Red Hand Annie

Prison Cells & Freedom

Setting: Somewhere half way between the Russian Hydra base and Stark Tower...

(Yes, I am using this song again; I will keep using this song until I find a better one to use for any book chapters that involve Hydra)

(Winter's p.o.v.)

I can't stop thinking about her and what that guy-Reaper or whatever he said to call him- said; images, I think memories...keep flashing through my head. Some clear as day, others vague and fuzzy; I almost crashed my bike twice because of how real some of them seemed. With each image of her that flashes through my head, I feel a weird sensation in my chest-like a tightening around my heart or like it's hard to breath-I'm still unsure of what this feeling is exactly and can't tell if it's a good feeling or a bad one. The few times I have stopped to rest, I find myself going back to the pictures in the sketchbook for long hours before sleeping. I just stare at a the images, trying to put the memories that flash through my head to the faces of the pictures the best I could.

Some point along the way, I find myself stopping as I hear something in the sky; looking up, I find it's a Hydra plane heading in the direction I was leaving from. I watch as it lands not to far from where I'm camped; getting a a bad feeling I go looking for it. Once I've found it, I see two men and a child; on closer look, I see it's the child that was silent-the one that refused to talk or eat. I watch from the shadows as one of the men tries to get the kid to eat-but he won't-the man eventually gives up and soon starts arguing with the other man about something.As I silently make my way a bit closer, I can hear their conversation...

"Leave him here," the one man says

"We can't just leave him here he's three," the man who tried to get the boy to eat argued

"We have jobs to get back to."

"We were specifically ordered to take him back to Stark Tower."

"Like anyone would care either way."

"001 would; you know 002 can read minds and if he finds out he'll tell 001 and you know she'll become...uncontrollable."

"You saying you're scared of Red Winter?"

"Aren't you? Don't you remember what she and Reaper did back in 09?"

"Please; she's weak. She'd never do anything to put project: W.03 in harms way."

"I don't know..."

"We're leaving the kid and that's final. He's dead weight anyways; I mean, look at him. He'll be dead in a matter of days by the looks of how long he's been refusing to eat."

"He's definitely Red's kid."

"That bitch would have a stubborn brat wouldn't she?"

"..." that the man that tried getting the kid to eats glances back at the boy

"Come on; lets go."

"..." looks back to the other man

"The only thing she's good for is experiments and weaponry."

With that they head back on the plane and soon take off, leaving the boy all alone near a burning camp fire in the middle of the night. I look around the sky to make sure they're gone before sighing heavily as I quietly and slowly approach the boy. As I get closer, I notice him shivering from the cold air around us; it's not winter or fall, but it's just one of those rare nights when it's really cold. It isn't until I'm sitting next to the boy on the log in front of the fire that he notices me with him. He looks paler than the last time I saw him, and his eyes look almost as broken as mine...possibly from being torn away from his mother.