CRUEL INTENTIONS, bucky barnes

three

February 24, 2009

Asset Containment

Undisclosed Location 

"All right, listen up." Brock tucked a pistol down the back of his pants. "You follow protocol. I mean that. Hey, this is important! Are you listening to me, King?"

Savannah tossed her hair over one shoulder and holstered her own firearm. "Sure. Can we proceed yet?"

"No. Not until you listen to me."

She rolled her eyes and turned to face him, hands on her hips. "Listening."

"Protocol," Brock said, narrowing his eyes at her. "You stay at least twenty feet back. You don't speak. If, for some reason, you are speaking, you do not call him by his name. Soldier, Asset, Soldat—"

"Sorry, Soldat?" Savannah snorted and turned her back again to adjust her belt. "That's ridiculous."

"It's Russian or something."

"I know. It's fucking ridiculous."

"He responds well to it. We use what works." He moved so he was in front of her again, forcing eye contact. "Which is why you follow protocol. Understood?"

"Yes, understood," Savannah said with another roll of her eyes. "Let's go."

Brock glared at her but turned toward the heavy, multiple-bolted door. He pressed one finger to his ear and mumbled a string of what Savannah recognized as a mixture of code names and something else.

Savannah had to restrain herself from bouncing up and down on her heels. The Asset fascinated her, even from the distance she was forced to keep. She had read up on him, studied the files that HYDRA kept. She was very familiar with their archive on him, which was more than seventy years old.

From Nazi Germany to Siberia to an underground holding facility in Southern Virginia, she was more than familiar with the history of the one they called the Winter Soldier.

The door opened inward and revealed a sterile-looking room full of agents. As Savannah trailed behind Brock, the group split in two. Alexander Pierce was already standing in front of the Asset, his hands folded behind his back. She couldn't make out the orders he was delivering, but she did catch her own name.

"They haven't wiped in a few days," Brock said under his breath. "He's been well-behaved for the most part. Sometimes he gets unstable. Pay attention."

"What did Pierce say about me?" Savannah asked without taking her eyes off from the pristine man strapped into some kind of machine by both his arms. She was fascinated by the way his bionic limb sparkled, even under the dim fluorescents.

"He's considering bringing you on to the handling team, depending on how the Asset reacts. He's giving him an introduction." Brock took a step forward when Alexander turned to face them. His eyes skipped over all the other agents, trained only on Savannah. "Looks like you're up."

She stepped forward without hesitation. Her stomach flipped with unadulterated excitement as she met the eyes of the stone-faced man before her. Alexander laid a hand on her lower back and leaned in close.

"Rumlow briefed you on protocol?" 

She nodded absentmindedly, already moving forward.

A cold smile crept onto Savannah's thin, pink lips as she knelt in front of the Asset. She had to clench her hands together in her lap to stop from reaching out to touch him. He only continued to stare at her with a completely blank expression, exactly like the machine he was.

It wasn't until she spoke that his expression changed and he suddenly looked exponentially more human.

"Good morning, Sergeant Barnes." A collective sound of protest went around the room and Alexander's hand came down on her shoulder, but she didn't move an inch. She was entranced by him, and now she seemed to have his attention as well. "My name is Savannah King. It's an honor."

She waited several moments, but his troubled expression didn't change. A smirk of victory was stuck on Savannah's face as she slowly stood and took a step back. She turned to leave the room and a cacophony of chaos followed her. Her smirk turned quickly into a triumphant grin.

She didn't have to turn back to recognize it as the sound of the Asset revolting against his handling team.

It had worked. Just as simple as she had hoped.

"King!"

Brock came up from behind and cut her off in the hallway, looking positively bewildered. She couldn't help but smile even wider. Her cheeks were beginning to hurt.

"What the fuck was that? Do you have any idea how much you just set us back? It will take weeks to force him back into submission. We'll have to wipe him every day and double down on every goddamn effort. We were so fucking close! We were so fucking close to breaking him." He shook his head and took a single step toward her. "I should kill you myself. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Savannah lowered her chin and tilted her head. She laid a gentle hand on Brock's chest and stepped as close to him as she could get.

"I told you. It's my turn to play."