When Time Collides ★ [2] ✔

Everything Goes

I was so...confused. I had a vague understanding of what was going on; of what happened to Bucky. He looked different, but I knew it was him.

I sat next to Andi in the back of the S.T.R.I.K.E. van. Natasha and Sam sat across from us and two guards in visored helmets sat on my right.

"It was him," I said, my voice heavy with pain as I stared at my hands, my wrists encased in metal cylinder manacles. "He looked right at me...like he didn't even know me."

"How is that even possible?" Sam wondered. "It was, like, seventy years ago."

I remembered the clips Zola had shown me. I remembered seeing the red star on the metal arm; Bucky's arm. "Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."

"None of that's your fault, Steve," Natasha attempted to reassure.

I closed my eyes in sorrow. "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

My eyes flicked to each of my friends, but they lingered on Andi next to me. She didn't look so good. Her fiery hair had regained its glow when she got her powers back. But it was gone now; again. She looked like she was going to pass out, her eyes drifting open and closed. She wore manacles like mine, but they faintly glowed a sickly yellow, sapping her power.

"Come on, man, can we get those cuffs off her?" Sam implored. "She won't do anything. She'll die right here in the truck—"

One of the guards raised their taser rod threateningly, electricity crackling along the blade. There was a moment of tense silence.

Suddenly, the guard flipped the rod and stabbed the man next to him. The guard wailed, but it was cut off with a kick in the face by the rogue, his body falling to the floor.

Sam and I shared a look of shock. What the hell was going on?

The rogue called pulled their helmet off. "That thing was squeezing my brain."

My eyes widened at the sight of Agent Maria Hill brushing strands of hair from her face. We all looked at each other and then at Hill. Hill glanced at Sam, looking him up and down. "Who's this guy?"