One week later, bound and chained in a familiar steel chair staring at familiar steel cinderblocks, Ella felt her bruised facial muscles pull with disgust thinking back to the moment she told James as they looked over the city that it was the happiest she'd ever been in her entire life.

If that hadn't been a clue that things were going to crash and burn quickly, she didn't know what was.

It was all going so perfectly, and if Ella Potts should have learned anything by now in life, it was that nothing was ever perfect for very long. She'd had the sexiest, sweetest man treating her like she was a damn queen, she had new friends who had quickly become like old ones, she had an amazing new job (not to mention new super powers of her own), and for once in her life she felt like she actually had a place in the world, with people who loved her, where she belonged.

Tears pricked her eyes and she fought back a scowl as she reminisced on the painful discovery of betrayal she'd been met with when she agreed to meet Pepper for a sit-down over coffee.

Family was family, right? And Pepper was from this world, she knew the players, she knew how dangerous it could be. So why on earth had she fallen for the painfully obvious Hydra ploy?

The day after her date night out with James, Ella had been feeling especially generous. So when her older sister texted her and asked her to meet for coffee in an hour to 'patch things up', she'd obliged, jumping in the shower and then rolling out the door with the obnoxious file on the love of her life tucked under her arm. The coffee shop was right around the corner from Stark Tower, literally still within eyesight, so she hadn't even thought to drop a note for Nat or James. She just picked up the file, walked out the door, and as of right now, still hadn't come back.

Pushing open the door to the bustling coffee shop, Ella immediately spied Pepper sitting anxiously at a little round table next to the back door. With a sigh, she'd skipped the line and made her way directly to her sister, dropping down across from her and slamming the file down on the little table between them. "Got anything to say about this, Pep?"

Pepper had rolled her eyes and shrugged, not looking even a little sorry about it. "What? You needed to know! Don't act like I did something horrible just by showing you the truth, El!"

Ella's eyes narrowed in frustration, and she knew the anger was starting to roll out of her in waves, right up the street to the man she was trying to hide it from. "Don't act like you taught me something to begin with! I knew all about him, Pepper, I'm not an idiot. I made my choice with all the facts and figures without the ugly pictures you threw in that folder, and you should have known and respected that."

Pepper had frowned and looked down her nose at her, the same way she used to when they were kids and she clearly thought she knew best. "You should never have tied yourself to him Ella," she'd said quietly, disapproval dripping from each little word. "And there was no way I was just going to sit by and watch it happen."

A little pinprick in the side of her neck was all the warning she had, and as her eyes shot open wide she felt her limbs go numb. "What did you do?!" She'd mouthed in horror, not a sound coming out as her chest constricted.

The alarm written all over Pepper's face did nothing for her nerves, and she mouthed it once more, eyes wide with fright as the very face she least expected to see suddenly slid in next to her sister.

"Hello, Ella," the Hydra handler said smoothly, his voice as nasally as ever.

"Wait, you mean you know her, Peter? What did you just do to her? I thought you said you'd just help me show her who he really was, and how dangerous he could be? You promised me you'd help her see her mistakes! You promised me!"

A burly hand clamped over Pepper's mouth as her screams echoed through the coffee shop, and all of a sudden they were being hauled out the back door and stuffed into the back of a blacked-out SUV, Ella completely numb, only her eyes able to move freely as she scanned everywhere and desperately tried to call out to James mentally through their link.

Except it was closed, the lid slammed shut, probably cut off from the paralysis flowing through her system.

And as her sister was injected and slowly slumped into heap in the seat against the window, Ella realized she was well and truly alone.

Several rounds of injections, a long flight, and who knows how many hours later, Ella had woken up once more to find her mind clear, her limbs heavy, and her body restrained in this familiar little chair. And she was face to face with the Hydra handler once more, with her sister nowhere in sight.

"Where is she?" She'd croaked, voice brittle and dry from the lack of food and water and the affects of the paralysis.

"Your sister is asleep, resting peacefully. For now," he whispered smoothly, the tenor of his voice sending a feeling like roaches crawling down her spine.

"Show me," she'd tried to demand, sounding so weak she could hardly stand it.

He'd laughed, a wheezing sound as he shook his head, his eyes sharp and piercing as he scanned her face. "I don't think so, Ella. You'll have to take my word for it."

She swallowed thickly, fidgeting with her restraints before piercing him once more with her gaze. "What do you want?"

His expression never wavered, but the timbre of his voice sent a fresh wave of fear racing down to pool in the pit of her belly. "Not what, Ella. Who."

She paled, once more desperately reaching out through their link as her mind raced and her heart beat with panic. This wasn't about her at all, just like last time.

They wanted him.

"You're probably wondering how I came to be here in the first place, given our previous encounter, hmm?"

She watched him cautiously, her eyes cold hard flecks beneath her lashes as she casually inclined her head in agreement.

"Let's just say, not all who work at Stark Tower work for Stark." His snide voice had her snarling in anger, and he only chuckled as he stood and made his way towards the door.

"By for now, Ella. I look forward to breaking you once and for all."

Now she was counting the blocks once more in her cell as she carefully kept her face blank and her muscles relaxed. She still had yet to see Pepper, but she had a card up her sleeve that those Hydra thugs new nothing about.

She had the Winter Soldier.

Hour after hour she'd reached out through the link while she studiously ignored her interrogators, not a word spoken after the exchange with the handler. And finally, with her face bloodied and bruised, about to give up hope, his deep voice rolled through her mind and his anger sent a renewed sense of courage to her heart.

She'd relayed everything she knew quickly and efficiently before the connection broke, and his last words were still echoing softly as the door creaked open and the next interrogator entered the room.

"I'll be there soon, doll. Don't give up and don't give in. Don't let them know how strong you are."

"I won't, James," she'd answered, sad that this meant their connection was coming to an end and she was going to be alone once more.

"I love you, Ella," he'd whispered, voice fading out towards the end as it closed. "And after we kill every last agent in that place, I'm going to make you mine, once and for all."

She smiled as the whip smarted into her shins, splicing open her jeans to let blood trickle out to the concrete floor.

The Winter Soldier was coming home to Hydra. And this time, he wasn't leaving any room for error.