Hydra Mutant Division – Chapter Three

Daydream looked around the dormitory room of Einskader, her eyes barely picking out any details in the darkness. It didn't matter, she knew the room off by heart, four single beds, a couple of desks pushed against the wall, with basic chairs pushed under them. The three new recruits were asleep, she could feel dreams bubbling up from their subconscious, they wouldn't miss her for a short while, they wouldn't even know she'd been gone. She slipped out of the room as quietly as possible and headed towards the showers, at this time of night her superior officer would be there, as he always was.

When she entered the shower room all but one of the lights were off, she wasn't surprised, he preferred the dark. Fear was so much stronger in the darkness, but he wasn't going to get that advantage this time. Daydream flicked on the light switch, chasing the gloom away. The sounds of the solitary shower stopped, the cubicle door opening to show Shadow, clad only in a towel, water dripping from his ice white skin and inky black hair. He looked thin in the bright light, way too thin, to the point that she could count all of his ribs. She steeled herself for the fear that he brought but it didn't come, as though the hurt and anger coursing through her veins like fire shielded her from it.

"I thought that the police would be coming, not Der Bundespolize! We could have been captured; we could have been killed! I didn't know what to do! I …" She trailed off, her voice heavy with emotion and tears slipping down her face. Shadow walked towards her slowly, making her move back, step by step until her back hit the wall behind her. Fingers that looked like bone rubbed the tears away gently.

"I did not do this; we have been betrayed." His voice was quiet, he didn't want his words to echo around the tiled shower room, as he suspected that there might be listening devices hidden somewhere. That was another shocking betrayal of trust, and one he would have to put an end to.

"Betrayed? By whom?" Daydream looked up at him, her yellow eyes full of confusion and hurt.

"I am not certain, but I think it was Becker." The man's name came out as a twisted snarl, and Daydream's eyes widened in shock. "Something he said earlier made it clear to me that his dislike of mutants is greater than his desire for Hydra to succeed. Do you really think I would put you in danger? Everyone may think that I am a big, scary monster but I would not see you harmed."

"Is that what you are doing for Nightshade? Looking out for her?" She asked, accusation colouring her tone.

"Do you believe that she will use her abilities willingly?" He asked, she turned her face away from his, unwilling to give her opinion on the matter. "I thought not. She is a danger, not only to us but to all mutants. If she cannot control her abilities then humans will die. If humans die then things get worse for mutants. Even after yesterday Der Bundespolize are baying for mutant blood. Her fear makes her a weakness, one that we cannot afford if Hydra is to succeed."

"This isn't about Hydra though, is it?" She whispered, turning wide yellow eyes back onto his face. Shadow smirked, pleased at how quickly she'd put two and two together.

"Now you're getting it! If Hydra decides to go back on its agreement, if mutants are not afforded the status of valued citizens as promised, then we shall take matters into our own, very capable hands." In a split second his personality shifted from amiable to hostile. "Now, where is Nightshade?"

"I'm sorry, what? You're telling me that we aren't one of SHIELD's Big Three?" Wilson was up to his elbows in grease, his fingers prodding and poking around the engine of his favourite car. His tone was somewhat offended at the thought that Hydra didn't even register on SHIELD's list of threats.

"Ahh but you have to remember that they didn't know that Hydra still existed until recently, plus their Big Three makes no sense at all. Androids, aliens, and wizards? All three of those are related to The Avengers themselves in some way." Merchant idly played with what she thought was a spanner, it looked mostly spanner shaped, and rested her back against the car door. "We have Ultron, an android that Tony Stark created, that dropped an entire city on a country. Then we have aliens, who were brought here by Thor's brother Loki through a gigantic hole in the sky, I might add. Now The Avengers have Maximoff, who can do magic or something…"

"Telekinesis." Wilson grunted, taking the tool from her, and fiddling around in the engine for a moment. Merchant eyed her empty hands for a moment before regaining her train of thought.

"Whatever, sounds like magic to me." She muttered, looking up at the blue sky. Technically she'd never met any of The Avengers, so she didn't know what they were actually like. Technically.

"So what you're saying is that their threat list is themselves? Maybe they have more in common with Hydra than they think!" Wilson chuckled, pulling something out of the car's engine and dropped it to the floor. He turned to look at Merchant, his heel coming down on the electronic bug with a crunch. "I knew I shouldn't have taken my baby to Europe! Inform Karpov that we can head to the safe house now."

Merchant chuckled to herself as he wiped his brow with his forearm, smearing grease all over it, and went over to the Russian. He was sitting on the grass, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, and taking a moment to relax, something he hadn't been able to do in a long while.

Wilson wiped his still greasy hands on his shirt, grinning as he heard the man complaining loudly about his second-in-command's imperfect Russian. Karpov stood up, wiping the dirt from his trousers before walking over to Wilson and pausing.

"You have …" He eyed Wilson's face and shirt before making a dismissive motion and turning to get into the car. "Eh, never mind."

Nightshade looked around; she wasn't sure how she got here but she was in the park. It was a beautiful day, the warm sun shining, shadows dappling the ground beneath the trees, and with just a hint of a breeze to stir the air. She always liked coming to the park, she could pretend to be just another person, if she closed her eyes, she could imagine that her parents were still around, that she didn't live in the orphanage, that Sokovia wasn't …

Gone. This is all gone.

The thought vanished before it had properly materialised. A group of children were playing with a ball further down the park, a couple exchanged kisses under the trees to her left, and to her right a family was having a picnic. It was such a perfect day.

Everything is gone. Sokovia is gone.

"Excuse me, young lady. Would you be able to help us?" Nightshade looked around, she thought she recognised the voice however the two old ladies standing behind her were unfamiliar. They looked to be in their eighties, all wrinkled faces and fluffy white hair, like dandelions. "We would like to play some music, but we have no one to play for. Would you be our audience?"

Nightshade looked at the two women warily, she really didn't want to leave the park, but she was too afraid to say no. She stood up slowly, taking one last look around her before she went over to them. They smiled and patted her hands before walking towards a corner of the park where a two-storey house stood. The walls were wooden, the plain paint was dirty and peeling, the stairs that went up to the front door were well worn, and the staircase railing was rickety.

Wrong, this is wrong.

The two women ushered her up the stairs, her fear growing. She didn't want to enter the house, but the women were insistent, almost pushing her through the open front door. The interior of the house was a stark contrast to the outside, a thick layer of dust coated every surface making everything a uniform grey colour. Other than that the house was barren, no carpets, no furniture, no pictures, nothing. A staircase led upstairs from the cold, shadowy hallway, a solitary window at the top allowing a tiny amount of light into the space.

You've seen this house before. Run.

"Just through here, dear." One of the women said, pushing her towards a doorway to her left, and Nightshade walked through into the room beyond, slowly. To her surprise there was a grand piano in the otherwise empty room, untouched by the dust that filled the sunlight streaming in from a large window that overlooked the park. Outside she could see the children still playing, and the family still sat down to eat. Why was she in here, in the cold and shadowy house that she didn't want to be in?

Run.

"Could you help me with this?" She turned from the window to see one of the old ladies sat at the piano, while the other was closing the door behind her. Nightshade looked at her in confusion for a moment before nodding mutely and walking over to place her hands on the door. "We need to hold this closed so that they don't get in. I can't do it on my own."

Run!

The first note rang out from the piano, followed by a chorus of horrific howling. Nightshade looked up at the ceiling with petrified green eyes, and then followed the stampede of feet rushing down from the second floor, to the first, and then down the stairs to the hallway outside. Fists slammed against the wood, the door shuddering as the howling mob demanded entry.

"W-what are they?" Nightshade asked, her voice filled with terror and her whole body shaking. She looked at the old lady, her face had changed but the young woman couldn't tell how. It was a face that she recognised, one she hoped she'd never see again, a face from the orphanage. "N-no."

"Ghosts, child." She replied, the happy smile on her face, the melodious music filling the air, and the sun filled day outside, were so inconsistent with the grey house, the spectres, and the terror filling her soul. "Every single person that died because of you, they are outside that door trying to get in. They are here for you."

Nightshade looked at the old woman, as shadowy fingers crept around the door, and darkness crept from the corners of the room, blocking out the sunlight, devouring the old ladies and allowing the shrieking mass of ghosts to come pouring into the room.

"No!"

Wilson sat back in his chair and looked up at Merchant as she walked into the room. She placed a hot mug of coffee on his computer desk and sat in the chair next to him, cradling a mug of her own.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked, peering at the computer screen to find a room that she'd never seen before, two people were labouring to remove a huge painting from one of the walls. "Wait, is that the infamous Red Skull painting? Where is this?"

"Yes, yes, and Becker's office." Wilson replied, his voice sounding smug, and Merchant didn't blame him. She couldn't hide how impressed she was, that was one hell of a feat.

"How on earth did you get a camera in there?" She asked, as far as she knew the only rooms that anyone had been in were the meeting room and the recreation room during their time at the German headquarters.

"I can't tell you all my secrets, Evelyn!" Wilson said, laughing. "I've been with Hydra for 30 odd years, I've forgotten more tricks than any other operative out there!" He sighed, his face becoming more serious as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Look, I think you have the potential to be a great head of Hydra, however you need experience in leading." He looked at her thoughtfully, taking a sip of his coffee while wondering how to approach this. "I can't, in good conscience, send you to Canada or Australia to get your training. And even if I could, I need someone inside the German division of Hydra, someone I can trust."

"I take it Becker was everything you thought he was?" Merchant asked, watching the man's face from the corner of her eyes. His look of disgust and anger were very brief, but she caught it. Wilson hadn't said what had happened after she and the others had left the meeting, but he'd come out of the building looking very sour. She wondered what the other heads of Hydra had made of Becker, were they all in agreement over him? It wasn't looking very good for the man.

"The arrogant jackass seems to think we'll all end up having to return to Germany and start all over again, under his leadership of course. I'll be honest, I don't know much about him or his background, and he spouts so much crap you can't see the gold." A smirk stole over his face as he looked at Merchant, giving her an almost friendly slap on the shoulder. "And this is where you come in! You're going to spend the next few months learning everything you can about this man before I send you over there. Two birds, one stone. You get training, and I get an inside operative." He gave her a wicked grin. "Which means you get to sit at this desk and watch him, while I go out and do something more interesting!" Merchant groaned, placing a hand over her heart dramatically.

"So cruel! I'm going to have to get another coffee!" Wilson grinned and left the room, his mind already on other things.

The mood in the recreation room was muted when Shadow walked in, later on that day. All five members of Vierkader were sat around a table looking battered and exhausted, unaware of the glances coming from the soon to be members of Einskader. 42nd and Fifth was tucking into a mountain of food but without his usual vigour, one of his ears sported a raw looking tear.

"So the Yanks think you're a vampire." Aeolian's comment was an attempt at humour, and clearly came from someone who was running on autopilot, so Shadow was willing to be polite. The fact that he had spent some time feeding Nightshade's fear last night had done much to improve his mood.

"Not an educated lot, our American division." Shadow replied, his thoughts wandering to the short haired second-in-command of the much-diminished SHIELD branch of Hydra. Even though he'd enjoyed the groundwork he had started on Nightshade, it was akin to thinking about dinner just after having a snack, he should be satisfied but he wasn't. If life were just, he mused, then she would have stayed around for longer. But it wasn't, and the thought brought him back to Vierkader, his eye moving over the group. While she may have been made from the power of the tides, Splish Splash had given up all pretence of a humanoid shape, standing next to the table as a weak looking column of water. The giant cat monster had finished his meal and was giving the kind of yawn that only felines can. Quinn, Hydra's one and only sorcerer, was propping up his head with an arm, his eyes half closed, and his usually immaculate outfit ripped and torn. The youngest member of Vierkader, and the only other actual mutant in the team, appeared to be covered in blood and was hugging his knees to his chest. Not a good sign. "Rough night?" Aeolian snorted with something that wasn't quite amusement.

"The Bundespolize are out in force, stopping anyone who looks like they might possibly be a mutant." He rubbed his aching head, concern in his eyes. "Which means anyone they can get their hands on."

"And the mission?" Shadow asked, usually the success or failure of the other teams didn't concern him, but Vierkader looked as though they had gone through hell. Mass perked up behind him, her eyes turning from her plate to the other table with interest.

"Completed but, as you can clearly see, we had a few close calls." Quinn sounded frustrated; he didn't deal with complications well. "Very close calls. And on that note I am going to bed, and I am going to sleep for a week." With that said, he stood up abruptly and walked out, the rest of Vierkader filing out after him. Aeolian stopped, looking back at Shadow for a moment before walking back to him.

"I have to file a report with Becker. I'm sure he'll be over the moon about the situation." Aeolian's tone and expression were sour, which was unusual for the normally easy going mutant. Shadow wondered whether the completed mission or the overzealous police would please Becker more, a frown crossing his face. The short haired mutant lowered his voice so that only he could hear. "I heard talk about testing from a lot of police, and I mean a lot. Sounds as though they want to go house to house testing for the X-Gene and locking up anyone who has it. This isn't just dislike anymore, it's outright hatred, Shadow." Aeolian nodded to Einskader's leader and left the room.

Shadow thought on this for a moment, wondering once more who was to blame for the rising tensions between mutants and the police. His eyes fell on the three new mutants, Mass looked deep in thought, Spectrum looked upset and resentful, and Nightshade hadn't moved at all, her eyes still fixed on her plate. Zweikader had a telepath, a weedy looking guy who made up for his lack of strength and personality by being fanatical in his service to Hydra. He would be easy to talk into investigating Becker, especially as he was terrified of Shadow at the best of times. Shadow made a mental note to corner the little runt and put the fear of the dark into him.

"Is that our fault?" Spectrum's voice brought him back to the present, and he turned to look at her, shaking his head before walking over and sitting down at the table with them.

"No, the humans' opinions of mutants have taken a drastic downturn since the Avengers became a thing. They look at the death and destruction that people with powers leave behind and start wondering if their neighbour could possibly create that scale of devastation. The Bundespolize had already been demanding stricter measures against our kind." He looked at the young women. "And you did what you had to, to survive."

His eyes turned to Nightshade, last night's simple nightmare had done its work, setting the groundwork for the terror he intended to instil in her in future. He could feel the fear radiating from her, soothing his frustrated soul. It was like a fog emanating from her, pure and simple fear, unlike that of the British woman, her fear was layered and the memory of it made him close his eyes for a moment. He wanted nothing more than to peel away each layer and see what fears she hid beneath them. Twice in one day his thoughts had turned to her and the secrets she was so afraid of, he must be getting attached he thought with a mental smirk.

"Nightshade, are you ok?" He asked, feigning concern for her. She shook her head, green eyes still fixed on her plate.

"She dreamt of the orphanage we grew up in." Mass said, her eyes turning from Nightshade to Shadow, a hint of anger at the memory of that place crept into her tone. "It wasn't the best of places." Shadow placed a hand on the back of Nightshade's chair, leaning towards her slightly, feeling her fear grow with satisfaction. His plan for her would only work if she was pushed beyond control.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Please know that you are welcome here and that we will do everything we can to ensure your safety." Which was true for only two of them, but Shadow was a practical man and unless the shaking mutant in front of him suddenly learned to embrace her abilities, there were only two options available to her, neither of which she would like, so he would guide her to the one he preferred.

"Would we get to do missions if we stayed? What kind of missions? How long until we would be allowed to take a mission?" Mass asked in a rush of words, clearly ready to rush out and take on the world. Shadow had wondered if she had gained some more confidence in her abilities during her fight during the police raid, and this seemed to confirm it. Her eagerness pleased him, if she wanted to fight the world, they could offer her that. It would be a good bargaining chip in getting her to stay, that and the promise of new, stronger materials for her to be able to become.

"All of the teams are expected to undertake missions, of all different kinds, and sometimes in different countries." Shadow said with a slight smile.

"Is that why we are here?" Spectrum interrupted abruptly. "You are recruiting new members for your team, aren't you?" She placed emphasis on the word new, and whether it was to rein in Mass' enthusiasm or not, Shadow couldn't tell. He felt the anger uncoil inside him at the reminder of his lost teammates, but he pushed it down, it wouldn't serve him here.

"Yes, Einskader lost three members during The Avengers destruction of Sokovia. I will not speak of their mission as their loss is still fresh in my mind, but they should have been safe." He couldn't stop the anger bleeding into his voice, and Mass placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.

"You aren't used to loss, are you?" She asked quietly, unaware that he wasn't used to being touched either, no one dared. He looked at her blankly, unsure how to react to the gesture, and shook his head to disguise his momentary confusion. He stood up abruptly, severing the contact and tugged at his jacket to re-centre his thoughts.

"I appreciate your concern, however you ladies have somewhere to be, and someone eagerly waiting to answer your every question about Hydra, and what we do here." He nodded to them curtly and walked out of the recreation room, leaving the women looking a little surprised at his sudden departure.

It was eight in the evening when Wilson entered the temporary office in the safe house. He had a mug of coffee in one hand, with a liberal dose of whiskey added to it, which he placed on the computer desk before sitting down. He'd had a late night discussing Karpov's plans with the man and finding an untouched safe house for him to settle in for a while, at least until Captain America, Tony Stark, and their ilk had calmed down somewhat. He'd also had a copy of something called "The Sokovia Accord" to read through, it was in the early stages of discussion but would limit the damage that The Avengers would be able to do. Which greatly benefitted Hydra.

All in all he'd rather be sleeping still but he'd requested a private meeting with Bouchard, the Canadian division head, and Thomson, the Australian head of Hydra. A quiet pinging noise let him know that they were ready to start, and he clicked on the screen, Bouchard and Thomson appearing a moment later. The murmured greetings were interrupted by Thomson.

"Under the hood, Thomas? Really?" He shook his head, blond hair falling into his eyes. "How green is your second-in-command?"

"Yours was a bit of a challenge, Ryan. But only a little one!" Wilson chuckled as the Aussie looked amused. Bouchard rolled her eyes; the woman had no sense of humour.

"Playful banter aside, I think we need to have a serious talk." Wilson said, getting to the point of the meeting. "Becker is becoming a problem."

"Is!" Bouchard laughed raspily. "The man has been a problem for years, the only one who could talk sense into him was Pierce and he's gone." Thomson nodded agreement as Wilson took a sip of his coffee.

"What do you have in mind? An unfortunate accident? We don't have the luxury of replacing him, we're down to bare bones, operative wise." Thomson frowned, none of them had people to spare but he would definitely be happy to see the man gone.

"I was thinking that one of our seconds-in-command could take over." Wilson was happy to see both Bouchard and Thomson shaking their heads. He'd spent a lot of time thinking on how he wanted this conversation to go, and the one flaw in his plan was that he hadn't known if they would want to send one of their people.

"Absolument pas! I need Fortin here." That was Canada out of the running, playing straight into his hands. He kept his expression grim, although he was very relieved. If Bouchard thought for a moment he wanted this then she'd insist that one of her people go instead, and while he knew Thomson, he wasn't certain the man would take his side in this. Hell, he might even change his mind as well, thinking that he was missing out on something.

"No way, mate. I agree that he's a bloody nutter, but I can't spare Mike, especially not when we are trying to rebuild." Bouchard nodded in agreement to Thomson's blunt statement, not noticing the man's shifty look. Jones had told him that Merchant was a pushover, easy to manipulate, the kind of person that he would like in charge of the German division, someone he could gently steer in the direction he wanted them to go. "However, I do think that it would be a show of good faith if your second-in-command were to take over. I mean, what with everything that has happened, it would be seen as an act of reparation."

"Do you agree, Madame Bouchard?" Wilson asked with a sigh. This was going better than expected, he had thought that the head of the Canadian division would have argued just for argument's sake but here they were, saying exactly what he wanted them to with the minimum of fuss.

"Oui, the American division must do this." She replied, openly relieved that she would not have to lose anyone. She looked at the camera slyly. "Maybe you should go, Monsieur Wilson?"

"I think that even Becker would get suspicious if I showed up on his doorstep." He replied, holding out his hands as if he was helpless in this situation. "Plus I don't think we can afford to lose any head of Hydra at the moment, at least not without a replacement at hand."

"So we are in agreement then?" Thomson sounded happier than he had a few moments ago. "Your lass, Merchant was it? She'll go over, just in case of any tragic and unforeseen accidents." Bouchard nodded, and Wilson acted disappointed.

"As you wish. I'll need to get things sorted out at this end, so as not to raise suspicion. Does six months sound ok?" He rubbed at his chin as if thinking it over.

"Non, you have two months, Monsieur. If we are to rebuild properly we need all Heads to be in accord as soon as possible." Bouchard smirked as Wilson looked frustrated, two months had not been part of his plans, it was way too soon. He looked to Thomson for support, but he was in agreement with her.

"You will keep us updated, right Wilson?" Thomson asked, a smug smirk on his face. Wilson's sigh was genuine this time, and he nodded. It was either this or back out of the plan completely, something he couldn't do without them knowing about it.

"Until my next update then." He stated and shut down the meeting. He sat back in his chair, everything was going to have to be moved forward, this was a win but not quite the win he wanted. He scratched the back of his head and gulped down the rest of his coffee. He'd have to tell Merchant at some point, but she had gone to get some sleep, seeing as it was two in the morning in Germany and no one was awake over there, another oversight by Becker in his opinion. He got up slowly, and decided to get some sleep as well, he'd let her know in the morning. He smirked to himself, what a fun little surprise that would be!