I take a break from reading to open a news site, hoping to catch up on the day's headlines. It's late in the afternoon, and thankfully, it's Friday. Come the weekend, I can finally relax and get out of this stressful environment.

I only briefly scan the news page, my eyes drawn to the breaking news headline in bright red.

Captain America Arrested.

I glance up at Chris and Taye, but they're both too absorbed in their own work to pay attention to me.

I mute the volume on my laptop and play the video. The footage seems to be coming from a news helicopter hovering over the scene.

The street below is crawling with Shield vehicles and armed soldiers. Strike is there… Rumlow is there.

He kicks Steve in the knee, forcing him to the ground with a coldness that makes it seem like they'd never been partners, fighting side by side. His ruthlessness makes him incredibly efficient at his job.

He glances up at the helicopter as he begins to restrain Steve in cuffs and says something to Rollins that causes him to lower his weapon.

I get it. It would inspire a lot of fear and doubt in the public, to see a weapon pointed at their beloved Captain America on live TV. Rumlow is efficient beyond simple ruthlessness. He's sharp.

I have an answer for the question that Dr. Jones asked me yesterday.

"Your man is going after him right now. How does that make you feel?"

Sick, mostly. It only helps emphasize the point that there's no escape if you cross them. I mean, Captain America got caught. I'm certainly not going to be able to get away. My best chance is to keep off their radar and stay low.

Judging by the heavy destruction at the scene, it's safe to say that the subject was probably involved in this wreck.

God, they sent him after his childhood best friend, and he doesn't know it.

I can see why they want to be able to clear his memory permanently. They don't want him to remember who he's fighting. Maybe they've arrested Steve Rogers so that they can wipe his memory too… He would have known that was his old pal "Bucky", right? I mean, I instantly did, and all I saw was an old picture of him.

The lab door opens and an unfamiliar person enters. The three of us exchange glances as we turn to look at him. He's dressed in combat gear, and he's carrying two metal boxes. He sets them down in the middle of the room and, in the silence, looks at each of us.

"I've brought these on Pierce's orders. He says it's material you'll find useful for the project in lieu of a supervisor for the time being. He also asks that you come to the Triskelion tomorrow morning to meet with someone. A car will pick you up from your homes at around eight hundred hours." When he's finished explaining, he pauses, waiting for any questions.

No one has any. He turns and leaves without another word, the security door closing quietly behind him. For a moment, none of us move.

"I guess that's the background material?" I stand and walk over to the boxes, which are plastered with stickers that read "classified", as if that'd be enough to stop someone from opening them.

Taye comes over and examines the outside of one of them, before prying the lid open. The contents are so old that the action draws up a slight cloud of dust.

I peer over her shoulder.

"I guess that supervisor they're looking for is a recluse, given how long it takes to contact them." Chris comments, shaking his head.

"Maybe he's the one we're meeting tomorrow. Saturday is an odd day to have a work meeting though." Taye picks up a bound booklet and dusts off the cover.

Winter Soldier Project.

She opens it to the first page, revealing a list of authors involved in the project. Chris gasps, and we both look at him.

"Arnim Zola… he was a very prominent Hydra scientist." He takes the booklet from her. "A lot of these were hydra scientists, actually."

Taye glances at me, and Chris notices.

"Hey, I minored in history when I was in university, that's all." He raises defensive eyebrows at us.

Taye pulls more booklets out of the box. They're mechanical diagrams, schematics of the arm's internal structure and circuitry.

"So… that means… all of the initial work on the subject was done by Hydra?" I try to wrap my head around this bizarre turn of events. The "Winter Soldier" must be his code name or something.

"Well, there's a rumour that Shield took in some Hydra scientists back in the day, after the war. I think it was under some government initiative called Operation Paperclip. So maybe these researchers were hired to begin this project, after Hydra's destruction." Chris rubs his chin thoughtfully, flipping through the first booklet.

Shield… using Hydra technology…

That's twice that Hydra has come up in the last few days. First, Kenji swore Hydra would never get him, then he took his life. Now, we find out that all of the background research they've been hiding from us was actually based on work done by Hydra scientists. It feels like there's still a Hydra influence at play here.

"Well, why did they keep this work a secret if it was really a Shield project from the beginning? They could have told us. It seems more like they've picked it up midway and don't want anyone to know that."

It's silent as the three of us contemplate this.

"This is weird. But it's late," Taye sighs, glancing up at the clock, "And we should probably leave it until we talk to that person tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'm going to head home too." Chris walks to his desk and grabs his sweater.

"I'm going to stay and do some reading for a while." I pick up one of the folders, dusting off the cover. I'm aware of the sudden silence between them, and it reminds me that they don't trust me. They don't seem like suspicious people, and it seems like we were all cluelessly dragged in to this for similar reasons, but I'm not going to trust them either.

"Alright, don't stay too late. Get a good night's rest!" Taye smiles at me, picking up her purse and keys.

I say my goodbyes, and watch them leave the room.

When it's silent again, I let out a sigh.

I just don't want to go home yet.