." She comes over to him, leaning against her chair. "I know about your little business on the side here. You thrive from the drug community here, don't you?"

"If we're being honest, it is one of, if not the most, profitable business you can have in Madripoor."

"On the brink of a collapse the city would be if that whole system decided to go belly-up," Ana states, holding her glass in her hands. "Which is why I'm willing to offer a truce with you. An agreement, of sorts. If you keep a low profile and continue your business, I'll make sure it can still run with the people here and the cops won't be on your ass. I know how hard it can be to stay on the downlow but I'm willing to compromise on that as long as your guys don't interfere with what I'm trying to do."

Conrad raises an eyebrow. "You're very interesting, you know that?"

She raises an eyebrow back at him. "How so?"

"You're like the opposite version of what you say you are. You're trying to be good but also trying to keep crime going…it's a strange contradiction, if you will."

Ana shrugs her shoulders, walking over to where he sits. "We all have our contradictions. But the main part here is making sure your business can still run despite those contradictions. So…" She holds out her hand to him. "Do we have a deal?"

Conrad looks at her hand for a split second before extending outwards, shaking it firmly. "We have a deal."

Talking with Karen, Frank, Matthew and Foggy had gone about as well as Bucky had been expecting.

They didn't know that much about the Power Broker except for the fact that he just wanted to have as much power as possible, simple as that. They had stumbled into them when Fisk had gone away to jail, leaving his powerful empire in the city free for the taking. Due to the power vacuum, the Power Broker had tried to break in.

But luckily, they had come in at the right moment to stop him from taking over, before he had escaped off to Madripoor.

Bucky truly wondered what went through this man's mind to make him think like that, that he could suddenly own everyone just because one man got arrested. But then again, the man was clearly unstable. If he wanted to still create more and more super-solder serums for the world to use…there was no way he would allow that.

Secretly, Bucky really hoped this new mysterious woman had killed the Power Broker. Hell, maybe even taken over herself. If she was willing to help Sharon out and let them know about Isiah, she at least had some sort of morals compared to the original man.

But he also had a feeling that Fury, if he did find out who this woman was, was most likely going to send them after her. So maybe he'd get the chance to meet her after all.

A part of him still couldn't believe that he had seen Ana at a coffee shop…it was such a small world. A part of her still felt so familiar, and at the same time he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. He was thankful that the Wakandan's had gotten out all the trigger words in his mind but damn it, he wished he had his whole mind back.

Something he would just have to live with for now.

Was this a stupid idea? Probably. Could Fury walk in at any moment? Most likely.

But Natasha needed to know. She had to know if this woman was alive truly or not. Maybe she would get lucky, and they would be able to swing around this situation. Maybe the woman who had come into the facility wasn't even close to her.

When Nat and Yelena had destroyed the Red Room area, they had been able to access their system remotely to be able to view who had died and who had lived from the program. She had never checked for her to see if she was still around. But this time was better than no time.

She typed in the name quickly, searching through the files before she lands on the one, she had wanted. And her shoulders sink as soon as she reads through the file on the computer screen.

'Anastasia Liukin. Dead – complications of operation.'

"Oh, thank God," Natasha breathes out, running her hand through her hair. This at least said that she was gone. Maybe she would be able to get out of this alive. But something still didn't sit right. A part of her didn't think that she was dead. If it wasn't her…then who?

She bites her lip, glancing deeper into the file.

"Fuck it," she said finally, before delving further into the files. She found information on Anastasia about the year she was born. The young woman had been born on July 10, 1995 in Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast, Russia in the aftermath of the Soviet Union collapsing.

Her mother had died when she was five years old, and she had no one else to raise her. She was then placed in an orphanage until the age of seven when the Red Room had approached her under the illusion of being taken to a ballet boarding school. There were no other records of her aside from the file about her dying from an operation. The reasons for the operation were redacted, but deep-down Natasha knew the reason.

'I had to do it. I had to protect Yelena. She was too soft for the Red Room despite all the training we put her through,' she thought rationally, ignoring the pang of guilt that pulsed through her.

Sharon was honestly trying to keep herself calm as she drove to the penthouse that was owned by the Power Broker. She hadn't seen the mysterious woman again, but she had told Sharon to call her Ana.

Now, she was driving there and was stunned by the sight before her very eyes. The building itself was amazing and very spacious, but the apartment was even better. She was shown into the penthouse by a bodyguard and kept her face neutral as she was greeted by none other than Ana.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked politely. Ana smiled at her calmly as Sharon sat down on the comfortable black velvet sofa. The living room was very spacious but had a homey-vibe around it. There were framed photographs on the mantelpiece.

"Yes. I was wondering if I could buy some of the Art Deco paintings and sculptures in your art gallery?" Ana asked curiously. Sharon blinked in surprise but nodded and leaned forward.

"I'll be happy to sell you them, Miss Liukin," she said reassuringly, stunned that the woman wasn't going to kill her for helping Bucky, Sam and Zemo escape from the Power Broker.

Speaking of the man, she hadn't seen him around Madripoor for the last couple of days. She wondered if finally, someone had killed him for having too much control and power. Considering Ana was in his penthouse, she had quite the feeling it had something to do with her, since the man had been tied up by her not that long ago.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow morning. I'll enjoy doing business with you, Sharon," Ana said kindly, her voice genuine. Sharon nodded as they both walked out, seeing that the whole penthouse was being renovated.

At Sharon looking, Ana smiled as she put her bottle of water down on the coffee table.

"This penthouse belonged to the Power Broker, and it didn't give a welcoming feel. So, I decided to have the whole house renovated, including an indoor ballet studio, along with an indoor swimming pool, a library, and many bedrooms," the woman explained amusedly.

Sharon smiled before saying goodbye and Ana watched her leave. She had to admit, it seemed the women had the strength to stay around – and wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon.

Bucky was annoyed with himself. He felt like he had seen Ana before and not at the coffee shop. It was irritating to say the very least, as he walked to the conference room, where Fury was holding a team meeting.

He entered the room, sitting next to Steve, Sam, Clint and Wanda as Billy and Grant joined them. He wasn't surprised to see Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne being in the room but was wary about seeing Bruce and Tony in the room. Both of them, along with Natasha and Yelena, despised him. He didn't blame Natasha for hating him - he had tried to kill her three times, and had attempted to apologize, but she had refused his apology.

"Now that you're all here, I have news about the mystery woman who infiltrated the compound. We ran her through Interpol, MI6, FBI, and the S.H.I.E.L.D database and found nothing on her. She's unknown to us," Fury explained gravely, his face betraying nothing.

"So, what you want us to do then? It's pretty obvious that she's dangerous if she escaped the HYDRA base, and they had her in cyrostasis," Tony questioned suspiciously. It was Steve spoke up.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that she's dangerous, Tony. She's most like been forcibly placed in cyrostasis. We did uncover some possible information," Steve informed Fury, who looked interested as he looked at the man.

"What did you and the team find out then?" The director inquired curiously. He was clearly wondering if the young woman was a threat to them.

"We did some digging - plus Sharon called us this morning. The Power Broker might possibly be dead, as he's not been seen for at least three days. He was last seen Monday night, and had arranged to meet a young woman to discuss kidnapping Isaiah and Eli Bradley, so he could use their blood to recreate the Super-Soldier serum. According to Sharon, the young woman refused to comply, and a fight broke out," Steve explained quietly, his voice not quite disapproving at the young woman's actions and possibly murdering the Power Broker. "She was the person who told Sharon about the attack on Isiah."

Fury looked thoughtful and looked around at everyone who was sitting at the table. Natasha and Yelena were silent, but they were clearly hiding something.

"Is there something you'd like to add, Belova and Romanoff?" he asked calmly. Natasha nodded.

"There is something I'd like to add, Fury."

Natasha stands as she grabs the file of Ana, placing it on the table.

"I did some digging on this girl with the file that we found in the HYDRA base in Siberia. As the ones who shut down the Red Room and the areas surrounding it, we are allowed remote access to the former directory of agents that we've had interactions with. It turns out that Ana has actually died from an operation due to unforeseen circumstances," Natasha states. "At least that was what her records state."

"Hold on."

Bucky stands from where he was, gesturing to the file.

"That's impossible. We've been doing our own research and there has been some steady evidence that she's still alive."

"Barnes, I remember her. She's gone."

"That's impossible because I saw her literally days ago," Bucky says angrily, but he holds back his temper to a point. He didn't want to let go of his own morals because Nat's words contradicted his own.

Her brow raises in shock. "You're-wait, what? How the hell did you-"

"She was in a coffee shop," Bucky states, crossing his arms against his chest. "A couple days ago before heading off. I didn't learn the girl's name, but she looked exactly like Ana. There's no mistaking it."

"You're insane, she's gone!"

"No, she's not!"

"ENOUGH!" Fury yells, his booming voice causing them to jump in surprise. They both turn their eyes to where Fury was breathing heavily, his head down, clearly trying to control his own temper. He takes a moment before looking at the two of them. "Sit both your asses down now!"

The two Avengers do as he says, knowing that if they pissed him off even more there'd be more than just yelling coming their way.

Fury starts to pace before he looks to them. "From what I see, we have several problems here. One is-" His phone suddenly pings, and he pulls it out quickly to glance at it before cursing under his breath. "Now we got even more problems," he mutters, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Just got word from H.Q. Apparently, the original Power Broker is officially dead."

Silence rings throughout the room. Bucky knew it. He just knew it.

"Again, now we got even more problems," Fury continues, running a hand along his head before looking to them. "One, we have some mysterious woman that broke into our damn base and now is missing. Two, we have a power dynamic clearly underway in Madripoor, and another young woman there that we don't know about looking to take over. Third, we have two goddamn conflicting arguments about a girl that we don't even know about. There’re too many things here for us to even come to a proper conclusion. I'm over this fighting that we got going."

"Then what do you suggest we do, sir?" Natasha asks, raising her brow.

Fury sighs and then nods back at the team. "What we do best – undercover. But there ain't no way I'm sending a whole team after this girl. If the Power Broker is dead, that means she's a serious threat, regardless if she'll hurt us or not. She's got friends in high places. Only one of you are fit enough to do a proper undercover mission of this high of a status." His eyes turn directly to where Bucky was. "And that's you, Barnes."

His brow raises in surprise. "Me?"

"I can't think of someone better than the former Winter Soldier. It can't be Nat or Yelena with personal ties to this said mystery woman, but we don't know how much she knows about you possibly. It's the best option for us going forward. I'm not about to let any other goddamn intruder come in, so we need to find out who this woman is as soon as possible, and if she's taking over as the Power Broker."

Bucky was quiet for a moment, letting his words mingle. He wasn't wrong. He most likely would be able to find her the quickest and see exactly who this woman was.

"Plus, you've literally seen her before," Steve agrees lightly. "If anything, that'll only help you try and find her again."

"I think he's got this," Sam states, agreeing.

Bucky rolls his eyes and glances at his friends. "It's alright, guys. I'm fine." He always knew that the ones who were on his side tried their best to show their support for him, but something he just wanted to prove it himself. He turns back to Fury. "I can do that, sir."

"Good, glad to hear it." Fury stands and grabs the file. "You leave as early as tomorrow. We want to make sure we handle this with care but as quickly as possible. Don't want to linger any longer. Pack your belongings – I'll inform Sharon that you're heading to Madripoor and you're undercover there."

"Sounds good," Bucky responds, standing.

"Meeting adjourned," Fury concludes, getting up and heading out, pulling his phone as he does so. Bucky hears Tony groan as he stands, sighing.

"He's making a mistake sending you out."

"Tony, we don't need this right now," Steve responds, trying to shut down the fight before it even began.

"How can you even trust him to do a good job? He was literally part of HYDRA, the place that this mysterious woman is even coming from!"

"So are Nat and Yelena and you trust them," Wanda points out from where she stands.

"They at least had a head on their shoulders to sign the damn accords."

Steve sighs and shakes his head. "I'll never be able to prove to you that Bucky is a good man, but that's your loss. It's not like I'm not surprised Nat is on your side after she did what she did." At Nat's confused expression, Steve snorts. "Don't show me that look, Nat. I know that you agreed with Tony to lock Bucky up is a psych unit even before he was pardoned. I know you don't want him here just as much as Tony doesn't. You don't need to say anything."

Bucky runs a hand through his hair stressfully. Good god, this wasn't how he wanted his mission to start out.

Chapter Text

"I'll go to my apartment and pack a few things. What's my cover story, Steve?" He asked cautiously. He just prayed that Fury didn't force him to pretend to be working for HYDRA.

He couldn't do that again. It had taken five months of therapy with Christina Raynor and Amalia Begovic to accept that the Winter Soldier was a part of him, but he was the one in control.

"We're working on it, don't worry," Steve said reassuringly. He nodded and left. He knew Steve and the rest would look after Alpine.

This had not been how he had been expecting his day to go. At the very least it would get him away from Tony.

Ana had lost count at how many people she had planned with, but Melina Vostokoff was already annoying her. For some reason, she was vaguely familiar, but dismissed it.

"Where is the Power Broker? We were supposed to have a meeting at the Brass Monkey this morning," the woman asked coldly. She had a distinct Russian accent.

Ana put her glass of wine on the coffee table as she regarded the older woman in front of her. She seemed to be under the impression that she could intimidate her by using her own connections.

"The Power Broker is currently rotting at the bottom of the ocean, Melina. Now, you can abide by the rules that are now in place or go somewhere else to continue your mercenary and assassin life," she answered coldly.

Before she could say anything else, however, Melina suddenly pulled out a knife on her.

Ana dodged the knife being thrown at her body, rolling on the floor. Melina pulled a gun out as she bolted out of the house. Ana chased after her, pulling out her own Colt Python as she pursued her way through the streets. She caught sight of her running to Low Town and sighed, climbing up the fire escape from her apartment. She then ran to the docks, where Melina would more than likely flee to, as she had a yacht there.

Melina could feel the air leaving her lungs as she frantically tried to escape from the Black Canary. She wasn't going to take orders from a woman who was trying to impose a code of pathetic morals on Madripoor. She saw her yacht up ahead, feeling relieved and thinking quickly, untied the ropes from the boat. She couldn't see the Black Canary anywhere - maybe she had lost her?

She started up the engine, sighing in relief, but she was rattled by the mysterious young woman. She couldn't help but feel like she had seen her before, but that was impossible.

She needed to get rid of the Black Canary if she wanted to keep her secret from being found out. Natalia and Yelena were the only ones who knew the truth, along with Dreykov. Alexei knew nothing - sometimes she wondered how she could have married an idiot like him.

Melina set course for Hong Kong, just as she felt a burning sensation in the left side of her stomach. She looked down, realizing with shock that she had been shot.

Ana put the sniper rifle down, letting out a deep breath as she watched Melina escaping on her yacht. Maybe she couldn't kill her, but at least she had gotten a shot in before she left. Maybe it would scar. Hopefully, honestly. Before the scope was set, she noticed that she had called her boat Black Widow. Ana rolled her eyes at the name, before leaning back, contemplating her next move.

Melina would more than likely ask one of her allies for help in trying to remove her as the new leader of the criminal underworld. She remembered the woman now though. There was no denying her cold blue eyes.

Ana sighed quietly, grimacing the at the oil stains on her blue jeans, and decided to head home to change. She was meeting Sharon in two hours to collect her artwork and antiques. Least she could do was show up looking like a normal person and not like she just dove headfirst into a garbage truck.

Natasha had been reading the files on all of the girls at the Red Room Academy when her phone rang. She answered the call quickly, surprised when she saw who was calling.

Melina?

A bit hesitantly, she picks up the phone. "What do you want, Melina?" she asked suspiciously. Her adoptive mother didn't speak for a moment, before her voice rang out loud and clear.

"I had to leave Madripoor after I refused to accept the Black Canary's new laws for Madripoor. She shot me after I tried to stab her, Natasha. Are you sure that all the girls the Taskmaster recruited are dead?" Melina asked urgently.

Natasha swallows for a second and runs a hand through her hair. "I…we thought everyone was dead, but they keep saying that Ana is alive and-"

"Damn it," she hears her curse from over the phone. There was silence for a moment before she speaks again. "If that is her, you and I both know exactly what happened…you and Yelena. I want you to make sure you keep that information between us for as long as possible. If they possibly find out what we did…they're never going to forgive you. You know that."

Natasha was silent for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I know." She glances down at the files again. "What was the encounter like?"

"Night and day," Melina states instantly. "It was almost like a different version of her then what I had seen before…Black Canary is ruthless. The bitch didn't even hesitate to shoot me…but it seems she doesn't remember exactly who I am if that doesn't happen to be Ana…you need to keep an eye out on her. If she finds out what you did, she might come for you next."

"I know," Natasha sighs quietly.

"I'm going to stay on the downlow for some time…I suggest you do the same. However, if you and Yelena can somehow keep her distracted from coming after me. If she ends up coming to America – stop her. She has too much power. If she remembers-"

"I know, Melina," she states, sighing. All of this was too much.

"Alright…then you be good."

The phone hangs up after that. Once she was gone, Nat lowers the phone and places her head in her hands, yelling out a silent "fuck!" before looking back at the files. The more people she talked to, the more it seemed that the girl was alive.

And if so, then she and Yelena needed to watch their backs. Everything could go to shit so quickly.

God…he hated preparing for missions like this.

Don't get Bucky wrong, he knew what came with the job when he ended up joining onto the Avengers with Steve. He probably could have retired and lived a remotely peaceful life, but he knew that eventually, he'd be dragged back in. So, he might as well just go with it.

But with something like this? He knew that his mission was going to be relying on his training. That he'd have to practically hunt down this poor girl and survey her. But if she was the person, they thought she was…she had to be watched. It was the smart decision to do.

At the same time, he wasn't looking forward to the memories it would bring up. Of his time in HYDRA and the Red Room. He didn't want to think about everything he had gone through. But he was sure that at some point, maybe he would be thankful for it.

Maybe.

He had gone through so much damn therapy to sort of be one with himself, and now that part was going to end up needing to be in the forefront for this mission.

And all of those thoughts had went through his head when he made his way back to the compound, his bag packed. He had already talked with Steve and the others, who had agreed to visit Alpine in shifts so he could get taken care of. That was all he really cared about. As long as Alpine was alive when he came back, he could do this mission without problem.

Hopefully.

Steve was the one to meet him at the quinjet, with the file on Ana in his hands. "We got some intel from Sharon about the new Power Brokers last location, regarding their penthouse near the water. She's still not giving us a name though – really don't want to piss her off."

Bucky raises his brow in shock. "Does this girl really hold that much power already?"

"I don't know, Buck. Just tread lightly."

Bucky sighs before placing his pack on his back. "Then what's my story?"

"Simple. I have a feeling that this woman doesn't know that the former Winter Soldier is working for the Avengers now if she just came out of that base. She's most likely still catching up on the news of the world. If she asks if you're with us, say you're not due to a fight with Tony. It's something she can easily believe."

Bucky nods quietly. It was something he could believe easily too.

"Alright…easy enough." He glances at the quinjet and then back at him. "Are we sure that we want to do this now?" he asks quietly, looking back at him. "We don't even know if this is the correct girl."

"It's worth a shot, Buck," Steve states. "You're going to be fine. I know you're only nervous to be doing this on your own. But you can do this. You're your own man. You got this."

Bucky feels himself smile a bit at the man's words. Leave it to Steve to somehow make this situation feel just slightly better.

"Just don't cause any trouble while I'm gone," Bucky warns.

"No promise," Steve responds back, patting the man on the back as he climbed onto the quinjet. "Keep us updated on what you find constantly. Sharon told me that there's an apartment she has a spare for in Madripoor that you can take for the time being while you're there. She said that you'll find the keys for it in a black motorcycle in the airport near the plane."

"Right, I got it. What name should I go by?" he asked finally. Steve frowned as he remembered what Fury had told them about the mission.

"Maybe something not too obvious, but she is Russian. Maybe you use a Russian name?" he offered. Bucky nodded as Clint came over with his identification records for the mission, and had even helped Sharon, Wanda and him make a wardrobe.

He knew what name to use. He hadn't remembered it for a while, but he had in Wakanda. He would use the name Yasha Surkov. He e nodded at the name.

"I think I might change my story slightly as well, guys," he said firmly. Before he could go, however, Wanda appeared from beyond the compound, coming out with what seemed to be a pet carrier. Bucky's eyes lit up as he heard Alpine meowing. "I thought-"

"Bucky, you're being given an apartment," Wanda states, chuckling lightly. "You're allowed to bring him with you. Who knows? He might be your only friend."

Bucky rolls his eyes but thanks her all the same. Steve was smiling, so he must have known about the plan as well. Little schemers. Well, at least he got to have his pet with him. That was all that matters.

"I'll keep that in mind," he chuckles a bit before nodding to them. "Thank you. I'll let you know when I land." They nodded and said goodbye to him. Bucky waved at them, before picking up Alpine and boarding the quinjet. It doesn't take long for them to take off.

He just hoped that he didn't fuck this up or make the Black Canary suspicious about his true intentions. The last thing he needed was another fuck up like when he, Sam and Zemo visited Selby at the Brass Monkey.

He shuddered at seeing the way she had looked at him, like he was a sex slave. He'd thrown up after she had touched him.

He shook his head and stroked Alpine through the pet carrier, letting out a deep sigh. He wasn't about to let his memories corrode his vision now. He had a mission to do.

Madripoor was a country that thrived on crime, and a few had been weary when Ana had taken down the Power Broker and setting down some ground rules.

Ana was a decent person. She wasn't great, she wasn't horrible, but she was decent, and she had her morals. She stood by them no matter what people said. The teachers and trainers had despaired at the knowledge that she refused kill other girls in her class. Or harm an animal or hurt dissident prisoners that were used as target practice for betraying or attempting to flee the motherland.

She had nightmares about the lives she had taken during those years - men, women, and children. She saw their faces, each time she closed her eyes. She wished she could take everything back.

But the least she could do it makes sure that the Red Room Academy would never continue.

She had a hacker called the Phantom on her payroll to hack into the Avengers facility to find everything on the Red Room. Especially, on the Black Widows and the woman called Melina Vostokoff. She wanted to be prepared if the woman came back and tried to kill her.

Oh, who was she kidding? It was only a matter of when.

Ana decided to run herself a bath tonight, as she was going to be hosting clients in four hours-time.

Bucky arrived at the Madripoor airport after eight hours, and carefully but gently placed Alpine in the back of his motorcycle. He found the keys that Sharon had left for him and made a note to thank her as soon as he had settled in. He started driving his way to High Town, observing all of the beautiful and expensive houses, penthouses, or apartments. Christ, half of the people living here had some serious cash. And then the other was consumed by crime. A true paradox.

He drove to the townhouse apartment, which was secluded and very private. A part of him wondered how Sharon had pulled this but who was he to ask when given something great like this?

Bucky parked in the garage, before picking up Alpine, both going inside the house. Alpine ran out of his cat carrier the moment Bucky opened it, happy to be free.

He was relieved to see the fridge and cupboards were fully stocked with food and drink. Alpine had cat food, biscuits, a basket, and toys.

Sharon, Steve, Sam, Fury, Clint, and Wanda along with the others were really making it look like he was settling in Madripoor. He smiled slightly as he looked at Alpine, who was investigating the surroundings.

"This our home for the moment, Alp," he said quietly, to which the cat meowed back. He texted Steve, Sam, Sharon, and the others to let them know that he had arrived at the house safely, before heading into his bedroom.

After unpacking his suitcase, as well as seeing the wardrobe fitted with clothes to his taste, he had to admit that the others knew his taste. Nothing too flashy, everything simple. It was exactly what he needed.

Natasha and Yelena had added a few pieces as well. He was happy to see the clothes he had worn before at Sharon's art gallery were hanging up. He was going to have a warm shower before meeting up with Sharon and being given information on the mysterious Black Canary. It was all that he needed to do to make sure that this mission ran smoothly.

Ana had a nice hot soak in the bath that was filled with bubbles and turned on the shower. She was going to visit Sharon and Conrad to get some information on Melina as soon as possible. There was also a rumor going around that the Winter Soldier had arrived in the city. She was curious as to know why. The last time she had seen the Winter Soldier was when she had been twenty or twenty-two years old.

Her memories were still foggy.

She hated to admit how much she barely remembered from her past, but at the same time it's not like she was surprised. The HYDRA handlers had made sure to wipe her mind clean so many times. The same with the Red Room. There was no denying that there were parts in there that were permanently lost.

However, split seconds of clips would appear in her mind about the Winter Soldier. At first, it felt like just a ghost story. But now that she was starting to really let her mind wander and think as hard as she could…the Winter Soldier was never harmful to her.

In fact, she was fairly sure he had protected her once. There was one mission Ana was sent on where she was meant to kill a political activist and his family, and she had refused – because of course she did. And he had stopped the Red Room from getting rid of her.

Why? She didn't know. How? Again, no idea. But that one moment stuck out to her particularly. She hardly remembered what he looked like. Most of the time he had worn this stupid ass mask. But if she for some reason did run into him again, maybe some sort of thank you was in order.

If she could ever figure out who he was.

Ana lets out a soft sigh of content as she lets her head rest against the water, before glancing back at the clock. She wouldn't stay in for too long. She had far too many things to do on her hand. Might as well get ready.

Bucky couldn't even remember the last time he had dressed this good.

Sharon was a big-timer over here, that much he knew for sure. Even in the same outfit as before, he felt like he stood out like a sore thumb. But he knew this was what it was like being in this place, so he needed to try and do that.

He had fed Alpine before he left, watching the cat fall asleep not long before Bucky had headed down the stairs and to the address that Sharon had forwarded him. When he had arrived, however, he was shocked to see that there were several other people there.

Most of which were outside the apartment, and many were inside as well.

Bucky had made his way through, trying to see if he could find her. And then there she was, standing at the bar, having what seemed to be a drink with a client looking over a painting. She turns to see him, and her eyes widen. "You're here – excuse me," she says softly to the woman, who dismisses her with a wave. She heads on over to where Bucky was. "I had no idea you were coming so quickly. Here, come with me."

She guides him through the crowds of people to where there was an office a decent amount of space in the back. There, she lets him in and closes the door before turning to him.

"James Buchanan Barnes," she states, coming over to her desk to lean against it. "Didn't think I'd ever see you again in Madripoor. Was your flight, okay?"

"Duty calls," he remarks lightly before shrugging. "It was alright. Alpine wasn't a fan though."

Sharon chuckles. "Usually, cats aren't but luckily he won't be flying for some time now." She crosses her arms against her chest, her brow raised. "I do know why you're here. You want to know more about mystery woman, huh?"

"It's only me here," Bucky states. "We need to track her down and see if our hunch is real. Is it?"

Sharon slowly nods, letting out a soft sigh. "You're right and wrong. I'm not entirely sure of her name. She's used several aliases before, so I can't give you that." Bucky curses inwardly to that. "But what I can tell you is that her name is Black Canary, or at least that's what she goes by."

That sounded remarkably familiar.

"Black Canary?" He questions, standing. "Was she-"

"Most certainly trained by the Red Room," Sharon confirms. "Her training matches up with what I've seen and heard her do, but I have no idea who she is. She's swiped her name off of every radar that I know. What I do understand is that her and one of my former clients aren't, ah…getting along so well right now."

Bucky's brow furrows. "What do you mean?"

"Melina Vostokoff," Sharon continues. "She used to buy art from me for her fancy apartment here but ever since Black Canary showed up – not a single peep from her. It seems she's making all of the people disappear. Bit sketchy." She raises her brow at him. "Now do you see why I want to keep her in my good graces?"

Bucky feels himself let out a quiet snort, shaking his head. "Sam was right. Seems like she does have friends in high places."

Sharon chuckles a bit before shaking her head. "Good thing she does." She glances out. "Pretty sure she's supposed to actually come tonight. I know what she looks like but certainly not her name."

Bucky's brow furrows. "She's coming here?"

"I might be able to point her out for you in the crowd of people, but no guarantees. There's going to be plenty of buyers tonight." She grabs a glass of wine. "But until then, peruse and wait. I'll be sure to let you know if she's here – or if you run into her beforehand."

Bucky nods, thankful for the information. At least there was a chance. "Alright then."

"Yes. I need a favour."

Melina was a calculative woman. She knew that from the moment she had been trained years ago. However, she also knew when she was outmatched. And she knew that with Black Canary, there was no way she could take her on herself.

So she knew the next best thing.

Assassins to take on her mission. Better or worse known as the Elite Hunters.

They had agreed to her terms quickly, as long as she was able to pay them handsomely, to which she agreed. And soon, they were saying they'd make their way to Madripoor for her, heading directly to where that stinky little bitch was now.

Melina had chuckled to herself, leaning back in her seat, thinking of the surprised face that would appear on that little woman's lips when she sees her death, coming right at her.

It wouldn't be long before Madripoor was back in her hands. Back with the people who should run it. Not some woman like her. And hopefully, the Elite Hunters would take care of that for her as soon as possible.

Chapter Text

Nat was acting weird.

Clint usually was a very noticeable guy. He may be the man that never misses, but he was also the man that could read people like a book. And right now, Nat was acting very much not like herself, even with her usual stoic face.

He felt like she was hiding something from him and Laura, which made him conflicted. He knew Natasha's past with the Red Room was horrific, but she was keeping something secret, and had been on the phone to a woman last night. She usually never went on calls late at night. Sighing, he texted Laura to let her know that he was alright and that the kids were settling into school. After Tony had exposed their location to Thaddeus Ross, he'd had to move them to the outskirts of New York.

He frowned when he saw Natasha in the conference room, running the facial recognition software. The tech had been created by Pym Industries and X-Con Security Consultants, as Stark Industries' facial recognition software was for more expensive and didn't always work.

"What are you doing, Nat?" he asked quietly. Natasha ignored him as he entered the room. She was reading a file that was in Russian.

"Trying to find out who this mysterious woman is, Clint. Steve isn't exactly talking to me right now, so I have to do this on my own," she answered harshly, causing him to grimace at her answer.

Steve and Natasha's relationship had become strained after she had survived Voromir and revealed that she had been pregnant. Then she had suddenly broken up with Steve, devastating the man.

He knew how much Steve loved Natasha. He'd been a shell of himself after Natasha had supposedly died. The man was far more guarded now and simply kept things civil with Natasha.

"You should have told him, Nat. He loves you and it clearly shows in the way that he looks at you," he argued firmly, trying to understand why Natasha was acting this way.

Natasha refused to acknowledge Clint's words. She knew Steve loved her, but she just didn't feel like she wanted children. She was upset that she had miscarried, but she hadn't been sad in the same manner as Steve had been.

Ana had gotten ready for Sharon's art gallery. She had decided to wear a red dress for tonight made with red satin and had a V-neck. It would partially show the faded burns on her chest, but no one would hardly notice them. She didn't like thinking about the burns, or the agony they had caused. It was better to just forget about it.

She finished applying her makeup, adding some eyeliner and grabbed her handbag. She had put a knife in there, along with her cell phone and lipstick, before heading out.

The car was waiting for her outside the building, and with a quiet smile, it drove her across High Town to where Sharon lived.

Bucky had left Sharon’s after a little but to head back and get ready for the real art show tonight. While he did, he had memorized everything for the mission, including his backstory and the reason as to why he was in Madripoor, looking at himself in the mirror.

He'd showered, and let some slight stubble grow on his face for tonight. He was wearing a black blazer, black trousers, and a black shirt. He nodded to himself as he left the bedroom and said goodbye to Alpine.

The cat meowed at him affectionately, before going to sit on the bottom of the cat bed. He'd made sure that no one would be able to break into the house, using the security system to its best advantage for heading out.

He left his place after making sure he had everything that he needed, including his gun, a knife, and keys. He walked to the motorcycle, getting on, and quietly drove to Sharon's house.

The party was in full swing when Ana arrived at the house. She smiled at Conrad, who had already arrived and was with his girlfriend. He raised a glass to her from the corner as she approached. Sharon was showing a client some beautiful paintings as she wandered around, admiring the art gallery. She was about to ask Sharon about a Van Gough painting when a strange silence fell over the room as most eyes headed towards the door. Curiously, she turned around to see a young man with short dark brown hair, dressed in clothes that made it clear he was part of the Russian Mafia. Her brow raises in surprise.

His eyes though were what caught her attention. They were a dark grey, like a wolf's eyes.

She couldn't shake off the feeling…that they had met before but where? No, no way. She hadn't met anyone like that. Or at least…her memory sucked.

"Everyone, this is one of my clients who has come from Moscow, Russian. His name is Yakov Surkov," Sharon said calmly, introducing the man, who nods. Ana got the sense that this man was dangerous.

"He's a Russian mobster," Conrad whispers to her discreetly as they turned back around. "He doesn't do the usual Mafia stuff, but he sells weapons to resistance groups who fight dictators."

She raised an eyebrow at his words, watching the man intently as he walked up to the bar to get a drink. She wasn't surprised when he ordered a Ruskova vodka to drink.

The party returned to normal quickly after, with many people returning to what they had been doing. She excused herself from Conrad, whispering that one of the paintings he was looking at would be hers to which he laughed, and sat at the bar contently. She enjoys her glass of red wine, when she got the sense that someone was watching her.

She glances up and feels herself smile when her eyes dance across the room at Yakov, who had been looking directly at her. Without breaking contact, he downs his drink before standing, walking over to her. Ah, a man of confidence, she could see.

However, as he moved closer, a weird sense of peace settled over her. Conrad had told her who he was, what he did, but coming over to her, she didn't feel fear. In fact, his eyes almost felt familiar. It was such a strange sensation. But even so, she didn't let it show on her face.

"You came over her nice and quick," she remarks, her brow raising. "Almost like you're on a mission."

"What can I say? When I see something, I like, I know what I want."

Okay, now that brought some colour to her cheeks. He was smooth. "For a Russian man, your English is very good."

"I've been around them enough in the past for me to know. Takes some practice but you learn to work with it well." He reaches out and holds her hand, bringing it to his lips in a kiss. "Yakov Survok."

Oof, he was pulling out all the stops. She couldn't remember the last time she had been treated with such respect from a single man. Surely not of this year, that's for sure. However, she still had her smarts ahead of her, and knew that it wouldn't be too brilliant if she gave out her regular name.

So, she instead smiles and states back another name. "Maria Kapitonova. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He lowers her hand again, smiling. "A pleasure to meet you as well." He glances around and gestures to this. "You been going to this for some time? I've never seen you around."

"You've been here before?"

"Couple of occasions," Yakov states quietly. "Usually for business reasons, but I've been to Sharon's a couple of times, trying to find the right piece for back home. However, I recently decided to move here all together."

Ah, so he was in the area? Good to know. "To be honest, I haven't been here that often," she states lightly. "I only just recently showed up in the city…had some high friends in some good places so they got me into this big shindig. Sharon is a nice woman…smart one too."

"That she is," he agrees before raising an eyebrow at her. "So, you're new to Madripoor?"

"I am, yes."

"Well, obviously you do know the city…isn't necessarily safe."

Ana chuckles a bit. "Trust me, I know. But I think it was exactly what I needed. A change of scenery. Last place I was in was far too cold."

The man snickers a bit. "I've heard that the summers in Madripoor are beautiful. I look forward to it."

She looks back at him. "Then why did you move here?"

"As you said. A change of scenery," he agrees lightly. "It can be quite cold in Russia too."

Ana smiles a bit and nods. "That is true…I've been there as well. All over the world. It's almost like people, in a way." At his furrowed brow, she continues. "Every person has warm and cold parts in a way. When you're close to someone, you get to see their warm parts, but if you anger them, the cold parts emerge, as vicious as ever. But even in the cold you can find warmth sometimes, and coldness withing the warmth – if that makes any sense." She found herself chuckling at the end. "I'm sorry. Maybe the wine is getting to me."

Yakov chuckles before shaking his head. "No, I…I get it, really." He glances at the ground. "God knows I've had my fair share encounter with warm and cold places within me."

Ana could see a bit of a fight in his eyes, glancing at the ground. He clearly had some sort of past, and for a moment, she forgets that they were practically strangers and reaches out, squeezing his arm. It causes him to look up. "We all do. That's the beauty of people. They're complex and wonderful in every way. If you're not willing to accept all parts of someone, then why even try?"

That causes him to smile as well, although this one was smaller. "That is true…a beautiful statement for a beautiful woman."

Ana rolls her eyes. "Now you're just saying that."

"I mean it," he argues back, but there was a certain twinkling in his eyes that had her smiling.

She takes the last sip of her wine, standing. "Well…thank you, Yakov." She clears her throat, remembering that she wasn't here to flirt with men. She needed to focus on actually getting the art she needed. "I have to use the restroom, but after that I plan to peruse the art here. Do you want to join me?"

"I'd love to," he answers back with a smile.

"Good," she responds back, offering her own grin before turning around, grabbing her purse, and heading to the restroom.

Jeez, she hadn't felt something like that in…God knows how long. She wondered what Yakov had to offer her. Maybe being friends with a mafia man would benefit her greatly.

God-fucking-damn, she was gorgeous.

As soon as Bucky had arrived back at Sharon's place for this whole party she was throwing for the art, she had directed him directly to where the mystery woman she knew was sitting at the bar.

And while Bucky of course followed up on her and began to talk to her, trying to learn her name – Maria, of all things, but he knew that was most likely a front – and all about her for his own case, he couldn't deny the beauty that she had.

She had the most beautiful eyes that he had ever seen, a light grey that he compared to opals. She had wavy dark brown hair that was almost black but had a mahogany colour. She was tall, but barely reached his height.

The red silk dress flattered her figure and emphasized the curves she had. He noticed a few men were watching her as she left for the restroom, her hair glowing in the disco lights. She was most certainly a looker, that was for sure.

"Enjoying the party, Yakov?" a voice asked with amusement. He turned around to see Sharon had come over to the bar, and had ordered herself a Piña colada, eying the drink that he was drinking.

"It's enjoyable, Miss Carter. And I just met the delightful Maria Kapitonova. She's a charming young woman," he answered smoothly as he saw a young woman with blonde curly hair enter the art gallery and go to the restroom.

"That she is. She's friendly with Conrad Mack, the Smiling Tiger, Melissa Gold who is known as Songbird and two hackers called Polina Astakhova and Evan Drake. She's making a name for herself in this city - plus she's laid down some ground rules for everyone," Sharon said impressed.

After a moment however, she turns him around, looking at him carefully.

"Be careful, Bucky. She's not like most of the people who live here but she's dangerous. She's killed at least three folks who didn't abide by the new rules," she said warningly.

Before he could reply, Maria returned from the restroom, her bag in her hands.

"I'd love to see the new art collection you've acquired. Sharon, I heard from Conrad and Melissa that you have some art nouveau pieces?" Maria asked curiously. She'd loved the art nouveau art and architecture.

Bucky takes her up on that. "I'd like to see this art collection as well, Sharon. I have a deep fondness for Art Deco, and Art Nouveau style," Bucky added, genuinely interested.

Sharon smiled, as she showed them the collection upstairs, moving along gracefully through the halls until they arrived where it was.

Bucky admired the paintings on the wall, knowing fully well that these paintings and sculptures were the real deal. Most of the paintings and sculptures in the museums and art galleries, including the Louvre, were elaborate fakes.

"I'll take those and some of your Asian Art collection as well, Sharon," he answered smoothly, handing her a wad of cash in Russian ruble. She smiled at him as she took it.

"You have great taste," she mutters to him, to which he chuckles.

Both of them saw Maria admiring the one of the paintings on the wall, before she turns to Sharon.

"I'd like to buy this and a few other pieces," she said softly. Sharon smiled and arranged to have them sent to her house, as well as Bucky's place.

The party continued going on in their absence. Bucky noticed that some people were smoking marijuana. He didn't have a problem with people taking it. He knew Leah smoked the painkiller to help relive her back pain she'd gotten from a car accident during the Decimation. It had nearly paralyzed her.

He glanced up at the grandfather clock to see the time and was astonished to see it was 2:30 AM in the morning. He saw a young woman with silver hair that had pink highlights at the front, and she came over to greet Maria.

So she was using an alias to keep her real identity a secret? On that he didn't blame her. If Thaddeus Ross found out that there was another survivor of the Red Room aside from Natasha and Yelena, then things would get ugly.

He would check in with Steve, Sam, and Wanda along with the others tomorrow. He went to say goodbye to Sharon and Maria, and found them talking to Conrad Mack, his girlfriend Jeannette and Melissa.

"You heading off, Yakov?" Conrad asked amused. The Russian mobster had a cat that he was fiercely protective of. God help the idiot who tried to hurt it.

They'd have the White Wolf hunting them down, like John Wick.

"Tired from the flight. The party was wonderful Sharon. And it was lovely to meet you, Maria," he said smoothly, kissing Sharon on the left cheek. She flushed, chuckling a bit. Deep down Bucky hoped Sam wouldn't get upset about that. He knew there was something brewing between the two.

He smiled at Maria, shaking her hand. He could smell her perfume from where he was. It smelt of lilies, red roses, and cherry blossoms.

"I hope to see you again, Yakov," Maria said softly. He smiled at her as he watched her go inside and got onto his bike before taking off.

Steve, Sam, Wanda, Clint and T'Challa were in the conference room with Fury looking over the photos. They had been taken by Bucky when he had been at Sharon's art gallery.

"Ok, so I've identified most of the guests at the party. Conrad Mack also known as the Smiling Tiger, was there with his fiancé, Jeanette Deveraux. Now, believe it or not, his criminal record isn't that bad. He sells marijuana to people on low incomes, and he is an arms dealer, but he sells weapons to Algeria, where there is a civil war going on due to the former prime minister coming back and trying to make a dictatorship," Laura explained patiently.

"What about the chick with the gorgeous breasts and pink highlights? Did our Manchurian Candidate I.D. her as well?" Tony asked rudely, causing most of the team to stare at him in disgust at his cruel jibe towards Bucky.

"Stark, don't call Bucky that. It's insensitive and unkind," Sam said firmly, before Steve could speak in defense of his friend. Tony had becoming very unkind towards Bucky since he had joined the Avengers.

Tony started laughing at Sam's words, an expression of disbelief, contempt and disgust on his face.

"Oh I'm sorry, Wilson - or wait is it Captain America? You think I shouldn't be unkind and insensitive to the bastard who strangled my mother to death and is the reason the team broke up?!" he shouted angrily, slamming his fist on the table. The piece of furniture rattled violently, and Peter squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

"It wasn't Bucky's fault, Mr. Stark. He is as much as a victim of HYDRA as were your parents," T'Challa said compassionately, but firmly to the man.

"I don't care. He killed my goddamn mother! Because of Barnes and the man who I call father, I lost my mother, and Rogers had the nerve not to tell me!" Tony raged, his face turning red with anger.

"When could I tell you, Tony?" Steve asks. "I didn't know if Zola was telling the truth at the bunker, and everything was a mess. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, sooner. Truly, I am. But you wouldn't answer my calls after retiring from the Avengers and the Accords happened," he reasoned calmly, trying to keep his temper.

"Barnes should be rotting in the Raft or be fucking dead. He's a murdering, sociopathic bastard who ruined my life! He's the reason why Morgan doesn't have a grandmother!"

Steve's hands turn to fists, but he refuses to yell. He wouldn't stoop so low as to lose his temper. So instead, he stands, aiming at him. "You don't think that Bucky feels that every day? You don't think he hasn't apologized and tried to make amends with every damn person he's hurt in the past? If anything, you don't even have the right to talk, because you've had so many people that you have hurt in the past as well. Do you deserve to be rotting away?"

"You want to know everything I've done for this organization? For this country? I know that we've hurt others and we've tried to redeem that by singing the Accords and trying to make things right! Barnes was a literal psychopath that, just because we choose to believe what the Wakandans did, he's out there right now just living when he could snap at any moment!"

T'Challa raises an eyebrow. "Are you questioning the power of Wakandan technology?"

Tony sighs and raises a hand to T'Challa. "I have nothing against you or your power, your highness. Your tech is great. My issue is with the current former assassin that is on the streets!"

"Will you two sit down!" Fury snaps angrily, causing the two of them to let out a puff of anger before doing so. "I know that you two don't get along but for the love of God get your damn selves together, because if don't figure out what is going on, then we might have another fucking breach." He angrily waves his hand. "Tony, the rest of your team head out and do a bit more research on Madripoor. Steve, called up Barnes and get more info. And when we get back, you two act like fucking adults."

"Yes, sir," was a collective muttered response.

Steve saw Tony glare at him before getting up, heading out with the others. Steve goes to talk to him but feels someone reach out to him, and he turns to see Wanda, shaking her head.

"It's not worth it," she says softly.

Steve sighs before running a hand along the back of his head, and turning around. "You're right." He looks to Sam and Wanda, who then he nods towards the meeting room. "Let's go call up Bucky."

Chapter Text

"It was amazing, you guys. Absolutely."

They had been on a video call with Bucky for about fifteen minutes now, starting to get some intake on his trip there and how everything had been going. But up until now, Steve had waited with a raised brow as Bucky described everything he had seen.

"That sounds great, Buck," Steve chuckles a bit. "But there was a point of this mission."

"Right, uh-" Bucky rubs the back of his neck a bit embarrassingly, chuckling. "Sorry. Sharon just knows what she's doing. I've never seen so much art and so many fancy people all in one sitting. But you're right. Sharon did direct me to the young woman that supposedly took up the Power Broker position." He pulls up photos and splays them onto the screen so they could see it. "I got some of these pictures last night before she left."

Steve crosses his arms against his chest, shaking his head. "I can't believe this."

"She looks just like Anastasia," Wanda remarks lightly.

"See, you think that, but that's not her name – at least the one that she gave me isn't Anastasia. It's Maria Kapitonova. Interesting alias, but if it is her, she's certainly taking a different route than what I'm doing."

"Did you learn anything else about her?"

"Nothing that we didn't already know," Bucky states quietly. "Sharon told me that she is the one who's taken over the city, but she's dangerous, just as we suspected. She has morals and has laid down some rules but hasn't stopped herself from killing those who against them. Sharon said she's ended at least three so far. Something did sort of stand out to me for a moment though. I was talking with her and she said she moved to Madripoor to escape the cold from somewhere. If she WAS in Siberia, that would make sense."

Sam rolls his eyes from where he stood. "There are a lot of cold places in the world, Bucky."

"I know, I know, but it's curious, is all I'm saying."

Steve sighs but nods. "Alright, at least we have that. You said you'd see her again?"

"Yeah, we ah…kind of hit it off, in a way." At Steve's questioning response, he responds quickly. "Not like that, I just - I mean it seems she's willing to meet with me again outside of a party, so it'll be easier to get info."

"Right," Steve chuckles, although a bit of him was curious. "Remember that this is a mission though, Buck."

Bucky rolls his eyes. "I know, you don't have to remind me. I'll get the info you guys need." There was a loud meowing off screen and Bucky chuckles. "I gotta go. Alpine is being a little minx and wants some food."

"Tell him that I say hi!" Wanda says, smiling.

"I will," Bucky snickers before nodding at them. "I'll talk to you soon."

They wave goodbye to him and he signals off the call, leaving them alone.

Ana lets out a soft sigh of content as she cooks up some dinner. While she did have someone that could cook for her, she preferred to cook her own food – usually for safety rather than convenience. She knew that there were several people who would most likely pay a chef to put poison in there.

She wasn't about to let herself go down like that.

As she starts to plate up her food, however, she pauses when she suddenly hears a crash from the living room. Quickly, she reaches into her cutlery drawer and grabs a knife, approaching quietly. "Hello?" She asks.

No response.

She keeps her guard up as she ventures into the living room to see if anyone or something was in the living room. There was nothing aside from a card box having fallen on the glass coffee table. Luckily, it hadn't cracked the glass.

She suddenly saw movement from the corner of her eye and picked up a gun that was in a drawer. Ana started cautiously walking down the hallway where the dining room was, when someone suddenly lunged at her.

She moved out of the way quickly as the man jumped at her with a knife directed at her throat. She dodged out of the way as the assassin slashed at her with knife, but Ana used her ballet training to avoid being stabbed.

Grabbing her by the hair, she threw him into the wall to slow him down slightly. The man glared at her disdainfully, sneering at her as he pulled out a knife that looked like it could slice her to pieces.

"This is called a serbcutter, little girl. My ancestors used this knife to kill enemies of Croatia during World War II," the man taunted cruelty, lunging at her again.

She kicked him in the chest, gripping her own knife and stabbed him in his left shoulder. She heard him yell out in pain, as she wrapped her legs around his neck, but he kicked her right knee, causing her to hiss in her own pain.

Ana backed away from him as she saw two more of his friends had joined him. They must have come from the back garden to get into the apartment. Damn it.

"Three on one…that's hardly fair," she remarked coldly, keeping a fighting stance as she kept an eye on where all of them were positioned. And then, she ran, all the way down. And they weren't that far behind in following her down into the streets.

After feeding Alpine and falling asleep, Bucky woke up to the sounds of fight from across the street. He quickly got dressed before grabbing his gun and his Da Lai knife that Steve had given back to him. It had been his when he'd been with the Howling Commandos.

After locking the door, he walked quickly across the street to see what was going on. When he did find what was the cause, Bucky was stunned to see Maria fighting four people, one of whom had a knife and another man that he recognized as Diego, a Flag Smasher.

"Hey, isn't four on one an unfair disadvantage?" He called out dangerously, pulling out his knife. His voice caused Maria to turn in surprise, and he sees a slight smile come over her lips at him suddenly showing up.

One of the assassins tried to gut him. He kicked him in the face, causing the man to stumble back at his nose breaking from Bucky's kick.

"You're pissing off our boss, Kapitonova! She wants Madripoor to be like how the country was before you arrived and started putting down all of these stupid rules for us to follow!" Axelle spat contemptuously, lunging at her with a hunter's knife.

He saw Maria sigh in annoyance before punching her hard across the face, using a pair of batons that glowed dark red. They were similar to the ones that Natasha used, only hers glowed blue and not a dark crimson red.

He knocked out the remaining one as Maria came over with a slightly bruised face. Her lip was bleeding, and she had a tear in her t-shirt that had blood on it.

"What do you wanna do about them?" He asked quietly, nodding at two of the surviving assassins. One of the women was dead. Maria had stabbed her in the throat, severing her carotid artery and causing her to bleed out.

"I'll question them…thank you for helping me," she answered cautiously, glancing up at him. He nodded and watched as she picked up their weapons off the floor. He discreetly checked to see if any of them had any identifiable scars or tattoos and got lucky.

The woman had a tattoo on her back that had the words 'Elite Hunters' with roses on either side. It looked like it had been branded into her skin. He felt his blood run cold but took a photo and sent it to Steve. Maybe, they could find out who had sent them to kill Maria and why?

Steve had gotten Bucky's message and the attachment of a photo that showed a tattoo. He'd never seen that tattoo before, but Billy, Clint, Natasha, Yelena and Grant were staring at the tattoo as if they'd seen a ghost.

"Do any of you know what this tattoo is? Because I've never seen it before, and I've seen my fair share of tattoos," Steve asked curiously. Natasha was the one who answered his question, surprisingly.

"I do, and so do the others. It's the tattoo of a secret organization called the Elite Hunters who prey on people by luring them to holiday hotels and spas in countries such as Italy, Czech Republic, and Iceland. They revel in dark fantasies such as murder, cannibalism, and torture of many forms that include fetish pornography and amputation. Only wealthy people run the organization, and it was very secretive…until 2013," Natasha explained gravely, her face showing her disgust.

No one in the room could speak. They were all horrified by what they were hearing. Wanda looked like she was going to be sick. Scott had stopped eating his slice of pepperoni pizza, while Sam looked disgusted.

"Just gonna put that down," Scott mutters, lowering his slice.

"So, what happened in 2014, Romanoff?" Tony asked, causing Natasha to ignore him. Steve shook his head, shocked at the revelation.

"After I dumped all of S.H.I.E.L. D’s secrets, the Elite Hunters were discovered by Fury. A lot of victims that had escaped or survived killed the Elite Hunters in revenge, or they committed suicide rather than go to prison for multiple murders," she explained quietly. Clint then took over.

"At least three of them escaped and went to hide in Madripoor. These are the only surviving Elite Hunters," he said gravely, as he used his iPad to pull up the images.

Three images came up on the large plasma screen. One of a man with light brown hair and cold blue eyes. The next two were of another man who had blonde hair and emotionless hazel eyes that caused Wanda to shiver at his disturbing, twisted smile. The final image was of a blonde-haired woman who looked like she was a model, but she had a demented smile, one that made Steve know instinctively that the woman was dangerous.

"Do we know who hired them to kill Maria?" Steve asked concerned. Before she could respond, a furious Thaddeus Ross stormed into the conference room. His hands were balked into fists, as he glared at where Steve was sitting.

"Who authorized Sergeant James Barnes to go undercover as a Russian arms dealer in Madripoor!? I made it perfectly clear that the woman was to be terminated as soon as you acquired her location!" Ross shouted infuriated, causing Steve to speak up for his team and Fury.

"With all due respect Home Secretary, the young woman has shown no threat to us. I personally believe, as do many of the others, that she is perhaps more like Frank Castle," Steve argued, causing Ross's face to turn an interesting shade of purple that resembled an eggplant.

"You overstep yourself, Captain Rogers. As from now, you are no longer the leader of the Avengers due to your behaviour as of late and your recklessness in allowing Sergeant Barnes to go on a mission without being cleared by me. As a result, Tony Stark will be leading the team," Ross said harshly, a cruel smile appearing on his face. Tony's expression was one of arrogance, triumph and smugness.

"Sir, Steve did the right thing. Who else could he send undercover?" Natasha argued firmly, causing everyone aside from Clint and Sam to stare at her in surprise.

Ross's lip curled, as he looked at the young woman who sitting next to Yelena. He wasn't impressed or bothered by her question.

"He could've sent you, Agent Romanoff, or Belova."

Natasha's shoulders fall. "Barnes knows Madripoor far better than I ever could have. And he knows Sharon better than I ever did. He was logically the best choice for this mission besides maybe Sam, but even then, he has his duties here. Barnes didn't have further missions that were outstanding that were blocking him from going. I did, and so does Belova."

Ross lets out a huff before shaking his head. "Your missions could wait for something like this – either way, it was a bad decision to send Barnes off on this. If it were up to me, I'd bring him back instantly. But that's Fury's area." He glares at him, who doesn't give a proper response, just shrugs his shoulders. "Even so, Steve's lost jurisdiction. Tony, it's your job now."

He shakes his head almost in disappointment before storming out, closing the door. Steve feels himself glare at where Tony was. "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, huh?"

"Oh, stop. You're being dramatic. This is what's been going on for ages," Tony states, crossing his arms against his chest.

Steve shakes his head and sits down, quieting himself as Tony started to talk, changing the screen at the front. He glances at Nat and nudges her side, to which she glances over at him. "Thanks for standing up for me, Nat."

The young woman nods in response, glancing at the ground. He could see she was still uncomfortable with something sitting inside of her. He wished there were a way he could see inside her head and wonder what the hell was going on.

But hey, if she were standing up for him, that had to mean something good, right?

"Wait, what happened?"

After the big fight with Maria out in the streets, Bucky had instantly gone back to his apartment to tell Sharon over the phone. And she had understandably listened and been surprised when he told her about everything.

"It was insane, Sharon," Bucky says, running a hand through his hair. "There were four of 'em up against her. They really wanted her gone. She ended up killing one of them but the others…think she dragged them back to her place to interrogate them."

"What did you say the tattoo said?"

"Elite Hunters. Don't really know exactly what they are but got a feeling that whoever sent them wants her gone."

Sharon sighs from the other end of the phone. "I'll be sure to look them up and find some info – I'm sure you've already talked to Steve and the others?"

He nods. "Of course."

"Good. Just keep an eye out." There was a beat of silence. "Maybe you should go out and check up on her. This might be the best time for you to figure out more about her. Vulnerable and shit."

Bucky raises an eyebrow. "That's a bit manipulative."

He could almost her hear shrug from across the phone. "You gotta do what you have to do. Might be your best option right now."

Bucky sighs a bit. She wasn't wrong. It was an option. And right now, it really was one of the best he could lean towards. "Alright…you rest up now."

"See you, Bucky."

He hangs up the phone after that, glancing outside. It seems that she wasn't that far from where he lived. Maybe he could walk around until he found where she lived. He saw the direction she had gone.

Maybe Sharon was right. Maybe it was the best time to do it.

The sound of a knife slitting across skin was loud enough for anyone in her penthouse to hear. The scream that followed was enough to make someone cringe. But Ana didn't care.

Ana wanted answers.

"Now," she says lowly, pushing the man close to her. She could see it was Diego, one of the Flag Smashers from before. "Either you tell me who sent you here, or I can make your time a little more terrible like your friend over there." She points to the other hostages that were now passed out.

"I'm…n-not gonna s-say shit!" he stutters.

She grabs her knife and stabs it deep into his arm, to which he screams out in pain before dragging it right back up to his elbow. The blood spurts out as tears start to evade his eyes.

"No, you gonna play nice?"

"It-t's Melina!" he yells out, his voice shaking. She pauses. "She sent us – p-please, we were only doing our j-"

She instantly brings the knife up and slits his throat, watching as he bleeds out before falling to the ground. He was no innocent man. This wasn't a job. She knew what Diego had done prior to this. The same with these two. And now, it was done.

Melina…god, she was going to murder that bitch.

She wipes the blood away, letting out a soft sigh before grabbing a towel to wipe the blood from her face. Before she could start wondering what to do with the bodies, however, there was a beep that came from her intercom.

Her brow raises before coming over. Who on earth would be here this time of night?

"Yes?" She asks as her finger hovers over the button. "Who is it?"

"Miss Maria, you have a gentleman visiting you," her concierge stated from below. "A Mr. Yakov?"

She had wondered why he had come out to help her like that. Seems he was a bit more than she had originally thought. But he did aid her in getting these goons…maybe he wouldn't be opposed to helping her now.

"Send him up," she responds back, glancing at the mess of bodies below her. She wondered what Yakov would say to this.

She heard footsteps heading up the stairs as she grabbed a towel and wiped the blood from her face. She didn't enjoy killing people, far from it, but she was pissed that Melina Vostokoff had tried to kill her for putting down some moral laws.

She was well aware that no one in Madripoor was innocent, but she wasn't going to stand by and allow rape or trafficking or any of that shit. Just because Madripoor was keeping it's lawless ways didn't mean that she was going allow the sickest people to get away with hurting people.

Shaking her head, she started getting the cleaning products out to deal with the blood on the floor. She heard Yakov coming up to her soundproof room. And as soon as he walks in, he whistles at the sight of the blood before looking up at her.

"Maria, what the hell happened?" Yakov asked concerned, his eyes scanning her over for any sign of injuries. She smiled faintly at his own concern for her, but she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Someone wasn't happy with how I run Madripoor with a moral code…so she decided to send three Elite Hunters and a Flag Smasher to kill me. I questioned the Flag Smasher, and he spilled his guts to try and save his life," she said coldly, glaring down at the body of Diego with no emotion.

Over in Bucky's head, he felt his heart pound at her words, as his mind processed what she was saying. Someone, a woman, had ordered a hit on Maria to kill her in a violent manner, but she had fought back and killed all of her would be killers. She was definitely trained in the Red Room. He could tell that she had been trained in that facility. He just had a feeling that she had been raised in the there. God, he wished he could remember more of his time during that period.

"Do you know who it was that ordered the hit on you, Maria?" he asked curiously, keeping his voice concerned. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her suspicious of him in any manner.

"Melina Vostokoff, that old bitch…I was hoping she died when the Black Widow and Crimson Widow destroyed the Red Room. Well…she doesn't know if I'm dead yet and I intend on sending her a gift," she answered forebodingly, her grey eyes cold as ice.

Bucky showed no emotion but privately, he knew Melina's days were now numbered.

"Can you help me out here?" She asks him lightly, trying to move the bodies off of the carpet, to which he does. "You know, for someone I just met, you've been quite the helper tonight."

Bucky shrugs a bit and smiles a bit at Maria. "I'm not about to let someone who's trying to at least do some good in this city die like that."

"Well…thank you. That means a lot," she says genuinely. "But I don't want to drag you into this. This is my fight."

Oh, he was already dragged in so deep. But for her, he could at least play it off.

Chapter Text

Natasha wanted things to go back to how they were with Steve before the Accords and before her miscarriage. There was a part of her that felt like she was betraying Alexei, Melina, and Yelena by loving Steve, but the other side wanted to retire from the spy life. Wanted to retire from everything.

She was tired of the jobs, of keeping secrets from the people she considered family. She didn't even hate Bucky or resent him anymore, unlike Alexei, Yelena, and Melina. She just wanted Steve and the rest of this to go away. She wanted life to feel remotely normal again.

She didn't want to lie anymore to any of them. Everyone had been lied too so much. She was only added onto the drama.

Natasha ran herself a bath, pouring in her jasmine scented bubble bath, mixing it with the water. She sighed tiredly, trying to settle into the water, when she felt her phone vibrate. As she looked at it, she saw it was a text message from Melina.

'I need to talk to you, Alexei and Yelena tomorrow in Zagreb, Croatia urgently. It's about her!' The text message said cryptically. Natasha felt a sense of dread wash over her at the text.

'I'll need to make an excuse to Steve, Tony, and the others first,' she texted quickly. Melina replied four minutes later.

'We are your family, Natalia, not them!' Melina had messaged back furiously. Natasha closed her in frustration, breaking down in tears at her dilemma.

"Whoever hired that team to assassinate the mystery girl really wants her dead. Tell Barnes and Carter to get a blood sample from her so we can test it for DNA. Maybe she's in the international database," Fury recommended sternly. Everyone nodded but Tony shook his head.

"We need to send someone else to watch over Barnes, Fury. I personally believe that he's compromised. His judgement is skewed because he's convinced that this girl might be the dead girl from the files. Who knows what he might have done with her if she was in the Red Room," Tony insisted harshly, causing most of the people to look at him in disapproval.

"We can't send Belova or Romanoff? They've been sent on a mission in Zagreb, Croatia to track down a few remaining Flag Smashers. Who else can we send?" Grant asked quietly, his face bruised from his fight with a Flag Smasher during a mission in London, Great Britain.

"Send in Steve. He's become really good at working undercover and Bucky trusts him," Sam suggested diplomatically. It couldn't be him, seeing as the Smiling Tiger was in Madripoor.

Ross had an expression of disdain, while Tony was cold but grudgingly agreed to the arrangement.

"Try not to mess up, Capsicle," Tony said coldly, before walking out of the conference room.

Steve sighs a bit before nodding. "I can do that. I'm sure Bucky hasn't gotten super far. I could help him out together."

Morgan Stark was determined to make her daddy happy.

He'd been sad ever since Captain America's best friend, Bucky Barnes, had been pardoned by the government and found not guilty at his trial. Her dad had gone into a rage, shouting that Barnes was a monster and anyone on Steve's side was to blame for Thanos winning. So, she was going to somehow make him smile again. She was going to build an AI, like he did. She already had a name picked out for him as well. Her dad had explained to her that he had created Ultron to protect the world.

Maybe she could do that again, and somehow bring him back to make not only her daddy happy but the world happy. All she knew was that she was tired of hearing him fighting all the time with the Avengers and she wanted to somehow change that.

Maybe a new Ultron could do that?

She had found his memory core not that long ago. Maybe if she followed his blueprints from years ago…she could, do it? She didn't want any more arguing or yelling…all she wanted was for this to end.

So that was that. She was going to do it. One way or another. Daddy had a lab always near him. It would be the perfect time to do it. Maybe they could finally figure out how to end all the fighting. Maybe she'll be the cause of it.

Daddy would be happy. They would see they were wrong about him. Somehow.

When Steve had arrived in Madripoor, it looked the same as it always had from before, with bright lights and big neon signs drawing in anyone from a mile away. However, his eyes were more focused on trying to get to Bucky's place.

He had talked with Sharon about where to go and she had directed him willingly, leading him towards midtown where a lot of the higher ups in the crime world lived. It was also where the mystery woman lived, apparently.

Hopefully they would be able to get through to this quickly.

He had knocked on the door, and for a moment there was silence. He had been expecting that, considering Bucky was most certainly not expecting anyone to come by and greet him. But he slowly opened the door, and when he saw it was Steve his eyes widened.

"Where the hell did you come from?" He asks as he lets him in, giving him an embrace. When Steve stepped back, he closes the door behind him, turning to Bucky.

"Lot has happened at the base while you were gone," Steve states with a raised brow. "I'm not longer in charge of the Avengers. Ross gave it to Tony."

Bucky's brow raises. "You're serious?"

"He did. They were upset about our choice in operation of sending you here." Bucky lets out a long sigh, going to sit on the couch at that. "We defended you the best we could, but at the end of the day, they had the last call. Sam suggested I come over here to fill out their needs."

Bucky's brow raises once more. "Which are?"

"Keep an eye on you."

Bucky feels himself groan before standing. "How the hell am I ever going to be an Avenger in their eyes?" he asks, his voice rising a bit in anger. "Everything I do now, even after all the amends and everything I've done, it'll never work…all I want is to prove myself. I know I'm a piece of shit but…I'm fucking trying."

"I know you are, Buck," Steve says gently, letting his hands rest on the man's shoulders. "I know you are. And trust me, we all see it. There are some that are just stuck in their ways that I don't believe are going to change soon. Those are the ones that, when they do inevitably open their eyes, they'll see the most change in you."

Bucky snorts a bit. "That one of your little political speeches?" he asks.

"No," Steve answers, shaking his head. "Trust me, I highly doubt I'm going to be doing much more than you are here. If anything, while I know how to stay undercover, if I get recognized here, it's game over." He gestures to you. "At least with you, not a lot of people know your face. Even this girl doesn't." He glances over at Bucky's hands and notices there seemed to be dried blood on it. "Speaking of that…"

Bucky glances down at his hand and feels his cheeks turn red. "It's not on me, I swear – Maria wanted to interrogate the men that came, and she ended up killing them. Turns out they were sent by a woman named Melina Vostokoff. She wants to end the woman for some reason."

"Well, we knew about the attack but your…hands?"

Bucky sighs a bit. "I went over to help her a couple of days ago after she was attacked. Try and get more info on her. I guess I just didn't clean off all the blood afterwards." He looks up at Steve and shakes his head. "She is a mystery woman…definitely likes to keep her identity a secret."

Steve nods before going to sit down next to him. "I want to ask you a question, and just respond the best you can." Bucky nods. "Are you sure that you don't know her from back then?"

Bucky sighs, swallowing a bit. "I…feel like I do." He glances back at Steve. "If you saw the way she moves, and what she had – I mean, she's like a carbon copy of Nat but she's ruthless. She even had some of the same weapons. She had to be trained in Red Room…but I can't recall her for the life of me. That's why I'm trying so hard to figure out if she's truly Ana or not. Maria seems like a reasonable name but…don't know."

Steve nods quietly. "Didn't you and Nat have a thing back when you were there?" Bucky quietly nods. He didn't like to think about it often. There was so much pain involved in everything there. "Do you think you might have known this girl like that?"

"I genuinely can't remember," Bucky answers honestly, glancing at him. "At this point, all I'm looking for is for some way to figure out if she's truly who she says she is. Maybe after I can search more."

Steve sighs but nods. "We got a lot of work ahead of us, then."

Natasha had waited patiently, her arms crossed against her chest with Yelena. It seemed it would take hours for Melina and Alexei to arrive, but when they did, it felt like ages.

"You two are worse on time than I am, and that's say something," Yelena mutters.

"Quiet, you two," Melina states, looking between them. "We have a serious problem, and I believe you two know what it is."

Natasha and Yelena exchange an uneasy glance, as they look at Alexei who thankfully didn't know what was going on. If he found out Melina had been lying to him for all these years then things would get bloody.

"Why did you call me here, Melina?" Alexei asked suspiciously. He hadn't aged well, and it was clearly showing. Despite having the Super-Soldier, it was a far weaker version than the one Bucky and Steve had running through their veins.

The woman ignored him as she drank from her glass of red wine, her eyes cold and emotionless. Sometimes Natasha wondered if the woman did genuinely care about her and Yelena, like Alexei did, or if she was just using them.

"I believe that despite our best efforts to purge the Red Room, it still exists. Over in Madripoor, a young woman killed the Power Broker, before taking over the city. She's killed several people who tried to break the new rules she implemented as some shot way of a moral code. I refused to acknowledge the bitch, and I tried to kill her…but she defeated me," she said sourly, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"What did you do, Melina?" Natasha asked warningly, praying that the woman hadn't compromised Bucky. If she had, then Steve would go ballistic and raise hell if Bucky were hurt. Not to mention the others.

Her surrogate mother regarded her with a cold expression that would have terrified anyone else. But she wasn't frightened of her anymore, not after seeing what she was afraid of.

"I hired a death squadron to kill the little whore. She won't survive against them," Melina said confidently, causing Natasha to stare at the woman in shock, before her gaze breaks. Fuck.

She had enough and was about to leave, when Melina grabbed her right wrist in a tight grip.

"Remember where your true loyalties are, Natasha. I don't want you to end up like her…who chose HIM over us," Melina said meaningfully, her grip tight.

Natasha nodded coldly, ripping her arm away and started walking back to her car, refusing to be intimidated.

'What have I done, god?' She thought bitterly, climbing into her car, and turning on the heating.

Ana had cleaned up her apartment after she disposed of the bodies. She had dumped Diego's body in Low Town, knowing that someone would post it on the internet. The other three remaining bodies had been dealt with. She hated the Red Room and what they had done to her. but at the very least the teachers knew how to teach all of them in how to dispose of a corpse after killing the individual.

She used a luminal torch to see if any bloodstains remained, relieved when she didn't see any. Despite being near people, she desperately wanted a few furry companions. She needed something to keep her company, other than the people she would meet.

She wasn't naïve. Ana knew that they would be targets but she wouldn't let anyone hurt them. She was going to ask X-Con Security Consultants if they would be willing to install security at her house.

She decided to take a shower and rest up for the night. She wasn't taking any chances now, considering that Melina had tried to kill her twice now.

The older woman still thought she was the same, useless, naive, and helpless little girl all those years ago. She sighed heavily as she trudged upstairs, taking off her bloody, filthy clothes and threw them on the floor. There was no salvaging them. She'd burn the clothes tomorrow.

She stepped into the en suite bathroom, turning on the hot water, as she looked at herself in the full body mirror. Scars decorated her body, mainly on her chest, her right arm and some were on her back, and left leg.

Bullet wounds, knife wounds and there was a faded scar on her stomach. She touched it hesitantly, feeling a strange sense of heartache and loss for no apparent reason.

Bucky had gone into the Brass Monkey club, taking Steve with him as they saw Sharon was there. She gestured for them to join her, as they went to a table at the back, where they wouldn't be disturbed.

"So, I did some asking around and apparently the woman calling herself Maria Kapitonova is using another woman's name. This is the real Maria Kapitonova. And she's been dead for the last six years, Bucky and Steve." Sharon explained grimly, showing them a photo of a young woman with red hair, brown eyes, and a scar on her throat.

Bucky had known that the woman was using a false identity, but this just proved it. Deep down, he knew that she closely resembled Anastasia. Maybe they were related?

"So, she's using the identity of a dead woman whose been dead for the last six years. What else have you got, Sharon?" Steve asked intrigued. They were finally getting a fresh lead.

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd ask me that question. I did some digging, and Fury emailed me these files that he and Hill found at an abandoned HYDRA base in Voronezh, Voronezh Oblast. Turns out, HYDRA and the Red Room were both working closely together on a project," she said meaningfully. "Something we should talk about elsewhere."

Bucky and Steve got her point and left with her to go to her house, leaving behind the bar.

Once they arrived, Sharon continued from where she left off, and handed them copies of the files, closing the door behind her.

"The Red Room and HYDRA discovered that the girls at the Red Room who had the Super-Soldier serum were far more able to carry a child of the Winter Soldiers. There are lists of names who were chosen for the program. The project began in the 1990s, and a lot of the pregnancies resulted in the women dying from complications due to the babies developing quicker than a normal baby," Sharon explained gravely as Bucky read the file.

He recognized a few of the names, but felt his blood run cold when his eyes drifted to two familiar names.

'Red Guardian and Black Widow - viable pregnancy. Scans confirm that Vostokoff is carrying twin daughters. No complications detected so far into the pregnancy. Vostokoff has confirmed that she has suffered no cramping, or any sign of miscarriage.'

"Holy shit, Steve. What if Alexei and Melina were the parents of Anastasia and her twin sister?" He asked quietly. Steve's expression was of grimness and concern.

"That's more than likely, but Natasha never mentioned that Alexei and Melina had kids," Steve said hesitantly. Bucky knew the man didn't want to think Natasha had lied to him again.

"There's more. On the second page, according to Dr Lyudmila Kudrin, only three women survived carrying the pregnancies to full term. Vostokoff ended up giving birth on June 18, 1998. It says here that she delivered two twin girls," Sharon said wearily, causing Bucky to frown.

Bucky read more of the file, feeling his stomach roll in disgust, seeing that the project had been a partial success. They had put the project on hold in order to try and create more of the Super-Soldier Serum.

He felt a cold sensation run down his spine, as he thought of Ana then. Maybe she was Alexei and Melina's daughter…possibly.

When the rest of the team had heard back later on what Sharon had discovered regarding the mystery woman, that had sent them on a trip to try and figure out who exactly her family was. Having Sharon reveal that there was actually a twin sister to the girl was an amazing lead.

So, one of the Avengers took it into her own hands once she heard that – namely, Wanda. She knew what it was like to lose a twin, and if the young woman that they were looking after really did lose one, there was most likely a hole there that would never be filled. The least she could do is find out if they were right.

After that, they had searched all over the internet, from typical shit to the dark web, trying to see if they could find some sort of league to get them in the right direction. And soon, it wasn't long before they discovered something. The last name Liukin was associated with a Russian cemetery.

Instantly, Wanda had assembled the team to fly to where it was, Fury agreeing to it nonetheless considering that it was for a mission. Thankfully the quinjet was quick enough to get them there a little faster than the normal airtime. Even so, arriving had Wanda shaking to see if this was real.

They had showed up to the cemetery, stepping in and searching for her name. And it wasn't long before they did find it. Wanda had stood in front of it for a moment, feeling Clint let a hand rest against her shoulder. 'Angelina Aleksandrovna Liukin.' This was it. This was the twin.

They were right.

They had looked all over to see if there was even a possibility of another Liukin, but funnily, there were none under the names they were looking for. It was mainly strong Russian names that had been attached to it.

"I can't believe it," she whispers, looking down at the grave, kneeling down. "There's a lot more to this woman than we realize…she was buried so deep."

Clint sighs softly before nodding. "Sometimes that's the case with these things, but…this is good in a way." Wanda looks up to him. "Now that we know for sure that she exists, we have a DNA match-up. She is most likely in the International Data Base if she was dead. We were able to find her originally. If we can somehow get a blood sample from Maria, we can see if she's really Ana or not."

Wanda stands, pulling her jacket around her tightly. It was still freezing cold here. "Don't you think that's a bit…sketchy? I mean both Steve and Bucky are there. I don't know how they're going to just get a blood sample off of her."

"I'm sure they can figure it out," Clint assures. "We have two of the best super-soldiers in the world. They're not that dumb."

"They're also not that smart," Wanda mutters.

"True," Clint chuckles before helping her stand. "Come on, let's take some pictures and get this to Fury."

As had been expected, they had gotten the proof to Fury as quickly as possible of the life of Angelina. And as they had expected, Fury had requested to Bucky not that long after to somehow get a blood sample from the mystery woman.

To which both Bucky and Steve had sat down for hours, trying to figure out the best way to do so. Because who can just…do that?

Eventually, though, they had settled on something that might spurt up one. "How about you just take her out on a date?"

Bucky's brow raises in response. "You're serious?"

"Yeah, why not? I mean, there's a high probability that you'll most likely get attacked because she has so many bounty's out for her right now. It's the best option you have that's legal in our eyes." He shrugs a bit. "Or you can just attack her mysteriously."

"No," Bucky instantly states. His quick response surprised Steve a bit. "I mean, I…I don't want to hurt her more than she's already been hurt. You can tell from a mile away that she has gone through some shit."

"Okay…don't worry, we won't do that," Steve reassures him, rubbing his back. "But we still need to get that sample, one way or another…I believe you'll be able to do it"

Bucky sighs a bit before glancing up at him. "I haven't been on a date since the 1940's."

Steve snickers. "I think you'll be fine."

After their conversation, it wasn't long before Bucky had asked Maria to come with him on a date, something he had surprisingly been quite nervous to do. Again, it had been so long since he had done something like this, but he knew that it was needed for what they were planning on doing.

And she had agreed after a little bit, deciding that they would head out to a smaller restaurant in Madripoor, one that wouldn't attract so much attention. When he had come to pick her up at her apartment, he had waited downstairs for her to come. When she arrived, he felt his mouth drop slightly.

You know, it was getting really damn hard to do this mission when the subject was so goddamn gorgeous.

Chapter Text

She was wearing a black satin, crystal embellished dress that had a V-neckline, and emphasized her slender but curvy figure. She was wearing a pair of black high heels that were more than likely designer.

If Wanda, Sharon, or Bobbi were here, they'd say the high heels were Chanel, and honestly, he didn't doubt them. He thanked God that he had gotten her flowers, a mixture of all considering he had no idea which ones were her favourite.

If Bucky had shown up completely empty-handed, his mother would be rolling in her grave.

"You look beautiful, dorogoy," he said softly, seeing the woman flush at his compliment. She smiled as she saw the flowers that he was holding in a bouquet. They were beautifully arranged, and she loved their smell.

"Thank you, Yakov. You look good. Come upstairs while I place these in a vase before they start dying," she said kindly, showing him upstairs.

Bucky followed her up one flight of stairs, as they reached her apartment, when she turns to him, taking the flowers into her hands.

"It's funny you brought these. Most men would never do something like this these days," she comments as he was shown into the living room, where he noticed different paintings on the walls, as well as sculptures. There was a square cut glass table, and underneath were a cross between a dragon and a dog statue under the table, four of them to be exact.

She left then to go into the kitchen and work on the flowers. There were a few personal framed photographs on the mantelpiece and on the walls. There was one of Ana with Sharon, another one with Conrad Mack and his wife, Jeannette Devereaux. There was also a painting of Russia on the wall, and he noticed there were a few cat and dog toys on the floor, along with beds. He supposed she was looking to get some.

Suddenly, however, he hears her curse from the kitchen. He heads in and sees her holding her hand in her other, grabbing a paper towel.

"I was cutting off the stems and my knife slipped," she answers honestly, rolling her eyes. "As good as I am with weapons, I can be a bit of a klutz sometimes."

Wow, this was feeling like a lot easier than he thought it would be. He heads in, taking her hand in his, looking at her finger. The cut didn't look serious but was bleeding heavily.

"No need to apologize, sweetheart. Here, I'm sure there's stuff here we can use to help," he offered kindly. She walked over to the counter and sat, as he saw blood droplets on the wooden flooring.

Bucky quickly grabbed some bandages from below her sink, a typical place to put those, and bathed and bandaged the cut, noticing silently that it was healing better than an average cut that any ordinary person would recover from.

She smiled at him gratefully once it was all bandaged up. "Thank you…suppose this date is starting out a bit bloodier than I thought."

Bucky chuckles a bit. "Accidents happen, doll."

There was a slight tilt to her head the moment he says that, as if she had recognized that phrase. But instead, she smiles and nods her head. "They do indeed…here, let me lock up the windows and we can head out."

He nods quietly, watching as she went to lock them up. That was when he took his chance.

He pulled out a cotton swab to get the still wet bloodstain and put the cotton swab in a test tube. He didn't want to compromise the evidence, so he put it away in his right jacket pocket, right as Maria came back. Luckily, she didn't see anything.

"Where are we going, Yakov?" She asked curiously as they walked out of the house and got into his car. He turned on the engine as he started driving up High Town.

"A Russian restaurant. I heard from Conrad that they do a really good Russian menu," Bucky says softly. Maria smiled as they drove down the road to where the restaurant was located, the silence now comfortable.

Sam wasn't the slightest bit surprised when Fury warned him and the others that Ross and Tony were having them followed by Ross's men. Sam hated that with the Accords in place they couldn't help people who genuinely needed their help. Instead of corrupts corporate businesses like Oscorp Industries and Roxxon Corporation, who had illegally drilled in the Arctic until the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, and Latvia had threatened to boycott the Friendship Alliance Summit.

He was Captain America. He was proud to be the new Captain America, but he knew there was a war brewing between the supporters of the Accords and the ones who didn't support them.

Every damn lawyer and human rights activist had voiced issues around the accords - not that he was surprised. The laws included not being allowed to have access to a lawyer, and being taken away to the Raft without warning, being examined by a group of scientists to see if anyone who had powers posed a risk to society – there were so many wrong things.

He was very damn grateful that Billy and Grant were protecting Wanda. She was healing from losing Vision and her children but still grieved. Tony hadn't been making easy for her, suggesting that she sign the accords.

Asshole.

"Sam, T'Challa needs to see us. He says it's urgent," Wanda said quietly, interrupting his thoughts. He nodded and followed after her, meeting T'Challa in the conference room, where the king of Wakanda looked troubled.

"I apologize for calling you all at this hour, but it's urgent. Last night, a large amount of vibranium was stolen from a warehouse in Brooklyn," T'Challa explained gravely, causing them all to stare with concerned expressions.

"What was the vibranium meant for, your highness?" Scott asked curiously. He knew this was bad. If someone had stolen vibranium, then they meant business.

"It was supposed to be used to help build a hospital that specializes in radiation poisoning. Vibranium is one of the metals that does not become radioactive when exposed. We were alerted to it being stolen when one of our War Dogs discovered the warehouse employees had been killed," the king said gravely, causing everyone to fall silent. He glances outside. "Someone is planning something. Big."

Sam sighed heavily. He noticed that Tony wasn't present, and he guessed the man had gone home. Lucky for him. Damn it.

Ana felt relaxed as they arrived at the restaurant and were shown to their table. She looked at Yakov, who was reading the menu. God, he looked so familiar. She knew she had met him at the party, and he had helped her with those crooks but something else was speaking out to her. Jesus.

Maybe, she had met his doppelgänger. Honestly, in this town, she wouldn't be surprised. She shook her head as the waiter came to take their order. She glanced at Yakov, who ordered first.

"I'll have the beef stroganoff, please, and a Black Russian Red," he asked politely. The waiter smiled as he turned to look at Ana who hadn't ordered.

"I'll have the same as him, please," she said softly. The waiter nodded and left to give their orders to the chief. Yakov looked at her thoughtfully, before speaking.

"So, tell me about yourself then, Maria," he asked curiously.

She raises an eyebrow. "Damn, you're just getting right into it, huh?"

Yakov shrugs a bit, chuckling. "I've seen what a lot of guys do on these dates…a lot of side chat. They don't really get down to the meat and bones of a person. I don't want to waste someone's time with something like that, especially yours."

Ana chuckles a bit. She liked his attitude. "That's way to look at it, for sure." She crosses her arms gently against her chest, smiling a bit. "Ah…well, there's not much really about me. How about a fun fact? I grew up in an orphanage."

His brow raises in surprise. "Really? How'd you…get out?"

She swallows and bit and glances away. No, she wasn't about to talk like that. "I…had an opportunity," she states softly, before turning to him. "I grew up with this idea in my head that my mother was some…amazing Russian ballerina and I had this dream that I really wanted to become one…someone once came to the orphanage, and I guess saw my talent…after that they took me out. I never saw that place again."

"Did you actually get to achieve that?" He asks quietly.

"I…achieved some of it," she answers honestly. "I never got to go on this amazing stage and perform in front of hundreds of people, but I did get to learn, and I suppose that was all that really mattered, right?" She shrugs her shoulders. "Sometimes the world gives you these curveballs that you just have to react to a specific way, and that was my way of doing so."

The man looks at her quietly before she sees a slight smile come over his lips. "I get it, honestly." She glances up at him. "I've had some issues in my own life that I just have to find my own way to overcome. It gets hard but there's always a way." The waiter brings over their drinks at that point, to which he raises his when he walks away. "I'll have to see your dance moves at some point."

Ana chuckles a bit, shaking her head. "It's been so long."

"I bet you it's like riding a bike. You'll never quite forget it."

Ana smiles at him. Maybe she would. Maybe even he knew how to dance. Maybe she was reaching.

She needed to stop letting her head get so muddled so quickly.

"So I saw some toys in your apartment," he brings up quietly, causing her to smile. "Cat and dog toys, but I didn't see any animals. If you don't mind me asking, what's up with that?"

Ana laughs. "I'm surprised you noticed that. I'm looking to find some animals to bring home." She shrugs a bit and glances at the table. "Being in that place, as great as it is…it can get lonely. With the position I'm in I can't really…trust a lot of people, but the least I can do is trust animals. One day I hope to have this nice house with a ranch out back…all that green for animals to run around."

That seemed to spark something in Yakov as well. "So, you like animals?"

"I love them, honestly. So many people are cat lovers or dog lovers but with me I'd be happy with all of them." She chuckles a bit and looks away, her mind thinking back to memories. "Some people weren't so happy about that."

His brow furrows. "Who?"

She sighs. "With…the ballet training that I got, they really didn't want you to focus on anything else. You were to be cold, heartless…your whole life revolved around being a…ballerina, and that was it." She had played that off well, at least. "Even animals were ruled out. But I never harmed one. I never hurt one. I could have never become that cold person they wanted me to be. It angered them so much that I couldn't just let go but…I didn't care." She sighs softly before looking back up at him, a smile on her lips. "But even now I have what I need, and nothing is going to stop me, not even animals. They were wrong."

The man chuckles a bit. "Indeed, they were. I have an animal myself."

Her brow raises. "Really?"

"Mhm, little white cat named Alpine. Got him after the world came back to…whatever normal this is. He keeps me company – despite the random hairballs I'll see." She laughs. "Even so, I couldn't imagine my life without him. He's the sweetest."

Ana sighs, almost dreamily. "I wish I could have that. I want it so badly. I've always dreamed of having two cats and a dog. Why? I don't know. It's just…something that's been on my mind for so long. Maybe for the dog to protect them? Maybe the cats could chase them around – I sound crazy but it sounds so full of…"

"…life?" He finishes, almost in a question.

She nods to that, the word fitting exactly right. "Life. Yeah. People say they like to live alone, and I can see that but what's life without the ones that you love?"

Yakov smiles to that and nods. "I can drink to that," he answers back, clinking his glass with hers. The two of them share a drink before he lowers it. "Well…this might sound absolutely insane but – we could do that, if you want."

Her brow furrows. "What do you mean?"

"It's not that late. Pet places are still open."

She laughs, before realizing he was serious. "You'd be willing to come with me to a pet store to adopt animals?"

He rubs the back of his neck, almost a shy smile on his face. "I don't know, I…can I be honest with you for a moment?" She nods softly. "In my line of work, I deal with a lot of…death. A lot of misery and pain and stupidity because some people are just like that. I asked you out tonight because you bring out a different side of life that I never get to experience. Even with everything you've probably gone through, you still handle shit with a smile on your face. Even talking about animals has such a positive attitude in your eyes. If I can be around that for a little bit more time, then that's worth it."

'Damn, he has a fucking way with words,' Ana thinks, feeling herself blush.

"Plus, I also like animals so it's a win-win for me," he adds on, which makes her snicker.

Even so, after a moment she nods, smiling at him. "I'd love to."

"Goddamn, how long had this body been dead?" Bruce mutters, glancing down at the table that was beneath them. They had assigned a special task team to retrieve the body of Angelina Liukin as quickly as possible from her grave, and when they had brought it to their lab the smell was absolutely horrendous, so much so that Bruce wore a mask.

Helen Cho rolls her eyes. "Are you serious? You've dealt with dead bodies on a regular basis."

"Not this dead," Bruce mutters, stringing through the body as quickly as possible. "However, even with all this, there are a couple of things we need to report back to Fury. Things that might help along in this case." He crosses his arms as he glances at the screen behind him, looking at data. "I have a feeling we have a serious case on our hands."

Helen comes to his side; her head tilted a bit. "Serious case of what?"

"Of danger returning," Bruce mutters before nodding to her. "Collect the findings on Angelina. We have to call a meeting with Fury as soon as possible."

Pictures were what hurt the most.

After Natasha had returned back home, she had stayed secluded in her room for the most part, going through her past like a memory book splayed out in front of her. And pictures of her and Steve made her heart ache.

Everything that had been happening was overwhelming. She felt like she was slowly being swallowing into a pool of lies, one of her own doing. She was lying to Steve, lying to the team, lying to herself. Everything was a fucking lie.

And she was so sick of it.

She couldn't do it anymore. She was done with being manipulated by Melina, who she had looked up to as a mother figure. But that was a lie as well. Her whole life gone.

Feeling a burst of courage, she picked up her phone and called Steve's number. It rang twice before he answered, and she swallowed thickly.

"Nat, is everything alright?" Steve asked concerned. She bit her lip as tears started streaming down her face. She hated herself for listening to Melina.

"I did something terrible, Steve, and I don't know how to make it right. I'm so sorry that I lied to you about everything and how they treated you for something that you didn't do," she confided shakily, feeling tears swim down her face.

"Natasha, it wasn't your fault. I wouldn't expect you to choose me over your parents and sister. I just wish you'd give Bucky a chance though. He never meant to hurt you or Yelena that day," Steve said quietly, his voice sad.

Natasha knew Steve was right. Bucky hadn't meant to hurt her or Yelena three months ago. Tony had decided it would be a good idea to watch the videos and DVDS of Bucky being tortured by his handlers in the Red Room, and HYDRA.

The things that they had done to him - what she, Yelena, Alexei, and Melina had done to him as well - sickened her. She knew there was a special place for her in hell when it was her time to die.

One of the DVDS had been especially horrific, showing a confused Bucky who had just been put through the Memory Suppressant Machine, by Vasyli Karpov and Aleksander Lukin. They wanted the Winter Soldier trained in the art of seduction, so they had placed him under Melina, Nico Constantin, Natasha, and Yelena.

It had caused Bucky to have a PTSD episode. She could still see Bucky curled into the fetal position on the floor, silently crying from the trauma.

Then Tony along with Reed Richards had told him to man up. Bucky had exploded. She had only seen lose control like that once before, and it had been due to the young woman.

Anastasia.

"I shouldn't have signed the accords, Steve. Tony lied when he said that he could get them amended. I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have gone back to S.H.E.I.L.D - it's not the same," she admitted honestly, wishing she could retire from the life of espionage.

He was quiet for a moment before he speaks.

"Just say the word, Nat and I'll help you. Please, let us help you," Steve said imploringly. Natasha broke down in tears. She didn't deserve a man like Steve. He was too good for her.

After finishing their meal and paying the bill, Yakov had taken Maria to an animal shelter nearby, letting her in while she ran to the bars, a look of happiness along her face.

The shelter was practically empty, with only two cats left, and a male German Shepherd. She immediately fell in love with the three of them, calling the fluffy tuxedo cat 'Sylvester Thomas.' The black one was named Salem, the perfect name.

She named the German Shepherd 'Figaro' and gave the shelter, sixty-five thousand euros. It wouldn't leave a dent in her accounts. She wanted to thank them for even giving her the change.

"I can't believe these are mine," she whispers, laughing a bit before looking up at him. "Could you show me a picture of yours?" He smiled at that and pulled out his phone, showing her a photo of a white cat with beautiful sapphire blue eyes.

"That's Alpine…he causes trouble but he's a softie," he explained amused. It wasn't long before they had reached her home. They went inside, and got the animals settled. Maria had a large back garden that led to the beach, one he hoped one day he'd get to see.

"We'll have to have a play-date with them," she states with a smile. Yakov got ready to leave and she walked with him to his car. She looked at him shyly, biting her lip. "But, uh…I enjoyed tonight, thank you," she said quietly.

Yakov smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek softly. She blushed a lovely shade of dark red, her cheeks flushing. It had been so long since she had felt any sort of attraction to someone like this.

"I did as well, dragă," he said softly, giving her a soft smile that made his face look younger, if possible. She smiled as she watched get him into his car, before driving away.

She felt like she could trust Yakov.

Bucky had gone to tell Sharon, Steve, Sam, and the others what had happened in person and over the computer, along with giving them the blood sample through their fast system along the S.H.I.E.L.D. database. He watched in fascination as Bobbi Morse tested the blood against Angelina Liukin's blood.

"Dr. Helen Cho, Bruce and Dr. Brennan say that Angelina died when she was twenty-one years old. Do you think the Red Room or HYDRA kept our mystery girl in cyrostasis?" Steve asked quietly. Bucky was silent as he thought of his former handlers.

Alpine sat on his lap happily, kneading his paws into his jeans as they waited for the results to come through. He was about to get a beer when the computer made a noise.

Bobbi looked at the results carefully, her face set in deep concentration as she looked at the results. She chuckled darkly, before glancing at where Bucky, Sharon and Steve were sitting.

"Alright the test is complete, and you're not gonna like it. Well, I think SOME of you won't like it. The DNA test confirms that Anastasia Liukin is the younger identical twin sister of Angelina Liukin. They look really alike," she said meaningfully, turning the computer around so they could see.

Two photos stared at Bucky on the computer screen, one of whom he was now starting to remember. She had light grey eyes, dark brown hair, and very faint freckles.

H…holy shit.

That was it. It…it was her.

He still barely remember it, but seeing these pictures, after doing that whole thing with her…there was no denying that this truly was Anastasia.

He could tell that ever since she had broken out of the HYDRA base, she had gained weight, which was good. Back in the Red Room she had been as tiny as a twig, he was sure her handlers were almost worried she'd end up fainting or something like that.

But he knew her…he knew her.

He remembered the first time he had met her, in flashes of light and dark. He could remember seeing her for the first time, when she was so young, barely knowing where she was or what she would do. He hadn't been himself, but he knew from the moment he met her…she was different.

You could just tell in her eyes that she would never be like the other girls there.

And she had been so scared. So terrified as to what was going to happen. Madame B, in those times to try and get the Winter Soldiers to personally train their students, had assigned him to her. He was meant to be her mentor.

Fucking hell.

He feels his head fall into his hands, which draws the attention from Steve and Sharon. Bobbi raises an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"We'll talk more about the findings later," Steve says quietly, looking up at Bobbi. "I think we need to be alone for now."

"Alright, if you say so," she states, shrugging her shoulders before heading off. Once the door was closed, Steve turns to where Bucky was, who slowly starts to leave from his shell and glances back at him.

"What's going on?" Steve asks him.

Bucky slowly swallows before letting his back rest against the couch. "I…I always knew she felt familiar," Bucky says softly. "I did. From the moment I saw her picture. I just assumed that she was one of the many experiments that the Red Room did but…but she was my student."

Sharon's brow raises. "Your student?"

"I was meant to train her. Keep her in line. If she fucked up, I was the person who hurt her. And I can't…remember anything else but that." He runs his hands through his hair, glancing at the floor. "It…feels like a bad dream, but I know for a fact it was real. There's so much I don't remember and I just…fuck."

His hands turn to fists. He hated his memory so much.

He feels a hand rest on his shoulder, and he calms down, if only for a moment to look at Steve. "Hey, it's not the end of the world," Steve reassures him. "If you're starting to get memories back, who knows? You might get more sooner or later, and we might learn even more about her. All that matters now is that we know who she is, and what she's capable of. If anything, you'll at least be able to know who you're seeing each time you go out."

Bucky sighs and glances away. "I know…I know. It's just something I gotta adjust to." He stands up from the couch, petting Alpine as he ate his food before glancing out the window.

Anastasia…it fit her a lot better than Maria, he had to admit.

He wondered if she remembered anything from their time together. It didn't feel like she did, especially after the night they had. Maybe he should just…keep it on the downlow, until he maybe remembered more.

Or if she remembered him. He didn't know.

"Why is life so damn complicated?" He mutters.

Steve snorts from where he sits. "You can say that again."

Chapter Text

Natasha looks down at her hands as she paces in front of the meeting room. She knew that Steve and Bucky weren't here, but mostly everyone else was. And she was tired of the lies. She was tired of feeling like she had to watch her back everywhere she went. She was tired of fucking everything.

So now, she was going to end it. She was going to let everything out.

As soon as she walked in, all eyes turned on her. She had to admit that it was an early meeting, so most people seemed to have sleep in their eyes. Fury had crossed his arms against his chest, his eyes glaring her down.

"I swear to God if this isn't some life-changing bullshit," he warns. "Bout to have your ass, Romanoff."

"It's not for nothing, I promise," Natasha says quietly. Her hands were fidgeting against her. "I…I have something to tell you all." She glances nervously between them. Usually, Nat wasn't one to let her nerves get ahead of her but this time, there was no stopping it. "I know that you all know we've been keeping secrets-"

"Natasha," Yelena warns from where she sits.

Natasha feels herself glare at her. "I don't care what you think. We have been through hell and back because of that bitch – and I'm not letting more people that I care, and love get hurt because of our stupid decisions in the past!"

"Nat," she hears from Bruce, who she turns to. "What is going on? What happened?"

"We lied to you when we said Anastasia was dead. The truth is…neither I nor Yelena knew if she had been killed by the Red Room or by HYDRA. But she was in the Red Room after me and Yelena graduated the academy. Melina, our mother said that we should be only loyal to each other," Natasha said ashamed. She swallowed quietly as she sagged into a chair.

The room had turned deathly silent. It felt like a ticking time bomb, but Fury simply looked at her, letting her know that he would be talking to her after this.

"Do you know who this girl really is, Natasha?" Clint asked quietly. He was hurt that she hadn't confided in him or Laura. He had thought they were best friends, like siblings.

"Her name is Anastasia Liukin. I assumed she had died as that's what Melina told me and Yelena after she and Alexei blew up the academy. The Red Room must have moved her to another base before we attacked it," she said truthfully, knowing that she had really hurt them.

"Steve's coming back with the blood test results. He doesn't trust Ross at all. Do you wanna talk to him when he gets back?" Clint asked quietly. She nodded mutely, feeling tears burn her eyes.

Clint wordlessly wrapped an arm around her as she started crying and the others left to give her privacy. Yelena stayed and quietly put a hand on her shoulder, giving her support.

Natasha was bound to break eventually. She just hoped that Steve would be there for her.

It had been a restless night for Bucky since he started slowly remembering Ana last night. Steve was leaving today, and he was grateful for his help.

He was thinking of how he had met the young woman, when she had turned fifteen years old. She had grown up since the last time he had seen her.

(Flashback, 13 December 2009)

The Winter Soldier stood from the shadows in the ballet studio, as he watched the current students of the Red Room dance to the pianist who played the notes of Moscow Nights" and "Consuelo (Vals para Mimi)" for the students.

Madame B was watching the girls closely, her face expressionless but he didn't miss the proud smile in her face, when she saw one of the girls do a graceful twirl. The supervisor of the Red Room was notoriously known for her soft spot towards some of the promising students, especially ones who were orphaned or whose parents had willingly given them to the Red Room.

All of them were fifteen years old, and who had successfully survived being given the Red Room's version of the Super-Soldier Serum. To them, he was called Yasha Ovcharenko, who was the son of a farmer and a World War II hero.

He saw one of the young girls, a petite brunette whose name was Lilia Listunova, stumble on a pirouette. Madame B nodded at him to correct her pose, and he did so by firmly placing her hand on the bar.

The young girl nodded silently, thankful that he hadn't punished her further, like he had done to Daria by throwing her across the room when she had failed a tumble in gymnastics.

He moved to the side, his gaze focusing on a familiar mahogany brunette. She was doing far better than three of her classmates. Her body seemed to dance gracefully, her face set in deep concentration.

"Well done, girls. Tomorrow, we will be focusing on how to use your ballet and gymnastics techniques on your opponents. You may all shower before dinner. Liukin, please remain behind," Madame B said smoothly. All of the girls left aside from the girl called Liukin.

She came over to speak to Madam B, as he watched her silently with a sense of pride, and another emotion. He was relieved that her compassion and kindness still remained. Most were devoured by the misery of the Red Room.

"You have done very well, Anastasia. You are showing great promise," the matriarch of the Red Room informed the young girl proudly. She almost seemed maternal towards the young teenage girl.

"Thank you, Madam B. I've been training hard since I recovered from my illness three weeks ago…I'll see you later," Anastasia answered quietly, causing the older woman to smile as she watched her leave. Once she was gone, he saw the woman look at him.

"Your handlers, Dreykov and I, have decided to have you train Liukin. She shows great promise, but she still has her compassion around her. Vostokoff has tried many times since she arrived here to make her cold but alas, it hasn't worked. She has already had one dose of the serum and will have the second dose in three months’ time. I have to say, soldat, whatever you did when we placed her under you for a lesson seems to have changed her," the woman said impressed. The soldier said nothing for a few minutes, and then he spoke.

"I showed her the truth, comrade. Even if she still does keep being kind, she can use it as a weapon. Liukin is a promising student, and I will begin training from her tomorrow…does Nico Constantin know that I will be training her?" he questioned emotionlessly. He knew the man hated him, but the soldier could easily break his neck, and Nico knew it.

Madame B smirked to herself. Nico Constantin had an obsession about Liukin since she had turned fifteen. Alexei Shostakov and Melina simply encouraged his behaviour, even though she found it personally irritating.

How that man became the Red Guardian was beyond her, but at least he could fight.

"Yes he does…but excellent, товарищ," she said pleased, and walked out of the room. The soldier was left in the now silent ballet studio. He had a feeling that training Anastasia Liukin, wouldn't hurt him, unlike Natalia Romanoff.

Bucky blinked as he absorbed what he just remembered. Madame B and Dreykov had put Anastasia under his mentoring. They wanted him to ensure she became ruthless. He just knew that something had happened between them, but something bothered him.

What had happened to her twin sister? He supposed that it was likely that she had died from complications, caused by the Red Room's version of the Super-Soldier Serum. Many of the girls at the academy died from it, due to it being a mix of his and Alexei's blood combined.

The man had enjoyed using him as a punching bag. He shuddered as he remembered the man's wife, touching him when he had just come back from being mind-wiped.

Was…was that…

Yeah, it sounded like it. So many times, he had been forced to do things with others when he barely remembered them. It was like his mind was almost drugged each time it happened. It felt like an impossible nightmare, but it was true.

Melina had been the worst. There were so many times where he was forced to touch her and fuck her. He was quite sure Alexei had…watched? Jesus Christ. Maybe he didn't want his memory back.

But at least the good parts were returning as well, like his time with Steve back in the 40's…even with Ana there seemed to be many good moments, some that had popped up over the night. The moment he saw that picture of her, everything was slowly starting to come back.

He remembered how he had trained her, how good she had gotten…but one memory in particular stands out. He had come back from a mission, no doubt after killing someone, but had been injured pretty badly on his side. Madame B had tasked Ana to take care of him for her medical training.

She had done so without complaint, knowing that if she were to refuse, she'd most likely get a beating. But she had taken him into her room and laid him down, removing his shirt to deal with a gash that had appeared on his side from a fight.

And he could remember it. The gentle touch she had. Most of the time when he was hurt, he was dealt with accordingly. They would stitch him up hastily and make sure he just wasn't bleeding enough before throwing him back into cyro. But with Anastasia, she took her time with him. She made sure his wound would never get infected. Made sure that it was safely secured, even wrapped it up in bandages, something the others ever did.

That was the first time he had ever truly seen her humanity compared to many of the others in the Red Room. The first time he had realized that she was just…different. A good kind of different.

God…he would give anything to wonder if she remembered who he was. Maybe she did. Maybe she didn't.

Fucking nightmares.

All Ana could think about was the death threats she had over her head. As much as she reveled in the power around her, she knew that sometimes, this life wasn't for her. A part of her almost wanted to run away to a farm and hide from the world.

But that would never be her life. So, if she was to be trapped here, she might as well rock it.

It wasn't just that, however. It was Yakov. Or Yasha. She didn't even know. He had been haunting her dreams lately.

Not in a good or a bad way. In fact, it was almost like…a memory. It was like she was back in the Red Room. And he…he looked like the Winter Soldier. But there was no way…there was absolutely no way that Yakov would be him. She was quite sure that the Winter Soldier was with the Avengers or somewhere else in the world.

There was no way…

She takes a sip of water, glancing outside. A part of her remembered Yasha. Many knew him to be the Winter Soldier, but they always told the girls to call him Yasha. She didn't quite remember why, but the name had suited him. Maybe it was a Russian way of saying his real name.

Even so, a part of Ana knew that there was something between them. Or there had been. She could hardly remember their time together, but it wasn't with disgust or anger…in fact it was almost…longing. This feeling of wanting it back. And what angered her was that she couldn't remember what had happened for shit.

She groans into her hands, before getting up. Maybe she just needed more sleep. She needed to stop thinking everyone looked like that. But at the same time…

No, no, she needed sleep. That was that.

Waiting for Steve had been the longest day of her life.

Natasha had known that Steve was returning soon with the DNA sample. They had ran it over in Madripoor not that long ago, but it would be better if it were here in the base, so they had access for it. He had helped Bucky the best he can, and the former soldier was going to stay in the city to do a little more digging.

However, there was no number of nerves that could prepare her for when he would get off that quinjet. She couldn't even force herself to go outside.

Natasha knew what she had done. She knew off all the people she had hurt and just when she felt she found a new family, she went and hurt them again. But now…she was going to let everything go. She wasn't going to let her secrets overwhelm her any longer. Not now or ever.

There was a knock on her door. She stills. "Nat?" she hears, and instantly she knows it's Steve. "Can I come in?"

She swallows her fear and nods. "Yes."

He opens the door and comes in, his brow raised at her sitting on her bed. He closes it behind him. "Fury said you've been hiding in here all day."

"I haven't been hiding," she mutters.

Steve raises his brow. "This pretty much looks like that."

Natasha sighs, letting her shoulders drop. Steve comes over to the bed, sitting next to her. The moment he does so, she feels herself break. Her strong resolve she always kept up came crashing down in waves like the ocean.

"I'm…so sorry, Steve," she whispers, her voice shaky as tears evade her eyes. "I'm so fucking sorry for…everything."

Steve instantly takes her hand in his, and that only makes her want to cry more. "Nat, I know what-"

"No…no you don't know everything I've done," she whispers, shaking her head.

"Then what else have you done that you feel the need to apologize to me for?" He questions softly.

"I lied about not knowing Anastasia and her sister, Steve. I....I knew them, when I was in the Red Room and working for the KGB. I would sometimes be asked to teach some of the younger girls…mostly for shooting lessons but sometimes ballet," she said quietly, swallowing as Steve took that in.

"You weren't recruited to S.H.I.E.L.D. until 2006. So did you and Anastasia know each other well, Nat?" Steve asked quietly, no judgement in his voice as he looked at her in the eye. She leaned into him, feeling emotional when he wrapped an arm around her.

"Not really, Steve. She was born long ago. During that time, I was already in the Red Room. What's bothering me was that before the Red Room took me and Yelena away from Alexei and Yelena, when we were pretending to be a family, is that I'm pretty sure Angelina and Anastasia were Melina's daughters," she confessed honestly, causing Steve to freeze next to her.

Their theory was right.

It would explain why Melina was so desperate and determined to prove that Anastasia was dead and not alive. Why would she imply her own daughter was dead though? Unless she didn't love her daughters in the first place.

"I thought the Red Room sterilized women when they graduated at eighteen years old?" Steve asked disturbed. He also felt repulsed by what he was hearing. A dark part of him wanted nothing more than to hunt down Melina, and then strangle her for what she had done to Natasha and Yelena.

"So did I, but then Yelena told me that she had found a HYDRA doctor who worked with the doctors and obstetricians who were part of the project the doctor worked on. Her name was Lyudmila Kudrin, and she told Yelena that she could reverse sterilizations, and had done the same to me and Yelena. She might have possibly done the procedure on Melina as well," Natasha explained quietly, tears staining her face, but she didn't wipe them away.

Steve hugged her tightly as she broke in tears over everything, finally letting it all out. He said nothing, but the fact that he stayed with her meant everything.

"It's alright…it's gonna be alright, Natasha. This isn't your fault. You're a victim as well," he said gently, but with a firm tone in his voice. She sniffled, wiping her eyes as she looked at him.

"But I hurt her, Steve, and I don't know if she'll ever forgive me or Yelena for what we did to her under Melina's instructions. I still did that to her," she whispered ashamed, regret in her voice. He simply hugged her as she breathed in his scent, which was his woodsy aftershave.

Steve gently stroked her hair, as he watched her fall asleep. He made a promise to Natasha then that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

Ana took Figaro for his morning walk, pleased to see him running around happily, relishing that he had an owner who loved him. She smiled as she stroked his fluffy ears affectionately.

They ran for what felt like forever before returning to the house. She put down a bowl of cold, clean water down for him. He happily drank it while she drank from her own bottle.

After fussing over Salem and Sylvester and cuddling Figaro who had gone to rest on his dog bed in the corner of her bedroom, she decided to do some ballet, in the recently built dance studio upstairs. She'd had a quick shower, before changing into appropriate clothing, when doing dancing, a simple pair of leggings and a tank top.

She turned on her Spotify playlist, feeling a strange sense of peace come over as the song, "Moscow Nights" and "Consuelo (Val’s para Mimi)" began to play.

It was like her body knew the routine off by heart. She began to dance to the music. She gracefully performed a pirouette, keeping her body in control as the song brought back a memory.

(14 December 2009)

It was considered an honour by the teachers at the Red Room to be taught by the Winter Soldier or by the Wolf Spider. Anastasia kept her nerves hidden, as she entered the ballet studio and saw the soldat already waiting for her.

She looked at him cautiously, but she wasn't afraid of him, unlike the other girls who were. There was something kind about him, but she had a feeling the soldier hid that from his handlers.

"I will be teaching you how to fight by incorporating your dance moves," the soldier informed her emotionlessly, his grey eyes watching her silently.

She nodded in understanding as the music began to play, and she lunged at him with a roundhouse kick to the stomach. He blocked her, causing her to move away from him.

They kept on sparring against each other for the next two hours until it was time to stop. He allowed her to take a sip from her bottle of water, and then drink the smoothie that the doctors at the academy gave to the girls.

"You have a talent for dancing, котенок. You are like a mix between a bird and a cat," the soldier remarked quietly, as classical ballet music began to play on the speakers.

Ana was surprised by the soldat's praise. It was rare for her to receive a compliment from the teachers at the academy. Most of them despaired at how she still retained some traits of compassion, kindness and sensitivity, despite her brutal training.

"It's one of the few I'm good at, Yasha…I always wanted to be a ballet dancer and dance at the Bolshoi Theatre when I was a child," she admitted quietly, allowing him to sweep her up by the hips and throw her in the air.

She landed on the ground with an 'oof' however when she didn't find the proper footing, cringing when her hips hit the cold hard floor. Instantly, she sees the soldat come over to her, kneeling down. "Are you alright?"

Ana glances up at him and feels herself still slightly. She was quite sure he was only asking that because if he were caught hurting one of the students without the permission of the handlers, they would have his head. But there was something else besides a pure programming within his head. It looked like he genuinely wanted her to be okay. There was worry in his eyes slightly.

So, she offers him a slight smile and nods. "I'm fine," she reassures, helping herself stand. He does so as well. "I think I just messed around a bit on my bottom…don't worry."

He nods quietly before helping her position again. She glances at him in the wall mirrors and feels herself swallows when their eyes connect. It wasn't fear that ran through her. Nope, there was a whole different emotion she couldn't even describe.

He turns her head away from the mirror however, his hand cupping her chin, forcing her slightly to look at him. "You mess up again, they're going to come in here," he whispers to her. Her brow furrows as he gestures to the cameras in the corner. She understood almost instantly. "You need to be perfect."

Ana slowly nods at his words as he lets her rest for a moment, before she throws a small smile his way. "Okay…then perfect we shall be."

Ana stumbles on one of her turns, cursing at herself when she feels her ankle yell at her for doing so many in one spot without stretching enough. She couldn't help it. Her memories had been constantly haunting her to the last couple of days. Hell, the last couple of weeks.

And there was nothing she could do about it. All she could think about was that man, and that room, and everything else. So, fuck it, if the memories were going to come in like this, she would at least embrace them to their fullest extent.

Even if what she got was something she didn't want to remember.