★ ★ ★

The Winter Soldier scanned his emotionless blue eyes over the dozens of people gathered inside the rather luxurious ballroom. In the far corner of the room, sitting at one of the many tables, was the man he had been assigned to eliminate for Hydra. He was a former Hydra engineer who had managed to escape after discovering Hydra's true intentions for the world. For the past six years he had been in hiding, secretly devising a plan to out Hydra to the world, and the Winter Soldier was the one best fit for putting a stop to his schemes.

The Soldier grasped his pistol tightly in his right hand and stood up from his seat. He quickly made his way through the small crowd of people, ignoring their annoyed protests as he shoved his way passed them. He couldn't worry about the extra amount of people in the room, for they all would cease to exist in a matter of minutes or seconds even. He was taught not to leave a single witness behind, and he would continue to follow through with that order until he was given a different one.

He was nearing the table the man sat at but stopped before he could get too close. He stood about twenty feet away from his target and aimed the gun toward him without another thought. He pulled the trigger, producing a loud clack. The sound echoed throughout the ballroom, prompting several frightened screams from the party guests. The Soldier watched as the now-dead body of his target fell to the floor and pulled out his assault rifle and a couple grenades, wasting no time at all in using them to rid the room of the dozens of witnesses.

In minutes, several people lay dead on the ground. Others had attempted to make their way out through the ballroom doors, but the Winter Soldier would not allow them the opportunity to escape before shooting them down.

Leave no witnesses, the voice inside his head told him as he approached several injured party-goers. They pleaded with him to spare their lives, but he paid them no mind whatsoever. Their tears, their screams, and their pain meant absolutely nothing to the Soldier. He was built and trained to kill, not to show mercy. The Soldier spared no time at all, and in seconds there were three bullets lodged into the heads of the the party guests on the floor in front of him.

With his work done, he strapped his assault rifle to his back and began making his way towards the ballroom door, stepping over countless bodies and avoiding the pools of blood on the floor. He stopped, though, when he reached the doorway. A small whimper could be heard from the opposite side of the room, and he shot his head towards the direction in which it came from. Someone was alive, and he was mentally scolding himself for not doing a thorough sweep of the room before attempting to leave. It was unlike the Soldier to be so careless when it came to assignments such as this one.

The whimpering continued, and the Soldier stalked over to the opposite side of the room as quickly as he possibly could. He could hear the person's breath quicken as they listened to the loud sound of his footsteps, and this only managed to reveal their whereabouts to him. He latched onto a wooden chair and tossed it clear across the room, prompting the person beneath the table to let out a squeal. It was a woman, but the Soldier didn't seem to care much. He reached his metal hand down and grabbed the female by her arm, ignoring the dangerous amount of cries and pleas escaping her form.

She screamed as he forcibly yanked her out from under the table and tossed her into a table at the opposite end of the room. He pulled his pistol off of his side and aimed it at the girl. Her eyes widened at the weapon and she backed further into the table; there was only one thing she could think to do to put a stop to his actions.

"Bucky, please don't do this to me," she pleaded with the Soldier.

The Soldier's emotionless eyes widened at the sound of the name, and he lowered his gun slightly. He studied the girl in front of him, taking in every last one of her features; her petite frame, her beautiful hazel eyes, her medium-length chocolate brown hair, her full pink lips, and the fair color of her skin.

"Marlena?" the Soldier questioned with disbelief in his tone.

She nodded her head at him, and he watched as a single tear slid down her cheek. He wasn't sure if it was because of the pain he had just induced or because of him. "Don't do this to me, Bucky. I meant it when I told you I'd do whatever it took to help you; please, just let me help you."

The Soldier swallowed the growing lump in his throat and lowered his gun further, eliciting a sigh of relief from Marlena. In an instant, something inside him snapped and he raised his gun once more, ignoring the frightened expression that fell upon Marlena's face. You must kill her—leave no witnesses behind, the voices scolded him. He tried as hard as he possibly could to fight them off, but he couldn't, no matter how desperately he wanted to.

"Bucky, please! Don't do this!" Marlena pleaded loudly, immense pain and fear evident in her voice.

Despite how much Bucky wished to resurface again, the Winter Soldier and the voices were much too powerful for him to overcome. The Soldier aimed his pistol towards the sobbing girl leaning against the table, an emotionless expression on his face.

"Leave no witnesses," the Soldier muttered before pulling the trigger. He watched as Marlena's lifeless body fell to the floor and it only took him a matter of five seconds to realize what he had done. Bucky had finally managed to push his way back to the surface, but it was much too late for him to do anything; the damage had already been done.

He stared at Marlena's lifeless form on the floor with a frown on his face and dropped the gun from his hand. He rushed over, scooping her body up and holding it against his chest. He had promised her he wouldn't hurt her, yet here she was laying dead in his arms. He had taken the life of the one person who had truly meant something to him, the one person willing to guide him through the dark times, and he couldn't even begin to fathom the amount of pain he felt because of it. She had begged and pleaded for him to spare her life, yet he had amazingly failed her.

"Net (No)! Net pozhaluysta (No, please)! Chto mne delat' (What did I do)?" he cried in Russian, clutching Marlena's lifeless body tightly in his arms. "I'm so sorry, Marlena."

He sat in the blood of his victims for hours, including the blood of his most important and regretted victim: Marlena. He could not bring himself to worry about it though; he was far more concerned about how he could possibly get through the pain that now riddled his body. But without Marlena by his side, he didn't think such a thing could be possible.

★ ★ ★

Marlena awoke to faint murmuring. She groaned and sat up, eyeing the clock on her bedside table. It was nearing four in the morning, which only made Marlena groan again. She ran a hand through her hair and switched on her lamp, darting her eyes over towards Bucky's sleeping figure on the large sofa in her room. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and she hopped off of her bed immediately. Bucky was thrashing around on the couch, as well as muttering something in a language Marlena recognized as Russian. It only took her less than three seconds to realize that he was having a nightmare.

She knelt down beside him and began violently shaking his shoulders in an attempt to wake him up. Tears soaked his cheeks, and Marlena found herself wondering what exactly it was that he was dreaming about. She was about ninety percent positive it had something to do with whatever Hydra did to him. Nonetheless, she hated seeing him in such a state.

"Bucky," Marlena called as she shook his shoulder. "Wake up, Bucky!"

Bucky's eyes snapped open at the sound of her voice, and fear settled into his body almost immediately. Without so much as thinking, Bucky wrapped his hand around Marlena's neck, startling her. She took a deep breath and tried to remove his hand from around her neck, but it was no use for he was much too strong for her. She knew he wasn't purposely trying to harm her, but she couldn't help but be frightened. The distant and sinister look in his eyes had returned, and it only made the situation worse for the both of them.

Marlena wasn't even given the chance to try and talk him out of his trance before he flung her across the room. Her back made impact with the headboard of her bed, knocking the air clean out of her lungs. Her hazel eyes burned with pained tears, and she soon fell to the floor, gasping desperately for oxygen.

Bucky had managed to calm himself down long enough to realize the incident that had just taken place a mere seconds ago. The moment he noticed Marlena groveling in pain on the floor, he got up and rushed over to her. An immense amount of regret and fear settled into his body as he knelt down beside her. It was almost as if he was reliving his nightmare, and although the situation didn't meet the painful extent of his nightmare, he still felt dangerously awful about it. He hadn't meant to hurt her at all; he was frightened and decided to allow his instincts to take over. It was only now that he wished he hadn't.

"Marlena," Bucky spoke quietly, his voice pained.

Marlena snapped her head up to look at him, despite the amount of pain that shot down her spine at the action. His eyes had softened, though they now seemed pained and otherwise filled with regret. She took a deep breath and reached her trembling hand towards him, placing it on top of his thigh. Bucky frowned and gently grabbed her hand, deathly afraid he would hurt her again. He was reassured, though, when Marlena gave his hand a comforting squeeze, and in seconds she was attempting to hoist herself off of the ground.

"Please," she pleaded with him. It was rather difficult for her to form coherent sentences through the intense amount of pain coursing through her body, but, luckily for her, Bucky understood what she was hinting at.

Bucky let out a sigh and placed his metal arm beneath her back, while he moved his right arm to settle beneath her thighs. He hoisted her up as gently as he possibly could, but even so the pain managed to find her. Marlena whimpered as the white, hot pain once again shot down her spine. She squeezed her tear-filled eyes shut and tightly grasped the sleeves of Bucky's shirt in her hands. Bucky only frowned in response to her cries. He knew that he was the reason for her pain, and that tore him apart inside. This is exactly what he feared would happen and exactly what he didn't want to happen.

He sat Marlena down on her bed and she whimpered yet again. He pulled the comforter over her body and moved to sit at the edge of her bed.

"I'm so sorry, Marlena," he said to her. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know," Marlena breathed. "It's okay."

"No, it's not! I could've killed you," he countered.

Even through the pain, Marlena managed to send him a stern glare. "But you didn't. I'll be okay, I promise. Just please don't worry about it, Buck."

Bucky sighed and stood up, ready to head back over to the couch, only to stop when a small hand wrapped itself around his wrist. He looked down at Marlena with a questioning look on his face, and she pulled him closer, despite the pain shooting through her body.

"Stay with me, please," she said to him. "When I used to have nightmares about my dad I would go sleep with my mom and it would make me feel better; I wouldn't get anymore nightmares. I don't want you to have another nightmare, Bucky."

Bucky contemplated her words for a few moments before nodding and climbing into the bed with her. Marlena smiled softly at him and moved to switch the lamp off. When she couldn't do so, Bucky reached over her and turned it off himself.

"Thanks," Marlena whispered as she pulled the comforter over her body.

"You're welcome, Mar," he replied, the sadness still lingering in his voice.

Marlena noticed this and smacked his chest. "Stop—I mean it. I'm fine, Bucky, really."

"I just—"

"Stop, please," she squeaked. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me. Don't beat yourself up over it."

Bucky sighed and ran a hand over his face. He knew there was no use in arguing with her about it, no matter how much he wanted to. "Okay. Goodnight, Marlena."

"Goodnight, Bucky," she said as she rubbed his arm comfortingly.

Before long the two of them were falling into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.