Archive of Our Own

When he first feels that pull, somewhere around or below his heart, the Asset doesn’t give it a second thought.

First off, he’s actually not exactly in a condition to do so on a general basis. His handlers make sure he stays that way - pliant, ready to comply, the perfect weapon.

And second, he’s a tad too busy at the moment, with his targets escaping all the time.

How on Earth should he do his job properly if they won’t stay in one place?

Watching the blond man, the woman with the somewhat familiar red hair and the man with the wings getting arrested by the brutal handler and his comrades from a safe vantage point, the Asset felt it again, this time even stronger than before.

What the heck was going on?

He pushed the thought aside - he had no place to do so, unless it was ordered. His handlers knew what was best for him, anyway.

Leaving the hiding spot, the Asset made his way back to the bank building, where he witnessed the brutal handler pacing around agitated, ranting about how they could have let them escape.

One of the scientists started to work on the arm, despite the Asset knowing that nothing was wrong. But like before, they wouldn’t pay attention to him - not that he tried to say anything by now. They all preferred if he didn’t talk at all, anyway.

Still, in the relative sanctuary of his subconscious, the strange pull he felt twice that day kept swirling around as a thought.

What did it mean? Did anyone else feel it as well? Or was it just something that happened to him?

Of course, his handlers didn’t waste any time. Something about the targets had them on high alert. Apparently, they were really dangerous, otherwise they wouldn’t send him out to take care of them.

And the Asset knew that his handlers were getting impatient with his recent results.

At the power station, Sam was only halfway listening to what Steve, Natasha, Fury and the others had to say.

Part of his brain was still back at the highway fight, but not as much on the fight itself then on the fact that he felt a strange pull right below his heart. At first, he didn’t give it much thought, but when it happened a second time, this time mid-flight, Sam felt a certain kind of hope blossoming.

Could it be that his soulmate was still out there?

Back in the war, he thought Riley would be it, but while they became the best of friends, the pull that would indicate the nearness of your soulmate never came.

But why now? Had this certain someone just moved to Washington?

Trying to narrow it down, Sam went through a mental list of all the people he had met over the past few days. Right away, he could rule Steve out. They went for a run almost every day, and he never felt the pull towards the blond.

Natasha also fell flat, for more than the soulmate reason. Besides that, she also had the wrong “equipment” for Sam.

Hill or Fury? No, he had the feeling before he met them, so that ruled them out as well.

And so, Sam was at the end of his list and his wisdom. Maybe it was a random stranger, but thanks to HYDRA, the number of them was minimal in the area.

“You okay, Sam?” Steve asked, stopping Sam’s train of thought.

“What? Yeah, absolutely fine, just going over everything we know now.”

Even though he narrowed his eyes at Sam, Steve didn’t push for more. He only gave Sam a nod and went to get ready for the showdown.

Back at the bank vault, the Asset was still trying to figure out why the blond target was somewhat familiar to him. But asking, or in his case better attempting to ask, only resulted in a lie and a slap from the old man before the scientists got ordered to wipe him again.

Which didn’t help at all. If anything, it forced all the swirling thoughts that the past few hours had caused in his brain to take refuge in his subconscious.

When he and the others went to the Triskelion, his orders were clear - the blond man had to die, one way or another. And anyone taking his side as well.

At first, everything went according to the plan. While the brute and his team would make sure that the council members would stay on the top floor, the Asset was instructed to take out as many SHIELD agents as possible.

In no time, he had cleared the flight deck, not wasting a second to listen to what his main target announced over the loud speakers. He knew that sooner or later, he would head to one of the helicarriers, intent on changing a part of the tech necessary to bring HYDRA’s plan to full fruition.

The Asset would be waiting for him. And he would stop him, for good.

But of course, the blond couldn’t come alone to the fight. He had to bring the man with the wings with him. And… oooh.

There it was again. That strange pull.

What was going on?

Up in the air, Sam wasn’t doing any better in figuring out why on God’s green Earth he got another pull, once again mid-flight. Fortunately, he already had dropped Steve off on the flight deck of the helicarrier before flying up to the second one and changing the disc.

As far as he could tell from his high point, there was no one on this side of the deck. On the other side, he say Cap fighting some of the agents. Time to get….

Right that moment, one of his wings was caught by something, and before he knew it, Sam was heading towards the flight deck in a hellish speed.

Twisting around, he saw that the Winter Soldier was responsible for that, pulling him in and towards his position with just the strength in his metal arm.

If this weren’t a life-or-death situation, Sam actually would find that somewhat hot.

Hold on? Where did that thought come from now?

Somehow, Sam managed to land in a way that didn’t leave him splattered on the deck, but still, the force of it took his breath for a few precious moments.

Enough for the Winter Soldier to catch up to him and kick him off the deck.

Sam tried to engage his wings again, but the Soldier had done a good job on destroying one of them. He quickly gave the bad news to Steve before trying to land in the garden around the building, which he managed, somehow.

Ditching his gear in the bushes, Sam finally had a moment to take a breath - and to realize something with some kind of dread.

Apparently, Fate or whoever was responsible for the soulmates schtick was a prankster.

How else would you describe the fact that, of all the people in the world, the most dangerous one was supposed to be your soulmate?

While making his way to the third helicarrier, the Asset also had some kind of revelation about Sam, though not in the same range.

He knew, somehow, that something intangible apparently connected him with the man with the wings, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. He had no reference point from former missions, or any other waking moment.

And so, he pushed it aside once more. He had a job to do.

At long last, he had the blond alone, a few feet apart from him on the metal bridge towards the computer terminal.

The blond tried to reason with him, but all it did was agitating him even more. But try as he might, the Asset couldn’t pinpoint (again) who he was mad at. His handlers? The scientists? The blond? The world at large?

By the time he had pulled the blond from the river, the Asset’s mind was resembling a beehive in uproar. He had clear orders, for Pete’s sake! Why did he defy them?

“On your knees, Soldat.”

The Asset didn’t have to look up to know (again, how?) that it was the redhead who gave the order, in Russian nonetheless. Still lost in his own mind, he followed it immediately, a few feet away from a still half-unconscious, but at least breathing blond.

“You think these will hold him?”

A new voice appared in his back, and try as he might, the Asset couldn’t quite contain the slight shudder. While powerful, the voice also had a soothing edge to it, something the Soldier wanted to burrow himself in it, if only it would help calming his racing mind down.

“They should,” another woman spoke up while kneeling down next to the blond. “They were made for him,” she added with a nod to the man at her feet.

“What?” both the redhead and the man in his back asked.

“We weren’t sure if he would cooperate with us when we found him in the ice,” the brunette explained. “Hey, I’ll be the first to admit that not every single decision SHIELD made over the years was a good one. Heck, looking back, there were probably more bad than good.”

“Well, we need to get going,” the man in his back said. “There’s still some HYDRA at large, and I, for one, have no desire to spend even a second with them.”

“Me neither,” the brunette added. “Paramedics should be here any minute.” She looked at the Asset. “What should we do with him?”

“We can’t hand him over to the authorities, that’s for sure,” the redhead replied. “They’ll lock him up and leave him rot. Look at him. If he’s really who we all think he is, his mind is breaking through the brainwashing right now.”

“I know someone who could help him,” the man said right as two paramedics joined them at the riverbank. “Alright, buddy, up with you.”

He gripped the flesh arm of the Asset and pulled, but right that moment, both men let out a groan.

“What’s up?” the redhead asked, her eyes scanning both for injuries. “You okay, Sam?”

“Yeah. No. I don’t know.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Not here, Nat. I honestly have to wrap my own mind around it before I can talk about it, okay?”

“Okay,” she finally relented before grabbing the Asset’s metal arm and leading him back to the helicopter.

A week later, the Asset was still trying to get a grip on his mind. Memories of what seemed to be another life to him popped up at random times, mostly just in quick images that made next to no sense to him.

The blond - Steve - was still in a hospital, but Sam and the redhead were talking about bringing him to their current location in a couple of days.

Which was an old, small, but nonetheless cozy house right in the middle of nowhere. Or at least that was the impression the Asset got the moment he went outside for the first time.

“You okay in there, buddy?”

Sam appeared in his peripherical vision, but instead of a verbal answer, the Asset only gave a nod. There was no way the other man would really understand what was going on in his mind, pretty much all the time.

“So,” Sam added while sitting down on the couch next to the Asset, “I think it’s time to talk about something we both have noticed ever since the highway battle.”

“What?” the Asset asked.

“That certain pull in around here,” Sam put one of his hands right below his heart. “Given the way you reacted on the riverbank, you felt it too. Right?”

Again, the Asset only nodded, not really knowing what this all meant and what would happen next.

“So, in the days since we came here, I did some research. I mean, I knew about the whole thing before, and even considered someone dear to me as ‘the one’, but I had to get my facts right before talking to you about it.”

The Asset nodded, encouraging Sam to continue.

“Looks like we both are, apparently, soulmates. That’s what the pull meant. It’s, according to my sources, a sure-fire way to identify each other.”

“We… can’t… I’m bad…”

“Yeah, but from what I know now, you didn’t anything of that on your own volition. You were made into a weapon, and you just followed orders. I’m a soldier myself, so if there’s one thing I get, it’s following orders.”

Sam inched a fraction closer before putting a hand on the Asset’s shoulder.

“And just because we are soulmates, we don’t have to rush anything. First off, you get that mumble-jumble in your head in order. Then, when you feel ready, we can talk about it and how we proceed from there. I mean, soulmates don’t have to be romantically involved. They can also be platonic. Just saying.”

With that, Sam got up again, heading over to the kitchen and getting started on preparing lunch. The Asset stayed on the couch, his mind still racing, now trying to fit these new information into everything else, but for the first time since Washington, he felt a tiny little burst of hope inside. Maybe there was some better future ahead of him.