We'd had to shoot debris out of the way, but we got the quinjet out of the airport. I couldn't deny that I hated that we left the rest of the team to get arrested. Sure, they'd told us it was worth the risk, but at the same time...

This has gotten too messy. We will break them out of wherever they are. I knew Steve wouldn't let them be captured for very long, either. But we had bigger matters to handle first.

Things had gotten pretty quiet once we had our sights set on Siberia. Steve piloted the quinjet, Bucky remained stoically quiet in his seat. I had after a time got out of my seat, keeping careful balance.

"On a scale of one to totally scared, where are you?" I asked Bucky.

"Somewhere in the middle."

"I don't blame you." I twisted my wedding band. "With what I saw you capable of...knowing there are more...it's frightening. I guess there's one silver lining out of this."

"What?"

"They're not powered like me." I produced a small flame in one of my palms. "I think that would make things worse than they already are, if you say they are the best of the best. But we'll stop them before things get too bad."

"Why didn't you stay behind with the others?"

"I'm backup, honestly. I'm no good if I'm captured and imprisoned." I swallowed, thinking of all the friends that now were. Though they had accepted their fate, it didn't make me feel less guilty about leaving them behind.

"Sorry I missed out." Bucky nodded towards my wedding band. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Believe it or not, your best friend." I nodded up towards Steve.

"Should've guessed it. He's got a thing for accents."

"He hoped we would've found you in time so you could be there. You were gonna be Best Man if things played out well. He would've insisted and not given you a choice."

"Sounds about right. Bet it was a nice ceremony."

"It was." I smiled timidly. "Honestly, Bucky, you have no idea how much he wanted you back. He was willing to up and leave our honeymoon if we'd found a solid lead on you."

"And you'd let him?"

I chewed on my lip. "I honestly would've had to flip a coin. The point of a honeymoon is to stay away from life for some time, but I know how important you are to him. I would've been willing to leave a little early if it meant he got you back."

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"As long as it's nothing about my love life, sure."

"I get why Steve's being a pain in the ass about me, but why you?"

"I was in your place once, if you can remember. I can never imagine what you went through, because you weren't you for a long time. I wasn't me for only a brief period. What you did as the Soldier wasn't you. I know the difference, and so does Steve. Tony, unfortunately, like some of the others...they don't understand."

"Jesus Christ, you're basically a female Steve with an accent, and powers."

"Don't tell him that." I cringed. "If it weirds me out, it's going to weird him out."

"You guys also don't talk quiet," said Steve up front.

"What's gonna happen to your friends?" asked Bucky.

I heard Steve sigh. "Whatever it is...I'll deal with it."

"I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve."

Steve stole a glance at his best friend. "What you did all those years...it wasn't you, like Kiara said. You didn't have a choice."

"I know. But I did it."

We headed for an icy mountain top. I frowned at the sight of a truck already there.

Steve parked the quinjet as close to the truck as possible. I was the first to the ramp, wishing it could just lower already so we could see the damage that was already done.

"Eager?" asked Steve. He stood on my left.

"I want this done, just as much as you two do," I said firmly. "While he's not on Loki's level with New York, he's still a threat. Besides, since no one else seems to have figured it out, we're the only chance of stopping him."

Bucky soon joined us, a gun in his hands, standing to Steve's left.

"You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Steve asked Bucky.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?"

"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead."

"What was her name again?"

"Dolores. You called her Dot."

"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now."

"So are we, pal." Steve clapped a hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"Don't remind me of your true age," I cut in lightly. I squared my shoulders. "We've got work to do."

Steve put on his helmet prior to us leaving the quinjet. The colder temperatures made me all the more grateful for me running warmer than most. I did appreciate the change in weather, though.

The door to the bunker was ajar.

"He can't have been here more than a few hours," said Steve.

"Long enough to wake them up," said Bucky.

The bunker gave a creepy air, to say the least. While no enemies jumped out to surprise us, we were on alert. I kept a small flame in my palm for some comfort on my part. We found a caged elevator, the three of us going inside.

It was a slow crawl down into the bowels of the bunker. None of us spoke a word the entire ride down.

Once our ride stopped, Bucky heaved up the cage door. He kept close to a wall, the heavy duty weapon in his hands at the ready. I picked up the rear, Steve took lead. We passed junk that held no meaning to any of us before climbing up some steps.

A loud thud sent us all into defense mode. Since I was on the lowest step, I stood on flat ground, both palms ignited now.

"You ready?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," came Bucky's quiet reply.

I was ready to conjure a fire shield, ready for the incoming gunfire. Double doors parted open by mechanical hands of red. I was still wary, even as I recognized Tony in his red and gold Iron Man armor. For all I knew, he could still be in the mindset of arresting us.

"You seem a little defensive," said Tony, stepping forward. His faceplate pulled away from his face.

"It's been a long day," said Steve, his voice slightly weary.

"At ease, Soldier. I'm not currently after you." Tony looked past Steve and me.

"Then why are you here?" I asked cautiously.

"Could be your story's not so crazy. Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself."

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork," said Steve. "It's good to see you, Tony."

"You too, Cap. Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop..."

As I turned, Steve gestured for Bucky to lower the weapon. He obliged.

"Took you that long to see the light, finally?" I asked Tony as we continued our trek deeper into the bunker. "You should've taken the blinders off sooner."

"Part of me is glad that you didn't get arrested."

"Trust me, I'm glad for it, too." But thinking about the others locked away...it stirred a small anger in me. "Any serious injuries?"

When I glanced at Tony's lack of answer, his face said it all. I wasn't sure if it was wise to pursue it further.

I was glad that Todd had no involvement in this. He would've been one more person arrested for this cause. I knew he'd be willing to go to jail for me, but I was glad that he hadn't. I wasn't happy about the others taking the fall, but like it was discussed, sacrifices had to be made.

I hoped that it was worth it. That we got this guy in the end.

Tony took point with the rest of us closely behind him. The chamber was encased in shadow. I could just barely make out the large capsule shapes nearby.

"I got heat signatures," said Tony.

"How many?" I asked.

"One."

Above, the lights turned on, as if expecting our presence. We were able to see the capsules in better light now, yellow mist pouring within them. Each held one of the other Winter Soldiers, people trained as lethal as Bucky had once been.

How are you holding up? I sent to Bucky.

My brain's focused but my stomach...

You are not them. You're not like them. Focus on that.

"If it's any comfort," came a chilling, accented voice through speakers, "they died in their sleep."

Looking upon closer inspection, the voice was right. Each capsule had a single bullet hole in the glass, matching the hole in each Soldier's forehead. I don't understand...if he didn't want to use them for world domination...then why go to all this trouble?

"Did you really think that I wanted more of you?"

"What the hell?" I heard Bucky whisper.

Light faded in up ahead, shining down on a man hiding behind a window. Near his mouth, a microphone.

"I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here."

Without warning, Steve hurled his trademark shield at the window. It bounced off the glass.

"Please, Captain." As we got closer, the man didn't feel the need to use the speakers any longer. "The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that," said Tony.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" I asked incredulously.

"I thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized...there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes, Captain. How nice to find a flaw."

"You're Sokovian," Steve realized. "Is that what this is about?"

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone?"

The man gave a click of his tongue. "I lost everyone. And so will you."