"It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risk everything."

Plutarch

        It was the silence that made it all seem unreal. As if someone had put a bubble around this base so that nothing from the outside world could get in, and anyone inside couldn't get out. The fight that was about to commence had to be contained, not a single Squad member would be allowed to make it out, but that was far easier said than done. 

            The only noises that sounded in the entire place were the soft foot steps of Bucky, Ophelia and Steve, alongside the slightly louder whirring and thumping of Tony Stark walking in his bulky suit. Ophelia's eyes darted into each room, but they did not enter many of them. It was unlikely that they would find anyone inside the storage rooms, or the cells in which many of them were kept. No, Bucky and Ophelia knew the way to the cryogenics room all too well.

        One thing that did seize Ophelia's interest was the room labelled as backlog. Files upon files would be inside there, shelves taller than she could reach with information on everything HYDRA. That, hopefully, included her. She looked down at the floor and pressed on, knowing that now was not the time to get excited about finding a room that may or may not contain the facts about who she really was. It was just as likely that there was nothing in there, that she was a ghost in this world, but she still made a mental note of how to get back there for after the fight, if she was in a walking condition.

        They carried on, finding that familiar room of so much pain; it was so tall, reaching the top of the mountain if anyone were to climb to the top. The big circular room even had a roof that lifted up, opened up the mountain itself to the world.

       "I'm getting a heat signature," Tony announced.

       "How many?" Steve asked, his shield raised.

        Bucky was standing half a step ahead of Ophelia, giving her room to hold out her weapon and not have him in the way, but also standing enough in front of her that if someone were to shoot at her, it would probably hit him first. Though she didn't like that thought, she truly felt a warmth spread over her knowing that he would protect her as best as he could, and that was far better than anyone else in the world could protect her. She held on to that, as she always had held onto Bucky.

         "Uh," Tony carried on, "One."

          That was unexpected, and yet relieving. Of course, that could have easily meant the Squad was on their way to destroy whatever empire it was that he wanted to break. But the chambers lit up; each cryogenic chamber began to glow an ominous yellow, and the black-ice like smoke filled the air around them. They were still closed, they were still within their chambers. But they were not waking from a long slumber, they never got the chance. 

          There was a bullet in the head of every single one.

          "If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." The doctor's voice rang out over the entire room. A light appeared at the end of the room, and there he was, hidden behind impenetrable walls. "Did you really think I wanted more of you?"

          "What the hell," Bucky growled under his breath as they walked closer, inspecting and seeing that they all were dead as could be. Whether or not this was a good thing, Ophelia couldn't tell, but she was leaning towards the latter.

            Ophelia snapped back into the reality of things as Steve threw his shield at the window, it bounced around the room for a moment, and the Captain caught it with ease, sliding it back around his arm methodically. The doctor made a comment about how tough the walls were, and how it could not simply be opened by a shield, regardless of the substance it was made from. Tony made a snide retort about being able to get through, but the doctor knew what he was doing. This was all too perfect, laid out brilliantly.

          What game was he playing?

          Steve walked up to the glass, facing the doctor. But it was the doctor who spoke first. "It was all I thought about for over a year. I studied you, I followed you. And now that you're standing here I just realized... There's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."

        "You're Sokovian."

         Bucky was standing beside Ophelia, he looked nervous, something Ophelia rarely saw upon his expression. It was almost as if he knew something, but Ophelia put that thought aside and associated that look on his face with the fact they were back here. This base had caused the both of them so much pain, being back inside of it made their past all too real. But perhaps coming back, seeing it shut down and the Death Squad handled, it would allow them to take a breath when whatever this was, was over. 

         What could possibly happen now that it was only the doctor against all of them?

          "Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell." The doctor shook his head. "I'm here because I made a promise."

          "You lost someone."

          "I lost everyone. So will you," he said, and there was a small pause. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again, but one which crumbles from within... That's dead. Forever."

           A whirring noise caught their attention, the doctor still hidden behind his safety walls, and they all turned from him. A TV with a small screen booted up, the words sprawled over the screen read that it was 1991. A sudden tension filled the entire room, and everyone seemed to forget about the doctor. Tony faced the screen as it went from black to video footage of an old road. The video was blurry, but that didn't appear to matter to Tony.

            "I know that road," he said, and then panic swept over him. "What is this?!"

            Bucky's grip on the gun tightened, but his shoulders dropped in a mild form of defeat, but Ophelia didn't understand yet. Her green eyes darted back and forth between the screen, which showed a vehicle crashing violently into the side of the road; the impact itself made Ophelia believe whomever was inside the car was dead instantly. But that was not the case; she didn't have the time to keep watching, as Bucky had released his metal hand from the gun, and he turned and faced Ophelia. His head was lowered, and he looked utterly shattered when he looked into her eyes. His metal hand wrapped slightly around her hip, hovering over her as though he wasn't allowed to even touch her. Ophelia was beginning to piece it together, but the panic swelling up in her chest didn't allow her to understand it entirely.

           The cries of someone's voice from the video echoed in the room. "Howard!"

           A softer, male voice followed. "Sergeant Barnes?"

          "Ophelia," Bucky said her whole name, something he rarely did. "It's time for you to leave."

          "Bucky... what are you talking about?" She was speaking quietly, trying to listen to what was being said on the video. She wanted to see it, she wanted to know.

          His pained expression broke Ophelia. "You need to go. This is not your fight."

           She nodded; she had told him that she would listen if he told her to leave. Now that the Death Squad was not the problem, she really wasn't needed. But there was something far more insidious inside of her telling her that this was not going to end with peaceful words and a friendly parting. From what she heard on the video, and from the expression on Tony's face, she knew that this was something far darker than the Death Squad. A common enemy could bring people together, as had been proven only minutes ago. But when friends fought each other, it brought people back to a carnal state, and it truly did bring out the worst in people.

           Bucky slid his metal hand behind Ophelia's neck, pressed his forehead to hers, and it took everything inside of her not to start crying. She knew that this was only temporary, that she had to get out of here before whatever was going to happen began. She pieced it together when Tony asked Steve if he knew, and the vicious back and forth banter began. Bucky had done something, something awful in his past when he was under the control of HYDRA, and the doctor had known about it. He wanted the Avengers to pay for what happened in Sokovia for the death of his loved ones. And he had used Bucky and his violent past as his pawn in order to get them to rip each other apart.

         An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again.

        But one which crumbles from within, that's dead. Forever.

        The words throbbed in Ophelia's head, but Bucky's voice brought her back. "I love you, O."

         "I love you, Bucky." Her words were so faint, she wondered if she had even voiced them.

         They did not kiss, they did not hold on to each other any longer than that. Already the beginning of a glorious battle was edging in, closing in on them. Ophelia broke apart from the man she loved more than anything in this world, and she walked with heavy feet away from the battle that was about to begin. She choked back a sob as she disappeared, never looking back because she knew that if she watched Tony attack Bucky, she wouldn't be able to stop herself. But she had made a promise to Bucky that she would leave when he told her to, and she knew that she wasn't going to have to adjust to a life without him, because he would make it. He had the advantage, and she deeply hoped that Steve could talk to Tony, talk him out of reacting badly.

             Bucky had made a promise to protect her, and the best way for him to do that was to have her out of the way. It was a sad reality, but she did not want to get in the way. If she did what he asked, if she let this play out the way it had to, she would be able to find Bucky again. They could find another place, they could start their lives over again. She had hope that this was going to be the situation, but they had to get through the hard times before they got to have peace again. Bucky had followed through on his last promise, she had hope that this one would be no different. She was hardly down the stairs when she heard the fighting begin; there was only one thing that was going to keep her from fighting alongside Steve and Bucky. 

           She was going to use this time to find out who she was.

           The naïve hope that once she discovered it, that the fight would be over by then and things could then go back to normal, it was all that kept her from turning back.