HEROES ─ fallen warriors series one shots

5| The Perilous Internet

(takes place after between sections 6 and 7 of "Fallen")

Olivia

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. I keep starring at my search bar on my laptop, contemplating whether to press enter or not.

Freshman year has been rough, as it is for all Freshman, but it's turning out to be harder for me. Everywhere I go at least one person is talking about a superhero. They debate who could beat who in a fight, they discuss who their favorite hero is, they obsess over their favorite Avengers battles. It gets annoying.

Today was a unique day at school. In the library I heard students discussing Dad. Of course I've heard people discuss him before. He's a hero just like the rest of my family, but he wasn't always, and today that was the topic of discussion.

Dad and Mom have talked about their past with my brother and me before. I know about HYDRA and what they did to our parents. I know Dad was brainwashed and used as an assassin for more than seven decades. He hasn't talked about what exactly he did in those seven decades. Mom hasn't talked about what she did in HYDRA either. I've never wanted to know, at least until now.

These four kids were discussing a fight that happened on a highway between Dad and Steve Rogers. They talked about how deadly and terrifying my dad was, how they can't believe he's considered a hero now. One kid even said they think Dad should rot in jail. It took all my willpower to stay silent and walk away from them.

But this conversation has stuck with me all day. Now I find myself in my room with Google open. The words 'The Winter Soldier' is typed into the search bar and I haven't clicked enter yet.

Do I want to see? Do I want to look? I've always hated watching or reading about any member of my family. But my curiosity won't go away. It will be on my mind until I press enter.

Releasing a sigh, I finally press enter. Several search results pop up, all of which talk about his heroic acts throughout the past couple decades. There's a couple articles about him during WWII, about him and Steve, a ton about him and Mom. I go back to the search bar and type 'HYDRA' next to his name. This gives me new results.

I bet the files and data from HYDRA used to be encrypted, but since it's been out in the world for over thirty years, almost all of it can be accessed by a ten year old.

I click on one of the results, finding the footage the kids at school were talking about today. The footage is from security cameras on the streets below an overpass, as well as footage from buildings nearby. Someone seems to have cut all of the footage together.

I watch a man in a mask jump onto a car, reaching inside the window and throwing someone into an oncoming truck. The car he's on then breaks, throwing him off the roof. This doesn't affect him however, he flips over and lands on his knees, sliding down the road. I see the glare from his metal arm as he pushes himself up, jumping back onto the car as it rushes towards him. He grabs onto the wheel and yanks it from the car, forcing Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Uncle Sam to escape before it crashes.

I fast forward through the video a little bit, seeing that now part of Dad's mask has been taken off, shaking his eyes. He jumps off of the overpass and onto a car, crushing it under his weight. I then watch as my dad fights off Natasha Romanoff. Even though this camera is far away and his image isn't clear, I can still see his expression. I can see how cold and calculating it is. There's no light in that face, not the light I'm used to seeing everyday. The darkness in him is even clearer when he begins to fight off Steve Rogers.