Underground Hydra Base
Somewhere in Eastern Europe;
Exact Time Unknown;
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The Winter Soldier suppressed an agonising scream as an excruciating wave of pain rippled through his skull. It felt as if a cold metal hand was reaching inside his skull and pulling the memories right out of him leaving a hollow shell in the places where fond thoughts had once been. He wasn't even sure what he was beginning to remember before the thoughts were ripped out again and suddenly he was blank again.
"Soldat?"« готовы соблюдать »
« Ready to comply »The voice was familiar, a memory, one that had been planted in his brain that was safe from the erasure. No matter how many memories they pulled out of him, compliance was always stuck there. Obedience. Utter devotion to his master.
"I have a mission for you Winter Soldier" Strucker explained
"Tell me" Bucky said, eyes locked forward, dead inside.
"You will be flying to the United States, New York City. There, you will find and neutralise your target." "Who?" "Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, a Mr Nicholas J Fury. Eliminate him by any means necessary. Tear apart the entire city if you must." Strucker instructed.
"Done." he agreed without hesitation.
"Good. Let him go." Strucker turned on his heels cavalierly, brushing a spec of dust from the lapel of his expensive suit, underground secret bunkers weren't exactly luxurious places to hang out, but they kept SHIELD agents and other undesirables out which was never a bad thing.
The restraints on the chair, thick metal shackles, hissed as they split apart and slid back into the arms of the uncomfortable cold chair. The Winter Soldier rose from the chair as a variety of nameless, faceless Hydra agents scurried around him like rats. One handing him his shirt, another a backpack with a fake identity, cash, and a side arm in it, others carrying out whatever tasks they were designated with.
"When you land in New York you will get into a car which will take you to a safe-house with one of my colleagues, there. You will arm yourself and begin your mission then immediately return to base. Understood." Strucker wasn't asking, it was a command.
The Winter Soldier nodded and made his way toward the garage where he'd find his escort to the airport. With SHIELD eyes everywhere, it would be much more inconspicuous to send the man who would assassinate Nick Fury on a commercial flight from Russia rather than a private Hydra plane. SHIELD had eyes everywhere and hiding in plain sight was one of the Winter Soldiers talents after all.
Terminal 9;
Moscow International Airport, Russia;
3 A.M. Russian Time
The Winter Soldier waited, watching the people around him, listening to them, snippets of conversations floating in and out. Some spoke English, tourists or foreign diplomats and businessmen, there were a lot more Russian speakers, there was another group speaking in hushed tones in Cantonese. Holidayers, businessmen on trips, families and old retired couples, there was a particularly rowdy gaggle of girls coming or going from a hen party trip, otherwise the assemblage of people in the 9th Terminal of Moscow International seemed utterly normal. All groups were having their own little exchanges, blissfully unaware of the dangerous assassin in their midst. Barnes was aware that any of them, at any second, could be assigned as his next target.
"I sure hope nothing weird happens this weekend" one suited man said to another.
The second man finished wiping his glasses with a tissue and began his reply,
"It was a freak incident ... you saw the news reports, the cops will be on high alert all over the city now that the cleanup operation is under way, it's probably never been safer. You worry too much.""Yeah, well you'd be worried too if a huge green monster came a-knockin on your door or that giant woman with a hammer broke into your house and tore it apart like she did at Stark Tower."
"Freak incidents Lewis. The military or something flew in and arrested that crazy chick and that green guy hasn't been seen or heard of ever since, it was probably a publicity stunt and next week there will be movie trailers for some big green thing movie, marketing departments will do anything to make a sell. All those weird events and the giant snakes and Parringtons mansion, they were all staged, I'm tellin' ya!"
"Yeah, well seems like a pretty risky publicity stunt to me, someone coulda got hurt for real, and that means real lawsuits."
"You're paranoid, yknow that."Bucky made a mental note to watch out for Green Giants, mega-snakes and Hammer Women, they could be unexpected
complications he could encounter on this mission, though they sounded utterly ridiculous, it never hurt to store pieces of information away when and where he could. It was good to know what he was getting himself into. He scanned the dossier in his bag, a picture of Fury, he memorised the face, he wouldn't miss this target, he never missed a target. Maps and hideouts, escape routes all were listed in the reports he flipped through. Somehow the maze of streets seemed
almost familiar, he just knew he way around after a quick glance. The layout of the city was planned and methodical though, it made perfect sense to put a highway here and a hospital there and a shopping complex over there. He ignored the "familiarity" of the city, it was all in his head, he'd never been to New York before. All he knew was the basement hideout in Russia, everything else was wiped clean.
The lady at the desk smiled and asked for his ticket and passport. Barnes handed the forged document over and she glanced at it, back to his face, and waved him forward, wishing him an enjoyable trip.
"Have an enjoyable trip Mr Volkov" she smiled.
He took his seat and waited. He knew someone could be waiting for him, to kill him, on this very plane, anywhere. He wasn't frightened, he had concealed a sidearm under his hoodie and his arm was a weapon in itself, even if it was hidden beneath a flimsy cotton hoodie. His body was a weapon and he wasn't threatened by the middle-aged man struggling with a sudoku beside him. His undercover clothes felt
off when he was accustomed to his tactical combat gear, but he ignored the minor discrepancy and planned his attack.
He'd reach American soil at roughly 5 A.M. It would be dark, but by the time he armed himself at the safe house and then tracked down Fury, it could be closer to 7 A.M. and it would begin to get brighter in the morning. He would have to act fast, or wait for night to fall again. He could attack during the daylight hours, but assassinations were always quicker, cleaner and easier under cover of darkness. He decided he'd tail Fury while he could, learn his habits, learn when to strike. Then, as soon as night crept in the following evening, he'd launch his attack. If he could get close enough, a knife in the back or a quick snap of the neck would suffice, but if Fury had an entourage of guards, he'd pick him off from a distance. It would be a quick easy kill, same as any other.
"You from New York kid?" the passenger asked.
"No." "First time visiting?"The rest of the conversation died in the passengers mouth when he found himself on the receiving end of a particularly scathing disinterested glare. The Winter Soldier didn't care much for idle small talk when he was on a mission.
JFK International Airport;
New York City, East Coast of the United States;
5.10 A.M. New York Time
The plane touched down and The Winter Soldier passed through the security check with ease, Hydra tech concealed his bionic arm from detection and in his civvie clothes he looked generally unremarkable. The way he walked and moved melted from soldier to civilian, even his gait was inconspicuous and he melted into the crowd of people, keeping his eyes peeled for his pickup. A hand gripped his right forearm, Barnes remained stoically still then he heard the words
"Hail Hydra" whispered by his ear, low enough that they'd not be overheard, but loud enough for Barnes keen hearing to pick up despite all the chatter and noise surrounding them. The Hydra agent nodded toward a black van vehicle parked on the kerb, windows blacked out. Even without the informant waiting for him, Bucky would likely have picked out that car anyway.
There was two men sitting in the back, the informer who whispered to him melted back into the crowd and vanished as Bucky got in. The driver in the front started up the car and veered into the steady stream of traffic.
"Do you have a location on the target?" Barnes asked.
"Still looking sir, but Hydra has eyes everywhere, we will find him"Barnes leaned back in his chair and waited, the safe house wasn't far and he'd shortly be able to change into his proper attire and arm himself adequately.
New York Harbour;
New York;
Present Day, 5.30 a.m.;
Dwight was upset to be up at such a dreadfully early hour ... but Tarene had followed his instructions on using a cellphone to a T and he had no choice but to meet her at the harbour ... she hadn't specified where abouts on the harbour, and the harbour was huge, as Dwight blundered around various warehouses and containers he was beginning to think it had been a stupid idea to agree to come out here at all.
Tarene was sitting atop a tower of stacked cargo containers, she had a great vantage point and spotted Dwight immediately, there was a handful of dock workers loping about from one place to another, but Dwight stuck out like a sore thumb, blundering blindly with no clear direction or destination. Tarene jumped down and landed steadily in front on him, he jumped out of his skin as she rose back up to her full height. A jump from that high would have shattered a regular humans thigh bones, but she was utterly unscathed.
Dwight stared at her, bewildered, his heart hammering in his chest from shock. Being up at such an ungodly hour hadn't helped his nerves, but he knew better than to say no to an Asgardian Goddess ... Suddenly it didn't seem like such a stupid idea coming out here at all, ignoring a vengeful God was far stupider.
"What are you doing?!" Dwight hissed, growing impatient with Tarene's madness and in a moment of lapsed judgement, simply splurting out his anger.
"I'm leaving" she answered.
"You can't just leave, you have no where to go" Dwight countered, though he wasn't sure why he was trying to stop this. Tarene was a wanted criminal, a demi God and unbelievably strong, not to mention unpredictable. He knew better than to associate with her since she'd broken out of SHIELD custody and gone on the run.
"And what have I here?" she asked rhetorically,
nothing.
"I am wanted by the SHIELD and this place is not my home, my home has been destroyed. It is best for me to leave, find somewhere quiet where I cannot cause any more harm. Loki is a liar ... I do not believe he has truly reconciled himself, but I lost my way when I tried to apprehend him. I have harmed and even killed innocents so I must leave."Mjolnir has abandoned me ... I cannot feel Her ... I cannot hear Her. It must be true ... I must be unworthy.Tarene couldn't admit it to Dwight, so escaping custody seemed like a good excuse to leave. In truth, she ached from all her losses ... Mjolnir was all she'd had left of Asgard and now that too had been stripped away from her. She wanted to go far away ... find a new purpose perhaps. Most of all, she wanted to be away from New York, it had too many memories, all too fresh ... plus she wasn't the most inconspicuous and hiding from SHIELD agents and NYPD was growing difficult.
"Alright then" Dwight replied evenly, at least, as evenly as he could muster, his voice shook a little.
"Where will you go?"She shrugged, she didn't know, she didn't know the first thing about Midgardian geography, but that didn't tend to bother her anyway.
"Wherever the next ship takes me." she pointed out to a huge hauler that was loading up.
They looked at eachother awkwardly for a moment, Dwight rocking slightly on his heels with his hands in his pockets. He yelped in surprise when Tarene pulled him into a slightly-too-tight-hug and then let him go.
"Stay safe Dwight ... Perhaps we will meet again ... hopefully on better terms" she lay a hand heavily on his shoulder then turned toward the hauling ship.
