I don't sleep during the ride, I don't want to. I don't want to and suddenly have Bucky change back. It's strange to watch him, the man I know is currently replaced by someone unfamiliar. I want that mask off his face so bad. I contemplate going to him and taking it off.

Jessabelle doesn't stir, she twitches every once in a while. Bucky doesn't sleep, he's watching me just like I'm watching him. It's almost a staring contest sometimes. I picture a neutral expression or a scowl behind the muzzle.

"Get ready, we're close," Agent Romanoff says.

I yawn. I'll be happy when things are situated. I want to retire to a nice bed and sleep this ordeal off. I hear Agent Romanoff talking with someone on the other end of the line, clearing things with them.

I feel the plane start to dip slightly, feel the drop in my stomach. I don't look out to see the scenery, I keep my guarded eyes on Bucky and Jessabelle. The tables have turned. I can't help but smile just a little. Jessabelle is going to get a taste of her own medicine. She'll play prisoner for once.

I feel the plane touch the ground, hear it slowly shut down. I stand up and stretch before carefully approaching him. He watches me, I see him flex his fingers. I pause and wait a few moments before I go in even closer. I don't see his usual light, I see the predator's twinkle in his eyes.

He's still got to be in conflict with himself. It's the only explanation as to why we aren't massacred.

I only touch the muzzle at first with my fingertips. He doesn't move but keeps his eyes well on me. I don't like the material, it can't be comfortable on him. I frown. He's a tortured animal right now, not human. Not yet.

Gradually, I ease my hand onto the muzzle.

I don't get it off him.

With sharp reflexes, I feel the bionic hand around my right wrist. I scream in pain after I feel it, the twist. Hear the crack. I recoil, pressing my arm to my chest. I look at him in horror, my lips part. My breathing catches.

Something changes in his eyes. They aren't predatory anymore; they're wide, spooked. Guilty. Remorseful. Upset, but not in an angry way. Does he realize that he's hurt me? I whimper and shy away from him as his reaches his hand out towards me. With his other hand, he gently tugs me to him. Suddenly, I don't want to be in the same area as him, breathe the same air. I want to be alone and forget this ever happened.

"Let her go," Agent Romanoff says lowly. She has a gun pointed right at Bucky, who gives her daggers. Hot tears stream down my face as I back up and cower into the corner.

He broke my wrist, all because I wanted to take off the damn thing. Whatever trace of Bucky that had surfaced is now suppressed. Bucky wouldn't have done that if he had been in total control. He would have been more than happy to have that thing off his face. The Winter Soldier...that's a different story.

During the tense standoff, the plane's hatch lowers, and agents crowd inside. Agent Romanoff nods, and a few snatch Jessabelle and carry her off. Few remain in the plane, weapons on Bucky, waiting for him to comply. His eyes don't leave me as he gets up. An agent has to prod him in the back to get him moving. He keeps trying to find me even as he's escorted out.

Agent Romanoff crosses to me. "Let's get this fixed."

With a guiding arm, she escorts me out of the plane and into our new hideout.

* * *

My wrist was officially declared broken and casted up.

When I was getting tended to by a doctor I trusted, I kept thinking about Bucky. How he had gone from animal back to himself in that split second. He had to have known that I meant something to him and that hurting me wasn't something that he wanted to do.

While I was visiting the doctor, I put my worry about Agent 13 to rest. She came out alive with, surprisingly, minor injuries. She got tended to around the same time I did. She was thoughtful and didn't ask about my wrist. I didn't think I could have told her anyway.

Now I'm in comfortable clothing, bunking with Agent 13. She hasn't given me a name just yet, but I'm okay with that. We'll probably have plenty of time to get acquainted.

When there's silence in our room, my mind goes to one person. I picture him alone in a cell that's maybe better than the one we had been in. Feeling threatened. Alone. Cornered. Definitely not helpless. I picture him blending into the darkness, never to resurface.

I shudder.

"I know why you asked him to be spared," Agent 13 breaks the silence.

I look up at her. "Hmm?"

"The Winter Soldier. I got more information after we escaped. You and him...James Barnes...you two went into hiding together. Looked out for each other."

"We got close," I admit. "I figured, should we ever get rescued, he'd come out, too."

"I was never really around him when he joined." She shrugs a little. "He seemed detached, like he wanted nothing to do with us. But you...I can understand why he stuck around you. You both were hurt by Hydra."

"If you read up on me, you would know that I wasn't hurt by them in the beginning." I pretend to stare at the ceiling. "I actually became one of them."

"That wasn't what I was referring to," she says quietly. "I meant...I meant your sister. Vanessa."

I look down at my hands. One sister is in the ground thanks to the other. Jessabelle. She has to be awake by now. Boy, she'll be pissed. "Where are we?"

"Europe. We need to stay out of the States."

"I guess that's smart," I say uneasily. I think of my parents, wonder where they are. Are they out of the U.S. too?

"You look pretty good for someone who was in Hydra's care. I'm surprised they kept you like this."

I cradle my cast. "That's only because they've healed me recently. You didn't see the worst of it, Thirteen." I begin to shake. "Hydra does anything it takes to get what they want."

"They used you to get to him."

"I put up with it for a month until he couldn't take it any longer. He willing gave himself up because of me."

We can't seem to escape Hydra so easily. We could be in S.H.I.E.L.D. all we want, but we'll always be known to Hydra as allies at one point in time. Traitors—I'm sure that's what they call us.

I'm proud to be a traitor to scum like them.

"Agent Finley."

13 and I both turn our heads to see Agent Barton in the doorway.

"I'm being summoned, aren't I?" I ask wearily.

"I'm afraid so. Come on."

"I'll see you later," I tell Agent 13 as I leave our room and follow Agent Barton. "Just where are you taking me now?"

"A meeting."

"Vague much?"

"Trust me, you'll want to be there for it. How's your wrist?"

"Healing," I say rather sharply.

"Agent Romanoff told me he did that to you."

I cringe. "All because I wanted that stupid muzzle off him."

"Danielle, why would you try that? You know what he is."

"He's not an animal, Barton. Stop making it sound like he's not human."

"I don't mean to, but, Hydra got to him. He's not himself."

"I know that," I say irritably, tossing my hair.

The walk isn't short. Before long, we enter a small room. In addition to Agent Barton and me, the meeting consists of Agent Romanoff, Agent Hill, and Director Fury. I blow out a breath. I feel like I'm someone of high importance being amongst all of these people.

"All right, why am I down here?" I ask rather boredly. "Wait, before you even answer that question: how did you know?"

"We sent the new location to everyone's phones, and we noticed that it didn't go through to yours. We started an investigation at the explosion site and tried to go from there."

"Where were we?"

"Canada."

I frown. "Lovely. How many did we lose?"

"Unfortunately, a small few," Agent Hill reports. "But Hydra lost a lot more. We made sure that place is gone."

"You...you blew it up? Sorry, but I fail to see the logic in that. Another question: where's Jessabelle?"

"In custody. We've got cameras in her room. All she's done is talk to herself and pace," Agent Romanoff says. "We're giving her some time before we send someone in there."

"What are we doing with her?"

"Keeping her," Fury answers. "While she was still unconscious, we searched for a tracker. Hydra didn't place one on her."

"I think you know what my next question is going to be."

"We've got him somewhere where he can't hurt anyone." I keep watching Director Fury. "And no, you can't go see him right now. He's not stable, Finley."

"But, sir—"

"I understand your connection with Barnes, but that's not him."

"I understand that," I say through my teeth. "Everyone thinks I'm oblivious to that fact! I know he's not Bucky right now." I exhale loudly, feeling tense. "What are you doing about him? Are you going to keep him in confinement like Jessabelle? Are you going to not help him?"

"Nobody ever said that. We'll work our way through it. Now that we've got your sister in our hands, she may be able to give us a more efficient way to reverse the damage to him."

"How soon are we starting that?"

"Once she settles down a bit. So you're looking at another day or two."

"Sir, I'll volunteer for the task right now to help him," I say boldly.

"And I deny it right now."

"Why?"

"We know the drama surrounding your sister, how she killed Agent Finley. I'm sure you haven't forgiven her for that," Fury says lowly. "And I'm sure you haven't forgiven her for other things. So what makes you think it'd be a good idea to throw you in the same room as her?"

"Maybe she'd listen to me." I shrug.

"You need to be out of this as much as possible."

"Bad idea," I say immediately. "How can I not be involved?"

"Your emotions would get in the way. With what you've probably been through in recent months, you may not be emotionally stable."

"Way to put it delicately, Director."

"I call it as I see it. You aren't getting anywhere near either of them."

"But—"

"That's an order, Finley."

I bristle but hold my tongue. I should know better than to disrespect Director Fury of all people. I should know better than to break rules. I didn't think that when I had snuck in to see the Winter Soldier in my Hydra life. "How come it took you so damn long to find us?" I ask.

"Just like us, Hydra is good at hiding," Agent Hill says flatly. "Unlike Hydra, we have thinning resources and agents. We could only send out a few at the time."

"Agent Barton and I got the lead in Canada," Agent Romanoff voices. "We scouted for almost a week."

I nod. I wish they had come earlier than they had. They could had saved us from all this trouble, all this extra pain that I'm feeling. All this extra torment Bucky is going through with himself right now.

I want to visit him, with all my heart. I want to barge into his room and hold him, talk to him for days on end about the man I know he is. I'm not afraid of him despite him breaking a bone in my body.

I know he's still in there. I'll find my way around the order to stay out of this issue.