Chapter 34 ━━ Antonia

Sorry for the waiting. Here's a long chapter for your patience. Enjoy!
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Twenty years old Hedeon enters General Dreykov's office with his latest mission report. But instead of his father, he finds a two-year-old noirette sitting on his father's chair with an attempted bossy look. It is very clear that she is trying to imitate General Dreykov's cold intimidating facade. 

Hedeon has seen the girl before once or twice from far as General Dreykov never let him cross paths with the girl before. 

Her gaze set upon the frozen young man in the middle of the room and her big whiskey eyes widened with adoration and her face sparkling with a matching smile. 

Hedeon tilts his head, and a brief look of realisation dawns upon him before it quickly passes away as if it hasn't existed in the first place. With confusion spreading throughout his void mind, he comes back to his senses to feel a tug on the sleeve of his suit. He darts down to see the small girl now standing in front of him, her hand attached to the end of the sleeve of his suit. She is swift and very brave. He gives her that. 

To his surprise, he kneels to her level with a raised eyebrow. He observes her closely to notice the similarities she shares with him. 

He concludes that the girl is his half-sister. Antonia Dreykov. That must be the reason why General Dreykov treats her as a precious treasure. The soul in front of him doesn't understand the slightest knowledge of the danger she is surrounded by. 

The project Destroyer should feel even the tiniest emotion of enviousness. But he feels nothing as his tree of sentiments is locked and buried in the depth of his mind which he has no control over. 

Hedeon's muscles tense immediately when the small girl wraps her small arms around him unexpectedly, enveloping him in a tight, affectionate embrace. 

"Dada." 

The word itself triggers his mind, flooding with many emotions. His eyes water at first and then his memories cloud him, turning him into a sobbing mess. 

"Naw cry." Antonia reaches out and pushes the corners of his lips into a smile with her tiny hands. "Smile." 

Hedeon smiles through his tremendous sorrow and pain as the little girl wipes his tears away. He ought to find a way out. He must find Yelena first, grab the little child and escape together. He has to- 

"Antonia, it is time to go to bed." General Dreykov's voice echoes through the room, alarming the Red Rook. 

"No, not her. Please." Hedeon pleads, not wanting his sister to face the terrors he faced as a child. "She's just a child." 

"Your fragile heart is your weakness. You can't handle this cruel world with a soft heart, son." Dreykov declares and looks at the little girl. "Antonia. Давай, моя звезда." (Come on, my star)

"No!" Hedeon retorts sharply, shielding the little child from his body and refusing to let her out of his protection. He will kill anyone who dares to hurt the child. 

"You can't kill me." The head of the Red Room reminds as a few Widows enter the room to fight the main weapon of the Red Room. "The pheromonal lock prevents you from committing violence against me." 

"I know." A wicked smirk morphs in the corner of Hedeon's lips. "But I still can kill the rest and destroy everything you built." 

"She won't be a part of this. You have my word." Dreykov certifies, feeling uncertain as he watches his son calculating his moves with hawk eyes. 

"As if I'd believe you." Hedeon snorts before he draws out his knives and launches forward to raid and demolish everything barricading his way. 

"Sputnik." General Dreykov commands, causing Hedeon to neutralise and shut down. The word is programmed into the super-assassin as a shutdown code, a fail-safe for the Redroom to ensure that they can incapacitate their super-assassin if need be.

"Dada!" Antonia panics at the sight of the unconscious young man on the floor. She cries, shaking him, trying to wake him up. "Wakey. Wakey." 

"Take Antonia to her room." General Dreykov orders the Widows and takes a seat at his table when Madame B. walks in calmly. "Wipe his memories out and start over." 

"Yes, General." Madame B. answers, her voice full of respect for his superior as her gaze slowly moves to the blacked-out killer machine. 

"He broke through the firewall and the mind control. He shouldn't do it twice." General Dreykov remarks, watching the Widows escorting out the screaming and thrashing her legs and arms about, trying to get out of the hold of the Widow.

Too soon, Hedeon and Noah are on the way to the secret SHIELD quarters in Moscow, Russia. A journey that the supersoldier dreads. 

"Sorry to hear that your ex-fiancée dumped you." Noah enunciates, not taking his eyes off the clear sky ahead of them. The two of them are wearing their headsets. 

Hedeon is sitting on the pilot seat next to Noah, munching into the snacks he found within the stocked food in the quinjet. "She didn’t dump me, you know, I dumped her. It was a mutual dumping." 

"What I don't get is why she likes you." Noah remarks, his hand swiftly moving the control column to keep the quinjet in line and steady in the direction of their destination. 

"That's cuz you haven't had sex with me." The supersoldier beams smugly, causing the other to scrunch his nose in disgust. 

"Still don't see a point." Noah comments and finally turns to face the supersoldier for a second. "Take your feet off the panel." 

Hedeon takes his feet off the instrument panel with a scowl. "Rude to boot." 

"How about we just shut up? And by we, I mean you." 

“Do you really think I want to take a flight with you, America’s most boring, self-righteous profiler?” 

"Are you trying to be annoying or does it come naturally?" 

"It comes naturally. Genes and all." 

"Figured." Noah states before producing a paper and shoving it at the annoying supersoldier. "While you were partying the hell out last night, I found something that might actually help our mission." 

"What's that?" 

"Found it in Olga Popov's apartment." 

Hedeon eyes the paper before unfolding it to find random words written in Russian. "It's a coded message." 

"Oh, how super specific of you." He says, mockery is evident in his tone. 

"Red king wants the red rook alive." Hedeon decodes the encoded message without any trouble and turns to the blond with a confused look. "Mikhail called me the red rook. It doesn't make sense." 

"It does make sense, dumbshit. It's like the game of chess. The hierarchy system of the red room. Dreykov was the queen. You were the rook. Melina and Alexie were Bishop and Knight. The rest of the Widows and soldiers were the pawns." Noah clarifies. "And we missed the most important piece of the game. The king." 

Hedeon frowns. "I'm not gonna lie, that's bit of a problem." 

"It won't be a problem as long as we figure out who we're playing chess with." The profiler reminds. 

"What about the pen drive with Red Room's database?" 

"It was all Dreykov had his hands on. Maybe because he did not have access to everything." Noah replies and the supersoldier's frown deepens. Hedeon did try to find something, anything in the redroom database. The exact database Natasha managed to steal from Dreykov just before they took down the redroom. He went through the whole damn thing thrice only to end up in a dead end. There is no sign of an element to fill the screwed-up holes of his screwed up his broken head. "If that is the case, you are in danger." 

The former Destroyer dryly chuckles. "I'm not in danger. I'm the danger." 

"Of course, you're." Noah sneaks some snacks from the supersoldier. "Do you know someone or somewhere we can start over for a clue?" 

"Guess it's your lucky day. I do remember someone who can help us." Hedeon replies with a smirk. "But it's risky." 

Noah motions the supersoldier to take control of the quinjet. "Lead the way." 

After driving for a while, Hedeon lands the quinjet outside an abandoned edifice and the two armed agents find themselves moving in action. 

"So you really think the secret to taking down the Red King is here?" Noah asks, scanning the land from a device to find a source of life. 

"It's Russia, Coulson. You'll never know how many secrets are buried under this soil." Hedeon responds as they stroll over to the building ahead of them. 

"Scans show nothing alive. You sure this is the place?" Noah asks, pocketing in his device but staying alert for any feasible attack. 

"Are you doubting my skills?" Hedeon waves his hands to perform a magic trick and produces a playing card out of nowhere to ease the tensed agent. 

Noah blinks, not just once but twice. "How the hell did you manage to do that?" 

"I'm sorry to drop this on you. But some people are gifted with talents, unlike your hideous self." Hedeon smirks and hands over the playing card which the blond agent observes carefully, trying to uncover the trick only to fail at the end. 

"You? Gifted with talents?" Noah snickers, trying to conceal his amazement. "That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard." 

Hedeon doesn't react and turns away to walk with the profiler following in his tail into the abandoned building and further down the room and stops by an enormous bookshelf. He pulls a book and the bookshelf where it moves into a wall revealing a door with a device on it. Stepping closer to the device, he let the scanner scan his eyes before it chimes and the door unlocks. 

"Welcome back, Project Destroyer." The device speaks which the supersoldier entirely ignores before he kicks open the door. 

"Oh, boy." Noah chuckles at the scenery in front of him. 

"Welcome to the KGB archives." Hedeon announces before walking further into the room. 

"Have you ever seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? Ever seen that?" Noah asks, his voice echoing through the hallway with giant bookshelves. 

"Love that movie." Hedeon replies. 

"Your countrymen never heard of PDFs?" 

"Hard copies are harder to steal, easier to destroy. But code, code is slippery, and it never dies." 

Noah sighs. "So, where do we start?" 

Hedeon gestures towards the shelves of cardboard containers. "Just pick a box." 

The blond agent sighs once again, not relishing the idea of raking through the thousands of cardboard containers. "Yeah. What are we searching for again?" 

"Zola." 

"Zola. What is that, an acronym?" 

"He’s a man. Or at least he was. And he is gonna help us find our clue." 

Noah veers around to the supersoldier with disbelief. "We're trying to find a man in these boxes?" 

"Arnim Zola was a HYDRA scientist who infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. in its infancy. Before he died in ’72, he uploaded his brain to a series of data banks. The original one at Camp Lehigh was destroyed. The other was stolen from Hydra by the Red Room to recreate the Red Room's Super Soldier program." Hedeon clarifies, patiently rummaging through the cardboard containers, one after the other. "The key must be somewhere. A flash drive." 

"Oh, sounds like a real mensch. You sure you wanna put all our eggs in such a morally questionable basket?" 

"Trust me, the U.S. government once asked the same question about me." 

Noah chuckles with amusement. "I’ll take that as a yes. How do you even know about its existence?" 

"Because I stole it from Hydra when I used to be a lapdog." Hedeon casually replies. 

"Do you even know where the redroom kept that German scientist's program?" 

"First correction, he was Swiss. And I know where that puny brain was installed into. We just need to find the flash drive to activate the algorithm." 

After searching through countless numbers of files for hours, Noah shoves the cardboard container in his hand back onto the shelf, not even bothering to go through it. "It’s not here." 

"We’re gonna find it. It just takes time." Hedeon says, picking up the cardboard container Noah just gently placed on the shelf and opens it. "Come on, man. We, humans, are supposed to keep hope against the worst of odds." 

Noah grimaces. "Hope? Well, how about you stick it up your ass?" 

"No way." Hedeon blurts, finding the familiar flash drive which gains the blond agent's interest. 

"What?" 

"Let’s just say you’re gonna feel like a real jerk for almost quitting." 

"Wait, stop it! That…" Noah scowls, indicating the cardboard container. "You found it? That was my box." 

The two agents find themselves in the control room, in front of a modern computer after infiltrating the KGB archives to find intel regarding the AI that can give them a lead. 

Hedeon places the flash drive in the small flash drive port, which then activates the algorithm whirring into life. The screen displays two words; 'Initiate system?' right in the middle and Hedeon types using the keyboard. 

"Y-E-S, spells yes." Hedeon smiles and abruptly they hear an accented voice speaking. The webcam of the computer scans the two figures as the screen morphs into a face of a man. 

"Project Destroyer, Red Rook. Dreykov, Hedeon Nikita. Born, 1989. Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson, Noah Josiah. Born, 1994." 

Hedeon turns to the blond agent with a smug plastered on his face. "Josiah'? Really? Nice name." 

"It’s a family name. After my mee-maw. Don’t you worry about it." Noah shrugs off, hoping the supersoldier will let go of it, but the former Destroyer has other plans. 

"Your mee-maw?" Hedeon mocks, delighting in every single second of the moment. 

"I imagine you have many questions, young man, about who and what and how I am." Zola says. 

"Look here, old hag. We're not here to listen to your bullshit. We need your help. Even though you work for…" Hedeon begins only to be cut off by Zola. 

"And you know that I work for…" 

"A lot has changed since you were last booted up." Noah adds. 

"But why, pray tell, would you think that my strategic objectives would ever align with yours?" Zola queries. 

"Because you’re the last surviving Zola copy left on Earth." Hedeon opens a bottle of water and hovers it above the CPU. "And I’ve ruined a lot of laptops this way." 

Zola gasps in horror. "Nein!" 

"It’s true. Just ask S.H.I.E.L.D. IT." Noah confirms. 

"All right, all right. What exactly did you have in mind?" Zola asks and the two agents share a look of victory. 

"Spill everything you know about the Red Room." Hedeon demands. 

"Accessing archive." Zola says and the computer screen shows them old footage of General Dreykov and his business associates. "The Red Room, was a secret Soviet-Russian training program founded by Ivan Dreykov aka 'General Dreykov' and Ivan Romanoff that involved taking the young and turning them into elite spies and assassins known as Black Widows and Red Super Soldiers. Initially using psychological conditioning to make the assassins obedient, by the 2000s the program had shifted to using mind control." 

Noah quickly snaps photos of the faces of Dreykov's associates and anything that might possibly help with their clue. 

"What the fuck?" Hedeon murmurs with utter puzzlement, his mind trying to wrap around the information he just gathered. "Am I and Natasha Romanoff related?" 

"You two share a father." Noah answers without taking his eyes off the screen though the supersoldier's eyes remain burning holes into the blond agent's head, long forgetting why he is here in the first place. 

"It’s the network of widows and Red Super Soldiers that help the Red King control the scales of power. One command, the oil and stock markets crumble. One command and a quarter of the planet will starve. That kind of power can start and end wars. Can make and break kings..." 

Once Zola finalises the explanation, Hedeon 'accidentally' ends up spilling his water bottle all over the CPU successfully destroying the last copy of Zola to prevent it from taking the news of the friendly visit of the former Destroyer and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to the redroom once Zola finds a way to access the Internet or all their plans to take down redroom will be wrecked. 

"Wasn't that hard, was it?" Noah asks while turning the switches on to bring the engine of the Quinjet to life. 

Slumping into his seat, Hedeon bores a cold gaze at his coworker. "You knew?" 

Exactly knowing what the supersoldier is meaning by the two simple worded question, Noah sighs heavily. "I am a profiler, okay? I like to gather details. I was there during your Tahiti procedure. You needed a blood transfer and for some reason, her blood perfectly matched yours. And naturally, I was curious." 

"Do you think she knew as well? Nat?" 

"Why do you think she saved your ass twice in a row?" 

"Out of humanity?" Hedeon replies. The sarcasm flows from his tone before resuming. "How am I supposed to know, Coulson? I can't read minds. In case I didn't even know my father's first name was Ivan until now." 

"I'm not surprised." Noah replies. 

"Wait. Does that mean Yelena and I are related as well?" Hedeon asks with his eyes wide open with a troublesome expression. "We had sex and it's fucking incest. Jesus. I'm not even into that shit." 

The blonde agent shakes his head with utter amusement. "Nat and Yelena are not biological siblings, you dumbshit." 

Relief downpours into Hedeon's nervous system washing away all his worries. "Thank fuck." 

The Quinjet lands on the grounds of Moscow, a safe house in sorts to crash in until they call quits with their mission. 

Hedeon unbuckles his seatbelt before slinging his own duffle bag over his shoulder and grabbing the sheath with his retractable sword in it before heading towards the house without waiting for his companion. He notices a few cars parked in the huge driveway, tinted windows and all. 

He moves to the door of the large house and presses his finger against the pressure sensor, a red light scanning from underneath. There is the sound of a door unlocking and he grabs the handle, yanking it open and stepping inside. 

He enters the foyer, his head craning to look around at the staircase and the doors leading into other rooms of the house. 

Later, Hedeon finds himself in front of his laptop, analysing the data they assembled one by one without letting anything slip. Not even a minor detail. 

As predicted, the identity of the Red King still remains anonymous within Zola's database but there are indirect leads which give 'hope' to end the nightmare once terrified Hedeon to the core. 

"Ian McMasters." Hedeon points at a middle-aged man in fancy clothing. "Our lead is this guy." 

Noah leans forward to take in the figure on the screen. "I'll track down his details and create a profile-"

"No need. I know all about this guy. He's an international arms dealer aka the big bad CEO of Gynacon Corporation. His dad tried to strangle him when he was 14. Nobody can stand this son of bitch. Apparently, it left quite an impression on him. And strangling folks became sort of a hobby for him. He's a big fan. Ian McMasters is super scary. But he's not above having a good time. Throws a masquerade party every year for his top buyers in his fancy villa in St. Petersburg which fortunately will be held on this lovely Friday, giving us a whole fucking day to plan our next move." Hedeon elaborates, whirling around his chair to face the blond agent. "But gun runners are a little touchy about their identity. So the Eyes Wide Shut thing takes the edge off for everyone, which means we want a master plan." 

"I say, we sneak in and snoop around for anything that might help." 

"That is not how I typically get my information." 

"How do you do it typically?" 

"I find the person. And then I put the fear of god into them until they talk. I can be super persuasive, you know?" The former Destroyer replies and lazily stretches his arms. "But we can try your way." 

Noah gives him a blank look. "You're violent." 

"I'm the Destroyer." 

"Were. As in the past tense. If nothing is found we go in your way." 

"At least I can enjoy the party." 

"I'?" The blond agent raises an eyebrow at the supersoldier. "What about 'we'?" 

"Okay, fine. You can be my plus one to the party." Hedeon smirks. 

"Thanks." Noah chuckles but soon his eyes set on the supersoldier's shirtless back with a delicate tracery of faded scars. "How did you get those? The scars on your back?" 

"Short version. My father was a prolific asshole." 

"Long version?" 

"I was sixteen. Tried to escape from the Red Room with Yelena. And failed. You already know that part." Hedeon says, proclaiming the obvious. "What you don't know is what happened after that. General Ivan fucking Dreykov whipped me and poured alcohol on the wounds so I won't get 'infected.' It was my punishment for trying to escape his hell. Some birthday it was." 

Noah listens to him with an open mind trying his best to understand his 'simple but at the same time complicated' colleague. "I'm sorry about all that." 

"Oh, no, no. It's alright. As bad as it was, I learned something about myself. That I could go through something like that and survive." Hedeon shrugs off casually. "How about your old man?" 

"I don't talk about him." 

"That bad huh?" 

"My dad invested his whole life into SHIELD. He rebuilt it when it collapsed into the ground. And with time he forgot his family." The blonde agent explains with sadness lingering in his eyes. "I wanted recognition. I wanted to impress him and be the perfect son. I tried so hard. I joined SHIELD. But nothing matters to him more than work." 

"Wow. We both got some dads, huh? It's a miracle we're not strippers." Hedeon quips, trying to lighten his companion's mood. 

Noah chuckles. "Yeah. In a way, we're not that different." 

"Right." Hedeon nods with agreement. "We need a tech guy for the mission." 

"Got it." Noah says, eyeing the exhausted supersoldier jumping on the bed and making himself comfortable. "How did you do that, Hedeon?" 

"Do what?" 

"The card trick." 

"I took up learning magic from Online Close-up Magic University to entertain Clinton's little son, Nathaniel. The little lad was impressed." 

"I am too." Noah coughs out, not wanting to boost the egotism of the supersoldier but feeling the need to appreciate his talent at the same time. 

Hedeon doesn't endeavour to repress his smug smirk. He doesn't need to open his eyes to witness his coworker's struggle at confession. He can feel it. And it's amusing him. "I feel flattered?" 

"All right." The blond agent turns back to his grumpy self again. "Clock's tickin. We gotta plan our next move. What's the plan?" 

"I'm working on it." The supersoldier mumbles, on the edge of falling asleep. 

Noah scoffs. "You're working on it? You don't sound like you're working on it." 

"They say the most important part of any plan is the good night's sleep." 

"Isn't the actual plan part the most important part of the plan?" 

"A lotta people make that mistake." Hedeon mutters, pulling the sheet up to cover him from the annoying blond agent. "Now shoo and turn off the lights on your way out."