Chapter 9 ━━ Project Destroyer

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For a long time, Hedeon knows only darkness. Somewhere on the edge of it, he floats in this confusing mass of blackness, he hears a distant beeping and voices rumbling in his head. 

"Он приходит в сознание."
(He's gaining consciousness)

Finally, he opens his eyes. Blinking against the brightness of the overhead lights, he hears himself moan, feeling his whole body in pain.

"Ввести сыворотку."
(Inject the serum)

Hedeon glances around the room to see Doctors with white coats moving in the room he is in. 

He tries to sit, only to realise that he's restrained by stripes to hold him still on the bed he is laying on. His body is connected to a machine, with seven tubes of vials that contain blue liquid. 

All the while the only movement he can manage is in his hands. And the lights, so bright. The room is spinning, though he lies perfectly still.  

He squints his eyes, trying to jar himself out of this new version of nightmare, back to reality. But memories of Melina's betrayal slam into his scalp hard. That's when he realizes that it is more of a living nightmare. He is in the Red Room in between an experiment in which he plays the subject.

"Начало инфузии сыворотки через пять, четыре, три, два...один." (Beginning serum infusion in five, four, three, two...one) The doctor presses a switch. 

Hedeon jerks in panic as the blue fluid slowly and painfully empties from the serum injectors and pushes into his skin. 

At first, he doesn't feel any pain. Or impact. Instead it is more like massive heat. Which rapidly turns into a sort of throbbing tingling numbness. Then slowly, his veins swell and an uncomfortable throbbing sensation takes in place, the pain increasing every single second until it begins to burn. It's like his veins are on fire. 

Hedeon screams at the top of his lungs, thrashing around, trying to get rid of the pain, which he fails. The EKG beeps faster and faster until it shrieks between the echoes of his painful screams. "I will kill you all! You hear me?! I will kill all of you one by one!" 

His energy drains swiftly as he gasps for oxygen when he feels his lungs lack functioning. His wide eyes glow an intense blue. Every single fiber of his body is immersed in pain and it feels like someone is pouring lava on him. The only thing keeping him alive is the art in his mind of the girl who stole his heart. 

Finally, the injector vials empty completely and Hedeon sighs in relief as the pain fades out slowly, but not completely. He pants, trying to catch his breaths. There's a loud ringing in his ears and he squeezes shut his eyes in a lame attempt to stop it. But surprisingly enough, it works. So, he decides to reopen his eyes. He notices a difference in his sight. Somehow his eyes give him better visuals. He can hear the distant murmuring of the doctors clearly. 

The same doctor monitors Hedeon's vitals, pushing the buttons on the screen before him. "Сыворотка суперсолдата успешно работала над проектом Destroyer." (The super soldier serum successfully worked on project Destroyer)

Hedeon's face pales hearing those words. Never in a million years did he expect himself as a super soldier and now here he is, being on, restrained into a bed, waiting for an opportunity to free himself and ready to pounce on everyone standing on his way with his mission to search for Yelena to take her to safety. 

Hedeon then notices two familiar figures approaching him and he clenches his fists in anger, gritting his teeth. "Dearest daddy. What a surprise." 

"Welcome home, Hedeon." General Dreykov greets him, calmly. His eyes show another. They're shining with amusement. 

Hedeon wonders what makes him so amused. The suffering he is going through or the helplessness. It must be both. His throat is dry and it makes his voice gruff. "This isn't my home. It never was, never will be." 

"Mission report." Dreykov demands with authority, his demeanour is still calm.

Hedeon, looking blank, doesn't respond. The mission report he is referring to is Yelena's death confirmation. It was his last command when Hedeon was under his mind control. And he failed to complete his mission.

"Mission report, now." The head of the Red Room raises his voice this time. 

"I’m not afraid of you." Hedeon spits with the hellfire of anger burning in him. 

"Yes you are." Dreykov moves closer to his son and suddenly strikes him hard in the face. "Don't worry. We can start over after wiping your memory off. I forgive you. You're my son. My flesh and blood." 

Hedeon laughs, ignoring the stinging sensation of his face. "Yeah, let me stop you right there." 

"When did you care about your flesh and blood?" He continues. "When did you care about me? You turned me into a monster." 

"I fixed you, my boy. I made you stronger. You used to be a punchbag of the kids in your school. I trained you so the most dangerous people in the world couldn’t kill you." Dreykov replies, his eyes straightly glued to Hedeon's now blue eyes. 

"Fix me? You call that fixing?" Hedeon chuckles darkly. "You took away my childhood, you took away my good memories, you took away my happiness and you took away my ability to start a family! When are you going to be done ruining my life?!" 

This time, it is Dreykov's time to laugh, hard. "You're worried about starting a family?" 

Hedeon stares at him in disbelief. What part of that sentence brings the son of bitch humour to laugh? The sudden urge to jump and behead the man in front of him rises in him as growl ripples out of him. 

"Unfortunately, you're the only one remaining to carry my bloodline. Our bloodline should rule the world decades after decades. It is our right. You still can produce an heir." Dreykov tells as if it is the most assuring thing in the world. 

Hedeon raises an eyebrow in confusion. His mind is buzzing with different questions inside his head. "What about the graduation? I was out for months. The surgery. What was that then?" 

"I hope you're smart enough to notice this feeling. Bloodthirst." The old man leans to his son and whispers. "You crave blood." 

The super soldier glares deadly at him. "What did you do?" 

General Dreykov smiles and simply shrugs. "I planted a special invention in your brain. It's buried deep into your capillaries. I remade you into a killing machine to get rid of the unnecessary mess. There's nothing you can do about it. You can't undo it. Not now, not never." 

"You have to embrace who you're, Hedeon. This is your life. You can’t outrun who you really are." He adds. His sickly embroidered smile is yet to fade. 

"I'd rather die than become your bitch again." Hedeon confidently retorts at the old man he calls his father and turns to the woman standing next to him, silently. "Why are you here? To watch the show? Happy now? You're not just a coward, you're a traitor too." 

"Hope you enjoy the last couple of hours of your life, you damned, unfaithful brat! I'm coming for you!" He yells at her, promising lacing his deep voice. 

"Do you know something I don't know, Melina?" Dreykov asks, raising an eyebrow, sensing something behind the conversation. 

Hedeon glares at her, threatening silently to not spill a word. He knows better than letting this man know his only weakness. 

Melina smiles sweetly at him before facing Dreykov. "He has a thing for Yelena." 

"Shut the fuck up!" The young soldier shouts in quite anger. 

Dreykov chuckles lightly. "Too bad. I ordered to cut open her brain." 

Hedeon's mind fills with fear and angst. His confidence falls off his shoes. He glances at his father, pleading for mercy. "No. No. I'll do anything. Please leave her alone. I'm begging you." 

"Pathetic." Dreykov shakes his head with a sigh of disappointment. "I raised you to do better than this." 

Tears stroll down Hedeon's cheeks uncontrollably along with a sob. He can take any physical or mental pain, but he cannot let see her hurt in any way. He can't lose his anchor, his only purpose of living. "Why are you doing this to me? Have you not done enough? Please, leave her alone." 

"It is too late to save her, Hedeon. Stop crying like a child. Give up and submit." Dreykov commands and sighs once again. "You give me no choice, son." 

"I want his memories wiped and ready for action." He orders the doctors and turns to the elder Widow. "Come on, Melina. Let's take this conversation to my office." 

Hedeon chokes on his sobs while the doctors unhinge him from the machine and the straps that kept him tied to the bed. He slowly gets on his feet. At first, it wobbles a little but soon they steady giving full control. He shoves down the sleeves of his suit without any emotion on his face. 

The guards point their guns, readying themselves for an attack. But Hedeon silently follows the doctors, his head down. He can feel his new enhanced physical strength bubbling inside him. But his mind is completely a painful mess. 

The doctors lead the super soldier to the Memory Suppressing Machine to perform electroconvulsive therapy. Hedeon knows what is going to happen to him next. They're going to erase his memories and remould him to their liking. There's nothing to fight. Everything is over. She's dead. Maybe this will help him to forget her. To get over the pain in his chest. The pain of the thought of losing her.

Releasing a loud sigh, he sits on the uncomfortable chair. He wants it all to be done quickly. The sooner it goes, he wouldn't suffer with her memories anymore. 

A doctor pushes a small guard into his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue in the process and the metal locks tie around his wrists into the chair with a click. The machine activates with a whirring, cutting the silence of the room. And then, it happens. Another series of pain. 

Hedeon squeezes his eyes as the pain grows to the point he begins to scream in agony. 

Suddenly, the machine goes off and the metal cuffs unlock, releasing Hedeon. He opens his eyes to see the guards and the doctors are all now laying around the room, dead. And there goes the issue of bloodthirst. He spits out the rubber guard out of his mouth as his inner demon battles to take control of him. 

The familiar blonde with a worried look moves to him from the control panel. 

Using all his energy, Hedeon stands to reach her, not believing his eyes and collapses into Yelena's arms, making her stagger with his weight. 

"I hate that thing." He mumbles, pointing at the Memory Suppressing Machine, before nuzzling his face into her neck, inhaling her scent which immediately calms him down. 

"Are you okay?" Yelena asks, helping him out of the room, away from the blood and to the nearest wall and sit on the floor. 

He hums, nodding as he leans into the wall with a sigh of relief. "I'm fine. Just give me few minutes to recover." 

Sitting next to him, Yelena rubs circles on his arms to soothe his tensed muscles. "Your eyes. They're blue." 

"They injected me the super soldier serum." He informs, running his hand through his charcoal black hair. 

She sighs. "I know." 

"I cried twice today." He admits, rubbing his eyes. The stain of his tears are still visible on his cheeks. He wipes it away from his palms. "I'm such a crybaby." 

"It is okay to cry. Tears are a form of emotions. That means you're not void." She tells, looking at him with a small smile. 

"I thought you were dead." He whispers, looking down at his feet. "I thought I lost you." 

"You won't." Yelena shakes her head. "You can't get rid of me that easily even you tried your best, Heh-Dey-Aan. I thought you knew that by now." 

He nods with a wide smile, standing up and dusting off his suit. "I'm ready to kick some asses." 

"Good. We have to save the day." Yelena imitates him and turns to leave only to be cut off by him. 

"Wait. Before that I've to tell you something." 

She turns to face him. "Can't it wait?"

"No." 

She shrugs. "Go ahead." 

"I think I-ah..." He stammers on his words, trying to find the right words to confess his feelings. Why is it so hard? 

"You what?" Yelena raises an eyebrow, calculating his facial expressions to understand him. 

"IthinkIaminlovewithyou." Hedeon confesses the whole sentence in a single breath. He expects her not to understand it but she does and her eyes goes wide in shock. "Please, don't be mad. You can slap me or do whatever you want with me. Just don't be mad. I can live with being friends but I can't live without you not near me-" 

"I love you too, Dumbass." She cuts him off with a smile. 

"You do?" He asks in bewilderment. His jaw flexes as he blinks rapidly, trying to understand the difference between reality and fantasy at the moment. "Am I dreaming?"

"What an ass?" Yelena scoffs, grabs him by the stripes on his uniform and connects their lips. 

Hedeon's heart flutters inside his chest. He waited so long for his moment and it feels so good to feel her lips on his. They fit perfectly on his lips.

They pull apart and take shaky, shallow breaths mingle. His forehead rests against hers. They close their eyes, enjoying each other's warmth. 

When they open their eyes, they stare at each other, deep into each other's eyes. He's full of wonder and love, hers full of curiosity and passion. 

With that, he tilts his head to the side and kisses her, his lips demanding. 

Yelena feels a smouldering heat deep within her as Hedeon's grip tightens, crushing her body to his, gentle yet firm. He slants her head further, deepening the kiss.

Hedeon's hands drift to her hip. They settle there and pull her closer before they venture over her curved body, exploring. A moan leaves her lips in appreciation and it makes him grunt in satisfaction.

His entire body is taken over by the overwhelming feeling of relief, combined with eccentric panic, and lust.

Trying his best not to take her over then and there, he pulls away. "Fuck others. We're leaving right now."

"We can't leave. Natasha is still here. She needs my help. She's my family." Yelena reasons.

"You do realise that Melina betrayed us, right?" He asks.

"Melina didn't betray us. It was Natasha disguised as Melina. It was her plan to get inside this hell hole to finish her unfinished business." Yelena explains, caressing his cheek. "She can't do this alone. She needs us." 

Hedeon groans in disapproval. "You're fucking annoying, Lena. Be grateful that I love you." 

"And I love you too." She peaks his lips with a grin. "You go and get the vials. It must be probably down to cold storage. I'll help Natasha." 

Hedeon grabs her arm before she leaves. "No, you go for the vials. I'll help Natasha. I want to punch that asshole of a father on his face." 

Yelena hesitates but finally nods. "Okay then. I'll see you soon." 

"Yup." He winks before they depart in two directions.