It was a long shot, and he knew it.

There were quite a few variables that would have to fall into precisely the right place for him to even have the chance to attempt this. And even if the variables were in his favor, what were the odds of this even working? Most, if not all of the test subjects for this project had already been… disposed of. Were any of them even still alive?

He wasn't even sure if the research had been completed. He knew that they had come close to finishing it, excruciatingly close, but whether or not the objective had been met remained a mystery. The higher-ups had decided to terminate the project, deeming it too risky to continue, due to the Avengers breathing so closely down their necks.

Still, Oskar was not one to give up so easily.

It had taken nearly everything he had to make it back here. After several flights, many hours spent on multiple buses, and one very long hike, he had exhausted nearly all of his resources. It would all be worth it, he decided, once he finally reached his destination.

And reach it he had.

He could still remember, almost three years ago, his narrow escape from this very facility. His egress was not an easy one; he'd walked several days to make it to the nearest city (which really wasn't very near at all), only to find it teeming with SHIELD agents. Luckily, he was trained for situations like this. HYDRA didn't mess around.

After making a quick payphone call to a Swiss bank, he hopped a bus to Berlin, where he met up with an old friend and HYDRA apologist who forged him a new passport with a new name. He then boarded a small charter flight to Dubai, where he'd been biding his time until now.

HYDRA contacted him of course. He had hoped it would be to congratulate him, but instead, they reprimanded him, stripped him of his agent status, and put him on their watch list. Now he was wanted, not only by SHIELD and Interpol, but by HYDRA itself.

This enraged Oskar. Why would they do such a thing? He'd been loyal from the very beginning! Who had activated the Winter Soldier while still inside the Avengers Compound? Him! Who had eliminated several dozen SHIELD agents in their tracks? Him!

Who had successfully recaptured Experiment 13 and brought her back to base?

HIM!

He spent a great many long, contemplative hours trying to decide what to do next and how to regain their favor. He didn't want revenge. No! He wanted the praise he was rightfully owed! He was a hero! He accomplished what no other HYDRA agent was ever able to do! Shouldn't he be rewarded for that?

And then, one night, after too many drinks and not nearly enough sleep, it came to him.

Project Everest.

It had been "discontinued" long before he became an agent, but there were a few facilities still working on it, secretly, out of view of the higher-ups, one of which happened to be the base he used to be stationed at.

However, now that the Avengers knew about that compound, it would be much more difficult to regain entry. Much of it had been destroyed in their attempt to rescue Experiment 13 (a successful attempt, unfortunately) and SHIELD had ransacked it afterward, taking every file and downloading all the information they could off the hard drives. They had added it to their current registry of known HYDRA bases (because why would they not), which meant regular satellite surveillance and recording would be the norm.

Oskar knew this. He was no fool. He knew that it would take skill to reenter the base. That's why, for the last six months, he'd been planning, plotting, figuring out the minutiae down to the smallest of details. And now, finally, all of his planning would come full circle, and his most ingenious of ideas would come to fruition.

He just had to get inside first.

It was exactly as he'd last seen it. SHIELD had done their best to cover the gaping hole in the building's exterior where the Hulk had smashed his way inside, but it was crudely done with nothing more than a heavy duty tarp and some screws. They obviously didn't think anyone would try to come back here.

He knew that, since there had been a battle here only a few years prior, this base would have stricter surveillance than some of the others. He also knew from his HYDRA training and general military background that the field cameras SHIELD used to keep an eye on these abandoned locations were relatively low tech; they took a picture of the area every two minutes or so and only sounded the alarm if there was a significant difference in the photos. That meant that he had two minutes to cut through the tarp, get inside, and patch it up enough so that the camera couldn't tell any difference.

He knew from his research that there were four cameras watching the outside and two indoors, one in the records room and the other in the main laboratory. It was highly probable that they'd hacked into the existing security cameras as well, but he wasn't too worried about those. They were live cameras but they didn't record, and who would be sitting around doing nothing but watching an abandoned HYDRA base all day?

He watched the camera trained on the tarp for a few minutes, observing the small green indicator light that briefly lit up each time a picture was taken. He wanted to make sure he was timing his entry just right. If previous practice attempts were accurate, he would have just enough time to get inside, provided everything went as smoothly as it was supposed to.

The second the indicator light dimmed once more, he sprung into action.

With a flick of his pocket knife, a rip in the tarp was made near the bottom, big enough for him to crawl through. He quickly pulled his backpack inside and realigned the ripped edges of the tarp before securing them on the inside with duct tape. From the outside, no one would ever be able to tell a difference.

After slipping his backpack over his shoulders once more, he pulled out a flashlight and started walking down the oh-so-familiar hallways and corridors, taking in the damage and disrepair that surrounded him. There were very few windows in the facility, so sunlit areas were few and far between. Luckily, he knew his path by heart.

It was neither the records room nor the laboratory that he was headed, but a small separate lab tucked away in the back of the building. The deterioration grew worse the closer he got. The walls, floors, and even the ceiling were covered in noticeable water damage. He could see patches of black mold growing in some areas and stopped short to retrieve a few more items from his pack. A respirator, safety goggles, thick gloves, and a Tyvek suit. Donning his safety gear, he continued his trek, sloshing through several inches of stagnant water in his heavy-duty combat boots.

The lab itself was worse than anything he could have imagined on his own.

The entire room was filled with at least half a foot of sludgy green water. Black mold grew up and down the walls and ceiling, covering as much available space as it could find. The furniture, the equipment, papers, books… All of it was strewn about haphazardly like gale force winds had blown through that room and that room only. In the center of the room was a table covered in broken, rotting leather straps.

He was definitely in the right place.

Slowly, he trudged his way through the muck towards the table, hoping and praying that all of this effort would be worth it, that he would meet his end goal. He knelt down next to it and looked at its underside. Slowly, he moved his hand around underneath the table, feeling for something, anything, until the smallest of grooves made itself known. He pushed his finger into the groove and heard a slightly muffled but very satisfying click. Peering underneath, he saw that a small portion of the table's underside had slid inward and away, revealing a small cranny. With shaking hands, he reached inside.

And there it was.

A small, completely untouched USB drive.

If Oskar was in any other circumstances he would've cheered. Here, in his extremely dirty but still very dry hands, was the key to his reinstatement, the solution to his problem. A wide, menacing grin grew on his face as he stared at it. On this small flash drive was every file, every bit of research, every piece of information known about Project Everest. He was now in possession of some of the most precious and powerful information on the planet.

And it was his for the taking.

And here, finally, basking in the fruits of his labor, he allowed himself to utter one small simple phrase, two words that had never left his mind, words that he had been saving for this very moment in time:

"Hail HYDRA."

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! Thank you to everyone who voted and suggested names for this story. I'll be doing my best to update weekly, but life is crazy (when is it not) so be please be patient.

I created a Tumblr for my writing as well! You can hear about updates, request stories, and ask my characters questions. Just copy and paste this link: .com

Happy reading! -Ella