AN : Hi , this is my first fanfiction , and I'm totally new to this whole thing, so I hope you can tolerate the quality. English is my second language, so mind the grammars.
Anyway, I put this as M just because I tend to be a very careful person. Real world is scary sometimes.
PS. This is a very OC-centric story.
Chapter 1 : The Castle on top of a Hill
Warning : Suicide attempt.
For a hunter like him, snow was never a big inconvenience. Sure it hinders you when traveling, especially since you would not be able to drive through the thick snow, which means he had to walk a considerable distance to reach the base. However, snow and cold weather equals less people outside. It was a thriving time for Damijan to finish his latest "job".
From the hills, he took a quick look into the city of Novigrad, the capital of the landlocked country of Sokovia. It wasn't the Novigrad he remembered fondly so, where he could run in the streets , catching on the tram that would take him to the central market. Now, Novigrad was a shadow of its former glory; you could still see the joyful lights coming out from the central market, but those lights were beaten by the brighter military bases, dotting on the outskirts of the city. Behind them were the mountain ranges, entrapping the city and its eternal air of gloom.
Sokovia was a proud country, with equivalently proud people. They managed to recover after the invasions of the neighboring countries during the second World War. She then picked a pace, growing rapidly in the last quarter of the 20th century. However, now the country was in a limbo state, in the middle of existing and non-existent, with equally dull optimism held by the people. If Damijan had to pick the main actor behind it all, he would definitely blurt out the name of Nikolaus Mlakar, the beloved exiled president of Sokovia. However, Damijan knew too well that HYDRA was the one who pulled the strings. They really did a good job in destroying the country, while at the same time creating a safe haven under the name of SHIELD. Even that old bastard Mlakar had not been able to do that.
Damijan took part in that too, so a part of the credits belonged to him, actually.
Soon, he found himself walking through the woods surrounding the base, filled with pine trees older than himself. The moon was bloody red that night. Among the darkness and the snow, He could see a head or two in one of the hidden bunkers, observing faithfully to their surroundings. He simply gave the guards a quick salute nod.
When he was small, he and his younger brother Rafael would go around the city on the weekend , going with his father and mother. The pair, Alexandru Demetrescu and Ludmila Demetrescu, were local businessmen, running a butchery below the tenement , respected by the locals. At that particular weekend, they needed to deliver some packets to the locals of the village down the forest. While the parents were busy with the business, Damijan irresponsibly took Rafael near the forest. They picked some flowers on the meadows, and soon enough they reached the edge of the forest.
An old man appeared from the forest. He told them that they should stay away from the forest.
"Wolves live in this forest, sweethearts." The old man said, a kind grin on his face.
"What kind of wolf, Sire ?" Damijan curiously asked. He knew wolves from the school. There weren't many wolves in Sokovia, only a few in the zoo. He was afraid, but eager to find one in the wild.
"Well, not the usual wolf, if you're asking me. Magical wolves, perhaps ?"
"Magical wolves !" Suddenly Rafael took an interest in the conversation. He threw his edelweiss, clapped his hand, and with his wide eye asked the old man. Rafael always had an interest in "magic".
"Tell me more about magical wolves. Tell me !"
"Well, I'm afraid that I need to herd my cows. It's a long story. Now, aren't you all good kids ? Maybe you could help your parents down there ?" The old man pointed to two distant figures, far from the edge of the forest, getting boxes out of a green truck.
"C'mon Rafael, let's go down." Damijan pulled Rafael's hand. Rafael laughed, and pulled some flowers from the meadow before running, trying to keep in pace with his brother.
"You need to tell me the story later, Sire. Damijan, run slower !" He screamed. It was one of the happier days in the life of Damijan. Well , at least what he remembered.
Years later, Damijan found out that the old man did not lie. Only the wolves were humans , and the magic was more technological rather than astral. Ironically, Damijan now lived among the wolves. He himself could be considered as a wolf.
After a long walk, he finally could see a majestic building standing. There it was, the castle of HYDRA, the base, standing gloriously on the top of a hill. The base was , of course, more crowded than the forest. Since it was night , there were only guards pacing forth and back in the courtyard. The guards , again, gave Damijan a quick salute, before Damijan entered the main hall of the castle. He then proceeded to the west wing, and entered a well-kept room.
The room was a small study room, but converted to be a sort of a foyer for another room. Baron Von Strucker's secretary sat behind a desk, scribbling something on her notepad. Upon seeing Damijan , she quickly closed her notepad , her frown grew.
"Night , Damijan. The Baron had waited for you for two hours by now. What kept you so long ?"
"Night to you too , and I'm sorry Madame. The snow does not easily let one pass the pathway." The woman stood up, putting her notepad carefully on her bag, and gestured to Damijan to follow her. She then opened the metal door.
"Baron, here's Damijan." She announced.
Not everyone could say that Baron von Strucker, perhaps the most important man for HYDRA in the whole Europe, had to wait for him. Damijan had his pride. After all, he was handpicked by none other than Baron Wolfgang von Strucker himself. As he would quote : "a child with exceptional will to survive, a shared desire for world peace, and….. a secret." That secret, of course, would be him being a mutant ? a magician, perhaps ? He did not know either, nor he did particularly care. He only knew that somehow, he was gifted (or cursed, perhaps) with an ability to generate heat and manipulate it. It sounded cheesy, but that power had kept him alive until now. Baron Von Strucker had eagle eyes, so he somehow managed to see it on him. Since then, he was a valuable asset to HYDRA. He took missions , ranging from old classic assassinations, espionage, packet delivery, cover-ups. He was expendable though, but until now he survived. Luck seemed to be on his hand.
Baron Von Strucker was also behind his desk, apparently reading some reports, probably Damijan's. Damijan gave Baron von Strucker a salute. Baron Von Strucker put his reports on the desk, and glanced at Damijan.
"Mission Report." Baron Von Strucker asked.
"Mission 30. Target was also eliminated. I had made sure that no one was present to witness. The details are in my report which by this point you may have received."
"Good. As usual then." Baron Von Strucker said, a small smile formed. He was satisfied. Good.
"You're dismissed. We are grateful for your service, Damijan."
"Equally for yours, Sire." Damijan then gave another quick salute, before leaving the room.
He exited the west wing into the right wing, and was to descend to his quarter when he caught the shadow of a figure, trying to attract Damijan's attention. It was Dr. Simone. The resident scientist. Dr. Simone shook his nose to left, and to right. Twice. I need to talk with you. Privately.
Dr. Simone's office was among the humblest rooms in the base, despite his not-so-humble rank as the resident scientist. It was usual for scientists around the base to put a HYDRA flag on the office. So did Dr Simone, although he put a smaller version of the flag on the desk. There wasn't too much furniture in the room, save from the bunk bed, the bookshelves, and the study desk, which were currently filled with a lot of research papers. Baron Von Strucker had managed to gain a small breakthrough on the Scepter, so he tried to push the scientists to leap forward.
"Where were you this time ?" Dr. Simone asked, walking past his bed towards his working desk.
"Latvia. A decoy mission."
"Sit down." Damijan took a seat on a chair in front of the desk. Dr. Simone diligently folded the papers on the desk, put in a yellow paper folder, and stored it under the desk. He then pulled two empty tea cups, a filled teapot, and poured tea into both of them. While Damijan was enjoying the hot camomile tea, Dr. Simone pulled another folder from under his desk.
"Project Insight." Dr. Simone threw the papers onto the desk. Damijan took a look at the thick report. Dr. Simone soon placed his face on his hand, red visible on his face. Dr. Simone ignored his tea. That was a bit peculiar. Instead, Damijan smelt alcohol.
That was a big warning. Dr. Simone never drank alcohol.
"What is it ?" Project Insight, the title said.
"It's the endgame, Damijan. Finally, HYDRA will have a real chance to establish its dominance." Damijan proceeded to read about the brief report. Meanwhile, Dr. Simone grabbed a bottle of beer from under his desk, and drank half of it, then put it back to the floor. Damijan peeked ; there were at least 2 empty bottles.
"In short, the project will eliminate every single person who is a threat to HYDRA."
"Then ? I did that too, Simone. No big deal."
"-and the one who will be a threat."
"What do you mean by will ?"
"Predictions, Damijan, predictions ! Zola had figured how to predict whether someone is a threat to HYDRA or not based on their profile. Bank accounts, school history, shopping lists, yadda yadda yadda..." Still no big deal. It was what Damijan did occasionally , right ? It was only necessary, nothing personal.
"I still don't get why you are in such a depressed manner. And drinking. You never did that." Dr. Simone's face turned into something horrific, akin to that of a tortured man.
"HYDRA will eliminate even the tiniest threat. I've seen the model."
"Estimate ?"
"Millions." Now that bugged Damijan. Millions seemed to be...a bit much. Damijan did eliminate people, but only when the threats were clear for him, or for the Baron. It was more of a tactical maneuver rather than a state-sponsored preemptive genocide. Of course, then , he would ask the golden question.
"If you have seen the model, would… my brother is a threat too ?"
"Very likely, Damijan." Suddenly, Dr. Simone burst into tears, wailing and crying. Damijan wasn't sure what he would do. Dr. Simone was never the one with the expressive sentiment. It wasn't Damijan's job to comfort him. So, he just kept reading the report, briefly at every page before turning it to another page. And another page. And another page.
When Damijan finished reading the brief, he put the report on the table. Just now he knew the gravity of the situation. Dr. Simone stopped wailing, but there was something determinate in his facial expression.
"I'm going to kill myself tonight. Oh, what a cruel place the world is !" Dr. Simone pulled his head from his hand. With a resolute mind, he pulled one of the drawers of his study desk, where one could see his hidden Model 1892 Revolver. Slowly, he pulled the gun out of the drawer. He loaded the bullet, and shoved the gun into his mouth. Tears flowing freely from his round eyes.
"Say my goodbye to my daughter, Damijan. Please. Tell her I apologize for being a cowardly father." He nearly pulled the trigger, when Damijan snatched the gun forcefully. He unloaded the gun,then proceeded to slap Dr. Simone, hard on the cheek.
"Ouch !" Damijan then stashed the revolver to the empty holster on his belt.
"No, you're not going to die today. You're drunk, you're acting stupid."
"Give back my gun, you filthy wolf !" Dr. Simone then lunged into Damijan, jumping over the desk.
Of course , Damijan was always more than prepared for an offense by anyone. He was an assassin after all. He stood quickly, evading the body of Dr. Simone. Dr. Simone , in the process, knocked over his cups and teapot, three of them fell and shattered into pieces on the ground. Dr. Simone also hit the ground on his stomach, hard with a thud sound. Seeing his futile attempt to get back his gun failed, he kept wailing on the ground.
"I don't want my hands to be dirty !"
"No, you're not going to die today. Do you listen to me ?" Damijan then pulled Dr. Simone by his arms, and lifted him up bridal style.
"Then what will I do , Damijan ?! I will not be able to handle the guilt, Damijan !" Dr. Simone wiggled his body on Damijan's arms. Another wasteful attempt. Damijan gently put Dr. Simone on his bed.
"We will find a way."
"No you're not going too. Neither will I. No one will. Everybody is a coward !"
"Leave me. Let me sleep the rest of my life."
"I said leave me !" Dr. Simone screamed, tears were still flowing from his eyes.
Instead, calmly Damijan went back to the desk and cleaned the messes Dr. Simone had created. He neatly picked up the shattered pieces of the cups and the teapots, and put the pieces into the trash bin in the room. He put the HYDRA flag back on the desk. Hail Hydra. He also mopped the spilled tea with a handkerchief he found on the bookshelves. All while Dr. Simone cursing HYDRA for taking his conscience away. for taking his daughter away for him. If Dr. Simone became a bit loud in his cursing, Damijan hissed, reminding that someone may be able to hear his rant from behind the door. As time past, Dr. Simone's loud curses soon became rebellious whispers.
After Damijan finished cleaning the room, he found that Dr. Simone had fallen asleep. Damijan then quickly scanned the room, searching for any dangerous items that could be used by Dr. Simone to commit his act. After he confiscated the bullets of the revolver, he also took a knife from the bookshelf. He wondered whether he should take the pens, for Dr. Simone could stab himself with the sharp end of the pen. but he decided against . Dr. Simone won't go to that extreme. Before leaving, he also grabbed the Project Insight report , and sneakily exited the room to return to his quarter. He would read that report thoroughly tonight and returned it back tomorrow to Dr. Simone.
As usual, Damijan could sleep easily that night, but he felt a bit of tingling in his stomach.