Hail HYDRA

Chapter Three:

He killed Fury. He had almost killed Captain America. There was a group of HYDRA agents, scientists, and Aileen that were in the back of a secure bank vault. The blonde haired girl had her hair pulled up in a tight bun as she worked away at the metal man's partially damaged arm. She wanted to ask him how he was doing. Was it feeling okay? But she had remembered what Rumlow had told her. The man was not human, he was a weapon. Deep down inside she didn't believe that, but she didn't speak up in front of all of these people. She stepped back for a moment and let one of the other scientists finish what she had started. She went back to fiddling around with some of the other equipment. The man that had taken Aileen's spot was suddenly flung across the room by the Winter Soldier. Everyone drew their guns and aimed it at the man, including Aileen. As she trained her gun on him, she thought about how that was almost her flung across the room by his metal arm. A couple of the HYDRA agents looked over at Aileen, wondering what they should do. She was in charge of them, she was in charge of him. She should know.

"Call in Pierce, he's unstable." She muttered and she slowly put her gun back in her holster. She didn't want anyone to call Pierce, but it was for his sake and for her's. She knew if she didn't she would probably be taken off his case all together then eliminated. She was naive. She had become too soft with him and she knew it. She crouched down in front of him.

"Успокойтесь." (Calm down) She spoke to him. "Я не собираюсь причинять тебе боль." ('m not going to hurt you) Aileen was glad no one in the room spoke Russian. The ones who had, were hurt on the bridge with Captain America. He said nothing to her, just looked at her with his pained blue eyes. That was the most emotion she had ever seen out of him. Aileen didn't get to stay in the moment long, because soon Alexander Pierce entered the vault. Aileen stepped away from the man to give him some space.

"Mission report." Pierce said. The Winter Soldier still said nothing, staring forward with now cold and empty eyes. "Mission report. Now." Pierce said more firmly. Aileen stopped herself from cringing at the man's tone. The older man, bent down in front of the 'older man' so he was eye level with him. He backed handed him. Aileen just stared forward at the wall as the Winter Soldier let out a small grunt of pain.

"The man on the bridge. Who was he?" It was the first time Aileen had heard him speak english. Her eyes went back over to him. She had never seen the man so vanarauble before or so breakable.

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment." Pierce explained.

"I knew him." The metal armed man said. Pierce pulled a chair over and sat down in front of him.

"Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves." He said.

"But I knew him." He said again. Pierce turned and rose to Aileen and the couple of other scientists that were in the room.

"Prep him." He said.

"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long, sir." Aileen spoke up.

"Then wipe him and start over." He said coldly. The more knowledgeable scientist moved towards the man and he complied with their actions. While Pierce and Rumlow were exiting the room Aileen, slowly lowered the amount of voltage going to the man's brain. She caught his deep blue eyes for a moment and she went back to looking like she was busy on the monitors.

-

Aileen was moved back to the Triskelion to keep a close eye on the Winter Soldier while he did his mission. He was to carry out his mission and kill Captain America. The way he had talked about him before, Aileen knew he couldn't kill him. At least she hoped he couldn't. She didn't know why she was going back on her HYDRA loyalties, but something deep down in her told her to.

All the agents were getting ready with the Insight Launch, whether they knew what was really happening or not. Aileen did, but she still followed orders. Suddenly a voice came over the coms.

"Attention all SHIELD agents, this is Steve Rogers." Everyone paused what they were doing for a moment. "You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. I don't know how many more, but I know they are in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way." Aileen knew what Project Insight was, yes, but those words stood out to her. If she helped and those ships did launch, would she stand in their way eventually? Did her father stand in their way? "Unless we stop them." Steve continued. "I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not." His message ended and Aileen stood still as Brock Rumlow entered the room she had been stationed in. He looked at her for a moment as he moved past her and toward one of the other techs. The tech refused his order for a moment.

"Is there a problem!" The man asked loudly, sending a cold shiver down Aileen's spine. The tech still hesitated.

"I'm not going to launch those ships." He finally said. "Captain's orders." Brock quickly lifted a gun to the man's head. Aileen was torn as she sat there. She had killed people before. There was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach though, this wasn't right. It may have been right in her mind before, but this was different. She had seen the way they treated The Winter Soldier and possibly what her father had been involved in.

"Move away from your station." Rumlow said. Everyone now drew guns on eachother, but Aileen just kept sitting there. The first chance she got she knew what she was going to do, run. In an instant everyone started firing at each other. Aileen sprung from her seat and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She wasn't fighting for HYDRA. She wasn't sure who she was fighting for at this point, because it wasn't SHIELD either.

As she ran through the long corridors and made her way onto the loading bay. She spotted the metal armed man for a moment. She knew this wasn't the man that she had seen just hours ago. No, this was truly the Winter Soldier and he was carrying out his mission.