Winter Soldier's POV

The eight hour flight had dragged on far too long. The soldiers hadn't said a single word to either one of us since the raid on the Banderas mansion. This lead to me think that maybe we failed the mission.

I thought over everything we did, all they asked of us was to kill Fernando Banderas and any witnesses around him. We did that, and killed only a few bystanders, so why were we getting the silent treatment on this long flight. It only made things more uncomfortable.

The thing that bothered me the most was how they never asked us in the first place to retrieve the weapons. It's weird enough how he would keep something like that in his own house, so wouldn't it have been wiser to store them someplace safer?

I put those thoughts aside for later and looked up across from me. The Winter Shadow had been asleep for the majority of the flight, until about half an hour ago she began to breath heavily and dig her nails into the fabric on the seats, probably from a nightmare. So she has them too huh.

The jet was dull and dimly lit, with many dents and scratches covering the grey walls. It was a gloomy place to be sitting in for eight hours, nothing to do but try and sleep. Not a single window was in sight, at least in this part of the jet, which only added to the uncanny feeling someone would get from being in here for so long.

The Winter Shadow had finally calmed down a bit. Her face damp from tears and lips dry. I couldn't help but notice the words, or rather, names that she mumbled in her sleep not too long ago. Steve, and what sounded like Bucky.

The names sounded familiar on my tongue. I repeated them to myself, "Bucky...Steve...." why, why did they sound so familiar to me. I remember Winter Shadow mentioning Bucky when we were back in the cells before the mission. Did we have some kind interaction before regarding those names?

"Steve...Bucky..."

"Bucky!" Winter Shadow shot up into a sitting position, panting.

"I... I'm sorry, just another dream." She stammered. "Got anymore Advils on you?"

I toss her the bottle of pills. My eyes widen when I see her swallow about five. She carelessly threw the bottle harshly to the side and slumped back onto the seats.

"Don't bother trying to fall asleep again, we're almost there and should be landing soon." I inform her. She nods and sits up.

I look around the jet, the pilot was closed off from the rest of the HYDRA passengers, and the other soldiers seemed to have isolated themselves from the two deadly, highly trained super soldiers.

I sit next to her, not making eye contact with her, and asked her what I'd been thinking of during the entire flight back.

"You recognize the names Bucky and Steve, do you not?"

She looked over at me wide eyed. She sighed and looked at the ground. "Yeah... how'd you know. Have you heard them too."

"I.. I think I have. It started when I was assigned my mission with you. I can't shake the feeling of familiarity that I get when I look at you."

She look over at me, a hint of a smile formed on her face. "If I've ever had any dreams, HYDRA usually wipes them away once I wake up. It's odd that I can remember that. There's a good chance that once we land back at the site in D.C. they'll just wipe these names and these odd dreams I've experienced away from me, and I'll probably forget you too."

I hadn't actually thought about that possibility, no, outcome, that would occur once this mission was over. What was the chance of getting to work with Winter Shadow again after this mission. What was the chance that maybe we'd worked together multiple times before, and this same situation of recognition came across us, only for it to be wiped over and over again by HYDRA.

The other soldiers still hadn't noticed us, if they did, we'd have been disciplined for discussing our memories that we weren't even supposed to have.

I shake my head. "There's nothing we can do, if it's for HYDRA, it's worth it isn't it."

She thought about her answer, not sure if she had the right opinion. "I guess, that's what we've been promised, that all the assassinations and training have all been for the sake of HYDRA and whatever they have planned for our world." She fiddled with her gloves.

"Oh, here you can have these back. Thanks." She handed me the pair of leather gloves and got up to sit across from me.

The only audible sound was the faint hum of the jet engine, until I began to feel the jet losing altitude little by little. Guess I didn't have to sit around in this bleak jet for much longer.

I started to think about our mission again. We killed Fernando Banderas, took out the bystanders and did exactly as we were ordered. Not being able to retrieve the weapons, which we never even found out what they were, that was never our fault.

I felt a dropping sensation as the jet sped up and landed in D.C. at the base.

I swung my bag over my shoulder, when a HYDRA soldier grabbed my arm and escorted me out of the jet. I was quick to notice the rifle tucked not so secretly in his side.

They lead me down off the jet, the sudden brightness of the outside causing me to squint and adjust to the light.

The Winter Shadow was also being held by a soldier, and without any warning, many other soldiers came towards us and were tightly holding and guarding us as if we'd try to run at any moment.

"Isn't this a little much." I heard Winter Shadow grumble behind me.

"Shut it." A soldier ordered as he slapped her. Her expression remained the same as if she didn't notice it at all. Her cheek grew a pale red.

We were lead into the base, the soldiers still being overly cautious about our behavior towards them. This base was just as dreary and dull as the jet was, especially in the basement where all of the winter soldiers were trained and held.

We walked down the many flights of concrete stairs, into the cold, damp basement. Our cells remained empty for us to later be put back in if they didn't need us anymore. It was also possible we could be put into a cryogenic freeze for a while when they no longer needed us, but currently we've had many missions. HYDRA was making a move in the world.

At the very back of the corridor of cells, there was a few doors leading to different rooms, five to be exact. Two contained wiping machines, one had a line of cryofreeze machines, one other was a large training room, and the last I wasn't sure of.

Before we could even comprehend which room we'd be going in, I felt a sudden punch to my gut, and a blow to my head, knocking me out cold.

~~~~

I groan as the pain from the punch still lingered, as if it only happened a few minutes ago.

I glance to my right to see the Winter Shadow in the same state as I was. We were both strapped down onto metal chairs facing a door. This must be the unknown room.

A HYDRA soldier with a look of displeasure on his face peered through the door that was slightly ajar.

"Wait right here soldiers, we're not done with you."

He shut and locked the door, as if that would make any difference of what we could do.

Again, I thought about the mission. Guess I could ask Winter Shadow about it while we were alone.

"So, the mission."

"What about it?"

I exhaled deeply. "Do you think we did anything wrong?"

She stared at the door for a while, pondering her answer. "I think we did what we were ordered, kill the man, kill the witnesses, and that's it."

"But what about the weapons?"

"I was thinking about that too for a while, but that was never what we were told to do when we were first assigned the mission." She sighed.

"Yeah, but we were ordered to later, once we had completed the first mission."

She looked at me, a glint of worry in her eyes, but it quickly went away. "Whatever. If we're punished, then so be it."

"We'll be wiped anyway." I finish.

She chuckled at this statement, I look at her questioningly.

"Don't you see? That is the punishment."

The pain in her eyes was visible, as if she'd been waiting to tell this to someone for a long time now.

In the end, she was right. No life outside of killing and missions was what we payed for.

Just then, a couple of soldiers burst in, one harshly grabbing my neck.

"You failed." He said through his gritted teeth.

"Explain to us, how." The Winter Shadow retorted.

"And let go of him." She added

The soldier released his grasp from me and strutted towards her, grabbing her face.

"You do not get to give me orders, understand?" She glared into his eyes angrily, resisting his sense of hierarchy.

"Fine." She mumbled.

A few other soldiers stood around the room, cornering us in case we were to go berserk and attack, despite being well restrained.

"Like I said before, you two failed to complete your mission." He repeated.

"What about the first one, you gave us two missions not one." I say.

"And with all due respect sir, we fully completed the first one." She informed.

He scoffed. "That was to be expected. A rookie soldier could've easily completed a simple assassination like that one, don't tell me it was any sort of challenge."

We were insulted. Yes it wasn't very difficult, but it wasn't any kind of walk in the park either.

"Why didn't you tell us about the weapons in the first place? We weren't even aware of who this man was and that he manufactured weapons. If we hadn't done extensive research, we wouldn't have known about them." Shadow was now raising her voice.

"We gave you technology did we not? I see it as fair enough." He shot back.

Things were getting out of hand. Winter Shadow was slowly losing it.

"But you could've just told us if you've known! I bet that that man had no intention of interfering with HYDRA in any way, and that he had never witnessed any kind of HYDRA mission. We only killed him for his products!"
She clenched her fists.

"Why should we tell you anything? You're only property of HYDRA and you do whatever you're told to." He concluded.

Property, that's what we were?

"Neither of you get an opinion in the matter, you failed to retrieve the weapons we desired."

Winter Shadow was about to fire back, but another soldier stuck a strip of duct tape across her mouth to silence her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I started.

"Do you have any snarky comments you'd like to add soldier? Or shall I have your mouth taped shut like your friend over here." He sneered.

I stare icily at him, saving the argument from going further.

I glance to my right to see Winter Shadow staring angrily at the ground. It was stupid of her to argue with a HYDRA soldier, but I must admit, it was bold of her too.

"Now listen here, those weapons were key to thriving in our next project, and without them, the process will be much slower. They were somehow altered by the tesseract found by S.H.I.E.L.D. two years ago, and now not only do we not have them, but we now have no chance of ever getting them as they were completely burned by the fire." The soldier paced around the room in frustration. "Imagine the power we could have had..."

"Our apologies sir." I say monotonously.

"I'd imagine you are, and you should very much be." He told us, as if we were just children being punished. I didn't want to take the situation any further, so I sat and listened in silence, like I've always been told to.

A light tap came from outside of the door. "Sir, we just received a call from Mr. Pierce. He's apparently ready to start." A soldier informed him.

"Excellent." He grinned.

Winter Shadow and I glance at each other. Who was this "Pierce" they spoke of?

The metal bars began to dig into my skin on my right arm more as the time went by. My metal arm was restrained even more, with about seven metal bands bolted down into the chair onto my arm.

Something I'd noticed about Shadow and the rest of the winter soldiers is the fact that none of them besides me have any metal implants. Could I have maybe been an experiment of some sort? When was I given this metal one, it must've been a while ago. Not because it was rusted, because it wasn't at all, but something about it seemed outdated.

The soldier came back in with a smug look on his face. Whatever the other soldier had told him had lifted his spirits. Maybe I'd try and speak up before he lost his temper again.

"The duct tape?" I gesture my head in Winter Shadow's direction.

"Oh no need, it'll come in handy when we wipe you in the next few minutes." He said almost too cheerfully.

He grabbed a keypad lying on a nearby table, and began punching in a code that freed us from the restraints.

It was surprising that we were not beaten or anything after being told we failed a mission. Those beatings I always seem to fully remember after being wiped. Missions were important to HYDRA, and failing them could cost them a lot.

We were lead out of the room. As we were grabbed by a few soldiers, Winter Shadow shot me a nervous glance. I knew what it was for. Not because of the wipings, (we've been through that enough for it to no longer scare us) but it would mean that we wouldn't remember each other afterwards.

During this mission, we had recognized each other, we worked well together. I couldn't help but be just as disappointed as she was about the matter.

This was what came with being a winter soldier.

Winter Shadow was about to be lead into the second wiping room, when she looked deep into my eyes. Although her mouth was covered in tape, I knew that underneath, she was smiling a little. She was quickly pushed in and the door slammed behind her.

I was shoved into the other wiping room, the familiar dread came upon me. I was used to it, but that didn't mean that the feeling was all sunshine and rainbows.

They pushed me into the chair and placed the metal prongs on my temples.

"Here we go again" I thought to myself.

~~~~

Winter Shadow's POV

I woke up to the uncomfortable feeling of two HYDRA soldiers holding me down in a chair as they secured the restraints. Were they so pathetic not to realize that I won't do anything to them?

My head ached, most likely from being wiped. A strong fatigue washing over me.

"Winter Shadow, do you remember what you did yesterday." A HYDRA soldier stood in front of me.

I look back and try to remember anything, but nothing popped up.

"No." I stated.

"Wonderful." He turned to grab a clipboard sitting on a table behind him.

"Nick Fury is the man. The man I want you to kill." He announced.

"When do I leave?"

"I'd say you'll be ready in about three days. For now you will be training with another soldier, he's one of our best." He noted.

"He can't be any better than me." I said truthfully. I've been here for much longer than many of the winter soldiers in HYDRA.

"He may as well be just as good." He remarked.

He turned to leave, until abruptly stopping. "I forgot to mention, he will be the one to kill Fury, you are just his backup." He concluded and left me feeling insulted.

I am not a backup.

Author's Note

Wassap guys! Sorry about this chapter being a little late. It took me a while to write this one, but I hope you enjoyed it!