𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐕𝐄 ☁︎︎ 𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴

- prologue -

—☁︎︎—

Wednesday 7th August 1974

— THE WINTER SOLDIER opened his eyes once more to hell, it must've been his twentieth visit by now.

You would've expected his eyes to open gently like the curtains on a rainy morning where the rain just taps on the window to say hello; but contrary to popular belief, the frosted obtrusions spread across his lashes and the tightness of the frozen skin surrounding his pearly eyes, lead to a sudden jolt where his eyes widened abruptly and then extinguish into an emotionless scowl. The soldier - by this time - was well aware of the procedure and became so unconscious of it that he did seem as robotic as you'd expect from a man continuously brainwashed and cryogenically frozen on and off for 30 years or so.

"We have awoken you again Soldat for a mission as you are well aware. It should be easy for you and your skills, but what may trouble you the most is resisting your instinct to kill the asset I want you to bring in." The man's Russian accent seemed off kilt, like a smell in the air was causing an intrusion in his vocal cords. As if the cold had taken such a physical effect that a sip of water or a chew of moulded bread couldn't stop the sickness of a "seasonal cold". August in Siberia was only slightly warmer than that of the winters and even then it still never ventured above freezing. The soldier felt compelled to wonder if the freezing temperatures of the country was attractive to Hydra to ward off intrusions or if it was to keep the assets in the base; because who in their right mind would attempt to escape down a mountain in such disgusting temperatures. Either way, it seemed extremely convenient for Russian soldiers to live in such conditions as they seemed used to it, but the most infamous asset of them all, had never grown akin to it.

The unfamiliar scientist to the Winter Soldier that sat across from him was exhausting him already without saying much at all. After having a day to recover from the wiping, they had given the task they had expected to be completed in only a couple days. The cold of Siberia was evermore present this day, the Winter Soldier only looked forward to his mission more where he could feel some sort of warmth somewhere else. There was something so unfamiliar about the boreal weather pattern that even rain tapping on the window like gentle bullets felt more friendly than the continuous snowfall that he seemed to wake up to every few decades when he was necessary again. He often studied the white blanket from the window of his room, wondering why the grass had to be so far away, why his arm had to be so receptive to the cold and why this cowardly doctor sat in front of him, with the combined tremors of the cold and of the utter petrification he was experiencing from his first time meeting the infamous HYDRA assassin, was the one to debrief him.

The soldier took the folder laid out before him and took a few moments to read it over, not caring for the details but learning the necessary information to get it over with as quickly as possible and effectively. When he had finished, the doctor dismissed him to prepare and he did exactly that.

The tension in his stiffening muscles subsided as soon as his gloved right hand (the one flesh and bone like everyone else's) took a gun from the selection laid out for him. His roughly padded finger glided over the trigger, the automatic reaction from the gun would allow him to seek some control over something or other, even if it was to be just another hole in the wall. The entire compound smelt like broken brick and stone, smashed to the ground by gunfire or aggression and in the face of the violence and destruction, the base was stronger than ever. It fed off the noxious nature of its inmates like vultures feed off the dead or disease diminishes the weak and frail, like justice requires imbalance and love grows from coincidence. The very brickwork of the compound was no doubt from a time where many steps had been taken to ward off what would come in from the outside, not that anyone would dare venture through the petrifying cold, but now it was to house the animals it kept inside.

When at last the doors were opened for him, he ventured out into the same cold that he resented so everlastingly, but he knew that this time he'd be getting away from it for a while.

He was going to America.