Aim: Hydra | Y/N Story | Sequel to "Aim: Avenger"

23. Goldfish

"Ready, Di?" I asked, slipping my pack over my shoulder.

Two knocks sounded against the wall, and I looked over at my friend. She was wearing a plain black jumpsuit, with a belt full of various weapons, including her signature shark-tooth dagger.

"Let's kick Hydra's butt." I pulled open my window, stepping out into the dreary night. Raindrops cried from the clouds in a gentle downpour, causing the dark streets to fill with a misty atmosphere. With me using my jetpack and Distortos using the water to form a walkway in the sky, we traveled to Ditmars Boulevard, landing silently across the street. "I'll walk in, pretending to be Enora Bell. Stay on the comms, I might need help."

"Copy that, Goldie."

I chuckled. "Are you ever going to give that nickname up? It doesn't even make sense, goldfish have a proverbial terrible memory."

"Nope." She replied simply in her gravely tone.

"I hate you."

"Mhm."

And with that, I silently jumped and landed in an alley. Pulling the veil over my face, I strapped my emergency knife against my thigh, hiding it under my gray straightskirt and matching blazer. With a blank face, I strolled up to the flower shop façade, opening the door with a ding. A man with a small build stood behind the counter, surrounded by colorful blooms. I saw him reach for the gun under the counter as he spoke. "What lovely blooms we have in the spring."

I smiled, remembering the return phrase from Enora's memory. "Yes, but they always seem to wilt in the frost."

He relaxed, and instead of pulling out a rifle, pressed a button on the underside of the desk, allowing a secret door to slide open and reveal an elevator. I strolled in and pressed one of only two buttons, waiting patiently as the doors slid closed and I began to travel down. When they opened again, I walked into a room I had seen many times through someone else's eyes. Seeing as it was late, only a handful of people were there, and not one of them even glanced at me as I made my way to Enora's desk. Wow, for a secret intelligence agency, Hydra is pretty stupid. 

Easily logging in, I began to slowly comb through as many personnel files as I could, looking over the Gifted division especially, memorizing everything as I searched for the General. I never knew her real name, or even her agent name; they were at least careful enough for that. So I had to rely on my memory of her face. After an annoyingly long time, I finally found her.

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HYDRA CASE FILE #85814876

UPDATED EDITION

NAME: CAMILLA ESTER GREEN

DOB: NOVEMBER 3, 1988

AGENT ID NUMBER: E01

AGENT NAME: HERBE

ORIGIN: AGENT WAS RECRUITED FROM ARTESIA, CALIFORNIA FOR EXCEPTIONAL INTELLECT. BROKEN OUT OF JAIL FOR ILLEGAL WEAPONS MANUFACTURING AND EXTORTION AND ENROLLED IN THE WEAPONS DIVISION BEFORE INJURY CAUSED HER TRANSFER TO TRAINING. 

TRAINING: EXTENSIVE TRAINING IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, CODING, AND WEAPONS, BOTH MANUFACTURE AND USE.

WEAKNESS: INJURY, PROJECT: CONSEQUENCE

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"Project: Consequence?" I whispered, confused. "What was that?" Before I could research further, a chime sounded over the intercom, signaling that 'my' shift was over. 

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"Do you need a hand?" I called from above

"Does it look like I need your help?" Peter grunted, trying to not get punched in the face.

"Do you really want me to answer that or would you like to maintain plausible deniability for later?" I smirked at the moving figures below me, moving about in a dangerous dance of a fight.

"Just get down here."

"All you had to do was ask, Bugsy." I jumped onto the shoulders of one of the robbers, twisting his shoulders around and bringing him down to the ground. Pointing my wrist at another, I shot a taser at him as Peter webbed the last two guys up.

"How was your mission last night?" He asked, turning towards me at webbing the two guys I was standing over.

"Well, no one died." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Those are your standards?"

"No, they're your rules. Which, might I add, is much harder to follow than I thought. When we had a pop quiz in English I was ready to gut Mr. Lora." He laughed at my joke, motioning to follow him as he swung off. "It's been fun, guys. Don't do it again." I waved to the criminals before flying off, landing on someone's fire escape next to my friend.

"So, where's Di?" He asked, handing me a soft pretzel.

"She doesn't like fighting. It hurts when someone brushes up against her scales." I paused before continuing, "I'm worried about her. She won't let me see her face, or her arms. I can tell something's wrong, and she keeps coughing. It's not that weird, but it's becoming more frequent than I think to be normal."

"Is she sick?"

"Maybe. I don't know." I took a bite of my snack

"Why don't you just read her thoughts?" He suggested.

"It's more complicated than that. In Hydra, the people I dealt with were either robots, or were trained to keep their thoughts from me. Di was one of those people."

"Wait, that's possible?" He looked over at me in surprise.

"Yeah. Humans are naturally social creatures, and our memories are no different. They want to be shared, to be heard, and it's like my brain is on the same frequency, allowing me to hear them. My teammates were taught how to turn off the broadcast, in a way."

"So she's tuning you out?"

"Not on purpose. They weren't supposed to let me in their head, so it became a reflex to constantly 'tune me out', as you put it. And I'm not going to tell her to stop, because honestly it's refreshing to not hear someone else. It's like someone constantly talking."

"So it must be hell at school."

"Eh, kind of. I can turn it off, too. I just don't like to, in case of a threat."

He paused, looking at me. "You know, you can relax. You're not alone. I could-"

"Absolutely not. We've talked about this, and I am not risking you getting hurt to help me. No way."

"Y/N, come on. I'm not as stupid as you think." He insisted.

"Alright. If you can beat me in a fight, than you can help." I challenged, thinking he wouldn't, but was surprised when he stood up. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready to fight you." He shrugged, holding out a hand for me to take. 

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