A/N pretty pls review - dank
After leaving the Soldier in Siberia, C4 returned to Sokovia, to the Hydra facilty she considered her home. She expected to see more of the Soldier, but the next few years lapsed uneventfully. She went on a few solo missions here and there throughout Asia and Europe. Within the research base at Sokovia, C4 was in charge of training exercises and weapons handling with special ops soldiers. It was mostly customized instruction for a small group offering small tips in hand to hand combat and fine tuning tactics that could make the difference between life and death if they were in tight spot.
However, this was a smaller role compared to her main specialty. Weapons development. C4 was an electromagnetics nerd. Her current research was prototyping a magnetic-triggered grenade. The current design consisted of four inductor motors which remained stable when its inner magnetic field was regulated by a specialized conductive metal that C4 planned to use in the weapons holster. Upon removal from the holster, part of the circuit voltage discharges causing an increase in the field flux across the coils. A magnetic amplifier increased this field flux so that it would search for and attach to a sizable metal structure like a plane, vehicle or building framework. The rapid stabilization of the circuit would then trigger the explosion.
C4 had open access to most of the Sokovia Research facilities. However, there was a specialized testing facility that was entirely off limits. It was called the Serpent Sector, headed by Dr. List and purposed to discover and develop resources for the continuous hunt to create Super Soldiers. The building was quite separated from the rest of the property and C4 only ever noticed a handful of scientists, other than List, entering or exiting it.
The rest of the building, however, were bustling with an endless rush of Hydra officers, scientists and soldiers. Project Insight was well-underway. C4 had gathered enough information to grasp the general concept. According to the Baron, it would create a secure database for Hydra to monitor and maintain world stability. It seem a bit of an overreach to C4, but freedom and privacy weren't exactly familiar rights to her, and it wasn't her business anyway... she was just an assassin, created and owned by Hydra.
It was July, 2014. "Kick through your opponent, not at them." C4 barked at a smaller female opponent who struggled sparring with her larger male counterparts. Outside, summer was in full force but for C4, it was just a normal Thursday and she was in the middle of another training session for some newer Hydra agents. That was until...
"C4. Strucker requests your immediate presence," a junior officer interrupted. He followed C4 out the training room. "Bring your go-bag." C4 was anxious. Normally, she was debriefed at least a day ahead of time, often a week or more, before being sent out for a mission.
After a quick stop to get the necessities, C4 rushed to the Baron's office. She could hear a conversation between two different voices as she approached. One was Strucker and the other was a voice she dreaded to hear. Karpov. She knocked and announced herself.
"Enter." Strucker replied, or demanded more like it. She pushed the door instantly seeing the two gentlemen begin to stand as she entered. A third figure surprised her. The Soldier, already standing, met her gaze with piercing blue eyes. There was no recognition in them. "Pierce has a problem. We are sending you to be on standby in America."
C4 and the Soldier arrived undercover in the capitol of the United States of America, Washington D.C. It was the city of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, which double agent Alexander Pierce and the other director Nick Fury operated out of. C4 had never met Pierce but gathered that he was a powerful, though sometimes rash, man.
C4 and the Soldier were set up with a radar and monitor in a third-story apartment with a direct view to the street below. It was a busy road, but definitely not a major avenue in the city. Their building was adjacent to that of one of the Avengers - Steve Rogers, or Captain America, as he was popularly known. They waited for instructions over their coms while a group of agents who arrived with them patrolled the streets as municipal police. Pierce had suspicions that Fury set up a recent attack on a satellite launch ship crucial to Project Insight. Some of the Avengers loyal to Fury had provided assistance in regaining control of the ship and were returning to the headquarters within the next couple days.
The Soldier had been quiet since they arrived. As C4 knew, the Soldier with no direct order for action was slightly unstable in his mind. "You hungry?" They had some packaged dinner and water.
"Sure." The Soldier grunted out. She warmed up and gave him one of the packages. "I remember you," she was surprised the Soldier addressed her unprompted. "I think." He trailed off more quietly.
"We had a mission together a few years back." C4 supplied.
Some shadowed images flickered in the mind of her partner. "Why can't I remember?"
"Your mind. It gets wiped clean. No more memories."
"Why? By who?"
"Karpov." C4 didn't know if she should be telling him this. "You become unstable and violent when you go too long without one. Beyond that, I don't really know." The Soldier was quiet after this.
It was odd. To have memories of a person when they hardly knew who you were. The minutes dragged on slowly. C4 spent most of the morning watching out the window but grew weary of it. "I could help you remember." C4 knew she was stepping into dangerous territory. Establishing a pattern of trust is important to the mission, she justified. Remembering our mission would be beneficial.
"How?" The Soldier seemed suspicious as she moved her chair next to him, but he was curious.
"Just try to relax." She didn't need to touch him but the proximity was helpful. She had never attempted this before. The memories and feelings she projected onto another's mind were never real, and they were never aware of what she was doing. She tried to exert a feeling of comfort to get him to relax. It had a minimal effect.
Connecting to another's mind came with an odd sensation. As the years passed, C4 had become more proficient at it and could understand and impose thoughts more clearly. She started at the beginning, showing the Soldier her memories of training together, but withholding any thought of hers being able to read his mind.
The Soldier saw himself. He could still see C4 in front of him but there was an itch in his mind and through that came images that vied for attention. These are her memories, he realize, but quickly became confused as the view turned to the left where mirrors completely covered the walls. C4 should have been in the frame. Instead, it was a black wild cat that he was fighting with.
Outside of the memory, C4 continued to try to help him relax. The Soldier sank into the memories she was playing in his mind, and C4 made a discovery. Sharing this piece of her mind created a two-way string and the more he trusted, the more it pulled from her. She focused to keep careful control of it. His mind was chaotic compared to any she had dealt with before.
The Soldier quickly realized the cat was C4. The memories skipped through to the first assassination, traveling to a place place, then the planning and execution of their second mission. By now her presence in his mind was more tangible, and to his chagrin, he felt it beginning to pull away. Desperate, the Soldier pulled back. C4 wasn't expecting it. Instantly, he was flooded with her personal thoughts and memories from their time together. It was too much at once and his brain felt like it was going to explode.
Then it stopped.
Breathing heavily, he slowly looked up. C4's feature turned from shocked to cold and emotionless. She stood up and turned away from him to squelch her panic.
"You can - you can read minds." The Soldier spoke more to himself than her, his eyes following her pacing.
His statement brought on her the gravity of the situation. "You will NEVER speak of this." She met his eyes sternly. "To me or anyone. It was a mistake." He nodded. C4 faced away from him, sitting back down and focusing on adjusting the large screen monitor connected to her laptop.
They sat in a heavy silent for the remainder of the day.
"Fury is fleeing the building. Track his coordinates and send the Soldier to ensure he is killed." The orders came through. The Soldier heard them through his earpiece as well.
C4 was connected to the city's saturated surveillance network. She could see the black SUV weaving through traffic before a police vehicle cut him off, followed by two others, and opened fire.
The Soldier placed on a weapons belt and jacket in seconds. Along with his rifle and usual weapons, the Soldier had two of the disc grenades C4 designed. "They're at the intersection of 6th and Rockwell." Both assassins studied maps of the city, but with the updated technology, they could enter a destination and receive directions through a screen banded to their wrist. "Our meetup location is uploaded to your watch. Meet me there when your task is complete."
With that the Soldier was gone.