H A I L H Y D R A || J. B. Barnes

t h i r t y - o n e

Tony sat in his office. He had a package sitting on his desk. Inside, there was a flip phone and two letters. One was much larger than the other.

He picked up the longer letter first. Before he read it, he looked at the signature on the bottom. He sighed.

Jamie Barnes.

The man didn't really feel like reading a letter from his parent's murderer. There wasn't much more to say.

But... he was curious. And he was calmer.

After the fight, Tony did look through the facility. He wanted to know more, how many others Becky had killed in her time as the assassin. He uploaded all of the security footage from the base to his home systems Tony had to see it for himself.

What he saw wasn't what he expected. He hadn't read much into the file on Jamie Barnes. He knew she was a soldier, a combat medic. His father had mentioned it.

He expected that Jamie had been psychologically conditioned. He was sure that some part of her remained when she murdered his parents.

The footage, though, it was worse. He thought it would vindicate him to see her hurt. After what she'd done. But the footage started before she ever murdered his parents.

Tony couldn't get through half of the first recording. She was in that chair, the one in the middle. And Jamie was screaming.

After that, Tony had turned it off and asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to go through it. He asked her how much of the footage was just that, the screaming, and what else it showed.

From there, he found out the truth. There were hours of footage just on that chair. And there were hours more of Jamie training, of her pain.

It didn't absolve her in Tony's eyes. She was still the hand that murdered them, that was a fact. Tony didn't know how to feel.

So when he received a letter from said murderer, Tony was conflicted. He wanted to toss it in the trash and forget about it. But something convinced him that he wanted to read it.

Reluctantly, Tony unfolded the letter and started reading.

Dear Tony,

You'll probably toss this letter when you receive it. And I would understand. But if you don't, thank you for giving me the chance to explain myself.

What I told you in that base was true. It wasn't something I said just because I thought it might be what you wanted to hear. I do remember every single person I've ever killed as the Winter Soldier.

I remember their names. I remember their jobs, what they were doing, where they were. And I think about every single one of them.

Saying I'm sorry doesn't cover half of it. And I know it doesn't mean anything, because they're gone and I was the one who killed them. It was me. But even still, I am truly sorry for what I've done to you.

Your father was a great man when I knew him. He never once doubted me despite every single other person on those bases thinking I would fail.

I know that me telling you any of this won't make a difference. And I'm not writing this to ask for your forgiveness; I don't expect it. I don't expect anything from you.