[center][img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y6M5--ysq04/VhcSpr3FlhI/AAAAAAAAEMY/noCd0Qi0g8M/w800-h800/Bucky%2BBarnes%252320.gif[/img][/center]

The Asset was prepped. The same routine as always. Remove from cryo, conduct brainwashing procedures, assign target and brief him with the mission. 
Karpov was seething. Red Skull dared to admonish him, to talk down on him and make him rescind a command... It left a bitter taste in Karpov's mouth, humiliated because that damned American foiled his attempt on some worthless reporters life. Red Skull wanted to make a statement, wanted HYDRA to unleash mass terror upon the people and it had all turned to shit. Red Skulls solution was to stay his hand, to let Captain America swoop in and play the hero then swoop out unscathed. Maybe Red Skull could see the bigger picture in the end, but Karpov didn't take defeat lightly and intended to make up for this mistake. 

The bruises and welts beneath the Winter Soldier's combat gear were still fresh from Karpov's relentless beating. His scarred skin was mottled black and blue and angry shades of red and purple, but he didn't complain, he didn't voice his obvious discomfort, then again, if he ever did, when would he stop? His whole body was wracked with pain, the brainwashing, cryo and cybernetic arm were the primary causes for his grievances, but Assets didn't speak, they certainly didn't complain.

[b]<<"Your target is Haines, a reporter. I want her alive, use any means necessary but keep her alive, kill anyone who tries to stop you. Do not fail me this time, do you understand Soldat?">>[/b]
There was no response, which was as good as a confirmation.
[b]<<"Go. You have two hours. Bring Haines back here alive, make sure you aren't followed">>[/b]


[h3][right]New York City,

Roughly 2 a.m. Local Time[/right][/h3]

The Winter Soldier melted into the darkness of the late night streets. Sticking to back alleys and shadowy streets. He avoided being out in the open, there was too much CCTV, too many potential witnesses. In this day and age, it was impossible not to be seen, but at the very least, keeping a low profile, keeping your head down, made it significantly harder to be identified and followed. 

Haines was terrified since her near-assassination and had prepped herself as best she could, lest her attacker returned. The doors were locked, bolted and locked again with a series of locks upon more locks. She answered the door to no one, wouldn't allow anyone in unless they phone called first and explained who they were and why they wanted to be there... Perhaps she was a tad paranoid, but she didn't give a damn, she knew HYDRA were seriously dangerous. If it wasn't for Stephanie Rogers conveniently being at the right place at the right time, Haines knew she'd be a corpse in the morgue right now. 

The Winter Soldier was smarter than the average cat burglar, he wasn't going to use the front door, any idiot would know the door would be heavily bolted shut and to open it, he'd make a racket, or, if he were to pick the locks, it would take too much time. Even apartments had backdoors, though they usually consisted of emergency fire-escapes or windows. Fortunately for Karpov, The Winter Soldier wasn't exactly fussy when it came to breaking an entering. Unfortunately for Haines, it meant she'd set herself a trap. With a heavily bolted door, she'd fenced herself in, no chance of escaping down the halls and crying for help, she'd locked herself in. 

The Winter Soldier scaled the fire-escape stairwell, shrouded in the shadows of the building, at best, the CCTV across the street might have caught a sliver of a figure scaling the stairwell, not much to go on all things considered, it certainly wouldn't be possible to ID him from that footage alone. 
He stopped at the window to Haines' kitchen. The lights were off, he assumed she was asleep in bed, it only made things easier. The windows were bolted shut of course, but a quick peek in revealed that, as he'd suspected, the door was laden with heavy bolts. He could make some noise breaking the window to climb in, even if Haines woke, she had nowhere to run. 

He didn't even flinch, left arm punching through the double-glazing with ease. He hopped over the shattered remains of the window and landed with ease in the darkened kitchen, eyes narrowing and adjusting to the reduced visibility. 
Haines heard a disturbance and switched on her bedside lamp, scrambling in her bedside drawer to get a handgun she'd purchased to defend herself.

It was too late. It was too dark. He was in the room before she could even process what was happening.
[b]"Stop I'll shoo-"[/b] she threatened in a strangled whisper, too scared to shout. Terror gripped her body. 

A hand gripped around her throat, a cold, inhumanly-cold hand knocked the gun from her hands. She flailed, tangling herself in her nightdress rather than escaping the intruders grasp. 
Her hands scrambled up to the lone hand wrapped sturdily around her throat, clawing to no avail, the grip didn't slacken. She was aware she wasn't getting enough air, a whimper barely escaped her before she began to feel dizzy, her vision blurring, she stared at the intruders face, half covered by a black mask, but the eyes ... they burned into her memory before she went limp and passed out. 

The Winter Soldier threw the unconscious body over his shoulder, unaccustomed to taking prisoners, he was more used to taking lives, he had no choice but to skulk down the hall with her, moving quickly, keep his head down. He didn't dare take the front entrance, instead he escaped through the maintenance area, hopping over huge dumpsters into the parking lot on the opposite side of the wall.

He tore open the door of a blue sedan and put Haines in the back, taking a moment to tape her mouth and her hands and legs with duct tape before he slid into the drivers seat in the front and hotwired the car, disappearing into the night, driving around the city to try lose any potential tails. He stopped on the outskirts of the city, handing Haines over to a van of Hydra goon who had been waiting for him, they loaded her into the back of the van and unloaded a motorcycle. The Winter Soldier took the motorbike one direction, the Hydra-van circled in another direction. 

An hour later The Winter Soldier returned to Karpov and confirmed the mission had been a success. Haines was stored in a facility on the other side of the city, groggy, but alive. The Winter Soldier awaited his next command. Haines was alive, but captured. 

Captain America had met the Winter Soldier face to face and stopped his attempt on Haines' life ... now the Winter Soldier had Haines, and Karpov intended to make his revenge personal. Captain America would forever regret foiling Karpov's assassination attempt on live TV, she'd watch the man she let get away execute the target himself, and there was nothing she could do about it. Karpov decided he'd make sure Haines suffered first. Captain America saved her from a quick headshot, only to find her in a much more perilous situation. Assets didn't feel pain or guilt, but Karpov knew that Stephanie Rogers did... 

[b]<<"Soldat. I will need you to contact our friend, the American. This is a particularly important mission, you will answer to no one else until you complete this, not even Red Skull. Do you understand?">>[/b]
The Winter Soldier remained silent, of course he understood. 
[b]<<"Go to Haines, the reporter. Take a photo and deliver it to the American. A simple threat, a warning. Do not engage if you encounter the American ... ">>[/b]

Haines wasn't having a good day ... that was an understatement. Although her captors hadn't roughed her up, her hands were bound, legs bound and her mouth taped. She was still wearing the same dressing gown they'd kidnapped her in and her neck was purpling with bruises. Her head ached, she must have bumped it while she was out-cold but ... they hadn't inflicted any tortures on her ... [i]yet.[/i]
She assumed she hadn't been out for too long, she hadn't gone too far, her captors spoke in English with distinct American accents ... though they kept mentioning "the Russian" and a characters called "The Soldier", sometimes they called him "The Asset". Haines' reporting skills kicked in, she filed away every piece of info she could gather and tried to think of how it might help save her life later. Captain America couldn't protect her down here, she though miserably, but if they hadn't killed her yet ... maybe these idiots thought seh knew something important. She had no idea she was nothing more than a piece of bait in a revenge plot ... But thinking she might be able to save herself, thinking they thought she wasn't easily discarded, gave her hope to try figure a way out of this. 
[i]Tony Stark got out of tougher jams than this ... and beneath that armour hes an arrogant but regular human being ... [/i] she assured herself. 

[b]"Karpov sent his little lapdog, apparently he wants to stick up the middle finger to Captain America. He warned us not to mention anything about her though, after some event in the 70's apparently they get a little jumpy whenever the Soldier's in America"[/b]
The other Hydra agent gave his pal an incredulous look. 
[b]"Thats weird ... I heard he's been in the field since the 50's ... must have hundreds to kills by now ..."[/b] the goon began laughing and done a lousy impression of Karpov's thick Russian accent, [b][i]"Maybe Mother Russia isn't so glorious[/i] and Karpov's scared the Soldier can 'smell the freedom' or whatever garbage he's scared of"[/b]
[b]"Beats me ... I don't care that Karpov's playing house with Red Skull ... I wouldn't cross him while he has the Soldier under his control ... Scares the heck outta me ... No wonder that bitch pissed herself when he broke in"[/b] the goons dissolved into laughter and Haines' felt her cheeks burn, though pissing herself when a 90-year-old super-assassin choked her out was hardly a reason to be embarrassed... Anyone else would do the same. 

Her worst fears were confirmed when a familiar figure appeared. Silent as he had been the first time he'd crossed paths with her. Eerily still and cold, she wondered for a moment if he was robotic ... his arm was at least, but maybe all of him ... Yet ... despite the cold distant, detached gaze, he seemed human ... minus the humanity. She had a name to pin to her abductors face. 

[i]"The Winter Soldier", he has a metal arm with a red star, cold, dead eyes ... he wears a black mask and never speaks. [/i]
The Soldier didn't utter a word as he pulled Haines up on her knees, she knelt infront of him, arms tied behind her back, tears streaking down her face, head pulled back and up by the hair in a cold metal hand, a Russian combat knife pressed to her throat with the other hand, she managed to catch a glimpse of the blade before it was thrust against her neck- There was a serial code ... she wasn't sure if it would be any help, but filed away information for later. It was a KGB issue knife, cleaned and sharpened, if it wasn't regularly maintained it would be rusted away from dozens of uses. 
Bizarrely, he didn't kill her, the HYDRA goons snapped a picture, catching Haines in all her glory ... filthy and kneeling on a dirty floor with tears on her cheeks, her captor was cut off from the shoulders up, but the metal arm was in the picture. Captain America would be able to remember that much at least. 

Then he left. Haines slumped down to the floor and he vanished into the night. 

Captain America's apartment wasn't hard to find, it wasn't under super high-tech security, heck, she was a super soldier, if someone broke in, [i]they[/i] would need protection, not her. But she wasn't there. Breaking in and planting the photo, and a lock of Haines' hair hastily hacked off, was easy and the Winter Soldier vanished without even being seen.