9

Pulling up to the safe house was difficult for multiple reasons. Firstly, she and Bucky argued for majority of the way to the house if they weren't locked into total silence. And secondly, her body was in so much pain that she could hardly see straight until they finally arrived. It was in the middle of the woods and there was a sports car parked outside along with a motorcycle and an old car with a brilliant dark blue paint job. Their minivan could not compare as it slowed to a stop. 

"Surprised you remembered how to drive," she winced, still clutching her bruised and bleeding side. She had to pull a rather large shard of glass out from her side that left a dark trail of blood seeping into her seat and clothes. She had barely been able to notice the shard stabbed deep within her from the pain in her leg, so to say finding the glass was a surprise would be an understatement.

"I said I was sorry," Bucky said back, groaning as he took the keys out from the ignition. It seemed his arm still hurt from where she had successfully shot him in a near rage blackout.

"You shouldn't have answered that call," she snapped back, continuing an argument they had had minutes prior. "Who the fuck answers a phone call to a fucking car if you stole said car?"

He didn't answer as he got out of the car, but she wasn't watching him but the front door as it swung open and the entire crew came out with guns raised and blasters loaded. She smiled from her seat as Steve pushed through to hug Bucky in front of the car, the pair clutching at each other and Torrance wondered how long it had been since they had had a normal conversation. She knew when they had last seen each other, Bucky wasn't exactly himself. She drew her eyes away from them and to Fury as he moved past the others to go to her side of the car, opening the door and freezing when he saw her as Steve said loudly, "Buck, you look terrible--were you shot?"

"Shit," Fury whispered as he held out a hand for her to take and help her out of the car. She fell into his side, her leg weak and still very much broken, but she could feel the bone healing as it tried to reconnect and grow whole once again. It always took longer for more serious injuries to heal and from the way her leg had been broken, she wasn't surprised it was still healing. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Ask Bucky," she snarled as she pushed away from him to walk towards the house and regretting it immediately because she needed the help as she moved with a struggling limp. Pain burned up and down her leg, all the way into her toes and all the way up into her hip like liquid fire in her veins. She was angry and tired and she blamed Bucky because she needed someone to blame and he was an easy target, and besides, he shouldn't of answered the call even if it did seem fun to mess around. She had seen the old Bucky peeking through as he hit accept and any other time she would've been glad to have a little fun in the car but not with a threat looming over their shoulders. She knew she would get over it in an hour, but she decided to let it fester and bubble with rage because rage was what she knew best.

Bucky huffed loudly as she passed him, "Torrance-please--"

"You don't answer the fucking phone in a car that you just stole, alright? I don't know what Hydra taught you, but it was wrong. You almost got me killed today, so you don't deserve the apology!"

"You shot me!"

"You wrecked the fucking Bugatti!"

"You shot me twice!"

She pulled her gun out and pointed it at him as she snarled, "And I'll do it a third time if you don't shut your mouth." She slid her gun back into her pillowcase and turned from him, marching towards the house. Before going inside, she looked behind her and murmured, "Natasha, Wanda, I need your help inside."

Natasha Romanoff looked at her, red hair short and curly to her shoulders, her eyes piercing. She was one of the most beautifully stunning women Torrance had ever seen and she couldn't deny that her heart skipped a beat with nerves that she would shake her head and not follow. But surprisingly, the woman nodded, following Torrance back into the house. Wanda followed after the two, closing the front door as she said to the men outside, "Sorry, girls only."

"I'm going to need you to say some words to me," Torrance said, ignoring how cozy the house was and going straight to the kitchen where she saw a notepad and pen with a grocery list written out on the front. She tore the page off and wrote down ten simple words before handing them to Nat. "But say them in Russian."

"Russian?"

She nodded, suddenly unsure of her choice in people. "You can speak Russian, right?"

"Yes, of course-but why?"

"Obviously you know about the Winter Soldier and his command words, right?" Torrance asked her as Wanda's eyes went wide. Torrance leaned against the counter, palms flat as she tried to control her breathing, her leg threatening to buckle. "I have them too and I'm going to need you to say them to me."

Say them so I can figure out what the hell is going on. Say them so I know what's trapped inside me.

"Torrance, you don't know what that could trigger--" Wanda hissed. "--I've seen what's inside your mind and you into mine, so trust me when I say that is not a good idea--"

"I need to know why they want me dead so badly," Torrance responded, watching Natasha go over the list with her eyes, Wanda taking Torrance's arm. "I don't know why, but Anastasia does."

"Don't you get her memories too?"

She nodded but shrugged as she murmured, "I got some of hers, but it's all bits and pieces-like-like--" She sighed. "--like it wasn't truly Anastasia, just me acting like her."

They're memories of hers that I don't understand. Bits and pieces of her subconscious that don't make sense to me. I need her to come out, to be unleashed so then and only then will I finally be able to understand her and what we did.

"So you think going and bringing her out is the best possible choice?" Nat asked, looking up from the list. 

"Yes."

"Then let's give it a shot."

Wanda held up her hands, gasping, "Wait a minute--"

"You can knock me out of the trance immediately if it gets too much," Torrance reassured her, stepping past her and to the couch. "Say all of the words, okay? Don't stop...even if I scream."

Nat cleared her throat as Torrance laid back, eyes trained on the ceiling as she spoke the words quickly in Russian to her, "First. Dormant. Cordwainer. Sister."

Torrance rubbed her eyes, feeling the burning in her skull as her subconscious threatened to pull her away from herself. Her feet felt numb as she melted into the couch, welcoming the incoming Anastasia with open arms as she tried not to scream. 

Her skull would feel like it was splitting in two, forcing something deep within her to come crawling out and all she could do was breathe deeply and wait for it all to go away.

"Doxy. Fourteen."

You'll be happy to see me again, Torrance. Happy to have me around. I'll figure this out, for the two of us. We'll kill them all and live.

"Malignant."

You haven't heard from me for a while, I've been hiding. Not just from you, but from everyone. They need me now, don't they? They need answers and you know I always have the right ones. We don't have much time together, I know that, but you'll see how much you've missed me. Just like old times.

"Burning."

They will die for what they've done to us. Those filthy criminals, they tore us apart. We can't let them do that to us, can we? We aren't going to stand here and watch them threaten us. We will kill them, tear them limb from limb.

They will remember what they did to us as we do the same to them.

"Forgotten."

You forgot what this felt like. How good the burning can be. You missed me, didn't you, Torrance? You missed me more than you thought. I always knew we'd be reunited. I'll be in control soon, but you know you're never far. We've always worked together. 

Can't you see? We've always been together and they tried to take us a part but they can't. They can't, they never could.

"Passing."

~

Anastasia woke up, blinking rapidly at the ceiling, not knowing where she was but knowing exactly where she was at the same time. She sat up, flexing her hands as she felt a stiffness in her leg and she understood what had happened earlier-she stopped. It was dark outside, it must have been hours ago. 

Her healing was off, Torrance had thought about that a few days ago. She remembered. 

She always remembered. 

She stood, bones cracking as she stretched. She was happy to be back, to be in control again, but she longed for that second voice. Praying Torrance was still awake somewhere in that big mind of theirs, she moved to the kitchen. Opening the little fridge, she pulled out the carton of milk, smiling as she popped the cap off and drank straight from the bottle. Once she finished, she wiped her mouth with her hand and placed it on the counter.

She wondered where everyone had gone earlier. Especially the two woman who had helped her come back out to play. Would she be here long? Or would they bring Torrance back because they think she's the enemy? She didn't want to be the enemy. She never did. But she was built to be one, programmed to kill and kill because it was fun, but Torrance knew that ambition all too well. They were made to kill and destroy.

But things have changed for her, as they always did as she evolved. 

The fridge closed as she turned away from it, spotting the pillow case they had brought in earlier. Its contents hadn't been emptied and Ana grinned, opening it and looking inside at her two guns that laid nestled against the suit. 

She pulled one gun out, holding it in her hands and watching as the cold metal glinted in the moonlight creeping in from the small window behind her. Mr. Stark has quite the home, Ana thought. She cocked the gun, loving the feel of it against her skin. 

Guns weren't always her favorite weapon. She preferred a blade, sometimes even a dull one as it took more work to earn her kills. Yet, there was always something so appealing about a handgun, sleek and smooth in her hand. So deadly but also so docile when in boring hands.

Ana wondered where everyone had gone, walking around the little cabin in search of them. Mostly in search of the women who helped her, to thank them. She needed to thank them, right? To be kind? That's what normal people did. She didn't know until she looked down at the gun in her hand that she was fighting the simple urge to pull the trigger. 

"Who left the milk out?" a voice came from the kitchen and Ana spun around from her spot in the hall, back pressed against the wall. She was fighting with her mind to figure out who was speaking, who the hell was it? "This is disgusting, did you drink straight from the carton, too?"

She recognized the voice finally and stepped from the shadows with a smile, "You're Steve, right?"

The man at the kitchen counter seemed startled to see her. He wore old pajama pants that definitely hung way too low on his hips and a white tank that was pulled nearly taut against his chest. He was strong, stronger than he had been in the war. "You're not Torrance, are you?"

He was smart, too. She smiled, twirling a strand of hair in her finger as she approached him. "Would it be so bad if I wasn't?"

"How do you know who I am?" he asked.

"I know everything about you," she whispered, his blonde hair tousled a top his head. She tapped the side of her head with her gun as she said, "Me and her, we share a brain after all."

"Should I be concerned with you being so...present?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, but if we all play our cards right I won't come out to truly play." She gave him a wink as she said, "Torrance said she needed answers so that's why I'm here. I'm here to help her, to help you."

I'm always here to help her, it's always been for her.

"What are the two of you? Friends?"

"More like sisters." Steve rubbed his forehead as Ana slid the gun across the table towards him, "Take it," she said. "Incase you find me too dangerous."

He was skeptical of her, eyes never leaving her as she moved to sit at the kitchen counter. He took the gun from the table and laid it closer to him, one hand still on the handle. "Nat and Wanda...they said that Torrance wanted you here. To bring you out for answers. What answers?"

Why do they want us dead?

"She wants to know why Hydra wants me-well us-dead," Ana replied, running a hand through her hair as she recognized the little voice in the back of her head. "And it's not so simple-well it is-but I like the dramatics of it all."

"Why do they want you dead?"

"I stole the Super Soldier Serum and gave it to Erskine. Hydra couldn't win the upcoming war, it was too dangerous-all the possible futures were deadly. So, I stole the serum and handed it straight to Erskine-well not directly to him-I sent it to someone who worked with him--" She sighed. "--the details are fuzzy. It was over eighty years ago when I did all of this."

"What else did you do?"

She smiled, resting against the counter on her elbows. "I killed everyone who had been in contact with the serum, but I couldn't get to Zola or Schmidt. It was already too far past my time when I finally got to them, when Torrance met you and then she was wiped-it was a whole ordeal."

Steve looked at her quizzically, shaking his head. "That can't be it all. That was years ago, they would have killed you by then--"

She couldn't stop from smiling, "You're smarter than you look." She stood, moving around to stand closer to him. She jumped up onto the counter, sitting against it and swinging her legs gently as she looked at him through the dark with a softer smile. "I was the best," she whispered. "I was the first. I was their puppet, their fist as you would call it. But, as all good stories go, I wanted my freedom and I was done with being controlled, and obviously that didn't sit well it them. They wiped me, well, they wiped Torrance, making her forget everything. But I helped stop the war in the end, so I'm not that horrible, right?"

He opened his mouth to answer her and she held up a hand, shushing him and continuing, "I could kill you with a flick of my wrist. I could grab that gun in mere seconds and fight you off with my arms tied behind my back...blindfolded. I was the very best and they threw me away. Like I was nothing. I worshipped those people and they worshipped me and just like that-I was gone." How could they kill a god? Toss her away like she wasn't magnificent and otherworldly in power and sight? "They stripped me of everything and they threw me away like I was worthless, like they hadn't spent years perfecting me. Then they killed her-and well...I couldn't just sit there. I got my revenge, and I got plenty of it."

"Her? Who did they kill?"

I killed them all for it, but was it enough? Did I atone enough for you, my dear? Did I sacrifice and kill enough for you?

She sat still, hands in her lap. "My sister," Ana whispered. "As the trials progressed and I was being sent more often into the field, I ran across her and she followed me. They caught her sneaking in one night and shot her dead right in front of me. I-I never recovered from it. What I do is for her, I kill them for her. Torrance doesn't remember much from what it was like before and during the trials because she wasn't truly there-she wasn't present. I was. I was there for it all."

"What did you do after? You said you got your revenge--"

"I broke their necks, I shot them, I tore them apart--" she hissed, barring her teeth as her hands balled into tight fists. "They got what they deserved. My sister was seventeen when they dragged her into my room and killed her. She had a whole life ahead of her and they killed her-like it was nothing-they're monsters--"

Her bedroom door was thrown open, lighting pooling into the dark room like a disease. Anastasia sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes as she murmured, "What's going on?"

She heard the screaming once she was restrained back by two men, her mind going wild. What were they doing? Had she done something wrong?

Two more men marched into the room, dragging a screaming girl behind them. The girl was kicking her feet, her mouth open wide as she wailed, flailing in the arms of her captors. When Ana saw who the girl was, her mind went blank and only one name was flashing in her skull as she screamed. 

Karina. Karina. Karina. Karina. Karina.

"Please!" Ana yelled, trying to fight against the men holding her back by the arms. "Please don't hurt her! She's a child!"

Ana saw what she always saw at night behind her closed eyes. A baby, cooing and grabbing at the air, pulling against hair and necklaces. Chubby cheeks, a giggling laugh, an innocent with a dark head of fluffy, soft hair. A baby, a baby, a baby--

Karina looked at her, big eyes full with tears. "Sister!"

Ana recognized her but she was not the same girl. She was not her sister, but deep inside her brain she knew that they were. They were blood. 

She was her sister, she is her sister. The baby cooing, the baby laughing, the baby gurgling was her sister, haunting and running wild in her brain as if it were a warning call to home. A home she would never see again but in her dreams.

"You must be punished," one of the men with guns said, pulling it from his holster and holding it up against Karina's head as the younger girl sobbed. 

"Please, don't do this," Ana whispered, sitting up in her bed, praying that they listened and that this was all some big mistake. She didn't mean for this to happen, they had seen each other, briefly, that was all!

"You failed your mission tonight," the man said back. "And allowed this outsider to follow you back here. And for that? You must be punished and so should she."

Karina was small against the men, her bony figure shrunken in the dark. Her nightgown was dirty, like she had been dragged through the street by her hair. Her hair though, was nearly perfect. It was it's usual tight curls that went past her shoulders in beautiful brown spirals. "I love you, sister," Karina whispered, tears rolling down her red cheeks as the gun went off and all Anastasia saw was red as she opened her mouth and screamed.

"--I took my revenge. I killed half of their men, but obviously that meant nothing because as the saying goes 'cut one head off, two more shall appear.'"

Steve was gentle with her, his hand taking hers. He was warm. Warmer than she thought he would be. She understood, in this moment in the quiet alone, why Torrance loved him. Torrance wouldn't dare say it out loud, but Ana knew. He was kind to her, gentle, sweet. He was everything she had dreamed of--

"Steve? Torrance?" 

They turned quickly, heads on a swivel as they stared at who was standing in the doorway of the hall. Heat began to spread up Ana's cheeks and down her neck as she stared at Bucky. Her Bucky, her Bucky.

"What are you two doing?" Bucky asked them, metal arm holding onto the doorframe. Steve's hand left hers instantly and there was suddenly at least two feet of distance between them.

"He's just helping me with my leg," Ana responded, liking the idea that she and Steve shared a secret. A bloody one, a dangerous one. "Since, you know, you wrecked our car and got me nearly pinned underneath the steering wheel."

Bucky rolled his eyes, sighing as he walked further into the kitchen. "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry and you'll finally forgive me?" He opened up the cabinet and grabbed a glass, filling it with water as he turned to face them. 

"Once my leg is fully healed and I kill the guy who turned you psycho in the car, then maybe I'll finally forgive you," she snapped back, playing as if she was Torrance.

She was always such a good actress.

"Give us a minute, will you Steve?" Bucky asked, placing his glass on the counter and giving Steve a look as Ana did the same, but hers with a wink.

Steve nodded, walking past them and slipping out into the hall. She heard his feet hit the stairs and across the floor above them as she looked at Bucky. He tucked his hair behind his ears and ran a hand over his face before whispering, "I'm sorry about today, but you need to tell me the truth. Is it really you in there, Torrance? Or did your trigger words really work?"

She stared at him, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She should tell him the truth, right? No. No. That wouldn't be smart. Lie. Lie to him. "They didn't work, it's still me. I'm still Torrance in here."

She always favored a lie over the truth. She liked deception, the falsehood slipping free past her lips. It was like a little game to her, playing with people.

He sighed. Was he relived? "You really scared me. We wouldn't know what to do if Ana came out into the folds. She's dangerous, you know this."

"You loved her, right?" she asked, heart still going crazy. "I know about your past with her. When you both were under Hydra's brainwashing. You loved her."

Killer's are always drawn together, their hearts mirror images, their brains depicting the same deranged films.

He looked away, silence overcoming them. After a few beats, he nodded, turning to look at her as he whispered, "It's true."

"We were going to get married," she whispered, taking lines straight from Torrance's play book. 

"It's not like you two were completely different people--"

"We are!" she shouted before covering her mouth with her hand. She spoke between her fingers. "We aren't the same people. Ana has a mind of her own, nearly separate from mine. Different personalities, different emotions...feelings."

"Torrance, we were brainwashed, we still loved each other--"

"But you loved her."

"And you're her."

She shook her head. "We aren't the same. I'm not her."

We're the same person, Ana. We always have been. I'm you and you're me. We are one.

She hit herself in the side of the head, trying to shut the voice up inside her head. Torrance knew better than to pop up at a time like this, when she needed to play it cool. This wasn't right. This shouldn't be happening. Ana was in control. She was in control. Not her. She can't take over her like this.

I'm the original, Ana. You have to stop playing these games with me, with them. I wanted you out to answer questions and you did, you can walk away now. Let me back in.

Slamming her palm into her head, she tried to shut her up. Bucky was staring at her, talking to her, but she couldn't hear over the growing static as Torrance tried to scream her way free from her own subconsciousness. It'd been too long since they last communicated, it was all too overwhelming, hearing the echoing scream of Torrance's voice shatter through her brain.

Let me back in! Let me back! You can't keep me out forever! You can't stop me! You and I both know you need my help to stop Hydra and to keep them from using your old lover as a weapon, but guess what asshole, he was my lover first--

"He's mine!" she screamed before clamping her mouth shut with both hands as she stumbled away from the counter.

"Torrance--" Bucky started, eyes narrowing as he tried to reach out and grab her. "--Anastasia."

She tripped, nearly sprawling out across the floor as she scrambled to get to the front door. Bucky was rushing after her, calling her name. Her name. Ana's hand wrapped around the doorknob and she struggled to open it, hands feverishly working with the lock as hands grabbed her. Slamming her back against the door, one hand against her throat and the other on the wall.

"I should've known," Bucky whispered, metal hand clamped down loosely on her neck. He didn't want to hurt her, only keep her pinned, to let her know who was in charge. "You always did think you were different from her, separate--"

"I am," she said back, giving him a smile as she stared up at him through her lashes. "We might share a body, but we aren't the same people--"

"You're just a fragmented version of a delusional killer who was used by the wrong people," he said back, eyes narrowing. "You're just a darker version of Torrance, always have been."

She raised her arms, slamming him back. He fell backwards into the coach, landing on the ledge and looking at her, startled. She turned quickly, unlocking the door and flinging it open easily before running out into the night. 

~

Ana was miles from the safe house, walking into a dark neon lit hallway, music blaring from down the hall as lights whipped around the doorway. She ran her hands over the walls, wondering what it was like to be so in control all of the time, to not have a mission drilled into her pleasing skull. 

She entered the room and was alarmed to find beautiful women dancing against dark backdrops and lit up stages as men and women both cheered and threw cash like it was candy. She side stepped a waitress wearing something she wished she could pull off as she finally saw who she was looking for.

Across the room, sitting in a closed off room, she got a peek at him as the door shut. He was just like any other Hydra assassin, but he was out of his element here. He wasn't as safe as he thought he was with his big security guards standing outside his room. He was in her turf now, women ruled this place and so should she.

It was easy to get into the changing room and it was even more easy to pull an outside from the rack and get dressed in one of the little changing rooms. She slipped into the tiny outfit that left her move revealed then she had ever been on a mission. The wig was next, something she had seen at one of the many makeup stations outside her little room, just waiting for her to try on and wear. It was short and black and made her look like a completely different person. She loved it. She loved being undercover. She loved being unseen, unnoticed, and completely forgettable. 

Stealing heels would be more difficult, they would have to be in her size and she was worried most of them wouldn't be eights but she got lucky enough with a nine on her first try. Finishing off her look, she applied easy makeup with a bright red lip before leaving with a string of other girls, blending in more easily than she thought. 

Ana adjusted her top, pushing her boobs up and smiling darkly at the body guard as she approached. He instantly stepped in front of her way of the door, looking down at her like a little mouse, "Boss doesn't want any new girls."

She pouted, playing a character, "Oh come on, why don't you just ask him for me? Heard he might like brunettes."

He stared at her before whispering something into his shirt where he must've hidden a communications device before looking her up and down and saying into the mic, "Tall, brunette, nice lips, even nicer rack." She felt disgusted, holding back her scowl as she made a promise to herself to kill him later.

The door opened and she was ushered inside, where the lights were a little more intense and the music just a little louder. The man she had been looking for sat across from her with three girls on his arm looking at her just like another piece of meat. His dark eyes told her not to be fooled by his charm as she went even further to assess the room.

Three guards inside, two by the door, one behind the boss. Three girls, not including herself, so she would have to get them out before she really got to business.

Ana stood by the door, hands on her hips as she smiled, "I'm a private showing type of girl, if you ladies don't mind."

They looked at her and then back at the boss and he nodded, wiping his mouth with his fingers as he studied her, eyes moving up and down in a piggish way that made her blood boil and her skin crawl.

What surprised her the most was the other girls got up when her flicked his wrist, motioning for them to go towards the door. Ana watched them leave, door shutting softly behind her over the music. She walked forward, approaching him with slight caution before placing her knee on the couch and swinging her other leg over to rest on the other side of him before sitting in his lap, hands on his shoulders as she whispered to him in her best sultry voice, "Want me to show you real fun?"

He smiled, hands going to her waist. "What can you give me that the others couldn't?"

Hydra. Hydra. Hydra. Hydra. I must impress everyone, they must know me-no. They must know my name. My father will be nothing compared to me-me-me.

"It's simple," she said, cooing to him as she slid off him and pulled him to his feet. She circled him, running her hand from his chest to his back as she pulled his coat off. "All you have to do-" she ran her fingers over his chest, face pressed into his back as she took hold the buttons of his shirt, undoing them easily. "-is relax and listen." She pulled his shirt up, getting it untucked and open as she circled him again so she could face him. She ran her hands through his hair and he smiled as she pulled him closer to her as she whispered, "Your father was a bad man."

"My what-?"

She grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him closer as she hissed to him and only him, "Make a sound and I'll snap your neck."

He nodded and she could see how wide his eyes were getting from the corner of her eyes.

Who the fuck does she think she is? Is she another agent? Or wait. Wait-wait-I recognize her-but from where. Don't let her know, keep it cool-cool-cool, you're cool.

"Did you know he worked for Hydra or did you just decide to go into that profession yourself?" she whispered, giving him a smile to tell him it was okay for him to speak as she took one of his hands and placed it on her hip and held onto the other as they danced softly to the loud music, hoping the guards didn't listen or find this as weird as they could've.

"He was one of the best," he said back. "Someone who was seen as important." She was surprised he had a normal accent, knowing most Hydra agents from her time didn't come without a heavy accent. "I tried following in his footsteps-"

It didn't work. I will never be as great as him-he was better-he will always be better-

"And that lead you here?" she said, running her hand on his shoulder up to his neck to brush the hair from his worried face and back down to his shoulder, running her hand under the opening of his shirt to feel the heat coming off him like a heater. "To a strip club of all places?"

"Maybe," he said and she felt him relax only a little against her. "What lead you here then? Me or the job?"

Please say me, God-just say me.

She smiled, using him to spin herself slowly and to press her back against his chest and swaying like it was only them in the room. "I want to say the job, but we both know that's not the truth."

She's so fucking hot-she doesn't know what the hell she's doing. The guard was right-right-she's gorgeous. 

He rested his head against hers, face close to her ear as he whispered, "What do you want from me? Because I don't believe you can kill me as easily as you say."

"Maybe I don't want to kill you," she lied, spinning back around, pressing her hands flat against his bare chest and pushing him back against the couch. He fell back, looking up at her breathlessly as she resumed her position from early, sitting up against him as his hands from the braces of her garter. "Maybe I just want to know why your father was so fascinated with the Super Soldier Serum, that's all."

"Who wasn't?" he questioned. "Every single person of that era was obsessed with the shit, hell, we still are. Some still wondering who gave up the serum, the big guys in charge wouldn't dare tell us the truth." He looked up at her, one hand reaching up to run the back of his hand against her cheek. "You're one of us, aren't you? Sent here to mess with me? Get me to crack?"

I've already cracked-cracked like an egg. Help-don't tell them-I'm a good agent-I swear-swear-swear-

She leaned closer, "Maybe." She ran her hands up to his face and leaned closer, letting her lips brush against his, playing him. "Why does Hydra want Barnes back?" she murmured against his mouth. "They won't tell me, but since your father was so important, maybe you'd know?"

She's playing me-she's making me break. It's working-I'd listen to her forever. She knows who I am and I fear I know her. I don't want to hurt-hurt-my father hurt me. My father is dead-did she? Did Anastasia really kill him? 

When she pulled back, he moved forward with her, straining to kiss her as she pulled away entirely to let him speak. He licked his lips before saying, "The Avengers aren't so great and everyone here knows it. Some heroes they are, destroying every city they're in. Killing their fair share of us when Barnes got away, tarnishing all of our plans and finally exposing us in S.H.I.E.L.D. Who wouldn't be pissed? Barnes is just an easy target, hell, he even got him to revert back to the soldier he is not just a day ago. It's easy to frame him, it's easy to use him, especially against Rogers."

"Why not kill them ourselves?" she cooed, leaning closer but not to kiss him as his hands dangerously neared her ass. "Wouldn't that just be easier?"

He smiled. "You really haven't heard, have you?"

"Heard what?"

"Anastasia is back. We found her."

She sent her. She's her. She's here. Who is this woman? Really?

"Found her? Where?"

"Here, with Barnes."

He knows. He knows. Ana, get out of there, she heard the pesky voice perk up in the back of her head.

He doesn't know shit, she thought to herself, ignoring Torrance's ignorant pleas, but she was just as ignorant.

"What are you going to do with her?" she asked, letting her lips brush against his once more to get his full attention. "She doesn't even know who she is, remember? We wiped her after the war."

"Rumors have it that she gave the serum up, but because I don't know that for sure, I can't just go around getting people to help me kill her. The big guys in charge won't say shit, no one will."

"But why kill her? Why not just wipe her and get her under control again?"

"Torrance is easy to wipe," he explained to her. "Anastasia has a mind of her own, we created a monster."

Okay. That hurt.

"She won't break," he whispered. "We broke her the night they killed her sister, everyone knows it. Bringing Torrance's sister in-it was wrong. But damn did it feel good. My father says it was one of his greatest reliefs."

Hit her where it hurts-hurt her. Break her down.

She smiled, fighting back the urge to snap his neck and get the guards attention. "Thanks for the history lesson."

He grinned, hands gripping her thighs tightly. "Glad you liked a refresher, Anastasia."

She didn't falter, instead furrowing her brows and laughing with a strained, "What?" She knew he knew, but she wasn't going to let him know that.

"I know it's you," he stated, pushing her off him and onto the floor, shocking her as her near bare ass smacked the hard floor beneath her. "I knew it was you the minute you walked in, but glad you thought you could fool me." 

He stood as she did and she snapped out, "So what are you going to do now? Kill me?"

"Would be my pleasure," he smiled sadistically as he pulled a gun up from in between the couch cushions and aiming it at her. He didn't pull the trigger, staring at her and frowning, "Would you be a dear a just lay down? Keep the blood splatter to a minimum?"

She smiled something sickly.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she chimed, eyes dark and narrowed as she sighed, "It's just your father would be so disappointed in you."

Something unrecognizable flashed in his eyes and she moved quickly, jutting her hand out and watching as he fired into the ceiling instead of her skull. She spun around, using his arm to aim and smashing his fingers against the trigger to stop the incomings from the two guards at the door, but not forgetting the one who stood near the back of the room behind the couch. 

The two guards at the door were easier to kill, just two bullets. 

One for each.

The one behind her caught her off guard, hearing his gun go off through the loud music and hit her in the arm and she barely let out a scream before twisting the gun free and firing three rounds into the guards chest before turning on the man, watching as he cowered, hands up and afraid.

Blood ran freely from her arm, dripping against the dark floor and running bright red ribbons across her skin. It throbbed and pulsated with life and she ignored it, she was good at ignoring the pain. 

"Where are you all hiding out? Where the hell is Hydra now and why are they coming after me and my friends?" she demanded, both hands on the gun.

"You're friends? You think the Avengers are you're friends?" he laughed. "They're using you! For fucks sake-look at yourself! Why would they trust you?!"

"Do they know where we are?!" she screamed, arm shaking. "Do they know where we're hiding?!"

"Not yet, but soon," he scowled.

"Where are they now?"

"I won't ever tell."

She fired a bullet into his thigh without another thought, asking again.

He was screaming, seething through an open mouth as he collapsed to the ground. He was a child in the eyes of her, in the eyes of the gun.

She asked again, stepping forward and slamming her heel into the wound and feel the squish of his thigh. "Next bullet will go into your skull, so tell me."

He looked up at her through teary eyes as he choked out and string of numbers.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

He grinned through the tears that fell down his cheeks. "Coordinates."

"For where they are right now?"

"No," he shook his head. "They're for the next attack, for when they finally plan on taking Barnes back completely and putting a bullet in your brain."

She ran the numbers through her head, memorizing them and also knowing the little voice that bothered her the most would remember them as well as she raised the gun and aimed, "Say hello to your father, will ya? Tell him Ana says hi."

Pulling the trigger was easier than breaking, watching the blood escape from the base of his skull and splattered across the floor and wall, the music drowning out the noises. She turned just as the door opened, hair flying on her shoulders as she raised the gun at the guard who raised his, slowly coming into the room and shutting the door with his back. He stared at her and she stared back as he snapped, "Who the fuck are you?"

She smiled, pulling the trigger and watching blood fly.