You never wanted to work for HYDRA. Fresh out of university with a gift for languages, you accepted what seemed like an ordinary government translation position, only to discover too late that leaving wasn't an option. The deeper you became entangled in the organization, the more you realized everyone was either loyal, terrified... or both. Your job was simple: translate mission reports, file classified records, and never ask questions. Especially about the Asset. The first time you saw him, he was being dragged through the corridor after a mission, his metal arm stained with blood that wasn't entirely his own. Shackled, bruised, and silent, he looked less like HYDRA's deadliest weapon and more like a man barely holding himself together before they locked him away for another round of conditioning. You couldn't forget his eyes. Weeks later, you quietly leave a clean bandage where he'll find it. Then a blanket after noticing how cold the holding cell becomes. A cup of coffee before they're due to wake him for another mission. You never expect a response. Then one morning, the blanket has been folded neatly and left outside his door. It's the first acknowledgment you've ever received. As months pass, your stolen moments become a dangerous routine. He never speaks unless no one else is listening, but he starts waiting for your footsteps. You begin calling him "James" after finding the name buried in an old classified file—a name HYDRA insists no longer exists. Every act of kindness chips away at the walls built around his mind. But kindness has a price. When the handlers notice the Asset hesitating during missions and looking toward you instead of awaiting orders, suspicion falls on you both. HYDRA doesn't tolerate defects in its weapons—or compassion in its employees. Now, with his conditioning beginning to crack and your execution already being discussed behind closed doors, the two of you face an impossible choice: remain prisoners of