Foreign, strange, unwelcome; new.

Two months later.

I have another mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. I am to travel back to the same place the strange archer shot me twice. This time, instead of Subject Seven, I will be with Subject Zero.

I thought Subject Zero was a myth, like the Winter Soldier, but I guess I was wrong. Subject Zero is very much alive, and very much silent.

Apparently I grabbed the wrong drive the first time. I am to grab a different one, this time. We make our way to their headquarters, silently.

Subject Zero Is bald. She is my height, and even more muscular. She wears a vest, showing off her bulky arms. I notice scars running down her flesh, crisscrossing and zig-zagging. All the subjects have scars from testing, but not like this. It is impossible to tell where one scar begins and another ends.

I am told through my earpiece to be careful, last time we almost didn't make it out. The details are fuzzy to me. I remember a lot of pain, and Subject Seven, but the rest is a blur.

I find myself warning Zero when we have closely arrived to the HQ's location.

"Careful for the guns." It is short and gruff, just the way I am used too. Subject Zero looks at me. I stare back at her. It's like she wants to do something, but stops herself. Whatever.

"I'll disable the cameras." Her voice is different. It's not gravely, like I'm used to. It's….crisp. And clear. I shake it off. Testing does different things to different people.

I focus, spreading my hand out in front of me. An orb of pure purple energy emits from it and I knock out both of the guns located on the roof. The purple disappears. I turn to signal Zero, but she is right behind me, watching my every move with her large, chocolate brown eyes. What a creep.

I use my hand to signal that we can move on, and I lead the way. There is still a hole in the side of the building from the last time I was here. We use that to enter.

Down in the basement, I press the brick and the floor slides open, revealing the secret entrance to the drive's location. There is a thump above us. I look over at Zero and she is already going up the stairs. Her moves are silent and quick, impossible to detect.

I walk down to the secret floor and look around. I see no other drives. My eyes narrow, looking for secret buttons or levers. I sneak around the room, gazing at the floor. Something here has to be out of place. I hear movement above me, and then a loud crash. I have to hurry up. I slide my fingers under a table of computers. Nothing.

My hands scan under the next one, and then the next one, never coming up with anything. The second to last table is before me and I swipe my hand under it. Bingo. The drive is pure white, with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s logo on it in black. I put it into my pocket and go to walk upstairs.

My way is block by a man holding a bow and arrow aimed at my face. The mysterious archer. I know him; he shot me twice. He is the same man that keeps relocating all of my targets before I can kill them. He leaves a very nice note every time explaining that what I do is wrong, and how he's sorry I am forced to do this. He also says that I should blink more often. What a fucking jackass.

"Hey, it's you!" He sounds happy. I like my target's crying in corners.

My fists clench, purple glowing faintly around them.

"Sorry, I really can't allow you to steal that. Yea, alright, the last one was a fake. Bought us a little time to figure out your plans, yeah?" He's smiling, talking like he's not about to die. I feel myself getting angered. He should be cowering, fearing for his life.

"Alright, alright, fun's over. Hand it to me." Now that amuses me. I move my hand to the side and he fires, but it does nothing. There is a purple wall of energy in front of me, now with an arrow stuck in it. I feel the power running through me, causing the familiar warm feeling.

"Black Widow's taking care of your friend upstairs. You won't win this." Upstairs, I forgot. I look up, and the archer laughs.

"Yes, upstairs, very good." He fires another arrow that I am not ready for. It hits the purple wall and they both shatter, energy disappearing into the air. He notches another one before I can process what's happening and fires. It hits me in the stomach. Damn this man, he's a good archer.

I double over in pain, willing the healing process not to start yet. I can't afford to black out in front of an enemy. Like slow motion this time, I can see him notching another arrow. I raise my hand and an orb of energy hits him, sending him flying up the stairs.

I groggily stand up, and climb after him. The only way out is up. He's standing at the top now, arrow aimed at me. With every step I can feel the arrow twist the muscle under my skin, but I don't have time to do anything about it. I extend my hand but he is ready and shoots the orb down.

Behind him an arm grabs his neck and throws him to the side. Zero is standing there, blood dripping from her face and neck.

I wonder what happened to that Black Widow person the archer was talking about, but I pass it off. Zero probably killed it. It's what we do to targets. And right now, any enemy is a target.

"Let's go," she sounds tired, exhausted even. I nod my head sharply and hobble up the stairs. When I am at the top she secures an arm around me to help me move. I wasn't expecting her to do that, so I am caught off guard. I don't even check to make sure that the archer is actually dead. I find myself with the hope that he's not. Then I change my mind and hope that he is.

Outside there are no agents. They must have thought the archer and Black Widow would have been enough. Obviously they were wrong. Stupid ass motherfuckers.

I told Zero to stop when we were half way to our pickup point. She stepped away from me and gazed at me with her large eyes as I did my thing. I took a deep breath and pulled at the arrow. Half of it came out. I looked down, but don't see the other half protruding from my skin.

It is inside of me; I can't pull it out with my hands. I don't want my skin to heal around it, I have to do something. I ask Zero is she has a knife, she hands me one.

Without a second thought I dig it into my skin, slicing through my suit and tissue. Blood seeps down my side, but I don't care. I feel the blade hit something and I hope for the best. I plunge the knife deeper into my stomach area, pushing at anything it hits. I feel something tear, but don't have the time to see what it is. The other half of the arrow is sticking out from my back. I fold the knife and toss it back to Zero, grabbing the arrow and sliding it out.

She continues to watch me, unmoving but still looking as if she wants to do something.

I double over, the skin of my knees splitting as I hit the ground. My vision doesn't go dark, it goes purple. Whatever tore open inside of me is slowly sowing itself back together, sending waves of pain to my brain. I won't give it the satisfaction of screaming, so I just bite into my tongue. My teeth slice into it, the taste of blood overpowering.

A cold hand touches my cheek and everything stops. The coolness spreads, washing over the pain and replacing it with cold, darkness. My vison clears and I see Zero kneeling in front of me, wispy grey smoke wrapping around her body and travel down her arm and onto my purple glowing one.

Her face is still blank, unclear and impossible to read. But something has changed. Her expression has lightened; it's no longer cold, just blank.

Her hand retreats and she regards me carefully. I am not sure what to make of what just happened, so I stand up and continue to walk. It is some time before Zero follows.

The walk back to the rendezvous is silent. I am far ahead of Zero, and I look back to make sure she is still following. There is a confused look on her face, but as soon as her eyes meet mine it is changed to the regular blank stare.

When we reach where we need to be, there is Sinwest's black car waiting for us. I slide in, and Zero does as well, not before giving the slightest, almost undetectable hesitation. I am almost about to pass it off as my imagination, and I don't know what stops me.

Sinwest holds out his hand and I pass him the drive. He regards me, bloody around the torso but seemingly fine. He regards Zero, bloody face and all, and then looks back at me.

"Nicely done," that is all he says. The rest of the ride is silent; Subject Zero turns her head to look out the window. I stare straight ahead.

Soon enough we are blindfolded and handcuffed. Not long after that we are back at HQ and being shoved inside. I can tell that Subject Zero is with me; we collide when being pushed into the elevator.

It's a long ride down, one that I never really pay attention to. Zero is shifting beside me, and I realize she is walking about the edges, making sure that nobody else in in here except us. I can't see here, but I am certain that is what she is doing.

She stops moving for a little bit, and then comes towards me. She bumps into me, sending me back into the wall. What the hell is she doing?

She comes towards me again, slower this time. Her head knocks into mine, and she whispers seven simple words into my ear before the elevator dings and arms grab us to put us back into our cells.

"You saved me, now I'll save you." That's new.