Chapter 2
“Soldier!”
James loosened the grip of his metal arm around his opponent’s throat and dropped him to the floor.
“Sorry,” he growled. “Sometimes I get carried away.”
The Hydra agent that had been chosen to be his sparring partner today hastily staggered to his feet, rubbed his aching throat and left the gym, but not without throwing a look of utter hate and fear at James that clearly stated he was convinced the soldier was crazy.
James couldn’t care less. He grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off his face and chest, and walked over to the tall man who had been watching the training session with a mixture of satisfaction and concern. He was used to this kind of reaction. Nobody around here liked him. They either feared him or hated him, most of them probably both. However, after almost ten years with Hydra, James had learned to no longer bother himself with what other people thought of him. He was different, stronger, faster and more coldblooded than any other agent here. Moreover, he aged much, much slower than the others. Even though almost a decade had passed since he had been saved from the ravine, his biological age still hadn’t reached thirty. Whatever Doctor Zola and his team had done to him, it was much more than attaching the metal arm to his stump.
In the beginning, there had been times where James had wondered whether what he was doing was right. The memories of his months in the US Army had never returned, he hardly ever left the secret Hydra facility somewhere in the Siberian wilderness unless for his missions, and all he could refer to were the information Hydra gave him. However, he had soon realised that it was much easier to simply follow orders without asking too many questions. He had learned to suppress his feelings and to stay cool no matter the situation. This attitude had soon awarded him the code name Winter Soldier.
“You should save your power for the enemy,” the tall man now said handing James a bottle of water. General Hermann Schulz was James’ commander-in-chief and the only one who didn’t fear the Winter Soldier. “We cannot have you hurt our own agents.”
“Agents,” James laughed darkly. “Those maggots wouldn’t survive a single day in the wild.”
“These are some of our best agents. They have all proven themselves in battle and have therefore been chosen to be your training partners.”
James mockingly raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Instead he took a gulp from the bottle and then pointed with his thumb behind him. “Who’s she?”
A spark of surprise flickered in Schulz’s eyes but he hid it quickly and beckoned the girl over to them. She was petite but athletic, not older than twenty, and her long darkish red hair was tied together in a high ponytail.
“This is Natalia Romanova,” Schulz said and laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. “She is one of our most promising recruits and I want you to teach her.”
“Teach her?” James repeated in disbelieve. “I don’t teach girls. I don’t teach anybody!”
“You will teach her.”
“Over my dead body. I’m not a kindergartener!”
“Are you afraid I could beat you, soldier?” Natalia asked with a cheeky smile.
James felt his jaw drop as he tried to process what he had just heard. No one ever talked to him like this. He knew the toughest and most experienced agents who didn’t even dare to look at him directly. And here was this girl who hardly reached up to his chest and who was so thin that he could easily have snapped her in half with his bare hands – and she just stood there, looked him straight into the eyes and asked the most provocative question he had ever heard.
Oh, he would teach her alright! Teach her to respect him, teach her the pain of endless training and unquestioning obedience.
“Tomorrow, 6 a.m. sharp, this place,” he growled and left for the showers without looking back.