Collide || Ava Starr

O N E

     Once you're in the position of a HYDRA Asset, you don't ever expect to get out of it alive, it was the rules. You were important until the moment you were useless or couldn't be programmed anymore and then you were exterminated. Most of their Assets were dead, either from being failures, being useless, or they couldn't be programmed. No matter what they all ended up being dead. The last two real Assets... The longtime Winter Soldier and the more recent Merchant of Death. 

     Unlike the Merchant of Death who had been with them for 9 years, the Winter Soldier had been an asset since the dawn of HYDRA, since the 40s. He was the very first. The one they would never risk. Not unless HYDRA finally won, they would never take him out. Well unless they were forced to which would be the moment he can't be programmed which has happened to other Assets before. 

     Merchant of Death didn't have the special treatment as the Winter Soldier, no she was good and trained by the Winter Soldier, but not as good as him. She has failed missions that he would have done with ease. A normal human could build resentment towards the man but she was trained and programmed not to be that way, every time she would feel anything that would be considered a human emotion that would be weak, her brain would deliver a pain response. Soon enough she just never felt anything. 

     Things may sound bad but it's not for her, it never is, you don't feel it, you don't care. The person she was before... Amara Sinclair is dead and buried. All that is left now is the Merchant of Death.

     Something was off with HYDRA, it was the big break from what she had overheard, they weren't risking anything with her as they took the Winter Soldier. He always succeeds in his missions. He'll get it done. Whatever is going on must be big considering the liveliness of the HYDRA soldiers lately.

     That night she was laid on the ground, her brown hair over her shoulder a mess, she couldn't exactly sleep. Never could after Cryofreeze. She heard the door open from down the hallway, she didn't move as she continued laying there, it's most likely the Winter Soldier though its surprising he's back already.

     Soon enough the guards left, leaving the stronger Asset in the room across from her, she had her eyes closed shut blocking out life itself, it was the only thing she had closest to sleep actually. 

     But 10 minutes passed and she got sick of it, her brain was haywire, which made her miss Cryofreeze. Technically she was supposed to be in it but with whatever the hell is going on they had both Assets awake and ready if needs be. 

     She sat up, she took a deep breath as she ran her hands through her hair, she stood up as she passed around the room staring at each knittle and craty on the wall anything to get her mind to do something. She moved towards her bars, she touched them, feeling the texture. This may seem strange but this was her routine. 

     "The Merchant Of Death," the deep voice of the Winter Soldier spoke which kind of made her stunned.

He's speaking. That's strange. That's not right.

     She peaked over through the bars, seeing him, something was off about him, his always emotionless face better than her own was always dull lacking any kind of expression but now... He had an expression, pain. Something she actually never thought he had.

     "The Winter Soldier," she replied as she had to, he was her trainer, whenever they trained it went like this at the start, he would call her by what HYDRA wanted her to be called and she would address him the same. It took a while to be granted but everyone gets programmed after a while.

     He glanced down, his mind not focusing on that or anything that it was programmed to, it was unraveling, he kept hearing things... Rethinking... Rethinking the fight he had with the man on the bridge. What he said... How he looked at him.