I'M BACK. after one day, which is embarrasingly keen. I can't promise that my updates will always be this regular, but I'll try my best to get at least one chapter out every 10 days from now on. In this Chapter, we are introduced to The Winter Soldier, as well as Colonel Pine, a character who will come into his own later on in this story. You guys may as well start hating him from now on, bc he isn't going to get any better.
Hope you enjoy xx
EDITED 03/07/2018
ERIN POV
The night air was freezing cold. Erin wrapped her arms around her chest, pulling her thin leather jacket closer to herself as she walked. She hated coming home in the dark. Even in Washington D.C, the midnight streets were slightly too deserted for her liking; but she only lived half an hour from S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, and she couldn't afford to get the bus every day and pay her rent.
Erin entered her small flat at half-past twelve and was greeted almost instantly by Crookshanks, her orange tabby cat.
"Hey, sweetie," she muttered, leaning down to stroke the cat between its ears before locking her door behind her. Her flat wasn't big, and the unnecessary amount of furniture that she had added to it made it seem even smaller. She was a hoarder, she would admit that to herself; if not to her mum every time she visited from England and complained about the mess. Two dusty couches that she had rescued from charity shops sat in the middle of her main room, with a large coffee table filled with half-read books and half-drunk cups of tea in between them. She wouldn't say that they were ugly couches, but they certainly weren't 'fashionable'. They were covered in a pattern of washed-out roses and peonies, and at the price of twenty dollars each, she wouldn't have said no.
She walked into her bedroom, slipping out of her work clothes and throwing on an oversized t-shirt, before basically falling into the double-bed. She set the alarm on her dresser for seven O'Clock, and closed her eyes, exhausted. If the white blood cells in her microscope in the lab hadn't eaten up her serum by the time she got into work tomorrow, she would have to go-ahead to start animal trials, and then, all going well, she would have the ability to test it on humans. The thought thrilled her. After months of working and planning she would finally be able to see the effects of the serum first-hand. If it worked, she would revolutionise the way that S.H.I.E.L.D performed operations.
With a smile on her face, and a cat curled up on her chest, Erin drifted off to sleep.
.........................................
PINE POV
"Tell me that again, from the beginning."
Colonel Steven Pine was annoyed, to say the least. It was late at night, too late, and he should be home with his wife, but instead, was having to listen to hearsay from a Private who thought that he had stumbled upon his big break.
"They say that it's a scientific breakthrough in the Chemical synthesis community," The younger man continued, his greasy blonde hair combed back behind his eyes, stood up ramrod straight to attention. Pine noticed that his hands, though clasped firmly in front of him, were shaking slightly. He smiled inwardly at that. It was nice to know that he could still put fear into the hearts of those under his command.
He knew that he was an intimidating man. His 6"3' build and 250lb frame made sure that nobody messed with him when he didn't want them to. A thick scar ran down the left side of his chiselled face, a memory of days gone past, and his greying dark hair was shaved short to his head.
No wonder the Private was scared of him.
"People also say that the moon landing was faked, Private. Gossip spreads around people like a virus. How do I know that you're telling the truth?"
The Private shifted uncomfortably, breaking eye contact with the superior man.
"Some of the science workers were talking about it today at lunch, Sir. They were saying that there was this new girl, an English chemist. They were saying that she'd synthesised a hypothetical model and was putting it through cellular testing. Apparently it's a neurotransmitter that blocks synapses in the prefrontal cortex. "
"In English, Private."
"For all intents and purposes, it's a truth-telling serum."
Pine leant back in his chair, interlocking his fingers and staring intently at the Private. This was interesting. Private Goodwinson was one of the hundreds of HYDRA agents who had been placed inside S.H.I.E.L.D. as part of a covert operation to gain intelligence, and if what he was saying had any hint of truth in it, he may just be the most valuable man in the whole of HYDRA.
"Did you catch the name of this English girl?"
The Private coughed slightly.
"Jefferson, or Jeffers. Something like that. I didn't catch her first name."
Pine nodded and leant forwards.
"Keep an eye on it. Wait until cellular trials are complete."
"And then?"
"And then we're going to have a little talk with Miss Jefferson."
The Private nodded in understanding. A 'little talk' with the Colonel wasn't something that anybody enjoyed. He was a harsh man, and he wasn't against using... unethical methods.
"Dismissed."
The Private nodded in respect, leaving the room in silence, and Colonel Pine opened up his laptop, easily accessing S.H.I.E.L.D's database. He smiled to himself. Since posting men and women on the inside, he had access to all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secrets, even the ones that they didn't want him to know.
He sifted through employees to find the scientists and then narrowed his search down to Chemical engineers. A list of around three hundred names came up on his screen. He typed 'Jeffers' first, but came up with no results, so tried 'Jefferson'.
Two names popped up. One of them, Steve Jefferson, belonged to a sixty-four-year-old male graduate from Harvard University. Not what he was looking for. The second name looked far more convincing.
Erin Jefferson.
He clicked on her name, and her profile appeared on the screen. Twenty-three years old, born in Manchester, but educated in Cambridge, where she achieved a masters degree in Medicinal Chenistry, followed by a PhD in Chemical Engineering. His eyebrows raised. Smart girl.
He looked at the photo on her profile and smiled to himself. She looked like she would be easy to break. Waves of dark blonde hair surrounded a stern pale face, from which intensely dark brown eyes almost shone. She had a thin, straight nose, lips that were slightly too full for traditional beauty. A stern face for someone so young.
He picked up the phone by the side of his computer and dialled the office, printing all of the information he could about Erin Jefferson.
"Yes?" The tinny voice on the other side of the receiver.
"Send him in."
Colonel Pine waited for less than thirty seconds before the door to his room opened quietly, and the Soldier walked in. He didn't say a word, but the power radiating from him was almost tangible. In the dim light of the room, the metal of his arm glistened with unspoken potential.
"Yes?"
His voice was low, a distinct Brooklyn accent that echoed in the small area. He walked purposely over to the desk, menacing in his gait.
"This girl..." the Colonel passed over the printed out sheets and handed them to the Soldier. He studied them intently, his face passive, "I want you to keep an eye on her. We're going to bring her in in a few months."
The Soldier nodded, his face not betraying any sign of emotion.
"She has something that we want." The Colonel continued, "She's synthesised a serum which our intelligence tells us can make it impossible for the ingester to lie."
The first hint of movement appeared on the Soldier's face. His left eyebrow raised slightly over an impossibly blue eye in surprise.
"She invented it?" He asked, "She's so young."
The Colonel nodded, a small smirk on his face. "A prodigy, by the looks of it. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D's Chemical Engineering department. Her address is on that paper," He gestured to the sheets that the Soldier was holding, "I want you to do some surveillance, scope out her house. Figure out a way that you're going to bring her in without causing a fuss. We need to wait for the results of her cellular trials to come in, but once she finds out that this serum is safe for humans... well. I'll have a few questions to ask her."
The Soldier's face remained still, not showing any emotion at the Colonel's words. This was just another job for him.
"Will there be anything else, Sir?" he asked. Pine shook his head, and the Soldier nodded and turned to go. He left the room, closing the door behind him, and looked intently at the papers in his hand.
She was a smart girl, that much was obvious. She grew up, according to the S.H.I.E.L.D. database, in a poor area of Manchester, but gained a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, one of the most prestigious educational centres in England. After getting her PhD, she had taught biology in underprivileged High Schools for two years, before travelling to America, and beginning her Career in S.H.I.E.L.D. Nothing out of the ordinary.
He studied her profile thoroughly, before folding the papers up and tucking them in his back pocket, walking away from the Colonel's office.
He had a new mission.
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