You're My Mission

My throat felt raw when I woke. It was difficult to breathe at first, but the more I forced air into my lungs, the quicker my head cleared and I soon found the energy to lift it and take a look at my surroundings. The laboratory space was enormous as it had been constructed in a room large enough to be a plane hanger, and it contained multiple machines I didn’t recognise but no doubt they had harmful functions. Hydra guards littered the area with their guns lowered, but my eyes didn’t linger on them for long. The brightness of computer screens pulled my attention, and then my stare rested on the back of a red head. My stomach sank straight to the floor.

“Oh shit…” I muttered to myself. My respiration rate skyrocketed and I couldn’t reason with myself to try to calm down. I had a right to be panicking.

“Ah good, just in time,” the Red Skull said as he turned, aware that I was conscious. He was a tall man consisting of ominous vibes: a missing nose, a sinister German accent, bright red skin across his face, and an outfit of all black that was only broken by the silver belt buckle of Hydra’s symbol. The Red Skull wasn’t exactly a man I wanted to face alone.

“What do you want?” I rasped, my throat still dry from the chemical they had used to knock me out.

He laughed.

“I should be asking you that. You were the one trying to sneak into my facility,” he replied.

I saw a flash of shining silver on a monitor behind him and I began to wonder where the others were. Had I just hallucinated Bucky trying to come after me? Or was it true, and Steve had ordered the others to move in?

“I’m still alive, which means you want me to be,” I pointed out. “So, what do you want from me?” The Red Skull smirked and uncrossed his arms, stepping away from the screens to stand before me and block my view of them entirely.

“You’re right, Jennifer. You see, I am not impressed with your behaviour. You were becoming a well-known agent in Hydra and I thought you had a wonderful future with us,” he began to explain. I tried to not wince at the thought of what my life would have been like had I remained undercover for any longer than I did. “But then you ruined your opportunity… Your assignment to lead the Winter Soldier unit was a test, and you failed. You stole our asset and went running to SHIELD.” I exhaled, unable to resist smiling a little at his version of the story.

“That’s really not what happened,” I breathed while remembering how Bucky had ambushed me in my apartment, searching for my help while I thought he was trying to kill me.

“I had hoped you two had formed a bond. It appears as though I am correct. I think it only took the Winter Soldier a minute to run into the building once I crushed your communications device,” the Red Skull continued without acknowledging my words. All humour drained from my body as I wondered what had happened to Bucky. Did he enter with backup? Was he still alive? Since my earpiece was now missing, there was no hope of hearing an update from Steve. “Go on, Jennifer, ask me if he’s okay. I can see it in your eyes that it hurts you to think he could be lying cold on the floor in a pool of blood.” My jaw locked at the Red Skull’s taunts.

“Where is he?” I asked, going along with his requests and trying to buy myself some time. I wriggled my wrists against the rope that secured me to the chair but had no luck at loosening them.

“Bring him in!” the Red Skull boomed. A guard left the room and a few moments later the door reopened, ten Hydra agents surrounding a worn-down figure.

His brown hair was messy and his metal arm was splattered with blood. All of his weapons were missing from his black vest and I soon noticed that Bucky’s robotic arm was limp. Somehow Hydra had managed to disarm it, and then him. He was following their instructions because of the guns pointed at him, but he was clearly exhausted and frightened. Shoulders that were usually pulled back with pride were hunched forwards from fear, and his blue eyes were lowly flicking around the room. And then he saw me.

“Jennifer!” Bucky’s shout echoed around the room and he lunged forwards. The guards quickly shoved him back in place and one warned him with a bullet to his arm. I gasped and jolted against my restraints as Bucky stumbled, hissing and cradling his only functioning arm closer to his chest.

“You see, when I put out that broadcast that I wanted Captain America, I lied. Of course I want revenge on him, but that can wait. What is more important is showing my followers what happens when you decide to stop being loyal to Hydra,” the Red Skull started talking again and I tore my eyes away from Bucky’s suffering in horror. This whole thing was a trap, but it wasn’t for Steve. “Traitors in Hydra are not tolerated, Jennifer. What exactly did you think was going to become of you when you left us?”

“I had a mission. I was never loyal to Hydra, or to you,” I spat.

“Ah, well, you made a mistake. You chose the losing team,” the Red Skull said with a smirk.

“No. You made a mistake. You made a mistake by taking me hostage,” I retorted before looking past him at Bucky. He was like an abused dog, having been beaten and backed into a corner with no chance of escaping. I pitied him, well aware that he had already endured enough at Hydra’s hands. “You made a mistake by taking Bucky hostage too. That’s his name, by the way. He’s not the Winter Soldier, he’s not your plaything! He’s a man, he has a soul, and you made a mistake by choosing to exploit him!”

As if I wasn’t already too pissed off for my own good, watching the Red Skull laugh at my outburst only fired me up even more.

“If only you knew how wrong you are,” he grinned before turning his back on me to face the guards who still encircled Bucky. “Put him in the chair.”