ghost ★ [b. barnes/winter soldier]

★ EIGHT - восемь ★

She was a puzzle, that was obvious. It was just so many pieces were lost.

She was like a cigarette - intoxicating and deadly, but sweet and addicting. She was smoke that many longed for and wanted; once you got to know a little bit about her, you could never stop coming back. Why? I'm not sure. She was a beautiful, beautiful drug.

Wait, did I have feelings towards her?

No, pssh. She was Steve's friend, that's why I'm here. It is for Steve and that's it. Not for me, or my mushy brain, or my metal arm.

I was getting so sidetracked of thinking about this puzzle that I almost forgot about the file that darkened my lap. It was a black file with the red HYDRA symbol and on the bottom had SEVENTEEN embedded into it. It was so void of color that this file seemed like a black hole.

I gingerly opened the file with my metal arm as I saw the pictures on the left and the documents on the right. I gently took out a picture of her smiling, it was so bright and so genuine that it lit up the room she was in. She was hugging someone but the person was cut out of the photograph so the main focus was on her. I looked at the bigger pictures and saw each one of the Sergeant's grotesque forms of torture.

One depicted of her when she was completely cut open and slaughtered to the brim, her skin being masked with all of her blood. Tubes ran into her pumping some kind of dim liquid which made me shudder, what did they do to her? I couldn't look at the sickly picture much longer before flipping to the next. It was of her in ice (almost like me) but she seemed to be... screaming. Her eyes were closed but her mouth was wide open and she looked stiff from the ice, the only this she was wearing was a tank top and shorts. She looked cold, just like my heart.

I turned away from the left side of the file, my mind bringing back images of my time under the wing of HYDRA. It wasn't a nurturing wing, it was a more like being under a wing of pain and torture. HYDRA was just an organization that needed to disappear, but it was an ongoing virus. It was one of those viruses that once you cut off one section of it, three more grew back.

Ah, that brings me back to an older memory of when I was trying to escape their grasps. Ever wonder why they may be called HYDRA? It's just like the mythical beast, a hydra, once you cut off one head of the dragon-like creature three more heads would grow back. It was a venomous monster that was vile and cynical, bringing monstrosities wherever the beast went. Just like the organization. Damn what an analogy.

I unclipped the stack of documents on the right side and set the empty file aside, I brought my feet onto the bed as I laid the documents down in front of me.

I picked up the first sheet, scanning over once, twice, three times, eight times...

It didn't make any sense:

FIRST NAME: UNIDENTIFIED
LAST NAME: UNIDENTIFIED
NUMBER: SEVENTEEN
GENDER: FEMALE
HEIGHT: 5'8
WEIGHT: 147 LBS
EYE COLOR: BLUE
HAIR COLOR: PLATINUM BLONDE
ETHNICITY: WHITE
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UNKNOWN
INFO:
LONGING AT THE DAYBREAK OF HOMECOMING ON THE NINTH
A BENIGN BEING WHO HAS THE MISSION TO FOLLOW ORDERS
SHE WILL FOREVER BE CAPTIVE.

What the actual hell did that mean. That didn't give me any information, what was I supposed to do with a riddle? Decipher it -

"They're heading out, lock up the corridors!" I heard a soldier yell. Instantly, I shot up as I shoved all the papers into the file before putting in under my bullet proof vest. I quickly set on my hat before putting an ear on the door.

No noise was heard as I quickly exited before following the echoing of the soldier's feet. I caught up, watching the shadows as they moved and softly chatted. I looked to my left before seeing a huge ramp that some soldiers were going up, my mind racking with which was to go. Left or straight?