hazel, steve, and bucky's quinjet landed on an icy mountaintop. bucky had been digging through a pile of guns, finding one that he fancied. hazel honestly didn't know what to expect when they entered the building that the other winter soldiers were supposedly held in. they could even be dead, for all she knew.

"you remember that time we had to ride back from rockaway beach in the back of that freezer truck?" steve asked bucky as the two men stood by the jet's ramp.

hazel joined them as bucky replied. "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." steve reminded him.

bucky laughed a little. "what was her name again?"

"dolores." steve said after thinking for a moment. "you called her dot."

the other man shook his head. "she's gotta be a hundred years old right now."

"so are you." hazel pointed out. the two men turning, not realizing that she was behind them. both men gave her a small smile before steve led the way to the entrance of the distant building. the door was open, suggesting that zemo had already paid the building a visit. "he can't have been here more than a few hours." hazel said, looking over at bucky.

bucky sighed. "long enough to wake them up."

steve led the group into the bunker. they traveled down further into the building inside a caged elevator, not a word spoken among them. in the bowl of the bunker, another set of doors opened. bucky lifted up the door on the cage, readying the heavy duty machine gun in his hands. hazel followed her father down a corridor, staying close to the wall to avoid being seen.

they began to head up a flight of stairs before hearing a loud thud. shocked by the sound, hazel crouched behind bucky who had his machine gun perched over steve's head, the latter hiding behind his shield. hazel held up her own shield, covering her face and body with it. "you ready?" steve asked, the two other members of the party nodding.

the double doors in front of them opened as hazel prepared for the worst, hiding her head behind bucky's back in case someone started shooting. when she was met with silence, hazel peeked her head over bucky's shoulder, shocked to see dakota and tony walking into the room. 

"you seem a little defensive." tony spoke as he and his daughter walked towards steve, hazel, and bucky. 

steve approached them, covering his body with his shield. "it's been a long day."

kodie's helmet retracted as her father held up a hand. "at ease, soldier. we're not currently after you." tony told steve.

"then why are you here?" steve asked, lowering his shield.

tony shrugged. "could be your story's not so crazy. maybe."

"he's trying to apologize for being wrong." dakota corrected, locking eyes with hazel. "and i'm sorry, too." 

hazel smiled at her, moving over to be closer to her. "thank you." she whispered.

"ross has no idea i'm here." tony said to steve. "i'd like to keep it that way. otherwise, i gotta arrest myself."

steve smiled, seemingly genuinely grateful that the two starks were on his side. "well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork. it's good to see you, tony."

"you too, cap." tony then turned to bucky, who was still holding his machine gun and pointing it at tony. "hey, manchurian candidate, you're killing me." he told bucky. "there's a truce here. you can drop..." bucky only dropped his weapon when steve indicated for him to.

dakota and tony's helmets both reengaged, protecting them in case one of the rumored winter soldiers inside the lab tried to harm them. the group of five walked up the stairs, and then down a corridor that led to a chamber. it was enormous and dark, with five capsules standing in it. kodie assumed that these were where the soldiers were being held, and looked up at the towering cases. "i got heat signatures." tony spoke.

"how many?" steve asked, his shield in front of him.

dakota's mask also showed the heat signatures and she frowned as she read them. "only one." she told steve, shaking her head. this meant that the people in the capsules, or, most of them, at least, were dead. as the group entered the vast chamber, lights came on. the capsules were now clearly full of hazy, yellow mist, as well as chairs where they could only assume one of the enhanced soldiers that had been experimented on.

she couldn't picture hazel in a place like this. her entire childhood ripped away for the sake of what? creating a weapon of mass destruction?

"if it's any comfort," zemo spoke from behind them, causing dakota to immediately whip herself around, holding her arms out, ready to fire, "they died in their sleep." dakota then noticed that the soldiers inside the capsules had all been shot square in the forehead. "did you really think i wanted more of you?" zemo said, directed to bucky and hazel.

although she could hear him, kodie couldn't see him, and she kept turning in circles, arms held out to blast him if she saw him.

"i'm grateful to them, though." the man said. "they brought you here." the lights of a control room turned on, revealing zemo. steve angrily threw his shield at the glass, watching as it bounced back at him. "please, captain." zemo said. "the soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of ur-100 rockets."

tony held up his arms, copying kodie's position. "i'm betting we could beat that." he said, nodding to his daughter.

"oh, i'm sure you could, mr. stark." zemo replied. "given time. but then you'd never know why you came."

hazel looked at zemo through the window he hid behind. "you killed innocent people in vienna just to bring us here?" she asked, appalled.

"i thought about nothing else for over a year." zemo informed them, looking at steve as he moved closer to the window, angry. "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. how nice to find a flaw."

dakota tilted her head. "we've got a stalker." she mumbled.

"желание" zemo spoke in russian. dakota didn't quite recognize the word, but she noticed hazel beginning to shake next to her. hazel's memories then flooded her. everything from before she was 11 years old came back to her. her eyes clenched shut, almost as if she was fighting herself. 

kodie turned to her friend. "hazel?" she asked hesitantly, knowing better than to reach out to touch her. it was then that dakota noticed that bucky had also grown tense. dakota stepped back, hearing one of her missiles raising to protect her. "j.e.e.p.," she said through gritted teeth, "put the missile down, you're gonna scare her."

"miss. stark, you are in danger, and it is my job to-"

"put the missile down!" dakota spoke aggressively, watching as it eventually lowered. "steve, what the hell is going on?" steve seemed panicked, and dakota rolled her eyes as he didn't reply. "STEVE!" she brought him out of his trance. "what's going on?"

hazel appeared out of it, her hands clenched at her sides as she looked around, her eyes wide as if she didn't recognize anyone around her. hazel turned to dakota, teeth gritted angrily. dakota held up a hand, which hazel seemed to take as a threat, jumping onto the girl, sending both of them skidding onto the floor, kodie's back hitting the wall.

dakota could feel hazel's punches knocking her head around, beating into her helmet. the only thing she could hear, though, was the sound of tony's blasters revving up. "i'm not afraid to hurt her." tony said to steve.

"like hell you'll hurt her." steve replied, defensive.

"get her off of my daughter and i won't have to." tony said through gritted teeth.

dakota's suit then released a small blast that pushed hazel off of her body. dakota stood, looking over at bucky. bucky, once again, took dakota's movement as a threat, growling before moving to dive at her. 

"стоп!" zemo said, 'stop'. bucky stopped himself right as he was about to launch at dakota, shaking his head to clear it. hazel stood up, still shaken by what had just happened. dakota looked at them, making sure that hazel was okay before she turned back to zemo. a wicked smile was on his face, and kodie figured this had been his plan. dakota brought her fist to the glass.

"are you gonna come out of there, you coward?" she asked. "that way i can kill you without the trouble of breaking this glass?" steve pried dakota away, leaving her to stand by her father, who put his hand. on her shoulder, scanning her for any visible injuries. 

"you're sokovian." steve said to zemo. "is that what this is about?"

he shook his head. "sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. no. i'm here because i made a promise."

steve studied zemo's face. "you lost someone?"

looking grave, zemo clicked his tongue. "i lost everyone. and so will you." dakota noticed a small screen that zemo directed his attention to, and she watched as it began playing surveillance footage. steve, tony, and dakota all gathered behind the screen, awkwardly shifting their gaze between it and zemo. the starks' helmets disappeared as they moved closer to it, their brows furrowed. "an empire toppled by its enemies can rise again." zemo commented. "but one which crumples from within? that's dead . . . forever."

tony studied the screen, his eyes roving anxiously. "i know that road. what is this?" dakota looked down at the date; december 16, 1991. the date was familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on why.

the video played, focusing on a crashed car. bucky, identifiable by his metal arm, approached the car on his motorcycle. the car, in its wreck, had slammed into a tree, leaving the front crumpled. a second motorcycle came into frame, and dakota stiffened as she noticed the tied up blonde hair that had to belong to hazel. she couldn't have been older than twelve. dakota could practically sense her father's growing unease, as if he'd already lived through this memory, and her eyes scanned the screen in confusion. the driver of the car was laying on the ground, and dakota's breath hitched as he turned and she saw the man she'd only known through scrapbooks: her grandfather, howard stark.

"help my wife," howard mumbled, "please, help." bucky hoisted howard up by his hair, staring at his bloody face. "sergeant barnes?" a confused howard asked, looking up. maria stark called his name in the background. tony, now realizing it was bucky and hazel, turned to look at them, but kodie kept her eyes glued on the screen. at the sound of howard's name, hazel remembered what had happened, what she did, and she turned to look at her friend. dakota watched in horror as the bucky in the video pounded howard stark in the face with a metal fist while hazel stood and watched.

dakota looked over at tony as he closed his eyes, not watching as howard slumped, dead. bucky placed him back in the driver's seat with his face against the steering weel. a shocked maria sat in the passenger seat, blood streaking down her horrified face. bucky walked around the car to grip the woman by throat, strangling her while hazel watched. dakota eyed her expressionless, emotionless, and inhuman face. the video ended with hazel aiming a gun at the surveillance camera. 

the screen went black, leaving kodie standing there looking at her own shocked reflection.

steve anxiously glanced at tony, already prepared for him to lunge. he grabbed tony by the arm, holding him away from bucky. dakota noticed the tears glistening in her father's eyes as he looked at steve. "did you know?" he asked.

still holding tony's arm, steve shook his head. "i didn't know it was them."

"don't bullshit me, rogers!" tony said lowly. "did you know?" he repeated.

"yes." steve said, regret evident on his face. tony stepped back, his chin jutting up. his helmet appeared then, and with one more movement, tony was punching steve to the floor and deflecting bucky's shots at him, disarming the soldier. it was then that dakota felt her world crumble.