важные уроки

Important Lessons

Veronika stood patiently with her back to the brick wall, staring thoughtfully into the darkness as she waited. Her fingers tapped rhythmically against the wall in time with her chewing of the bright pink bubble gum in her mouth. The night before her offered its own noises to mask her own, ensuring her stealth while her target took his sweet ass time reaching her.

Two years.

Two painstakingly long and painful years filled to the brim with owed favors and empty promises she had sunk into finding a ghost story that she was unfortunately all too familiar with. And what did she have to show for it?

Hopefully – after tonight – the location of his next target.

Hunting down the Winter Soldier had proved to be just as difficult as Veronika had anticipated, if not more so. His reputation as a ghost was one he and his superiors had literally killed to maintain. Veronika herself had nearly been added to his kill count more than once. Those encounters were… unpleasant to remember, to put it lightly.

Such as the time his bullet had managed to hit her in the shoulder.

Veronika stepped around her cover, aiming her pistol at the spot the Soldier's head had been mere moments ago. Now, he was nowhere to be seen. Cursing to herself, she turned around to see if he was trying to sneak up on her. That was her big mistake.

The bullet ripped through her shoulder blade, causing her to jerk forward and press the hand not wielding her gun against the wound as blood made her hand slick. By the time she turned back to her original position, he had managed to disappear yet again.

Escaping from the abandoned warehouse without running into the Soldier again had been one of the more challenging instances of Veronika's career, but it also taught her a lesson – never turn your back on a ghost.

Or the time she realized he could be affected by words.

With both their weapons long ago lost, Veronika and the Winter Soldier had resorted to fighting each other with their fists. It didn't take long before they had ended up on the ground, locked in a wrestling match that neither could quite gain the upper hand in.

It was when he flipped her onto her back by slipping his leg between hers and jerking her to the side that she had gasped, trying to suck in any available air after her back slamming into the cement had knocked it out of her.

"Slow your roll, lover," she had groaned breathlessly. "I didn't bring any protection."

The words had triggered something in him, his grip on her tightening painfully before he pushed himself away from her. She didn't have more than a second to consider why he reacted the way he did before he was digging the heel of his foot into her gut. Luckily she had been able to escape by twisting his ankle, but it had been yet another close encounter.

This taught her yet another valuable lesson – only tease a ghost if you're willing to deal with the consequences.

Or the time had had recognized her.

"I remember you, y'know," he had called into the darkness, taunting her as she hid from him. She worked hard to keep her breathing under control, though she couldn't say the same for her heartbeat as his words echoed between the snow covered trees.

"I've never forgotten the precious Black Widows. I'll be the first to admit that the Wolf Spiders were a mistake, but you girls? You really were something. Especially you and your sister… What was her name again? Natalia? Maybe after I finish with you, I'll track her down. Send her your regards."

If Veronika hadn't been trained to tune out such threats, the mention of her Lia would have sent her running after the Soldier and to her ultimate demise. Thankfully, she was smarter than that. He hadn't been able to find her that day before being called back in to Hydra.

This had been perhaps the most valuable lesson Veronika learned about the Winter Soldier - he had never been ordered, or even authorized, to kill her.

The quiet brush of shoes against concrete returned Veronika's mind to the task at hand, her hands stilling over the brick as she waited for the figure to pass by her hiding spot. She had been sure to choose a spot not too far off from the hidden facility, but still close enough to where she would be positive he would have to take this route. He hadn't disappointed.

The man had barely stepped in front of the darkened alleyway before he felt a hard grip on his shoulder, dragging him into the shadows. His first reaction was to fight back, but the hand slipping form his shoulder to his dominant wrist severely limited that option while twisting him until his cheek dug harshly against the bricks.

"Here's how this is going to play out," a voice whispered in his ear, the tone tinged with a strange sweetness that sounded much more threatening than kind. "I'm going to ask a question, and then you are going to answer it truthfully. For every lie you are going to have one more broken bone. If that doesn't work, I'll start taking limbs. Got it?"

This was an interrogation then. Time for Plan B. The edges of the brick cut into his cheek as he opened his mouth wide enough to work his tongue over his back molars, feeling for the difference between bone and plastic.

"Afraid I can't let you do that, you sly devil."

Just as the man had worked the false tooth from his gums, a hand was shoved into his mouth along with something sticky and… sweet? The foreign substance was wrapped around is backup plan before it was stolen from him. Once the hand was in front of his eyes, he was able to identify the material that encased his fake tooth as bubble gum.

"Now that you can't go killing yourself before we have the chance to have a proper conversation…"

The man was turned so that his back was now pressed to the wall, the face of his attacker finally revealed to him. His first thought was that of vague recognition, as if he had seen her before in passing. His second was that he hadn't been trained for this situation.

Veronika smiled at the man as hesitance became apparent in his eyes, patting his shoulder reassuringly. He didn't look anywhere near old enough to be mixed up with an organization like Hydra – but then again, she had been recruited for the Red Room at the ripe young age of nine. "Poor baby. Don't worry, I'm not one to break my word. If you simply answer my questions, I promise not to hurt you. Fair enough?"

Again his nerves were apparent as he paused before nodding. In a show of good faith, Veronika removed her hands from his shoulders.

He tried to run. If he could make it back to the quarters he shared with the other trainees quickly enough, perhaps his tardiness would be excused with only a light punishment. It was unlikely, but being thrown in solitary for a few days would surely be better than whatever this woman had intended for him.

With a regretful sigh Veronika latched onto the collar of his shirt, throwing him roughly back down the alleyway. He skidded across the concrete as she walked over to him lying on the ground. "Now, now," she tutted lightly. "Running wasn't part of the deal. I'm going to have to hurt you now."

Before he could get out more than a groan in protest, his pinky finger was bent at an unnatural angle and sending strong signals of pain to his screaming brain. He tried to yank his hand out of the woman's to cradle it against his chest, but she held firm.

"Oh, don't whine. I know that they do much worse to you in training. Unless they haven't taught you how to survive torture yet – in which case, I would be very afraid right about now if I were you."

"Hydra fears nothing." He had intended for his first words contributed to the exchange to sound strong and loyal, and was severely disappointed when they came out as a pained moan instead. This was not going well for him so far.

"Perhaps," Veronika allowed with a small nod. "But you're not Hydra. You're just a kid that can't remember who he is or where he comes from. You're just another body for Hydra to inevitable sacrifice to their Lord and Savior Big Brother. Are you really going to protect them rather than yourself?"

Her words had struck just an inch too close to him for the agent to be comfortable, and for a moment he wondered if she knew who he was – really. Deciding that if he had known a woman like this in his past life then he would rather not remember, he cast those thoughts aside. "Cut off one head – "

"Two more, blah blah blah. I know," Veronika growled with irritation, rolling her eyes. With a twist of her own fingers, another one of his bent with a sickening snap. "Hydra never shuts up about their damned heads. That's not what I asked, however. If you want to keep your fingers, you better start giving smarter answers."

He wanted to be stronger than he was, but the irrefutable truth was that it only took four fingers for the rookie to give in. "Stop, stop! I – I don't know much, but I'll tell you what I do."

Veronika stopped herself before she could break his thumb, though she learned from her last mistake and kept her hand firmly in place. If he didn't answer her truthfully, she might just have to cut the thumb off rather than break it. "That's what I like to hear. So, answer me this sweet cheeks – Where is the Winter Soldier?"

"What?"

"Four, three – "

"I don't know!" he nearly shouted, lowering his voice when he saw anger flash in her eyes. "I don't – I don't know. I'm just a trainee, you think they tell me where and when they're sending out the Asset?"

Veronika froze, her eyes adopting a distant look as her thoughts drifted to a place far away from the dirty, abandoned pathway she found herself in now. The Asset… She had heard that name before. Recently, in fact. Very recently.

The distance slowly burned away into anger, her emotions showing freely on her face for only a moment before she quickly schooled them back into a smile towards the agent she held pinned against the ground. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

The agent was surprised by her change in questioning, but thankful to at least have one he knew how to answer. "Landon."

"You've been an immense help, Landon. Thank you for helping me realize what an idiot I've been."

Landon never had the chance to wonder what she meant by that, all thoughts ceasing when her cold hands wrapped around his neck just long enough to twist it until the pressure became too much for his body to handle. A tingling warmth trickled along the base of his spine the split second before his world went dark, only for him never to see the light again.

Veronika stood from her kneeling position, leaving Landon's corpse in a messy heap behind her without a second thought as she turned on her heel and marched out of the alleyway. Livid was the only word that came to mind when she realized the betrayal her latest source had inflicted upon her.

Zach had just finished updating her on his latest information, and Veronika was preparing to leave when she spotted it. The folder in his hands that he hadn't opened during their meeting, whatever information it contained remaining out of her knowledge. It was unlabeled, but the corner of a wrinkled piece of paper stuck out the side with only one word visible – Asset.

"What's that?" Veronika asked, gesturing towards the paper.

"Nothing you need to know," Zach answered casually, shrugging his shoulders as he tucked the piece of paper back into its folder before zipping it away in his backpack. "It's for a different customer. Must have accidentally pulled it out when I was getting out your things."

It had been a weak excuse. Even at the time Veronika had found the small tremor in his hand as he packed away the information to be suspicious, but her determination to track down her latest lead had overshadowed her logic.

She had allowed her desire to protect Natasha to cloud her judgement. Again.

Veronika reached deep into her jacket pocket, producing a nearly empty pack of gum as she shook her head to herself. Chewing the wad of sugar was an addiction she had developed a few months back, finding the repetitive motion calming when she couldn't seem to reel in her frantic thoughts.

Zach had lied to her. She didn't know why, but she did know that she was going to find out. It was only a day's drive to his current safe house. If she left now, she would make it by early afternoon tomorrow – right as he was waking up, the lazy fucker. Perfect, she thought. Catch him off guard.

Veronika was absolutely seething the entire drive from her motel room to the house a few states over in Nevada. A plane would have been faster, but she didn't have the cash for a ticket. Besides, getting through security with her belongings would have been a pain in the ass. No, it was better to allow her anger towards her source to fester over the next 19 hours as she made her way to the dick's house.

And when she got there, he was going to be none too happy to see her.

Hello again!

Just as I did with Sestra, Prizrak is the Russian title for Ghost.

For those of you that read the other chapter I posted - then quickly deleted - for this story, welcome back! I realized mere hours after starting this story for the first time that I absolutely was not happy with where I was taking it, even from chapter one. I am much happier with this chapter, and the plan I have for Veronika now overall.

I'm not exactly sure when we'll actually be getting into CA:WS territory, but it won't be until chapter three or four- and even then, Veronika won't exactly be on the front lines. In case you've forgotten, she and Natasha didn't part on the best of terms.

I hope this chapter was a sufficient opener for what will hopefully be a worthy sequel to Sestra, and that you will continue to enjoy this story. So, without further ado ...

Chapter 2 Preview

Zach awoke to a cold pressure against his forehead, his eyes fluttering open to a sight that made his hear flutter in an all too unpleasant way.

"Good morning, sunshine!"