A Winter Soldier and A Lost Cause

Chapter 28 - Guilt

The room faded to black and my next trial began.

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I was sat in my room, if you can even call it that. It was pretty much a cell. I'd given up keeping track of time years ago but I could tell it'd been a week or so since I was last called up for a mission. It may not seem like much but for me it was. Very few agents had been here longer than me and I was hated by most for being the no.1 girl. They usually got punished for not performing as well as me. I used to defend them or try to not do as well to save them from pain but my trainers weren't stupid. The more I tried the resist, the more people they'd punish including me. So I gave up trying.

The door to my cell opened and I got off my pathetic excuse for a bed and stood with my hands behind my back like always.

"Agent 57, your orders are to dress in your suit and collect weapons. Then head to the hangar to recieve information on your target. You have 7 minutes." The man who had entered relayed my instructions. I nodded and made my way down the hall to the 'closet'.

Each agent had their own weapons and suit store in locker that slid out of the wall. I walked over to locker 57, scanned my palm and pulled the unit  out into the room. I put on all my tactical gear and attached every weapon I could. I was told to leave the machine guns. That meant they expected hand to hand combat.

I got to the hanger with 3 minutes spare. It was an unspoken rule not to use the full time given. Only the newest recruits needed that long to get ready, I snapped buckles and strapped knives on automatically at this point.

My supervisor for missions joined me on the jet and handed me a photo.

"The assest is protected by us, you will be his protection. Hydra has put out a hit on him and it's your job to ensure that doesn't happen."

"Why can't you send one of the newbies? This is an easy mission" I said handing the photo back to him. Another reason why the other agents hated me. I liked to talk back. It usually didn't end well but I figured they'd hurt me either way so I might as well speak my mind.

"You've gotten too cocky if you think taking on the Winter Soldier is easy." My supervisor replied and a sense of dread settled in. Not for my meeting of the Winter Soldier but of the punishment I'd get for failing. He had super human strength and had been fighting for a lot longer than me. I had already lost before the jet even took off.

We landed on the rooftop of a hotel and I pulled my mask up, leaving only my eyes and long ponytail uncovered.

"A girl? This is whose hands you're putting my life in?!" A short man said looking me over.

"She's the best we have. Trained from age 5 and top of every class. No one has beaten her in a fight for several years. She will keep you safe." My supervisor said. I showed no emotion in regard to the compliments he gave me. I'd learnt my lesson about emotion in Cuba.

"I don't care about her test score you moron, I-"

My supervisor had given me the nod while the asset was talking so I interupted his speech by grasping his left arm and twisting it behind his back and holding a knife to his throat with my left hand. My supervisor walked up to him and roughly grabbed his chin in his hand.

"I shouldn't have to remind you Derrick that you work for us. We are protecting you because we need you, not out of friendship. Question our decisions or resources again and I'll let my agent finish the job herself with this knife *he glanced down at it against the asset's throat* Understood?" He finished.

"Yes" Derrick replied quietly, the fear evident in his shaky voice.

"Good." My supervisor gave me the nod and I removed my knife and released my grip on Derrick's left arm. "You will stay in your hotel room until the threat is neutralised. Agent 57 will be there 24/7 and we will only communicate through her. Now go. You've already been exposed up here for too long because you decided to waste my time with complaints."