all things left unsaid || bucky barnes

vii | hello, nick fury

2014

karina's pov

The cars wove through the streets, sliding past pedestrians, ignoring everything in their path – including the cars of other people.

Although I couldn't hear their screams or their anger, I knew it was there. I had seen enough to know that when a truck covered in bullets collides with the side of your car, the natural reaction is fear. I had done enough to know.

My stomach turned in knots as I picked up my pace, a wind blowing by and throwing off my hood. I barely registered it, my fingers tightening around the pulls from all the metal in the cars on the road. I tugged on as many as I could, my eyes tracing the invisible connection, forcing vehicles out of the way as I went.

Alexander Pierce hadn't said anything about saving the lives of other people. He had just told us to kill Nick Fury. We would; but, as usual, I wouldn't let any other people get involved.

That was the difference between me and the soldier. He was programmed to kill witnesses and targets. I wasn't programmed that way. I was just his assistant, and he preferred to do the killing. I just caused the accident.

Bile rose in my throat at this thought; at all the crunches of metal, the shrieks of surprise, and hits to the head, that I have caused.

"Update."

I blinked, swallowing hard before responding to the soldier's order. I spoke softly, suddenly aware of the lack of disguise over my head. "He is losing our cars. I am where I need to be. He is getting clear of witnesses now. Get into position."

No response. I took a few steps, wary of the eyes of people in their cars. I darted under buildings as Nick Fury's car drifted past the intersection, right down an alley, and straight again, dragging me behind on an imaginary rope.

My heart was tugged familiarly by magnets as I spotted the soldier standing in the center of the road, mask over his face and eyes. I fixed my own mask carefully, waiting for his signal.

He lifted the weapon in his hand and leveled it with the bottom of Nick Fury's car. I clenched my fists, lining it up perfectly with the target – although he didn't really need the adjustment. The soldier knew what he was doing.

Trigger pulled. A loud shriek of metal, sparks, smoke. I watched as Nick Fury's car spun off the road and landed on the sidewalk, wheels up.

The soldier stepped over to me, and I met him at the side of the road.

"That took too long," He said in Russian. "You let them fall off one by one. You should have called me into position sooner."

"Couldn't make it too easy, could I?" I retorted, shaking my head. "Shut up, then, or it'll take longer."

The soldier snorted in response. We walked towards Nick Fury's truck, bullet holes littering the side. I reached out a hand, gently pulling at the strings by the truck door. Suddenly, my stomach dropped. Something was tugging at my other hand, moving below us – into the sewers. The target. It had to be him.

I hadn't missed how Nick Fury had tried to avoid civilians. I knew he was smart, and although his life was on the line, he hadn't wanted to harm anyone else. Not directly.

We had, though. I watched them run over cars. Shoot at Nick Fury's truck with everything they had. I had listened to them tell me that HYDRA would fix the world. That we – I – would fix the world. That we could not be trusted with our own freedom.