Jessica kicks the locked door open with the heel of her boot. Steve, who had been standing beside her with his shield at the ready, lowers it, an impressed look on his face. Sam smirks.

"We need floor number fifty-four," Maria ignores them, starting up the staircase.

Sam and Jessica follow behind her with Steve bringing up the rear. They don't expect any trouble in this part of the Triskelion; hardly anyone monitors the maintenance entrances. In a building full of skilled agents and assassins, there is hardly any need.

Today is a different story. In order to replace the original coded chips with their modified ones, they need to be able to hack into the system.

"Unplug those wires," Maria instructs them when they've reached the control panel. "Eyes up."

Jessica unhooks the wires from the wall as Maria and Sam point their weapons at the door. Steve stands between them, preparing for whoever could open it.

The technician's eyes widen when he sees them. Instead of their original plan to ambush him, Steve says a simple, "Excuse us."

The man instantly puts his hands up and moves out of the way. All eyes turn as they enter the control room, but no one acts against them.

While they escort the people from the room, Sam mutters, "Easy part is over."

"Cold feet?" Jessica asks him.

He watches the last person leave before closing the door, "Never."

Maria sits down at one of the computers, typing quickly. Steve hovers over her.

"This microphone will broadcast to all of the internal speakers within the building," Maria announces. "You're up, Cap."

Their eyes all shift to Steve as he leans on the desk. He takes a deep breath before beginning his speech, "Attention all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt me down, but I think it's time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was; it's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you."

He pauses, letting that fact sink in before continuing.

"They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury and it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

Maria hits a button, and the microphone switches off.

"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" Sam asks, curiously.

Jessica chuckles as Steve shrugs. His modesty is quickly forgotten as they head up the stairs again. Maria navigates them through their earpieces now that she's controlling the security cameras.

When they make it out to the roof, Maria says, "They're initiating launch."

"Hey, Cap," Sam yells as they run, "how do we know the good guys from the bad guys?"

"If they're shooting at you, they're bad," Steve answers.

His doesn't slow down as he nears the edge. He actually runs faster so he can throw himself from the building onto the rising helicarrier below. At the same time, Sam takes off, grabbing Jessica's hand as she jumps as well and lowering her down onto the ship. He soars back into the sky when she's safely on the pavement.

Gunmen fire at them instantly, so Jessica somersaults behind stacked weapon crates. She pulls her gun from her holster before taking quick shots at them.

She leaps from barrier to barrier, but the number of agents shooting at her has grown drastically less. Steve appears beside her a moment later, his breathing ragged.

"Follow me," he says.

They charge the rest of the way. Whoever Steve doesn't knock out with his shield, Jessica takes care of with non-fatal shots. HYDRA agents or not, she can't imagine taking a life any time soon.

"Hey, Cap. I found those bad guys you were talking about," Sam yells, echoing in their earpieces.

Steve pushes her behind another set of crates as a group of agents round the corner, "You okay?"

"I'm not dead yet," Sam assures him.

They make it to the engine room a few minutes later. Jessica tries to keep up with Steve, but he's much faster than her, so she stands guard on the level above.

"Alpha lock," he says after he's clicked the chip into place.

"Falcon, where are you now?" Maria says in turn.

Jessica stops listening as Steve runs back up to her. They start back up the stairs to the flight bay.

"That wasn't too bad," she admits, though not oblivious to their unequal amount of work.

"Hopefully it stays that way," he agrees. "Can you fly one of these jets?"

The helicarrier has reached an entirely new height by the time they get outside. The helicarrier landing strip is lined with empty Quinjets. Sam confirms that he's connected the second chip as she gives Steve a crazed look.

"Not a chance," she says, staying as far away from the edge as she can.

Another swarm of HYDRA agents spots them. Jessica fires her gun while Steve attacks them directly.

"Heads up," Maria alerts them, "the Winter Soldier is headed your way."

Steve looks to the sky for a second at the third carrier. He glances over at Jessica before shaking his head at himself.

"Hey, Sam, gonna need a ride," Steve yells.

"Roger. Let me know when you're ready,"

Before she can do anything to stop him, Steve throws himself over the ledge, "I just did!"

Sam soars above them in the distance, but he quickly shifts to a swan dive as he goes after Steve. Jessica takes out the remaining soldiers before running to where she can see them.

Sam is just barely able to grab Steve before he hits the ground. Jessica, who had held her breath in anticipation, releases it shakily. She backs away from the side cautiously now that she's watched them land on the third helicarrier.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm ready for that," she admits, having to yell over the wind.

"That's okay. We've got it from here," Steve says through the speaker. "We'll come get you when we're done."

"That wasn't the plan," she reminds him, groaning, "Don't bench me, Steve."

"Jess—"

He doesn't get to finish his sentence. The Winter Soldier appears out of nowhere and shoves Steve off of the ship.

"Steve!" Sam and Jessica yell, though the scene is unfolding hundreds of feet above her.

She tries to spot him, but it's too far for her eyes to see. He didn't pass the bottom of the ship, so he must have landed somewhere on the helicarrier.

"Sam! Do you have eyes on Steve?" She questions, but he's too busy fighting to answer her.

She can feel her heart pound in her chest, louder and louder by the second. Her thoughts haunt her with the worst-case scenario as she looks for a way to get up there.

"Steve?" she tries again.

Silence.

Then she sees him. He's hanging off of an engine, but his hands are clearly slipping.

Above him, Sam falls with only one wing. He manages to open his parachute at nearly the last second. The Winter Soldier stands at the edge of the platform, looking down at Steve.

The feeling of helplessness that settles over Jessica quickly molds into something else. An uncomfortable sensation spreads over her body, make her close her eyes to force it away. When she opens them again, she looks out at the sky from an entirely different angle.

"What the—?" She gasps, realizing that she's standing on top of the engine she was just looking at.

Sam's voice echoes in her ear, "Cap, come in. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm here!" Steve yells, only feet below her now. "I'm still on the helicarrier. Where are you?"

"I'm grounded. The suit's down." Sam says, "Sorry, Cap."

"Don't worry. I got it," he assures him, reaching blindly for something to hold on to. He catches Jessica's hand when she bends down to help him up.

"Before you say anything," she begins, "I don't know how I got up here."

He shakes his head, responding angrily, "I told you to stay put."

"And I told you that your worry is insulting," she says, a bit defensive. "It doesn't matter. There's no way down."

He doesn't say anything to that. They run towards the maintenance door leading inside.

The Winter Soldier waits for them on the ramp in front of the ship's control center. He stares blankly, lacking even more emotion than when they saw him downtown. Steve keeps Jessica behind him as they approach a standoff.

"People are gonna die, Buck." He tries, "I can't let that happen."

He unhooks the coded chip from his belt and passes it to Jessica. As he does it, she realizes he's expecting a fight.

"Please don't make me do this," he begs, but Bucky stands tall against him.

Steve clenches his jaw. He throws his shield, but Bucky's metal arm sends it back to him. Gun shots echo through the room as he shoots at them. One bullet gets past Steve's defenses, skimming his side.

Jessica runs forward, the chip in one hand and her gun in the other. She dodges their fight to get to the keypad and hurriedly types in the password.

Bucky unsheathes his pocketknife behind her. He expertly weaves around Steve's counterattack until Bucky pushes him into her, landing them both on the ground. His metal hand grabs her around the neck, making the blade slip through her fingers.

Steve tackles them over the railing before his knife can pierce her skin. She lands roughly against the metal support beam, the only thing keeping her up is Steve's hold on her. He doesn't let go, even when a picture appears.

Bucky lands a few feet away from them. He gets up quickly, charging them again. Steve takes the full force of the blow as he throws her behind him.

Jessica coughs as she tries to catch her breath. The coded chip lays on the glass underneath them. It's too far of a drop for her to make it with her own strength, so she reaches forward and grabs Bucky's ankle.

A flood of power transfers to her, but he's quick to notice her hold on him. Even with Steve trying to distract him, Bucky kicks her off before crushing her hand between his boot and the metal.

She screams, feeling the bones crack as he stomps, applying unthinkable amounts of pressure. Steve punches him to get him off her, but the damage has already been done.

She focuses all of her energy on healing herself with the powers she stole. The bones click back together, but a different kind of pain stems from the tip of her thumb to her palm. She screams again.

Turning her head, she tries to let the cool metal against her cheek settle her panic. But when she opens her eyes, she sees the chip sitting below her on the glass. Pushing aside her discomfort, she lets herself fall feet first from the beam.

Bucky jumps down with Steve behind her. They land in a brawl on the ground as Bucky tries to fight him off. She looks around desperately for the blade now that it's been knocked out of her sight again, but she spots it near where they've fallen.

Jessica runs as fast as her feet can carry her toward them. Her hand lays cradled against her chest as she dives towards the chip.

She looks up when her fingers grasp it. Bucky stands there, staring back at her with his gun pointed between her eyes.

"Wait! Wait!" Steve yells, appearing a few feet from them. He pulls out the pocketknife from his stab wound as he takes painful steps forward, "Buck, please. Don't do this."

Jessica knows enough about the Winter Soldier to understand that he should have killed her by now. His hesitation says more than either of them realize, as does the conflicted expression on his face.

"I don't know who that is," Bucky spits through gritted teeth.

Jessica's entire body shakes as he presses the barrel against her skin. She's been on the bad side of guns for years of her life, but now she can't remember why it never scared her before.

"That woman you're about to kill. Her name is Jessica Torres," Steve says, appealing to his heart. "HYDRA wants her dead, but I can't let that happen. I know you don't want to do this. Buck, please."

She feels a single tear run down her cheek as Steve looks at her.

"I care about her," he admits. "Bucky—"

But Bucky's jaw clenches when he hears his name. Whatever it was that connected him to the moment suddenly fades away and something inside of him switches, he screams, "My name is not Bucky!"

And then he pulls the trigger.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter 18 - The Hardest Part

Completed on 07-19-21 at 12:46 pm

Hi. If you're here from NovelHD, you're reading stollen work. The original story is posted on Wattpad: @catching_raindrops

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Question: What is your opinion of Sam?

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Mae