"People fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over."

-Jim Morrison

Running frantically from the person who used to be Bucky, Ophelia felt her heart pounding in her chest. There was so little for her to fight for, her life being nothing more than a weapon for HYDRA, and so Ophelia half considered giving up this game of cat and mouse before it could even start. Everyone knew who the winner was going to be; once a man who saw through the carefully delivered lies of HYDRA, a man who regarded Ophelia as a human rather than a weapon, Bucky was now the Winter Soldier.

If she let Bucky find her, he might just kill her quickly, a bullet through her skull; something she had thought about many times in her life. That was supposed to be quick and painless when done right, and she suspected he would do it right given his military training. Turning this hunt into a game was twisted, but Ophelia was not surprised with HYDRA's decision. Part of her believed they were placing bets on how long she would last out here.

She gripped onto a small and fragile looking tree as she began to fall down a snow bank she did not see coming. Clutching onto the rough, wet bark, she pulled herself up before she would have tumbled down like a boulder. She remained still for a moment, assessing the area around her and processing how to get through it.

Pausing for only that second, Ophelia was able to take the time to realize how terrifying it was being on the other end of this. The hunter became the hunted, and she didn't know how to escape. She had never been the hunted, the prey, and knowing that she was going to be slaughtered in the snow and forgotten by everyone made her run a little faster.

Her life was never much, she had done as she was told by HYDRA without being asked twice, an almost perfect soldier. But a soldier that they could control like the Winter Soldier, now that was perfection. He was already strong, had the right amount of the Super Soldier serum in his veins, he had the skills and training that she was never given. As she made her way carefully down the snow bank, taking each step slowly and thoughtfully, she made her way back up the other side. When she glanced behind her- something she imagined every person who she had hunted down had done- she remembered the tracking chip that was in her arm.

Even though Bucky knew where she was and would knew where she was heading, if he didn't catch up to her, there would be a chance her cells in his system were not permanent. Everything HYDRA had done was rushed, they were bound to have holes in their plan. She needed to keep ahead of him and hope she survived until nightfall; they wouldn't keep their perfect soldier out in the cold where he might die. After all, Bucky was still healing; they would bring him back to the base, and use the tracker in her arm to find her, and finish the task.

If she could get rid of the tracker, survive until nightfall, maybe she would make it to civilization. It was a long shot, given that she was deep in the mountains during early winter. HYDRA was a large organization; cut off one head, two more shall take its place. They had people everywhere, integrated into society, no one would suspect them. Ophelia would know none of them by face, of course, as she had only ever seen a handful of HYDRA members. Mostly guards and doctors. Occasionally Zola and Red Skull, but not any longer.

On the other hand, no one outside of the base would know what she looked like. She looked like anyone else. She could blend in to be anyone, if she made it out alive. The chances of this were slim, and Ophelia was not exactly an optimistic person right then; some sort of bravery filled her, as if she had this duty to survive. Some part of her thought maybe if she made it out alive, she could turn this back against HYDRA, tell the world their secrets and maybe even save Bucky, if there was any part of him left in the shell that was now the Winter Soldier. Either way, she had to try.

The sunlight was starting to disappear behind the grey snow clouds, leaving Ophelia not only in a dark winter nightmare, but without any source of heat. It was amazing how much warmth the sun offered even when there was an icy cold wind chill. Though she knew it was unsafe to make a fire, as that had been one of the ways she had discovered peoples whereabouts before she could really tune into her power, she now understood why they made those fires. She would die without heat and shelter, and she currently had no choice.

Settling a few meters away from the bank, knowing that she would have good visibility there, she sat down and dug a hole in the snow. With the driest wood she could find, Ophelia realized that she had nothing to make this fire with, but instinctively began feeling around her clothes. Inside the jacket was a pocket, and inside the pocket was matches. She gaped at them, almost unable to see them in the growing darkness, but knowing exactly what they were. Was HYDRA waiting for her to create a fire to target her? Did they not trust her abilities in the Winter Soldier?

It no longer mattered, she was shaking with the cold, and knew the fire would do little to keep her alive anymore. Once she got it going, a small struggle at first, but once the damp wood finally caught, she was able to keep a small flame. Probably another cruel trick from the HYDRA officials, likely laughing at her state, wondering how far she had made it. They probably gave her the matches to taunt her; to make her use them.

As she fed the small fire, constantly checking around her to make sure that no one was around her, she looked down at her arm. Deep in her flesh sat a tracker, and it was going to have to be removed from her body. She poked at the fire once again with a stick before she pulled out a small rock from the snow below her. Without any more hesitation, she began to dig through her skin, blood dampening the snow and slicking her hands in seconds. Biting her lip to hold back a cry, she continued to dig. Once the rock could no longer dig through her soft flesh, she tossed it aside and it stained the snow around her. She began to use her chewed down nails to locate the tracker and pull it out. When she finally found the metal device in her arm, she was nearly passed out from blood loss and pain. But suffering the pain was better than being caught and surely dying. As she gripped it between index finger and thumb, she began to pull at it. It felt as though it were stuck between the veins, and as if she were ripping through them. Pain shot through her arm, up into her neck and head and she cried out. Throbbing feelings consumed her, but she managed to get the device out.

She held it in her hands before placing it on that same bloody rock, and grabbing another one to smash it with. It shattered with ease, and she breathed in relief; finally, something easy. But it was not over yet; grabbing another rock from around the fire, burning her finger tips severely as she did, she pressed it against her wrist to cauterize the wound. A scream emitted from her lips before she even knew it was coming, and she slammed her lips shut and ground her teeth together as she realized how close danger might be. If anything, she would have to keep moving, but she worried that it was too soon. After the pain she had gone through, she was weak; she had no provisions. But she couldn't sleep. If she were to let her body temperature lower, she would be dead before the sun rose, and the fire was not going to keep her warm. All the fire could do for her now was hopefully distract anyone who might still be after her.

She warmed her hands by the fire after wrapping her wound in a ripped piece of her undershirt, and then she reluctantly went on her way. Wrapping her arms around her body slowed her walk, but it kept her heart beating, despite how slowly it seemed to be pumping blood through her veins. The snow beneath her feet seemed to get deeper with every step, harder to bring her foot through, and her motivation to keep moving began to dwindle. Twice she was unable to lift her foot high enough and fell to all fours in the snow. Both times she got back to her feet, weaker than the time before. When she spotted a wall of mountain peak in her view and decided to head for it, the burning flame of hope now down to a match flame. If there were even a small crevasse that she could hide from the wind in, she might make it until morning. Some rest would do her well if she could keep warm enough, and her hope was that their hunt for her would cease in this late, dark hour.

Once she reached the tall mountain rock wall, she ran her gloved hand through the snow, trying to rid the wall of loose snow to reveal some sort of cavern. If she found one deep enough she could build up the snow over the opening after she was secured within and she would be almost warm. Like an iglu, it would keep the cold out and harbour the heat that she herself provided, if that was any at this point. The human body truly was amazing. As she ran her hand along, she felt her hand fall through. Trying not to be overjoyed, she began to pull at the snow until it revealed what was behind it. To her surprise and luck, it was a three by three foot cave, and she would be snug in there. Uncomfortable, but snug, warm enough, and alive by morning, hopefully.

Ophelia closed up the opening with only a thin layer of snow so that it did not freeze shut on her and trap her within her little rock coffin. Tucking her legs against her chest, she zipped her parka over her knees to keep all her warmth in. Teeth chattering and hands feeling numb and useless, she rested her eyes and tried to sleep. Though she could go a few days without sleep and still function highly, she had not slept well in the days of her waiting game back at the HYDRA base and she had been given minimal food. What energy she had when she woke in the snow was down to almost nothing. She fell asleep not long after she had crawled into her cave, but it was a light sleep, every time the mountain groaned she woke, believing herself caught. Each time she woke, she had to rub her legs to keep herself warm, convince herself that she would make it.

She woke not long later, probably a few hours, and she felt as though every part of her was frozen shut. Moving seemed impossible, and getting back on the run seemed unlikely. Surviving this seemed even more improbable now. But as she was still alive, the Winter Soldier had not stumbled across her location yet. Perhaps she lasted longer than they expected and they brought their new toy back into the warm base so they didn't lose him as well to frost bite. If that were the case, they would find her in a few hours, maybe days. Her tracker was out, and that would stall them, but she was in a mountainous terrain in a country she did not know well. Still, there was a spark of hope inside of her, and that forced her to get a move on.

Pushing the snow wall she had built that had turned to a thin sheet of slick ice, she felt the glorious sunlight touch her cheeks. It was almost as marvelous as the feeling of Rapture overtaking all of her body, giving her a power surge and high that could not be matched by any other thing on the planet, except maybe... She shook her head, clearing these thoughts, and she dropped out of her little cave, a few feet above the ground, she sunk into the snow. There were no clouds in the sky, not yet, and the sun was warm. Or at least it felt warm when she was this frozen. The ice around the rocks of the mountain were dripping onto Ophelia's head as she stood just underneath a jutted out rock. Brushing the ice from her gloves, she looked around to assess her situation.

The only thing she recognized during her scan of the terrain was Bucky Barnes, or, as he went by now, The Winter Soldier.