Way We Go Down ｡ Natasha Romanoff

30 - A MAN WITH MEMORIES

A gun had always felt like home in Alec Thayer's hand, even when he was just a young boy. He had grown up believing a soldier was nothing without the weapons at his disposal and had been groomed to fight dirty when it truly mattered. The cold metal against his flesh, the kickback that filled his muscles used to calmed down his aching soul. But aiming the barrel of his gun towards the girl he had been following for days now for some unknown reason, felt wrong. 

Poppy Thayer was blinking back hot tears, her heart thudding against her ribcage like it was going to explode. With seeing her brother in the flesh, it made her want to cry and scream bloody murder all at once. She would have rushed to his side, begging him to open his mind and remember who she was to him, but she didn't move an inch with the dead look in his eyes. She almost feared he actually would pull the trigger on her. "Alec...come on, it's me." 

Nobody moved. Fear flooded Natasha's veins with the very possible thought that she could lose Poppy today. She had warned the girl about doing something so reckless and here she was; out of breath with a gun pointed directly at her chest while Samuel Hardings gathered the courage to step in front of her. Natasha clenched her fists, cursing the foolish bravery of teenagers. "Call your dog off, Pierce." Natasha demanded, eyes narrowed on Alexander. "They're just kids."

Alexander merely smiled. "Do you know much about Project Insight, Romanoff? It's about wiping out future threats on our world. It's about narrowing the field that could possibly target our plans to protect millions of lives. It's about killing a few, to save everyone else." He pointed across at Poppy and Samuel. "The son of Tony Stark and the sister of my Winter Solider with the brains to accomplish greatness. You call them children, I call them targets."

"Wait, what does that mean?" Samuel blurted out. 

Natasha shook her head, "You're not killing them." She rounded back on Alec Thayer, voice a little desperate now. "Alec, put the gun down. I know you might not remember us, but please, you can not kill them. You have to listen to me."

Alec's eyes jerked back to Natasha, a new struggling setting off in his mind. Alexander just laughed, a horrible sound that sent dread down Poppy's spine. "Lower your gun, soldier. In a few minutes Project Insight will kill them anyway."

Suddenly, with the realisation quickly setting back in about how in a few short moments millions of innocent lives could be wiped out in one foul swoop, Natasha was rushing towards the computer to start the upload of every dirty little secret HYRDA had been hiding in the shadows for years. Her fingertips pressed to her earpiece which connected her to Maria Hill and Elliott Mercer. "How long do we have?" 

"A little under eight minutes," Maria Hill replied. 

Natasha glanced back up at Poppy. "Are Poppy and Sam targets?"

There was a slight pause. "They're targets, yes." Elliott said through the earpiece. 

While Alec Thayer lowered the gun, his jawline clenched with emotion. Odd snippets of memories of another life were trying to break through the heavy walls that had been built high when he was captured. He could actually feel his mind cracking down the middle and it was because two women were standing in this very room, praying he would just remember them. Right now while a war went on inside a soldier's head, Natasha was smiling coyly with her plan to take down HYRDA. "What are you doing?" Councilman Rockwell asked the spy.

 "She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the internet." Alexander Pierce informed the room, eyes growing deadly. 

Natasha Romanoff nodded, "Including HYDRA's."

"And S.H.I.E.L.D.'s. If you do this, none of your past is going to remain hidden." The man went on, trying to spook Natasha but she continued her work, not one bit threatened by his words. "Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?"