Status: in progress and will be finished this year wohoo and will probably get a sequel
Unravel
V
As expected, the file had been gone by the time she woke up for work. However, Elizabeth didn’t know whether to be glad or not. She had spent the whole day wondering and worrying about what might happen once 10pm rolled around. Maybe he wouldn’t even show up. Even though she wanted to talk to him, the thought of him not showing up gave her a sense of safety she couldn’t quite describe.
After trying to seem as inconspicuous and composed as possible all throughout the day at work, she found herself sitting on the old, purple sofa in her living room, waiting for something, anything, to happen and letting all the feelings she had held back out.
She had asked him to meet her at 10pm but she had been sitting and waiting for over an hour beforehand. Vito had already given up on trying to coax his owner into petting him and was lying in his basket a few feet away. On his face she could see that even he knew something wasn’t quite right. But he didn’t seem alarmed which she took as a good sign.
When the clock on the wall finally read 10pm, her whole body tensed. Her hands started shaking and she kept scolding herself for actually setting this up, for not thinking straight. She kept watching her apartment’s vestibule even though she knew that he probably wouldn’t waltz through the door like a normal human being. Because that was not what he was. Or at least something he hadn’t been in a long time.
By hiding weapons all over her apartment as soon as she had come she had tried to calm her anxiety but it hadn’t helped even one bit. She knew that if it came down to it she wouldn’t stand a chance against him, least of all because of his metal arm. But she thought that just the illusion of being somewhat able to defend herself might make the situation better, so she had went for it and hid everything from guns to knives all over her apartment.
While she still kept silently scolding herself for her carelessness, the lights suddenly went out, plunging her whole apartment into darkness.
Elizabeth jumped on instinct and reached for the gun she had hidden beneath a pillow on the sofa. She tried to focus on anything in the now dark apartment but to no avail. The more she tried to see something, the darker it seemed to get. The only thing she could make out was the neon sign of the small shop across the street. Her already rapid pulse skyrocketed.
“No light,” she suddenly heard and whipped around to aim her gun at the voice. Hearing his metal arm whirring, she shakily exhaled. She should have felt better after realising that it was indeed the Winter Soldier and not some other intruder, but she didn’t. She forced herself to lower her gun and exhaled audibly, when he spoke up once again. “What do you want from me?”
“I want to talk,” she told him quickly but was quiet after that. She had written down what she wanted to ask him but that wasn’t quite useful now when the whole apartment was pitch black. “What did you do to the files?” she asked timidly.
“Read them. Eliminated them,” he answered with no hint of emotion. His emotionless demeanor drove her crazy. But then she reminded herself that he wasn’t like a normal human being.
“Why?” she prodded.
“You know why,” he told her, not moving from the place he had chosen inside of her apartment. According to his voice he was somewhere in the vicinity of her kitchen and had probably entered through the window there. The fire escape had been high on the list of possibilities of how he had entered her apartment before.
She didn’t know what to ask then. He was right, she knew why he kept trying to destroy any information they had on him, she just wanted to hear him say it. So she tried a different approach.
“Who is after you?”
She heard him exhale sharply. “Who isn’t?” His voice still seemed mostly emotionless but she couldn’t help but wonder if it had been her imagination that had let her hear a little hint of bitterness.
“CIA, FBI, Hydra?” she kept pushing.
After a short but pregnant pause he replied with a force to his voice she hadn’t heard before. “All the same.”
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she couldn’t help herself but ask, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” she heard him move closer but the only indicator for that was his voice that was steadily growing louder. Apart from that he made no noise. “S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t the only agency that’s been infiltrated.”
“You’re lying,” she stated.
“Why would I?” he challenged.
“I don’t know! You kill people all the time and I don’t understand that either!”
“That is different.”
“It is not!” She tried to keep her voice down but anger had never been an emotion she dealt well with.
“It is!” he hissed and she was somewhat glad at the emotions his voice finally displayed. “You read the files and know what they did. They deserved this.”
She had read the files and knew. It had displayed all of modern day’s torture techniques and if he had gone through all of that, or more, lived through all of that, she could begin to understand why he was going after them.
“So they were all Hydra?” she asked silently.
“Yes.”
“I still don’t believe you. If you want to work for the FBI the background checks are extensive. They wouldn’t have been able to do that. Our guys would have caught on. They barely let me through.”
“And S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t conduct a background check on any of their recruits?”
Her breathing had sped up again and in thinking for a reply she had realised something else.
“Wait,” she shot out “What did you do to my dog? Vito!”
“He’s fine,” he told her calmly and she suddenly felt Vito brush up against her leg which just confused her even more. But she didn’t have enough time to ponder on this since he started talking again. “You actually think you’re working for the good guys.”
“Is that why you don’t want me to find you?” she asked. But she didn’t need an answer, she already knew what his answer would be. “You’re not afraid of the FBI. You’re afraid of Hydra finding you again,” she realised.
When he didn’t answer she moved towards the light switch but what she found was just her apartment, completely empty and finally flooded with light again. Squinting into the room she found Vito, wagging his tail at her.
She sighed and moved closer. “You really are the world’s lousiest watchdog. Is that why Ryan gave you to me?”
After trying to seem as inconspicuous and composed as possible all throughout the day at work, she found herself sitting on the old, purple sofa in her living room, waiting for something, anything, to happen and letting all the feelings she had held back out.
She had asked him to meet her at 10pm but she had been sitting and waiting for over an hour beforehand. Vito had already given up on trying to coax his owner into petting him and was lying in his basket a few feet away. On his face she could see that even he knew something wasn’t quite right. But he didn’t seem alarmed which she took as a good sign.
When the clock on the wall finally read 10pm, her whole body tensed. Her hands started shaking and she kept scolding herself for actually setting this up, for not thinking straight. She kept watching her apartment’s vestibule even though she knew that he probably wouldn’t waltz through the door like a normal human being. Because that was not what he was. Or at least something he hadn’t been in a long time.
By hiding weapons all over her apartment as soon as she had come she had tried to calm her anxiety but it hadn’t helped even one bit. She knew that if it came down to it she wouldn’t stand a chance against him, least of all because of his metal arm. But she thought that just the illusion of being somewhat able to defend herself might make the situation better, so she had went for it and hid everything from guns to knives all over her apartment.
While she still kept silently scolding herself for her carelessness, the lights suddenly went out, plunging her whole apartment into darkness.
Elizabeth jumped on instinct and reached for the gun she had hidden beneath a pillow on the sofa. She tried to focus on anything in the now dark apartment but to no avail. The more she tried to see something, the darker it seemed to get. The only thing she could make out was the neon sign of the small shop across the street. Her already rapid pulse skyrocketed.
“No light,” she suddenly heard and whipped around to aim her gun at the voice. Hearing his metal arm whirring, she shakily exhaled. She should have felt better after realising that it was indeed the Winter Soldier and not some other intruder, but she didn’t. She forced herself to lower her gun and exhaled audibly, when he spoke up once again. “What do you want from me?”
“I want to talk,” she told him quickly but was quiet after that. She had written down what she wanted to ask him but that wasn’t quite useful now when the whole apartment was pitch black. “What did you do to the files?” she asked timidly.
“Read them. Eliminated them,” he answered with no hint of emotion. His emotionless demeanor drove her crazy. But then she reminded herself that he wasn’t like a normal human being.
“Why?” she prodded.
“You know why,” he told her, not moving from the place he had chosen inside of her apartment. According to his voice he was somewhere in the vicinity of her kitchen and had probably entered through the window there. The fire escape had been high on the list of possibilities of how he had entered her apartment before.
She didn’t know what to ask then. He was right, she knew why he kept trying to destroy any information they had on him, she just wanted to hear him say it. So she tried a different approach.
“Who is after you?”
She heard him exhale sharply. “Who isn’t?” His voice still seemed mostly emotionless but she couldn’t help but wonder if it had been her imagination that had let her hear a little hint of bitterness.
“CIA, FBI, Hydra?” she kept pushing.
After a short but pregnant pause he replied with a force to his voice she hadn’t heard before. “All the same.”
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she couldn’t help herself but ask, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” she heard him move closer but the only indicator for that was his voice that was steadily growing louder. Apart from that he made no noise. “S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t the only agency that’s been infiltrated.”
“You’re lying,” she stated.
“Why would I?” he challenged.
“I don’t know! You kill people all the time and I don’t understand that either!”
“That is different.”
“It is not!” She tried to keep her voice down but anger had never been an emotion she dealt well with.
“It is!” he hissed and she was somewhat glad at the emotions his voice finally displayed. “You read the files and know what they did. They deserved this.”
She had read the files and knew. It had displayed all of modern day’s torture techniques and if he had gone through all of that, or more, lived through all of that, she could begin to understand why he was going after them.
“So they were all Hydra?” she asked silently.
“Yes.”
“I still don’t believe you. If you want to work for the FBI the background checks are extensive. They wouldn’t have been able to do that. Our guys would have caught on. They barely let me through.”
“And S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t conduct a background check on any of their recruits?”
Her breathing had sped up again and in thinking for a reply she had realised something else.
“Wait,” she shot out “What did you do to my dog? Vito!”
“He’s fine,” he told her calmly and she suddenly felt Vito brush up against her leg which just confused her even more. But she didn’t have enough time to ponder on this since he started talking again. “You actually think you’re working for the good guys.”
“Is that why you don’t want me to find you?” she asked. But she didn’t need an answer, she already knew what his answer would be. “You’re not afraid of the FBI. You’re afraid of Hydra finding you again,” she realised.
When he didn’t answer she moved towards the light switch but what she found was just her apartment, completely empty and finally flooded with light again. Squinting into the room she found Vito, wagging his tail at her.
She sighed and moved closer. “You really are the world’s lousiest watchdog. Is that why Ryan gave you to me?”
♠ ♠ ♠
well, I finally finished up my third semester of uni and have a lot of time on my hands to write this story which makes me kind of excited because the more I write the more I want to add and the longer it gets lolI'm also super grateful for the two recommendations I already got even though hardly anything has happened yet, you guys rule!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!