The Winter Wraith (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Chapter 7 - Ghosts Together

"She's too powerful, too unpredictable." The two men pace in front of the cryostasis chamber you are being kept in.

"She's killed more than twelve handlers because they looked at her the wrong way! I say we keep her in cryo when we don't need her..." The voices fade away.

~

Year: 1974

"Up. Down. Point. Up. Down. Point." Your voice echoes through the room as you instruct the newest Hydra recruits in their exercises. When you weren't in cryo or on a mission, you would train the female candidates in martial arts and dance. "To fight, one must have balance and grace. What better way to learn this than through dance?"

You watch the women as they move through their routines, almost flawlessly. But almost is not good enough. "You must push yourselves harder, or do you not have the strength? Your enemies will show you no mercy, so neither will I."

A harsh cry sounds from the far side of the room, yours and every other candidate's head snapping towards the sound. As you watch, a young woman struggles to complete the landing on her grand jeté, a move the others had perfected weeks ago. You crouch down in front of the young woman, "Are you struggling, my dear?" You pour honey into your voice, coaxing her to make the fatal mistake of admitting her flaw.

"No, Ms. I just, um, well-" she stutters.

You silence her with a glare. "You," you say, gesturing to another woman with hair as black as night, "show her how it's done."

The woman does not hesitate as she leaps into the air, executing the grand jeté for everyone to witness. "Can you do that?" You sweetly question the girl.

Desperation taints her words, "Yes! I can, I just-"

"Lies." The woman drops dead, neck snapped before she can utter another word.

You do not feel bad about this. As you had earlier searched through their minds, you found she injured her left foot when she was young and it had never fully healed. If you hadn't killed her, someone else would have.

"Winter Wraith," The male voice belongs to your most recent commander, though as they age and cryo prevents you from doing so, you don't bother to learn names anymore. You seem to always forget them anyway. "Your services are no longer required."

"Very well," you turn to the women, "Fail and you die. Do not fail. Hail Hydra!"

"Hail Hydra!" They repeat as you exit the room.

~

Year: 1977

You perch by the entrance of a dark alleyway, waiting for your target's vehicle to drive by. You've been in and out of cryo for the past couple of decades, so you are determined to make the most out of the time you have. The road you wait along is fairly empty, cars and the occasional bicycle drifting the roads. According to the men you have deployed several blocks away, he should be appearing in 3... 2... 1.

Your target's Cadillac lumbers past, pulling over to the side of the road due to a flat tire. You continue to wait for another half hour or so, slipping out and onto the road and sliding into the backseat of the car just when the driver finishes fixing the wheel. Creeping inside, you use your powers to remain invisible. The man, Mr Harrison Nagree, is rather rotund. He is a known enemy of Hydra, constantly threatening to expose any secrets he can get his hands on. Other soldiers had been sent out to dispose of him, but none had been able to do so discreetly. Nagree was a powerful man, and that made him dangerous.

You shimmer into existence on the opposite red cushion to the man, putting on your sweetest smile. To him, you are wearing a lavish, purple, ankle-length dress and tunic. Really, you are simply bending the light to disguise your black Hydra gear. The man startles at your sudden appearance, "My dear," he huffs in surprise, reaching out to the window to alert the coach's driver. 'Where did you-"