Chapter Text
"It will be fine, Asset. I will be here when you wake."
It was a lie. You were just reciting what you were always told to say when the Asset was getting maintenance. It always made him stop snarling when the scientist got to close to him at least. They worked to adjust the Chair and tinker with the machinery that surrounded them. He looked at you but he wasn't. It was more looking through you. Some of the other agents liked to joke that the Asset was just a puppet to bark orders at. You knew better. Blades could read each other with ease. Or it could be the bond that you two shared. Animal like fear pulsed like the dim roar of an air siren down your spine at the thought of the Chair. You weren't sure if you were projecting you own feelings though.
"We will be put on a glorious mission together and it will be perfect."
More lines to keep the Asset docile. You might have gone on a mission or two with him once. Rumlow would know. He knew lots of things. Like how maintenance was not only good for the Asset but for you as well. Apparently, you both got 'fuckin' terrifying' if not put on a mission on a set basis. With supervision. There were vague flashes of annoyance with lots of shouting. The feeling of your dual cannon pistols going off, the kickbacks reverberating through your body with a preserve glee. Back to back with the Asset as that beautiful work of Hydra machinery strangled someone to death. Enchanting.
You moved closer to Solider, resting your gloved hands on his shoulder. The ether lines shone bright in the dim space, casting dark shadows across that perfect face. It got those eyes to latch onto you with laser focus. Having that eyes on you was elating. Electrifying. As if someone filled your ether lines with acid and your were dissolving from the inside. You had no idea but you wanted to squeeze into the Chair with him. No. Burrow yourself under his skin and settle underneath his rib cage. It sounded beautiful. Poetic. A dreamy smile crept up behind the mask covering the lower half of your face.
The Asset was truly the perfect Blade. Better than some filthy Aegis. One of your hands moved slow and deliberate down the other's metal arm until you got to where the star core crystal lay. Core crystals didn't usually latch onto inorganic materials unless the craftsman knew what they were doing. Which made the red star shaped core crystal that shore with an ugly dull pulsing light all the more insulting and pretty. The color insulted you. It should be a delightful shade of blue like yours. Wait. Your own core crystal was perfectly bisected down the middle, red and blue distinct from each other. Nestled in a perfect diamond shape where your belly button would be if you were human and jutting out the back of your neck in a delicate spike. Rumlow liked to drag you by it if he found you had done something not to his liking. Which was fifty perfect of the time.
A harsh, demanding Driver but a Driver that belonged to Hydra so you would do as assigned. Huh. When was the last time you got to look at your own Core Crystal? Mismatched eyes focus back on the Solider, tapping the crystal on his arm in a uneven rhythm. You didn't notice that act got the minions around you a little more jittery, more wary of your body language. Didn't matter.
Why were you so fond of the Winter Solider? The Red Room's Hydra's own man made Blade that could likely take down the Aegis. Could damage you to the point of having to return your crystal but wouldn't because it was supposed to hurt. Hurt meant being alive and remembering to make it not hurt the next time. If there was a next time. It was just strange. You could distinctly remember four missions, the recent one notwithstanding. That didn't count according to Pierce. Both of you missed extraction and had gone missing for about a week before turning up somewhere on the West Coast.
You only know that from Rumlow shouting about it when he slapped you around when you got released from the labs. You understood why they were upset but you were following order. The Solider was always in charge when it was the two of you and it had been...instinct and niggling feeling that you got sometimes when he commanded you. Drawing your hands away from the Asset, you grabbed onto the fur lapels of your bridge coat. Fiddled with Hydra pin on the inside to draw yourself from that acid itchy feeling of a scattered memory.
"Get over here. "
Ah. Rumlow was giving you a hard look from where he stood with Pierce and the rest of the Strike Team. A discreet look around had you realizing that everything was set to go. Where did time fly? It was physically painful to pull from your kindred spirit. Especially the further you walked, the faster his breathing sped up. Or was it yours? The Chair never meant good things in retrospect but it made you both functional. Good for Hydra and that meant good for mankind. The pain was necessary. The only thing you could was shove those feelings down as you slithered your way over. A jerk of Rumlow's head made you pay attention to Pierce, the bespoke man standing there with a pleasant smile on his face.
You dipped you head in obedience, eyes glued on the floor as you awaited orders. You didn't panic when you where told to sink to your knees. You were the picture of stoicism when he was removed your face mask which he wanted you to speak. Not that the mask didn't allow you to speak. It was just a Blade thing. It functioned like a real mask only if you wanted it to. It was there for less your own protection and for everyone around you. You were glad your hair naturally obscured your eyes just for how naked you felt with the half face mask. It was fine. You were fine. Better than the Solider whose harsh breathing was drowned out by the talking in the room.
"Tell me, asset. What is your purpose?" Pierce asked, arms folding with an easy smile as he awaited his answer.
That was easy even with that smile telling you the punishments you would face without words if you did not answer well. Not right because there was only one answer to the question. How well could you phrase it to satisfy him?
"...To be Hydra's Blade. Be a useful tool to the Asset in setting the world on the right path."
Your answer seemed to please Pierce because the smile lost its harsh edge and softened into something more kind. He patted your head like you were his pet dog and you closed your eyes. The next thing you knew was the Chair was switched on and everything when stark blinding white. You wouldn't remember you or the Solider's dissonant screams, just a passing thought that you've done this all before.