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( captain america: the winter soldier )
★
CHLOE DIDN'T HAVE much time to check and see if Natasha and Steve were okay. She had her second sight to check if her comrades were dead or not, a small sigh of relief leaving when she found out they weren't. The unfortunate part, she couldn't really meet them on the surface, thanks to the massive pile of rubble that decided to conveniently sit on top of the sewage entry.
After taking twists and turns and trying to reach the outside world, Chloe found an entrance leading to the outside world. As she lifted the grate, the sight of the moon and the surrounding stars flooded her eyes. She found herself in the middle of a deserted road with no visible signs of life.
Exiting the rancid sewer system, the Frye pulled out her phone with confidence in her small communications device. She exhaled when she found a small bar resting on the top of her screen. A bar of service is better than none at all. She clicked on her most called contact and held the device up to her ear. The user picked up on the third ring with expectancy in their voice.
"Hello?"
"Alex? Yeah, I'm gonna need you to come pick me up."
★
The ride back to base was a silent one, mainly consisting of Chloe trying to catch some sleep before the days ahead. Call it what you will, but Chloe felt as if this was only the calm before a storm.
By the time the cousins had reached the nearest Assassin Compound, it was daybreak and Chloe was fast asleep. The rumble of her cousin's jeep drove her over the edge of unconsciousness. The voice of her cousin and his hand on her shoulder woke her up. She opened her eyes, although reluctantly, to come face to face with the setting of the compound's garage.
Yawning, Chloe climbed out of the car and walked into the boisterous building. Agents and fellow assassins ran throughout the compound, attending jobs and preparing missions. Looking over at her cousin, Chloe held back another yawn. "Where are the others?"
Alex glanced over and started walking towards their designated station. "Bishop is still helping the initiate work through Arno's memories, and I think Rebecca and Shaun are helping, but I'm not one hundred percent sure."
Alexander flicked on the lights, striding over to his desk and logging in.
Chloe sat down at her desk, looking at her cousin with raised eyebrows. "They're still sifting through his memories? You'd think they'd find the Sage by now."
Alex shrugged and turned on his own computer. "We need to have patience with the new guy. I'm probably sure they never knew they'd become an Assassin after turning on what they thought would be just a game."
Chloe snorted. "You would think Bishop would choose an actual Assassin to find the Sage, but nope. We're putting all of our trust into a random person who could expose our entire organization with a press of a button."
"Kinda like you did?" Alex said, wiggling his eyes, his own eyes trained on his computer.
"Shut up," she grumbled, typing her computer. "I didn't have much of a choice if I needed their help."
"And we need the initiate's help with finding the Sage. Trust is a two-way street, Chloe. We trust the initiate, and we can only hope they trust us."
"When did you get all smart?"
"When I decided I wanted you to stop calling me a smart-ass." Alex stopped typing suddenly, drawing the attention of Chloe across from him.
"What?"
"Um..." Alex said, fiddling with his fingers. "So, I was digging around SHIELD's files earlier, which is HYDRA, but you already knew that right- like, Fury even said-"
Growing irritated and slowly losing her patience, Chloe kicked his foot under the desk.
"Bucky Barnes is the Winter Soldier!" Alex blurted, his hands traveling down to cradle his foot. "Dammit, Chloe, I said to stop doing that!"
The teenager sat in shock. "Bucky Barnes, as in Steve's best friend since childhood Bucky Barnes?"
As Alex nodded, Chloe suddenly realized the gravity of the whole situation.
★
Luckily, Natasha hadn't lost her tracker. Purposely or coincidentally, Chloe might never know. As she was grabbing some more gear, Alex stopped her in the doorway, smiling sadly as if he could read her thoughts.
"You can't tell Steve about Bucky."
Her head whipped to the side, her eyes involuntarily narrowing. "And why the hell not?"
Alex shrugged sadly. "Direct orders from the top. Sometimes it's better for the others to find out on their own, I guess."
"Why the hell do they even care?" Chloe scoffed, slamming her locker door shut. Sheathing her dagger, the teenager stormed to the doorway.
However, before she could move out, Alex stopped her, placing a hand on her arm. "I don't know. Listen, Chloe, I know how much you want to tell him, but you can't ignore direct orders."
Chloe's head dropped slightly. Eyes closed, she reluctantly nodded and felt her body being pulled into a hug by her cousin. "I hate how you're right, Alex."
"To be fair, you always hate being wrong."
"Dude, shut up, we're having a moment here."
Alex chuckled, scanning her body to see if she forgot anything. "Do you have your gun?"
Chloe groaned, pulling out the weapon from her thigh. "Alex, you know I hate guns. They're impractical."
"Chloe, my dear cousin," Alex spoke, placing his hands on her arms, "I am fully aware that you can protect yourself without a gun, but bring it so I know you're in safe hands."
"I can protect myself, I'm not bringing anything."
Alexander rolled his eyes as Chloe stepped around him.
★
WEAK ENDING, I KNOW, BUT I HAD TO FORCE MYSELF TO FINISH THIS CHAPTER.
Also, here's some Chloe/Alex cousin bonding moments. I felt we needed more of those before the chaos come flooding in.
NOW, I want everyone to sit down cause I have important news here.
WE HAVE 1K READS.
I'VE BEEN LOSING MY HEAD ABOUT THIS ALL WEEK.
1K READS. 1,000 INDIVIDUAL, LIVING, BREATHING, UNIQUE, HUMAN BEINGS HAVE READ THIS BOOK.
