The Winter Soldier barely stirred as he heard the shuffling of heavy footsteps outside his cell. He tightly closed his eyes as he waited for the pain that he knew would soon follow.

A loud screech sounded as the rusty door was shoved open. He concentrated on controlling his heart rate so they wouldn't know how afraid he really was. A thud followed by a quiet whimper alerted him that someone else was now sharing his cell. The door clanged shut signaling the two were now alone.

He opened his eyes to see Kobik hunched over on the floor. "Tweety?" He softly whispered as he let out a sigh of relief. She was still alive. In spite of all their cruelty, somehow they had enough decency to let her live in spite of her betrayal.

But she didn't even glance up at him. Instead she crawled away and shrunk into the corner farthest away from him. Her shoulders quivered as she desperately tried to back further into the wall.

"Tweety?" He again whispered. Maybe she hadn't heard him, but the sinking feeling in his stomach said otherwise.

When she finally looked at him, pure terror filled her normally cheerful blue eyes. And that was when he knew that the happy and carefree Tweety was gone. They had finally broken her just as they had him. Her laughter and singing would now be replaced by cries of fear and pain. Tweety was gone just as the person he was before was gone. All that remained of both of the them was Kobik and the Winter Soldier.

"Kobik?" He finally whispered.

She jolted up at his voice and for a split second he thought Tweety had somehow broken through. But then her quiet voice told him otherwise. "Ready to comply."

***

Kobik sighed as she slid down into position. She had finally been deemed ready for her first mission. Her partner, the Winter Solider, should be arriving soon. He had failed to eliminate their target earlier so she had been brought in to finish the job.

She shifted nervously as she glanced towards the empty apartment where they believed their target to be hiding. Why they couldn't just go in and finish the job, she had no idea.

But that wasn't the plan.  She has heard the plan over and over again, but for some reason it had suddenly changed. Something about the launch date being moved up.

It hadn't made sense to her at all, but it wasn't her job to lead the team. Her job was to eliminate threats. Threats that sought to halt and destroy Hydra's rise to power. And today, that threat was Nicolas J. Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Kobik sighed again as she adjusted her gun. She gazed briefly through the scope watching for any indication of movement within the small apartment. Annoyed with the lack of movement, she adjusted her earpiece that she had earlier connected to a bug inside the apartment to focus on the soothing music that had been left playing.

She smiled to herself as she heard the sound of a door slowly opening. Someone was most definitely home. "Show time." She whispered quietly under her breath as she glanced around for the Asset. He still wasn't here.

"Target in sight." She softly whispered into her comms as she adjusted the gun in her hands. The music playing in the room immediately grew louder. She rolled her eyes to herself. Did they seriously believe she was stupid enough to not know they were having a highly classified conversation?

"Take the shot." The order came through.

The girl nodded as she focused on the target. She slowly shifted her finger towards the trigger just as a blonde haired man moved into the frame.

The girl bitterly swore as she waited for him to move out of her way. She sighed again. She supposed she could be patient this one time and allow him one last conversation with his friend before she killed him. After all, it was the least she could do.

She glanced back behind her to see the Winter Soldier had finally arrived.  "You're late." She saucily began as she turned back to focus on the target.

"You know what to do?" He seriously asked.

The girl rolled her eyes as she again focused on the target. "I'm not stupid." She muttered as she again focused on the target. Would it kill blondie to move? She did have a schedule to maintain.

The blonde man finally turned and she pressed the trigger to take the shot. As she fired she jolted the gun in shock, she knew the blonde haired man.

Time seemed to stand still as the gun fell from her hands. She knew that man and for some odd reason she knew she shouldn't be afraid of him, even though she had just killed a man in front of him.

The next moment she felt herself being lifted. "You shouldn't still be here." The Winter Soldier roughly warned.

"I know him." She pointed towards the apartment. "The man with blonde hair. I know him."

"How?" He questioned

"I don't know." She rapidly shook head. "I need to think."

"Finish the mission, Kobik." He motioned for her to leave as he set her down.

"It's important." Her voice grew shrill. "I have to remember. He's important."

"Complete the mission." He gruffly ordered as he again motioned for her to flee.

"What about you?" She whined as she stared up at him.

"I'll be fine." A small smile appeared on his face. "Go."

She let a deep sigh and nodded before she scampered silently away. She knew his job was now to verify that her victim really was dead. Her job was to meet her handlers as the rendezvous point.

Within minutes she had met both her handlers and was in a helicopter zooming away from the Winter Soldier. Her two handlers, Rumlow and Dare, were too engrossed in an argument to pay any attention to her.

The small girl hugged her knees as she cowered by herself near the parachutes. Seeing she was safely alone, she began to hum to herself as she played with a necklace they had allowed her keep. A rare smile appeared on her lips as she slowly ran her fingers over the letters.

She didn't know how she had gotten the necklace or who it belonged to, but for some reason, it made her safe.

"That's a pretty song."

The little girl jerked up the moment she realized one of her handlers were talking to her. She glanced nervously up while avoiding eye contact.

The woman smiled and slid down next to her. "This will all be over soon, darling." She nodded in a way that made Kobik think she was saying it more for her own benefits than for the little girl's. "Soon all of us will be able to go home and leave this all behind."

Kobik remained quiet in spite of the incessant number of questions that were now racing through her head.

"I have a little girl around your age." The agent quietly continued. "I haven't seen her in so long." She sighed. "I think you two could be friends."

Kobik again remained quiet in spite of the woman's comments. It was better to remain quiet and not be punished, then it was to speak and be forced to undergo the dreaded reprogramming.

Eventually the agent stopped trying to speak to her, and Kobik was able to again think about home. But in spite of her best efforts, the idea was a foreign concept. She could remember nothing before she became an agent for Hydra. Small tears slowly grew in her eyes as she drifted off to dream of home she had never had and one she believed she would never find.

***

Kobik awoke with a start. She shifted uncomfortably as she tried to determine exactly where she was. Her memories slowly drifted back as she remembered the Winter Solider, killing her target, the helicopter ride, and that blonde haired man.

Hearing voices, she quickly hopped to her feet and crept towards the door to her room. Although in all honestly, she now saw it as nothing more than a cage. Seeing the door left opened she gingerly shoved it open so that she could slip silently through.

She noiselessly crept towards the Common Area of the Hydra base she was staying at. It was pretty standard. A small kitchen, a couple worn out chairs and a threadbare couch that looked like it had been picked up by the side of the road. There was also an old tv that was very pixelated, but still somehow managed to work.

"Where is she?" Dare shrieked. "Where is my baby girl?" Her voice grew in volume as the desperation in her voice increased. "I've done everything they've asked of me." She sobbed. "I just want to take her home."

"Ask Garrett and Pierce." Rumlow bitterly muttered.

"Pierce is dead and Garrett is too busy with his own personal vendettas." She shouted. "I want my daughter."

"You think I like this situation?" His voice grew. "I was turned into a lab rat so that I can babysit the kid while that double you created is off wreaking havoc on S.H.I.E.L.D." He pointed at himself. "And what do I get? Nothing. Not one cent because everyone who was anyone is dead or hiding for their lives."

"All you care about is money while my daughter is lost who knows where!" She shrieked as she began to grip her head in her hands. "I betrayed S.H.I.E.L.D. to save my daughter only to find out everyone who knew where she was is dead."

Rumlow shrugged. "That's not my problem."

"Aren't you going to help me find her?"

"Depends on how much you're paying." A cruel glimmer appeared in his eyes. Kobik shivered as he glanced her way. "I understand that her father may be willing to pay significantly for her safe return."

Dare shook her head as she rose to her feet. "One day." Her voice grew low. "One day, I'm going to make you regret every choice you ever made. I will make you beg and plead until the whole world knows the sniveling fool that you are." She leaned towards him. "And then I will destroy you in the slowest and most painful way imaginable."

Rumlow smirked at her threat. "I look forward to it, doc."

Dare shook her head and then turned to leave. "Watch the child." She sternly ordered as she exited the room without even giving her a second glance.

Rumlow rolled his eyes as he motioned for Kobik to come join him in the common room. He frowned as she slowly crept towards him. "What?" He snapped at her. "No questions?"

The little girl quickly looked down and then shook her head.

"They really screwed you up didn't they?" He asked himself with a shake of the head. "It's over now." He continued. "You don't have to be this Kobik person anymore. Hydra is done; they failed." He sighed. "You can go home."

"Home?" She glanced up at him in surprise. Did she really have one of those?

"Yeah. I'll take you home." He shrugged, "Your old man is loaded; he should pay well."

Her brow furrowed as she stared up at him.

Rumlow frowned. "It means he has a lot of money. You'll basically be a real life princess."

Kobik remained quiet as she began to focus on some pictures that had been haplessly discarded on kitchen counter. Five photos. All of a little girl around her age.

"Ah." Rumlow motioned to the pictures. "The doc's kid."

"She's lost." Kobik finally spoke.

"She's dead." Rumlow shrugged. "Died during the Battle of New York."

"Doesn't she know that?" She pointed in the direction that Dare had gone.

"She went crazy after her death. Still thinks the kid is alive somewhere." He paused. "Certain individuals may have used that to their advantage."

"You?" Kobik's brow furrowed as she stared up at him.

Rumlow smirked. "I'm not the one pulling the puppet strings." He paused. "If I was, I would have done things very differently." He stood up and began to look for something in the refrigerator. He pulled out a drink for himself and then tossed her a juice box. "I see no reason for bringing kids into any of this. There are plenty of adults that are skilled enough to have finished off Fury."

Kobik nodded as quietly watched him turn on the television. "It's all over the news." He quietly began. "Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. are both gone."

The girl stared up at the television screen. Her interest was suddenly piqued as a picture of the blond haired man from the apartment appeared. His name was Steve Rogers. He was an Avenger. She paused as she contemplated why that was important. It meant something, but she couldn't remember what.

She quickly poked her straw into the juice box as she continued to watch the news story.

"And in other news, former S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff has broken her silence regarding her declassifying of confidential documents." Lily glanced up in awe at the television screen. Natasha Romanoff. She knew that name. It was important just like the blonde haired man.

And then it all came back to her. She let out a gasp as she knocked the grape juice all over the counter. Ignoring the now ruined photographs, Lily slowly approached the television. "She's my Auntie Nat."