"How can so much beauty hide such a bruised and steely heart, and why must I love him,"

-Anne Rice's "The Vampire Armand"

There was a silence that wrapped around her, despite the chaos going on all around her on the other helicarriers. A cumbersome feeling placed itself upon Ophelia's heart, and she laid in her agony. It wasn't the broken ribs or the bullet wounds, it wasn't the aching pain in her head from hitting the glass. No, this was a different kind of agony. She could handle the physical pain better than most, she'd been through so much of it in her life, it was almost an expectation every time she was woken from her icy slumber.

It was the pain of knowing that she had accepted the most human trait of all, love, and the person she loved was no human at all.

As Steve had asked before if she were human, based on the simple fact that she was HYDRA, she knew now that she was never human under HYDRA's watch. They made sure of that, and it was more painful understanding what it meant to be human.

The fact that Bucky had not come down to finish the job- Ophelia confirmed this as she had been lying there for a while- made the woman wonder if he was evading the issue and pretending as though she were dead. Or maybe he knew that she was close enough to dead and could not complete the job.

She had no doubt in her mind that he went after Steve and Sam next, and she had no idea if Sam was still alive. There were three of them fighting this war, while Natasha, Fury and Hill were tackling the other side of it. But was it going to be enough? HYDRA was obviously aware that Steve wouldn't stand for something like Project Insight with or without Zola's algorithm. Surely they would have prepared for him and many others to fight this; or perhaps they thought it would go over without the hiccups they had faced because of Steve, and relied on the helicarriers to do the work for them. He would be one of the first targets, after all.

She caught her breath, and spent enough time lying down. Finally able to, she pushed her fragile and broken body up into a crawl position and glanced around. There were no guards around, that was good. But she was at the bottom of the semi-sphere and without her strength there was almost no way for her to make it to the micro-chip location. It loomed over her, as if taunting her.

Groaning, Ophelia pulled herself into a stand, shakily taking a few steps. The fall that had taken the air from her lungs was probably the reason she was still alive; if the Winter Soldier had seen her rise up after her jump, he would have put a bullet in her head. She glanced up at the destination she had to reach, and regretted it instantly. A cry of pain slipped from her lips; her ribs felt as though they were being ripped right out of her, tearing through muscle and flesh.

However, there was a glimmer of hope when she heard the soft footsteps, they did not have that slow, insidiousness to them. Steve had made it to the final helicarrier, and with him he brought the hope that Ophelia needed to aid her pain. Looking up at him, she smiled faintly. He crouched down as she fumbled weakly, dropping to her knees. She dug through her little pouch and pulled out the chip, slightly bloodied from the carnage upon her hands. Her wounds throbbed, her entire body throbbed, but now that Steve was here, Ophelia had hope.

"Ophelia, we're going to get you out of here, you'll be okay," he said confidently, but Ophelia was not convinced. "Once I put the chip in, I'm going to come back and get you out of here. We won't have more than five minutes before these carriers are blown to bits. We don't have Sam in the air anymore but..."

"Just leave me." If Steve died, she would never forgive herself. If she died, she would die a hero, or at least Steve might make it out to seem that way.

"No, we have a mission."

"A mission you..." She coughed and it caused more pain, blinding her for a minute. She regained her breath. "You are going to complete."

"Not this mission," he said, "Bucky."

"Bucky..." she breathed. "Go."

Steve nodded, pocketing the chip in his own pouch and heading back up to the main computer. As he disappeared from sight, Ophelia wondered if she could get out of here on her own. Staying behind and waiting on Steve to get her out might risk both their lives, and she was not worth his death. She knew that if she stayed around, he would come back for her. That was the type of person he was, honourable. Ophelia was still on her knees, and she planted one foot firmly on the ground ahead of her, and then forced herself to a stand. Looking for a way out, Ophelia spotted the fight going on above her head.

The Winter Soldier against Captain America.

She knew that Steve could take on Bucky, but it would be one of the toughest fights of his entire life. With the short amount of time that they had to get that chip in place, Bucky might stop this whole mission as he was meant to do. Though she loved Bucky, she could not let him abolish what she had worked for in these last few days. He had taught her something important a long time ago, and that was sacrifice. Forcing herself up, she wrapped her arm around her ribs and began to climb up the ladder upon the center piece that would lead her to Steve and Bucky. With only one hand to do all the work, Ophelia risked falling to the glass again, and this time she was almost sure she would be killed. Her fractured or broken rib could puncture an organ and it would all be over then. Already she was gasping for air.

How much could her body handle? She was testing the limit.

Still she climbed, higher and higher. Gunshots filled the air above her head, and she was almost glad that Bucky was distracted by Steve. If he spotted her climbing, he might attack her, shoot at her, and she would probably not survive. Then it occurred to her; all this integrity that surrounded her, she understood it now. To save everyone, she had to get Bucky's attention away from Steve so that Steve would have the chance to swap out the chip. True sacrifice, it was a hard thing to understand and accept, but Ophelia only took a few seconds to decide that it was what she had to do.

"Bucky!" she screamed, but it felt as though her lungs were filled with fluid and her voice hardly escaped. She tried again, this time making her voice heard over the fighting. "Bucky! Down here!"

Both Steve and Bucky looked, and Ophelia reached for her weapon. Letting go of her ribs with her wounded arm pained her, but she needed both hands for this. One to hold on to the ladder, while the other held out the gun. Her pistol felt like it weighed a ton in her hand, but she fired it still. The kickback caused a jerk of pain in her left shoulder. Bucky and Steve both ducked from the bullet; she had only been aiming to startle Bucky, but her aim was completely haywire with her wounded shoulder and inability to brace for the kickback. Steve rolled away, and Bucky leaned over the railing without a second thought to shoot her once again. He continued to shoot at her, because he was unstable. Her plan had worked; she had given Steve some time to swap the chip. However, now she had bullets raining down on her and with very little to protect her.

She fired at him again, but missed him by an inch. This time shooting at him was easier, because she was not just fighting for her life, but Steve's. He was worth so much more to her than she ever would have imagined, and while Bucky was as well, none of it mattered if she couldn't get him back.

Bucky recoiled from her shot, and it was then that he remembered his main problem was not Ophelia, it was Steve. Though Bucky went back to fighting Steve, Ophelia had bought him some time. The chip was out, and Steve just had to replace it with his to stop Project Insight. She watched as the two fought to the death; two best friends trying to stop one another. It was as painful as the gunshot wounds.

As Bucky tossed Steve over the railing, Ophelia knew that it could very well be over if she didn't intervene again. Steve landed on a metal wing from the control center, allowing him to remain close to the computer. Bucky jumped down and joined him, and Ophelia spotted the small chip falling down to the bottom of the semi-sphere. She began to climb back up again, trying to reach the control panel in time to help Steve. If he could get the chip to her, she could end this all right here. She was about to climb up onto the walkway over the railing, but the bullet that got her in her thigh startled her so badly that she released her already loose grip, falling down through the air again. She hit a metal beam, which sent her spiralling down to the bottom of the semi-sphere.

When she hit, she knew she was dead this time.