Short chapter, but whatever. No song for this chapter. sorry. hope you enjoy it!
"Congratulations on your tenth successful mission, Shadow. A great triumph for Hydra."
All the Hydra staff in the room clapped as though they were at a birthday party and the birthday girl just blew out the candles, and not at all like they were celebrating the death of yet another innocent
"That man was a threat to Hydra, you did well. Now, with president Kennedy gone, we are one more step closer to world peace."
The Silver Shadow said nothing, only giving a single nod as acknowledgement before two guards came to escort her back to her cell she shared with her partner; The Winter Soldier.
The best of the best, the Soldier and Shadow knew full well that they were good at what they did, and they thought they were doing the right thing, but of course, they didn't know any better. Their minds had been wiped countless times, and when they couldn't remember anything about who they were. That's where Hydra filled in, pouring propaganda about the world that needed saving until they unquestioningly believed it. Now they were slaves to Hydra, whether they knew it or not.
Forced to do their bidding, lest they be punished. But still, throughout all the torture and conditioning and training, one thing stuck with them. One thing always bled through. One thing Hydra couldn't seem to get rid of no matter how hard they tried.
The Shadow and the Soldier knew each other. They didn't know how, or why. But something inside them made them want to protect the other by any means necessary.
There were somethings that they didn't understand, like how they both felt more comfortable around the other, more safe, secure. They had put multiple missions at risk when if one of them got injured, opting to check on the others safety rather than do their job. It had lost them their feeding rights more than once, but still, they couldn't seem to help themselves. And hell hath no fury like the rage of a vengeful lover, whether they remembered each other or not. The Soldier and Shadow had yet to actually fail a mission, but the very prospect of putting a mission at jeopardy was enough to cost them food for two weeks.
For unexplained reasons, despite having two army grade cots, the two always slept together on the same bed, facing each other, back-to-back, spooning, one on top of the other, but always touching.
They were able to communicate almost nonverbally, and for the life of them, Hydra couldn't figure out why.
When Shadow was returned to her cell, she found herself alone save for an average sized brown paper box, lying innocently on the cot.
She approached the cot, using her mutated-vision to check inside for anything hostile, but saw nothing. Then, she spotted a small note on top of the box
"Dear Shadow ~
It pleases me to write this, your success has given Hydra the opportunity it needed,
As a reward, we have decided to gift you with a new uniform,
We hope you enjoy it.
~ Hydra"
She carefully regarded the package before deftly opening it, finding herself curious.
Taking note of everything she pulled out, she was slightly surprised by the new uniform;
A black and silvery-gray halter top corset, a pair of utilitarian cargo pants, followed by military-grade boots, two thigh holsters, a hip and chest holster, arm guards with pockets for throwing knives, a utility belt with many pockets and more hidden 'compartments' (For lack of a better word), more blade holders, ect.
At the bottom, Shadow found a long trench coat, made up of nomex thread and kelvar fibers, shredded from the hips down in the back, allowing maximum maneuverability of the legs, it had the same color scheme as the rest of the outfit, black as the main and silvery-gray as secondary.
She quickly stripped her sweat soaked clothes from her exhausted body, slipping into a pair of gray sweat pants and a black tank top, She put away her new uniform for her next mission, instead, taking a seat on the cot and grabbing the cotton blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders while she waited for her partner.
When he got back, The soldier was covered in blood, a few gashes were left by the Hydra medics, they knew that the Shadow was capable of taking care of them, no reason why they should waste time when they've already dealt with the important wounds.
Shadow stood swiftly, while the Soldier sat down on the never used cot and stripped off his armored vest and shirt, waiting for Shadow to come back with a wet cloth and clean him up like always.
"So, what happened this time?" She asked, gently pressing the cloth to some dried blood to loosen it before wiping it away
"Well, there was this strip club, an anti-stripper protest and a raccoon..."The Soldier trailed off, flexing the fingers on his metal hand, somewhat awkwardly.
"...Alright."
Hey everybody! so I just recently received a review from a i guest that I feel like I should address. First off: It was never my intention to 'scare the s***' out of you. And I'm super sorry that it made you uncomfortable, however, I feel like I should explain some things about myself.
I love World War II stuff. More specifically, the dark, macabre, creepy stuff. I know that that's not very orthodox. I have had some trouble in real life because of it. People think that if I like dark, creepy things, I must be dark and creepy. But the point in telling you this is that, even though this story may make you uncomfortable-and if it does, please don't read this. I know it's a little late for that warning, but stuff like this really did happen back then. People were starved, forced into manual labor, were treated so inhumanly it makes me sick. Yes this story is dark. And I sometimes have trouble writing it with how dark it is. The Germans violated so many human rights. Human experimentation. Mass extermination. Millions were killed in the concentration camps alone.
I sometimes forget that not everybody is as comfortable as I am with such harsh realities. I have changed the summery to feature a trigger warning, as was suggested, (Thank you for that, btw. It really needed it.) And I also feel like I should tell you, after this chapter, things get lighter.
Thank you so much for the review, Marlo Broersen. My recommendation is, you should take that warm bath and eat chocolate for days. In fact, do that whether you have a reason or not. Thanks so much for taking the time to review my story. it means so much to me!