By the morning, he was nearly drained. He'd managed to drift off and on for some lengths of time. It would have to be enough.
His head was too much of a fog to really let himself think of what had happened last night. Even more so, what was going to happen next. This was dangerous, extremely dangerous, and she possibly had no idea just what they could do to her...
Did he?
He shook his head, letting the shower wash away some of the thoughts. For now. They would return, but he would have assignments to perform today, and he had to focus on them. He had to keep up with everything, be perfect, be who he usually was. Be the Winter Soldier, and everything would have a chance to be safe.
Thankfully, the first session of the day was with fresh recruits; lessons which he had been over enough time that he could do them automatically. There weren't any surprises in this group. Half of them would drop out of the special program before three months were out, stuck as cannon fodder and decorated post-mortem when they could not give out any secret; most of the rest would still die heroically. Maybe two or three of them would be around in two years' time. If they were lucky.
After that, there were drafting assignments. Planning for different types of exercises. With different trainers, different levels of advancement of the students, from the rookies like the kids from this morning to those who were almost ready for missions of their own, work they needed to do...
Like she will be, soon. Too soon.
He carefully put that thought away from his mind and focused on the exercises, setups, traps, plans within plans, probabilities. Numbers and people, same weight, somehow.
"Comrade Winter Soldier."
He was up and at attention without turning around, at that voice. "Comrade General Karpov, Sir!"
"At ease, soldier." So he stood, at ease, but every bit of him presented for inspection. "You look tired."
"I returned from assignment in Algiers yesterday morning in the small hours, sir. Still adjusting."
"Adjusting, da?" The General took out a small knot of keys, his fingers stroking the metal. Even barely seeing them with his peripheral vision, he broke into cold sweat. Dark-cold-quiet-noise-words-concepts-good soldier-serve the Motherland-- "Do you need assistance with that adjustment?"
"Sir, no, sir." Calm. Stay calm. There is nothing to be afraid of. There is no pain that's worse than you need. This is an inspection, not an accusation. Not a threat.
"Good." He seemed to have done something well, because the Comrade General's voice relaxed, sleeked. "This survival program. I want you to rework it with these parameters." The General added a sheet of paper to the open folder. The Winter Soldier didn't look down on it. Whatever it was, he was going to do it, so why mind it sooner? "Understood?"
"Perfectly, sir."
"Good. Good boy. Get to work."
The general walked out, the clipped walk echoing down the hall. The Winter Soldier sat down in his chair - carefully not dropping into it, his arm (mostly) added a lot of weight to his muscled frame; he could find himself on the ground, and that wouldn't do - and turned the sheet around so he could read it.
And his mouth went dry.
He was going to be one of the two in charge of the survival exercise; that much he had surmised.
The group was going to contain five students for the first week and only one for the second week.
And, should she make it that long, both weeks would contain Comrade Trainee Natalia Romanova.
His eyes returned to the draft, and his mouth curled. Well, this wouldn't do to challenge her...
He focused back over the draft, this time letting his imagination and training take charge much more freely.
This was going to be complicated. But suddenly, he had something to look forward to. It shouldn't, but knowing he was going to have time, so near... it helped.
So near to her.
He made sure to not run his fingers over his lips at the thought of her, at each time he saw her name, until he was somewhere that he was certain was not observed in any way.
They would... have to talk before that.
All right, his eyes he could rub in public. Or as public as the office he was sitting in was. It was probably going to be a long while before he caught up with sleep.
no subject
His head was too much of a fog to really let himself think of what had happened last night. Even more so, what was going to happen next. This was dangerous, extremely dangerous, and she possibly had no idea just what they could do to her...
Did he?
He shook his head, letting the shower wash away some of the thoughts. For now. They would return, but he would have assignments to perform today, and he had to focus on them. He had to keep up with everything, be perfect, be who he usually was. Be the Winter Soldier, and everything would have a chance to be safe.
Thankfully, the first session of the day was with fresh recruits; lessons which he had been over enough time that he could do them automatically. There weren't any surprises in this group. Half of them would drop out of the special program before three months were out, stuck as cannon fodder and decorated post-mortem when they could not give out any secret; most of the rest would still die heroically. Maybe two or three of them would be around in two years' time. If they were lucky.
After that, there were drafting assignments. Planning for different types of exercises. With different trainers, different levels of advancement of the students, from the rookies like the kids from this morning to those who were almost ready for missions of their own, work they needed to do...
Like she will be, soon. Too soon.
He carefully put that thought away from his mind and focused on the exercises, setups, traps, plans within plans, probabilities. Numbers and people, same weight, somehow.
"Comrade Winter Soldier."
He was up and at attention without turning around, at that voice. "Comrade General Karpov, Sir!"
"At ease, soldier." So he stood, at ease, but every bit of him presented for inspection. "You look tired."
"I returned from assignment in Algiers yesterday morning in the small hours, sir. Still adjusting."
"Adjusting, da?" The General took out a small knot of keys, his fingers stroking the metal. Even barely seeing them with his peripheral vision, he broke into cold sweat. Dark-cold-quiet-noise-words-concepts-good soldier-serve the Motherland-- "Do you need assistance with that adjustment?"
"Sir, no, sir." Calm. Stay calm. There is nothing to be afraid of. There is no pain that's worse than you need. This is an inspection, not an accusation. Not a threat.
"Good." He seemed to have done something well, because the Comrade General's voice relaxed, sleeked. "This survival program. I want you to rework it with these parameters." The General added a sheet of paper to the open folder. The Winter Soldier didn't look down on it. Whatever it was, he was going to do it, so why mind it sooner? "Understood?"
"Perfectly, sir."
"Good. Good boy. Get to work."
The general walked out, the clipped walk echoing down the hall. The Winter Soldier sat down in his chair - carefully not dropping into it, his arm (mostly) added a lot of weight to his muscled frame; he could find himself on the ground, and that wouldn't do - and turned the sheet around so he could read it.
And his mouth went dry.
He was going to be one of the two in charge of the survival exercise; that much he had surmised.
The group was going to contain five students for the first week and only one for the second week.
And, should she make it that long, both weeks would contain Comrade Trainee Natalia Romanova.
His eyes returned to the draft, and his mouth curled. Well, this wouldn't do to challenge her...
He focused back over the draft, this time letting his imagination and training take charge much more freely.
This was going to be complicated. But suddenly, he had something to look forward to. It shouldn't, but knowing he was going to have time, so near... it helped.
So near to her.
He made sure to not run his fingers over his lips at the thought of her, at each time he saw her name, until he was somewhere that he was certain was not observed in any way.
They would... have to talk before that.
All right, his eyes he could rub in public. Or as public as the office he was sitting in was. It was probably going to be a long while before he caught up with sleep.