publishing a li’l snippet cus i’m 8k words in and still nowhere near the end of this oneshot, but [whines] i still wanna show slaughtermemore somethaaang
"Which one are we sending this time, agent?"
Rumlow glanced in annoyance at the twitchy little scientist who was peering through the round window in one of the assets' cryochambers.
"The mission only requires one of them," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "But do the usual, I guess; thaw both Soldiers and see that they're ready in 2 hours."
The scientist saluted and went back to her console, engaging the thawing procedure. Rumlow ignored the salute and left the lab, the sound of his feet against the marble floor echoing through the hallway as he was headed to his quarters.
He fucking hated playing babysitter with the two assets, especially now that they were constantly assigned to go on the field as a pair.
The way they could communicate without even a single glance was way too unnerving, even though Rumlow knew they couldn't possibly be plotting behind his back. They simply didn't have that option in their programming. All they could do was listen to Rumlow's instructions and see that the target was taken down with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of secrecy. Handling these two enhanced HYDRA dolls wasn't the hardest job in the world. Admittedly, Rumlow had been through worst situations. But it was, however, deeply unpleasant.
Besides their almost freaky connection on the field that made them look like synchronized dancers, the looks they would give each other after a successful kill were the other reason for Rumlow's annoyance. God, only remembering them made him feel nauseous.
Rumlow had reported the situation to Secretary Pierce, of course. It was in every single one of his mission reports, for crying out loud. He'd asked why they were allowed to be sent together, what was the gain in exposing their latest acquisition, the Captain, so recklessly when they knew the Avengers had to be suspecting his disappearance... why no one ever stopped them from fucking each other senseless in the recovery room after a mission around the world.
"Do you even know what these two animals are up to once we're back to base?" he'd barked one day when he'd been unable to restrain himself anymore, making everyone in the room freeze and look at him in shock.
Secretary Pierce had let him say his piece, not uttering a single word or showing any trace of emotion. Then to Rumlow's horror he'd merely shrugged, and proceeded to explain: "Our research has shown that they are both more efficient when paired up. And I've been advised to allow them a little tumbling from time to time to maintain their bond. Thanks to that, it seems that we don't even have to go through the tedious process of reintroducing them to each other after each wiping. If it can save HYDRA time and money, I will bear it and so will you, Brock."
Fuck you, Alex, it's not you who's got to feel like you're interrupting their honeymoon!
If Rumlow had had a say in it, he'd have added 'sexual inhibition' to the Winter Soldier program. He didn't care that it helped the two assets relieve the excess of energy they had running through their unnatural bodies; energy that they couldn't possibly burn entirely with the sparse missions they were assigned, and that they almost always managed to finish way ahead of schedule. He didn't care that ever since they had managed to capture Steve Rogers and successfully wipe and reprogram the man into a killing machine at the service of HYDRA, his former best pal had started to behave more than he'd ever done in the last 70 years, following the scientists reports.
He didn't give a flying fuck. Not when he was the one who had to suffer through the heated looks and suggestive touches.
At least, they didn't use pet names or stuff like that. They weren't human enough anymore to even remember those things.
Rumlow had no way of knowing if that was how 'the great' Steve Rogers and 'the heroic' Bucky Barnes used to be with each other, back in their own time. But one thing he knew for sure was that whatever their relationship used to be, it was far from platonic nowadays, and it had nothing to do with the programming. The HYDRA scientists were a bunch of sadistic sons of bitches, but for all he knew, they'd never shown any perverse streak.
This was all Steve and Bucky, and Rumlow hated it.