Chapter Five

Seven and a half years ago, Berlin, Germany…

The "enhanced" program turned out to be more doctor appointments and being trained by Hydra's legendary warrior: The Winter Soldier. Months of puking, prodding, and phantom feelings of spiders crawling in his bones would wake Peter up long after he "graduated" into a fully trained agent.

Fighting is what made him feel alive, and for once he enjoyed the sessions of combat; it was far better than the table. Everyone in Peter's unit, including the ever grouchy Hayate, preferred getting the literal piss beaten out of them than the table.

"Uhn." A short grunt, barely considered communication (much less an order), but spoke volumes to Peter. His aching body protested as he rose from the floor, but he ignored it. The broken arm, even more so. With a song of bloodlust in his heart, Peter charged, feinting at the last moment to the left.

The Winter Soldier grabbed his injured arm anyway and flung him into the ceiling. Peter clung to it instinctively, refusing to wince at the burst of pain. His new abilities were emerging, and while the "sticking" was the only reliable skill he had so far, it was enough to keep him alive.

Peter kept his face blank when his opponent jumped, rolling away on the ceiling like it was the floor. A metal arm snagged his knee, crushing it, before he was thrown back to the cement below.

Pain. That's what greeted him on impact. He could feel all the fight leaving him, adrenaline pooling out with the blood. This part of being enhanced was one Peter sometimes felt himself loathing: the ability to survive just about anything, yet still feel the repercussions.

"Seven, you still have ten minutes left," the intercom said. It was the neutral voice of his current trainer. An outsider would be forgiven for believing that the voice did not care if Peter got up or not, and that the indifference was a sign that the boy could yield.

Peter was not an outsider. He had seen three other recruits in the past month stay down in similar situations. A bullet took away their pain in each instance. The one who would go onto make history in Hydra's ranks refused to be number four.

'No. Papa is counting on me! Get up, get up!'

"Do you wish to continue, Seven?" The intercom asked. Still carefully neutral. The Winter Soldier tilted his head at him, no life shining through.

Peter rose, and met those eyes head on.

"Yes, master. I do."

Crawling was undignified. Peter did it anyway, anything to get away from those empty eyes when the bell chimed. In the hallway, waiting his turn, was a pensive Hayate.

"Tsk; what the fuck, can't you die yet? Worming away like the bug you are. Just wait until my abilities fully come in, Seven."

Peter soundlessly rose, his body knitting itself together, and walked away, bloody footprints being the only testament he was ever there.

Hayate scoffed. He should have let it go. But he couldn't resist.

Throwing a "At least I didn't cry when Dr. Steiner broke my pelvis, Six," as he left, Peter went towards his bunk to pass out.

The screeching in rage was a pleasant send off.

Present Day Spain, somewhere, with Peter and Lila…

Wounds healed, especially when they were Peter's. They were only sixteen hours removed from the disaster that was Gijon, but crusted blood was the only evidence that Peter had fought several Avengers.

That and a broken rib that pierced an organ. That was not quite fixed.

Running with a clingy six-year-old had done nothing for his prognosis, but he did not make her leave his side, even when they made it into the musty box car. It brought memories of that first night of true, unblemished freedom. The morning had shined in an incomprehensible way that time.

Now they were shrouded in murky darkness.

"Where are we going?"

"Rome, I suppose. After that, I am not sure. Got any ideas, Bug?"
He winced internally when Lila, curled onto his injured stomach, squeezed him like a stuffed animal for comfort.

"Home."

"Not yet."

She sniffled, and his heart felt like a jolt went through it.

"Who…who did you fight?"

He kept his voice light. "That bastard Hayate, like I said."

Lila sprang up, angry tears now. "Liar! Hayate can't even touch you, I've seen you fight him, remember?"

A battle waged in Peter's conscience. His logical side, the ethical part, called for him to tell his apprentice the truth.

But that would entail the fact that he kicked her father into a building. It would mean she found out that he stabbed the Black Widow in the gut before using the same knife to pin Hawkeye by the shoulder, leaving the man hanging off a ledge.

And it would mean she'd hear from his own lips that he had coldly left them without insisting they understood that she was safe. Hawkeye's anguished shouts drowned out many others that Peter had caused.

Lila might forgive him for that. He doubted it, but she might. After all, Peter was implicit in her life turning to hell, and now he directly kept her from salvation. He couldn't even use his own experiences to judge how she'd react; he was raised knowing he'd be Hydra. Lila was raised to despise them.

So his illogical side won. The side that Hydra struggled to beat out, never succeeding to completely take the spark of emotion away. Even his trainers had become resigned to the fact that while Peter would surpass the Winter Soldier in skill, he would never become as empty.

"I fought Hayate, Lila; leave it at that. You need sleep and I need quiet."

He pushed her away, something he hadn't done since their escape. The sudden hurt on her face made him hesitate, but he stayed firm; he was still her commanding officer until they got her home.

An hour later found Lila huddled in the corner, Peter looking out at the changing landscape. The arctic was more hospitable, in Peter's opinion, and they made him run through it naked at twelve for "training".

"Sicily. We're going to Sicily."

"Why?"

Because it's safe. Because it didn't have a real Hydra presence, because it was in the opposite direction from America, from her family. Because he couldn't understand why he wanted to stay away.

"It's as good a place as any," he settled on instead.

A month later, Noto, Sicily…

They blended into the populous on their way to a street play, much like they did when they landed almost a week ago. Their stint across the island was not marred by a single attack- from Hydra or the Avengers. With each passing day, Peter felt his anxiety increase, an emotion he had never let escape before into his conscious thought.

Noto was the largest of the Sicilian cities, by size at least. It was quaint in population size, boasting less than twenty-five thousand, but it had plenty for the sibling duo to pass the time with.

As he looked at Lila, her features hidden behind a complete disguise that included makeup and a haunted aura, Peter wondered if they could be considered siblings still.

Like most children, Lila forgave easily, but she did not forget completely. There was a barrier between them, one that had only grown with Peter's insistence on not leaving the continent. They were still an effective team, and Lila still followed orders, but he knew the pain of being free yet not with actual family hurt her.

Peter hurt her.

"Say, how about some cannolis? I know I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," she said. A quirk of her lips, and some hope bloomed.

"And after the show? Want to practice lethal shots with knives?" That had been Peter's favorite activity as a young recruit. Knives were quiet, precise, and for the most part allowed him to meditate on other matters. Many "free study" hours were spent on knife practice.

"Yeah… sure, Peter."

"Next week, if nobody catches us, we could head over to the Asian continent; I could take you to the monks I stayed with after that one mission."

"Okay."

The hustle of pedestrians on their way to the performance became a blur as Peter focused on Lila. Her face was uncomfortable, her heart beat saying what her words could not: she wanted to be home.

And Peter. Peter was selfish. All Hydra agents were, no matter what the propaganda and training said. They found what little they could and they held onto it, other people be damned.

Some, like Hayate, held onto power and cruelty.

Others, a lucky weapon or personality type.

But Peter was selfish for Lila. His sun. The one who made a previously gray world burst with color.

She lead him to breaking the first promise he ever made to his father, break his whole reason for existence.

That was fine in Hydra. But he was changed, and Peter wanted to be more than who he was. He promised himself to be better for Lila.

So, as they turned the corner on the cobbled street, Peter scooped up his apprentice in what most would consider a hug. Lila tensed but relaxed when he hummed, not questioning when he zig zagged past their temporary home (a dumpster that had a hole behind it- smaller Peter used it in a previous mission involving radiation and counterfeit spoons) and sweeped their bundle on his bag.

Within twenty minutes the pair was in a shipping container headed for the dock outside the city, where Peter had memorized its route: the mainland. They'd there steal a plane and hopefully have a smooth way back towards the Americas.

Lila blinked at him when they settled down. Peter could see her containing her questions (the pang of pride was unexpected) until his signal.

She puffed her cheeks.

He quirked an eye-brow.

"I hear that New York is lovely this time of year, Bug."

A squeal and hug that he let knock him down was Lila's response.

That's when he knew he made the right choice.

"About when I fought that idiot, Lila… I need to tell you something."

End! How was it? This was a transition chapter, and I felt it difficult to get into my groove. However, I tried to get out what I felt fit the story.

Peter is a traumatized individual, who realized in Gijon how close he was to losing Lila. Could he have escaped then took her right back? Maybe.

And that caused an internal issue inside. I didn't want to spend 2-3 chapters of him anguishing over it without moving the plot.

That said, he'll still be struggling with this, as while this story is fiction, I don't want him to wave a wand and allllllll his mental conflicts go away.

Now I'm just rambling, so I'll stop now.

Let me know how the chapter is, and feel free to leave a comment!

Riku

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