Her face - her eyesare heavy with fatigue, hair scruffy as she's illuminated by sparks.
It's over as soon as it begins, the next image appearing and disappearing.
The needle and a quiet voice apologising, again and again -
Her face frozen in fear - terror - as she works and drills on his arm. The man above her nodding and murmuring to the people around him. And anger, quiet deep seated anger that he tries - fails - to hide.
Pain.
-
The train station you were told to wait in was busy, people bustling around you as you try to focus on the arrivals board. You were pretty sure they wouldn't be getting the train - it wasn't there style - but it gave you something to think about, something to take your mind away from the staccato pulse in your ears, your sweaty palms, the buzz of your earpiece.
4.15pm to New Carrolton. Please make sure to take all personal items with you -
They had assured you over and over that you would be safe meeting them, that they had men placed all over the station if anything went wrong, that however bad this would be for you they were sure they would send a higher up to get you themselves. And who would you be to give up an opportunity like that?
Nausea rolled in your stomach like a destructive wave.
4.19pm to Largo Town Centre. Delayed.
Hydra had been your living nightmare for years before the whole operation was busted. DC gave you the only chance you'd had since being kept with them to escape, to go home. SHIELD - or what was left of it, the few lone agents and an ever changing but always equally decrepit location - had found you out after that, had wanted answers.
You just wanted to feel safe again.
4.23 to Largo Town Centre - departing now. Please stand clear of the doors.
It was almost time.
A young woman bashes your shoulder as she passes, turning to yell something obscene before dashing off, lost in the bodies bustling to and fro. You barely register her, the blind panic beginning to set in as the large clock ticks toward the time of your meeting.
Who would they send? Surely - hopefully - none of the higher ups would send someone too important. The message you'd received hadn't held much information on who would be meeting you, only that it was them and where you were to wait.
The minute hand ticked on.
4.25 to -
You stutter out a gasp as a hand grabs your arm and starts leading you away just as a throng of pedestrians get off a newly arrived train, weaving around you and your aggressor as your dragged out of the building. You keep your eyes ahead - focused on not tripping - you can't see who they sent.
"Don't make a noise, don't try to run." The man commands you. You only have the capacity to nod in reply. You wonder at what point SHIELD will decide to make their move. "How many of your men are here?"
Your feet skid as he drags you roughly round the corner of a building, slamming you against a wall. You can feel your entire body shake with a fear you had tried your best to forget about.
Your thoughts grind to a jarring halt as you finally see your assailant. It's him - him - The Winter Soldier. He wasn't - he had dropped off the grid, why would Hydra send him after you? He's scruffier then you remembered. His blue eyes are ringed by dark shadows, stress, but he looks more alive than he ever did in Hydra's base. His anger is visibly unchecked, jaw clenched tight and cheeks flushed with red.
He growls at your silence and shakes you. "How many men?!"
You whimper as his metal hand clamps into the meaty flesh of your arm, the gaps between the metal plates pinching. "I - I don't know!" Your voice trembles as you speak. His eyes narrow and you force yourself to answer him more clearly. "I think - think 8 or 9?"
He grabs your chin swiftly making you yell in alarm, tears beginning to form in your eyes as the hopelessness of the situation falls on you. Did he remember you? Hydra would have wiped him before sending him out, he must be here to finish what Hydra couldn't.
He twists your head one way and then the other, inspecting you for an earpiece. You hadn't even notice the people shouting on the other end until he rips it out of your ear, putting it in his before turning you around and marching you away again.
"Where are we going?" you ask, a desperate plea. He heads towards a bus stop.
"Somewhere we can have a chat. In Private." You feel like a mess of adrenaline and bile as he pushes you across the road without as much as a glance.
"Don't look back." He grunts as someone begins shouting behind you. You look behind you instinctively, spotting a man in SHIELD garb running toward you. He's running fast but he's too far away, the bus is pulling up, the only way he'd reach you in time is if you can slow Winter down. The thought crosses your mind that this might be the only chance you actually get to escape him even as bile rises to your throat and your breath starts coming in broken gasps.
He growls, his hand moving from your arm to land heavily on your neck, twisting your head forward again. "I said don't look back."
With your arms free it was a split seconds decision that made you act. Willing all of the energy you had left in you, you swing your elbow out, landing a blow straight to his throat. He splutters and lets go of you in surprise, before he can recover you grab your Taser from your back pocket, shooting volts of electricity into his metal arm.
His arm clicks, ticking and whirring as it locks up momentarily, the calibration thrown off. You swiftly duck his reaching flesh and bone arm and push your legs to get you across the street faster, faster, even as they tremble.
The agent is still running toward you, gun in hand as he shouts angrily into a mouthpiece. He's just across the street now - so close.
A gunshot rings out, echoing around the street as your legs turn to rubber, stopping you in place. The screams start straight after - the agent bleeding badly - so much blood. You could only stare as your only salvation bled out onto the dirty concrete.
You cry out as Winter's metal arm raps around your waist from behind, lugging you painfully onto his shoulder as he makes off with you. The people around you were too panicked, scattering to get away themselves, to help you.
"Let me go!" You scream, hoping someone will hear your panic. "I won't go back there! Put me the fuck down!"
He drops you unceremoniously on the pavement and you freeze as he crouches down over you, staring at you with contemplative look. You feel exposed under his stare, your nerves open and frayed from everything that had happened. His dark eyelashes flutter as he takes in your features, almost as if perusing for something.
You sit silently as his gaze snaps back to yours, his blue eyes so clear your heart picks up its beat, he doesn't remember does he?
"Let's go." He murmurs after a moment, grabbing your arm again.
