Found You - James B. Barnes

13. Radio Chatter

Leviathan Training Center, Siberia, Russia - April, 1956

I buckle myself into the seat, straps crossing over my shoulders and abdomen, cutting into my skin. I shiver and clamp my mouth to stop myself from chattering. On my right, there is only an empty seat. On my left sits Colonel Ivanovich.

He moves his hat down, covering his eyes and resting on his nose as he settles down to get some rest. Directly across from him sits Winter. He is staring forward as always, long hair framing his face.

There are two soldiers sat on either side of him, boxing him in. Even without reading the files, it's clear that Hydra has no trust in their Soldier. The soldier sat to Winter's right, is trying to talk with the pilot, they seem to be old friends, the soldier directly in front of me is reading a book.

Without moving his head, Winter looks at me from the corner of his eye. I move my right index finger to my knee and begin to tap so that only Winter can see.

-.-./--.-//-.././/-./...//-.-./.../..--..//-.-

CQ, DE NS, CS?, K.

Any stations, this is NS. Call sign? Over.

He watches carefully, his eyes trained on my hand movements. Seven long seconds pass before I get a response.

.-.//-.././/.--/...//-.--.

R, DE WS, KN.

Received, this is WS, over to you.

I allowed a small smile to cross my face before the pilot announces we are taking off. The soldier who was talking with the pilot turned back around. It seems our conversation is over.

-.././/-./...//.-.-./

DE NS, EC.

This is NS, out.

I tap quickly against my leg. Winter flicks his eyes away again, staring blankly at the wall above the Colonel's head. I look down at my note book, there won't ever be an entry about the silent conversation we just had. Or about when I hummed to him earlier.

If I can just give this tortured man some kind words and solace, then perhaps I can begin to make up for the things I have done for Hydra–the things I am going to do for Hydra. The only way this ends is with Hydra burnt to ashes.

The roar of the engine blocks out any conversation, so I am left only with my thoughts. While it's only been a few days since I last saw Peggy, I miss her so much. Being so far from family with no way of reaching them is starting to take its toll on me. It makes me uneasy, not reading my mother's handwriting every week or so.

Also, I haven't been able to contact Charlie to keep him updated, I barely got the chance to send him a letter before I left. It was quite risky, anyone could have seen me send a letter right after being sent on an important assignment.

But I had to, if I dropped off the radar, Charlie might have assumed the worst and blown my cover to find me. It's alright, no one suspects me of anything, if they did, I wouldn't be anywhere near a project like this. I would likely be in an unidentified grave.

I try to stop this unfortunate train of thought, I tap against my knee, trying to catch Winter's attention again.

-.-./--.-//-.-./--.-