Rumlow refused to believe that he was locked up. His trainee, the girl he had fought tooth and nail, been through thick and thin with, was out there, maybe dead and here he was sitting on his ass doing nothing. Not like he could do anything, being locked in a cell and all, but still.
He need to know that she was safe-or that all the work that he had committed to her had not gone to waste. He even wished they were sparring now, so he could see her beautiful face up close-what was he saying?
This was wrong, but he knew something inside him had changed. He finally was able to admit to himself that she was something to him, though he wasn't at all entirely sure what.
A small scuffle broke him out of his thoughts; there was a man in the shadowed corner opposite him. How Rumlow hadn't realized him before was astonishing, but as he had said, there had been a change. He was focusing on something other then himself now and that left him more open to danger.
"Who are you?" He growled, squinting to try and make out his cell mate. By looks of the scruff on his chin, the man has been here for a while and Rumlow did not recognize him.
The stranger was focusing on something; the HYDRA pin on Rumlow's vest. "Grant Ward."
The name was legend. Ward's family was notorious HYDRA followers, and Grant's dark past was enough to make anyone uneasy.
"You're Aster's guy aren't you."
Rumlow couldn't hide his shock. "How do you know Aster?"
Grant smirked. "Word gets around. SHIELD gossips much more than you think."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick Fury, as you might already know, is amazing at compartmentalization, and he was extremely interested in Aster and Rumlow's case. It seemed like years before he could crack the code; something just seemed off about the two of them. When they came to SHIELD together, he finally unlocked the memory. Aster shared a relation with Grant Ward.
They were siblings, to be exact; split when HYDRA found it useful to experiment with them. Aster was trained as a scientist under the watchful eyes of HYDRA's elite. Ward was left in his family and trained in the more physical aspect.
It was curious that they had changed their minds and made Aster a full-time solider, but he had no doubt that HYDRA knew what they were doing. The black microchip on his desk from Aster's neck more than proved that.
She was to be a solider like James Barnes, but they didn't expect her connection to Rumlow. This was interesting. This could be used to their advantage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aster woke up and for the first time in many months, she felt at ease. She felt calm and warm and as she looked down at the muscled arm wrapped around her, she understood why. Rumlow held her tightly to his chest, face pressed into her shoulder and she couldn't help but smile at his messy dark hair.
The calm only lasted for a minute however, as her solider instincts kicked in and she took in her surroundings. Cold room, plain walls and a figure in the corner. Her body tensed and unconsciously, Rumlow's tensed with her.
"Name and rank." She analyzed him in the dark and the hair on the back of her neck stood up as he chuckled.
"You low level soldiers are all the same, aren't you."
She sat up quickly, untangling Rumlow's arms from her waist and baring her teeth at the stranger. "I demand you state your name and rank!"
"Easy tiger. Grant Ward, HYDRA spy. Wake up dark and mysterious there and he can vouch for me."
She turned to look at Rumlow but caught herself as her the months of torture that had been inflicted upon her set in. Her entire body ached profusely and she fought to stifle a moan.
"You talked to him? Is he okay?" A whimper escaped at the end of her statement and it seemed to be the only thing Grant could focus on.
"He's fine Parks, wouldn't shut up about you though."
She refused to focus on the last part of the sentence, though it was hard to force her stomach to settle. "How do you know my name?"
Grant scoffed. "Are you kidding? You're HYDRA legend. First one to make it through the Red Room since the Solider himself."
She flinched at his mention of the room. Refusing to think about it was the only way she could cope.
They both looked up, on edge as the door opened. None other than Nick Fury himself stepped into the room.
IM BACK YALL
Oh my gods I'm so sorry I've been away so long! I'm like super unmotivated all the time but yadayada no excuses. ANYWAYS
I am back and you should expect chapters as frequently as I can make them. I had a plan but honestly, my writing style has changed so much that there might be some surprise twists(wink wonk 😏)(that's my weird ass version of winking I'm so sorry) ANYWAYS
BYE LOVE YOU ALL THANKS FOR ACTUALLY READING THIS PIECE OF CRAP STORY I WILL BE BACK SOOOOONNN
