The Lost Princess

Chapter 2

The Winter Soldier and Renegade are awoken after nearly twenty years. They were given the photograph of their target and a few specifics regarding where he might be before they were dismissed to prepare themselves for the assignment. Everything that the two had begun to remember had been wiped when they were frozen time and time again. Anytime they were close to remembering something, they were frozen. Now all they remember are their missions and the consequence for failing them. The only thing kept safe from the wiping is the bond the two had formed over their many years together. They trusted each other unconditionally and would fill the long silences of their missions with quiet talking.

"Do you think we'll ever die?" Alexei asks quietly as the two grab their weapons, stashing them about their matching leather uniforms. James looks at her curiously.

"What?" Alexei looks up from the magazine she was loading, her hands still working absently.

"Do you think they'll ever let us die?" She repeats. "Or do you think they're just going to keep freezing us forever?" She turns back to her work, leaving James to ponder her words.

James leaves after that to eliminate the target. When he returns, he informs the girl that the target got away. Now it was her turn to try. In the ninety-four years since she was captured, Alexei has gone on over a thousand missions and has never failed once. She always manages to get her target. James has only failed one, when he left a witness alive after killing the target. No one significant, just a girl with red hair, which made him think of Alexei. Perhaps that's why he let her live.

Alexei crouches on the rooftop across from the apartment building, leveling her rifle on the ledge. Her heat detecting equipment tells her there are two people in the apartment. One is her target, the other she doesn't care about. Alexei aims her assault rifle at the wall where the target is sitting. She waits for him to stand, knowing if she shoots now, the chair will stop the bullets and she'll fail her mission.

The target stands and Alexei waits just a moment before firing three shots, each one moving through the wall and into the target's back. She doesn't wait to see what happened, slinging her gun over her shoulder and standing up, running across the roof. Alexei leaps from rooftop to rooftop, knowing someone is chasing her. She hears them stop before she hears air splitting around an object that's been thrown, turning just in time to catch the shield being through at her.

There's a moment of stillness as Steve Rogers stares at the girl in confusion and a bit of shock at her reflexes. Alexei throws the shield back at him and leaps off of the rooftop. She runs down the street and hops on her motorcycle before speeding back to the base.

"Is it done?" The one of her handlers asks as soon as she enters the building.

"Nick Fury is dead." She tells him monotonously, her accent still thick even after all these years. The man smiles, a sinister thing that nearly makes Alexei's skin crawl.

"Wonderful." He says. "Go train with the Soldier." Alexei nods once before silently moving through the halls, finding James already in the training room, his back to her.

Alexei silently creeps through the room and launches herself up, landing on his shoulders, sending James into survival mode. He tries to grab her but finds legs wrapped under his arms, keeping them in place. He automatically knows who it is. Alexei is preparing to execute her signature move.

She throws her weight forward, flipping them both over. Alexei wraps her arms around his neck, preparing to put him in a choke hold but he surprises her. James grabs her arms and flips her over his body, quickly rising to his feet at the same time she does. Alexei attempts to punch him but he grabs her fist in his metal hand, landing two good punches to her ribs. Alexei grunts before grabbing his arm with her left hand and flipping him over. She straddles his hips, pinning his shoulders down with her hands. Alexei smirks as she leans over him, panting.