III: The Soldier and the Fairy Queen: Red Eve

IX: Buck

"She's the Summer Soldier. That's about all I remember," Bucky said, sitting down at the table across from Steve, looking down at the open files splayed across the table. T'Challa had been kind enough to let them stay until they decided their next move. Now they were in a conference room that looked out over the Dora Milaje's training grounds. Over the occasional yells of the warriors, they were trying to figure out exactly who Sunny was.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, "The files say she was commandeered by HYDRA in '43, with no prior documentation." Steve picked up one file with a skull and infinity sign instead of tentacles, "But this says that this LAZARUS got her in '41. Which means LAZARUS is some kind of agency, like SHIELD or HYDRA. The HYDRA files also say she trained you."

Bucky frowned and took the file from Steve with his one hand, "She did."

Nat threw her feet up on the table, "So, how old is she?"

Wanda took a piece of paper from the pile, "In 1945, she was physically... 12?" Wanda looked at Buck, "You were trained by a kid?"

Sam spoke from the other end of the table, "Hey, wait a minute. I have something that will clear this all up." He held up the packet in his hand. A familiar eagle logo stood out on the front.

"An SSR file?" Nat said, reaching across the table for it.

Sam snapped the packet back, cleared his throat, and began to read. "Name: Unknown, Codename: Summer Soldier, Age: 16, Sex: Female, Nationality: Likely Russian, Threat level: Extreme, Affiliations: Winter Soldier, HYDRA, Leviathan, USSR--."

"Leviathan?" Nat interrupted.

"What's Leviathan?" Wanda asked.

"Leviathan was the old name for Red Room."

"You know, we need a chart for this sort of thing," Sam said.

Silence fell over the table for a moment until Buck turned to Sam, "Continue."

"Little is known about the Summer Soldier."

"Yeah, we got that, Sam, skip to the important stuff," Steve said.

Sam chuckled, scanning the papers, "Fine, fine. Uh, over four hundred confirmed political, military, and civilian assassinations between 1944 and '49 are attributed to her. Various methods including but not limited to: stabbing, disenmembering, shooting, burning, poisoning, hanging, stretching--."

Wanda coughed, "Stretching?"

"Stop interrupting!" Sam exclaimed and continued, "She is believed to be a superior soldier far more advanced than any other in both intelligence and physique." He paused and looked at the top of the last page. He glanced at Bucky.

Steve leaned his elbows on the table, "What?"

Sam looked at Bucky again, then at the paper, "Believed to have been terminated in 1949 at the age of 17 by the Winter Soldier according to twelve anonymous sources."

Bucky frowned, looking up at the ceiling, "No, I didn't. I don't think I did."

Nat sighed, "Okay. That tells us nothing about LAZARUS."

Wanda smiled at Steve. Steve stared back, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Wanda pulled a folded piece of paper out, "Let's go to LAZARUS then. Sunny found out where they are."

"Which is...?" Bucky asked, a light in his eyes as he looked at the paper in Wanda's hand.

"Swiss Alps. Some highway," Wanda threw the paper on the table and continued to sip tea out of a mug.

Steve stood and started to shove papers into their files, "Let's go, then."

As everyone shuffled back to the Quinjet, Steve grabbed Bucky's arm, signalling for him to stay behind.

"You know you don't have to come with us," Steve said, searching his friend's face.

Bucky shrugged, "Why shouldn't I? I want answers just as much as you guys do. And I'd rather there not be another super soldier assassin unleashed on planet Earth for a very long time."

Steve nodded to Bucky's missing arm, "What about that?"

"I can live without it, you know," Buck smiled halfway, "and I can fight without it. Shuri hasn't figured out how to recreate it yet."

Steve wrapped his arms around the man, "I missed you, Buck."

"Missed you, too."

Steve released him but kept a firm grip on Bucky's shoulder, "You sure you don't remember anything?"

Bucky frowned and nodded, "When I think about her, it's just snippets. Like a broken record. The rest is just grey. I don't understand it. I can remember everything else, just not her."

Steve released him, "C'mon, Buck. Let's go save the world." Steve let him walk out before him, giving the empty room one last glance before shutting the door.

T'Challa was beside him when he turned around, "Captain."

"Your Highness?"

T'Challa smiled, "Okoye is putting our spies on high alert, and Shuri is using our interface to scour the system for any mentions of Sunny. They will contact you if anything comes up."

Steve nodded, returning the smile, "Thank you."

"It is of no consequence." T'Challa saluted, "Good luck, Captain."