𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛 | bucky barnes

один.

один. (odin) — one.

four months after the blip ended. january 16, 2024.

She had been searching for him for a very, very long time.  Her whole life, basically.

Mace wanted her mother back.  She wanted to hug her, to hold her close, tell her that she loved her, that she hadn't let anyone hurt her. No one broke her.

In fact, Mace Wilcox had a feeling she had broken herself.

She didn't want to be like this.  But she did it anyway, in the hopes that maybe, someday, she'd be able to get back for the death of her mother.

Getting out of the Red Room and away from Dreykov felt like a lifetime ago. Like a different life.  Yet the time still affected her. Mace was still a trained killer.  She still used her skills.  She wanted to find the man who had killed her mother.  The one with death in his eyes. She began searching immediately when she got out of the Red Room.  She threatened people to find this man.  Killed.  Learned his name: the Winter Soldier.  Learned who he worked for, and tracked him through people.  But he was a ghost story.  She never even got close.

In 2014, a trove of information was released onto the internet.  All of S.H.I.E.L.D. —and HYDRA's secrets.  Files.  Information.  The Winter Soldier's past, history, even name — all there for Mace to find.  She'd just have to trace it.

She took years learning to decode and then decoding the information.  It took patience — and that, she had a lot of.  She had time.  She was determined.  She was going to kill James Buchanan Barnes if it was the last thing she did.

Mace had killed people before.  It had become almost emotionless, now.  Even if she still had nightmares.  She convinced herself all the bad things she was doing led her to something that was good — something her mother would have wanted — and that was enough for her.  She only wanted to avenge her mother.

Mace never had bigger problems.  She had one goal.  That was it.  Get everyone out of her way, and avenge her mother's death.

The Avengers, on the other hand, always had bigger problems.  In 2018, Thanos invaded Earth.  Mace didn't hear about it until the fight was over.  Until the Avengers had won.

Which was five years later.  Three seconds for Mace, who had been sitting in her apartment, reading.

When she came back, it was all different.  For the rest of the world, anyway.  Mace didn't care.  She didn't need any help, she didn't want any comfort, and she didn't need anyone else.  Ever.

She was still going to avenge her mother.  Five years later or not.  It didn't matter when.  It just mattered if.

And she did get close. Very close.  She traced James Barnes to an apartment in Brooklyn.  He had nothing much to track, though — so she would have to go there and stalk him herself.  Find the perfect moment to pounce.  To kill.

She felt anger the first time she saw him.  It was the back of his head — he was making something in his microwave.  He had a tiny apartment, with windows that were almost always closed.  But there were other ways to spy on a person. Mace was sly.  Quiet.  But strong.  The Red Room had helped her find her strengths — but it was also her weakness.  The one thing that could bring her pain.

Could.  Doesn't mean she let it.

When James Barnes turned around, Mace got to see his face for the first time in real life.  No mask.  No mission.  No soldier.

She didn't see a killer's eyes.  She didn't see a death stare.  There was no determination in the way he walked.  His stature was relaxed.  He didn't look like a killer anymore.  If Mace didn't know any better, she'd never even think he ever was a killer.

The next day she want back to his apartment.  She picked at the door's lock, and it clicked open.  She pulled the gun out from her back pocket and snuck in as quietly as possible.

No thoughts ran through her mind as she walked quietly across the floor.  She picked up her gun and held it out, making sure to keep an eye out for Barnes, who might as well have a weapon too.

She saw his head turn and his face look confused as Mace rounded the corner into the living room.  If you could call it a living room.  It was a couch, some shelves,  a TV, and a blanket.  Not many belongings.

Barnes turned around to see Mace aiming a gun right at his face.  Finger so close to the trigger.

He had no weapons. No knife, no gun, nothing.  He just looked taken aback.

"Do you know who I am?" asked Mace, staring the man down.

"No," he answered.

Mace smiled. "I know who you are," she said. "I know a lot about you, James Buchanan Barnes. And I also know you don't deserve to live."

"I did something to you, didn't I?" Barnes put his hand to his face and closed his eyes.  "I don't know why this hasn't happened before," he said.

"Well, it's happening now," said Mace, tilting her head. "And it'll be the last time, too."

"What did I do to you?" he asked.

Mace felt a lump in her throat.

"I bet you don't even remember them," she said.  "You don't even care."

"I remember all of them."

Mace scoffed.  "Do you?" she said, cocking her head. "Mission report, солдат.  August 12, 1999." soldier.

Barnes tilted his head in realization. "убийство подтверждено," he muttered, almost to himself.  "Carolina Wilcox." Kill Confirmed.

He looked back up at Mace.

"You're the girl."

"Nice to finally meet you," she said.  "Mace Wilcox."

"I had to," he said.  "I didn't have a choice."

"You still did it," Mace said.  Tears began welling in her eyes. "You killed her.  And dragged me to the Red Room. And for that, I'm going to kill you."

Barnes looked into Mace's eyes. "Then why haven't you done it yet?"

Mace gritted her teeth and put her finger on the trigger.  She pushed it.  As hard as she could.  It didn't shoot.  She didn't shoot.   Maybe she couldn't shoot.  She wanted to.  She really wanted to.

But she couldn't.

Barnes only tilted his head and stared at her. Mace groaned and put the gun to her side.  With one last death stare at Barnes, she stomped out.