It isn't every day you find a brainwashed assassin behind your dumpster.
Kat had left work early thanks to a cold brought on by three jobs and a lack of transportation. She'd also forgotten her umbrella so she was wet and and miserable as the rain whipped sideways on her walk home. A slowly growing headache hunkered behind her eyes as she ran across the road to her building, shoes soaked through.
She fiddled with her keys, blinked water out of her eyes as she stomped up to her fifth-floor walk-up. All she wanted was a hot shower, an Irish coffee and a warm blanket. But her plans were ruined when she walked into her apartment to find garbage strewn across the kitchen floor.
"Alpine!" She glared and scanned the room for her damn cat. "If I have to take you back to the vet for eating plastic it's coming out of your birthday budget!" Of course being too smart for his own good he was nowhere to be found.
Throwing her bag onto the couch she grumbled and started to look around under the sink. This time she grabbed a bag and started collecting all of the dreck that Alpine had managed to spread around, making faces the entire time because of course the garbage had to be gross and goopy. And now the kitchen floor was a mess too.
She muttered as she tromped back downstairs. "You're going on a treat diet mister."
The now re-bagged garbage was hopefully secure as she exited the back door. The rain had fortunately lightened to a drizzle but Kat still cringed as she stepped back out into the wet. It ran through her hair and trickled down the back of her neck. Inwardly she cursed Alpine with bad dreams.
Light reflected off the wet asphalt and car windows but did little to illuminate the dark corners of the parking lot. Too bad that was where the dumpster was located. She'd nearly reached it when she saw what looked like a pair of legs sticking out from the other side.
Trick of the light.
She was tired and it was dark out so she was bound to see things that weren't there. So she ignored it and pushed up the heavy lid of the dumpster that screeked as she heaved the bag inside.
Before she knew it she'd casually glanced sideways. In the dark and the rain it sure looked like a pair of boots attached to a pair of legs. Before she could consider what someone would be doing behind a dumpster in this kind of weather, she sneezed and thought she saw a boot twitch. She jumped and the dumpster lid slammed down with a BAM!
She stood there for a long beat with clenched hands before taking a step towards the mystery boots. What if they needed help? Normally she wasn't the kind of person to get involved. Instead she preferred to mind her own business. But she was the only one around and honestly if she did nothing she'd spend the rest of the night wondering. So it was down to her, a fact she absolutely hated.
"Hello?" She whispered as she peaked around the side to see a figure lying on wet cardboard. Dressed in dark clothing it was clearly a man but he wasn't moving.
The snap of adrenaline had her heart beating in her ears. Somebody had died behind the dumpster at her apartment. She was staring at a dead body. A thrum of thoughts flipped through her head. Help. She had to call for help. The police. Call the police and they'll help. She could feel the spiral of panic rise in her chest so she shut her eyes and took a deep shaky breath to try and calm down. It was a poor attempt that only left her feeling dizzy and she couldn't remember the rest of the steps so she decided to abandon the idea and panic. But first, she would call the cops. She moved to go back inside because she couldn't wait for this to be someone else's problem when she felt a hand clamp down on her arm. She looked down only to find his arm covered in some kind of metal? She didn't understand what she was looking at.
She would have screamed if she'd had breath but instead she stood there frozen, wide-eyed and terrified. Slowly she turned and towering over her stood the former dead body, acting very much alive. Her heart leapt into her throat and a chill unrelated to the rain spread out from her belly. The man stared at her unblinking, his face a blank mask, eyes dark under a ball cap. She tried to pull away but his grip was too strong.
For a long moment that stretched out into the ether they simply stared at one another. Then a siren cut the silence and blared in the distance. He tensed and stalked towards her building, hand still firmly clamped on her arm. He pulled her against the stucco siding, out of view of the street. As he followed the sound his head turned and when it grew closer he squeezed her arm tighter. Slipping towards the back door he grabbed hold of the handle only to find the door locked. The reds and blues of a police car pulsed in the air as it sped down the block, the zoom of tires on wet pavement. He flinched and yanked the door open, breaking the lock. Kat's eyes widened at the deformed metal and nausea rippled up her throat. Clearly she hadn't been scared enough. Maybe he'd make her death quick and just snap her neck with a flick of his fingers.
Once inside he practically ran up the stairs and dragged her along. She nearly fell trying to keep up and could only focused on the vise-like grip he had on her arm. It was hard enough to bruise but then she remembered she didn't have to worry because she'd be dead. He was going to kill her and corpses didn't have to care about wearing long sleeves to work.
The stairs creaked with every step of his boots and he left a trail of damp carpet behind him, hair dripping onto his shoulders. On the way up she desperately hoped they would run into someone else but the rational part of her brain said he'd probably kill them so hopefully her neighbours would just keep to themselves like always. After several floors he finally paused and turned to look down at his hand, then over to her as if noticing her for the first time. He was stone-faced until he blinked several times and frowned.
"Which apartment?" His voice was rough and a wet cough accompanied the demand.
She stood silently. Her throat felt pinched and she could only whisper out the words but he heard her well enough to move. Far too soon they reached her apartment with her legs trembling from the climb. In comparison he wasn't even breathing hard.
"Key."
He held out his hand and in fear and haste she fumbled in her pocket only to drop them in a jingle to the floor. She didn't dare look at him and without a word bent down to retrieve them. Thanks to his grip she was forced into in an awkward crouch and as she tried to stand she stumbled. He pulled her up in one smooth motion but with such strength that she fell into him. Heart in her throat, she practically shoved the keys in his hand and backed away.
He pushed into her apartment and swept the room before he looked to the windows. He poked his head into the bedroom and thoroughly inspected each closet. Only when he was satisfied that they were alone did he pull her into the bathroom.
As he closed the door he finally let go of her. She retreated to the far side of the small space and cradled her arm, red with irritation and sore beyond measure. She slowly sat on the edge of the tub while he slumped against the door and slid to the ground, panting. His long hair nearly hid his face from view as he dripped onto the floor. He shivered, body tense as he curled into himself. With a grunt he pushed his hair out of his face, eyes squeezed shut. That's when she noticed he was bleeding. A red streak ran down the side of his face, forehead to chin. Blood dripped a dark stain onto his clothes.
She stayed quiet in order to avoid his attention but dared to look over at him to try and memorize his face. There was no guarantee she'd survive but if she did, she wanted to give police an accurate description. The strangest thing was, he looked familiar. Had she seen him on the street before or maybe the news? The answer was somewhere, hiding in the back of her brain; she just couldn't pull it forth.
She rifled through her memory, tried desperately to remember where she knew him from. But all her stupid brain could think of was that after six o'clock, Alpine would make friends with anyone in the apartment to get fed, including her would-be killer. She looked up to see him staring right through her, his eyes glazed over as if his mind was elsewhere. It took a moment for him to focus on her, blue eyes bright and blank. In that moment she remembered and a chill rippled out along her skin. The man who had dragged her into the bathroom and was currently blocking the only exit was none other than the Winter Soldier.