p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Fury and Hill looked into the room which Pierce was seated in, both of his hands handcuffed to the table in front of him. The both of them did not in any way believe that he would be unable to get himself out of the handcuffs, in fact they had rather hoped that the man would have, then it would have given them an excuse to interrogate the man further about it. The man had remained still and silent though after talking to Natasha about how unconcerned he actually was about the survival of the Iron Wolf, a person whom he had spent years, decades even hardening into the perfect weapon. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Fury looked to Hill before he chose to speak up, undoubtedly thinking through what he was going to say before voicing his concerns aloud. "The fact that Pierce is unconcerned about the survival of the Iron Wolf is disconcerting." Hill nodded in agreement to what had just been said the obvious lack of concern and unstressed attitude making both Fury and Hill nervous as to what exactly was going to happen. Because if there was one thing which the two spies did not like, it was being uninformed and unaware of what exactly was going on. "We need to find out exactly as to why he wanted Natasha to look inside of those journals. And why the contents of them would make it so that his concern for William Brandt was unfounded." Hill nodded in agreement once again before watching as her boss walked into the next room. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Fury listened in closely as the metal door sealed itself behind himself, Fury not moving even an inch as he awaited the sound of the door sealing itself behind him. Even though the fact that Pierce would have been unable to break down the door the sound of the door was a reassuring noise. The expression on Alexander Pierce's face was one which made Fury want to kill the man right then and there. The fact that Pierce had managed to fool him constantly throughout the years in how he had tricked him into believing that he was entirely loyal to SHIELD made him full of anger. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Why exactly did you tell Natasha to look into the journals Pierce?" Fury looked into the face of the man who had been giving SHIELD grief for all of these years. "Why are you so unconcerned about how William Barton was flat lining earlier?" Pierce's smile grew even broader upon hearing Fury talking to him. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""There is a reason as to why the second asset is able to keep up with the Soldier. And it isn't because of perseverance. It goes along with the reason as to why we chose the younger twin instead of Barton." Fury took this in for a moment before looking Pierce in the eye, noticing once again how Pierce dehumanized William Barton. "Are you saying that William Barton is enhanced?" The shock which Fury felt upon realizing that there was not only one, but now three enhanced individuals was earth-shattering. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""The reason that I know that the asset is not going to die is not because of any enhancement. The reason that the Iron Wolf is one of the most ferocious and well-trained tool that we have. If only there was a way to get rid of that attitude which he has which is much like Barton's." Pierce paused before his smirk reappeared, even more pronounced than before. "He examines everything. He was raised by HYDRA and violence is practically easier than breathing. The Wolf and the Soldier are a unit. Much like Barton and Natasha. Except the asset has been killing since he was five years old. He was raised with little to no sympathy. The only kindness which he ever received was so that he wouldn't break. Because HYDRA has no use for a broken tool. Both of them have toppled governments. Trust me when I say that he is going to live. His training is practically ingrained into his DNA. He will destroy you the first chance that he gets. Because above everything else he is a tool. Ready to be wielded. If you want to know about his ferocity, then look into the journals." /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"With this Alexander Pierce looked away from Fury, who upon realizing that he was not going to be getting anything else from the other man made his way towards the door, trying to figure out how exactly he was going to get access to the journals. And a possible blood sample to see if William Barton was enhanced as well. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Upon rejoining Hill in the other room which she had been using to observe the conversation between Pierce and himself he took in the expression on her face. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""There is no way that we are going to be allowed access to Clint's brother or the journals without letting the Avengers in on why exactly we are looking into this." The expression on Hill's face was contemplative which brought curiosity to the forefront of Fury's mind. "We could send someone in. There will need to be a case in favor of the Iron Wolf and the Winter Soldier, the journals could help in this regard along with any and every other bit of information. There will have to be a case against the crimes of Hydra and the Iron Wolf and the Winter Soldier are a big part of this." /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""The Avengers would have complete power which would help in persuading them to go along with this. There would be no removal of files and blood samples from the tower. Clint will want his brother to be able to live freely and this would be the best chance." Hill look concerned at the end of the conversation, because if Fury was sending in the person she thought that he would then it would be a hard sell. "There cannot be any sort of lying or deceit on our part. They have all of the power." Fury frowned as this was said the lack of power was obviously something which he was unused to feeling. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""There will be Hydra agents coming out of the wet work. We will need to make it out that both the Iron Wolf and the Winter Soldier are the victims. Those two assassins are essential to completely taking down Hydra and we cannot let Hydra agents get rid of that advantage. We can't have them in some far-off prison instead of helping find Hydra. And we need to know if there are any more possible assets out there. That HYDRA would have valued possibly even more so than the Wolf or the Soldier. Pierce sounded too confident, enough that there has to be something bigger which HYDRA has for something like their assets being taken by SHIELD." Hill pulled out her phone and began putting in the number of the person who would be responsible for confronting the Avengers./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Yeah. It's Hill. We need you to talk to the Avengers." There was an argument between both Hill and the person on the other side of the phone before Hill hung up. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""They said that they would do it." Fury nodded before the two of them made their way towards Pierce, so they could take him back to holding. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Avengers Tower /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Hydra Facility 1976/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emAs he ran the stitch in his side which had begun as an annoyance had now developed into a stabbing pain. The pain which had begun as a steady throb was now a constant companion, ready to bring him down to his knees as he ran through yet another test of Hydra's. The hallway which he was running through was no different than the many others which he had been subject to because Pierce's constant need to test his abilities. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emUpon reaching the end of the hallway where it branched out in two separate directions Will looked first to the left and then to the right. The instructions had told him to take a right, but in these tests, it was not uncommon for Hydra to give him the wrong intel. James constantly told him not to rely completely upon intel given to him by Hydra, or by Pierce. The intel could be either lacking or purposefully wrong on Hydra's part to test his abilities. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWill went to his knees upon feeling the familiar shock which ran through his body. The collar which was wrapped around his neck sent another electric shock through his system. He had taken too long in deciding which way to go, the controller was punishing him for his delay. Will refused to allow a groan to escape from his lips. Never let them see you bleed was what James was constantly him and it was an invaluable piece of advice. Will had not survived this long by allowing Pierce and Hydra to see when someone or something got to him. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emThe electricity finally stopped. Will took the opportunity to rise up to his feet and to take the left corridor reaching out for the knife which should have been in his boot. He cursed internally as he felt the smaller shock which ran through his body. Earlier there had been instructions on where weapons should be hidden on his body and Will had been taught where to place them. The controller was going to give him hell. These people did not understand that even though he had eidetic memory that he did not remember each and everything. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emA sudden noise behind Will brought the Iron Wolf immediately to attention and in one fluid motion he dropped and then struck out taking out the person's legs. The next course of action which Will took was striking upwards as the agent fell. The punch which was thrown caught the agent on the underside of the jaw rendering the man unconscious. Will smirked upon seeing the boy lying on the floor until another minute shock went through his body causing him to growl. They couldn't even allow him one moment to enjoy taking out the agents which were constantly training him by practically beating information into his head. Another shock which was slightly stronger went through his body and Will knew that the next one would be crippling if he didn't get a move on. The first one had been a warning and he was already going to get raked up one side and down the other for not remembering about the lack of the knife from earlier. Will had not even begun having exercises with weapons, so it would make the punishment worse because of the fact. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emAs he continued down the corridor Will felt both relief and tension upon realizing that he had reached the end of the exercise. Punishment was not a new occurrence for Will, but he had no idea as to what the punishment would be for reaching out for a weapon that was not there. Mistakes caused complications, and complications were terminated in regard to Hydra. And Will had no doubt in his mind that if he became more trouble than he was worth that Hydra would terminate him without any hesitation. Will's blood ran cold upon realizing exactly who was standing at the end of the corridor. The person who willingly and even eagerly gave out any type of punishment. He almost started to slow down his gait slightly so as to delay the punishment which would be dealt out. Upon seeing the look which was displayed upon John Garrett's face. Or the lack of one thereof. Upon seeing the look which was displayed upon John Garrett's face always made Will uneasy. The fact that the man was only twenty-one years old meant nothing to the Iron Wolf or even to the rest of Hydra. John Garret could be just as malicious as Alexander Pierce could be. The man had been his personal hell ever since Will had begun his training. The man had been trained by Hydra since he was thirteen or fourteen. Any and every shred of mercy which may have been present in the child had been trained and taught out of him during his years with Hydra. The man had learnt from the best in Hydra, learning exactly how to break a person and to get the exact information which he needed. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emGarrett had been trained by the best. Trained by Zola in various ways and by multiple other members of Hydra who were known for being able to get absolute obedience from their victims. Garrett was also known for breaking people which was why his training was not solely done by Garrett. Luckily James was often there to buffer the attention which Garrett offered. The man who was on a steady climb in SHIELD, without the agencies knowledge that the man played for Hydra. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWhen Will reached Garrett, he felt dread because of the punishment which he knew that he was going to receive from this man. The man was not known for being lenient when it came to mistakes which one made during training. Garrett said that mistakes which were made during training if allowed to continue led to death. And Garrett constantly told Will how Hydra had put too much time, money, and energy into him to scrap him. But Will knew that this was not completely out of the question. If he caused too much trouble and was not useful enough then they would either keep him under using the words, or they would simply terminate him. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"You did fairly well for someone of your age." The pause which the man allowed after saying these words made Will nervous. The calm which the man was displaying terrified him. Will was not afraid to die. That fear had been trained and beaten out of him, but there still was that ever-present need to survive which was ever a constant. Garrett lashed out suddenly without warning. Will saw the man coming but made no move to stop him because if he even made that motion then his punishment would be increased tenfold. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"You are not the same as any other five-year old.. You are an asset. You are not to make mistakes like the one that you made earlier. The training, the work which Hydra puts into you is not so that you may mess up and make stupid mistakes like not remembering that you have no weapons on your person." The electricity which was going through Will's body brought him to his knees as the man unleashed his fury on the object of his anger. The fact that he had allowed himself to make such a ridiculous mistake was something which Garrett was going to beat out of him if need be. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"There will be no weapons training involving knives, handguns, or any type of weaponry other than which you already possess. There will be no access to the shooting gallery because if you cannot remember how many weapons that you have or do not have on your person then you will need to be reminded of what that feels like after today." The current which was running through Will at the moment was rendering him speechless, but that did not prevent the five-year old from feeling an anger. The rage which he felt upon being punished in such a way. Will nearly yelled out upon feeling a new source of pain in addition to the pain from the electric collar. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emGarrett was grinding his shoe into the back of Will's hand which had been resting on the floor when he had fallen because of the electricity. When the electricity finally cut off and the pain in his hand disappeared he looked up to Garrett a defiant look displayed clearly upon his face. One which Garrett quickly wiped off by backhanding the child across the face, anger easily apparent because of the rebellion which the Iron Wolf was displaying. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"The fact that you are five-years old does not allow you the same mistakes and the same uselessness. You are here to learn, and you are here to be useful to Hydra. Do not think that your age in any way allows you immunity to mistakes." The defiant look was still clearly displayed upon Will's face as Garrett finished speaking, causing the older man to smirk. Grabbing Will's face with his hand he looked straight into the Iron Wolf's face. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"We will eventually beat that defiance out of you. The defiant ones either break or they comply. And you will comply." Upon releasing Will, Garrett backed away and wiped his hands on his pants almost as if he was wiping himself clean of the torture which he had just inflicted upon the young child. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em'I will always fight you.' Will thought to himself as he watched closely for any sign that Garrett was going to continue with the so-called lesson. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"Get up off the bloody ground." Will steadily pulled himself up off the ground, not so slowly that it would annoy Garrett but also not so quickly that Garrett would think that his point had not gotten across. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"The collar used during training will be removed and you will be accompanying the Soldier for a training exercise. I am aware of the fact that you are not stupid enough to try and run. You know what should happen should you display that Hydra does not have complete control over you. This exercise will result in your severe punishment should you not excel. The Soldier will be accompanying you on this exercise and you will be displaying exactly how Hydra trains its assets to do exactly what they are told." Garrett after saying this walked up to Will and grabbed him by the neck and picked him up so that they were looking each other in the eye. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"Should you disobey the words will be used along with any other punishments which Hydra deems to be necessary." Will felt cold upon hearing that the handlers would use the words should he disobey. The handlers rarely used the words on Will because he would anything to keep from having that lack of control over his actions. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Present Time/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Stop worrying. Will has Jarvis, he'll be fine. I know that you want to keep watch over him, but you should get cleaned up so that when he wakes up you can move to the floor which Stark is setting up for you. The first thing which would be clothes." The look which James sent Natasha would have killed any lesser person. Natasha was currently trying to convince James to take a shower after she had left Clint down in the lab with Tony. Natasha had helped James in moving Will into a room which served as a guest room on Clint's floor until the floor which Tony was preparing for the two of them was ready. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""You know that Jarvis will watch over him for the few minutes it will take you to get clothing, Jarvis even said so. Also, Will told you that you stank and that you should get all of the blood off of you, which means a lot from both an assassin and the man that obviously loves you. Jarvis will keep an eye on Will. No one will get into the tower without us knowing about it." James looked as if he had begun to consider what had been suggested upon hearing the mention of the male assassin currently lying in the bed which he had been camped out next to since Will had fallen asleep. The bed which was in the guest room on Clint's floor. Natasha was more shocked than she would like to admit when James stood up from his seat next to where Will was still sleeping./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Jarvis, please contact me if Will wakes up and needs me." As soon as James had heard Jarvis' response he followed Natasha. Who was leading him through a hallway and towards an elevator which instantly made James nervous. An elevator was an amazing place to take out a mark. You could use poison and make it seem as if the mark died from anxiety because of the halted elevator. You could choke them out on the trip to your floor, the opportunities were endless. James knew that because of Jarvis that the elevators were more than likely constantly monitored but unfortunately this did not make him any less concerned about the lack of safety involved. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""I had the exact same reservations about the elevators when I first started living in the tower as well." James whipped his head around to face Natasha whose expression had no ulterior motives which James could perceive. "Elevators are such an easy place to get to a mark." Natasha nodded as soon as James had spoken, James was glad that he was not the only one who had noticed the vulnerability of an elevator. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"As soon as the elevator had stopped James felt an unease come over him upon reaching a door which Natasha opened. James wondered who exactly the room belonged to but then upon taking in the surroundings felt his body freeze. This was Steve's room. His body refused to move upon realizing the fact that Steve may possibly be in the room, waiting to talk with him. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Natasha seemed to take in this very aspect because of James' stiff posture and his sudden lack of movement which seemed to shout out how nervous he actually was. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Don't worry. Steve isn't in the room. Both Steve and Sam are looking over some of the journals which we brought with us from Alexander Pierce's home." The statement did not make James any less nervous, because of the fact that the man would be witness to the horrors and awful crimes which he had committed during his life, along with Will's as well. This thought went out of his mind though when a piece of fabric suddenly flew through the air and he caught it out of reflex. Realizing that it was just a simple T-shirt and that Natasha was holding a pair of sweatpants calmed him down. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""There's a shower on Clint's floor which you can use. I know that you would prefer to keep your distance from Steve right now, but you do need to realize that the man thinks of you as his childhood friend. You're going to have to talk to him eventually. The reason we're here is because Steve has clothes which would fit the best. Clint got Will some clothes for him when he wakes up." James felt nervous even just hearing that he would have to talk to the man who Bucky Barnes had been back during the past century. Just borrowing the other man's clothing made him nervous. Clothes which would in no way stop a bullet./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""I'm not the man who Steve knew." Natasha nodded as they made their back towards the elevator so that they could return to Clint's floor. "That is reasonable, but you do need to understand that Steve will want answers as to how you survived." James remained silent as the two of them stepped out from the elevator and back onto Clint's floor. Natasha led James to where the bathroom was before taking up the spot next to Will. Looking to the shirt which was laid out next to her she smiled. It truly meant that Clint liked Will if the archer was allowing him to wear his Dog Cops shirt. Looking to Will who had fallen asleep again she stretched over and grabbed the book which she had placed earlier on the bedside./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"strong /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em1976 Undisclosed Location/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWill felt James' leg brush up against his leg in the van which Hydra was using to transport them to the location which had yet to be revealed to both James and Will. The brush up against Will's leg was a reassurance which James used often when there was no opportunity for verbal interaction between the two assets. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"You are going to be instructing and displaying your abilities to a secret organization." The sound of the handler's voice caused the Soldier and the Iron Wolf to look up. The man who was responsible for controlling them was a senior agent who was one of the very few agents who knew both Will and James' command words. "Should you even try and rebel the consequences will be severe. I will use the words to ensure complete obedience on your part Iron Wolf." Will felt the familiar chill run through his body which even the comforting presence of James' leg against his could not soothe. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emNeither of the assets spoke, choosing rather to nod to let the man know that both of them understood exactly what was going to happen. "You are going to be put up against other trainees and candidates for a program called the Red Room. All females. You have been training longer than most of these candidates but do not let your guard down. Will looked up only to allow the man to know that he understood that should he make a stupid mistake such as the one with the knife from earlier that there would be consequences. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"Are there any questions?" Will said nothing. Even if he had had questions then he would not have asked because of the fact that he never knew what exactly would set off the controllers. "What will my job be?" Will kept an air of nonchalance, because he was five years old. He had been training ever since he could walk and was trained in a million other ways before that so that he had always been trained to be a weapon. A tool to be wielded and used by Hydra. Or at least that's what they believed, and Will would allow them to believe that until he was able to strike back. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"strongAvengers Tower /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""The man just tried to kill you because you reminded him of a young Alexander Pierce. I doubt that you should go anywhere near Bucky or Clint's brother. Which was a brilliant idea by the way choosing to walk right into a room with two men who both have no small amount of PTSD." Steve looked to Sam with a glare which softened a moment later when Steve looked back down to the journal which the two had been studying. The journal contained a list of names which the two men had been trying to sort through because of the practically random nature of the names. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""These names are really starting to piss me off. There is no rhyme or reason to any of these names." Whatever Sam had been about to say never left his mouth because of the pale tone which Steve's face had taken. Sam walked over to where Steve was staring intensely at the page of the journal and looked down. Sam looked at the page which seemed to have captured the man's complete, undivided attention. Sam did not understand what could have caused Steve to act like this. What could have caused Steve to pale so suddenly when he reached the bottom of the page. It all made sense now. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Howard and Maria Stark. Sam's blood ran cold as soon as he realized just exactly what every single one of these names in the journal were. The hundreds maybe even thousands of names in this journal were all people that Hydra had killed. The only question was how many of these people had been killed by the Winter Soldier and the Iron Wolf. The reaction which Steve had upon seeing the name more than suggested that Bucky had killed Howard and Maria. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Do you think that all of these people were killed by Bucky and Will?" Steve's hands shook as he closed the journal unable to handle seeing Howard's name on a kill list. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""I sincerely hope not. Because if so then that will mean that both Bucky and Will together have easily killed thousands of people. Which would make it much harder to prove to the United States or even the world that they deserve to be walking around rather than in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives." Sam shuddered upon hearing the statement from Steve. These men had been brainwashed and controlled for who knows how many years with no small amount of PTSD as reward. These men were the definition of being prisoners for however many years and they may have just escaped only to be placed in an entirely different kind of prison. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em1976 Red Room Location/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWill stood ramrod straight as one of the people in charge talked about what exactly was going to happen momentarily. Will had taken in each and every one of the candidates upon entering the room and noticed that not a one of them was around his age. These people were fortunate that they had at least been given a few years rather than being raised in the program like himself. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWill never allowed his posture to slacken even when there was a woman who entered the room and then eventually stopped in front of him. The woman crouched down and then looked him in the face while Will tried his best not to spit in the woman's face. The lack of action was made that much harder when she grabbed his face in her hand and then moved it around looking into his eyes and at the rest of his face. When the woman released her iron grip on his chin he nearly allowed a sigh to escape from his mouth but held it in because there would be punishment for any show of weakness. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"He is trained well. But is he as mindless as he appears to be? There was no physical response when I took hold of him. The Iron Wolf is only five years old, surely the asset would have a response even if it was only hate in its eyes." The handler standing directly behind Will chuckled upon hearing what the woman had asked of him and Will had to hold back a laugh as well. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"The asset is aware of the fact that should he show any sign of weakness in front of this organization that there will be no forgiveness. The asset has plenty of fire and even anger for his work and knows that should he not obey that there will be forced compliance." The pride which the man felt was easily evident, Will could feel the smile which was no doubt across the man's face because of how much pleasure the man took from pain and breaking people down. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"Your control over the asset is tenuous at best based upon the use of command words and the fear of a future beating. What should happen when you send him out on a mission? You will lose your asset because of the fact that your asset like any dog will run away from the owner which uses fear and pain to control it. There is no obedience, only fear." The laughter which came from the handler who was standing behind Will caused a chill to run down the five-year old's spine because that laugh meant that there was something else planned. "Do you see the asset trembling like a newborn colt?" Garrett's voice cut through the air, his voice firm. Will knew that this was the voice of a man whose pride was being tested. And Garrett was never one to back down when his own skill and pride was in question. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"Show exactly what your top four best candidates have to offer and then there will be a demonstration of just how capable our Iron Wolf truly is. How age is not a factor when it comes to his obedience." The woman merely nodded and then turned around to look upon the group of girls who were lined up in a straight row. Not one of the girls looked the same. There was one girl who stood out beside the rest with her bright red hair being at the most nine years old. Will noticed as the woman pulled four girls from the line that she was trying to keep attention away from the redhead, or at least Garrett's. The older male failed to notice the special attention, but Will had. And Will knew that this meant that she was likely the most valuable piece the Red Room possessed. Or that she would be. The woman kept her body positioned in such a way, drawing attention from the redhead. Will kept any tension from his body. Even though he was here to test the Red Room's capability it didn't mean in the slightest that he wanted to beat them to a pulp. Which was more than likely what he was going to be forced to do. As this thought ran through his mind Will felt the heat from Garrett's breath as the man leaned down behind him, the stench making Will want to scrunch up his nose in distaste. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"Keep an eye on that girl. She is the rising star of the Red Room and is said to have risen through the ranks of the Red Room in an unbelievable speed. Will looked to the oldest girl out of the four that the Red Room had chosen, taking her in, not mentioning to the handler of the redhead./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em"If you disappoint later there will not only be consequences for you, but for the Soldier. He's close by just in case you were stupidly thinking of trying something." Will's blood immediately ran cold and it took everything in him to not react in any way because of how they were going to use the Winter Soldier against him. "Keep that in mind when you are here in the Red Room. Nod if you understand." Will nodded in response, the anger which he felt at having Garrett threaten the Winter Soldier because there was nothing which he could do about it. Should he strike out against Garrett or anyone from Hydra they would freeze the Soldier or maybe even him. Worst case scenario they would use the command words on the both of them and there would be no telling as to when control would be given back to the two of them. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emHydra had only used the words on him less than a handful of times because Hydra continually stated that they wanted a tool which did not require constant handling. The handlers merely used other means, but Will never let Hydra know that if the Winter Soldier was not there that he would be fighting them tooth and nail to gain his freedom./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWill looked on as each and every one of these young girls fired at targets and sparred with one another, taking note that it was indeed the red-haired girl who was indeed at the top of this class of girls. Garrett continuously failed to notice this because of the girl's obvious youth and the lack of attention which the Red Room was giving her. Garrett's pride in HYDRA blinding him once again. Will did notice that there were exceptions to her own excellence but in comparison to the girls almost twice her age they were minute. The older girls had obviously not been taught accuracy over speed because even though each one was adept the obvious goal had been to teach speed. Hydra's goal in teaching Will had been that he should see every single shot as his last one, which had not been a very hard lesson because of how Hydra's attitude toward the asset was. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWill's attention was brought back to the present when Garrett tapped him gently on the shoulder which was a motion that meant for Will to bring his attention back to the present. One devised for moments like these when Garrett was unable to use the violent methods which he adored to get his attention. What made Will angry though was the fact that he had been paying attention. Focusing on each and every candidate in the room's actions. Their weaknesses. Their strengths. Resisting the urge to let out a grow, because of the repercussion which would later occur because of the response Will focused his efforts rather on taking in more of these girls. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emAs the girls begun to spar, Will noticed immediately that very few of them had what HYDRA had drilled into both the Soldier and Will. Being a killer. These girls were sparring but very few of them were going at the other as if their life depended upon it. Will knew that HYDRA saw each spar, each exercise as a test. A test of if he truly wanted to live, because if he refused to give his best then HYDRA would find another. Will only saw one person who seemed to outshine the rest, at least to him. It was still the redhead whose lack of perfection was compensated by her learning curve, she rarely made the same mistake twice. Will watched as she took a foot to the chest only to twist her opponents' leg, taking her down to the ground when her opponent tried it a second time./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emWill watched as Garrett walked over to where the woman in charge of all these so-called candidates. The feeling of dread growing as Garrett steadily drew closer to the woman. There was no way that whatever those two were going to talk about was going to be good. There had been no mistake in his mind of how much of a power play this was. Will had known from the very beginning. Being told to watch the girls as they sparred, as they practiced shooting various guns at the multiple targets. To show Will that HYDRA was superior to the Red Room. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Tony's Lab/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Tony was leaning over the table looking at an image of Will and Clint's blood. Comparing Will's to James' and then finally to Steve's while keeping Clint's up there to see if there were any similarities. While Tony was engrossed in this Clint entered the lab, his boyfriend not noticing in the slightest because of how interested he was in the blood. Clint, knowing Tony as well as he did tried to make as much noise as possible as he drew closer to Tony, not wanting to freak the other man out. When he knew that Tony was somewhat aware of his presence he stopped directly behind him. Placing his arms around his lovers' torso Clint kissed the back of the inventor's neck fondly. Lingering there for a moment before taking in the images which were spread out across the screens, realizing exactly what they meant. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""These images. They meant exactly what I think they do. Don't they?" Tony seemed to take a minute to absorb what his boyfriend had said before turning around in his embrace. Kissing the archer for a long moment before he eventually pulled away slowly with a smile on his face which then turned into a frown upon looking to the screens once again. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""I want Bruce's opinion before deciding. I want to be absolutely certain without a shadow of a doubt that this." Tony motioned to all of the screens with a wide sweep of his arms. "Means everything which I think that it means." Clint said nothing as the two of them continued to investigate the blood samples which had been taken from each respective person. Clint was looking closely at the two images of James and Steve's blood when a loud sigh from Tony caused him to smirk. Not looking up from the images Clint smiled when he heard yet another sigh which was a clear sign that Tony wanted his attention. Looking over to the other man Clint looked at him pointedly. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Yes dear?" Tony shot him a look which clearly meant that he was not impressed with the term before going off. "If what these images are saying is correct then it would explain as to why you don't even look like you're pushing thirty let alone forty." Clint smirked upon hearing the other man and his reasoning. Which Clint had to say was pretty sound because of how each sample of blood had the same consistent base structure which Bruce and Tony had discovered upon investigating Steve's blood originally. And even though both James and Will had a slightly different serum which was used because of how the cells in their blood and the structure of their own DNA was because of the alteration in the serum the main components were there. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"Clint smirked as he looked to his own blood sample which had none of these indicators which would have shown that he was in anyway serum enhanced. Because Tony continued to compare his own sample to that of his brother. "Hate to tell you babe but that image isn't going to change the more that you look at it. The similarities which are evident in James and Will in comparison to Steve would have shown up by now. SHIELD has also done multiple blood tests to ensure that my own talent isn't due to any enhancement. It's more than likely just good genes." Tony pouted upon hearing this which caused the archer to laugh in response. Kissing the other man which was made difficult by the smile which continued to break out across his face Clint tried to suppress it, only to have Tony smile and ruin their attempt all over again. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"When every screen went dark though the two of them immediately stopped laughing and looked around to see just what had caused it. "Jarvis what's going on?" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Security measure sir. Someone has entered the private elevator and is descending to the lab." Tony immediately began telling Jarvis all of the things that he wanted him to do and about all of the projects to lock down. "And J, make sure that you have no small amount of protection on the files which we got on Will and James." /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;""Very well sir." When Tony was in the midst of saying thank you he looked around for Clint and smirked upon realizing that the archer had vanished and realized that the other was probably in the vents directly above where the elevator would open up. Tony realized with a quick start that he really needed to fix that after this issue was dealt with. When the elevator doors opened, and Agent walked out Tony felt immediately nervous. There was no way that anything that Agent could want would be good. Especially since Will and James had taken up residence here. Tony knew though without a shadow of a doubt that SHIELD was going to try and have control of everything. And he refused to allow them to mess up this situation even more./p