The Fall of the Helicarrier
The Helicarriers were moments away from executing Hydra’s global takeover. Gunfire and explosions roared through the air as Steve, Celeste, and Sam fought their way through enemy operatives. The battle was relentless, the weight of the mission pressing down on them with every move.
Celeste moved with precision, her injuries from the highway fight still burning, but she pushed forward, knowing what was at stake. They had to stop the launch. They had to end Hydra’s reign before it was too late.
Then, amidst the chaos, Celeste saw him.
The Winter Soldier stood at the end of the catwalk, waiting.
Steve didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward, shield raised, his breath steady despite the storm raging around them. Celeste wasn’t far behind, though every fiber of her being was screaming at her to stop. To not fight him. Because now, she knew the truth.
Bucky.
The battle was brutal, every blow carrying the weight of pain, of loss, of memories buried deep beneath Hydra’s programming. Bucky fought like a machine, every movement calculated to kill, his metal arm tearing through walls and ripping apart the Helicarrier’s structure. Celeste stayed back, blocking, deflecting, refusing to go on the offensive. Her hands shook, her heart pounded, but she could not—would not—hurt him.
Steve tried to break through to him. “Bucky, stop!” he pleaded between strikes, dodging as Bucky’s blade nearly grazed his side. “You know me!”
But there was no recognition in those cold blue eyes. Only the mission.
Celeste flinched as Bucky swung at her next, barely managing to avoid a hit that could have broken her ribs. She refused to fight back with full force, instead using her light-forged weapons to deflect his attacks. Her vision blurred, her chest tightened—how could she fight him? The person she had once…
The Helicarrier groaned, beginning to collapse around them. The battle was reaching its breaking point.
Steve managed to disarm Bucky, sending his knife skidding across the metal floor. He pinned him down, fists clenched, but he didn’t strike.
“I’m not going to fight you,” Steve said firmly, breathing hard. “You’re my friend.”
Bucky struggled, his expression flickering between blank determination and something deeper, something fractured. “You’re my mission,” he spat, though his voice wavered.
“Then finish it,” Steve responded, dropping his shield, letting himself be vulnerable. “Because I’m with you till the end of the line.”
For a moment, time stood still. The words struck something deep, something Hydra hadn’t erased. The metal arm that had been poised to strike trembled.
But the Helicarrier was breaking apart. A massive explosion rocked the structure, and suddenly, Steve was falling.
Celeste screamed as she reached out, but it was too late. He plummeted into the waters below.
Bucky froze. His breathing was ragged, his mind clouded with conflicting orders, memories, feelings. And then, without thinking, without command—he jumped.
The river was dark and endless, but Bucky found him. He dragged Steve’s unconscious body to shore, his limbs shaking from more than just exhaustion. He stared at Steve’s face—familiar, too familiar.
Who was he?
He didn’t have the answer. Not yet.
Bucky turned and vanished into the shadows, leaving Steve on the riverbank as sirens wailed in the distance.
Steve woke in a hospital bed, his body aching but alive. Celeste sat nearby, quiet, lost in thought. Sam was there too, cracking a joke that Steve barely heard.
But all Steve could think about was him.
Bucky.
“I have to find him,” Steve murmured, more to himself than anyone else. Celeste’s fingers curled tightly in her lap, her gaze unreadable.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the city, Bucky stood before a museum exhibit. His own face stared back at him from the glass display, the history of Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes laid out before him. The images, the words, the memories—they weren’t just stories.
They were his.
His hands clenched at his sides as something unfamiliar and overwhelming flooded through him.
He remembered.
And his journey toward freedom had begun.