He was… here. He looked up at a light-greyish and slightly porous surface above his head. A strange construction of an apartment building... Where was he? He squinted, feeling as his body achieved a momentum. His feet were an inch or two above the pavement. Gentle air swirls played with strands of his hair. Sharp light of the building entrance a few meters in front of him.

Disorientation slowly flexed into a quite pleasurable sensation of gliding. His grappling hook was stuck above, maybe high above, in the fancy, marble-ish wall. A wall? Of an apartment he just left… but why?

He took another swing. Everything was good, he felt free. It was nice. He just has to… stay here. Taste the fresh air of very late evening. It was getting dark, all around...

Voices. He heard voices of women. Two women coming down from the building. Talking loud and excited. Coming right to the door he could see well lit in the wall to his right. A pleasant feeling faded, covered by something… Hide. Hide now, soldier.

Immediately, he let go a thin, metallic rope. Standing on his feet, in heavy black boots, he tore it apart from his belt where the mechanism was mounted.

They are about to come out. Hide.

As he stood, he leaped backwards into the darkest corner. Perfectly soundless. How did he know there was a corner here? He couldn't recall. He froze, he stopped breathing. Observing the situation, he saw two women casually opening the door, still busy with conversation. One had very short hair, the other one, long curls.

Curls…

He followed them with his cold eyes, until they reached a parking lot to the far left. Never noticed anything…. Now he could-

Another woman appeared from the close left. His eyes widened and he almost jerked. She was standing closer than a meter from him. She was completely quiet, just like him. How he didn't hear her?! He wanted to cover more in the shadow, but she just kept on staring. She saw him. Someone behind her. She smirked.

The soldier leaped upwards, his knife ready in the right hand. Crushing grip ready in the left arm.

A pinch in his back, then another. He stopped in the middle of his calculated attack.

Clink! The blade hit the ground.

His feet indecisive. He couldn't feel… his right arm. He took a wheezing breath, muffled by his war mask and made a few steps forward. Or he thought so. A few very quiet sounds behind his back. A growing feeling of numbness. A feeling of… rapture. The horizon moved down.

„I told you, gentlemen. He may be stopped." A very distinctive voice above him. Woman's voice.

He was lying on the pavement. He never noticed going down. But his body kind of drifted. The world felt light… His muscles were free… His eyes wanted to close. So he put his will in keeping them open, two narrowed observation points. Eyelids slightly down.

A sensation of relax kept on filling his brain and body. He was almost paralyzed.

He heard a car, a van driving by. Sliding door opened. They didn't care to be unnoticed. He saw a group of men in coats, six to eight men surrounding him and looking down. But there was more people around.

Their faces partially covered in the twilight. He kept on observing. Felt almost nothing.

„That's the Asset. Alive and ready to become fully operational." Explained some other voice, as the men continued to evaluate him with their looks. He knew that. He knew these looks too well.

General, generals used to do that… What generals?

„So that's the famous, or rather, infamous Asset, huh? He's not as tough as I thought." Noticed one man. He sounded… arrogant. A few other figures giggled. His brows furrowed a bit.

This wasn't HYDRA! They didn't … smell like HYDRA.

"Gentleman, I assure you, it was extremely difficult to find a way to get him. The dosage of sedative we used could kill an elephant. And as you can see, he still stays partially conscious. The gas we first used to disorient him is highly volatile." Said heavy accent.

"And illegal." Added the woman.

"Yeah, but how can we know that's really him?" Said more harsh voice.

Alcohol and cigarettes. This one smelled like these.

"You received all the proof and signed the contact. Please. We have very little time. His programming will soon trigger and order to get to a pick-up point. He has to be restrained."

His brain started lighting up, even though the rest of the body was resting with pleasure. Not HYDRA! An enemy organization trying to take over the Asset!

"Highly improbable, soldier! But in any case, you are obliged to infiltrate (optional) and destroy any organization that may try to get you! If everything fails, you are to self destruct… But I'd really be sorry. Such a smart boy like yourself." A voice in his head, a lively voice of an older man… Who was he?

Waking up from a trance, he looked back up at his enemies.

"-I just want to see what's under that mask." Said a man closing in to his left.

"Sir, that's not a part of the deal." Replied slightly irritated woman. "Our men will take care of that! He has to be handled with-"

Grasp.

His left, silver arm moved faster than a thought. A man's wrist stuck in a crushing vice of metal clench.

The asset was breathing faster, still motionless on the ground, but his eyes lit up, piercing a face nearby.

"Sir, please don't move!" An irrelevant warning.

The sneaky man in a coat. You're not HYDRA…

He could see his face now. He examined it with primal curiosity. Face twisted with pain and dread. Eyes and cheeks growing red. Sweat forming on the forehead. He could smell his fear.

What to do now? He could not move… But he could still hold the left grip.

"Do something!" Mumbled the trapped man. "It's like a fucking vice..."

The Asset tightened his grip. The man moaned. They both felt the sweet moment just before the bones would start crushing. He kept on looking into the eyes of the enemy. He felt satisfaction.

"He's gonna kill me!"

He heard a few orders given in some language… Swedish? German? A prick in his neck. It hurt this time. A wave of dizziness reached his mind immediately.

Contact with prosthetic arm lost.

His eyes turned upward while closing. His breath shallow.

"Dummköpfe..." Quiet words left the lips under a muzzle.

Maybe no one heard it, maybe the man that tried to touch his face.

"We're not taking more responsibility for such actions!" The woman kept on talking among the noise and shuffle. He felt as if being lifted. A car engine starting.

"The contract is clear. The additional dose of sedative can give him a coma. But that's now on your end!"