Annika
"Sam!" Wanda's voice hissed as she made her way over to the men.
"Wanda?" Sam's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Sam was stood beside Bucky and Peter as Sarah and Steven played nearby. Wanda spoke directly to Sam, Peter and Bucky exchanging a glance.
"She's here," Wanda said quietly.
"Who's here?" Sam's eyebrows remained furrowed.
"The lab," she said simply and Sam knew.
Looking up and letting his eyes drift around the people that remained outside, they settled on the face that had attacked Allie at the lab. Wanda looked to Bucky who gave her furrowed brows.
"Sam, you don't happen to have your suit, do you?" Wanda asked firmly.
"Already on it," he dismissed himself.
"What's going on?" Bucky asked and Peter looked to Wanda as well.
"The person who attacked Allie at the lab is here," she said and Bucky's jaw tightened.
"James," Allie took in a breath as she made her way over, continuing to hold T.J. against her hip and looked between Bucky, Wanda, and Peter. "We have a problem."
"Here," Peter said as he took T.J. from Allie's arms. "Sarah, Steven! Come on, we're going to go break open the LEGOs."
"Thank you," Allie whispered and Peter nodded as he took the kids inside to the living room.
"What's wrong?" Bucky asked, placing his hands on his shoulders in order to have her look him in the eye.
"Don't make it obvious," she began. "But look at the table."
Bucky's eyes drifted to the table that Allie had been at. Blinking, he saw the block of ice for just a moment before it disappeared. He was startled, but he turned to Allie.
"Did you do that?" he asked, a sinking feeling of what her answer was going to be falling in the pit of his stomach.
"No," she shook her head softly.
"Do you know who did it?" he breathed.
"No," Allie took a deep breath.
"I do," Wanda said as she looked to them. "And so does Sam."
"Who?" Allie glanced at her.
Wanda didn't respond with a name. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on something behind Allie. Allie watched as Bucky's eyes followed the same path as Wanda's and settled on something. Both Wanda and Bucky were planted firmly where they stood, neither made any movement. Taking a deep breath, she turned her head in the direction they were looking.
A brief glance was all that happened as Allie knew why Annika seemed familiar.
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The pipes would creak. Every time she turned on the tap when she was brought out of the pod, Allie listened to the creaking pipes in the lab's bathroom.
As she stood in the bathroom and her eyelids felt heavy, Allie splashed the cold water against her cheeks. As she did every time, she ran her hands back against her hair and took in a deep breath.
She'd dreamt about him again. She could still hear his laughter ringing through her ears. That same joyful sound that she'd hear at the dinner table as Dugan told another story to everyone. That some infectious melody that bounced around the walls of wherever they were when he'd tease Steve about his new body. That same hum against her skin as he blazed trails of kisses down her body.
Her hand automatically flew up and clasped around her locket. She knew she was punishing herself by allowing her thoughts to dwell on the dreams she had. She'd seen Steve's face the day that the Commandos came back without Bucky. She took a deep breath as she turned away from the mirror and walked out of the bathroom.
Walking down the hall and to the little room that had an uncomfortable cot for her to sleep on. She didn't know exactly how long she'd been out of the pod, but she knew that the pod may have become a friend of the past. There were bottles in the corner of her tiny room from the last few bottles of alcohol she'd consumed. She scrunched her nose at them.
Facing the ceiling as she laid on the cot, she remembered her work in one of the rooms down the corridor earlier that day as she was observed using the new powers that she had. She was meant to light a candle wick. Instead, she managed to burn the entire pedestal the candle was sat on.
She didn't tell a single soul around her in the training sessions, but the powers terrified her. A part of her regretted following the woman out of the bar that night. Her mind always wandered to what the men would have thought if they were to have seen her with them. Would they have been startled? Would they have been proud in some way? Would Bucky have been comfortable with it?
She chided herself for letting her thoughts drift back to him. It never did her any good. It only made her mourning worse.
The blinking at the ceiling didn't help and Allie decided to leave the room once more. Her feet were silent against the ground to not disturb anyone that may have still been lingering. Her nose scrunched as she passed along the hall. For a moment, she thought that she may have been the only one roaming until she heard the murmuring voices. Curiosity got the better of her and she began to eavesdrop.
"This list," one voice said to the other. "They've all arrived?"
"Yes," a second voice said. "And we have one that wasn't on the list."
"Who?"
"Annika."
"Your girlfriend? Are you sure about that?" the first voice sounded surprised.
"She's insistent," the second voice almost had a grin to it. "Think of it. Almost seventy years of experiments not producing any results and now we're here. Think of what we can create with these volunteers."
"They're not very quiet," a voice sounded beside Allie and she almost jumped out of her skin. "Oh, sorry."
Allie turned to face a young brunette who happened to have been eavesdropping as well. Allie nodded to the girl but she couldn't stop thinking of what the voice had just said. Seventy years? It couldn't have been seventy years. Her body hadn't aged more than a few years at most. She couldn't have been in and out of the pod for that long. It was impossible.
A bubble sat in the pit of Allie's stomach and began to grow as the voices continued to talk. Before volunteers could be brought in, they had to continue working on and working with Allie. And she had to be kept a secret if their plan was to be effective. It dawned on Allie: she was never meant to leave the lab.
Allie simply blinked and the flames were everywhere. She didn't hear her own scream of anger as the building went up in flames and the girl beside her clutched her own face. Allie didn't register as her body found itself stumbling out into the cool nighttime air.
It was only when she had a moment to finally breathe that she realized what had happened. She realized what she had done. Fear took over as she watched the fire burn and heard the screams.
She ran.
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"Sharon?" Allie asked as Sharon and Steve sat together, talking and drinking beers.
Sharon turned to her and Allie looked at Steve. What she needed to speak about with Sharon was not something that she wanted her brother to her about. Steve took the silent cue from his sister and excused himself over to Bucky. Bucky's eyes were still locked in Allie's direction as she confronted Sharon.
"Is everything okay, Allie?" Sharon raised a brow and stood, taking trash from herself and Steve in her hand.
"You seemed really surprised about Annika being here," Allie began and Sharon stopped for a moment. "Where did you say you met her, again?"
"I was on the run in Germany, I told you that already," Sharon said dismissively.
"Yes, I remember that part. What part of Germany?" Allie continued.
"I don't remember," Sharon waved her hand and began to walk towards the trash can.
"Don't you think that's a little odd? What with her being your friend and all?"
"Allie, I was on the run."
"So was I," Allie frowned. "But I still remember the places that I went to."
"Well, that's great for you," Sharon's eyes narrowed a bit as she paused and turned to look at her. "But it wasn't the same for me. Now if you'll excuse me."
Allie watched as Sharon straightened herself out and turned away from her. Turning to frown at the ground, Allie took a deep breath.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" her voice became concerned, sharping ever so slightly.
"What?" Sharon startled and turned back to face her.
"Are you hiding something from me?" Allie began to feel small flickers of agitation in the pit of her stomach.
"Why would I hide something from you?" Sharon shook her head.
"You tell me," Allie bit out.
Sharon went to respond but her eyes widened on something behind Allie. Confused, Allie turned and couldn't register anything as she was blasted backwards with ice.
"Allie!" screams from different voices rang through the backyard.
Groaning, Allie began breathing deeply. She was quickly surrounded by people as she blinked back the pain she felt in her ribs. Bucky was quickly kneeling beside her and helping her up. Wanda's head tilted to the side as she looked at the attacker. Steve and Sharon were stood by them as Sam returned in pieces of his suit.
"Are you okay?" he asked quickly.
"Does it look like I'm okay?" she groaned.
Allie raised her hands to sit in front of her as she let fire flicker between her fingers. Turning to face the direction of the ice, they all watched as Annika stood across from them with a smirk on her lips.
"I've waited fourteen goddamn years for this," she grinned.
"For what exactly?" Allie braved asking.
"Do you realize how hot it was in that building? How loud it was? And you just ran away," Annika glared.
"Annika," Allie's voice was defensive.
"You burned it to the ground and left," Annika continued.
"I never meant for the building to burn," Allie defended.
"And I'm sure you never meant to kill the people that kept you there?"
"No!" Allie choked, horrified at the accusation.
"Get out," Wanda hissed at Annika as she took a step forward, the wisps of her magic surrounding her hands.
"I find it funny," Annika smirked. "You target me, yet someone much more brutal is among you."
"Annika," Sharon's voice cut through, almost like a threat.
"Correction," Annika grinned as she let her eyes scan the group. "Two more brutal than me."
"Well, you're making it obvious that you mean me," Allie spat. "So just face me and leave them out of it."
"Oh, but there are things that even you don't know," Annika continued to grin.
"And what would that be?" Allie frowned, fire flickering between her fingers.
"Someone here is notorious," Annika grinned. "They have power."
"Power?" Allie questioned, never letting her eyes fall from Annika.
Sam and Bucky shared a look before turning to Steve. The three still had whatever they could find in their hands to defend themselves as Annika continued. Wanda caught Sharon's body going rigid in the corner of her eye. Pursing her lips, she narrowed her eyes at Annika.
"The reason I have these powers is right under your nose," Annika continued to taunt. "They found the notes of the formula, and they took them. From the lab."
Allie's heart began to thud against her chest as she attempted to keep a level head. She didn't like where Annika was going with what she was saying. If it was true, it meant that someone knew more than they were letting on.
"And you're leaving us in suspense?" Allie bit. "Why don't you just spit it out?"
"Because I want you to look them in the eyes," Annika explained. "The person that sold your powers on the black market."
"Woah, woah," Sam furrowed his brows. "You're saying that the Power Broker is here? This yard, right now?"
"They are," Annika's grin grew wickedly as she kept her eyes on Allie.
"How did they find the formula?" Allie questioned.
"Journals are fascinating little things, aren't they?" Annika taunted.
It was like a punch in the stomach. Allie remembered the metal box that was sitting in a cabinet below their television's entertainment center. Torn pages from a journal that she and the others had simply dismissed. It had been the formula for what had caused her powers.
"And did you know there's an entire file about you?" Annika's wicked grin remained. "Do you realize how long they wanted you for this, Allie?"
"What are you talking about?" Allie's heavy breathing continued.
"Oh that's right!" Annika laughed. "You don't have that file."
"What file?" Allie demanded.
"It was a failed mission," Annika shrugged. "October 1944."
"October 1944?" Allie's eyes furrowed and she looked to Bucky and Steve in confusion. They had never had a failed mission in October 1944. One focused look at Steve and look in Bucky's eyes told her that they knew what Annika was talking about.
"The ambush," Bucky's voice could barely be heard. "That goddamn ambush."
Allie's eyes widened as her hand dropped to her stomach, resting against where the scar was from the night that Bucky thought that she was dying in his arms. Allie's breathing quickened as she quickly turned and blasted Annika with a wave of ice, causing her to stumble. Allie kept her hands raised and pointed.
"What was the failed mission?" she demanded.
"So impatient," Annika clicked her tongue.
"What was the fucking mission?" Allie felt fire in her stomach, burning as she felt like throwing up.
"Why don't you ask Sharon?" Annika smirked.
Even in the grass, a pin could have been heard it if it was dropped to the ground. Eyes turned to face Sharon who still had her eyes narrowed at Annika.
"Go on, Sharon," Annika laughed. "Tell Allie what you know."
"What am I supposed to know?" Sharon mused.
"Don't play dumb," Annika continued.
Allie's face dropped as she turned to face Sharon. The night of the ambush wasn't something that Allie, Bucky, or Steve would ever talk about. If it hadn't been for the scar on her stomach, Allie may have tried to block out all memories of the night from her mind. They'd always believed that Hydra had been trying to get the upper hand on the Commandos.
"What was the goddamn mission?" Allie spat as Sharon looked at her.
"They wanted to take one of the Commando's biggest assets," Sharon finally admitted.
"I was one of their biggest assets?" Allie asked cautiously.
"You're skilled in multiple fields," Sharon nodded. "And an important person. Steve's little sister and at the time Bucky's girlfriend."
Allie and Bucky looked at each other. Beside Bucky, Steve was staring at Sharon in disbelief. She had known this information and never shared it with any of them. Bucky watched as Allie's expression turned from shock to anger.
"You goddamn knew?" she hissed as she turned on Sharon. "You goddamn knew and never told me?"
"Allie-" Sharon began.
"Don't you dare 'Allie' me," Allie spat. "Why did they want me?"
"You know why the wanted you," Sharon said, her tone exasperated.
"Then why did they stab me?" Allie screamed. "If I was so important to their mission, and they wanted me to be a lab rat so bad, then why did they almost kill me?"
"You fought back," Sharon sighed.
Wanda kept her eyes locked on Annika. The German took a few paces as she watched the scene. A family was having a member torn away as Allie let her emotions brim at the surface. Wanda was disgusted at Annika's grin. She was relishing in the scene in front of her.
"You knew all of this," Allie mumbled more to herself than to Sharon.
"Yes," Sharon confirmed.
"And you sold this on the black market," Allie put the puzzle pieces together.
"Allie-" Sharon began.
"Get out," Allie spat bitterly.
"What?" Sharon's face dropped in shock.
"Leave," Allie had angry tears burning down her cheeks.
"But-"
"I said leave!" Allie shouted, causing Sharon to jump.
Sharon turned to look at the others surrounding the yard. If Allie could have caused a fire with just a look, she would have been burnt to a crisp right there. Wanda didn't even look at Sharon as Sam had narrowed eyes as he took deep breaths. Turning, she realized Steve wouldn't look at her and Bucky's expression was murderous. One look at a smiling Annika was all it took for Sharon to take off and disappear into the early evening air.
"Now that she's out of the way," Annika said and the ice hit Allie.
"Allison!" Bucky yelled and he too was hit by Annika's ice.
One-by-one each person attempted to fight back against Annika, only to be trapped by ice that grew around their legs. Legs were strained as they pulled against the ice, only to find that they were stuck firmly to the ground.
"Oh this is going to be fun," Annika grinned. "I'm going to make this far more painful than that night."
"I already told you," Allie cried. "I didn't mean for it to happen!"
"But you did it," Annika spat and the ice became colder. "Imagine this being fire. Your friends screaming around you as you try to escape."
"Stop!" Allie yelled.
"Imagine half of your face being burned as you try to shield yourself!"
"I said stop!"
Annika didn't stop. Each description of what Annika had seen that night was paired with the ice tightening and creeping further and further up their bodies. A door slammed open behind them as they heard Peter inside the house and calling for the kids to go back to him.
"Mom!" Steven's scream cut through the air.
Allie tried to breathe as the ice continued to grow around her and the others. She didn't know what was worse: the idea of being suffocated by ice or drowning. Both were forms of water, both were terrifying. Hearing her son's yells, she attempted to try to turn to him in some way. Her attempt was futile.
In front of her Annika was continuing her attempt at Avenger massacre before Steven's screams could be heard again. A flash of ice blasted Annika who flew backwards, her control of the ice gone as it evaporated and Allie, Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Wanda all fell to the ground.
Confused, they looked around for the source of the ice. All they saw as they turned was Peter running to the door and a terrified little boy staring at his hand. The realization instantly clicked for Allie. The ice had come from Steven. He had powers.
Peter was scooping a scared Steven into his arms as Bucky and Allie turned to each other in shock. Standing up, the five adults stood and turned in the direction that Annika had flown. Allie was angry and allowed herself to let flames emit from her hands. Wanda had her hands up, prepared to blast someone at a moment's notice. Steve, Bucky, and Sam seemingly all saw red.
Allie and Wanda shared a glance as they saw the empty ground in front of them. The group looked around the yard, never having all of their backs turned to any direction, in hopes of finding Annika. Instead, the yard only consisted of them.
Annika was gone and her friend Margaux with her.