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The Asset makes quick work of the agents in his way. The Mission did not put up enough fight either, despite being ranked as one of the more dangerous Avengers due to his resistance and strength.
His orders are clear: make a distraction, escape.
It takes no time at all for the Soldier to work his way through the building, ending in a room filled with tables and chairs, fighting more agents as they uselessly advance. He steals the blunt weapon from one that swings at him, knocking the agent to the ground and using the weapon against the next to approach. He beats both down when they get up again, stealing a gun from one as he throws the man over a table.
He has the gun lifted, finger on the trigger, when a blast of high-pitched sound makes his head ring and his skull ache. Disoriented, the Soldier turns towards the direction of the origin of the blast, stumbling forward a bit before he's suddenly blinded by a bright light and sound again. He ducks to avoid the light, twisting immediately afterwards when the man advances him.
He's distantly aware that this man isn't like the others, he's too dressed up to be an agent, without a gun or knife on his hip, and he's surprisingly able to hold his own in hand to hand.
The man is able to knock his arms aside, including his metal arm, several times before the Soldier gets his gun trained on the man. He cups one hand over the barrel, other hand gripping the top of the pistol, and the Soldier fires.
Breaking through the echo of the gunshot, a single word is spit his way.
"СТОЙ!"
The Asset freezes, gun still held to the man, who remains completely unharmed. He's staring at the Asset now, breathing heavily, and he shifts his fingers where they sit on top of the gun still.
"Yeah, listening now, right?"
The Asset stays still for a moment, eyes trained on the man in front of him, before he realizes that it was a question and he nods minutely. The man smiles.
"Good. How about we all calm down now, yeah?"
The Soldier flexes his metal hand, taking note of the guns trained on the both of them. He glances around, eyeing the number of threats, especially the Widow standing nearby, tense and ready. The quiet click of metal on metal yanks his focus back to the man.
"Mind if I have this? Might ease their trigger fingers. I don't know about you, but I think bullet wounds suck."
A finger taps the barrel of the gun, and the Soldier takes a second to think before he loosens his grip. The man smiles, almost... kindly. Then he pulls the gun out of the Soldier's hand and tosses it to the side, the magazine dropping and sliding in a different direction.
It's the first clear view he gets of the red hand attached to the man, metallic like his own. He snaps his arm out, it clicks aggressively, and grabs where flesh meets metal. He hears the rapid clicking of the agents around them and on balconies, guns training on the Asset again. He knows he's a threat, but he feels the need for information, eyes trained on the man's hand.
"Uh... you okay, Snowflake?"
"You are Asset."
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Steve runs, fast, faster than he was a minute ago. Because the echos of the ongoing fight, the gunfire, the yelling and screaming for backup and agents, were still so much better than the silence that suffocates the hallway. He sprints as fast as he can, turning corners hard enough to leave marks on the floor, and finally spots a line of SHIELD agents, guns drawn, surrounding all openings to the cafeteria. He's terrified, afraid that he'll find his friend already shot down, when he hears Bucky's voice.
It's quiet, spoken like a secret, and the relief he feels is almost immediately drowned out in ice cold dread.
"You are Asset."
He comes up behind the agents, looking over their heads, and sees Tony in the Soldier's grip. Bucky has a locked grip on Tony's right arm, under- where did he get a gauntlet? Doesn't matter, he puts a hand on an agent's shoulder to move them aside, let him through.
Tony is quiet, calculating.
"Yeah. I guess I am."
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"In a way, at least. Not like you were, I'm sure."
"Winter Soldiers are given different conditioning."
"Yeah, no, conditioning doesn't work too well on me. Jeez, guys, you're killing me here, put the damn guns down. You're making me nervous."
Soldier feels himself tense again at the reminder of the weapons trained on him. On them. If these agents are anything like Hydra, they will not accept failure, and this other Asset is in as much danger as himself.
Unsurprisingly, none of the weapons lower, and the only difference is harsh movement behind the other Asset.
The Mission is pushing his way between the wall of agents, looking between the two Assets as though he's ready to tear them apart, from each other or for failing. The other Asset turns his eyes away, to look back over his shoulder, and the Soldier feels an odd malfunction flame in his mind.
He pulls the other Asset closer, to the side and away from the Mission. The Mission must be the Asset's handler. He's the only one that's stepped forward, and the Soldier draws the knife strapped to his thigh. The Mission halts, eyes locking onto the weapon.
Not as ignorant as previously deduced.
The Mission turns his gaze up to stare at him, and the Asset feels his glare settle in place when he catches the Mission glancing at the other. It turns into a silent stand-off, both waiting for the other to move.
"Okay, guys, this is great and all, but something needs to happen and soon. Preferably, I'd like to go sit down and we can just chill for a bit before we talk through the wall of trauma between us, yeah? Today's been fun, but I have a heart condition, doesn't really agree with the whole hand-to-hand-with-a-super-soldier-assassin thing."
An alarm flares in the Soldier's mind. A malfunction of a vital system is not something to be overlooked, if overexertion can happen from one short fight, the other Asset would have keeled over dead by the end of the hour. He turns towards the other Asset, eyeing him over and just now noting the faint humming coming from under the Asset's shirt.
An external engine. That's even worse.
The Mission seems to glance at the Asset's engine as well, and the Soldier takes another step to place himself between the two. An external engine means an easy kill switch, or torture. The Chair is less painful than the most vital system being toyed with.
The Mission gapes, seemingly exasperated by the Soldier's show of defense, and the agents still have not moved from their posts. He can sense that the Widow has moved closer, towards the two Assets. He adjusts his grip on the other's wrist, and the tension in the air becomes so thick, one could choke on it. He glares down the Mission, fingering the blade still in his hand, and daring anyone to make a move towards the other Asset.
"Okay, everyone needs to fucking sit down!"
Several of the agents jump, and the Mission is visibly startled by the other Asset's outburst. He twists his arm free of the Asset's hold and steps back to speak to the entire room. He yanks the orange glasses off and stomps his foot with a sense of finality.
"Put the fucking guns down, Cap, Nat, back the fuck up, we're going to fucking sit down and take a deep breath and act like fucking adults instead of having a pissing contest between superheros and an angry assassin, got it?!"
The Asset feels horror climb in his throat at the disrespect the other Asset shows to the handlers and the Mission. He steps closer again, keeping an eye on the Mission.
But then the guns lower, and the Mission seems to slump in on himself. He's still tense, eyeing the Soldier, but loses the battle stance. The Widow does not move, as expected, but the threat is lessened significantly.
The Soldier steps up to the other Asset, despite several verbal protests, and they look at each other. He can see the calculations behind the Asset's brown eyes, looking behind the Soldier's programming. There's a quiet voice itching at the back of his mind, something foreign. The programming is stepping aside, whispering, and he watches as the other Asset seems to find something he was looking for.
"Alright, good. Everyone good, yeah? New question, has anyone been checking the perimeter? From what I know, Frostbite can't go psycho mode without outside influence, right?"
The agents tense, and many break off into groups to do exactly as suggested. The Soldier looks down at the other Asset. Is he a handler, along with an Asset? Or is he such a high level Asset that lower agents are directed to take orders from him?
His attention is drawn down to the humming in the Asset's chest again, and he raises a hand to place over it. A red metal hand grabs his wrist before he can make contact, though, and when he looks up, there's fear well hidden on the edges of the Asset's eyes.
"Don't touch that, mkay? Precious cargo, bit touchy with outside influence and everything. Willing to sit down and talk with us?"
"My mission is unfulfilled."
"Well, new mission. Forget Hydra and come with us. Yeah? We're the good guys."
The Asset stares at the other, metal hand flexing. The red star nearly burns into the metal arm, something he can almost feel.
"да."
The other Asset smiles.