My voice croaked, choked by the lump in my throat.

Nothing could have prepared me for this.

I could hardly take in the image before me. I started to hyperventilate—could this be some tortuous dream concocted by the crooks of Hydra?

"How—I don't—what happ—Nick?" I started several sentences but couldn't manage to finish any of them.

Maria rushed to my side, touching my arm lightly to soothe my trembling breaths. She breathed a slow, guided rhythm. I tried to get my breath back in check, but I couldn't help the roaring thunder of thoughts suffocating me.

The father figure prematurely ripped away from me, that I mourned and avenged—was alive.

"Hey, now, breathe Coulson. It's okay. I know it's a lot, but you gotta calm down so I can explain it to you," Nick implored.

"Nick, I've got to go get them. They've been intercepted," Maria reports after checking her device.

"Go on then, we'll meet you all back here." Nick nodded and Maria turned on her heels.

After a few seconds, I mustered as much courage and regular breathing as I could. I gawked at Nick with the bravest anticipatory look I had. Nick begins to tell me how he ended up there, that we were underground in a concrete dam.

During my internal summation, I braved a response. "Nick, I thought I lost you."

"I know, kiddo, and I'm so damn sorry for that. I'm sorry you had to deal with my death, but I trust you understand now why it happened like this."

I recited everything that happened to me over the last few days, keen to fill him in on urgent matters. "Nick, Nat and Steve—they had to leave me behind. And Pierce, he's behind all of it. And S.T.R.I.K.E. And Rumlow, he did the lot of this to my face," I gestured to the various cuts and bruises adorning my temple, cheeks and nose.

"And Nick, the Winter Soldier—he's real. He's the 'fist' of Hydra, that's what Pierce told me, they're all Hydra and Hydra's S.H.I.E.L.D. and—"

"Listen, I know there's a lot of information in your head right now, but I promise I'll explain everything once Agent Hill comes back."

"Where did she go?"

"She's going for Romanoff and Rogers—"

A yell down the hall cut off Nick's voice, from what sounded like Maria.

"GSW. She's lost at least a pint."

An unfamiliar voice followed, "Maybe two."

"Let me take her," a third voice said.

"She'll want to see them first," the Maria voice retorted. The footsteps of the voices grew nearer. Maria's hand grazed the curtain blocking the view of the voices. She pulled it back, revealing both Nick Fury and myself. A grave look of shock and awe from Nat and Steve appeared. I didn't recognize the man stood next to them.

Nick rotated his head toward the group, and in his sarcastic best said, "About damn time."

...

"They cut you open. Your heart stopped," Nat exclaimed.

"Tetrodotozin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work great for him but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve inquired.

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful," Maria interjected.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust. And Coulson here confirmed that with the day she's just had. Go ahead, tell them," Nick looked to me reassuringly.

"Jennifer—" Steve started.

"I am so sorry we left you. You're my secondary, I'm supposed to look out for you but I... I just left you there..." Nat trailed off.

"Nat, you did what you had to do. There was no way you could have rescued me and continued with the mission. There was too much at stake. The success of the mission was more important, and I was more than happy collateralizing to ensure it. Please, I don't blame you. Don't blame yourself on my behalf."

Her voice fell to an imperceptible hushed tone. "I never should have sent you off by yourself сестричка."

I sighed. My words lacked relief, so I decided against trying to talk her out of it. "Nat, I accept your apology. Truly, I've nothing against you or anything that happened."

Nat winced as the clinician pressed on her gunshot wound. Glad for the interruption, I readily dismounted the merry-go-round of how sorry she was and how I didn't blame her.

"I don't believe we've met?"

The third member of the trio extended his hand to me, and I gently sat myself forward to accept the invitation, retracting in a wince at the movement.

"Sam Wilson."

"Jennifer Coulson."

"Hey...Jenny, don't change your number...867530 niiiiiine," Sam sung to me, "So, gorgeous, are you a superhero too? Super soldier or some gimmick?" he asked.

Laughing, I quickly held my torso as the aches of the previous hours came haunting back.

"No, no, Tommy Tutone, I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Haven't been for very long but..." I winced.

"Oh, shit, so like, all this happened fresh out of academy?"

I nodded grimly, then watched as Sam's eyes doubled in size. "Oh damn, you've been through the ringer. Shit...but it looks like you've held up pretty good?"

"I guess you could say that," I chuckled.

"Me too, kind of. They just showed up at my house and now here I am."

"Do you have a gimmick or something?" I asked coyly.

"Ha! Yeah, I like her—um, yes, I got wings," Sam said proudly.

"Wings?"

"Yeah, I'm the Falcon, sweetness."

"Ah, so we're using fake names, okay," I bowed my head sarcastically.

"Shit, Jenny, you ain't gotta do me like that," Sam protested bashfully.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sam 'the Falcon' Wilson."

"You too, Jenny 'the Agent' Coulson," he smirked playfully.

A few clinicians entered our space, each helping myself and Fury up. Fury required more assistance to walk and Steve held my waist with my arm slung around his neck. We made our way to a large table and chairs—a makeshift boardroom of sorts.

We had much to discuss, and began by talking about the downfall of Alexander Pierce. He always prided himself on his commitment to peace, which made his entanglement in Hydra's web of lies acutely shameful.

"When I was locked there, wherever I was—before letting their Soldier beat the shit out of me—I heard him say he knew the 'man on the bridge'. I don't know what that meant but he ended up being the same man that I thought killed Nick and I—"

"Jennifer, there's more to that man," Steve interjected.

Steve, Nat, and Sam looked at me forlornly. They stifled themselves, aiding the growing anticipation.

"What?"

Again, they hesitated. None of them looked eager to speak up.

"Guys, just tell me—I'm a part of this mission too, I'll need to—"

"He's my best friend," Steve uttered.

"What?" I looked around the room, none of the faces before me bared a look of disbelief. "How is that even possible?"

"Hydra is using my best friend, from my time. His name is James Buchanan Barnes, and he's got no idea who he is."

"Wait, from the Howling Commandos? Steve... he died during the war?"

"I thought so too. But he's alive and he's being manipulated, in all the worst ways. Bucky's the... 'fist' of Hydra."

His eyes wandered toward the ground. His best friend, whom he mourned and subsequently destroyed himself over his failure for years, was being kept by Hydra and carrying out their heinous deeds. I was stunned silent.

"I'm so sorry," I murmured.

Steve struggled to clear his throat. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. He transitioned the topic to Project Insight and the helicarriers. As if on cue, Nick opened a briefcase displaying three SD card-looking chips.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized," Maria answered.

Fury continued, "We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own."

"These chips will interrupt the Zola targeting scheme," I pondered aloud.

"Yes, but one or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die," Maria confided.

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra," Nick resumes, "We have to get past them, insert these server blades and maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left—"

"We're not salvaging anything," Steve interjects, "We're not just taking down the helicarriers, Nick, we're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."

A true catch-22: the institution I trusted, that my father trusted, was tarnished—arguably beyond repair. But I don't know if I could scrap it entirely. My father's legacy could not be tossed so easily. I had much left to do to honor the Coulson name. There had to be something worth saving, right?

"Steve, maybe—" I tried to speak, but was cut off by Fury.

"S.H.I.E.L.D had nothing to do with this—"

"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends. S.H.I.E.L.D has been compromised, you said so yourself. Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed," Steve commanded.

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed," Fury snapped.

"How many paid the price before you did?"

"With all due respect, sirs, we need to refocus toward the bigger picture. Neither one of you is entirely wrong but...but we have work to do, and none of us are going to be entirely satisfied by the means or the outcome. But we gotta get to work, regardless."

Both Fury and Steve paused with eyebrows furrowed. Fury sucked in a deep breath. "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

"Even if you had, would you have told me?" Steve accused, "Or would you have compartmentalized that, too?"

In retrospect of Steve's continuation of the blame game, both needed to meet one another in the middle—neither was going to "win" this battle.

"S.H.I.E.L.D, Hydra, it all goes," he spoke firmly.

"He's right," Maria uttered. Fury looked incredulously at her, then around the room for support. None was provided to him, not even in looking at Sam.

"Don't look at me," Sam shrugged, "I do what he does, just slower."

I smirked at this, then turned my gaze to Fury.

"I know what this means to you, and this weighs a great deal on me, too. On all of us. I can't say I'm entirely on board, but for Dad's sake... please, Nick, help us do what must be done," I pleaded.

"Well," Nick huffed. "Looks like you're giving the orders now, Cap."