august 2016

THE FIRST THING she did when she was certain the tower was empty of all possible peering eyes was take another wide glance around Tony Stark's lab, processing as much as she could in as little time as possible. She took note of the stacks of paper strewn about, the discarded pile of material that he'd thrown under his desk when she'd walked in.

It was all there for her, there for her to search, pillage, and find out exactly what made Tony Stark the so-called genius that he was.

A low chuckle dripped from her lips as she rubbed her hands together, preparing to find anything and everything of use to Hydra. For the good of the world. They were the reason the world would be saved, the reason the Avengers would go extinct, scattering their ashes in the wind. Forgotten.

And she had the honors of starting all of it. Pushing the first domino into place, so she could sit back and watch it all crumble before her.

The first thing she grasped in her strong hands was a manila folder with a yellow sticky note on the front, messy handwriting forming the word "contenders" on it. As if for the building of an army.

"What exactly are you getting yourself into, Stark?" The asset muttered under her breath.

She slid her fingers over the cover, and a small thought crept through her brain. He's touched this very folder. His large, calloused hands have run over the same folder that I'm holding right now. What would it be like, to have him run his hands over me, to have them brush over places more delicate than I care to admit? I've never had that before, even before all this. Even in France—

Asset 53 jerked her head up. The folder slipped from her fingers, unopened. Standing up, she shook her head in an attempt to clear it, but it did nothing. She didn't know what was happening.

She was going insane. That had to be it. The cryofreeze had finally frozen too much. She'd gone too far under, she was forever damaged...

Her fingers crawled down to her thigh, inching towards the one thing that was grounding to her in this new world she'd entered. When she brushed her fingertips against the hilt of her knife that was strapped tightly to her leg, though, it only brought her more unease. Hand recoiling at the feeling, she had the unsettling thought that it was a more unnecessary weight on her body than a blended part of her, like she'd believed for so long.

"Que diable se passe-t-il?" She breathed, shocked a second later as she recognized the French words. What the hell is happening? Could it be—

"I'm sorry, Ms...Kingston," a woman's voice reverberated around the room, jolting her from her thoughts. "Mr. Stark has asked me to secure this room, as it's full of confidential information that is off-limits to any and all guests."

It took the asset a few seconds to understand the English words, as she was still thinking in French for a reason that was unknown to her. "Who's there?" She asked tentatively, her hands raised as if to fight.

"That won't be necessary, Miss," the voice went on. "I am not a being that can be fought with fists and knives." After a few seconds of silence, the feminine voice continued, "I am FRIDAY. I assist Mr. Stark with anything he needs, including overseeing everything in this tower."

Asset 53 was not one to be rendered speechless. But given that this...FRIDAY lady couldn't see her(right?), she supposed it was a good a time as any to suck in a deep breath and think through it all. So this was what he'd meant when he told her that "FRIDAY would be watching."

"So...you're a security bot?"

I prefer the term 'technologically enhanced persona,' but yes. That is essentially correct." Her clipped words floated out of her mouth with a breezy Irish accent that the asset only notices then, after the initial shock of being spoken to by a voice in the walls. "Now, if you please, Ms. Kingston, it would be better for the both of us if you step out into the hallway. Can I recommend a recipe for lunch?"

The asset grumbled under her breath, cursing Stark for taking a much bigger precaution than she'd expected, but conceded for the moment and retreated into the hallway, going back to the living space that was open and free for thought.

As she walked, she briefly considered finding the universal power switch for the intelligence but decided against it. It was too noticeable. Hydra operated under the radar, doing their work subtly yet effectively. She would have to do her digging some other time, when this FRIDAY woman, or thing, rather, wasn't looking.

That meant she'd have to wait until her precious target came back.

—————

In the meantime, the asset tried to keep her mind off of the...incident in the lab. Whatever it took to forget the unsettling thought that had risen to her mind, thinking of France, and whatever else might have followed had she not stopped herself.

She tried everything, including sharpening her knife, cleaning it, even washing dishes(a horribly mundane thing to do, truly showing her desperation to distract herself). But of course, nothing could prevent her from thinking of France, and the thoughts that could have followed her throughout the entire day, haunting her.

It was too long, she realized. It would be too long for her to actively try to keep herself distracted. She didn't have anywhere to search, nowhere to infiltrate, all because of Tony's infuriating sense of security that he felt obligated to uphold.

With nothing to do and no one to talk to(she was not going to talk to that FRIDAY nonsense), Asset 53 finally found her way to her room. It had been shown to her after she and Tony had a conversation regarding her past life, however fake it'd been. He'd practically shoved her into the space and the asset had smiled gently, in that measured way an assassin would do. She'd said, "Oh, merci beaucoup, Tony," and flounced right into the room.

He'd stood there, just...watching her. He's mine, she thought hungrily, noticing the way his eyes pored into her every step. With measured movements, the asset sauntered up to him, close enough to hear his small intakes of breath. He was perfectly still, staring at her, not expecting a thing. If she'd wanted to, there was an opportunity for her to dig her knife straight into his gut, forcing it upward into his lungs.

She could have tasted his blood at that moment, the metallic tang rising to her nose and mouth. But no, her work wasn't done yet. Hydra needed him gone, needed Iron Man dead. But Asset 53 needed Tony Stark to trust her. He wasn't there yet. And besides, it would be one hundred, one thousand times sweeter to watch the love blossom in his eyes, just for her to douse it in one swift stab of the knife.

Her bloodlust was one of the only reasons that the famous Tony Stark was still breathing.

He's mine, she repeated to herself as she lay down on the large king bed in the center of the room. I'll get him wrapped around my finger, so obsessed with me that he can't even breathe without my presence.

She stayed put on the bed, used to sitting perfectly still and refraining from all movement as she did at Hydra's compound. For a brief moment, she longed for Mr. Smith, the one man she'd have constant contact with every day until her next mission. There was something familiar...no, intimate, about him. Like she'd known him her entire life.

Unsettled by these types of thoughts yet again, the asset squeezed her eyes shut and tried to keep her mind blank, drifting off into what she expected to be a dreamless sleep.

As she slipped into darkness, the sun shone through the window in her bedroom, landing on a bottle of green cryo pills on the table next to the bed, standing unopened.

————————————————————

this chapter is so choppy it sucks i'm sorry

but i hope you liked it! i hope the ending of that wasn't super confusing or anything, we'll explain it in the next chapter if you didn't catch it lol.

i'll see you guys next time! hopefully soon, i'm so off from my publishing schedule i'm sorry.

also, this might be the last chapter i post before seeing endgame on the 30th, so knowing me, i'm just gonna say my goodbyes to my feelings and every emotion i've ever felt right now, we all know i'm gonna be a fucking wreck from this movie. NO SPOILERS, YOU WILL BE BLOCKED.

published on: april 25, 2019