The Child of Winter ~ Book 1

1. Mission Aborted

New Objective: Find someone who can repair right arm and then find Winter

    After navigating the airports almost too easily, considering he had to hide a metal arm from the T.S.A., the Asset now stood in the shadow of the Washington Monument. He took a moment to take in some of the history around him before getting back to his task.

    He'd heard there was an exhibit at the Smithsonian that contained information about Captain America and that was where he'd begin his search. The teen blended into the crowds easily, relying on his past training when he had to navigate the metal detectors at the doors, and easily made his way to the specified exhibit.

    As soon as he stepped into the space he felt as though he'd traveled back in time. Unbeknownst to Hydra, he had been a sucker for history when he was younger and would listen to all kinds of stories. Some had even been about the Captain. The beautifully painted murals alone made him pause a moment, but what really tickled him was the fact that he was already the same height the Captain was currently, a proud 6' 2". He mosied deeper into the exhibit and had been about to sit down to view a short film when he heard two male voices coming from up ahead of him. The teen crept forward, peeking around the corner to catch sight of two older men standing in front of some old uniforms.

    One of them sighed heavily and chuckled, "Times sure have changed eh, Bucky?"

    The other, standing to the left of the first, and closest to the Asset shook his head, "They sure have, Steve."

    A light went off in the teen's mind at that name and he realized that Captain America himself was standing not ten feet away from him! He was about to move away from the pair when he heard the one closest to him speak up again, "I came here once before... After you took down those helicopter things. I came here to remember..."

    The Asset paused now. That bit of information made it all too clear that standing on the Captain's left was none other than Winter. He'd finally found his prey and he wasn't about to let them get away again. The teen crept carefully forward, drawing a small knife from the inner lining of his jacket and was about to pounce when all hell broke loose.

    He'd underestimated Winter's abilities and the teen was suddenly locked in vicious combat with the elder assassin. The knife flew from the teen's skilled hand and missed the Captain by mere inches, making the one man pause.

    Winter, or Bucky as the Captain called him, began to throw very accurate haymakers at the teen. One connected with the boy's rib cage, knocking the wind from his lungs; however, the teen struck out savagely at Bucky's legs with his own and quickly sent the man tumbling to the floor.

    The Captain had grabbed his shield at that point and barreled into the younger Asset, sending him sprawling across the carpet and the boy hissed at the rug burns springing to life on his elbows and knees. Before the teen could get up again, the stars and stripes slammed into his face and knocked him unconscious.

~*~*~*~*~*~

    With his head feeling as though it had hit a brick wall several times, the teen woke up to find himself chained to a concrete pillar in a completely empty area of a parking garage. Annoyed at the fact he'd been captured by two ancient men, the Asset growled, "What do you plan on doing with me now that you've got me all chained up?"

    It didn't take long for Bucky to answer, "You're lucky I didn't kill you, kid! How old are you?"

    The teen rolled his eyes at his predecessor, "Take a wild guess, old man."

   "That's no way to speak to your elders, kid," Steve chimed in then and actually came into view. He slowly looked the young man over and said, "I say you're around fifteen years old... No! You look to be only sixteen years old."