Relentless

Zara glanced over her shoulder as she made her way through the small, country town shopping center. She popped her collar and tugged the strap of the stolen back pack up higher onto her shoulder, wondering to herself if the car had been towed yet. She'd double parked it, hoping it'd be impounded. Reeves would be notified, and the car would be locked away safe. It was the least she could do after being given a safe way out of the building.
She bummed some loose change to make a phone call off an old lady who looked at her scruffy disheveled appearance with sympathy. She must have thought Zara was homeless. As it were, that wasn't too far from the truth right now.
Zara put the change in the payphone and dialed Stark Tower's number again. It was after 9, she just hoped it wasn't an automated answering service.

"Stark Industries, how can I transfer you?" Came the polished voice of a female employee.
"Tony Stark please, or Phil Coulson-" She was cut off by a rude giggle on the other end.
"Sorry, I can't put you through to either without an appointment, and I can't set you up an appointment without approval first"
"This is an emergency, I'm a personal friend of them both and I'm in trouble!" She said urgently, keeping her voice as hushed as possible as to not draw attention.
"If that's the case, you should call their personal numbers-"
"I don't HAVE their personal numbers, this is an emergency!"
"You need to call 911 if you're having an emergency, not the Stark tower reception desk"
"No, I need Stark, Coulson, Bucky Barnes-"
"I'm sorry, I CAN'T give out their personal numbers. If you'd like to leave your details, I'll get an assistant to get in touch with you as soon as possible."
"No, you're not listening to me! My name is Zara Jones, I live on level 44 of the tower - look it up - I'm Bucky Barnes' girlfriend-"
"Oh that's original-"
"Put me through to Stark, Coulson or Bucky Barnes, right NOW!" Zara demanded, looking over her shoulders again, paranoia setting in.
"Hello? Hello!?"
The phone went dead and the change from the phone dropped into the coin shoot.

Stupid fucking bitch!!!

She cursed angrily and slammed the phone down harder than she meant to, immediately regretting it when several heads turned in her direction. Zara popped her collar and lowered her head and she hurried off.


She got a bottle of water and a bag of pretzels from the vending machine on the way out to the car park, she'd need to eat if she was to keep her strength up. Right now she needed her wits about her, everywhere she looked there were men and women in suits, some wearing sunglasses, some not. Lots of people with mobile phones and of course there were surveillance cameras everywhere. She scolded herself, it was a mistake to come here, she had to keep moving. Anywhere would do, anywhere but Manhattan.



Zara walked fast, head down into the car park, scoping it out for something old that she could break into and steal. Her eyes locked onto a late 80's model Dodge sedan. She looked over both shoulders, backing up to the rear driver's side window as she took the flannelette shirt off, quickly wrapping her arm in it before smashing the window with her elbow.
She reached in through the broken glass unlocked the driver's door and got in. She peered under the steering column, knowing where to look, and hoping like mad that she remembered what to do when she found it. Bucky and her had watched enough action movies that she'd have a rough idea what to do. It was easy enough to pull the panel out from under the steering wheel, and find the wire she needed.
Zara pulled her switchblade out of her boot, cut it and stripped it. She touched the two together and a couple of sparks later the engine roared to life.
"Yes!"
She tucked the live ends behind the plastic under the steering column, and pulled out, thanking her lucky stars that the car park was fairly deserted and she'd gotten out without being chased or shot. She was back on the freeway again before long, glad to be alone again but not really sure where she was going.



Zara glanced at the clock on the dashboard, it suddenly dawning on her that the time displayed would have to have been very out of whack. She'd been driving for at least a couple of hours, and exhaustion was catching up with her. That and she needed to pee. She pulled into a town she didn't recognize, nothing fancy but a bit more densely housed than the last. There were rows of shops, restaurants and bars on the street she was driving down, but it was noticeably fairly quiet with not many people out.
She wasn't sure if this would be a blessing or a curse. Either way she couldn't keep driving aimlessly across the country, she was practically dead on her feet as it was. Zara did a lap of the town, finding a rundown looking hotel. It wasn't the Sheridan, but it'd do. She ditched the car a couple of streets away in case she'd been followed and walked into the lobby and rang the bell nervously, looking over her shoulders. An older looking man approached the desk and looked her up and down, a frown on his face.

"Can I help you, Miss?"
"Yes, I'll take a single room please, how much per night?" She asked, unzipping her backpack.

He looked at her again, eyebrow cocked as he made up his mind what kind of a person she was.

"This is a family owned motel" He said, looking at her, watching for a reaction. Zara frowned, not sure what his problem was.
"And it's lovely" She lied, looking around at the dated orange and brown decor with a believable smile on her face.
"We don't want any trouble here, we're good Christians and won't tolerate drug use, violence or working girls in our establishment"

What!?

"That's a relief" She smiled, getting the connection with his concerns and her unkempt appearance. "because that's just the kind of thing I want to stay far, far away from."
The man frowned again, obviously she was not the kind of person they were happy to accommodate.
"I'll need to see your I.D and take your credit card number" He said.

Fuck...

Zara bit her lip, there was just one more thing for it. She turned on the waterworks, looking away from the man, hands over her face.
"I'm sorry, I don't have either. I have cash, but no cards." She sobbed, pulling a wad of cash from the front pocket of her back pack. The man wasn't buying her act.
"My husband beat me up... I had to run, I had no choice. I haven't slept in two days, or had a meal or a shower. I have nowhere to go" She cried, watching his face soften.
"I'm sorry I bothered you, I'll go elsewhere" She said, pushing her hair back off her face, intentionally revealing a bruised cheekbone and blood in her hair. She turned to leave, stifling a smile when he called out to her.

"Wait!"
Zara turned around, putting her damsel in distress face back on.
"Have you reported him to the police?"
"Yes, they're looking for him now. He's already skipped court, they told me to go stay with family in the meantime. Problem is I don't have any family" She said, letting her lip tremble again. She was a better actress than she'd given herself credit for, and it had obviously paid off when the man let out a defeated sigh.
"Look, we don't usually get involved in these things, but you can stay. I can't turn away a soul in need."
"Oh thank you so much, sir. I'll pay double the rate to make it worth your while, I have the money, I just need a shower and a couple of hours to sleep safely."

He waved his hand at her.
"You'll do no such thing." He said, walking behind the counter and taking a key from the case behind him. "Room 17"
"I can't thank you enough, really."
"Don't mention it, just promise me you'll help someone else as soon as you get the chance."
"I will. I promise" She said, making her way to the stairs. She made a mental note to take a business card, Shield would be grateful that she'd been looked after and they'd be more than happy to compensate this man for his kindness.



Zara unlocked the door, stepping into the room. There was an overwhelming smell of mothballs that hit her like a slap in the face, but other than that the room was clean, and it had a bathroom. She pushed the window open, letting some fresh air in and opened her backpack, spilling the contents onto the bed. There were a couple of school books which she was quick to discard, a wallet without any money inside, the Frenchman's still loaded pistol, and of course her pretzels and water. She examined the gun, it was much lighter to handle than Bucky's was, and still had 8 bullets in it.
She tucked it all back into the bag, keeping the pistol on her as she peered around the room, the bathroom door catching her eye.

A hot shower sure would be nice...

Zara felt like she was going to cry with relief when the hot water hit her shoulders. She opened up the complimentary shampoo and conditioner, watching the water turn red as she rinsed the blood from her hair. She lathered herself up in the tiny pre-wrapped bar of soap, grateful for the chance to bathe and brush her teeth. She was as quick as she could be, not knowing how long she'd have before her steps were traced.

She wrapped herself in a towel as she hand washed her t-shirt, Bucky's flannelette, and the underwear she'd been wearing in the sink, drying them off with the blow drier, and tucking the tiny soaps and shampoo bottles into her back pack.
The feeling of being in fresh clean clothes was pure heaven after the past 24 hours she'd endured, not to mention how much more inconspicuous she'd be, now that her clothes weren't covered in dirt and blood spatters. Zara tied her hair back in a messy bun, her bangs not co-operating as they fell straight out, framing her face. She let out a breath, pushing the loose hair back off her face, she had bigger problems to worry about now. She made her way to the little writing desk in the corner of the room, taking a notepad and a pencil with her back to the bed where she sat herself down.

"Okay..." She said to herself as she opened Reeve's phone. 3% battery left, it wasn't going to last long enough to be of any use, and once it was dead, there was no tracking it. Zara frowned in annoyance, why'd Reeves insist on using one of Tony's prototype phones. Nobody had chargers to fit these stupid things yet...
She got her pad and a pencil at the ready.

Here we go...

She opened the contact list, going straight to B for Barnes. No number. S for Stark. No number. She cursed loudly. This was going to kill the battery for nothing. She scrolled down to check the C's for Coulson, her eyes catching another familiar name as she went. Rogers. She let out a sigh of relief as she hurriedly started to jot the number down.

"No!!" She cried as it went flat. "Fucking piece of SHIT!"

She looked down at the notepad, she was short by three numbers. Zara clenched her jaw, yet another setback she didn't need. She shoved the notepad and dead phone into her bag, pushing her bangs back off her face again. There was no way she could go through and try every possible combination of numbers to guess Steve's number. Not to mention she now didn't have a phone, and she didn't have the money or time to stand at a payphone playing lucky guess.

At least they can't track me now... Then again, either can Stark... Well he could probably track me to my last known location which is here... But then again so can Hydra... FUCKING SHUT UP, BRAIN!

She paced back and forth, the stress eating her up.

No, don't do this to yourself. There's nothing you can do about anything right now. Have something to eat, and rest. You're no good to yourself tired and hungry. You have your gun if anything happens.

She nodded, agreeing with the nagging voice in her head. She let out a breath as she pulled the pretzel packet open and took a handful as she closed the blinds, the room becoming considerably dimmer than it was. She kept her bag close, hugging it to her body, her gun in her hand as she lay on the bed. Even if she didn't sleep, she desperately needed the rest. She let out a sigh that could only be described as relief as her head hit the pillow, her eyelids growing heavy.
Part of her wanted to fight the sleep off. She was her own protector now. Paranoia set in, followed by anger at her situation. Anyone coming through that door was getting a bullet. No more miss nice girl.



"What do you mean we lost the signal!?" Bucky demanded angrily.
"Exactly what it sounds like, Barnes. The signal is gone. The phone is dead." He snapped back, equally as frustrated as he frantically swiped at his tablet screen.
"FIND her, Stark..."
Tony shot him a look that could only be described as annoyance, he'd taken offense to Bucky underestimating his tech genius. He rolled his eyes as his fingers moved over the screen of the tablet quickly.
"Well, so long as she doesn't go anywhere, we have her last known location. So we can start there. Wherever she's gone, we can catch up with her easily in a quin-jet if she's only in a car."
He jumped when his phone rang, the expression of his face dropping on receiving some news from Nick Fury. Bucky was still glaring at him, as if demanding to know what was being said. Tony turned to look away, ignoring him again, letting out a frustrated breath as he hung up from the call.

"Shit!" Tony cursed, thumping a fist against the dashboard, angrily.
"What!?" Bucky demanded, impatiently waiting for Tony to explain his little outburst. Tony frowned, letting out a long breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated.
"We gotta go back. Something big's going down"
"We're NOT going home without her" he said firmly, with his 'I mean business' face on.
"Sorry big guy, those are Fury's orders. There's not gonna be a home to go to if we don't go." Tony said, hitting a few buttons, the steering column in front of him moving as it came to life, overriding Bucky's controls.
"Forget it Stark, nothing's more important than getting her home safe!" He said as he unbuckled his seat belt.
"Look, I know-"
"No you don't! If that was Pepper out there-"
"If that was Pepper I'd hate this as much as I do now-" Tony cut him off, raising his voice. "Jones means a lot to me too, you of all people should know that. Wherever she is, she'll be fine. She's a resourceful kid. We know she's armed, we know she's got a car, and if she's stayed off our radar this long, then she's also off their radar."

Bucky clenched his jaw, suppressing his anger as he tried to wrap his head around what Tony had said. Surely it had to be something pretty huge to pull the pin on a search and rescue mission.

"I don't like it any more than you do, Barnes. It sucks." Tony said, genuine disappointment in his voice and brows furrowed. "Rogers is on his way back to lend a hand, too."
"So are you gonna tell me what's going on?" Bucky asked finally. Tony let out a breath and nodded.
"We're in deep shit... " He began.



Zara's eyes snapped open, and her stomach knotted into panic. She was glad she'd packed her bag and put her boots back on before she fell asleep. The Frenchman's pistol was still in her hand, ready to go at a moments' notice. The room was dark, she must have gotten a few hours sleep, it was anyone's guess what time of the night it was.
She could hear several sets of feet coming up the hallway, and each of the rooms being opened and searched. There was the desperate voice of the old man, first angrily demanding they leave, now pleading with them. There was a loud crack and then a thump... Then silence... Her heart sank.

Oh no...

Zara got to her feet, gritting her teeth as the mattress she was laying on creaked. She quickly made her way to the window, sliding it up and peering over the edge, that sick feeling coming back. She hated heights, and they were at least three or four stories up. She took a deep breath and said a silent prayer as she stepped out of the window, balancing on a pipe of some sort that was wrapped around the building. She silently pulled the window shut and tiptoed her way around to the water spout and lowered herself down, one agonizing step at a time.
She crouched behind a bush, looking up as the light in her room turned on, and it was searched. She held her breath, staying hidden as they opened the window and peered out. She was going to have to make a run for it, and do it now. Staying low, Zara crept around the corner of the building, seeing two cars parked out the front, both matching in shiny black.
Zara bit her lip as she considered her options. She could run on foot, but she wouldn't have many places to hide, and obviously she couldn't outrun a car... The other option was to take one of the cars and drive like crazy, but then she'd have to take the other one out. That was probably less risky than being vulnerable on foot out in the open.

Stupid deserted country town...

The only other problem was that both cars had a driver, and she was a terrible shot. She swallowed hard, the 'do or die' mantra repeating itself over and over in her head. She pulled the lightweight pistol from the back of her pants, thumbed the safety off and readied it to fire. This was it.
Zara kept low in the shadows and crept around to the passenger door undetected, opening it quickly and firing a lethal head-shot at the driver, surprised at her accuracy. She climbed in, opening the door and kicking his body out as she started the car. The driver in the car behind her had gotten out and leapt into action, firing shots in her direction. She risked a glance behind her as she turned the key in its ignition and fired her gun towards him over her shoulder. There was a scream behind her, she knew she didn't kill him, but she didn't have time to wait around and see. She shifted the car into gear and slammed her foot down, taking off as quick as she could.

She glanced in her rear-view mirror, seeing troops come out of the building and hearing shots being fired in her direction. She ducked, keeping her head low on hearing the inevitable 'clunk, clunk' of bullets hitting her car. Her heart raced as she put her foot down even harder, hearing the car behind her roar into action.
She flew down the main road of the town, desperately looking for a turnoff. She shifted into fourth, watching the speedometer needle creep into the red zone. Too fast to turn anyway, not that there was anything coming up.

Fuck!

She ducked her head again as another shower of bullets came at her. There was no way she was a good enough shot - or a good enough driver to do the cop-show thing and shoot back out the window. The car behind her was closer than she'd like, sending her head into overdrive. She was going to have to do something and do it fast. She slammed it into fifth, making a headway on them, and then into sixth, allowing herself a breath of relief as she watched her pursuers in the rear-vision mirror.
A glance at a nearby road sign made her curse loudly again as she realized they were on a road that was about to get windy as the scenery around them got thicker with trees. Just what she didn't need.

She slowed down, shifting back into fifth as the road curved around, only for the car behind her to creep up on her again. Zara slammed her brakes on, bracing for impact as the car slammed into her. She grinned and took off again, risking a glance in her rear-view mirror. It had been badly damaged, but somehow it came roaring after her again. She slammed her hands angrily down on the steering wheel, she was sure at those speeds she would have wiped them out. Another sign ahead caught her attention and her heart skipped a beat as she took a tight turn, noticing they were gaining altitude as they went. There was no turning back now, she just had to keep going.

She felt another hard shunt as her pursuers rammed her car from behind. She slammed her brakes on again, fighting back as they rounded a corner, both cars bouncing off the barriers along the side of the road as they did. Zara shifted back into third, taking off hard up the hill, risking a glance in her rear-vision mirror as the car behind her backed off a little. She breathed out with relief which was short lived as another hail of bullets rained down on her car, making her duck and swerve.

Zara's stomach knotted as she lost traction when her rear tyres were shot out. She wrestled against the wheel to keep it straight which at those speeds up a windy mountain road was not proving to be easy. Headlights reflecting in her rear-view mirror became blindingly close as she braced herself for impact.

This is gonna hurt...

She gasped as she was nudged, knowing what was coming. Both cars crashed through the barriers, Zara held her breath shielded herself as best she could as her car flipped through the air. There were at least four loud bangs as the car flipped over and over, coming to a shuddering stop as it crunched violently into the trunk of a thick tree.

It took her a few seconds to realize she was upside down and she was stuck in the seat belt. The headlights of the other car were shining out into the woods, from the looks of it they'd had a rough landing too. Zara's breathing quickened as she fought against the belt, remembering after a few seconds she had her switchblade in her boot still. She reached down, pulling it out and ran it against the belt and cut herself free. She landed on the roof with a hard thud, her hand going to her head as she fought against her cloudy vision. She spit out a mouthful of blood out as she crawled on her knees to the nearest window, finding the pistol among the broken glass, and climbing out of the wrecked car. She readied her gun and pulled her backpack out, prepping Bucky's gun as well. She pulled herself to her feet and looked over to the other car on its side and the three armed men emerging. They were all wobbly on their feet as well, so at least it would be a fair fight.

She closed her eyes and crept around to what was supposed to be the back of her car where she was hidden by the shadows cast by the headlights. She aimed her gun, and shot at the men. One of them dropped instantly, the other two leaping into action, shooting back aggressively at her. She dropped to the ground, shooting again, hitting one man in the thigh and the other in the shoulder. Not great shots, but at least they were now definitely worse off than her. They returned fire, Zara crawling along the ground like she'd seen in Army movies. Bucky had said it to her many times - 'Shoot, and move, shoot and move. Every shot you make, you give your position away. Keep moving.' She nodded at his silent advice in her head, crawling to the front of the car She let off another couple of shots, emptying her gun, and getting out of the way as shots were returned again.

Fuck... I need to learn how to shoot!

She picked up Bucky's gun, blowing out a breath. She didn't want to have to use this one, it was too hard to shoot, not to mention it was a big heavy thing for a hand-gun.
She peeked around the corner, a bullet whistling past her ear, just about making her sick. That was far too close. She aimed the pistol, and fueled by anger and desperation she pulled the trigger, killing one guy and putting a second bullet in the guy she'd put down. There were still whimpers coming from him, so she blew out a breath, steadied herself, and put a bullet through his head.

Zara slumped against the side of the car, if her ears weren't ringing she might enjoy the eerie silence. She gave herself a few moments of composure and rose to her feet, taking her backpack with her as she checked the bodies over. They were all dead, including a fourth guy, slumped in the car who hadn't survived the crash. She took their weapons and ammo, a wrist-watch from one of them and was tempted to take a phone.

No, don't take anything that they could use to track you. She glanced at the watch, not trusting it and throwing it back at the body of the man it belonged to.

She swallowed hard, hearing helicopters overhead. It was time to go. She ran into the woods, ignoring the pain and dizziness that was threatening to overcome her. She came to rest at the rocky face of a cliff that had a stream running alongside it. Zara almost couldn't believe her luck. She dropped her backpack, tucking the pistol into her pants as she waded into the stream, and splashed her face, wincing as the water stung a cut she didn't realize she had. Her hands shone red in the moonlight like something out of some symbolic dream. Zara let out a breath, reassuring herself again for the umpteenth time that she'd only killed in defense.

The sound of jets flying overhead at high speeds caught her attention as she peered up through the canopy of trees overhead. Those were U.S military jets, and there were a whole heap of them. That wasn't normal, not by a long shot.

What the fuck is going on out there?