1991

the walls of the procedure room were soundproof. so nobody heard her screams, when they were injecting 50 needles in her body. her eyes were full of rage and pain.

thirteen. dagger. crimson. darkness. bartender. wires. torch. resist. injury.

they speak all the command words in russian, slowly and painfully. she clenches her jaw and balls her fists. "stop!" her voice comes out ragged and strained.

silence.

they speak the last word, and she stills, a neutral look on her face. "ready to comply."

petrov finds her body disobeying her mind, as she puts her tight uniform on, strapping knives and guns on. they showed her a picture of the target, and now it's engraved in her head.

barnes walks in, metal arm repaired from the last mission, and ready to fight.

even though they're partners, and have been for as long as they've been here, they only see each other on missions.

hydra knows about their pasts, and when the injections happen, they briefly remember things, before their minds get wiped again. so they're never allowed in the same room.

she grabs a small gun, and nods to barnes, who grabs weapons as well. they can fight just as well without, but the weapons are incase something goes wrong. "let's go." his deep voice is raspy, like hers.

"after you." she keeps a neutral expression. they head out on motorcycles. barnes takes the main route, petrov following on the hidden path through the trees.

they approach the car, on either side. she pulls out a knife and jabs it into the back left tire, sending the car off the road into a ditch. they jump off their bikes and run towards the car. he grabs the man and pulls him out of the car, and she hears his punches. she rounds the other side of the car, and slowly reaches in, grabbing the woman by her neck and squeezing. the woman squirms and paws at her hand, but petrov shouldn't show any mercy.

barnes pops the trunk and grabs the briefcase. they head off, having completed the mission and earned themselves another day, by taking two.