Outsider

Fifteen

No words came to me.  I was speechless, afraid to speak because it could trigger the Winter Soldier into doing something impulsive.  I gripped Oliver's frail hand so tightly I drew blood.  Then, Alexander Pierce spoke. 

"This morning one of our own was caught trying to escape, and she almost made it.  Almost."  He smirked at the last part.  I was stunned- what was Lara thinking trying to escape?  If only she had stayed, we could've found another way to get her on the boat!  There were so many other possibilities.  Pierce said, "This is one infraction too many, Miss Xing.  You know what the rules are- I could pull them out if you'd like.  As much as I think you're an asset to this team and our mission, your behaviour has really just been... distasteful.  After all we've done for you."

Lips faded blue, Lara fought for breath.  

Pierce laughed and stated, "You know, I really can't kill you- that wouldn't make my day.  So, we'll just have to pull out one of the disciplinary actions from the rule book."  He looked at the Winter Soldier.  "Put her down, let me handle this."  The Winter Soldier scowled but set Lara on the ground.  The poor woman collapsed to her knees, coughing out raspy breaths.  "Lara," Alexander Pierce said, "You are playing a part in something bigger here- we all are.  You have two options:  Continue to complete the great work this world needs; or reject and face the consequences."

Who knew that silence could be so deafening?  I wondered if this is what Hydra asked Papa before they killed him.  I also wondered why the Winter Soldier was a blank slate, why he wasn't looking like the malicious killer I imagined him to be.  His blue eyes were like ice, dead and frozen.  Pierce kept talking.  "The choice is yours, but if it were up to me I would choose to join Hydra."  He leaned in closer, and I could barely make out the next words.  He spoke slyly, "If you cut off one head, two more shall take its place.  Your death will mean nothing to Hydra, don't think you are changing the world by choosing to end your life.  Miss Xing, you are miniscule in this world.  Just a puppet, only here for someone else to manipulate."

The Winter Soldier glanced down at that remark, eyes clouding up.  How could what Pierce said make him upset?  He chose to kill Papa, among many others!  No one could manipulate someone to kill, unless that person was as evil as the fires of hell to start.

Then, Lara did something that surprised us all.  Her head bobbed upwards, so she was looking Pierce dead in the eyes.  Slowly, Lara rose to her feet.  Somehow, the way she looked at Pierce made her more potent than anyone else in the whole facility.  Her eyes were a raging blaze, destroying all life; and it was aimed at Alexander Pierce.  Shaking her head, Lara spoke in a voice so clear and so sharp that it could cut metal:

"I am not your pawn.  And I will not work for you."

It took Pierce a few seconds to process the quiet woman's sudden voice, but finally he said in a voice weak and unlike his, "Very well,"

Remember how I felt when my father died?  That empty, numb feeling of not wanting to accept that it was real?  When the Winter Soldier shot a bullet in Lara's forehead, right between her eyes, the same feeling overcame me.  Lara's body collapsed to the ground, where she lay motionless.  Her blood was a red sheet, pooling around her.  And her beautiful brown eyes were open, but the blaze had been washed out.

I crumpled onto my knees, my mouth agape.  Oliver placed one of his kind hands on my shoulder and tried to lead me away, but I would not budge.  All I was doing was staring at the lifeless body on the floor in front of me.  Like a broken doll, Lara was no longer needed for Alexander Pierce.  Pierce was the toddler who threw away the doll when he decided it was junk.  Lara's death was utterly shocking at first- how could someone be alive one second and be deceased the next?  I was speechless, benumbed just like Papa's death.

That night, Oliver crept into my cell.  For the first time since Lara's death, I spoke.  My voice barely a whisper, I croaked, "I remember when she helped me get ready for the gala.  She did my hair and helped me walk in high heels.  She was a very beautiful woman."  Like Papa, I couldn't use 'is' when talking about her.  Forever and ever, I would use 'was.'

Oliver touched my hand.  "I know, Liss,"

Papa once taught me a lesson about nature. He labelled it: 'Survival of the Fittest.' One of the Darwinian evolutionary theories, this phrase meant that as time progresses the strong would survive while the weak die out. I didn't know Lara very long, but she wasn't weak. The look in her dark brown eyes showed that she was fighting. I didn't think that Death whittled out the weak- both Lara and Papa were so much more than weak!  Death just takes and takes.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I spat out, "It's my fault she died- I should've gotten her a boarding pass.  Then, she wouldn't have wanted to escape on her own.  Oh Ollie..."  My body ached to think that Papa most likely died the same away.

Cold, blood pooling on the floor- a fatal gunshot to the head.