"So...hi." The girl smiled nervously, her hands wrapping around each other constantly in her lap. He looked down at them, trying to figure out why she thought that would make her any less nervous.

"Do you talk? Because I've met you before and you didn't talk then either, so it would probably make this much easier if I knew whether or not I could actually have a conversation with you..."

He stayed silent. The last moment that had been as awkward as this in Iris' life was when her mother wanted to set Tilly up with her ex.

"Wait..." Pieces of the man-shaped jigsaw began to take a little more form. "I have to order you to, don't I? Erm, okay. Soldier. I demand that you reply when I'm talking to you. And act normal...ish."

For a second she almost saw a glimmer of a laugh behind his eyes, but then it was gone, easily mistaken for a trick of light. Indifference. It seemed to be his natural state.

With a sag of disappointment in her shoulders, she turned to the files left on the desk. His personal file was practically blank, only including his new cover.

Name- THE WINTER SOLDIER

Origin- RUSSIA

Job- ASSASSIN. UNDER COMMAND OF HYDRA SINCE 1942.

She reread the last part. And then double-checked. Did the maths on her fingers. Triple-checked it.

"So...you've been under the command of HYDRA for 69 years. Impressive. How old must that make you? 80-something? Looking good for such an old man." She grinned carelessly at him, the familiar bitterness on her tongue. If he looked at her eyes right now, he'd see the malice she usually held for her parents. It came with ease since joining HYDRA (unwillingly, she insisted inside of her head).

"I've been under the command of HYDRA for 12 missions. I am under 30 years old, as 30 is my termination date." He recited, looking slightly lost with his furrowed brow and wide brown eyes. Quite adorable for an assassin.

"Termination...give me a few minutes." Ignoring the large chances of paper cuts, she flicked through the files at speed, trying to find what she was looking for.

'The subject is to be placed back in the ice once it has completed the set mission(s). This procedure may affect his body structure, so once he has reached 30 years outside of the ice, he is to be terminated to avoid issues involving his physical/mental health as well as the integrity. of the missions sets.'

"So...do you know how many years you have spent outside of the ice? Or in it, for that matter?"

He didn't seem used to questions like this, or questions at all, as he took some time to answer. An adorable assassin with robotic tendencies; every girls dream. "I do not know. My first mission was set in 1968. I wasn't told the specific days or times."

She smiled sympathetically at him, realising that it went wasted. He was a sociopath- totally incapable of feeling or recognising emotions. "It's 14th of November, 2011. Now if you excuse me, soldier, I have some reading to do."

He waited until she was half-way out the door to ask. Her nervous hands almost dropped the files at his unprovoked voice.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

He asked it quietly, like he was worried about getting scolded. That nurturing feeling returned to her stomach, the urge to wrap her arms around him and promise him it'll all be okay. Maybe removing the machine gun strapped to his back while she was at it.

"Go back to your room to sleep, or to the firing range. Whatever you normally do around here. Just tell your commander that I couldn't start proper meetings until I'd read the facts, and I'll arrange one later. Okay?" She smiled at him, waiting for him to nod back. Her insides clung to the hint of a smile in his eyes, knowing that whatever was written in these files was going to try and burn any good thoughts she had about it.

TWS has served HYDRA since 1943, and has carried out over a dozen missions during that time. With a mixture of initial training during WW2 and what we have taught him here, he has become one of the greatest assassins on this planet, and the least known. With most of his witnesses deceased, whether by murder or old age, the survivors' tales have all been written off as ghost stories.

During his time here he has been under the guide of many trainers and doctors. Enclosed is some of the files written by those doctors. Some names and dates may have been removed due to the reader's clearance level.

Dr Watford- TWS

Day 1- still asleep following operation

Day 2- patient has shown signs of life, though none in the new arm. Worries of more modifications are taking place in fellow doctor's minds

Day 3- the patient woke up for a short while, but seemed to be completely unaware of his surroundings. Our guess is a fever from the metals in the arm. He has been given numerous drugs to try and fix it, and was forced back into unconsciousness.

Day 5- Since original wakening, the patient has remained in a fitful sleep with a dangerously high temperature. Doctor - has refused the option of leaving the experiment behind, and instead insists on us healing him

Day 8- the fever is over, and he will be waking up soon. With the new instalments to his mind, as the other doctors put it, we don't know what his reaction will be

Day 9- patient showed severe anger and malice once wakening. We were refused allowance for experimentations on him as Doctor - put him in the ice chamber almost immediately after he woke. One man was killed. The experiment is over.

Doctor Madison- Personal Log on Activities of 'The Winter Soldier'

On - in 19-, - - was recovered from the mountainside in -. Previously a war prisoner in -, he was the only surviving prisoner who survived the experiments conducted of him. He had survived the fall due to the alien substances in his blood. Substance is unable to be traced or named. The patient had however injured his left arm, so to prevent any issues during future fights, it was removed and replaced by a metal prototype.

While he was unconscious, a small brain surgery was conducted on him to try and prevent him from remembering his previous memories and orders. However, once awake, he instead had two minds, one of - - and the others of the soldier. The doctor's working on him then froze him.

He has been under the command of 6 different men at HYDRA, the latest being - -.

Though the ice seemed to help keep his memories at bay, after half a dozen missions outside the ice box he was beginning to remember again. Physical and mental tests also showed a deterioration of his muscles and mind when outside of the ice box. Whether this deterioration will slow with time away from the ice or speed up is unknown as his commander's are unwilling to risk his assets.

To prevent the deterioration, I and a few other of his doctors estimated how long it would be until he fell below battle requirements, as well as developing a new way to keep his memories of - - at bay. The patient was strapped to the new machine, where a wire contraption is placed over his head and sends electricity pulsing through it. Though it puts the patient in severe pain during the half hour procedure, it is an effective way to wipe his mind, making him forget original memories and memories collected during his time at HYDRA.

Below the writing was a set of pictures. One was of the soldier lying on a table, half of the metal arm moulded into his flesh. The next was of the chair in the room she'd visited when she first saw him, the seat empty and the sides caked with dry blood and nail marks. A final picture showed a face with a few frozen strands of hair fallen over his forehead, a body wrapped in a frozen coffin with a single window. At the bottom was written four words.

THE WINTER SOLDIER, 1943.

Leaving the files on her bed, she got up and vomited three time into the toilet next to her room, brushing the loose strands to the back of her head.

That night their next meeting was set up, she sat quietly and ate her dinner beside the recruits, and burnt the covers of the files given to her, all the while ignoring the bile that rose in her throat whenever she thought of the blonde-haired man and a coffin of ice.

Author's Note

I just want to thank everyone who's reviewed, followed, and/or favourited. You guys are all awesome :) Also, apology for the short-ish chapters (this ones longer than the last few though!) I was trying to make them longer but I guess this'll have to do. :)