Eclipse - Book 1 (Born at Dusk)

26

June 8th, 1990

"You don't even remember them." Kate whispered. Her companion held her gaze like a lifeline, refusing to be bothered by her words.

The gun in Kate's hands shook, the barrel turning in and out of focus from her target. The Winter Soldier wasn't fazed, only watching her run her fingers over the length of the gun.

Kate clenched her teeth, her face contorting before she forced her nerves to relax. The tears on her cheeks had dried hours before, but the feeling was still there, pulling against her skin as she looked at the Winter Soldier.

"You told me it would work." She muttered, leaning back and slouching in her chair, her knees brushing his. "You told me we could figure it out. Remember when you told me that?"

James shifted, his eyes remained on her face, watching her movements.

"I thought it would work." She whispered, her index finger resting on her lips. "After all of it, none of it worked."

Kate closed her eyes, running the end of the gun along her jaw, doing anything to force the helplessness out of her system. A dark feeling was crawling from her stomach, twisting her nerves and distorting her vision, it was swallowing her and she didn't care anymore.

"If I leave, I become another one of your missions." Kate looked at him, the dim lighting burning odd proportions on his face. "Another one of your assets to erase and then you're back to what you were. I can't leave without you killing me. I can't bring both of us either."

His eyes shifted, slotting away the information into the part of his mind that she'd wipe away eventually.

Kate laughed bitterly, looking away "You'd think I would've figured it out by now. Being as smart as I am, maybe I would've come up with something. But I can't. I'm open for options, if you have any insight on any of this."

The Winter Soldier said nothing.

"Of course, you've been here longer than me, and you're more locked up than I am. Of course there's not a way out alive. Not for both of us. It's either me or you."

Kate's mind turned, fighting the darkness eating away at her for a moment while she ran through every possibility she'd already done a thousand times.

"Run. That was the first choice. But I'm not strong enough, not fast enough. You would always find me, bring me back. Next, maybe attack every person I come across, maybe they'd run out of soldiers. Tried that, earned a lovely addition to my spine. Let's see.... Oh, the whole, manipulate my superiors to gain some sort of power over them. Yeah, that took fifteen years. The best I have is missions with you. From there, I'd at least try to escape, run off while out of the compound. But back to the idea that you'll just hunt me down and then kill me. So, what, bring you? Get both of us out? Yeah, considering you haven't been able to get out after so long doesn't leave my hopes in a good place.

"Okay, but I can control you can't I? At least to some degree? I regulate the serum in your veins, I keep you healthy and stop you from dying each time you assassinate another target. I'm the reason you're still mentally intact. They want to destroy your brain enough to kill you, and I'm the only reason you're alive."

Kate sighed, forcing her breath even with her thoughts. "I can't leave here without you killing me. And I can't die, because who'd be here to keep you alive. Why don't we both leave, huh? Both of us just disappeared, we could, you know how to do it. We can't. We'll be monitored, watched, constantly. And even with the amount of control I have on you, you'll always go back. Report your mission was a success, because that's what you're programmed to do. Because you're a soldier."