(no subject)

Codename Winter Soldier does not meet her handlers at the extraction site. The assassination goes off without a hitch, arranged flawlessly to seem like an accident. To HYDRA's knowledge, the Asset did not experience any stimulus that would cause her programming to break down. An extensive search reveals she was spotted on a train to Chicago and again on a bus to New York, but the passengers questioned could only say that she seemed disoriented and jumpy. Some believed her to be ill.

After a full five days with her gone, it's suggested that if anyone could track her down, it would be the Captain. During the time it takes to prep him for coming out of cryo, the agents and doctors assigned to handling the two of them consult on the best way to ensure that he will find her and bring her back, not go rogue with her.

When he's conscious and tested for cognitive and physical functioning, his handler approaches him for briefing. "Captain. Your comrade requires your assistance."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Looking up from where his gaze had been fixated on the floor, the Captain frowns slightly and it's hard to say if it were annoyance or worry. The latter would be impossible given he'd just come out of cyro and had been tested and stamped with their approval for field work.

But it definitely could be taken as that if one were really good at deciphering.

"What are my orders?" he asked, straightening up slightly, fixated on his handler.

A picture of the Soldier is produced for him to see. "She did not report back to her handlers at the conclusion of her mission. She is believed to be malfunctioning and must be retrieved as quickly as possible to prevent further deterioration."

Staring at the picture, the Captain nods after a moment before he moves to stand, clearly ready to take on this mission. But there's a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, something trying to get through the wall that's been built up; something that's the reasons for the tiny cracks all throughout it.

Something that wanted him to run as well.

"I'll find her."

His handler nodded sharply before adding, for good measure: "If she is not returned to us, she may become irreparably damaged."

"..Understood."

Irreparably damaged meant 'had to be put down'. The Captain knew that it was a promise, if nothing else, and that he had to do whatever it took to get her to come back or else he'd lose her--

No, wait. They'd lose her. That was the important part...right?

Without another word he turned to get his gear and go, settling into a tracking mindset because he was going to need it in order to find her.

Apparently satisfied, his handler let him go.

Since her disappearance, the Asset left very few traces of her path. A few people from the bus noticed where she got off. Someone from a diner remembered her eating there a few days later. The trail of breadcrumbs eventually led to a condemned building she'd temporarily set up to stay in. (She'd acquired enough money to get a room somewhere better for a while, but the thought of it made her... uncomfortable, like it wasn't correct for her. Like she wasn't allowed.)

Before he got there, she'd been sitting on the floor, staring fixedly at the wall like she was watching something. Or waiting.

He knew her well enough to know how to look for her, how to follow the very obscure clues to find solid facts. He eventually made it to the diner and it was from there that he found the building. It wasn't hard to get inside, shield strapped to his back and a gun in hand as he eased inside, moving swiftly and silently through the rubble.

As she came into view his gun was leveled at her, the captain easing out from around some fallen beams as he stared coldly at her--

Though the expression faltered quickly to give away some concern.

"Status report."

Status report.

The Asset stared at him for a moment, lost, before finally speaking. "I don't know."

The Captain hesitates a moment before lowering his gun, finger still poised on the trigger just in case.

"...What happened?" His tone is a little less harsh, head tilting just the slightest bit.

What did happen? The Asset remembers what she did, remembers slipping her handlers and doing her best to keep them from finding her, but she still doesn't know why. Just that something drew her to this city, made her want to stay.

" - Undefined."

Staring at her for another long moment, the Captain re-holstered his gun and started over to her, kneeling down a couple feet away. He looked like he wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come out, the man torn between two ways to respond.

Ordering her to return with him and staying with her to make sure she was alright.

He knew what his orders were but his concern for her outweighed the need to obey and that was problematic.

"...What can I do?"

She watched him, clear confusion in her face. He was acting outside of the parameters of his mission, too; were they both malfunctioning?

She moved forward a little ways, not quite close but within arm's length. "I don't know."

He was and he knew it but he couldn't stop himself. His worry for the other--for his partner--outweighed the need to perform to optimal standards.

"...I'll stay." If she wanted him to, but he wouldn't voice that part. Hopefully she'd understand that it was up to her. If she wanted him to leave..he'd do that too. For a little while at least.

The Asset frowned at him, some tinge of concern breaking through the haze of the thoughts she barely understood having. "That's not in your mission."

Which is to say: you'll be in trouble, too.

Edited 2014-11-14 01:39 (UTC)

"No, it's not."

It's said in a way that makes it clear he doesn't care though. His mission was to find her and get her back but his own personal mission was to keep her safe.

Even if personal objectives were frowned upon.

"I will protect you."

Without really understanding why, the Asset closed the couple feet between them and rested her hand (shaking again, malfunctioning) on top of his.

Releasing a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when she started to move, the Captain closed his eyes despite the voice in his head telling him not to take his eyes off her. His hand turned slightly to allow him to give her's a squeeze.

"...We can't stay here."

The touch did... something to her, like she remembered it but didn't. Like this had happened before, but she didn't have any real memory of it occurring, just... sense-memory.

(with you 'til the end of the)

Her head fell against his shoulder, a sudden headache tearing its way through, like a mini-version of the machines their handlers' used to keep them under control.

He couldn't help the draw to rest his head against hers, eyes closing just for a moment so he could focus on the here and now; of the feel of her beside him. The fact that she was safe and here and that he was going to protect her.

This was how it had always been. He knew that. For some reason, he knew that and wanted to hold to the promises he had made all that time ago.

Once the pain receded enough for her to think again, she shifted slightly closer, as close as she could get. "We're not... right. Are we?"

"...No." He wasn't sure that they were. They hadn't been for some time and that's why the handlers treated them the way that they did; he knew that for a fact.

The Captain glanced down, shoulders sagging.

"We're not."

They could not -

It hurt, thinking like this, trying to go past the grooves they made in her brain, and she couldn't complete the thought, even if it's there - they could not go back. Between the two of them, they could - they have the skills. She evaded everyone except him, they could, they could keep -

She let out a sound like a whimper and dug a fist into her head, not sure if she's trying to not think like this or keep going.

Edited 2014-11-27 04:16 (UTC)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(no subject)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I'm so sorry. Work has been insane.

it happens.