In Burning Red ~ A WinterWidow Story
Snow fell in thick silence over the small, reserved village of Stehekin, Washington. Its semi-frozen Lake Chelan glistens proudly in the setting winter sun. The small community residing in this town were tucked in for the day, embracing the warmth of their lit fires, and savouring the taste of their freshly brewed teas. Life here is still, calm. The whispers of the surrounding woods in the distance were holding its breath for something – anything.
The Winter Soldier.
He moved like a ghost between the shadows of dusk. Mission parameters etched into his mind with brutal clarity. Eliminate. Retrieve. Report. Those words cycled in his head as he stalked through the dense trees, his suit wet from the unplanned water landing in the lake. The frozen air stings his unmasked face as he moves stealthily along the row of wild berry bushes, careful not to leave any trace of his presence.
Project Insight – Alexander Pierce’s chance to realise his new world order, was the sole focus in our soldier’s eyes. It was HYDRA’s start on the elimination of millions of individuals globally that could threaten their plans, and their first step – get their most powerful weapon to take out all the middlemen preventing them from complete control. Unfortunately, that was not going to be so simple.
Project Insight developers with complete access to Arnim Zola’s algorithm are scattered across the country, some hidden in plain sight and others buried deeper into the corners of the country. Today, the target is another retired S.H.I.E.L.D agent, the third one for the month. The orders from Pierce were the same as the previous two. Eliminate the agent, retrieve the restricted files and report back to base. The Winter Soldier has done more complicated, and far worse things than a simple execute and extract, but the stakes of his previous missions have never been this high. To make matters worse, he had lost all connection to his team during the drop-off at the wrong coordinates. This left the soldier hiking through unfamiliar woods in the dark.
No voice.
No command.
No backup.
He stopped mid-step, metal hand twitching slightly from the cold. His enhanced senses scanned the perimeter. Dull blue eyes fixed on nothing but the snow-tipped trees towering over the vast landscape. Ears covered by damp dark brown strands listened for anything diverging from nature. Nothing. No abnormal sights, no abnormal sounds. Just snow and the faint smell of woodsmoke. Immediately, his flesh arm reached for one of the many guns strapped to his self. Smoke in this part of the woods was wrong; the town was too far away to reach here.
He moved towards the scent, drawn not by logic but by the murderous instincts wired into his brain. His eyes shifted in all directions on the lookout for traps or anyone hidden in the dark of the winter night. As he creeped, the dense trees made way to a clearing and the bushes became sparse. In the near distance a dainty cottage found his view, a small stream of smoke blowing gently through the bricked chimney. He angled his body uncomfortably, crouching against the low bushes as he watched.
A sensation tugged at the base of his skull as he took in the image. Not pain, not fear – familiarity. There, crouched at the front door was a woman. In her hands she cradled something small and furred. The soldier watched intently, hand still fixed on his weapon as she stroke the brown animal.
Кролик. Rabbit.
This rabbit was smaller than the ones HYDRA kept. The ones he used as target practice when he was being trained. One hundred and thirty-four rabbits were shot on his first day of training. HYDRA wanted him to always have the perfect, deadly aim. They had chosen that particular target to erase any sense of compassion left lurking in him after his… treatment. They did not want a hesitating weapon. Now, he watches as the women caresses the small body in her arms while whispering something to it, near her lay a plate of leafy vegetables and small berries.
Multiple thoughts crossed the soldier’s mind at once: Why was there a cottage in the middle of the woods, so secluded from the rest of the town? Why was there a woman here all alone? And finally, why was something inside him screaming to approach her?
He was so disgusted with his thoughts, he pinched his thigh with his metal arm, hard. A small punishment from straying away from his training. “Anyone who has the misfortune of being in the way during any mission is dealt with accordingly.” – which essentially meant they were to be shot dead. Pierce did not care about the casualties so long as his missions were successful, sometimes he preferred it – the world was already over-populated according to him.
The Winter Soldier raised his gun. The silence and precision of his action were robotic, unlike any human. His flesh fingers hovered over the trigger, aimed and ready to fire. This was to be the easiest shot he will ever take in his life. There was no conscience left in him to stop him from pulling the trigger, or so he thought.
Unconsciously he switched the gun to his metal arm, it felt more impersonal than shooting with his real one – that’s what he had done with the rabbits in training. The metal steadied as he lined up the shot. The woman was blissfully unaware of her fate. Some part of him wished she would move to mess up his aim, even just the slightest bit. She didn’t. He sucked in a breath, preparing himself for firing.
Nature was still. A moment more and the bullet would have fired straight through her forehead. It was as if fate decided to intervene, the wind picked up, heavy – like one letting go of a deep breath. The split-second disturbance of the howling wind stunned the soldier into losing hold of himself in his crouch. He steadied himself with his flesh arm – like some joke a pile of twigs were strategically under his grasp. The sound of it crunching under the weight of his arm was enough to produce a small, but noticeable sound to anyone within range.
The woman looked up a moment in response to the sound. Strands of fiery hair loosened from her braid fluttered in the wind. She set the rabbit in her arms on the ground, gently encouraging it to return home. As she stood, she looked around the area trying to determine the source of the sound. The soldier was still shielded from sight by the bushes at the edge of the property. The darkness added an extra layer of concealment.
“Must’ve been a buck.” she muttered to herself, wrapping her cardigan tighter around herself. She turned and walked back into the cottage shutting the front door, taking with her the only other source of light other than the dimmed moon surrounded by storm clouds.
For what felt like the first time in his life, the soldier was unsure of what to do. He had no orders, he had no strategy. All he had was the sky over his head and the wind against his shivering body. Somewhere in the distance he spotted the same brown rabbit burrowing its way home.
The Winter Soldier was left stranded.
~~~
Story available on Ao3! Link here > https://archiveofourown.org/works/79325736
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