Family - What If...?

Part 2

Your party moved as quickly as they could through the tunnels to the rendezvous point. Hill had disguised herself as a Hydra agent and was able to throw them off your scent so she could lead you all to safety. You didn't trust her at first, but everyone else seemed to know her, so you decided she was clean, but you'd still keep a close eye on her.

You were met by a doctor who immediately took Natasha and began to treat her. He lead you all into a make shift hospital room, where laying in the bed, alive, was one of your previous targets. A bit of shock hit you, then a wave of relief. That's one less person to have on your conscience. You knew he probably wouldn't exactly like you, but that was okay. He was alive and that was more than you could hope for.

It seemed as though at least most of your party reacted the same way you did, but Steve seemed a little angry.

The man in the bed watched you as you entered. "You bring her here to finish the job?" he asked, mostly a joke, you hoped.

You decided it would be best for you to remain silent and let Steve and Bucky do the talking, at least for now. Bucky officially introduced you to everyone and he and Steve explained what they could from the pieces of information they had. You stood behind them silently, avoiding everyone's tense glances as they listened to Steve and Bucky. You kept your gaze on the ceiling, the floor, the wall, the table, anything that wasn't a person. Even the doctor seemed uncomfortable in your presence.

"So, you were brainwashed or something?" Sam asked.

You shrugged. "I guess so. I think they called it a wipe."

Natasha stood from her seat and met you face to face. You watched her as she approached you. It seemed as though she was sizing you up, so you remained confident in your appearance, but on the inside you still felt ashamed. As she stood in front of you, you could see in her eyes that she meant you no harm.

"Wanna help us take out the jerks who did this to you?" she asked.

A smile tugged at your lips. "More than anything," you answered.

She smiled at your response.

"I'm sorry, by the way," you said quietly, gesturing to her shoulder. "And you too," you turned to Fury in his hospital bed. "I didn't know."

Fury waved his hand in dismissal. "Ah, don't worry about it, we'll be fine. Right Romanoff?"

Natasha smirked and shrugged with her good shoulder. "I've had it worse."

"Look," you began, "I know I can't ask any of you to forgive me for what I've done, but I want to help. I want to try and make things right."

"And we're gonna need all the help we can get," Fury said, attempting to sit up in his bed. The doctor moved to help him, but Fury held up a hand to tell him to leave him alone. He finally got to his feet and began painfully making his way to the outside of the makeshift hospital room.

"Follow me," he ordered everybody.

You all glanced around at each other wondering what he had in store, then decided to comply and follow him. He lead you all to a small table that had pieces of equipment and a laptop sitting on it's surface. He grunted as he lowered himself into the chair. Hill took the seat next to him and Natasha the one across. The rest of you stood around the table, waiting for Fury to reveal why he had brought you all out here.

He and Hill began to explain the plan. Three chips, three hellicarriers. It sounded simple enough. Besides, there were five of you, but even with Natasha infiltrating the World Security Council, that still left you with Sam, Steve, Bucky, and you each taking down at least one hellicarrier and someone ending up with a teammate. But you knew how tight the security was going to be, especially if Hydra was in control. It could turn out to be a challenge, but you were ready to blow off some steam, especially against Hydra.

It was decided that you and Steve would be the ones to team up to take down a hellicarrier. You weren't surprised. You figured you'd end up with a babysitter, but you were okay with it. You didn't completely trust yourself either.

Everyone was able to pick up the plan fairly quickly, so Steve went out to get some fresh air and you decided that now would probably be a good time to talk to Bucky. He seemed to be waiting for you in the most private corner of the room he could find so you wouldn't bother anyone else around.

He smiled warmly at you as you approached. "Hey," he started, "you doing okay?"

You shrugged. "I think so."

"Hey, I know that this must be a lot for you to take in right now. Trust me, it's been a lot for me too," he said.

"How long?" you asked.

"What?" Bucky replied, confused as to what you meant.

"How long did you think I was dead?"

He pursed his lips and looked at his feet. "About seventy years," he answered.

You felt the blood drain from your face. "Oh, I- I'm sorry," was all you could say.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. None of this is."

"I don't know about that," you said, your gaze falling to your feet as you shoved your hands into your pockets, not really knowing what to do with yourself.

"Hey," he said, trying to get you to look at him. "I know you, and I know that if you ever had any say in the matter, you would have put up a pretty good fight," he said with a small smile.

He was right. You knew he was right. But you still couldn't believe it. You were still the one that pulled the trigger. And all those people would never leave you, no matter what you told yourself.