Iron Will (sequel to Iron Soul)

Chapter One: Creeping Death

        "NO PLEASE! I HAVE A FAMILY! PLEASE STOP!" the woman screams below me. I hold my hand up ready to shoot, to end her life.

        "You're more than this ma'am." J.A.R.V.I.S. says to me. I swallow and let the beam loose. The woman screams one last time and falls limp.

        "I'm just following orders." I say bleakly. A single tear rolls from my eyes.

        "Hey, are you okay?" the Winter Solider asks me. I nod, lifting the face plate. His eyes fall onto the tear that rolls down my face. "You're not. Come here." he says, pulling me into a hug.

        "I'm just following orders." I repeat. Sometimes I swear that is the only sentence I will ever be able to say, to answer with.         

        "I know. So am I and its the best we can do." he mumbles to me.

        "J.A.R.V.I.S. secure communications." I say.

        "Yes ma'am. They are secured." he says to me.

        "Can they hear us?" the Soldier asks.

        "For a while no, but they'll catch on quickly so we need to talk fast. I can't do this for much longer. This is tearing me apart inside. At first this was easy. It was so easy to live off of the fear and chaos that we brought to the streets. But then you realize these people have families, jobs, pets, loved ones and it gets just that much harder. They're no longer just targets, they're humans. They try to appeal to my humanity but I have to put on my game face and talk their lives right out of their bodies. It's not right." I say to him. He pulls my chin up and kisses me softly.

        "It's going to be okay. Hopefully at some point this will get a little easier. Hydra needs us to do this. We are their most important assets. We are their best trained assassins. They need us for the good of this world. And if it means sacrificing our humanity to help the world become a better place then so be it." he says, I nod, the face plate slamming back down. Sirens sound off in the distance and I know it's time to leave.

        "Come on. Marcus is going to be expecting us back." I mumble, staring at the destruction we are leaving behind. The woman's body lays lifeless, her chest unmoving, her eyes open and empty. I'm so sorry. I grab onto the back of the Winter Soldier's uniform and lift off into the air. We fly back to Hydra, passing S.H.I.E.L.D. on the way. I glance down at it, something urging me to stop in the back of my mind. I brush it off and keep flying. I have to follow orders. Hydra comes into view and I slow down. I hover above the roof before I drop down on top of it. The metal plate before us begins moving, taking us down to our level.

         Once it stops moving, I take the suit off. I drop the cube into a chute that carries it away to a weapons store. The Solider takes off all of his weapons as well, most stained with blood, and drops them into the chute. I glance over at him, depression falling over me. We walk back to our room in silence, just like we normally do. Well actually, our first few missions, we couldn't stop talking about it. We were so excited and proud of ourselves, comparing kill counts and sharing our favorite deaths of the day. How could we have ever done that? How could we have ever been that cold and senseless?  We enter our room, a plain, dark, musky, concrete walled room. There's minimal light and two chairs that are used to wipe our minds. There's a small water spout that is the source of our only fresh water. I walk over to it, sit next to it, and turn it on, the cool water rushing over my hands. I cup them and take a long drink of water, the cool liquid soothing my burning throat. I move over and let the Solider wash the blood from his hands.

        His eyes are dark and distant as he stares at his hands, red with blood. He sighs, running his hand through his hair. I stare at his eyes, watching them pool with tears. He splashes water onto his face, the black camouflage paint dripping from his eyes. He glances down at his hands, a mix of anger and sadness flooding his eyes. I turn off the water and grab both of his hands. I entwine my fingers with his. His eyes lock on mine. I rest my forehead on his, staring into his eyes. He removes one of his hands from mine to rest it on my cheek.