Month Thirteen (January)

Progress was slow moving. I could only work on helping Bucky when we were out on missions. We were watched too closely at base for me to try anything. We weren't sent on many missions directly after Moscow. We stayed at base and continued to train. I tried to sneak things that would trigger a memory, but I had to be careful. I did work something into our nightly routine though.

Every night before the Soldier would sleep, he looked over to me.

"Don't worry," I told him. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be with you till the end of the line." Eventually, he started saying it back when it was his turn to watch. It made me feel safer behind enemy lines and I could tell the phrase brought him comfort, even if he was struggling to remember why it was important.

Every time I whispered a trigger word, I would see more and more of Bucky behind the Soldiers eyes, but it all reset when he fell asleep. Every morning he would wake up, the Winter Soldier and I would have to start over.

Once when we were training, I moved hair from in front of his eyes after a draw. He looked confused for a moment and touched his hair.

"It's too long." He mumbled. I smiled and shook my head.

"It's fine." I assured him before continuing with training.

Neither of us could pin the other. We were pretty evenly matched between my teleportation and his super strength. He learned to watch for the flash of light when I teleported. He was fast at countering, but so was I. This led to a constant draw between us. It was rare that one of us came out the winner, but when it happened we added another tick to our scorecard. The score was currently the Winter Soldier: four, Me: three, and he reminded me constantly that he was winning. He might not say it verbally, but he found a way.

At the very end of January we got a mission. There was a Russian mob boss visiting Prague. He had used HYDRA to climb the ranks before turning his back on them. We were to make sure he knew who his killers were. He was staying at a Neo-Renaissance hotel for three days, but he wouldn't even live through the first night.

We were to leave in three days time. Three days until we killed again. Three days to prepare.

Month Fourteen (February)

The hotel was busy. There was some kind of political convention stationed here. College students from all over were attending. It made things a bit complicated. The architecture of the building was gorgeous. There was a lot of old artworks and bronze tones. The main floor of the hotel was large and spacious. There was a grand staircase that led to the second floor and the ceilings were high.

The Soldier and I waited on the balcony until we saw our target. His security team cleared the area out and redirected students a different way which was great for us.

We dropped down from our balcony. We landed in a separate corridor from where our target was coming through. This side corridor was where maintenance and convention workers could move through without being seen by hotel guests. It mirrored the walkway our target was going to take. All that separated the two was a thin wall.

'Wait', the Soldier signed to me. I rolled my eyes at him. He didn't need to tell me basic knowledge.

'I know what to do', I signed back and turned to listen for our target. We heard multiple footsteps come up the stairs before splitting off and stopping every few feet to line the hall. Those were the guards getting ready for their client.

A few more minutes later, we heard a group of people rounding the corner of the other hallway. I looked to the Soldier to see how he wanted to handle this. Apparently his answer was 'right now' because he punched through the wall with his metal arm and wrapped it around a guards throat. The Soldier jumped through the hole he made and pulled a knife, throwing it into the jugular of another guard.

"Seriously!" I grunted to myself and teleported into the hallway. I pulled my push daggers from their sheaths and cut the throat of a guard the Soldier had knocked down. There was shouting in Russian behind me and I turned to see our target and two guards rush down the stairs. Two guards stayed behind and pulled their guns on us.

I teleported to the first one and jabbed my blade into the base of his skull. He dropped to the ground before I moved to the next guard. While I dealt with them, the Soldier jumped over the railing to go after our target. When the guard I was fighting went down, I went to join the Soldier.

He had our target by the neck and pushed him against two doors that swung open on impact. The Soldier continued walking him into the next corridor as our target struggled for air.

"Hail HYDRA..." the Winter Soldier said before crushing our targets trachea and dropping him to the ground.

"Good," I said and walked up to the Soldier, putting my hand to his shoulder. "Now, let's get the fuck outta here."

Before I could turn around and walk away, I heard a noise. There was a soft clanking sound coming from our left. I looked to see a man. He was wearing a green hoodie with jeans and was trying desperately to get the key into the lock of the door, but his hands were shaking too badly.

The Soldier turned and slowly started walking toward him. I took a deep, shaky breath as I watched. This wasn't something I could get away from. If he had only seen us, I might had been able get around killing him, but he heard us... he heard the words and it sealed his fate.

"Please," the man begged. "I-I-I-I didn't see anything." He told the Winter Soldier when he came to a stop a few feet away. "I didn't see anything." The man insisted. "I didn't see anything." He tried one more time before the Soldier raised a gun to his head.

I refused to close my eyes. I owned the man that much. I braced myself for the shot, but it never came. Instead, the Winter Soldier hesitated before lowering his gun. The man turned and, not so quickly, put the key into the lock, turning it. The doors pushed opened and he ran through them.

It would had been a relief if I wasn't panicking. I hadn't been able to interfere with the mission report yet. The Soldier still had to recite everything that happened on mission to Secretary Pierce and letting a witness go would definitely come up. It would also put the Soldier back into the chair which would ruin all of my progress.

So... I did the only thing I thought to do. I pulled a blade from my sleeve and sent it into the back of the mans skull. I felt sick as I watched his retreating form crumple to the ground.

The Winter Soldier turned back to me like nothing had happened and holstered his gun. I sheathed my weapons before following him out of the building and to the pick up point.

When we got back to base the next day, we were put into a room and told to wait. The Soldiers eyes had been on me the entire time. I tried to ignore it as the guilt in my chest built up. I focused on looking around the room. We were in some kind of old bank. I didn't get to analyze anything else as the doors opened and Pierce walked in.

"Mission Report." He told the Winter Soldier.

"Traveled from Washington D.C. to Panská, Prague on the second of February, 2014 at zero five hundred hours to eliminate Ivan Volkov. We landed in Pranská, Prague on the second of February, 2014 at twelve hundred hours. We immediately went to the hotel and found a vantage point to wait for our target. Our target got to the hotel at twenty- three hundred fife-tree hours. We waited until the target was on the move before striking. Eight guards, Ivan Volkov, and one witness downed. Mission was successful." The Winter Soldier reported. Pierce nodded once before turning to me.

"Anything to add?"

"No, Sir." I quickly replied. Pierce continued nodding before releasing us to go back to our room.

The walk back was silent between me and the Soldier. I opened the door and walked into the small room. I immediately exhaled and started to remove my weapons. The Soldier did the same, but he kept glancing back at me.

"Ok, what?" I asked when I finally had enough. The Soldier locked his weapons case and looked around the room before walking to me and grabbing my arm. He led me into the bathroom and forced me into the shower. He turned the water on and I involuntarily gasped at the cold water soaking my hair and suit.

"What the hell was that?" He demanded in a hushed tone.

"What was what?" I asked as I tried to pry his hand from my arm.

"Prague." He responded. He was angry I realized. I also realized that he was using the sound of the shower to drown out our voices. He knew we were being watched here. He understood. I took a deep breath as I stopped struggling and looked into his eyes.

"I- you... you can't lie about the mission report. If you had said that you hesitated, or let him go... they would put you back into the chair." I explained. "Not only that, but they would probably kill everyone the man came with and his family, just to make sure HYDRA stayed hidden."

"But why? I was willing to take the consequences!" He said forcefully.

"But I wasn't!" I whisper shouted to him.

"You shouldn't care about what they do to me. It doesn't concern you."

I smiled sadly at him before responding.

"You're my family now and I protect my family."

He looked confused and loosened his grip on my arm, but never broke eye contact with me.

"I don't have family." He told me.

"Family doesn't have to be blood." I explained. "We've been through hell together. It bonds us."

His brow was furrowed and his lips were formed in a tight line. His breathing was heavy as he continued to look at me. We were both soaked from the shower spray.

"Would you die for me?" I asked. He completely let me go and stood up straight, giving me a firm nod. "I'd do the same for you." I told him. "See, family."