Iron Soul [2]

Chapter 28

Natasha barely escaped the blade as Ada swung at her head. The red head now realized that there was no talking her way out of this. It was simple, fight her friend or be skewered. Natasha scrambled to her feet as she dodged the blade once more. Ada's dark eyes narrowed as she lifted the sword again. The red head grabbed the brunette's wrist and jerked her arm up. She elbowed Ada in the nose, causing it to break and blood to gush out of it. 

Natasha saw her chance as Ada was disoriented and began to sprint away. She would not fight Ada. She could not fight Ada. 

"Get out of the way!" Her lungs screeched at civilians. "Stay out of the way!"

She knew how Ada's eyes looked, and this was not them. They were dull and hollow, not showing the woman who once occupied them. While Natasha's first thoughts were about surviving the Stark girl, her second thoughts were to make sure that Ada could be saved.  

She glanced back momentarily, not seeing Ada following her. She turned her head back and continued to push forward. The shrill, familiar sound of gunfire broke through the air, and a bullet found its way into Natasha's shoulder. She gasped as she fell to her knees. She pushed herself up against a nearby car for shelter as her breath quickened. Her chest heaved as she looked around for Ada.

Green eyes raced across the scenes of terror and destruction. She's not going to stop trying to kill me. Boots thudded against the car next to her. She found me. Her head whipped to the sound to see Ada there with a gun pointed at her. A second pair of boots joined, and the Winter Soldier soon joined her side. 

"Squadron is rolling in."

Ada readied her weapon at the redhead, but footsteps filled her ears. Her eyes glanced over, but only to see a shield being swung at her head. It hit her in the face, once again hitting her already broken nose, and white spots soon began to swirl in her vision. The gun dropped from her head as her body went limp, and fell to the concrete below. 

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When Ada came to, she was no longer on the streets of DC. She was in the medical section of the base. The room was still spinning slightly. She moved to feel her nose, but found her hands and feet to be restrained to the uncomfortable bed she was on. She figured they had patched her up at least a little bit, or at least enough to keep her ready for whatever else they wanted her to do. The door to the room opened. Ada turned her head, but winced as the collar pressed into the tender skin on her neck. 

Pierce strutted into the room with Rumlow shorti. Ada sensed that he was tense, frustrated. But why? She wondered if Steve and Natasha had gotten away, but she quickly rid herself of the hope of the idea. With the Soldier down there with her and the kid taking people out from a distance, the odds of survival were not in her friend's favor. 

"She-wolf," Pierce spoke.

That was the one thing she missed most: hearing her own name. While life at HYDRA was miserable as is, the lack of her own name being used further broke her down. Pierce plopped down in a chair next to the old bed that she had failed to notice. 

"There has been some...complications thrown into the plan," he started. 

Ada blinked as she thought of what it could be and only one possible idea could have him this rattled. They're alive. 

"I need you to do your job now more than ever before. I fully anticipate that Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff to try to derail everything we've built up. But you can't let that happen, and that's an order. The mission must be successful, and I expect you to make sure that Rogers and Romanoff are dead. No one can ruin this. Anyone who interferes is to be killed." 

She shivered as another order was thrown into the mix. There was no way that she would be able to get through this without getting a lot more blood on her hands. This wasn't her. This wasn't supposed to happen. 

"Rest up, I need you for tomorrow," Pierce finished as he stood and left the room. Rumlow lingered for a few seconds, his eyes looking over Ada before he followed after Pierce. 

Her eyes turned back to the ceiling as she willed the tears to not escape her eyes as they began to collect. She didn't even notice the figure that stayed behind after everyone else had left. She clenched her eyes shut to try to keep from sobbing, but she couldn't help it as she began to silently cry. 

"I didn't mean for this to happen you know," the figure spoke up. 

Her dark eyes darted over to look at the dark-headed figure: Spencer. Her brows furrowed to let him know that she was confused by what he meant.

"I-uh...I was a scientist that was conducting research on genetic manipulation. My...superiors thought my experiments were unethical and fired me," he paused to take a breath. "Pierce tracked me down. He told me he could give me the opportunity to use my research for what I thought was the betterment of the world."

Ada said nothing as Spencer looked towards the door as to make sure that no one could hear him. 

"You were the first human trial," he continued. "They wanted something strong. A weapon they could have control over. I...knew who you were when I did it. I thought it would make the world better. You could help HYDRA with what I thought was a good cause, but this? No end justifies all of this."

Screams could be heard as they echoed down the hall. Spencer knew that was them wiping the Soldier. He looked to Ada to see her acting unphased by the noise. His shoulder's slumped as he looked at her eyes. Empty, they were empty except for the tears that rested along her waterline. That was the first thing he noticed when she woke up at the base: dark chocolate at the center with rays of gold spreading throughout and emerald trim. But now they had dulled. The light was gone completely, the rest of it having dulled to a bland shade. 

He took a deep breath as he began to step backwards, "I'm sorry." He pushed the door open and left her.