Once upon a SHIELD case (Howard Stark)

Epilogue

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, approaching the door at the end. Quickly and quietly, the man opened the door and stepped in. He approached the glass and looked down at the figure lying in the bed.

"How is he?" he asked his associate.

"Doing quite well, Baron." the doctor replied. "He wasn't ready to work after the last mission, but he still performed quite well. Half of the SSR's special forces team was defeated; the other half most likely having nightmares of what happened. He is quite invincible." The doctor looked proudly down at his creation, the Winter Soldier.

"What of the girl? She had an unexpected affect on him, no?" The Baron looked pointedly at the doctor.

"Well sir, we did not expect him to react that way to a stranger. She must have been someone he knew from before the war. Perhaps an old friend. At the very least she reminded him of someone he knew." The doctor spoke quickly hoping to appease his employer.

"No mere stranger would have that affect. He knew her. Have your team look into Sergeant Barnes background and learn more of this woman. She could be very useful...persuasion, if he were to get out of hand."

"Baron, I doubt that he would try to protect her when we have conditioned him so well--"

"Silence!" The Baron spoke sternly. "You will do as I say or I will have another doctor finish your 'experiment.' Do you understand?"

The room was so quiet only Bucky's moaning could be heard from the next room.

The doctor swallowed and spoke quickly. "Of course. We will benefit from learning more about the Sergeant's life anyway. This exercise will help answer both of our questions."

"Very good," the baron said still giving the doctor a sharp look. "I will prepare for the woman's arrival. She will undoubtedly be useful to us, one way or another." He looked out the glass at the man below. "What is he mumbling?"

"He just keeps repeating one name, sir. 'Maria.'"

"Maria. A beautiful name." Turning on his heel the baron strode for the door. "See if it means anything," he called over his shoulder.

"Yes, sir," the doctor responded. He monitored the medical equipment for a few more minutes before turning his attention to the man. The soldier's moaning had changed. "Now what are you saying?" he wondered aloud.

But Bucky spoke so softly, the doctor couldn't hear from his place in the other room. 

"Maria," he breathed. "Run!"

***

Author's note: Thanks guys for all the votes, reads, comments, and general love you've given to this story. I am officially closing this story with this part. Don't despair! If you really enjoyed my ramblings about Maria, Howard, Peg, and Bucky, I will be doing a sequel. Actually, I have plans for a couple sequels; but I'll just work on one for now. 

If you're interested in the sequel, it's called "Love in the time of SHIELD." I'll show a little bit of Maria's family--you never really met her family in this story--plus I'll try to show you more of her personality and character. And I'll try really hard to weave in some Jarvis moments because, well, Jarvis is pretty awesome...and his accent is to die for ;)

Thanks again for sticking with me. This was my first completed Wattpad story. (Woot!) And I've added a dedication to one of you awesome fans who gave me some great encouragement to finish this. 

Thanks guys!