A/N (11/4/23) edited some minor details in previous chapters.
Fury was officially dead. It was a relief for both of the assassins. Hydra didn't make room for failure.
The Soldier was sent off with one of his handlers and a small squad to track down Captain America. C4 didn't join them. She waited at the Ideal Federal Savings Bank where Hydra was set up. Pierce required a small device that would kill the leaders of the World Security Council and C4 was one of the few adept to debrief him on its usage.
Alexander Pierce was recruited by Hydra 25 years ago after an incident where his only daughter was taken hostage. Since then, he climbed the ladder and was now Hydra's leader. In every sense, Pierce conducted himself as a business professional, but he had a temper - one he kept carefully controlled and in check. To C4, and everyone he deemed beneath him, that made him dangerous.
Everyone was cautious when he walked in with the general. "We've set up everything needed for the Soldier's recovery. The Memory Suppressing Machine is set up in the vault." The information was a surprise to C4. She had never seen the Soldier's memory get wiped or the technology they used for it.
The general turned Pierce's attention to C4 pulling her out of her thoughts. "Agent C4 has the technology you requested. At ease, soldier." His last words were directed at C4 who had been standing at attention.
C4 arm, that had been outstretched straight ahead in a salute, now came to her side. But by no means did she feel at ease.
The debrief unfolded flawlessly, as did everything C4 did in the eyes of Hydra. "Strucker, for once, did not exaggerate concerning his latest toy." The words may have stung someone less calloused, but C4 was relieved by the high praise. The words, directed at the general, required no response. She was already dismissed, and that, in Pierce's vocabulary, meant to get out of his way… a task she did not need to be told to do twice.
An alert flashed on her tablet and C4 immediately returned to the surveillance room.
"The squad has engaged the targets." One soldier reported.
C4 sat and typed rapidly on the keyboard. The screens changed views in front of her, but it was hard, no - impossible, to get a good angle. The fighting began in traffic. This immediately irked C4, although she was aware it was no stealth mission. She hated collateral… not because she cared - of course she didn't deem such trivial humans as valuable - it was the headache of cleaning up that kind of mess… at least that's what she told herself.
They watch the action helplessly. For a while, the Soldier and the squad had an upper hand, but the combined effort of Shield's super-soldier and the other trained assets turned the tables. C4's heart leaped to her throat as the red-haired soldier fired a rocket. The smoke cleared slowly, but there was no body to be seen.
"We need to get eyes on the Soldier," she barked. The three other soldiers in the room scattered to monitor more area cameras.
"Alpha 7 squad is down." Rasped a voice over the radio.
"The Soldier?" C4 replied.
"Location unknown. Initiating code black." The sergeant's voice was weak. A crackle broke over the radio and the signal cut out. On the cams, his body that was hunched beside a burnt vehicle went limp and slid over.
The next two minutes were chaos, followed by a commotion at the side door. C4 checked the bank cameras to reveal the Winter Soldier trudge heavily past the guards, three more soldiers quickly arrived and led him towards the vaults.
C4 made her way in the same direction. She hadn't had the chance to see the back of the bank yet, but heard there was an area set up specially for the Soldier. C4 ran into them before they got far, but the Soldier's face was blank, his eyes clouded… he didn't acknowledge her at all. And she couldn't acknowledge the twinge of disappointment that went through her chest.
C4 followed them to a barred area that closely resembled a jail-cell. The Soldier was escorted to a chair, if it could be called that. C4 waited outside, observing the contraption that now surrounded Hydra's asset. She felt jolted as she quickly deduced its purpose.
The Soldier suddenly burst out in a violent episode. C4 would have stepped in if not for the general appearing and placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Pierce eyed her suspiciously before entering the room himself, against the advice of the scientist.
"Mission report." Pierce barked. It was clear that this was not his first time interacting with the Soldier. The Soldier's face remained blank. "Mission report now!"
There was no reaction. Pierce calmly stepped forward, then whacked the Soldier across the face violently. It shouldn't have hurt him, but it seemed to garner some response. The Soldier's eyebrows furrowed. "The man on the bridge… who was he?"
"You met him earlier this week on another assignment." A blatant misdirection.
The Soldier's eyes drifted in though, "I knew him."
At this Pierce seemed to calm outwardly, but C4 knew better. "Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century," the Soldier's eyes were locked back on Pierce's, then drifted again… it was difficult to tell what he heard. "I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos." It was the Hydra philosophy beaten into him once again. "Tomorrow we're gonna give it a push. But, you don't do your part, I don't do mine." C4 wondered what Pierce was getting at. She also wondered if this persuasion had convinced the asset in the past, and if so, what kind of man he really was. She followed orders because that is what she always knew… the Hydra mantra meant little. "And Hydra can't give the world the freedom it deserves."
"But I knew him." The words had fallen on deaf ears. The Soldier had an expression C4 hadn't seen on him before - one of deep sorrow, or loss more specifically. She could sense that he felt some deep connection towards SHIELD's super-soldier.
Pierce stood, "Prep him."
"But he's been out of cryofreeze too long." The scientist replied.
"Then wipe him, and start over." C4 didn't know why those words felt like a blow to her. She should've been ecstatic that her secrets would have no chance of leaving his mind now.
The scientist pressed a button and the contraction began to move. The Soldier accepted his fate like he had done this a thousand times - for all C4 knew, it very well could have been. What C4 was not prepared for was the harrowing growls and screams elicited from the Soldier. The general signaled her to follow their departure, a command she followed mindlessly, willing the wretched noises out of her memory.