I don't remember much about that fateful day, but I know that I'll never be the same. My memory of my past life is no good to me because I can't remember any of it, not even my name. For many years, Hydra has called me the Red Ghost, and that's the only name I ever recall going by. Yes, this is a confusing way to start my story, but I'd like you to understand why I'm running. Why I'm starting to remember the little things while trying to fight for my life.

After being taken by Hydra, I spent years in immense torture. Day after day, they kept experimenting on my body, trying to figure out what I was capable of and what they were going to do with me. They wiped my memory clean by using electromagnetic shock, that way I wouldn't resist anything they would do to me. Unlike most people they capture, I didn't fight back and that's because I felt as if it was pointless to fight. After all, I didn't know anything other than this place. I trained until my body almost gave out from under me, but I was never the one to completely go down. I guess that why Hydra liked me so much.

But when my training was finished, as I became a very deadly assassin, I was subjected to cryogenic preservation. I stayed that way for years at a time and I thought it would never end, but one day, I was woken up and taken to the lab. My mind was scrambled, I had no idea what was happening until I heard those damn five words.

наука (science). сорок четыре (forty-four). красный (red). лаборатория (laboratory). опустошение (desolation).

It was like I was being transformed into a new person. The Red Ghost was my person, and to this day, I share an identity with a murderer, and I find it kind of... exciting in a way, but that's Red talking. I remember everything about that day, and it's a curse, yet a blessing because I can never forget a mission.

"Red Ghost," I remember hearing my name and I instantly look up, giving the doctor who said my name a cold stare.

I noticed how tense I was, but I knew they wouldn't harm me in that moment, so I relaxed a little bit. "What's my mission?"

And that's when I saw him. The Winter Soldier they called him. Rumor has it that he's practically a ghost story. No one would ever catch him; you'd never see him. He stood with two guards by his sides, his hand gripping his mask as his icy blue eyes stared at me, looking confused. While I was training, he was there sometimes, and he always caught my attention, but nonetheless, he seemed to disappear.

"With the amazing things you've been doing for us, I'd like to reward you with something different," the doctor, who I know forget the name of, informed me.

I laughed slightly by his words. "Reward me?"

"From now on, you'll be working alongside the soldier in th-." I cut him off before he could say anything else.

"The Winter Soldier."

From then on, I was never alone on missions. Wherever I went, he'd be at my side and quite frankly, I never seemed to mind. Hydra's two deadliest assassins working together? What a dynamic duo if you ask me. For the longest time, we would travel in silence and once we completed the mission, he'd simply nod at me and then, we'd be on our way.

But as time went on, we got adjusted to having each other around, and things seemed less tense. Many people believe that he doesn't speak, but I found that theory to be proven incorrect. When we were on a mission to kill the head scientist for a company in Paris, France, he took me by surprise.

"Red, I need you to stay here for a moment," the soldier said, putting his arm out to prevent me from going any farther.

I looked at him with confusion, but as I'm a stubborn individual, I didn't listen and I attempted to walk ahead of him.

His cybernetic arm grabbed my left one, and he pulled me back before I could go anything further. In my years of working with the Winter Soldier, never once did he make a scene like he did here, and I still don't know why. The dark look in his blue orbs sent a shiver down my spine and it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

He released my arm before anything else could happen. "Are you trying to get us both killed, Princess? Just stay here!"

Before I could've said anything else, he was gone.

And Paris seemed oddly familiar to me.

***

Over the years, I've managed to learn secrets about Hydra. Trying to remember all of them is one thing, but hey, somehow, I made it work. Sometimes, I don't know how I stayed sane before I took the opportunity to escape. The memories from my past life started to come back to me slowly; bits and pieces scattered my brain like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I longed to know more because I knew I was more than a assassin, but by the time I tried to, they put a stop to it.

On missions, my work became sloppy because I wasn't focusing on the job. I just wanted to kill and be done with it, but it was my actions that made them question me. After the mission, I was told by a guard that the was needed in the examination room (I'd like to add that I saw this coming). When I entered the room, I was instructed to sit in the chair in the middle of the room, and I obeyed their commands.

"Red, what's been going on with you lately?" the doctor asked me in a concerned manner, which took me by surprise.

I felt overwhelmed. My emotions that had been suppressed for years were finally making an appearance. My mind went blank, unable to form a thought, and I couldn't speak. My gaze went from the doctor to my hands.

I heard him sigh. "If you don't say anything, we won't be able to help you."

"You don't truly help now do you?" my sarcasm seemed to cover up how I actually felt.

The moment the words rolled off my tongue, it was like a beast was awoken. Within seconds, he was gripping onto my soldier's uniform, and a devilish look filled his eyes.

"Sweetheart, you better think before you speak or your punishment will be unlike anything you've ever experienced," the doctor threatened me.

The room went silent. Each passing moment, the air began to thicken around me and without hesitation, let out an evil laugh and looked up at him.

"You've taken everything away from me just to create me into an assassin!" i yelled, right before I split in his face.

That's all I've manage to remember of this event. The screams still echo in my mind when they put me into the chair as I received electromagnetic shock. But now, I don't remember what I had remembered in the first place. It seems to be that every time I believed there was a way, in all honesty, it was never really there. My mind just wanted me to believe it or I would've lost my mind.

After a couple years being in the cryogenic chamber, I was finally awoken from my deep slumber. My legs couldn't hold my weight, so the guard grabbed my arms and helped me get into the prep room. For something I've done a thousand times, I managed to get into uniform, but something was different about me. I couldn't pinpoint what it was, but I knew it was there and I didn't have the time to ponder on about it. The guards escorted me down the hallway and into the same room with that damned chair again. I knew what was coming next and I prepared myself for the amount of pain that I would endure with it. Once I felt the chilling metal clasp against my head, restraints went around my wrist, and with the first volt of electricity, a painful scream escape my lips. In the meantime, those five words that caused me to flip a switch in my mind, echoed throughout the room.

Science. Forty-Four. Red. Laboratory. Desolation.

Everything went silent. Swiftly, I ripped the restraints off my wrists with ease, and I stood up to face the man who spoken those words. They've unleashed the Red Ghost, but now, with a little twist. Though, they might've put my brain in a blender, after I woke up today, I could tell the difference on what's right and wrong, but they never needed to know that.

"Welcome back, Soldier," said the unknown man in front of me.

"Ready to comply," the words came out of my mouth automatically, without hesitation.

A numb feeling ran out through my entire body. My conscience was screaming at me to do something, but I couldn't listen to it because Red had taken over. Two completely different people share the same body, and there's nothing I could do to change that. I'll always have to be part assassin. But that's an issue that I'll adjust to.

"We're taking you to Washington, D.C.," he informed, leaving me confused.

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What's my mission when I get there?"

"Well, you don't exactly have one. The Winter Soldier is already taking care of it, but you, on the other hand, will become of use if he needs you," my blood boiled at his words. They planned to use me like a playing card; a dangerous weapon that can take out a single city in a heartbeat.

My hands balled into fist as I attempted to contain my composure. "Okay, I understand."

***

Arriving in Washington, D.C., things seemed calm. Throughout the entire flight, I remained silent and restrained because although I worked well with Hydra, they couldn't risk the idea of me having a sudden outburst. The city was massive, but that's just because I've never been there before; at least, I don't believe I had. The voice in my head was getting harder to ignore, but I kept pushing it off until I couldn't anymore.

There isn't much to say about the ride the building where I was meant to be held, but it was called the Ideal Federal Savings Bank and Hydra happened to set up a base camp there. As soon as we entered the hidden room inside the bank, I felt trapped and I wasn't used to being trapped in small spaces. Guards took their places around the room and outside the cell, while I looked around, confused on what I was supposed to be doing.

"You honestly believe I'm going to stay in here until you need my services?" I asked, turning around to be met with a new face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Red Ghost," the unfamiliar man said, and by default, I reached for the knife in my belt. "I'm Alexander Pierce."

"I don't plan on being in here long. I'd rather be occupied than to be trapped inside a bank," I stated.

Alexander laughed at my comment like it was some sort of a joke. I met the man a minute ago and I hated him the second I saw him. At the time of this interaction, I realized that first impressions do matter, but hey, people that encounter me haven't survived, so I would assume that mine are very friendly.

"You'll only leave on my order. Understand?"

"I understand, sir," and for a moment, I gave up power I thought I had.

Hours seemed to pass and I was growing more impatient with each second that passed. While I sat in the room, I allowed myself to listen to what the voice in my head was saying and man, I wish I had listened to it before. I thought when I woke up after being taken out of the chamber, everything that I had learned about Hydra years ago would simply be nonexistent, but I could remember some things. Enough to know that I wasn't safe in the hands of Alexander Pierce.

The sound of the doors opening pulled me out of my thoughts. I knew that if I didn't get out of the bank soon, I wouldn't be able to hold myself back. I was already angered by the fact that I had to wait around until I was needed. When the figure walked into the room, the familiar blue eyes met mine and I relax a bit when I knew someone that was here. Winter. Something seemed off when he entered the room. He looked upset, maybe even he saw a ghost, but all I know is that I felt concerned for him.

"Hey, Princess," the soldier greeted me, his voice was strained.

I smile slightly. "Hi, Winter."

He was instructed to sit in the chair I had been in a few minutes prior. I didn't want to get in the way as a conversation between Alexander and Winter started to play out. Standing in the corner of the room, my hands started to twitch because I felt like I needed to do something. I wanted to kill every individual in that room besides Winter and we could get the hell away from Hydra, but of course, that'd cause too much commotion. As I listened to the conversation between the two, I found out that Winter had recognized someone from his past life and that he couldn't kill him, but Alexander thought Winter was the type you could compromise with. Little did he know.

Alexander instructed the doctors to wipe the super soldier's memory, and I knew this would be my only chance to make a move. Winter looked at me, desperate for me to put a stop to the procedure, but we both knew that if I stood in the way, I would be eliminated. I mouthed, I'm sorry, to the assassin I considered a friend, but were we actually? His eyes went wide as the doctors pushed him back into the chair, never to break eye contact with me.

I made sure my crossbow and arrows were secured on my back before I would start anything. Within a second, I grabbed the two knives that were behind my back and I stabbed the two guards that stood next to me, in the neck. Immediately, guards charged towards me, in hopes of restraining me, but with my skill in hand-to-hand combat, I fought back against them. When there were two men left, I grabbed the one's arm, twisted it, and flung him over my shoulder, into the metal table that was in the room. He was knocked out for sure. When the final guy came after me, I grabbed the gun from my holster, and shot him between the eyes. While I was taking all the guards out, Alexander proceeded to wipe Winter's mind, and when I looked over at him, a devilish grin rested on his face.

"You better start running," Alexander snarled at me.

I was already at the door by the time he said that. "That's my plan. Next time, make sure I don't remember secrets about Hydra that you wouldn't want getting out. You wouldn't like that very much, now would you, Alexander?"

It was like he completely ignored my threats, but then, that's when I knew I needed to start running. Though his mission from before was still in action, there was a bit of a twist to it.

"Kill the Red Ghost."

And now, you know the reason why I'm on the run from the Winter Soldier. I'll never be able to stop running unless he finds a way to remember his past or come to a realization that he's more than just the assassin Hydra has created. But for now, I run away from the Winter Soldier, in hopes of finding somewhere to get away.

A/N - hi, hey, hello! i thought i published this, but apparently, i did not, so here you go! - kenzie