Music is "The War" by SYML.

Picture is Tatiana Maslany as Emma Barnes.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Remember That I Love You

The first thing I see when I get within range of the Insight carriers is Steve plummeting through the air, Sam on his tail. He catches him, drags him up to the helicarrier, and then the Winter Soldier attacks. Steve goes off the edge again, and the Winter Soldier tears one of Sam's wings off.

I force my hoverboots to take my higher and faster, moving my legs in longer strides.

But I'm too late. Sam falls from the carrier, one wing broken off. He spirals downwards, and I dive for him. "Sam!" I scream.

"I have a parachute!" he shouts over our com link. "Help Steve!"

Despite feeling guilty about leaving my new friend to fend for himself, I nod and jetteson upwards, looking for Steve. I saw him fall from the ship but lost track of him after that. I pause mid-air, searching the skies with my eyes.

"Steve!" I shout. "Where are you?"

"Cap!" Sam shouts. "Cap, come in. Are you okay?"

I hear Steve's voice strain over the link, "Yeah, I'm here!" A grunt, and then, "I'm still on the helicarrier."

"Where?" I demand, looking upwards.

"Port bow," he replies. "Where are you guys?"

"I'm grounded," Sam replies glumly. "The suits down. Sorry, Cap."

"Don't worry," Steve replies. "We've got it. Emma?"

"On my way to you," I reply, taking off. "Sam, make your way back to Maria. Make sure she gets out of the building. Beware of STRIKE teams."

"Roger that. Falcon out."

I rise to the level of the carrier and land on the surface. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the sun glint of a piece of metal. When I turn, I see nothing there.

The Winter Soldier's gone, and he's not finished yet.

I find Steve on my way to the underside of the carrier, near the dome-like structure that holds the interface we need to hack. I join him, and we run wordlessly onto the small, metal bridge that stretches from the side of the ship into the dome.

Then we see him. I stop dead in my tracks, eyes widening at the sight of him.

The Winter Soldier. Bucky. My James.

I thought I'd convinced myself that this person is no longer the man I love. He killed Zelma. He killed Howard. He tried to kill Grant and Fury, and would have been successful if it weren't for extraneous circumstances.

But when he's standing two meters away from me, without a mask or a gun in his hand, I feel my heart break all over again.

"People are gonna die, Buck," Steve utters, projecting his voice across the space between us. "We can't let that happen."

The Winter Soldier shows no signs of empathy or sympathy. He stares straight ahead at us, sizing us up like a predator does their prey.

"Please, James," I plead, looking him in the eye. "Remember me. Remember us."

Bucky turns to look directly to me, but his face doesn't change. Neither does his body language. I might as well have been an animal or inanimate object to him.

Steve slips his hand into his pocket, then retrieves a small, metal chip. He slowly hands it to me. "You go for the interface," he orders. I got this."

I take the chip and slip it into the uniform pocket, knowing he's giving me the far less painful task.

"Please, don't make me do this," Steve whimpers.

But the Winter Soldier gives no sign of agreement. Steve stands taller, then pulls back his arm and slings the shield towards his former best friend. Bucky blocks it with his metal arm, pulling a gun from his holster.

This is what I've been fearing all day.

That I'll have to be the one that actually kills Bucky Barnes.

Steve and Bucky start fighting, and I slip over the edge of the metal railing. I use my hover boots to avoid the conflict, landing behind Bucky and in front of the interface. All I have to do is slip my chip in place of HYDRA's. Then we win.

I hear Steve yelp in pain, then I feel a hand on my hair. Bucky's metal hand grasps tightly around my locks, yanking me away from the interface. He slings me over the edge of the railing, into the air. I barely catch myself before my body collides with the glass dome. I push off it and fly at a high speed towards Bucky, knocking him back into the interface with my bowstaff.

I hover mid-air, looking down to Steve. He's pulled himself up, but I see a bullet has grazed his rips. It doesn't look too bad, for which I'm grateful.

Bucky stands, pulling a knife from his belt. He bends down, crouching like a wild cat.

I engage first, throwing all my strength into my arms and bowstaff. I dodge Bucky's knife, knocking him in the head with the metal staff. Bucky uses his leg to kick me away, turning instead to fight Steve. I catch myself before I fall and turn around, assaulting from behind. Bucky dodges Steve's shield, then turns around to block my bowstaff.

"Open the interface!" I shout at Steve, distracting Bucky.

Steve runs for the interface column, starting to type on the screen. I knock Bucky's knife from his hand, getting close enough to draw a gun on him. I press it against his chest, for a moment considering pulling the trigger.

But I can't.

In my hesitation, the Winter Soldier knocks my bowstaff from my grasp, tossing it over the edge. I hear it clatter on the glass of the dome, some twenty-feet down. I'll never get it back now. He takes the gun from my hand and arms himself with it, pulling me into a headlock. He turns me towards Steve, putting the glock to my head.

"Stop, or she dies," he utters.

It's the first time I've heard his voice in seventy years. It's the first time, and he's threatening to kill me.

Steve stops what he's doing. I shake my head, but the Winter Soldier tightens his metal arm around my neck.

I slip my hand into my pocket, tossing the chip towards Steve. Bucky moves the gun from my head and aims it for the chip. He fires, and it hits the edge of the chip. It ricochets off the bridge, clattering into the dome floor.

Bucky places the gun to my back. "I won't say it a third time."

Steve hesitates moving anywhere, his eyes flickering between Bucky and me. I can see the agony in his eyes. He has an ultimatum: save the world and I die, or save me and the world dies. Steve isn't good with decisions that involve the lives of his friends, his family.

I make the decision for him. I turn around in Bucky's grip, pushing the glock into my chest. I move my hand to the weapon, looking Bucky directly in the eyes, probably for the last time.

"Remember that I love you," I tell him with watery eyes. "Remember I always will."

Then I pull the trigger.

Over the past century, I've died just about every way you can. I've been shot. I've been stabbed. I've frozen in the Arctic wasteland.

But I've never been shot by the man I love.

I feel the wind on my face as I fall from the metal bridge, then I feel my back make contact with the glass dome. I hear an agonizing voice scream my name.

Steve. At least he'll be able to save everyone, save Grant. He's a hero. He'll be...He'll be okay.

And I'll be back. Not today, not even tomorrow. Maybe not even this year. But I'll be back.

Someday.

With fuzzy vision, I see Bucky and Steve collide and fall off the bridge. A fury of patriotic colors and black turns into nothing in the corner of my eye. My head lulls to the side. Out the window, I see the Triskellion. I wonder if Natasha's completed her job. I wonder if Maria is still safe. I wonder if Sam has joined her.

I wonder if Pierce is dead yet or if Fury is still using him.

The cold feeling in my lower chest makes me gasp for air. I know the bullet's gone straight through my lung, quite possibly taken some biological material with it.

I'm going to bleed out, but it missed my heart. I was hoping it would hit that organ, make the end easier, but I know from experience that it'll be minutes before I'm gone.

I can only pray I'll pass out from blood loss before that.

Or maybe Bucky will come back to finish the job.

I'm not sure how much time passes in my thoughts, but a few moments later, I hear Maria's voice in my ear.

"One minute."

That means Steve hasn't finished the mission yet. He'st still fighting Bucky. There's still a carrier in operation. We haven't won yet.

And there's not a damn thing I can do. I'm lying on the curve of a glass dome inside a HYDRA angel of death.

A gunshot.

And another.

"Thirty seconds, Cap!"

"Stand by."

A third shot fires.

"Charlie..."

Then nothing but labored breathing.

No, not Steve. Not him, too. Take me. Just take me.

"Charlie lock."

If I could breathe a sigh of relief, I would. Instead, all I can do is try to keep my eyes open a minute longer.

"Okay, get out of there Cap, Lady."

"Fire now," Steve orders.

"But Steve--"

"--Do it! Do it now!"

Then the Insight carrier starts to shake. I can feel the missiles from the other carriers ripping the metal beast apart, pieces falling out of the sky. The payload that was supposed to kill million is being released on three targets.

We've won.

But at what cost?

Bucky lets out a pained scream, and I turn my head to the other side, choking on the blood reaching my mouth. He's trapped by a large piece of metal that's fallen on top of him.

Steve jumps down from the bridge, clutching at the wound in his middle. He rushes over to me, trying to help me. "Emma," he whispers, eyeing my injury.

I shake my head. "B-Bucky."

Steve glances over to Bucky, then back to me. "We have to get out of here."

"I will live," I say, choking. "Help Bucky."

Steve jumps up to do as I say, pulling the large piece of metal from Bucky's body. Bucky slips out from under the metal as the Insight carrier collides with the Triskellion.

"You know me."

"No, I don't!"

"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes."

"Shut up!"

After a brutal beating, Steve stands, bloodied, and drops his shield. It falls through the broken dome, sinking into the Potomac River below. "I'm not gonna fight you. You're my friend."

Bucky lunges at Steve, throwing them both to the ground. "You're my mission."

I close my eyes and turn away, not wanting to see what Bucky does next in his HYDRA-state. A tear slips from my eyes, and I allow myself to accept the end.

But I can still hear the punches. "You're my mission!" Bucky screams.

"Then finish it, 'cause I'm with you 'til the end of the line."

The dome gives out beneath us. For a moment, I feel gravity letting go of me. I feel weightless. I feel like I'm flying.

Then I feel the water. I sink below the surface, recalling the familiar feeling of drowning. I keep my eyes closed, not wanting to see it happening all over again, let alone knowing that Steve is dying right beside me.

I suppose we'll both have to accept our watery graves. We escaped the water once. I don't think it'll happen a second time.

Then I feel a hand tighten around my arm, pulling me upwards. In my half-dead state, I assume it's an angel who's come to pull my soul from my body, taking it to Heaven.

When I open my eyes, all I see is cloudy, grey skies above me. Under my fingertips, I feel wet sand and waves rippling at my legs. I look to my side, seeing Steve beside me. He's knocked out, but breathing.

Heaven is stranger than I thought.

The angel who saved me stands over me, except he's no angel from God at all. It's Bucky. He's bent down beside me, looking at my wound with a look of...guilt.

I reach my hand up towards him with the last of my strength, feeling my breath slip away. "What's a fella like you...doing in a place...like this?" I choke out, quoting the line we always teased each other with.

Bucky's eyes widen, and his metal hand reaches out towards my hand. He almost touches his fingers with mine. "You kn-know me, Dol--" He stops himself, shaking his head. "I have to go."

I drop my hand, and Bucky stands to leave. As he walks away, he glances over his shoulder at me.

I close my eyes, allowing my last breath to slip from my lips. Then I feel nothing, not the cold nor the water nor the pain in my chest cavity. I can die now with peace of mind, knowing that when I awaken, I'll find Bucky and make him remember me.

He's in there somewhere, and I'm willing to try.

END CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Remember That I Love You.