Leave Me Bleeding [Winter Soldier] I

Torment [Chapter 19]

"The more people you love, the weaker you are."

-Cersei Lannister from "Game of Thrones" 

                She pulled her matte-black pistol from the holster on her thigh; she had one on each plus knives strapped inside her boots. She had been given a change of clothing, and her jacket had been discarded somewhere along the way. The black pants she had been given offered a lot of movement, but were also a thick fabric that could protect her from superficial wounds. But there would be no superficial wounds today. 

             The moment she was dropped off on the helicarrier, Ophelia knew that she would be recognized as a threat. No one would recognize her as the Huntress. She wasn't sure if this was an advantage or not. Ducking behind a small plane to avoid the bullets that were already being hailed upon her, she processed the situation. Biting her lip, she tried to find a safe passage to the inside of the carrier. She would need to get through the massive helicarrier and to the bottom; the giant semi-sphere was where she would swap the chips, according to Maria. It was a long ways from where she was, but she was not afraid of dying. 

                She was afraid of failing.

                She shot at two guards firing in her path, and then dove behind a second plane, taking shelter behind the thick wheels. Bullets ricocheted off of the metal, startling her hearing, but not affecting her determination. She made sure to count her shots as she fired and then she ran across to the doors that would hopefully lead her inside of the helicarrier. From there, she would have less people shooting at her at once, with tight hallways, but also less chance of avoiding any shots fired at her. Once she was inside she would be safer, she presumed, than out on the deck. At least there would be no air support on HYDRA's end against her. There would be hallways and rooms she could duck into, she could certainly use them to her advantage, and even air shafts if she really needed to.

                When she opened the door, firing two more shots behind her to at least startle the people firing against her, she came face to face with another man. She fired a shot at the guard, hitting him in the upper rib cage and bringing him to the ground, having to assume everyone was a threat on the helicarrier itself. Steve had announced the situation before they were lifted. She walked over the wounded man, firing a bullet into his head as she did. She muttered to herself, "That was for the tests."

                She killed another the moment she saw him, a head shot this time, and as she walked passed his dead body she spoke a bit louder. "That was for the torture."

                Each time she expended a guard, she would shout at them why she had done it. It wasn't as if she were suddenly unhinged, it was so much deeper than that. For decades she had wanted to run away, even as a little girl, but now she was running towards them with a loaded gun. They had created her, given her power, and now it was going to come back at them just as they deserved. She yanked open doors, one shot per man now that she was in the groove of things. Finding herself face to face with one more, and on the last bullet of the clip she had in her gun, she grimaced. 

                "This is for Bucky." She fired the shot.

                After reloading her few weapons, Ophelia ducked through a door without thinking and found she was in the main control center. While this would have been great if she had the man power to back her up, she was severely outgunned and would have to back out. She fired a few shots as bullets came back her way, taking out two people, but she had to turn and run before she failed Steve and all that was good in this world.