A/N: Hi guys :) I'm going to see Civil War in the cinema within the next few days and I am SO EXCITED! I can hardly wait XD

Big thanks to: Gin okami95, Eryniel Alasse, NESSAANCALIME6913, emsakeksa, TMNTGirl and LexiPexie08 for following/favouriting.

Review Response(s):

JollyBananaStuff: Yeah, well, Silver has a lot of walls. Only a few people can start to break them down ;)

Lara Barnes: Haha, I'm glad. Personally, I think they're cute together. But, then again, my opinion is biased.

Eryniel Alasse: A bit more information about the hows and whys to Silver's behaviour does start to trickle in within the next few chapters. And, I really didn't mean to make her seem like a Mary Sue. Hopefully it won't happen again :/

NESSAANCALIME6913: Magnolia doesn't know that, though :3

8 - Target: Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes

The Winter Soldier was exactly where I expected him to be - behind the very building from which he'd shot Peter Cartwright.

"How badly does she want me dead?" he asked without preamble.

"Pretty badly, I'd say, considering she was still crying when she told me to find and kill the man responsible."

"So what are you going to do?" he asked, leaning against a wall and folding his arms over his chest. "Because you and I both know you're not going to kill me."

"I'll tell her the truth," I said. "That Hydra ordered her brother's death."

"Why?"

"Because I think they're testing us all."

The Winter Soldier frowned. "Testing us?"

I nodded. "I think they're testing the strength of our allegiance, both towards them and towards each other. If I kill you, they know they've failed in creating the bond between us they clearly want to exist. If I don't kill you, and instead go back and tell Magnolia who it was that killed her brother, however she reacts in response will show how loyal she is to Hydra. Or not, as I suspect the case may be."

"You think she'll betray them."

"Revenge was the reason she found them in the first place," I told him. "She wanted to avenge the death of her father. Something tells me the same thing will happen again."

"If that's the case I doubt she'll agree to keep training you."

I nodded. "Yeah, well, it's not like I have much left to learn. I just need practice - it's why I'm even here at all." I gestured to the buildings around, before I smiled. "Wait here. If I'm not back within the next ten minutes, assume that everything is continuing as usual. Otherwise, I'll be right back."

The Winter Soldier nodded. "Be careful - if she thinks you're a threat to her then she might attack."

I rolled my eyes. "She's eye candy, not a fighter. She knows that as well as I, and I doubt even in grief she'll be stupid enough to attack me."

"Just keep your eyes open."

I saluted, before spinning on my heel and walking back to Magnolia, who was now surrounded by half a dozen policemen, four cars, and most of the people who'd been in the party.

I pushed my way through the crowd and stopped directly in front of her. She was sat on the floor, exactly where she had been before, but her brother's body was gone, and there was a thick, grey blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It was December, after all. I didn't really feel the cold - presumably I'd gotten used to the snow and ice in Russia before my last wipe - so I turned down the coat offered to me by one of the policemen as I passed.

Magnolia lifted her head, her brows twitching into a slight frown when she saw me. "That was quick," she said lowly.

"That's because I didn't kill him," I answered in a quiet voice, sitting beside her.

Magnolia looked outraged. "Why not?!"

I sighed. "Because your brother's killer was the Winter Soldier." I heard her breath hitch and glanced at her. "Hydra ordered his death."

"And you're just an obedient puppet, aren't you?" Magnolia spat scornfully.

I snorted. "If it had been anyone else, Hydra or not, I would have done as you'd asked. But the Winter Soldier is my friend. My only friend. Not to mention he would fight back, and I would almost definitely lose."

"Why would they kill my brother?" Magnolia asked in a scratchy voice.

"My current theory is they want to test to see how much you'd be willing to go through in their name. They went too far, but they're testing the waters, as it were."

Magnolia snorted. "Well, they're not going to get anymore help from me." She glanced at me. "Which means you have to go too."

I nodded. "I figured as much. I told Shadow to wait for me."

She frowned. "Shadow?"

I smiled, deciding I could let her in on this little secret. "Shadow is what I call the Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier is a servant of Hydra, but I call him Shadow to not only remind him that he's human, but also to remind him that he's my friend. It works both ways - he calls me Silver."

Magnolia smiled weakly. "I'm glad you've got a stalwart friend in him."

"So am I." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "You've been good to me, Magnolia, and I won't forget it. I hope one day we'll cross paths again."

Magnolia shook her head. "I do too, but I suspect I'll now be a target for Hydra. I won't survive that long."

I chuckled and said, "Maybe, maybe not." I stood up, then turned back to her. "Hydra use a machine to wipe my memories, but every now and then I remember something. Seek out the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division - or S.H.I.E.L.D., if you prefer. Technically I shouldn't even know they exist, but I do know for certain that they're the good guys. And I'm sure, once you prove yourself to them, they can keep you safe from Hydra."

Magnolia nodded. "Thank you," she said through a tight voice.

I nodded. "Until next time, Magnolia." I then turned around and headed back to the Winter Soldier, who was exactly where he'd been when I left.

"She didn't want you around, huh?"

"I think she did," I said lowly as we started walking, presumably back to the place the Winter Soldier had been told to meet our superiors. "But I think she also knew she couldn't. It's fine - I don't blame her."

"Hydra will be after her now."

"I told her where to go to hide," I informed him, tucking my arm around his once he'd discarded of his rather conspicuous weapon. As usual, we clasped fingers in order to help hide his metal arm, although today it was a little more difficult, since he was wearing his personal Hydra armour, which didn't have a sleeve on his left arm. Still, I clung to him anyway. And the Winter Soldier didn't point out that doing this was pointless - no, he held onto my hand just as tightly.

We walked in silence for several minutes, until we reached what appeared to be a private landing strip for the plane that was waiting for us. It was small, leaving barely enough space even for just the two of us. And I was glad we wouldn't have to go back to being the silent, cold assassins Hydra expected us to be just yet; I wanted to catch up with my best friend.

When we finally got off the plane, having landed back in Russia, I was wrapped securely in the Winter Soldier's arms. I was freezing, having not had the chance to change out of my short, sleeveless dress.

I eagerly welcomed the warmth of the indoors, and the Winter Soldier let go of me, though I noticed he squeezed me slightly before doing so. I knew why - I was back before I was called. I would have to do some explaining, and unless I worded it exactly right, I'd probably be in for a bit of a beating.

If all went well, we'd be immediately sent towards the storage facility to be frozen. For me, it would be the first time. For the Winter Soldier, it would be the eleventh or twelfth.

We walked into the control room, where the highest of the high (when it came to position) stayed. They all turned to face us when we entered.

The familiar man wearing the ushanka walked forward, narrowing his eyes at me. "What are you doing back here so early, thorn of silver?" My mind automatically made the switch from English to Russian.

"After the Soldier killed Peter Cartwright, Miss Cartwright refused to continue training me. So I came back here with him."

The man bared his teeth. "And why didn't you kill her? She's a traitor to Hydra!"

"I was given no orders, sir. I am not to act without first being instructed."

He sniffed, looking at me with distaste, before turning away from me and facing the Winter Soldier, who stood still, silent and stone-faced. "Mission report."

"Target was dead after a single bullet to the heart," he reported emotionlessly. "Time of death was 22:47."

The man nodded, before waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Go down to the storage room to be prepped. Both of you."

The Winter Soldier and I nodded our heads, before leaving the room together. It was a five minute walk through winding corridors, and though I was sure I'd never made the walk before, I seemed to know where I was going.

The Winter Soldier stopped just in front of the door and looked at me. "The first time is the worst. Just try to stay calm - it's worse when you wake up if you were panicking when you went in."

I nodded my head, and he went into the room with me following behind.

As it turned out, being 'prepped' involved being stripped down to our underwear and sprayed with cold water. We were then shoved - literally shoved - into large containers, the doors to which were then locked behind us. I laid back against the metal casing and closed my eyes, trying to keep my heart rate from sky-rocketing. Which was difficult when the box filled with freezing air. It was colder in the box than it was out in the open, Russian air.

My last thought before I was consumed by darkness was: How much time am I going to lose whilst I'm in this thing?

"Faites-la sortir de là!"

I groaned as I was pulled out of my box, my limbs shaking as they fought off the last of the cold.

"Put some clothes on the woman and get her ready for a fresh wipe," I heard a voice say, and I frowned. That was the same accent as mine. Was I in England? No, the first person had spoken in... what was that? French?

"What... What y-year is it?" I croaked, not expecting an answer to my question even as the words left my lips.

So I was surprised when a kind, female voice answered, "It's 1982, dear."

I lifted my head to see a woman with greying hair and a friendly smile on her lips. She was one of the people carrying me from my icy prison. "Where..." I coughed against the tight feeling in my throat. "Where is the Winter Soldier?"

"He's still in cryo-freeze, like he has been for the last five years." Five years? He must have come out since I'd been put away. "You've got a mission, Silverthorn. Alone."

I nodded weakly, unable to fight as I was roughly dressed in my familiar armoured clothes. Then I was shoved onto the metal chair that I knew would painfully extract my memories. I didn't fight as the machine held me down, didn't fight as I watched the two spiked plates move to clamp down on my skull. The only time I fought was when the electricity shot through my brain, frying every cell in my head that contained a memory. But even then I didn't fight long. I fell into darkness again before more than twenty seconds passed.

When I opened my eyes, my first thought was Shadow.

It was strange - the more I was shoved into that infernal chair, the easier it became to remember my partner.

"Silverthorn."

I looked up, and saw a man with a rather outrageous moustache standing in front of me. "Sir?" I asked, showing I was ready and waiting for my instructions. I wondered if the Winter Soldier would join me, but something tickling at the back of my head told me he wouldn't.

"You have a new task," he said, with a thick, French accent. He passed me a picture of a woman with strawberry-blonde hair and very blue eyes. She was clear-skinned and, judging by the style of her hair and clothes, quite well-off, too. I raised my head, waiting for the additional information I knew would be coming. "She's a Level 2 - nothing too difficult. I want her dead within ten hours. But make it look like an accident."

I nodded. "It will be done."

He bobbed his head sharply once. "Good." He stepped to the side. "Well, get going! Pas de temps à perdre!"

I stepped past the man, moving into a room stocked full of weapons and other methods of killing. I moved over to a table full of powders and picked up three different vials - one white, one blue, and one crimson red. I didn't know what each of the powders were called, but I knew what they did. On their own, they were fairly harmless - the first was a sleeping draught, the second something which forced you to throw up, and the third slowed your heartbeat. But when you mixed them together they would stimulate the body to go through something very similar to a stroke - and indeed, as far as I knew, even forensic science couldn't differentiate between a genuine stroke and a forced one. I knew these were exactly what I needed.

As I stepped outside, I was immediately struck by how warm it was. "Where the hell am I?" I muttered to myself, looking around at all the buildings, and, more interestingly, the sea. I shook my head free of the distraction and headed down into the main town. Since I had no vehicle waiting for me, I could only assume my target was close by. So that meant a recon session.

It only took me a few hours to find my target. She was walking around with a young girl who was probably her daughter, with a glass bottle of some coloured drink in her hand. The daughter looked no older than twenty. Having already mixed the three different vials of powder, I simply had to find a way to add them to the woman's drink without her noticing.

As it turned out, I had my chance when the two women were called away by shouts. A brief glance as I dashed towards the abandoned drinks showed them to be surrounded by people, who looked to be admirers. This only proved my initial thoughts about my target's importance.

I grabbed my target's drink and poured in the mixture of powders, carefully swirling them until they were completely dissolved. The drink was slightly darker in shade, but it wasn't noticeable unless you really looked. I disappeared from sight just as the crowd around the two women finally dispersed. The two girls continued on, having apparently forgotten about their beverages. I cursed to myself, but then found myself lucky when a passer-by grabbed their drinks and called out to the women. They thanked him, accepting their drinks back, before continuing on.

I made sure the woman had finished her drink before moving forward to make sure the powders did their job properly. Unfortunately, they then got into a car and drove away. Without a vehicle of my own, I couldn't follow them. I could only trust that the powders would do their job.

I headed back to the base, entering unhindered. After that though, I was immediately met by three armed men, who ordered me to follow them. They then led the way back to the room where the freeze machine was kept.

The French-speaking man was waiting. He raised his eyebrow. "That was quick," he said, that thick accent appearing again.

"I was unable to confirm the death of my target," I told him honestly, keeping a straight face. "She consumed the powders, so I am without doubt they will kill her within an hour."

He narrowed his eyes at me, before breathing out through his nose and nodded. "Elle préparer pour la congelation," he instructed the people around him, who all nodded. They grabbed me and stripped me bare, before showering me in water. I stood still, feeling the familiarity in this action.

I then walked calmly into my box, leaning back and closing my eyes as the door was closed. My mind fell blissfully blank as the ice washed quickly over me.

Just an apology for you French-speakers out there if I did something horribly wrong. I can only speak basic French.