Winter's Sunshine

6. The Mission

"So I have to go in with her pretending to save them?", Sam made sure he heard it right.

"Yes. And then we will evaluate her on various parameters. Just make sure you don't mess this test."

Sam just rolled his eyes at Agent Hill's comment.

"So does Bucky knows about this?"

"Yes. And the rest of the soldiers too. They will go in as planned, split up, pretend to search for the sample and in about 10 minutes the communications will go down. Jen has to handle all on her own. The whole control room and even the HYDRA base is a set-up."

"Impressive. So does this happen often around here?" , Sam asked in disbelief.

"You mean the test?"

Sam nodded.

"Yes, all the time. It's how we recruit our agents. You never noticed?", Agent Hill asked surprised.

"Nope."

"That's how good we are.", she said resting in her chair.

"You better get going Sam. The communications are going to fail soon."

"OK. Later Agent.", Sam said and stepped outside the room.

He was now waiting in the common room pretending to be busy on his phone, ready to be called by Jen any minute.

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All four soldiers sat comfortably in the van, waiting to reach the target base. This was like an everyday task for them, but not for Bucky. It was his first time pretending to be on a mission. He had never known SHIELD did this. When he was asked to be on this one, he was more than excited to be a part of it, Jen being the sole reason. Also, something different than the usual he thought before agreeing to it. Bucky couldn't get her out of his mind. He was looking for a reason to be with her, so when this opportunity presented itself, it seemed as if the whole universe was by his side.

The van halted jerking everyone forward. Bucky instructed everyone to get out. Within no time, all of the soldiers were ready to barge into the facility. Bucky informed Jen that they were going in. Jen started instructing them the shortest route in, warning them about each threat coming on their way.

Fighting each guard coming in their way, the soldiers split in half. Two went upstairs, while Bucky and another one made their way to the basements. All four soldiers had gotten into character to make sure the mission looked legitimate. Jen checked the HYDRA base one more time and noticed the basement security was heavier. She informed Bucky of the same and he rogered that.

Jen was enjoying herself, the mission was going as planned. She kept an eye on each soldier, helping them all single-handedly. She now noticed that Bucky had reached the entrance of the locked basement. She unlocked it before Bucky could ask, giving them easy access, wasting no time.

Jen could see the lab set-up through the cameras carried by the soldiers. She knew they were close to finding those samples.

The two soldiers upstairs asked for Jen's help to get in the security room of the facility which was located on the top floor. Jen had instructed them to fetch any data available on the server.

She was interrupted by Bucky's voice as he informed her that he had got the samples. He fetched a few of them from the cold container and informed her that they were ready to leave.

"Okay. Initiating exit protocol now. The van should be on its spot in 3 minutes from now."

"Roger that."

Bucky stopped in his tracks when the entrance closed suddenly right in front of them.

"Jen? A little help?"

"Got you." , Jen tried opening the mechanical door but failed.

"Hold on. Trying again.", Jen responded, repeatedly trying to unlock the door.

Much to her dismay, she couldn't open the door. She noticed that the Hydra system that she had hacked had been overridden by someone, making her lose all control over the facility. She tried her best to hack in again but failed miserably. She looked at the screen, Bucky and the soldier locked in the basement and two upstairs were trying to unlock the door of the security room that they were trapped in.

Jen started sweating as she realized that the mission was in danger. All the four soldiers were trapped in a Hydra base and she couldn't get them out. Feeling panicked, Jen decided to call for the backup. She dialled in the emergency number and was relieved to hear the voice on the other end.

Sam.