1991 - HYDRA BASE IN A SNOWY LANDSCAPE
A man entered a bunker and removed a red book marked with a black star.
A technician raised two cylindrical chambers, revealing Bucky Barnes and Irina Alexeyev, aka the Winter Soldier and the Crimson Nyx.
Bucky and Irina were both secured in a chair, a mechanical device on either side of their heads causing them to scream in pain.
Vasily Karpov spoke in Russian. "Желание. Ржавый. Семнадцать. Рассвет. Печь. Девять. Добросердечный. Возвращение на родину. Один. Грузовой вагон."
(Longing. Rusted. Seventeen. Daybreak. Furnace. Nine. Benign. Homecoming. One. Freight car.)
He turned to Irina. "Один. Нежный. Сумерки. Бесплатно. Девять. Привязанный к дому. Надеяться. Тренироваться. Двадцать. Упорный боец."
(Odin. Nezhnyy. Sumerki. Besplatno. Devyat'. Privyazannyy k domu. Nadeyat'sya. Trenirovat'sya. Dvadtsat'. Upornyy boyets.)
(One. Gentle. Twilight. Free. Nine. Homebound. Hope. Train. Twenty. Headstrong fighter.)
"Доброе утро, Солдат, Nyx."
(Good morning, Soldier, Nyx.)
Bucky and Irina hesitated before replying, "Я готов отвечать."
(Ready to comply.)
"У меня есть для тебя миссия. Санкционируй и Извлекай. Без свидетелей."
(I have a mission for you. Sanction and extract. No witnesses.)
NIGHT
A car was driving down a dirt road alone. The Winter Soldier and the Crimson Nyx were waiting at the side of the road with his motorcycle. As the car passed, the Winter Soldier and the Crimson Nyx followed. They came alongside the car and disabled it. It slammed into a tree. The Winter Soldier brought the motorcycle back around and climbed off, as did the Crimson Nyx. They walked to the trunk and he ripped it open, revealing a silver case containing several blue packets.
HYDRA BASE
"Отлично, Солдат. Отлично Nyx," Karprov said.
(Well done, Soldier. Well done, Nyx.)
LAGOS - PRESENT DAY
Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch, added sugar to a cup and stirred it. She looked around.
Steve on the radio, asked, "All right, what do you see?"
"Standard beat cops," Wanda replied. "Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."
"There's an ATM in the south corner, which means..."
"Cameras."
"Both cross streets are one way," Michaela informed.
"So, compromised escape routes."
"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen, he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out," Steve said. "You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"
"Yeah, the red one? It's cute."
Natasha, sitting two tables from Wanda, said over the radio, "It's also bulletproof, which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us."
YOU ARE READING
Edge of Night
ActionIrina, Rina, Alexeyev journeys nearly 4,500 miles from Belarus to Brooklyn to escape the ruinous graduation ceremony the girls of the Red Room are forced to endure. In the New York borough, she meets two young men who change her life. Whether for th...
