"Steve! What are you doing?"

He shoved me out of the way, reaching for the data-pad. "Shut up!"

Ok, something's up. I'm pretty sure that Cap is pissed. Well, to be fair, I did keep a major secret from him.

His friend was alive. Bucky Barnes was alive, as the Winter Soldier.

"Alexander, did you know?"

"I-"

"Did you know?"

"Yes."

Remind me to never piss off Captain America. He pulled a knife on me and put it against my throat. "How long have you known?"

"Long enough that I was sure I would never tell you. He's been like that since he fell off the goddamn train."

"Who did this, Alexander?" I can feel the blade digging into my throat. I don't have powers that could help me. I'm just the tech guy. "Don't laugh. You thought you killed them all."

"What?!" The shock on his face is evident. "HYDRA?"

"Yep. Who did you expect?"

I feel the blood running down my throat. "Don't kill me. You still need me to find your precious friend."

I sense Romanoff behind me. "We may need you, but that won't stop us from hurting you."

"Oh? I don't think I'll divulge any more details."

Last thing I see before I black out is Steve Rogers' smirking face.

"You know, keeping me hostage and torturing me is only gonna hurt your public image."

That remark earns me a nice backhand from Romanoff. "Keep up those smartass remarks and you won't have a pretty face anymore."

"Why am I not surprised that you're my interrogator? The Red Room certainly taught you well. Tell me, did they mention that HYDRA isn't completely gone? You were alive back when Rogers killed Schmidt. They didn't send you after the jet?"

"I mean it. Shut up unless you're telling us vital HYDRA secrets." I can tell that I struck a nerve. "Oh, did I hurt your feelings? I'm sorry. Fine. What do you want to know?"

Pierce is gonna kill me but it won't matter. Romanoff will kill me first. More blood on her hands.

"How long did you know about The Winter Soldier?" That's the only topic she's pursuing? Nothing about Insight? Huh. Maybe I can get away scot-free.

"I knew about Barnes since the beginning of my HYDRA career. He's easily the most valuable asset. Now, if you don't mind, would you kindly release me? I think I'd rather die by Pierce than Widow."

She pulls out a taser.

"You wish."

The next five minutes are agony. Water is dumped all over my arm and she puts the taser against it. "Now, what do you know about Project Insight?"

Oh, NOW she asks.

"If you'd asked that before you tased me, maybe I'd be more inclined to answer."

"I mean it, no more smartass remarks."

I feel a knife blade cutting along my jawline. "If that's the worst the KGB could do, they should train their assets better."

Have you ever had your eye gouged out? Not a pleasant experience. "Again, not enough."

In a great twist of irony, she breaks my left arm and amputates it with a very dull knife.

"Wow, that hurts. Fine. Insight is an algorithm that calculates the enemies of HYDRA based on their past. Are you happy now?"

"Very. I'm sure Rogers will be glad to break every bone in your body."

"Wait, you're not gonna let me go?"

"I think that letting you go, at this point, would be a great mercy. One that you won't get."

"You're the villain in my history. Go ahead, if you want, you can hurt me. I honestly don't care. I survived a hurricane when I was 17, my mom died when I was 12. There's no greater torture than watching everyone around you die. I think I'm entitled to die now."

Rogers hesitates, then shoots me twice in the heart.

Hey guys! I wanted to write something that'd give me an excuse to use lyrics from Hamilton, but also something that'd paint SHIELD and the Avengers as villains. To many people, they are.

Villains are the ones who aren't given the chance to explain. Sure, HYDRA did bad things, but they believed they did it for a good reason. That doesn't vindicate the Avengers for doing bad things. I'd wager the Avengers did more bad than HYDRA did. If you don't agree, then that's fine. It's my opinion.

I hope you enjoyed this short thingy. I wrote it because I got really REALLY bored.

A story from the point of view of an agent of HYDRA.