SOLDIER // VKOOK

Chapter 5

No medic from their home base would make it in time, so they sent out those in Germany instead. They arrived at the scene, with Yoongi still drifting further and further away from consciousness. Taehyung could not take his mind off of what Yoongi had said. What did he find out that was so important that he even warned Taehyung not to trust anyone but his teammates.

What was it?

Does that mean he cannot trust Kim Namjoon? He did not count as a teammate, but a boss instead. Yet he was in charge of their operation. Was that part of his plan?

Who was the figure with the metal arm?

Taehyung looked at Yoongi being transported into an ambulance, he did not follow the vehicle and was instead ushered into a helicopter and was flown towards the biggest hospital in Germany. It was cold alright, the air was cold and it looked like Germany was hit with a huge wave of snow. It covered every inch of the ground and Seokjin shivered, his teeth chattering. The team huddled closer together as they make their way down onto the first floor, where Yoongi was taken in to go through an emergency operation.

Taehyung leaned backward on the wall, his shield thumping against the concrete, he tilted his head until it was resting on his shield. He tried to have a tiny breather, but he could not get something out of his chest. Was it guilt? Was it the feeling of losing someone you care about resurfacing again. He bit his tongue to control himself, to not punch the wall and leave a gaping hole through the rooms.

He turned as he saw Jimin coming out of the waiting room, his head hung low and shoulders slumped. He collapsed next to Taehyung, sliding down to the ground, his silver hair was messy and became dull in color. He had his knees drawn up to his chest ad his hyperactive demeanor was gone. Taehyung squatted down and sighed, Jimin did the same.

"How is Yoongi?" Taehyung asked, his voice coming out more strained that he actually implied it to be.

"I don't know. There was b-blood... everyone was scared... I- I had to l-leave." Jimin stuttered, covering his face with his hands and buried his entire face into his knees. Taehyung got up and saw Seokjin walking towards him with a sullen look on his face.

His hair was a little messy and he had a cut on his cheek but he was looking alright. He walked towards Taehyung and asked a question that sparked unknown anger in Taehyung's chest. "That assassin, he had a metal arm with the symbol of Cipher, didn't he?" Seokjin hissed, keeping in mind that there were others in the hallway. Taehyung gritted his teeth and pulled Seokjin by the collar into an empty room. He slammed the blonde onto a wall, the picture frames rattled in its place and Seokjin winced.

"You knew," Taehyung growled accusatively. "You knew him. TELL ME WHO HE IS!"

"I don't know him either, I just caught a glimpse of him that's all." Seokjin lied through his teeth. He puts on an unreadable expression but his eyes constantly shifted, the orbs of brown and black moved left and right, not having eye contact with Taehyung at all.

"Stop lying. You know him." Taehyung said, his grip on Seokjin's suit tightened. With that, Seokjin relented, sighing deeply.

"He is a master assassin, those who believe his existence address him as the Winter Soldier. In the past 50 years he has raked over dozens of killings and it seems that he is back for more." Seokjin explained. "It is very unclear who is he working under."

"So he is just a ghost story? 50 years and he will be a crippled old man, that man I met was young and agile. It could not be him, tell me his name." Taehyung pushed, getting impatient.

"His name was not given for the sake of sounding terrifying, he is a machine. He was like you, created by the members of Cipher and put in a freezing state, that was how he lived." Seokjin continued. "I was on a mission last year and my whole team was down, I tried to save the last of them but he shot them..." The blonde wriggled his shoulder out of his suit and there was a bullet scar near the collar. "Right through me."

Taehyung let's go of Seokjin's collar and stepped backward. The blonde smirked and showed Taehyung the hard drive Yoongi gave it to him, the drive was giving off a blue light. "But as you said Taehyung, he is just a ghost story." Seokjin fired back. Taehyung grabbed the hard drive and placed it in his pocket before turning around and leaving. But he paused at the door, he smiled back and turned towards Seokjin.

"Then we will see what the ghost wants."

*

The soldier was at a hotel, his shield discarded somewhere alongside with his suit and he was back into comfortable t-shirt and boxers. He did not really know where to go at this point, whether to go back home or to find out who that man was. He spotted the drive at the table beside an empty glass of water. It looked like a harmless drive to everyone else, but it contained information that he does not know anything about. Only that it came from Cipher.

"I just need a computer to figure this out." Taehyung groaned, falling back into the soft bed. The mattress seemed to have engulfed him and he felt that he could sink into the ground. It was soft and springy, just like.... home.

He grabbed for the dog tags hanging loosely around his neck, his fingers coming into contact with cold metal. There was a knock on the door which Taehyung flinched, snapping out of his trance-like state. He shook his head and the knocking became even more persistent. Taehyung got to the door and swung open the door, ready to punch anyone who tried to annoy him.

"Hey Jimin." Taehyung greeted. The other man was getting better, color had returned to his face and he was cracking a small smile. He came into the room and Taehyung closed the door, twirling around and locking it. "What made you came here?"

"You know, I really think that you should head out for once. Maybe get with me? I am pretty lonely when Yoongi and Hoseok are not beside me now, Seokjin is reporting back to the boss... you and I are left here... I just want someone to talk to." Jimin explained, flopping down onto the bed. His silvery hair created a halo around his head, he stared at the ceiling like how Taehyung would. Mind all confused and filled with thoughts. Taehyung looked away, hating to compare himself with others.

"Stop doing that." Jimin scolded. Taehyung looked at Jimin with a quizzical look.

"Stop doing what?"Taehyung questioned, confused. Was he being all gloomy again?

"Stop doing this to yourself. You are upset because you thought you were the one cause of Yoongi getting injured and not catching up to whoever has wounded him." Jimin said, sitting upright with a cross look on his face.

Busted.

Jimin walked up to Taehyung, the soldier seemed to just curl into the wall even more. He wanted to say he was fine and his guilt was not that bad and he understands the whole situation at hand. But the words were just clogged up in his throat, unable to come out like it used to. The shorter man went up to him and grabbed his arms, turning it around and saw years of scars on the battlefield many years ago.

"I know you Taehyung. I was the one who eased you into this time period. You are blaming yourself again." Jimin said sadly, his fingers tracing a long white scar on Taehyung's arm. A knife that he deflected when running away from a Cipher camp. It never actually healed. "You shouldn't be... whoever's death... is not your fault. I don't think your friend would not be happy to see you like this."

Taehyung took his arms away from Jimin's hands and kept them by his side. "Jimin... I don't think you understand." Taehyung pushed Jimin away slightly, enough for him to breathe. "You have a family with you, still alive and well...my family? They are all dead, I couldn't even save my friend who was just a few centimeters away from me. What gives me the right to not blame myself when my other teammates get hurt?"

Taehyung went towards his suit and slipped it out, zipping up and tightening straps around his arm and legs. He got into his boots and secured his shield on his back. The soldier grabbed the hard drive and faced Jimin before speaking again. The silver haired man was quiet, his hands balled up into fists as he held back tears. "I hope you understand Jimin." And with that, Taehyung left his room.