Crimson Love

Chapter Eleven | 1963

"He is becoming a problem that needs to be dealt with. He has an influence with Shield. The photograph of him and that Carter agent suggests he has a significant relationship with the organization."

"I agree, his progressive domestic policy platform is ushering large changes we don't need. His foreign policy is interrupting with the USSR. We need him gone."

"Very well, wake the Asset from cryo. Tell him he has a mission and if completed, he has two hours with the girl." Vasily speaks from the head of the table. "This meeting is dismissed."

____

"Soldat."

"Bereit zu erfüllen."

"Congratulations, you're going to Dallas Texas."

____

"We've done it boys." Vasily grins. "Kennedy died thirty minutes after arriving at the hospital. He suffered two gunshot wounds. He is no longer a problem."

The cheers can be heard from the cell four halls down. Sounds of the celebration echo in the quiet halls. The smell of mold is pungent in the air as the Soldier silently makes his way to the damp, dark cell. His metal knuckles rap against the steel door.

My head perks up as the heavy door opens with a rusty groan of protest. Winter stands in the dim doorway. He looks beautiful, like an angel of death sent to collect my broken soul.

I'm supposed to be a manipulator. The Hydra operator who was tasked with reprogramming me was a traitor to the organization. I still know who I am. The agent sabotaged the machine. I've been pretending for the past three years. When Winter is in cryo freeze, I'm here in this cell awaiting his return. Sometimes, when the door opens, it's not my angel in the doorway. Sometimes, it's not my soldier's hands that roam my body.

For the past three years, I work to make Winter remember. He still thinks he loves me. He kills any agent who looks at me for too long. He mutilates the agents that touch me while he sleeps, while I'm vulnerable. Vasily cares little about Winter disposing of his men. The only thing he cares about is the fact that my Winter is now a ruthless killer. He doesn't flinch, he doesn't hesitate, he doesn't disobey.

I'm afraid I won't be able to bring him back. He returned last night from an assassination. He killed the president, and he doesn't say a word about it. John F. Kennedy was simply another man who had wronged Hydra. By those standards alone, he was sentenced to death.

The door opens again.

Winter tenses as he slowly turns around, his body still hovering over mine. I hear the rumble in his throat, the warning in his eyes at the person who dares interrupt him.

"Hello darling." Vasily says.

This is it. I squeeze Winter's arm. Vasily comes to my cell every time Winter is here with me. He tries to get the Soldier to snap so he can punish him with reason. And for the past few months, I've been planting an anger in my Winter. I fed him lies, some true, about the way Vasily hurts me. When the time is right, my Soldier will attack and when he kills his handler, we have a better chance of leaving this place. Of escaping.

"Are you putting her to good use Soldat?" Vasily grins as Winter releases the growl that had been building in his throat.

I kiss his hand. The final signal.

Winter strikes. 

My stomach drops as Vasily's smile widens. He's been anticipating this moment. He knows, I tell myself. He knows that I've been faking it. He knows he has a traitor in this building. A disk attaches itself to Winter's arm, the limb drooping at his side. It doesn't stop my Soldier from swinging his other fist. Vasily laughs at his attempts as he grabs the back of Winter's head and throws him to the wall, his head smacking against the hard structure. A cry escapes my throat as I watch Winter crumble to the ground.