What If...? Rumlow Turned Against Hydra: Book One

14

There were many places in Berlin that were beautiful, well taken care of, historic. On a bright spring day tourists were everywhere, mixed with locals who took the time to admire their city while sipping at coffee or another drink. These crowds posed no problem for the balding, stocky man who strolled through them. Zane Grey was early for the meeting, thus was in no hurry, allowing him to play tourist for a little while. He was one who rarely left Madripoor by choice. He preferred the narrow, mean streets of Lowtown where everything made sense to him. Strange times called for him to do different things, which he was able to do because of his flexibility, his loyalty and eagerness to assist in the coming war with Hydra.

He had once traveled extensively for Hydra, using skills he had never known he had for negotiations. They had plucked him along with his partner, Gina Tolter, off the streets where they had expected to die in a drug induced haze. He still had no idea how Hydra had managed to get both of them clean, so completely off the drugs they had never had any desire to touch any of them again. Both him and Gina had been grateful anyone had seen anything in them, throwing themselves into the work with enthusiasm. He often asked himself if he'd truly believed the rhetoric or not but had no answer to give. It hadn't mattered; they had done as they were told, furthering Hydra's goals one meeting at a time until another member had set them up to fail. After that they'd been on the run from Hydra, pushed to their limits as their money dwindled, sure they would be killed sooner rather than later. It was the Winter Soldier and his organization that had given them a new home, keeping Hydra off of their backs, while providing them with a new and better purpose in life. He had an answer for if his loyalty to the Winter Soldier was real and it had led him to accept the assignment in Berlin.

There had been rumors the Winter Soldier actually answered to Hydra in some form, which he'd believed. The Winter Soldier had been able to get Hydra to back off of killing him and Gina, which no one could do unless they were in Hydra and very highly placed. He had never believed the Winter Soldier was truly loyal to them, no one in Madripoor did. When the sudden break with them had occurred, along with the capture of Steve Rogers, no one had been surprised the Winter Soldier intended all-out war. Many in the organization wanted it, as many had their own reasons to be against Hydra. That was what had convinced Zane: there were too many people in the organization who'd been plucked from Hydra' clutches and kill lists for the Winter Soldier to be fully loyal. He had been planning on taking them down all along, it was obvious.

Others in the organization may have been reluctant to risk a very profitable business in a war they very well could lose, until the revelation of Project Insight was shared, along with the plans for Steve Rogers. Everyone in the organization knew then that the fight wasn't just some grudge match the Winter Soldier and others like Gina and Zane were involved in against Hydra. The fight was for their survival, as well as the survival of Madripoor as a whole. None of them doubted Hydra would use the helicarriers to destroy Madripoor in their quest for some insane idea of perfection. They would never be content to simply ignore Madripoor as most of the world did. The organization preferred to remain alive, able to reap the benefits of serving the most successful criminal organization in the world.

After an hour, Zane strolled away from the city center, the tourist areas, ,moving into the side areas where few tourists went. He continued to walk until those marginal areas gave way to actual rundown poverty. There was no city in the world that didn't have poorer areas, some better hidden than others and Berlin was no exception. He ended up in the outskirts of Alexanderplatz, where the streets were still not quiet, but the crowds were rougher, the bars and clubs equally as rough and everyone was eyeing him with a predatory curiosity. Zane paid no attention to the looks. He was armed and knew how to handle himself. Living in Lowtown for the last two years had hardened him to the point that any place in the world seemed tamer. Madripoor was beyond sketchy and rough, even in Hightown, making any city in Europe seem positively boring in comparison.