When the meeting ended, Rumlow ducked into an empty room and sat at the desk, reading the files. They spoke of a bloody history; murdered parents and a missing brother. H.Y.D.R.A. had recruited at the young age of eleven; she had been with them for eight years.
Just before Rumlow had been assigned to her, she had "accidentally" delivered a fatal blow to a fellow co-worker that had gone crazy.
The next item in the folder was a bunch of pictures of the two of them sparring, especially how close they pinned each other. Rumlow began to grow uneasy as he read comments like "possible problem" or "illegal contact between S.O. and trainee." The final comment read; " stay away from her, Rumlow" in big black letters taking up half a page.
He slammed the folder shut, unconsciously tucking a picture into his jacket pocket. How dare they accuse him of illegal contact with his trainee? Agent Parks, he vowed, was nothing more, and would forever be nothing more than a colleague.
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Aster started to unwrap her stomach and looked up as Rumlow coughed. She quickly covered with her arms self-consciously and winced. He handed her a jumpsuit.
"If you don't mind, I would like to see to see the supports." She nodded and turned carefully, wincing slightly. She revealed, amidst dozen of cuts and bruises, thin steel supports elegantly laced in and out of her back. Rumlow noticed she held herself differently. Not only was she on edge, but she flinched at his every moment, like she expected him to hit her.
"I'll leave you to change." He leaned up against the wall besides the door, debating whether to show her her folder or not. He heard a familiar jangle of dog tags and stepped back in the room, instantly noticing something different about her. Her eyes were clouded, her muscles, though nicely defined, were tense, and her hands were balled into fists. He opened his mouth to inquire why when an agent burst into the room, quite rudely in Rumlow's opinion.
"Pierce requires you both in training room fourteen." Aster nodded robotically, stood and made her way toward the training room, Rumlow following suit and watching her frigid gait. He couldn't help but think back to her light and lilting walk when she became his trainee. The bright smile on her face, the life in her eyes that once made him scowl.
He admired for so long that he didn't realize that he had stopped, and Aster was already in the training room, wrapping her hands and readying for their spar. He cleared all thought with all thought with a shake of his head and entered with the room with a sneak attack. He slammed her down to the mat, expecting a moan of pain, or even a exhalation of breath. But she did nothing. She simply glared at him without emotion before executing her next move, a painful knee to the stomach to the stomach. Their deadly spar lasted for hours, each opponent growing more beaten and bruised.
Sorry for the delay guys, I've been really stuck lately. Also really busy and a lot of the time I don't feel like doing anything.
I promise I haven't forgotten you, this story will get finished, I swear.
Thank you my amazing readers.
Love,
Bellatrixlestrange73
