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Pierce stood a few feet in front of you. “Belladonna.”
You looked up at him with the same lifeless expression, but he knew he had your attention.
“We rarely let you prowl the world, after.. the incident. I think it’s time you take a little spin, stretch your legs. What do you think?”
“What would you like me to do, sir?” You asked.
“Eager, are you? I like to see that.” He smiled. You remained silent and stony. He continued with, “I want you to hunt down and exterminate The Winter Soldier.”
For a brief moment, your mind held a disobedient thought. You didn’t want to. Yet, you were programmed to hate the world, and respect Hydra. You didn’t think, didn’t speak unless spoken to, and most certainly never did anything that wasn’t ordered of you. There was a certain emptiness about that life, but, even if you tried, you couldn’t begin to place a finger on it.
Every bone, every instinct, said to follow Pierce. So, that’s what you did.
~*~
It had taken you a matter of days to track down The Winter Soldier, but you’d found him rather easily. He was all over the news. It didn’t take a genius to find him.
You stood in an apartment of a building neighboring the Avenger’s tower. You had a bag with a dress, a wig and a vial of poison. You would fit in perfectly with Stark’s guests for the semi-annual Pediatric Cancer Charity Event.
Facing the mirror, you reached for the purple, satin dress and held it up against your naked frame. It was truly beautiful. For a moment, you wished you knew what it was like to be able to focus on trivial things. Had you been able to at one point? You couldn’t be sure.
The thought was quickly eradicated and replaced with your goal: Kill The Winter Soldier.
~*~
Steve hated Tony’s parties. He found them gross and distasteful. He only attended because Bucky loved Tony’s parties. It was an excuse to drink away his anxieties and depression, and (sometimes) find a hook-up at the end of a party.
Music blasted in the room. Steve sat across from Bucky at the bar. He nursed a coke, meanwhile, Bucky was on his fifth shot that evening.
“Bottom’s up,” Bucky gulped down the shot of Vodka.
Steve grimaced. “You’re going to have a killer headache tomorrow.”
“That’s the point.” Bucky winked.
“If you ever need anyone to talk to-”
Bucky rolled his eyes. “Steve! I am fine.”
“Excuse me, Mr Barnes,” said a soft feminine voice. Bucky and Steve looked up at the sound of the voice. There stood a woman in a dress the color of an eggplant. She had black hair that had been pulled back into a smooth bun. She was also holding two shots of some alcohol.
But something was familiar about her face. Steve couldn’t pinpoint it.
She gazed down at the two men. Her hands held firm around the glasses.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty little thing?” Bucky said. His voice was anything but elegant.
She smiled shyly, but nothing about her demeanor seemed shy. She seemed determined. “I heard you’re a fan of Whiskey. I’ve brought you these.”
“You heard well,” said Bucky. He held out his hand and she handed him the shot glasses. “Thank you, doll.”
She nodded and disappeared back into the crowd. Steve watched her reappear by the bar. Her eyes were trained on the two of them.
Steve turned to his, at that point, very intoxicated friend. “She reminds me of someone.”
“Oh, yeah.” Bucky downed a shot. “She looks like Belladonna, but with kinder eyes.”
Steve looked back at the bar, but the woman had disappeared. “Isn’t that your partner assassin from Hydra?”
“Mhm!” Bucky downed the second shot. “Damn, she got some good stuff. That was amazing.”
Steve looked back at his friend. “Bucky. I think that was Belladonna.”
“No, Belladonna has been in Cryo for decades.”
“You sure?”
Bucky looked between his friend and the glasses. “Fuck.”
~*~
You had made it to the bottom floor. The exit was a mere ten yards away. You could hear the alarm bells ringing throughout the complex. People rushed around you to get out. It was pure chaos.
You walked with slow deliberate steps, and maybe that was your mistake.
You heard the pounding steps of someone behind you before you were tackled to the floor. The people around didn’t seem to notice.
“I’ve got you now Belladonna.” The man on top of you pressed his weight into you, but he severely underestimated your strength. You were a super soldier after all. You pushed yourself up in one quick swoop and whipped around to face him. It was the same blonde Avenger.
You were quick and gave him a forceful kick to the head, right as he stood up. He was knocked back to the side, but that didn’t stop him.
He came back with a punch so strong you fell back.
You both engaged in a dance of kicks and punches until the Avenger had you on your stomach and hands in cuffs. With one final kick to the head, you were out.
~*~
Steve stood staring at Bucky through the glass. That soldier had almost killed his friend.
“Steve,” Tony said. Steve looked over at the man.
“Did you get intel on her?”
“Well, we found out quite a bit..”
Steve heaved a sigh. Maybe there was hope. “Tell me.”
“Her birth name is Y/n Robert. She was born in 1917-"
“There’s no fucking way.”
Tony laughed, “Damn, you know her?”
“She was a friend ours--mine and Bucky's. Bucky was head over heels for her," Steve smiled, “He even called her his doll.”
“Sounds a little possessive, if you ask me.”
Steve turned his attention back to Bucky. He was hooked up to countless machines and completely out of it. Whatever Y/n had given him had been almost enough to kill him. Almost.
“He’s going to be heartbroken when he finds out.”
~*~
Bucky had just come to his senses when Steve broke the news.
“Buck, she’s alive.”
His eyes went wide. “What?”
“Tony did a background check and everything, and-”
“And?”
“Belladonna is Y/n.”
Bucky gasped. “Holy shit.”
Seconds later, he was pushing himself out of the bed. He had to see her. He jumped out of the bed, but stumbled. Steve grabbed him by the arm to catch his fall.
“I need to see her.” He said.
“Okay.”
~*~
“Doll?” rasped a voice--hoarse and low, yet hopeful.
You paused your pacing. You took a good look at the source of the voice. The Winter Soldier. He was sickly pale and sat in a wheelchair.. He looked weak, unrecognizable even, but his voice sounded familiar.
“Doll, if you’re in there,” he said, “it’s me, James.”
The name rang a bell, and left you wondering if you knew the man before you. Not as a mission code name or a handler or even a combat partner, but something more.
Yet, it couldn’t be anything more. You’d only ever known Pierce, pain and the regiment bestowed upon you. So, you pushed the thought away, but he came back with more.
“Do you remember how we used to dance at the bar? You could never get your feet in the right rhythm,” The Winter Soldier said with a smile on his face.
The memory stirred inside of you. You could picture it in your mind; it felt distant, but there. You could hear the laughter and the piano.
Had that really been you?
“Y/n,” he whispered, “Please. Come back to me.”
Y/n. The name resounded through your mind. You knew that name. Y/n was you.
Suddenly the man staring at you was not the Winter Soldier, but James Barnes: your husband and friend.
“James?” you breathed.
James lurched. “Open the door!”
“Bucky, that is not a good idea-” began a woman with red hair and a brooding face.
“I don’t give a damn!” He shouted. “Open it!”
She obeyed. He jumped out of the wheelchair and stumbled towards you. He pulled you into his arms unceremoniously.
“My love..”
Tears threatened to spill. “James, is it really you? I am so sorry-”
He silenced your apology with a kiss--not longingly, or full of passion, but raw and aching. His hands cradled your face, as if you’d vanish again. The world stilled, and, for a moment, it was just you and James