"Hahahahaha—!"
Lorelei's laughter rang out, rich with triumph.
"Excellent. Very good."
She cupped Tony's face and pressed a vivid crimson kiss to his forehead.
"You've done wonderfully, Tony."
"When I conquer this world, I'll name you my Chief Artificer."
"That would be my honor," Tony said reverently, lowering his head to kiss the back of her hand.
"How much longer?" she asked.
"We still need the final energy calibration," Tony glanced at the data. "Roughly… thirty-six hours."
"Thirty-six hours…"
Lorelei walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the glittering sprawl of New York City below.
"Then we'll wait another thirty-six hours."
"Enjoy your last taste of freedom, men."
-----
Siberia — North of Oymyakon
This white, deathly silent land had buried countless secrets.
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion tore through the frozen night. The heavy blast door was blown clean off its hinges by TNT, crashing onto the concrete floor inside.
Icy wind and snow roared into the darkened chamber.
Steve Rogers stepped inside, his vibranium shield still streaked with fresh blood from the HYDRA guards outside.
He exhaled slowly. The white mist froze almost instantly against his mask.
"This it?" he asked.
He glanced back.
Bucky Barnes followed close behind.
Even in this extreme cold, Bucky wore only a thin tactical vest. His metal left arm reflected the harsh emergency lights with a cold, merciless gleam.
"Yes."
Bucky scanned the surroundings, fear and revulsion etched deep into his eyes.
"I remember this place."
His nose twitched as he inhaled the air, thick with the mingled stench of machine oil and rust.
"Every time they thawed me out… this was the first smell I noticed."
"Don't go there," Steve said quietly, stepping closer and gripping Bucky's shoulder. "You're yourself now."
Bucky drew a deep breath and nodded. His gaze steadied.
"Let's move. There are still people here."
The two advanced like silent panthers, slipping deeper into the base.
The fight that followed was brutally one-sided.
Against the combined force of Captain America and the Winter Soldier, the HYDRA troops stationed here were as helpless as crying infants.
Minutes later—
The last HYDRA officer dangled in midair, lifted by Bucky's metal hand around his throat.
"Where are they?!" Bucky roared, mechanical fingers tightening.
"You… can't stop it…" the officer gasped, face turning purple, still defiant. "…Hail Hyd—"
Crack.
Bucky didn't let him finish.
He dropped the corpse without a second glance.
They took an old freight elevator down into the depths of the base.
The doors slid open.
A vast circular chamber lay before them, icy air biting at the skin.
Six cryogenic pods stood arranged in a ring.
Three occupied. Three empty.
Through the thick glass, upright figures could be seen suspended in frozen sleep—powerful, imposing, deadly even at rest.
"This is them," Bucky said softly, stopping in front of one pod, emotions churning in his eyes.
"The other Winter Soldiers."
"They're stronger than me," he continued in a low voice. "No morals. No hesitation."
"Good thing they're still asleep," Steve said, scanning the room. "And there's more here."
He moved toward the central control console.
An old Soviet-era mainframe hummed softly, green text blinking across its screen.
"Do you still have the decoder Ashley gave us?" Steve asked.
Bucky pulled a small black device from his pocket and tossed it over.
"The answers should be in there."
Steve plugged the decoder in.
Data flooded the screen instantly.
Decrypting… Access override…
A series of folders appeared moments later.
There were experiment logs detailing attempts to recreate the Super Soldier Serum—page after page of failure and death.
There were mission reports tied to the Winter Soldier.
Then one folder caught Steve's eye.
The filename was a date:
1991.12.16
Steve's fingers hovered above the keyboard.
A sudden, creeping chill crawled up his spine.
That date…
"Open it," Bucky said from behind him, his voice tight.
Steve pressed Enter.
The screen flickered, revealing a mission report and a low-resolution surveillance video.
Mission Codename: Long Island Parkway
Operative: Winter Soldier
Objective: Asset retrieval and termination
Steve clicked play.
The footage was black-and-white, grainy, shot from what looked like a roadside traffic camera.
A dark highway.
A black vintage sedan smashed into a tree, smoke rising from its hood.
A motorcycle stood parked nearby.
A long-haired man approached the driver's side.
He reached in, grabbed an elderly man by the hair, and yanked his head up.
That face—
Steve's pupils contracted violently.
His heart felt like it was seized by an icy fist.
Howard Stark.
Tony's father.
Steve's friend.
The brilliant man with the clever eyes and neatly trimmed mustache.
In the video, Howard Stark was bloodied, barely conscious, staring up at his killer.
His lips moved—he seemed to say something.
The reply was a cold, metallic arm.
Bang! Bang!
The Winter Soldier struck without expression—pure, mechanical violence.
Howard's head slumped.
The killer didn't stop.
He walked around the car to the passenger seat.
Inside sat Maria Stark.
The assassin's body blocked the camera. Only the motion of his arm could be seen—a tightening grip.
Seconds later, everything went still.
The killer opened the trunk and removed several metal cases—Super Soldier Serum.
Then he turned toward the camera and raised his gun.
Those eyes.
Cold. Empty. Inhuman.
The video ended.
Static filled the screen once more.
Silence swallowed the chamber.
Steve braced both hands on the console, head bowed. His knuckles were bone-white, his breathing heavy and uneven.
Howard.
Maria.
Friends from his time.
And for Tony—an eternal wound.
The killer—
Steve turned slowly, painfully.
Bucky stood frozen, like a statue stripped of its soul.
The mental barriers holding back his memories shattered completely.
Red blood. White snow. Blue serum.
And the sickening sound of bones breaking.
"I…"
Bucky looked at Steve. The confusion in his eyes was gone, replaced by raw agony.
"I remember now."
"All of it."
Steve's gaze was even more tormented.
"That was Howard and Maria," he said hoarsely. "Our friends."
"…Tony's parents."
"I know," Bucky whispered, closing his eyes. "That Iron Man."
"He's your friend."
"Yes," Steve said through clenched teeth. "My teammate. He trusted me."
The air solidified.
"You should tell him," Bucky said suddenly. "Take this video back."
"Show him."
--------------
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