Hoods up, they walk back down the hallway of the vending machine. Looking in, Steve sees the drive isn't there. Nat popped up behind the two, blowing a bubble with her gum. Steve turned around and pushed her into a room behind them. They go back and forth for a bit, nothing really catching Carissa's attention until she heard Natasha talk about who killed Fury.
"...The Winter Soldier." She said. Carissa's head snapped up at the name.
What an alias.
"He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years." Nat said. Carissa's eyes widened.
"So, he's a ghost story?" My dad asked.
"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. By the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me."
"Holy shit." The girl mumbled to herself. They left there, needing more information. They couldn't be seen, not after what happened with S.H.I.E.L.D. They needed to hack their system but nowhere they'd be noticed.
Really? The mall? She though. I mean, that was somewhere they could blend it but it was somewhere they could've gotten trapped.
They walked through, hoods up, heads down. Seeing both Steve and Nat in normal clothes was odd to Riss. She'd only seen them suited up together, considering she wasn't around much back in the first few days. She didn't get to be there the night her dad had attempted to pick up Thor's hammer. She didn't get to be there when they were being real people. Carissa walked on the left side of her dad as they headed into a computer store. She and Steve kept look out as Nat went through the drive. An employee came over to ask if they needed any help and Nat covered with a 'Honeymoon Destination' story. As they walked out, Nat ordered Steve to put his arm around her and laugh at something she says. Carissa turned her head, as if she had been looking through a store window, covering her face with her hair. On the escalator, she spotted Rumlow.
"Tash." She warned. Nat turned to face the blonde girl, who shot a look in the direction of Rumlow. She nodded, turning to face Steve.
"Kiss me." She said.
"What?" He asked.
"Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable." She told him.
"Yes, they do." He agreed. She pulled him to her and their lips connected. Carissa averted her attention away from them, as well as away from Rumlow. He passed right by and Nat pulled away from Steve.
"You still uncomfortable?" She asked, smirking.
"It's not exactly the word I would use." He responded, following her down the escalator. Riss followed closely behind, glad to have spotted him in time. You're welcome, guys. Really, it was no big deal. Carissa had thought to herself.
Carissa sat in the back of the truck they were "borrowing" as Nat taunted her dad.
"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" She asked. He sent her a look and pointed to the back seat. Carissa raised an eyebrow as Nat turned back to look at her.
"Was that your first kiss since Carissa?" She rephrased the question.
"That bad, huh?" He asked. Carissa stifled a laugh from the middle back seat.
"I didn't say that." She said.
They then continued to go on about different subjects until they'd gotten to their destination. Carissa hadn't known exactly where they were, having fallen asleep in the car. She almost always fell asleep in the car.
They got out of the truck, being met with a gate. They walked around the camp. It was where Steve was trained, Carissa recognized it from the dozens of pictures she'd seen of him before the serum. She'd seen all he had of him and Bucky, back when they were nothing more than young kids in Brooklyn. It had begun to get dark out. Nat suggested the place was a dead end as Steve noticed a building out of place. They entered the building, surprised at what they had laid out in front of them.
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D." Nat said.
"Maybe where it started." Steve told her.
They walked through some more, being met with pictures on the wall of, who Rissa could've only assumed, were the founders.
"There's Stark's father." Nat said.
"Howard." Steve told her.
"Who's the girl?" Nat asked.
Steve didn't say anything before walking away from her.
"Agent Peggy Carter." Riss tells Nat. "She's where I got my middle name. She was also dad's first real crush."
Nat didn't say anything before following after Steve. Riss continued to look at the picture of Peggy. Nat and Steve found a secret elevator, she stayed put. She pictured what kind of life her dad could've had with Peggy verses the one he's had now. He loved her just as much now as he did then. Even if he couldn't have Carissa, she wished he could go back to be with Peggy. He would've been happy then. It was obvious he wasn't. There was no way her dad could've had the dream life where he had both Carissa and Peggy, no matter how badly he'd wanted it. He couldn't have a different life either way. It wasn't possible.
The sound of a door closing caught her attention.
"Dad?" She screamed down the elevator shaft.
"Riss? Get out of here! Go!"
She took the orders, running as fast as she could back through the doors they'd entered. Just as she had escaped, the place went up in flames.
"Dad!" She screamed. Then the helicopters came into view. She'd ducked, desperately looking for a way out. She panicked.
"Carissa?" She turned around, face to face with her dad, who was carrying Natasha. She was panting from the sheer panic she had just faced.
She must've fallen asleep on the way home, not remembering even getting in the truck. She couldn't remember any of what happened after she'd finally found her dad. When she'd woke up, she was in a house she didn't recognize. When she sat up, Natasha sat on the edge of the bed, drying her hair. Her dad sat in front of Nat. Riss looked around. Where are we? She'd wondered. She thought of all the places they could've gone, but there weren't any. They couldn't have gone to Tony, not this time. Carissa frowned.
"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, or hers," Nat gestured to Riss, "now you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"
Trust no one. Carissa thought, remembering the famous words of the assassin herself. Now she was asking if she could be trusted? Carissa was confused.
"I would now." Steve said. "And I'm always honest."
"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."
"Well, guess I just like to know who I'm fighting." He replied.
Sam walked in then. "I made breakfast. If you guys eat that sort of thing." She smiled, her question from before being answered.
Carissa's stomach answered for her and Sam laughed. She jumped out of the bed and followed him into the kitchen.
Steve and Nat try to piece everything together as Sam and Riss listen in. He dropped what he called his resumé in front of Steve. She eyed the folder herself as Steve sent Sam a look.
"We could use the help, dad."
Later, Carissa sat next to Sam as he made the call to Sitwell. Steve had taken her advice, realizing they did need the help. They couldn't really be showing their faces around S.H.I.E.L.D agents. Carissa was told to stay with Sam anyway, just in case things got out of hand.
"The good-looking guy in the sunglasses, your ten o'clock." Sam said into the phone.
Riss watched as idiot Sitwell looks at his 8.
"Dumbass." She mumbled.
Sam laughed slightly. "Your other ten o'clock." He said. "See the cute blonde?" He asked.
Sitwell looked directly at him, then her. She flashed a smile
"You're gonna go around a corner to your right. There's a gray car two spaces down. You, me and blondie here are gonna take a ride."
She saw Sitwell cock his head to the side.
"Because that tie looks really expensive, and I'd hate to mess it up." Sam said.
Sitwell looked down to see the target on his chest. Riss smiled, knowing things were gonna go smoothly now.
Not long after, she sat on the back of Sam's wings, awaiting cue. She heard Sitwell's scream, which was their cue. Sam flew to catch him and set him on the roof. He landed and she jumped down.
Steve got the answers to Zola's algorithm and they were set to go. She sat between Nat and Sitwell in the backseat as he got ripped out of it. She didn't have time to process what had just happened as bullets went through the roof of the car. Nat pushed herself to the front to shield Sam and Steve. Parking brake is pulled, sending the shooter flying. Carissa attempted to catch her breath.
"Dad." She whimpered. She'd never faced anything like that. Yeah, she's been shot at before but she always had a clear shot to fire back.
"I know." He replied, his eyes meet hers in the car mirror.
Shots continued to ring out. Steve yelled at them to hang on. Sam pulled Riss up as they all fell out, holding onto the door as the car flipped. Riss hated the feeling of falling. They'd had perfect timing, and scrambled to get up. The four had split up, all running for their lives. Carissa wasn't a fan of this. Nat used her grapple to get off the bridge. She followed. She took off down the street as the shooter jumped down, landing on the hood of a car.
"Wow." Riss whispered to herself. "He fits the alias." She was momentarily stunned, not able to believe what she was looking at. One assassin against three Avengers, almost three, and a dude with wings. She had been impressed, but her pride would've never allowed her to admit it.
She took off after him, running into her dad, who was taking a shooter down, as well as Sam.
She pulled her gun out, not far behind the Winter Soldier. She was feeling a little better now that she could attempt at a clean shot. She watched as Nat's recording caught his attention and Nat attempted to take him down. She froze his metal arm up and took off. A shot rang out, which had hit her. Carissa returned the favor with shaky aim. He turned to her as Steve crashed into him.
She observed the skills both possess. Her breathing stopped when the Winter Soldier took the shield. Steve didn't seem to be winning, but she was too caught up to help. Steve flipped him over his shoulder, which knocked the mask off.
"Bucky?" They had both asked out loud. Neither could believing it.
"Who the hell is Bucky?" He asked.
Carissa turned to her dad. "He the hell is Bucky." She says.
Sam flew down, knocking Bucky over. Carissa and Steve were frozen in place. Nat shot at him, which made Carissa and Steve both look back. When they had turned around, he was gone. In mere seconds, Riss and Steve were cuffed, as well as Nat and Sam. The blonde pair had their mouths hanging open, not able to believe what they had just gone through. Not only were they beat right now, but they had been beaten by Bucky. A chill ran down Carissa's back.
"Rumlow." She whispered.
"Riss." He replied. Of course, he's the one cuffing her.
In the back of the van, they were all shackled. Carissa stared down at the floor. It had stung that he didn't know Steve. If he doesn't recognize him, how could he know her? She had known it was selfish, but that only stung. It had broken her fucking heart that he didn't know himself.
"It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."
"How is that even possible? It was, like, 70 years ago." Sam asked.
"Zola." She replied, not shifting her gaze.
"Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall." Steve finished.
"But still lose his arm." She added.
"They must've found him and..."
"None of that's your fault, Steve." Nat said.
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky." Steve said.
Sam looked over at Nat before looking at the guard. He demanded a doctor. The guard flashed the taser at him before they reached over, taking the other guard out with it. Maria pulled the helmet off.
"Oh, thank God." Riss mumbled.
They exit out of the van as she leads them into a secret place. You never ask about secret places and you never talk about what they contain. Maria takes us back to Fury.
"Holy shit." Riss mumbled, earning a glare from her dad.
When Fury says he wasn't sure of who to trust, Natasha pulled a hurt expression. Carissa couldn't help but to glare at her. Nat had been the one to make her question everyone in the first place. Now she knew how Riss had felt when she had said that. She was gonna start pulling that exact facial expression. Trust no one, even the people you care about the most. Did she trust her dad? Did she not trust her dad? What the hell did she do?
Trust no one. Absolutely no one. Except maybe the best friend who you watched fall off a train but is now coming back to life 70 years later. You can trust him, dad. Not your daughter, though. She wasn't bitter. Trust no one.
The words on a repeat in her head, Natasha's voice, full volume.
Trust no one.
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