Silken fabric clung to her pale skin as she slowly made her way down the grand staircase. The green fabric dipped along her chest, showing just enough to tease while maintaining an almost demure appearance. Ada politely raised her skirt as her heels touched down along the marble flooring. She plucked a champagne flute off of a passing tray and nodded in thanks to the waiter before moving towards the crush of people around her.

A violin delicately sang into the air as couples moved against one another. She could see the passing of hands hiding the Nazi's precious secret weapon. Their drugs weren't what she was here for. Her pale eyes searched the crowd as she brought the glass to her painted lips. A man stood with three other men. Discomfort marred his face and she let a small smirk settle across her lips.

Bingo.

Setting the glass aside, Ada glided forward and slid her arm along the man's. She slid her hand into the crook of his arm and settled a dazzling smile his way.

"There you are, dear," she crooned in German. "I've been looking all over for you."

"I was just talking to the officers, dear," he played along easily. "Where have you been?"

"Here, there, everywhere. I missed you." Her tongue was trained in six languages and the German that escaped her mouth floated just as easily as English, French, her native Russian, Italian, and Japanese.

"Gentlemen, if you excuse me," he announced, his eyes locked on the beautiful woman next to him. She winked at him as he led her away from the crowd to one of the balconies of the elegant building. It was an old Austrian palace taken over by the Nazis and now used for evening parties for the high command.

The man she found herself pressed against was Vasily Komarov, a Soviet turned HYDRA scientist who held the plans for one of the newest weapons in the field. Ada's instructions were not to find the plans, but rather destroy the maker.

"Thank you," he breathed once they were outside. "I don't know how many more war stories I can sit through."

"Mmm, I'm sure. You can dish it out but can't take it. Isn't that right, Mr. Komarov?"

The older man straightened up, his dark eyes flashing at her accusation as he turned his head towards her sharply. She quirked one eyebrow up as she leaned her back against the stone railing of the balcony.

"And who are you? My mysterious savior," he challenged.

"Just a girl at a party who saw a man who needed help." She stepped forward, her lips brushing against the shell of his ear. "Don't worry, Mr. Komarov. It will only be a pinch."

She thrust her hand up, the blade settling within his lungs as he let out a pained gasp. Ada twisted it with a sickening squelch and offered him a sweet smile as she yanked the knife out and promptly tossed it over the balcony edge.

"Good night, Mr. Komarov. It's been a pleasure doing business with you. You've played your part wonderfully."

The assassin quickly made her way back into the party, clinging to the edges of the room as she headed for the doors. It was designed to be a quick in and out. She was scheduled to rendezvous with the Howling Commandos shortly after but once Phillips sent word about this opportunity, Ada knew she couldn't turn it down.

Because Vasily Komarov had aided the development of Drema.

"Nastya," a voice called out just as she stepped outside. Ada flinched but kept walking. She just needed to make it to the tree line and then she could disappear into the night.

"Nastya," he sang.

She stopped in her steps and shut her eyes, inhaling a shaky, tight breath. Ada knew she couldn't out run him. If she went running, he would just make it one big hide and seek. How long had he been tracking her? She couldn't lead him towards the Commandos.

"Dimitri," she greeted, turning to face the grinning man. He strode towards her, dripping with satisfaction and pride. His dark hair was tousled and his tie was loosened around his neck. All in all, he looked like your average drunk party goer.

"It's been a long time," he commented in Russian.

"Not long enough."

He took a step forward and she matched it with her own backward step. The familiar scratch of her holster on her stockings was a comforting weight, but she knew the truth. He would not let her leave unless she returned to Drema.

Or in a casket.

"What are you doing here, Dimitri?" she asked. "Aren't the Soviets at war with the Nazis?"

"That may be so, but we serve HYDRA, not the Soviets. They have the Red Room for that."

Ada shuddered. She had seen the famed Red Room. The handcuffed girls. The mindless videos. The training. Drema and the Red Room were alike in so many ways. She wanted to tear them all apart and rip them from the Earth bit by bit. She wanted to burn them to the ground so they could never hurt another girl.

But an invisible vice curled around her chest and squeezed tight. Ada didn't want to acknowledge it in fear that by stating its name would be giving it power. Fear. Her old friend. The one she thought she had left so long ago when she broke out of the warehouse, left fear behind, and ran into the unknown. But here it was. Here he was. Facing her down once more.

Dimitri was more than just a Drema attack dog. He was her trainer. Her handler. He formed her and molded her to Marina's specific instructions. He held no remorse for the orders he gave her. "Business," he would say. Yet he was just a supervisor to her actions. Her hands were the one slitting throats and torturing men until they wept for their mothers. Dimitri never faltered in his orders. Never paused once to consider how small her hands were as she choked out her mark beneath her or how young her face appeared in the mirror as they prepared her to lure a man off the streets and into her trap.

And here she was, almost twenty-one, and just barely out of her childhood that he and Marina so terribly stole.

"I hear you're working with that Star Spangled poster boy," he continued. One step forward for him, one step back for her. Closer to the tree line. If she could get into the woods, maybe she could hide from him for just a little longer. Just enough to catch her breath, her racing mind, and her future plans. The Commandos would be waiting for her.

She bristled as his words registered in her mind. He knew about Steve. He knew about her working with Steve. Ada would go down fighting if it meant keeping him away from Steve and the Commandos. Let her blood stain the stone of this driveway, she didn't care. As long as they were safe.

"I work with anyone who opposes you," she shot back.

"You wound me, Nastya."

"That's not my name." The protest came so quickly that she couldn't stop it from escaping her. Nastya was the name they gave her, forced on her. Her true name was stripped from her along with every other piece of her past. She clung to the three names that would never escape her. Three names that could ruin her.

"C'mon Nastya. You and I both know that there's only two ways this ends. Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

Ada forced a daring smirk on her lips as she carefully toed off the heels on her feet under her dress. She stood on her toes to ensure that she remained the same height to his vision before she shook her head.

"I prefer death."

Her feet dropped and she bolted for the forest just as he lunged forward. Ada whipped out a knife from under her dress and hoisted up the fabric bunching around her legs as she ran. With a swift slash of her arm, the excess fabric tore from the dress and floated onto the ground just as her bare feet landed on the cool snow covered leaves. Winter of 1943 was quickly approaching but she ignored the sharp chills that pricked her feet. Siberia was colder.

Ada could hear him following. She didn't dare look behind her and instead put all of her focus on pushing through the branches that bit at her cheeks and bare arms. A creek ran up ahead about five miles from where the Commandos were hunkered down for camp for the night. She needed to make a decision and quickly.

Until it was made for her.

A hand enclosed around the loose fabric on the back of her dress and Ada hit the ground hard, grunting as she collided with the rough forest floor. She flipped over onto her back and scrambled up onto her elbows, the blade in her hand aimed up towards the panting Dimitri. Ada slashed the blade at him and he easily evaded, reaching out to disarm her to which she swiftly kicked his arm out of the way. Taking the distraction as an advantage, she rolled onto her knees and stood.

They stared at one another, waiting for the other to make a move. Ada tested her grip on her knife and let her eyes dart towards his pocket where a gun rested inside. He had his instructions.

She had her life.

Dimitri's hand shot out towards hers and Ada wrenched her arm back, giving him an opportunity to wrap his forearm around her neck. Her knee came up to meet his stomach and he grunted, leaning forward and giving her the chance to flip him straight into the ice cold water. He grabbed her ankle and yanked her down, causing the blonde to crash against the rocky shore. Her knife went clattering across the stones and they both lunged for it. He slammed his elbow back into her face and Ada fell back, spitting blood out as she picked herself back up.

Dimitri inspected the blade as they both found their footing in the rushing water. It felt like ice was cutting into her ankles from how cold it was. Ada really wished she had a way to warm up or something to stop the awful chattering of her teeth.

"You won't give up, will you?" he muttered. "No matter how often we force you to come back. You'll always fight it."

"Always," she vowed. Iron tanged along her tongue and coated her teeth thanks to the cut on the inside of her cheek.

Dimitri nodded to himself, flipped the blade in his hand, and promptly went for her chest. Ada smacked his hand down, letting the metal embed itself into her side. Her leg wrapped around his, pulling them both down into the icy depths. The knife in her side was yanked out at the movement and she bit back a pained scream that was soon swallowed by his hands around her neck.

He pulled her under, straddling her as he forced her head under the rushing waves. Ada grabbed at his wrists, digging her nails into his skin as she desperately tried to release his grip. Water surged into her nose and clenched teeth, cutting off her already limited air. She kicked her feet up but the drag of the current pulled her feet down.

Jekyll and Hyde. Frankenstein and his creation. The mighty Spitfire, strangled by her creator.

Her vision swam and she shut her eyes, hoping to see his face one last time. Would Steve know? Would he come looking for her? Would he think she just left? Or would he know that he had kissed her one last time?

Dimitri pushed against her throat harder and Ada remembered that day. The day when she knew she was entirely at the mercy of Drema.

"You look confused, little one," Marina greeted.

Nastya shifted from foot to foot, her eyes roving along the floor. She fidgeted slightly but then straightened her shoulders and looked up at the Headmistress.

"I don't understand why I had to...why Sasha was eliminated."

Marina chuckled and gripped her chin, forcing her to look up at her and Dimitri. "Because only the strongest will be selected for the reward. You are the strongest, no? Tell me, Nastya, what do you remember of your old life?"

"That I was weak. That I was scared," she recited.

"And I have made you strong and mighty and unable to be stopped. I have created you, Nastya, to be the best of the best. I have molded you into the finest weapon. You are mind, Nastya, and you will always do as I say."

Her hand enclosed around the hilt of her knife that had found itself among the rocks and with a last ditch effort, she yanked her arm up and drove the sharp blade into Dimitri's back. He let out a shout and released her. Ada shoved him off of her and sat up, vomiting up the water she had swallowed. She coughed against the ache in her trachea and slowly staggered to her feet. Blood dripped down her lips and pooled along her chin and she smiled a russett stained grin. Fury flooded her veins and she stepped forward, staggering against the rush of air in her lungs and the blood spilling out of her side.

"You do not own me," she snarled. "You did not create me. You do not get to take me out like I am trash."

"Let's be reasonable here," he gasped out. His hands tried to grab the blade sticking out of his lungs but Ada kicked him back and yanked it out of his back. She loomed over him, a figure cut out of the sky and dripping with righteous anger.

"You stole everything from me. You took my life. My name. My agency."

"We made you strong."

"I didn't need to be strong, I needed to be safe! I was a child. The system failed me and you used me. I will hunt each and every one of you down. I will tear you apart bit by bit. I will make Drema burn. I will never let you ruin another girl."

She grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at her. Fear shone in his eyes and the smile on her lips grew. "Look at me. You caused this. This was your training and your decision. You have no one else to blame but yourself. You are a cowardly, pathetic man."

"You always were too emotional."

Ada leveled her pale eyes with his. "Good. I'd hate to end up like you."

She slammed the blade into his chest and yanked it out, shoving his body into the river. Ada climbed on top of him and drove the knife back into his torso. Her vision blurred once more, but this time from tears that burned her eyes and left hot trails down her cheeks. An agonized scream left her lips as she threw the knife into the grass and scrambled onto the banks of the creek.

The wind snarled and snapped at her freezing skin that was drenched in water and blood. Ada pressed her cheek against the dirt and let out a broken sob, her fingers digging into the frozen ground. She pulled herself up just barely to get her feet out of the water, but then collapsed back down onto the earth.

Over the rushing water she could hear the break of branches and footsteps rushing through the woods. Voices called out for someone or something, but her head was aching too much to understand. Someone grabbed her shoulders and rolled her over and suddenly the sky was filled with bright blue eyes.

"Ada!" Steve shouted. "Fuck, we need to get you to camp. Buck, she's over here!"

She felt her lips part and tried to push the words out of her mouth, but everything felt too heavy. Ada shut her eyes and swallowed roughly against her dry throat as Steve slid one arm under her back and another under her knees and pulled her into his chest.

"Steve," she whispered.

"I gotcha. You're going to be okay. I gotcha, sweetheart."

She tugged on the front of his jacket and raised her head up with the last of her strength. "I need you...to know."

"Know what?"

She laid her head on his shoulder and let the darkness claim her. When she awoke later, Ada found herself laid out on Steve's bedroll with her torso bandaged. She gingerly sat up and let the blankets that were covering her pool around her waist. Her entire chest was covered with white cloth but she didn't need to worry about propriety. The only other person in the tent was Steve who immediately raised his head from the reports he was reading the second he saw she was awake.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he came to her side and handed her a canteen of water. Ada gratefully took a sip and let out a small cough to clear her airways.

"Alive," she rasped out. "How did you find me?"

His jaw tightened in a way that was so uniquely him that it made her chest ache in a way that was entirely separate from the burn of the water. He leaned forward to brush some of her hair out of her face, his calloused fingers gently stroking against her bruised jaw.

"Your scream," he admitted. "Practically knocked Dum Dum into the ground trying to get to you."

Ada sighed and nuzzled her face against his hand, savoring his steady presence and encompassing warmth. His touch was entirely different from Dimitri's. She knew that Steve would never place a single bruise against her skin.

"Drema," she explained. "I completed the mission but my old handler was following me. I guess he picked up my trail a while back and was waiting to get me alone."

He whispered a curse under his breath and pressed his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry. I should have never let you on that mission."

"No," she murmured. "You can't blame yourself for that. I should have caught onto him earlier. This is my duty, Steve."

"Once this war is over, we'll destroy Drema together. I promise. I won't let you do this alone."

She pressed closer to him, her hand coming up to touch his own cheek. His blue eyes locked onto hers and she could see how fiercely devoted he was to his promise. She could have never thought that she would fall in love with a man, nevertheless a man like him. One who was so good and pure and kind and loyal.

Ada whispered the three words that she clung to so tightly. He pulled her in closer and pressed his cheek against hers as she shut her eyes tightly. He nodded once to signify that he understood.

"I love you, Anastasia."