Diamond-formed from carbon (C)
Atomic Number: 6
Atomic Weight: 12.011 amu
solid at room temperature; formed after years of pressure condensing carbon into a diamond cubic crystal structure; high refractive index; hardest natural material known
[Falc...
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Malka does not move as she follows their breathing far, far away. Krause made a fatal error. The knock to her head brought out everything that had been blocked off, and now he lies at her mercy. The only thing prolonging his life is how far a gunshot would echo.
He is laughing beneath her, chiding her, goading her, but Tam is still too close. He had already witnessed too much, she won't let this hurt him too.
When she finally loses track of his breathing, she shoots. Once. Twice. Three times. Until Krause's face is unrecognizable.
A strange relief floods her body as she looks around at the last of a dying breed of HYDRA agents. Agents devoted to the work of Colonel Krause whose name would soon disappear from her mind now dead at her feet, at her hands. If her family could see her now, they would be ashamed.
The motions feel automatic as she piles the bodies together, drags them all out of the warehouse and to the coastline after burning the facility to the ground. The water is turbulent tonight as she looks out of the pier HYDRA commandeered for themselves, now useless to most.
She digs around in the nearest body's pocket until she fishes out a phone. Wiping blood from the screen, she calls the familiar number, glancing around the night as she waits for an answer.
"Hello, this is—"
"This is urgent. I need to speak with Ria Lehnsherr, please."
The other line goes silent. "What should I tell her the problem is?"
"I don't care, Charles. Please, just get Ria."
"Hold, please."
Malka bites her lip enough to taste blood on her tongue as she waits in the silence. She begins to pace, the soft dirt crunching underfoot until she finally hears a soft, "Hello? Malka? Is everything all right?"
"I could use your help."
She hears shuffling over the line. "I heard from Tam that you had amnesia."
"Recent development. I have my memories back. And the ones who took them from me... they can't really talk. I broke their jaws and more."
"I'll be there as fast as I can. Where are you?"
Malka conveys all the details. When the call ends, she sits at the edge of the pier and waits. She waits as stars twinkle brighter in the sky and the moon climbs higher overhead. She does not know how long it takes for Ria to arrive, only that she senses the woman approaching alone.
She turns as Ria's footsteps echo off the dock. "I see," Ria says, eyeing the bodies as she comes to a stop. "What happened?"
The words spill from her lips like molten lava. At some point, she begins to cry, but Ria remains silent, listening, holding her hand even if it's stained with dirt, ash, and blood. She does not know how she can possibly explain everything, but she does. Her heart remains torn, half in her chest, the other half hidden across the city.
