Ellie had thought it was horrifying to be infected by the symbiote, to feel its influence slowly creeping over her mind and pushing out her personality. But it was nothing compared to Hydra's brainwashing. That was a white hot bolt of lightning in her brain, burning away every last trace of her, and it never. ever. stopped. After her parents' deaths, after Ian disappeared, she'd been completely alone. It had been a mistake to go looking for Bucky; she realized that almost immediately. But he was the only familiar thing left to her, the only connection she had to her parents.

She'd fought it for as long as she could, and she was a Rogers, half her dad's super soldier serum running through her veins. It was weeks, maybe months. She didn't have a lot of concept of time there. It was probably the only reason she survived. No matter how she screamed, no matter what names she called him (traitor--never mind that in this world, it was Ellie who was considered the traitor), nobody could fight that forever. Deep down, maybe she didn't want to. He was all she had left, and he'd made sure she was loyal to him. It was almost a relief to let go and give in after this latest round of brainwashing, her mind a comforting blank as she turned her gaze to Bucky. "Ready to comply," she murmured.

Steve wasn't often sent on missions to negotiate an alliance. Though he was a flawless mimic as a spy, left to his own devices, his people skills were non-existent. HYDRA had agents like Sitwell and even Pierce himself who were far more polished and convincing ass-kissers. So he wasn't sure exactly why he'd been chosen to approach Murdock, nor had he asked. It wasn't his place to question orders from a superior. If the director thought he was the best man for the job, then that was that.

Midway through the meeting, he was surprised to find he sort of liked the lawyer-- or at least as far as Steve could like someone, which came closer to a mix of admiration and respect than actual emotions. But cities were built on far less than admiration and respect. It was something to work with, in any case, and he wondered if that wasn't why Pierce had chosen him. Murdock was powerful, dangerous, a little arrogant (justifiably, perhaps, but it was a good look on him regardless). In short, he was exactly the kind of person he could see HYDRA playing well together with.

"Let's get down to bare bones, Mr. Murdock. HYDRA wants this alliance. What would it take for you to work with us?" He'd presented the usual offerings like laying out cards from a deck: power, resources, territory. Murdock had an excellent poker face though, and even Steve, skilled as he was at reading people, couldn't tell whether he was swayed by those or whether he would ask for something more, something specific. A particular enemy defeated or a toy to play with, perhaps. Everyone had a tipping point when it came to leverage, and HYDRA had given him a lot of leeway for this meeting.

Steve had been observing this world for some weeks. After determining that it wouldn't be possible for him to return to his world the way he'd come--and he wasn't positive there was anyone in this world with the power to send him back--he'd been forced to accept he might be here for a while, potentially forever. Forever was a bitter pill, but if he was going to be stuck, he needed to be smart about it. He wasn't the sort of person to make rash decisions, a characteristic he'd never shared with the real Steve Rogers.

It had been a shock to learn this world's Rogers was gone, choosing to return to the past and live out a normal life. Steve had nothing but scorn for that decision. It was based in sentiment, which he loathed, but it was also irresponsible. He'd left this world unprotected. If Steve couldn't return to his own world, where HYDRA ruled with an iron fist, he supposed he would just have to recreate that world here. He couldn't hope to do that entirely from the shadows, so his first move would be stepping back into Steve Rogers' life.

For that, he needed to do research. He was an expert on the Captain Rogers of his world, and he'd impersonated him successfully a number of times, but that was only for the duration of a mission. This might be for years before he managed to restore HYDRA to its former glory. He'd pored over every file and piece of media about Rogers he could find to fill in the discrepancies between this world and his, particularly drawn to the connection between him and Barnes. They'd been childhood friends in his world, but where Rogers led the underground resistance, Sergeant Barnes was a loyal HYDRA agent.

He found it fascinating how differently things had gone for Barnes here, a loyal HYDRA asset but certainly not by choice. He'd only read about the Winter Soldier program at home. There was no need for it there, where HYDRA already ruled. It didn't seem to have done them any favors here, either. More interesting to him was the way so many of Rogers' decisions seemed based on Barnes. He'd become Captain America to save him once, gone against his own team and the governments of over a hundred countries to save him again, literally traveled through time to bring him back from the snap-- only to leave him here alone. It wasn't logical.

If he was going to be Steve Rogers, he'd decided, Bucky was the person he most needed to convince. It was a little like taking the exam before he learned the lesson, no way to practice without potentially giving himself away, but if he could fool Barnes, then the rest of the world would accept it. People were the same in pretty much every universe. They were just looking for someone to tell them what to think, how to behave, where to put their faith.

A baseball cap was pulled low to hide his face as he made his way to Barnes's door and knocked. He could have let himself in, but he preferred to be invited. What this world's HYDRA had failed to understand was that loyalty meant nothing if it had to be forced. It was far more effective if Barnes chose him.

@alwaysxinxtrouble

"Yelena would be a fool to trust me, and she's not a fool. A little naive, perhaps, but not stupid. Trust was never on the table between us. It's the most basic motivation for a temporary alliance: I have something she wants. When she gets it, she'll go her way, and I'll go mine."

"Yes I do, and before we're finished, I'll own him completely. By his own choice, of course. Mostly."

@pleinsdemuses

"How adorable. If only I had feelings."