"People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent."
-Bob Dylan
A silence filled the room as O looked at the blonde by the door. Something told her that she didn't need to fear who was on the other side, and that was confirmed when Kate opened the door slowly. When a tall brunette stepped in with a solemn look on her face she looked around the room and an ominous feeling hovered in the air. As her eyes landed on O, she narrowed them. She walked over, her eyes locked on her the entire time. She stood tall, a confident woman in every movement. There was a noteable edge to the way her face contorted, though, revealing that she was indeed stressed out. And by all means, she had the right to be.
"Steve told me about you," she said.
O had nothing to say to that; she couldn't imagine it was anything good.
"He thinks we should keep you alive, I think otherwise after what you did to Fury." She was stern in her words, but it was obvious that she was going to oblige to Steve's wishes. O mentally thanked Steve for that. She didn't want to die; she was only just getting a chance at life now, for the first time. It was the first time she was given a choice; comply with Steve and the people he trusted thus turning her back on HYDRA, or to close up, stop talking to these people, and hope HYDRA would take her back.
The choice was simple.
She couldn't go back to HYDRA. They would kill her without a doubt.
"I'm your only hope at stopping the Winter Soldier," she lied; there wasn't much she could really do against him, but she had to make it seem as though she was more powerful than they believed.
"He's the one who shot Fury?" Hill glanced over at Kate briefly.
"Yes."
"And you helped?"
"Yes. While under the control of HYDRA." She paused, then looked at Hill. "I can track people, get inside of their heads."
"Then track him so we can kill him," Hill commanded.
"I cannot connect with him," O admitted once again, her voice clipped. Despite what he was, The Winter Soldier, O knew he was someone else before. Someone worth keeping alive.
"Isn't that convenient?" She crossed her arms, seemingly bored with O already.
"Maria..." Kate said, "Is Fury...?"
"Dead. Confirmed around one." She sighed.
O studied the two women talking about the details of Fury's death. Without much thought or control, she made a mental bridge with Maria Hill. Her emotions had sadness in them, but not grief that most would experience during the death of a friend, or boss in her case. She sensed deception and distrust of everyone currently around her, and O was impressed that she knew better than to even trust Kate. O did not know if her intentions were honest, but it was clear she was not HYDRA. Knowing that much, she began to feel trust towards Hill, even if the woman hadn't warmed up to O yet. She didn't blame her for being skeptical about her, anyone with half a brain would be.
"I'm taking her with me," Agent Hill stated after they had finished discussing Fury.
"Where are you taking her? Steve asked me to ensure she was somewhere safe," Kate explained. "How can I trust you?"
"She can't stay here, and neither can you," Hill stated. "Go to SHIELD, something is up."
"I know." Kate shook her head. "You know you can trust me."
"I hope so," Hill said firmly before turning towards O and beckoning at her to stand up.
O looked around the room and studied the windows before rising. If she had been just out of sniper reach, standing up could put her in the perfect place to be the perfect target. She saw no one, though that meant nothing with the Winter Soldier, and carefully rose. She followed Agent Hill down the stairwell and out of the apartment building.
The vehicle that they got into was similar to the one O and the Winter Soldier had taken on their way to assassinate Fury; a large, black SUV style vehicle, the windows tinted and the doors thicker than normal. They drove in silence, and the drive lasted little over an hour.
The day was starting to break as they pulled into an old dam tucked away in the forest. It seemed safe; thick walls and an unpredictable location, but O still did not feel safe. The Winter Soldier was never going to be far behind, but she had a feeling that she was not HYDRA's current target; Steve was. He had taken out the head of HYDRA back in the day with only one casualty, though what Steve didn't know what that the casualty had actually survived. Through HYDRA's twisted determination, Bucky was simply used as their weapon.
O sensed something when they stopped the SUV in a dark tunnel underneath the dam. "Fury is alive."
"How did you know that?" Hill asked sharply.
"I can sense him."
"Your powers... how strong are they?"
"I don't know distance-wise how far they reach," she told her, "but there is only one person I know I cannot connect with."
Hill pondered that for a minute, and then got out of the SUV. She opened the passenger door and pulled O out of the vehicle. Her heavy boots thudded on the concrete below them, but she followed Hill as she swiftly walked through a door. Lights flickered on, though they were dim and old; it shed enough light that O could see where her feet were landing. Hill walked at a quick pace, but O had no trouble keeping up, though her hands being bound was uncomfortable. She hated feeling so vulnerable, and yet it was such a familiar feeling.
"In here," she said, gesturing for O to head through the door. Behind the door there was tarp like fabric hanging down, and she pushed some aside and walked through. She found herself face to face with Fury, the man she had helped The Winter Soldier try to kill only a handful of hours before. The machines were beeping, revealing that he was stabilized, but his heart rate was very low and he was clearly unconscious.
"Why did you lie to Kate?" O asked, looking over at Hill. She was surprised that Agent Hill had brought her here, right to a man she'd tried to kill earlier. Suspecting that it was a ploy to see if their hostage would react to seeing a former target, O was glad she had more control of herself than the Winter Soldier did. She had no intentions to harm anyone here, not anymore. HYDRA should have killed her when they had the chance, she thought sourly.
"We don't know who we can trust," Hill said.
"So you are sharing all of this with me?" O raised a cautious eyebrow.
"You're a prisoner, under our watch. We can't arrest all of SHIELD and filter out who is compromised." She sighed again. "And while we certainly can't trust you, you have something we need."
"My path-finding."
"We lost contact with Natasha Romanoff a few hours ago, and I'm afraid Steve Rogers is off the grid as well."
O looked down at the floor; there was paint splatter from years ago when the dam was still being properly run. The concrete had once been a dark colour, but it had lightened to a dull grey; the whole structure was a greyish colour, and it made O feel as though she was back in the HYDRA base. She swallowed nervously and closed her eyes, but the melody of Mozart's 25th symphony snaked into her memories and she gasped at the pain of the memories. It was only a matter of trigger events that would get O to remember everything.
O fell to her knees as she shook her head, pleading for the memories to stop. Each memory began to trigger the next, each memory more painful. The gasses and poisons they gave her, the experiments they tested on her, watching them hack away at Bucky's arm, turning him into their Winter Soldier. Next came the dreadful part, remembering that Bucky had once been human, and had been capable of doing good. He had made her a promise, and he had long forgotten it now. The hunt. Her own powers used against her in a morbid and twisted game of cat and mouse. The scalpel and them using Bucky as their leeway into her mind. It all came rushing back and she nearly threw up.
"O, what's wrong?" Hill asked, a hint of concern but mostly just wanting her to stop writhing on the ground, her head clutched between her hands.
O gained control of her body again and looked up at Hill from the floor, and as she rose, she spoke confidently. "My name is Ophelia... And I will help you bring down HYDRA under one condition."
Hill was skeptical, but she raised her eyebrows, waiting for what Ophelia had to ask. She was a prisoner, a hostage, and yet was trying to bargain. Maria Hill was a strong headed woman, built for a world like this with the intent to make it better. Sometimes that meant being hard-shelled and cold, and sometimes that meant helping the people who needed it. She waited for Ophelia's ultimatum, hoping that it was going to be something achievable, so that maybe she could try and help them bring down HYDRA.
"Please don't kill him." Ophelia looked up with pleading eyes now.