You Must Remember This

Chapter 2 - Evelyn

Wakanda, 2016

The air burned his lungs as he breathed in. Bucky's eyes shot open, and he felt his heart racing a thousand miles per hour. Two strong hands kept him from falling forward.

"Wow, wow, easy. Slow breaths."

"S-Steve?" Bucky focused on his friend's voice. "Wha-... What's... H-How long...?"

"Not long." Steve helped him out of the pod. "Only a few days. Here, sit down."

Someone pushed a chair underneath Bucky. A warm blanket was draped around him. Thanks to the super-soldier serum in his veins, Bucky's senses were already adjusting to the change in temperature and environment, and he recognized Sam Wilson and Natasha Romanoff.

"Steve, what's going on? Wh-Why are Falcon and Widow still in Wakanda? Did something happen to the others?"

"Barton and Lang took Ross' deal and are at home under house arrest. Maximoff contacted Vision; they're in France, last we heard. Natasha and Sam are staying for the moment. They're gonna help us out."

"Help us out?" Bucky frowned. "Steve, why did you wake me up? What happened?"

"An assassin got through Wakanda's defenses."

"My God... Are T'Challa and his family okay?"

"They weren't the target, Buck; you were."

"Me?"

Natasha gently touched Bucky's left shoulder. He shivered. Even though his arm was gone, he could still feel every single thing. The nerves only grew more sensitive over the years, it seemed. He turned his head sideways to her, and she passed him a tablet.
The screen showed security footage of a holding cell. Inside was a young woman, a girl still really. Bucky narrowed his eyes.

"It can't be," he murmured.

"You know who she is?" probed Natasha.

"For a second, I thought that... But no, it's impossible."

"What?" insisted Sam.

"She just looks a lot like this S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who kept interfering with me. Or rather, with the Winter Soldier. I never figured out how she managed to track me, but she did every single time. After the first few times, I realized that stopping me wasn't a mission for her; something personal made her come after me. She was relentless. She fought me with everything she had and nearly killed me once too. She was my greatest nemesis."

He noticed the looks between the others.

"What?"

Steve leaned in and touched the screen. It zoomed in on a jacket. Bucky's heart began to race in his chest when he read the name; Nemesis.

"No, no, it can't be her." He shook his head frantically, his hair dropping at the side of his face before he looked up at Steve. "The Soldier killed her. He... I laid a trap for her, and I... I killed her."

"When was this?"

"1991. Two days after... Long Island."

He couldn't say it. But he didn't have to. They all knew what Long Island was. Especially Steve. He'd seen the footage himself.

"I remember I found it strange that she wasn't there to stop me, considering Stark was her boss, but I knew she couldn't be far behind. I lured her to Niagara and used Stark's death to my advantage. She lost control because she let her emotions get the better of her, and I finally managed to overpower her. When she was in my grasp, I didn't hesitate; I slit her throat and threw her over the falls. There's no way she survived that. She... She couldn't have."