The Winter Wraith

Chapter 2

"We're five minutes out from the location. Get ready," Bryan told Adina.

Adina's mind was all over the place. She had just had her memory wiped a few hours ago, and she didn't know who she was. However, this wasn't unusual for her. She was used to having her memory wiped right before a mission. It had become protocol after an incident happened. Adina couldn't grasp that memory at the moment, but she knew that it was important. She could come back to that later. Right now, she needs to review the file.

"Level 5 Mission. Eliminate any hostile forces you come into contact with. Use any means necessary to retrieve the vile..." Adina read in her head as she was skimming over the file.

A level 5 mission was an important one. The highest mission she had ever been on was level 4, and she had the other Asset with her then. Although Adina knew she could be powerful, she wasn't confident in her abilities. She had barely gotten the hang of teleporting, and she could rarely ever get her forcefields to work.

"I went through all that experimentation, and I can't even use my powers right. How useless," Adina thought. "I should have at least something to show for all that pain I went through."

The armored truck they were in had abruptly halted, and Bryan told Adina to go do her job. Adina hopped out of the back of the truck, and turned to the side. She could see a large white building that had many windows.

"This does not look very secure for housing some important vial. This is sort of weird," she thought.

Adina was not wrong to be suspicious. In fact, the whole atmosphere just felt sort of off. It was eerily quiet and pitch black outside. It was probably a bit after midnight. Adina couldn't hear anything but the sound of her own breathing and the other Hydra agents' boots softly slapping on the ground. A cold breeze blew in causing Adina to shiver. She just wanted to get this mission over as fast as possible, and get back to...Home? Adina can't remember the last time she called a place home. Why does she even work for Hydra? Oh right, something to do with bringing the world peace.

Adina didn't have time for this inner dilemma. She had a mission to complete. She finally got away from the truck, and followed some other Hydra agents inside. Adina had already memorized the map of the building that was given to her in the file. She turned left in the lobby and quickly found the set of stairs that lead to the lab room. She twisted the door handle expecting to find it locked, but it easily opened. She took a quick look to her right, and sure enough, the key card access panel next to the door had a green light signifying that the door was unlocked. Strange, Adina thought, but she dutifully continued with her mission. She slowly walked into the lab, peering left and right to make sure she was truly alone. She had an odd feeling about this mission, but she shook it off. After she was sure that there were no guards securing the important vial, she walked into a room connected to the lab. This room had an important looking metal door that seemed to be leaking cold air into the room, and Adina guessed that must be where the vial is being kept. She wrenched open the door and was met with a blast of cold air. Adina could now see a vial with a blue substance inside it propped up on a metal podium. She took a few steps toward the podium and reached out to grab the vial. Right as she closed her hand around it, the metal door slammed shut behind her.

Adina froze. She heard a lock sliding into place. Realization dawned on her. This had been a set-up all along. Someone knew that Hydra was going to be here tonight, and they set a trap. Adina slipped the vial into a pocket on her vest and rushed to the door. She tried opening it to no avail. She took a few steps backwards and ran forward, her shoulder colliding with the door.

Ouch, Adina thought, that's definitely going to leave a bruise. The door wasn't budging at all, even with Adina's super strength. She would have to resort to a different method.

Adina felt her powers coursing through her frail body, ready to be put to use. She then scrunched her eyes shut and visualized the lab that was just beyond the metal door. A whooshing sound was heard with a flash of blue light as Adina appeared in the middle of the lab room standing on a table. Well, it worked, she thought, but I do need to work on this skill a bit more.

Clatter. Adina whipped around, causing the table underneath her to shake a little. She wasn't alone in this room. Adina jumped off the table and sprinted out of the lab while hearing heavy footsteps thundering after her. As she ran down the halls towards the stairs, she passed a few Hydra agents peacefully slumped on the tile floor with bullet holes in their foreheads. She gulped. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. The mission was compromised. She needed to get out of here fast. She hadn't gotten any data, but she had gotten the important vial that Hydra wanted. Maybe she wouldn't be punished that bad.

Adina was now to the stairs, when an arrow flew past her. She had just been standing there a split second ago. Adina had no time to waste, as she grabbed the railing pulling it down with her. As she used this unique method to get down the stairs, the person was closing in on her. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Adina decided to jump out the third story window. As she ran up to the window, she shot a few bullets to break the glass before throwing herself through it. As she free fell, she heard a male voice.

"We have an enhanced on the field. Be careful."

Adina had no time to think about this as she landed on a Hydra truck. That wasn't so bad, she thought. Although she wasn't sure she was much better out here. Adina had found the real fight. Hydra agents were everywhere, but they were somehow losing. There was a ragtag group dressed in colorful uniforms that seemed to be winning the battle. Hydra was losing. Hydra, losing. Adina didn't think that was possible. Adina reconsidered her options. As she had been retrieving the vial, her memories of Hydra had been slowly but surely coming back to her, and they were not happy memories. Maybe, just maybe, this is my chance, she thought. She could run away and make her escape while Hydra was busy with this pelicular group of people.

As hope flowed through her for the first time in years, Adina quickly realized the problem with her plan. She had on her silver metal bracelet. This thick metal band, a gift from Hydra, had always been on her since she got her powers. It was able to lower the level of her powers, which she suspected was the reason why her powers were so glitchy. But more importantly, it had a tracker in it. Adina could escape, but it would be for nothing unless she was able to remove the tracker. She had previously tried many times to pry it off her right wrist, but it never seemed to give. As Adina contemplated the possible solutions in her head, she was pulled into battle.

Once she had fallen on the truck, the ragtag team took notice of her.