"But I knew him."
The raw emotion displayed in his expression was the first she had ever seen coming from the Soldier. And with that emotion, it proved to Maize how right her theory was; seeing his lifelong friend would cause memories to arise and decommission the Soldier. However, HYDRA wanted their perfect soldier, an asset to follow instruction and deliver on the missions; they prepared him for the Memory Suppression machine, a machine Maize was thankful to never experience.
Or was she cursed with the memories?
Maize turned her head as he was struck by the director. She couldn't stomach the abuse he endured; her eyes closed and her lips twisted in disgust. Oh, how easy it was for them to manipulate and use the assets for their pleasure, forgetting they were people too.
STRIKE members saw her out, the Soldier's screams echoing behind her. As long as he was out of cryo, so was Maize. They had rooms for both assets, always separate, whenever they were woken. She was escorted to her room. When the door closed behind her, Maize took a moment to silently congratulate herself - a job well done in the first steps in her plan to destroy Global-1, starting with HYDRA.
Something tugged at the corner of her lips. Quickly her hand shot up to realize she was smiling; Maize hadn't smiled in many years … a decade or two, maybe? She almost forgot how it felt - to feel a slight tinge of happiness; accomplishment. And while a part of her celebrated, Maize understood her fight wasn't over - she had a long way to go.
Carefully she made her way to her bed and slowly sat. Nothing in the room was metal - HYDRA took all precautions to ensure Maize was trapped in the room as she wasn't 'theirs'. In fact, HYDRA had rented her out from another secret organization called Global-1; a united nations group formed in the early nineteen hundreds. Their aim? To find and capture all enhanced humans for experimentation and to use for their own agendas. Sadly Maize was captured when she was a child and had belonged to Global-1 since.
Unsure when HYDRA would allow her to leave again, Maize laid on the bed, her gaze straight at the ceiling as she played over that day's events.
She had been ordered to drive the large vehicle, assisting the plain clothed HYDRA members along the highway. The Soldier had already attacked the black car where his targets were located. Maize knew the drill: get the Soldier to his mission and spectate while he completes it. If he is unsuccessful, her orders were to rip his metal arm off his body and drag him back to base. If the Soldier showed any kind of reversal, she was to drag him back to base; Maize was never ordered to use her powers to complete his assigned mission.
Spotting the car holding the target spotted in the middle of the highway, Maize pumped the gas, instructing the others to 'hold on'. Clutching the steering wheel, Maize braced for impact as the large hummer rear-ended the smaller car. Her foot stayed on the gas pedal, forcing the smaller car forward, giving the Soldier the opportunity to jump on the roof. Her gaze stayed on him as he pulled out Agent Sitwell and the steering wheel before jumping on the hood of the hummer.
Blue eyes stared at her, silently giving her the order to use her power. And she did.
Rolling the window down, Maize stuck her arm out, focusing on the vehicle. With a flick of her fingers, the car flew to the side, hitting the median. In a matter of seconds, the car was on its side as the three occupants slid out on a detached car door. Traffic briefly whizzed by before coming to a sudden halt at the scene.
Maize slammed on the breaks - the men shuffling out of the vehicle. This was where her eyes refocused to watch the mission unfold as she slid in the shadows. However, her 'shadow' was staying in the vehicle at all cost.
She watched intently as the men inched forward, shooting their automatic weapons after the Soldier shot a rocket toward his targets, knocking Captain America off the bridge. Bullets continued to fly, rockets along with a fireball would follow until both targets were knocked off. The Soldier then was handed a rifle to use against the targets, aiming from the bridge down below. Maize, very discreetly, slid out from the vehicle, her long black dress waving with the wind. Her light brown hair mimicked as she walked closer, getting a visual of the scene below. The red-headed target peeked out from her hiding spot, two guns in hand aimed at the Soldier. Maize knew none of the bullets would reach him, with the help of a flick of her fingers did a bullet hit him - cracking his bullet proof sunglasses.
Masking her pride with a look of worry, Maize ran to his side. "Ты в порядке?" She inquired about his condition, a hand ever so slightly touching his metal shoulder. The Soldier said nothing, but his rage could clearly be seen in his blue hues almost hidden behind brown strands. His next movements were so fast, even Maize jumped from them. He was pissed - rightfully so. Bullets sprayed all over in an attempt to strike the red-headed woman; he believed it was her who almost killed him.
"Она у меня. Найти его." The Soldier instructed the men to go after Captain America while he hunted the Black Widow. While he had no clue who his targets were, Maize did. He had no freedom to know anything about the world outside of HYDRA, outside of his missions but Maize did.
Every now and then she would return to Global-1 where she had the opportunity to watch tv, read books and get their version of a 'break' before she was to be put on a slab for more experimentation or given back to HYDRA. Her interest peaked after each mission on who the Soldier was; he had to come from somewhere. It wasn't until Global-1 had her travel to D.C. on their own mission where she stumbled upon the Captain America exhibit - seeing the Soldier standing next to the Captain himself.
James Buchanan Barnes. Or Bucky, as his best friend, Steve Rogers, would call him.
"Catchy," she told herself as she read up on the war hero. From that moment Maize made it her life duty to learn everything she could about the Soldier's past life, coming up with a way to make him remember who he was before becoming an asset for HYDRA. It was a long shot, maybe even a one in a billion chance, but Maize felt in her gut if she were to find a way to make him remember, it would be the fall of HYDRA, and in that, the potential fall of Global-1.
The Soldier jumped from the bridge, but not before glancing at Maize. They had been working together for many decades, almost a century. In the course of their strange employment, the two had developed a silent language; Maize understood he wanted her to get back in the vehicle. She nodded, slightly bowing her head as she stepped backward. Her steps stopped when he jumped and her back straightened. The men all had their attention on Rogers, doing their best to eradicate the Captain.
From the corner of her eye, Maize saw movement. It seemed the dark skinned man accompanying the targets had combat training as he popped out from hiding, stabbing one of the men to get his gun. It was then aimed at her. She raised her hands in defeat, showing him she wasn't dangerous, and how could she be? She looked like an innocent, scared woman. That was until she focused her gaze on the gun, mentally yanking it from his grasp and throwing it on the ground behind her.
"I'm not here to hurt you," she told him, her accent heavy in her tone.
"Could've fooled me," he answered defensively.
"I'll prove it." Maize walked to the edge of the bridge, peering down to the street. About six men ganged up on Rogers, their rifles engaged as they sprayed bullets at the city bus he was trapped in. She stretched her arms, cracking her neck before focusing her mind on the rifles. Flicking her hands up, Maize managed to pull the firearms from the men, using the butt of the guns to knock them out. It took all but ten seconds for them to drop to the ground.
One would think it had been easier to kill the men, but Maize had never killed anyone, that was the Soldier's job.
"How the hell did you do that?" the man asked in disbelief, Rogers glancing up to the bridge.
"There's a lot you don't know about," Maize told him as she lifted herself from the ground, hovering down just a few meters from Steve. He watched in awe and horror, his mind wondering what he was up against. Rogers looked up to the bridge, silently questioning who the woman was; the other man shrugged. "We need to talk."