The next day, I had to get moving. I couldn't stay long, if I did, they'd find me.
I headed south, deeper into the country.
Truth is, I don't know where I'm going.
Where can I go?
The world's changed so much. I only ever saw flashes of it on missions, in stolen moments between lives taken.
Everyone I knew is probably gone… or has forgotten me.
But I'm not alone.
I glance down at my belly, feeling your little kicks and movements. No, not alone. Not anymore.
I can read a few languages, but never spoke them well. Hydra didn't need me to talk. They needed me to listen, infiltrate, take. So, I stopped speaking years ago. Just learned enough to steal and spy.
But that limits where I can go now. I don't have much time. A month or two, maybe. Then you'll be here.
I hiked through the forest, leaving the helicopter behind. It was out of fuel anyway. They'll track it soon enough.
As I walked, my mind ran in circles.
Where could I hide?
How could I survive?
How many governments had my face in some database?
I'd need a place that didn't care about paperwork. Somewhere I could slip into unnoticed. Somewhere that still had a life to offer.
But I don't know how to navigate the world. Hydra always handled that.
Fake IDs, transport routes, forged passports, Bucky and I never asked questions.
We were just the weapons.
Still… there was one place. It came to mind in the haze. I'd done a few smuggling runs there, nothing major.
A weird island, off the grid.
What was it called?
I couldn't think. I was exhausted.
I've walked god knows how many miles and seen nothing.
Moving while poison sets my veins a flame, plus the weight of a child literally feeding off my body, it's not easy.
I thought being a super soldier would help. It hasn't.
When I'm not pregnant, I'm faster, lighter. I can go days without sleep. Now? Every step feels like dragging chains.
I finally slumped down at the base of a tree, letting the breeze cool my face.
It wasn't hot. Just a little warm.
The sky was covered in gray clouds, still beautiful to me.
I hoped it would rain.
I always loved rain.
Then a memory surfaced, one of the bad ones.
A job. Nine targets. A family.
It was somewhere in Europe. Big red-brick estate, mob-affiliated. Hydra wanted them gone so someone else could rise in their place.
Three children. All girls.
Mother, father, grandfather.
Two uncles. An aunt.
All under one roof.
I remember scaling the manor, climbing to a balcony.
The first uncle and his wife, shot while they slept.
I crept down the hall. The second uncle was up, maybe for water. He saw me, shouted, shot at me.
Mob families always keep a gun close.
I ducked around the corner, dropped to a crouch, fired back.
One clean shot. Center mass.
Then a scream.
Small shapes ran down the hallway
The kids.
Before I could move, a strike came from the side. I blocked it, the father.
"RUN!" he shouted.
I grabbed his leg, twisted.
Snap.
He collapsed, screaming. I stood over him and pulled the trigger. Blood sprayed across the white marble floor.
Then I looked up.
The grandfather stood there. No weapon, just a cane.
A velvet red robe tied around him. Calm.
He stared me down. I had just killed his sons, but he didn't flinch.
His eyes…. No fear, anger, just…
A calm.
I raised my gun.
"I carved my empire's name in blood," he said, voice steady.
"Time it washed away."
THUMP.
One shot. He dropped.
His cane hit the floor with a quiet clatter, like a final chime.
Outside, rain had started pouring down. I looked out the window and saw the mother ushering the girls toward a car.
I jumped from the third floor, landed with a splash in the mud.
I had already popped the tires. They weren't getting far.
She turned when she saw me, threw herself in front of the children.
"Please," she cried. "Kill me. But they're just kids. Let them go."
Rain soaked us both. I think she was crying, but I couldn't tell through the downpour.
The girls were so small. All under ten.
One looked like Jamie.
I wanted to stop.
But I couldn't. My will wasn't my own, it hadn't been for a long time.
I shot the mother. The bullet passed through her, killed one child behind her.
The rain may have drowned out the screams of the other two.
Or maybe I did.
I was tired of it.
I didn't need more ghosts.
My mind was already crowded.
My ledger was full, soaked in sin.
I thought of the old man's words.
Could anything ever wash it away?
Just like that… mission complete.
Nine targets. Nine names.
I remember every single one.
Bucky once told me, if someone remembers your name, it makes you real.
So I remember. It's all I can do.
Alessandro Vescari
Giovanni Vescari
Elena Vescari
Sofia Vescari
Chiara Vescari
Lucia Vescari
Marco Vescari
Roberto Vescari
Isabella Vescari
I will remember you.
This is my amends.
My hope that somewhere, somehow, you find peace.
I stood there for a while that day, just watching the rain wash away the blood.
Then I returned to Hydra.
Their soldier.
Their weapon.
A monster.