The Winter Warrior // Captain America

«Chapter 9»

T H I R D   P E R S O N   P O V

Anna Rogers had been with Hydra for 46 years, and she looked not a day past 23, which was the age she was when she fell off the train. But she didn't remember any of that. Her brother, Steve, and her best friend, Bucky, were all gone from her mind. Her heritage, history, all of it. Gone. 

The death of her only friend, James Duran, sent her into a muted state where she wouldn't talk to anyone unless she was spoken to. And even then, she used short words and sentences. 

It was the middle of a finger-numbing cold winter in Siberia, and Anna was in Cryo freeze in a remote HYDRA base hidden in the mountain. She didn't feel anything until a gush of wind surrounded her. The freezer was removed and slowly but surely, she started to regain control over her body. Her fingers on her right hand felt like they could fall off at any second and her skin was dry. 

She opened her eyes and saw the men in front of her. The chair she was tied to released her and she dropped forward, only to be caught mid-air by two pairs of hands. Two men dragged her through the Siberian facility to another room where she was shoved into another contraption. Metal clamps trapped her arms and legs as an ice-cold mask placed itself on her face, sending electric shocks through her skull that felt like her head might explode. Piercing screams erupted from her lungs as she wanted nothing more than for the pain to stop.

"Astray," a man behind her said in a thick Russian accent.  

The mask released her and several muscle spasms surged through her body. 

"Decayed." 

"Twenty-two." 

The fragments of memories that flooded her brain started to disappear, even though Anna clung to them for dear life. Repeating the same words over and over to try and remember.

"Dawning." 

She knew she had a brother. And a best friend. 

"Descent." 

The already blurry pictures started to fade. 

"Nine." 

They began to disappear, the colours blending together. 

"Truce."

The pictures faded completely, leaving nothing but a big, black, gaping hole in her mind. 

"Homebound." 

"Two."

Her brain numbed, and she couldn't think for herself anymore. 

"Convoy." 

The man entered her vision, and when he looked in her eyes, he saw no emotion. Even though he saw her often, and she saw him even more in her nightmares, she showed no sign of recognition.

The red, leather notebook he held was shut and placed aside as Anna tried to catch her breath. 

"Good morning, Warrior," the man said, and she merely looked at him. 

"Ready to comply," Anna replied automatically, her voice monotonous and empty.

"I have a mission for you," he told her, holding up a brown file. "Sanction and extract. No witnesses." 

She knew exactly what that meant. No one saw her coming, no one saw her leaving. If anyone did, execute them. 

She nodded once before the metal clamps released their tight hold. She rose to her feet, walking to the dimly lit room that was attached to this bigger one. She changed into a pair of black cargo pants and a black leather jacket as she read the file she had been given. She tied her long brown hair into a low ponytail as a couple of greasy, tangled strands fell out and framed her slender face. She put the gun holster around her torso and placed a small gun in its spot on her back. She added two slim daggers to her belt, just in case. 

She was escorted outside by two men in deep green suits where a motorbike waited for her. Her commanding officer followed closely behind. "Remember, Sanction and Extract," he repeated and with a nod of her head, she swung her leg over the bike and straddled it. 

Turning the key in the ignition, the engine roared to life and Anna sped off into the darkness. It was very early in the morning, she concluded as she saw the moon ahead of her as she raced over the badly lit road. 

She came to a halt after counting the seventeenth street lantern and hid herself and the bike behind the bushes that grew at the side of the road. Exactly eleven minutes and forty-two second later, she picked up the sound of a car engine and a few seconds later, a silver car passed her hiding spot. She fired up the bike and tailed the car, swerving behind it to throw off the driver. 

As the car veered to the left side of the road, she sped up. She drove her fist through the window and the car crashed into a tree on the roadside. 

She pressed the brakes and the motorbike spun around. She drove to the back of the car and without a second thought, opened the trunk. Her eye fell on the silver case she had seen in the file and she flipped it open, revealing five IV bags filled with a blue liquid.

She heard the door on the driver's side open and she glanced up, seeing the white-haired man who had driven the car fall onto the asphalt. 

"Help..." he weakly said. "Help my wife." 

A witness. 

Anna stealthily walked over to the man, who continued to wail for help. She grabbed a handful of his white hair and yanked his head backwards. She looked at the man and upon seeing her, his eyes widened. "Agent Rogers?" he whispered. 

"Howard!" a woman's voice cried. 

Anna's metal hand balled into a fist and landed three hard punches in the man's face, leaving it bloody and beaten. She dropped his limp body to the floor and grabbed the back of his jacket. Dragging him over the concrete, she brought him back to the car where she placed him in the driver's seat, next to his wife. "Howard," she whimpered with a shrill voice. 

She travelled to the other side of the car where she clasped her hand around the throat of the woman, cutting off her air supply. The woman let out a few choking sounds and struggled against Anna's grip, but it was of little use as she went limp a few seconds later. 

Anna's eye fell on the security camera that hung on one of the street lanterns. She closed the door of the car and walked over, looking straight into the camera and raising her gun before pulling the trigger. 

She took the silver case from the trunk and tied it to the back of her motorbike. She drove back to the Hydra compound where she delivered the case in perfect condition, not a fingerprint on it. 

"Well done, Warrior," her commanding officer stated.