CH 11: Escaping from the Mansion

"What's your status, Alpha team? Over"

"The convoy is splitting up sir, should we follow them separately or intercept them now? Over"

"Stop them, don't let them split up. Over"

"Affirmative. Over"

Soon after the exchange, the man turned to his subordinates and said, "Swerve around and intercept them, don't let them escape.

The armored vehicles swerved around to overtake the cars when suddenly, the cars increased their speed and shot ahead on the highway.

"Hurry up, We can't let them escape."

The armored cars in pursuit also sped up to intercept the speeding cars.

Meanwhile at the mansion…

"Sergeant Barnes, follow me. I have a secret area in the backyard where we can slip out of the mansion unnoticed and you can carry grandpa Albert until we get in a vehicle. We can't afford to waste time."

Barnes, who was wearing full body armor, nodded and motioned Albert to climb on his back.

Although a little embarrassed, Albert did it without wasting any time.

Marcus quickly sneaked out of the mansion, followed by Barnes, and they made their way into the backyard.

After a few minutes of shuttling through the shadows, Marcus finally stopped near a dense shrubbery, "This is the place, we can sneak through the guards without their notice. After that, quietly follow me, I have arranged a van that looks inconspicuous, we will use that as our getaway vehicle."

After repeating his plan once again, Marcus got back into action.

The distraction set up by the convoy had thinned out the area covered by the guards and allowed Marcus to easily sneak past them with the help of his Armor's reconnaissance systems.

After sneaking past the guards, Marcus made his way to the vehicle he had arranged for his getaway. The vehicle wasn't much far and it was hidden in plain sight.

Marcus used the key and opened the middle door of the van, "Grandpa Albert, you can sit in here with Sergeant Barnes, while I drive. And yeah I forgot to say this earlier but, even though he doesn't look like it, Sergeant Barnes is even older than you, grandpa Albert."

"Did you really need to bring my age into this conversation? Are you jealous that I am more handsome than you? Is that the reason you keep bringing up my age? And it's not like I was awake all those years, so technically, I am still the same age as I look." James said disgruntledly with a little playfulness in his voice.

"Alright, Alright, Jeez old man, you are too grumpy. C'mon get in the van now, we don't have much time." In the hours that had passed since Bucky woke up, he and Marcus had gotten well acquainted. They had talked about different things and Bucky had started to like Marcus, a genius kid with a playful personality. Or it might be due to the seed of loyalty sprouting.

While Marcus had also started to like the old timer, Marcus liked to see his surprised face every time he showed him something modern. The M.U.S.H.A Mark II had literally made his eyes pop out.

The other thing that made him attached to Sergeant Barnes was the fact that he was far more likable than his movie counterpart, the most obvious reason seemed to be him getting his memories back.

But, while Marcus escaped with the winter soldier, the Hydra agents, deployed to take out Marcus and recover their valuable asset, were in a deep conundrum.

"What did you say? Repeat it. Over."

"Sir, the convoy we followed turned out to be a fake, they only had a single driver, and the silhouettes we saw turned out to be dolls. Over"

"Fuck! Delta Team, storm the mansion now!"

Hearing the order, the armed men stormed the mansion from all sides, the doors were kicked down and smoke grenades were thrown in. And the team entered the mansion with their guns drawn on full alert.

They checked every nook and cranny and, "We haven't found anything, not a single living soul in the mansion. We also checked in the basement and other obscure areas and we couldn't find anything. Over."

Hearing this news, the Hydra agent, who was assigned as the head of this operation, understood what might have happened.

'The convoy must have been a distraction to thin out the presence of our guards, which would have allowed him to slip out unnoticed from some hidden location. But the problem is, how did he know we were coming? Did he know that the person he fought was the winter soldier? Or did the winter soldier himself tell him about us? But then again, he has been brainwashed for years, he couldn't have done so. This is above my paygrade, I will leave the thinking part for my superiors.'

"Alright men, Head out. Our work here is complete, we failed our mission. And Alpha Team, capture those three drivers, we will see if they know where their master has run off to. Over and out"

While the Hydra agents were sulking in their failure, Marcus was giddy at the success of his plan, because this was just the first step. He wasn't going to let Hydra get away so easily after what they had tried to do.

The drivers who had been captured by the Hydra agents had trackers hidden inside their bodies. These trackers were made by Marcus to bypass most of the scans available on Earth, including but not limited to X-rays and other intravenous scans.

Though the plan would have failed if the drivers were killed instead of being taken prisoners. Fortunately for Marcus, his gamble succeeded.

By now, Marcus, Bucky, and Albert were in the hidden base that Marcus had previously used for his experiments. Although now, it didn't have any human subjects, just Marcus' secret lab and the few rooms used by the Mercenary squad.

Marcus had decided that he would proceed with the next step of his plan from this hidden base.

"Grandpa Albert, Uncle James, you guys choose a room and make yourselves comfortable. And after you guys freshen up a bit, let's meet in the hall room and I will tell you the whole story about what's happening."

They agreed to this idea and went to their rooms to freshen up.

Marcus chose Michael's room, while Bucky and Albert chose Jude and John's respectively.

And after they all showered and changed, they met up in the Hall room.

"Alright, so let's start from the beginning, that beginning being the time Uncle James fell off the train while on a mission with Captain America."

"Wait, young Master, were you serious when you said Sergeant Barnes was older than me? But how is that possible?... But then again, he also fought you with your armor. I don't know what to say anymore."

"Calm down grandpa Albert, this world has far more secrets than one might think, but for now let's go ahead with the story. So, after Uncle James fell off the train, his enhanced abilities which he gained after being injected with a variant super soldier serum while captive, allowed him to survive the fall, albeit with the loss of his left arm. Once he was found by the Soviet Union, as well as HYDRA, he was subsequently brainwashed and armed with a new cybernetic limb in order for him to become their operative, known as the Winter Soldier. Over those next fifty years, he would eliminate anyone who posed any kind of threat to HYDRA, including Howard Stark and his wife, Maria. Between all these assassination missions, he would be put back into a cryogenic stasis to ensure his longevity."

"Young Master, you mean to say that the death of Howard Stark wasn't an accident? And what is this HYDRA? Is it some kind of secret organization? But why did they attack you then? You said that the winter soldier was deployed to eliminate anyone who posed a threat to HYDRA, then why did HYDRA want to kill you?"

"I know grandpa Albert, this is all very confusing, but trust me, HYDRA won't be able to do anything either to me or my loved ones. As for why they wanted to kill me, I don't even know that myself. How am I a threat to them or how do they determine who is a threat? I will find those answers soon enough."

While Albert and Marcus were talking, Barnes was contemplating what Marcus had said. He had killed Howard Stark and his wife. Barnes hadn't even come to terms with the fact that he had been working for his enemies for such a long time when another piece of news shocked him to the core, the murder of Steve's friend was on his hands.

He was contemplating whether to end his life to make up for the crimes he had committed.

But his line of thought was interrupted by Marcus, "You don't have to do that Uncle James, instead of giving up on everything that life has to offer, why don't you help me with taking revenge on the perpetrators? Why should we, the victims, suffer, and not the ones who did this to us?"

Marcus put forward his hand and said, "Uncle James, trust me, Me and you, together we will destroy HYDRA from its core. They haven't just wronged me and you, they have made many children orphans, many wives widows, and have taken children away from their parents. This fight isn't just about me and you, it's about all those victims who have suffered. So forget about giving up and Join me on this quest to end HYDRA from its core forever."