2 – The New Asset

Come back to me, baby.

What have they done to you?

Please...

I gasp in pain as I feel something digging in my left arm. I glare murderously at Tessa as she steps back, her hands up in defense.

"I'm trying to be gentle," she says calmly. "I'm not trying to hurt you."

Not long after my success, I'd gotten a ride back to the facility. Tessa had been the one to greet me. She's the only person I can tolerate being in the same room as and not want to kill. I guess you'd call her my "handler" even though I hate that term with a burning passion. She's my spokesperson when I'm not. Which I'm not about 99.9% of the time, as I'm not supposed to talk, just listen to what others have to say.

Our facility is underground, away from S.H.I.E.L.D. radar. For now, at least. I'm in the infirmary area, which has been cleared out. Most of the staff are nervous around me, they fear me. Well, if they do something to me I don't appreciate, I'll let them know. And I don't need words to get my point across.

I'm out of my black uniform, put into a tank top and sweatpants. Informal, I know, but it's comfortable, and Tessa is the reason why my clothes are as comfortable as they are. Before, whatever HYDRA gave me, I wore. No questions. No rebuttals. No lip.

Come back to me, baby.

Adam Strider...I didn't know the man. I couldn't have. He had to be some delusional S.H.I.E.L.D. agent I had to hunt down. How could he know me, if he even did?

I look at Tessa warningly as she tries to go for the bullet wound again.

"I have to get it out," she insists. "Even with your healing abilities, it needs to come out."

I sigh through my nose and look at the ground, my hands clenching on the bed from the pain. The adrenaline has long gone out of my system.

It takes all the restraint in the world for me to not snap Tessa's neck for digging around in my arm like a game of Operation. But you would get someone new, someone that's not Tessa. Don't kill her. She's good to you, as good as any HYDRA person can be here.

I wince at hearing the bullet clink onto the stand Tessa has nearby. From the corner of my eye, I watch as the white bandages get unraveled. She begins slowly on my arm, creating a foundation for the wrappings.

I wince as my left arm is wrapped. I look absentmindedly at the ground as I'm being tended to.

"Let me see the rest," Tessa says once she's done with my arm. "Turn." With her hand on my chin, she turns my head to the left.

Tessa is the kind of person you least expect HYDRA to have on staff. She has a kind face, with light blue eyes and raven-dark hair. Her complexion is a little on the pale side, but most are here in the facility, as we're supposed to lay low. Well, the occasional exception is me when I get a new mission.

Tessa purses her lips. "No bruising. You didn't have much of a fight this time, did you?"

I shake my head. Even if I trust Tessa the most—and that's saying a lot because I trust very little, even those in the facility—I don't trust her enough to open my mouth. She's encouraged it, but she's been told countless times to not do that. I don't need to talk, according to some of the HYDRA staff. I serve one purpose and one purpose only.

I'm the Asset.

Well, the new Asset. The old one defected a few years back. He's the reason I've been given my time to shine. He's the reason I got called up into the big leagues. With his disappearance, he made headway for me to have my chance. My chance to become a better Asset than he was. And that's a tall order, considering I know all about him in terms of his stats. Credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last seventy years. I've barely made five kills since I've been active, and I've been active for a few years. It's either two or three, it's hard to keep track.

"Easy kill?" asks Tessa. She sounds uneasy. Sometimes when she talks to me, she gets uncomfortable. It's obvious, she gives herself away so easily. It makes me wonder how she's been with HYDRA for so long. She can't trust me, she's got to be bad at concealing her emotions. Emotions that I don't really feel, or need to feel.

I shrug. Even if I talked to her, I wouldn't tell her what Adam Strider said to me.

"You'll get some time to recuperate, even if the commander-in-chief says otherwise. I know what's best for you, even if he thinks he does." Her smile is faux and warbling. "I'm done. Go if you want."

I look at her expectantly. She knows better than to say that. HYDRA doesn't trust me on my own in the facility. They think I'm a liability, that I'll lash out if some agent is stupid enough to do something to set me off. That's why Tessa is my "handler". Compared to past "handlers" that I've had, she's been the nicest to me. The others...well, we've had our misunderstandings.

I'd rather not think about them. Thinking about them makes me want to bring them back from the dead so I can kill them again.

Tessa realizes what she's said after I stare at her long enough.

"Oh," she says, flushing. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she begins to lead me out of the infirmary. I land on my feet as I slide off the bed she'd had me on, and I tail behind her.

HYDRA, though small in numbers currently, is slowly growing. An occasional staff member walks by, acknowledging Tessa more so than me. Most staff here fear me, but some look at me like I'm the best damn thing since the wheel or sliced bread. I don't need admirers, I just need to make my mark as HYDRA's new Asset.

Tessa leads me to the elevator and presses a button. We wait patiently until the ding rings in our ears. The elevator is empty, and Tessa and I walk in. She pushes a button, and the silver doors close. My wrapped left arm is throbbing.

We go down a few floors before we're let out. This section is a bit busier. I'm on the same level as the scientists are. They monitor me for any changes—well, anything that's significant enough to worry about.

With a key card, Tessa gives me access to my room. Some room it is. It has no windows and bland walls that make me think I'm in an insane asylum. The bed is hard and uncomfortable, and the temperature isn't warm enough to my liking. It's always cold. I've always had the theory that the previous Asset stayed here, and that he was used to the cold, hence why the room was like a damn icebox all the time.

"If you need me, you know what to do," Tessa tells me. I look back at her, nodding, as I walk into my dismal room. I wince as the door shuts. There is a window in the door, but this room makes me feel like a prisoner. Like I'm not a valuable part of HYDRA sometimes. But you can't exactly expect a wonderful view in hiding. Not while underground. You get what you get.

Besides, HYDRA values me. I'm recognized and credited for what kills I've done. I just haven't found my stride yet. It probably took the last Asset decades before he got his niche. I'm practically a newborn, being new. I have a lot to learn.

I bite on my tongue lightly. I really wish my room was more than just a room. I wish I had a training room, where I could sharpen my skills. If I want to train myself, I need Tessa to follow me like a bodyguard and show me the way. Anywhere I go, with the exception of my missions, Tessa has to shadow me.

Come back to me, baby.

Those words are starting to bother me now. They're stuck in the back of my head, like a ghost. Push them out. You can't let words of your prey get to you. You have a job to do. Do it well. Make HYDRA believe you were chosen for this. Don't disappoint.

The one thing I will say my room has is a bathroom attached. I slink into it, flick on the flickering light. Ugh, this bathroom is bland too. The price of being in hiding.

I look at myself in the mirror. When I look at my reflection, Adam Strider looks back at me too. His presence doesn't scare me. The cuts on his cheeks, the red smile on his neck, it doesn't faze me. I know my mind is playing tricks on me to scare me. It's not working.

I turn, exposing my back to the mirror. I twist my head around, fingers trying to find the thing that defines me as HYDRA's. It's not the symbol that I've seen on their uniforms, but I know it's a sign of the Asset. The last Asset had one.

He still does, because I know he's alive. A man like him doesn't just die off.

It's on my right shoulder, contrasting the pale skin. It's a red star, outlined in black. I sigh through my nose. It's HYDRA's brand on me. Their claim.

I am theirs. My loyalty will remain with HYDRA, come Hell or high water. I will help them destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. I will be in HYDRA's history books, certainly not in the world history books. The world doesn't need to know about me. I'll be a ghost to them, a myth.

A legend.

I smirk at the mirror. A legend. I definitely like the sound of that.

**So, yeah, Angel has herself a "handler". I liked the idea of Tessa. I didn't want the Angel to really work solo.**