Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The cold air brushed through a tree, pushing the leaves in a direction that wasn't being paid attention to by anyone, least of all the kid who sat at the base of the tree, smoking a cigarette he found from a nearly empty lucky strike box on the floor.

His father would beat him if the old bastard saw this scene, but he was probably too busy being asleep after a long day of work to really notice his son was gone. Nothing new.

His step-sister watched him leave, but she didn't stop him. She'd been there before, sneaking out late at night from stress. She let him run, because that family never believed he could reach the skies. He wasn't born with the wings she was.

The cigarette hit the floor, followed immediately by the boy stomping on it as he pushed himself off the ground. As he went to walk away, he saw something move in the corner of his eye. But when he looked to see what it was, nothing was there.

Nothing could have been there, not without him having already noticed. It wasn't that dark out, on account of the tree being right across from a 24-hour convenience store.
So, he shrugged and kept walking, the rustling of his mother's old jacket hitting his ears as his shoulders relaxed and his hands fell in the pockets of his jeans.

Eventually, the boy made it home, and climbed through his bedroom window. He quickly changed into a ratty singlet and some pajama shorts, scuffed his short hair to make it look like he just woke up, and left his bedroom to grab a glass of water.

As he poured himself a glass, he heard some heavy footsteps from behind him. He turned to see his father, staring him down.
“William Calderon.”

His step-sister listened from the hallway, wincing as she heard the unbuckling of a belt.
“It's shit like this that tells me you don't want to amount to anything in the future.” Their father spoke, his speech a little slurred and laden with disappointment.

If only he was right.

-

It was the 10th of November, 1979, and William had turned eighteen only sixteen days ago. And six days ago, the Iran hostage crisis began. 3000 Iranian radicals invaded the US Embassy in Tehran, and took 90 hostages. 53 of them were American. As the CIA would eventually discover, Perseus was involved.

William didn't want to join the army, and get injured in a war for foreign assets like his father did. But he still wanted his life to mean something.

Getting asked what he wanted to be when he grew up and never really having an answer had taken its effect, because now all he really wanted in life was to mean something to the world.
Hell, he'd even settle for meaning something to someone.
He'd get his chance, alright.

As he sat there eating his breakfast, his father got up from reading the newspaper to use the restroom. Bored and looking for something to do, William glanced at the newspaper. After flicking through a few pages, he found the one on job listings and business advertisements.
Most of them seemed boring or just not for him, but one in particular struck him as interesting.

‘Here at Cosper Solutions, we're looking for young, athletic individuals to try a brand new pharmaceutical product! It's in its early stages right now, and we need good Americans like you to help further this country's intelligence power! Come visit us at our labs in Kentucky, or call us at the following number!’

William jotted the number down on a notepad and ripped the page out, grabbing the home phone and making the call.

A calm, female voice was on the other end. “Good morning, this is Amanda at Cosper Solutions speaking, what can I assist you with today?”
“Yes, my name is William Calderon, I saw your ad in the paper and would like to sign up for the pharmaceutical product you're testing.”

Silence met the young man’s ears for a moment. He almost thought the line went dead, until a click could be heard from the other end, and the lady spoke up again.
“Wonderful! When can you come to our Kentucky location?”

-
Burgas Province, Bulgaria
February 10th, 1991 - 6:00 EET

Case was probably about to wake up, but the thunder went and did it for him anyway. A thunderstorm had hit overnight, and was only starting to die down now.

He got off his mattress in the basement and stretched his back and arms.
Nobody on the team understood quite why he slept there as opposed to any of the beds upstairs. Not even Troy, who'd known him the longest out of them all.

After checking his equipment was still where he left it, he put on his white dress shirt, and covered it up with his “ratty” sweater. Next, he went upstairs and stumbled into the kitchen, where Sev was making a coffee.

She glanced at him, and grabbed a second mug from the cabinet above her head.
“Two coffee six sugar?” She asked, a softness to her voice.
Case just nodded. His eyes didn't look bloodshot, or manic anymore. They looked tired, but peaceful. So she matched that energy with hers, offering a side of happiness that Case’s hadn't reached yet.

“It's good to have you back in action, you know? I mean don't get me wrong, painting your nails orange and walking out with you in the rain was nice, but it's nice to know we can do that again now you're fully present.”
Sev flicked the kettle off and poured the hot water into both mugs, stopping in time to leave room for the milk.

Once they were both poured, she put the milk away and handed the second mug to Case, with a warm smile on her face. “Here you go, sleepyhead!”

Case smiled and took the mug into his hands and blew cool air onto the coffee to cool it down before taking a sip. Hopefully that would give him the kick he'd need to make it through the day.
Though of course, the lightning wouldn't let any of the team leave it up to chance.

Chapter Text

Burgas Province, Bulgaria - “The Rook”
February 11th, 1991 - 22:13 EET

“I honestly find the process of making alcohol quite interesting! But I can never understand how you enjoy such a bitter taste as this cold beer you red-blooded Americans crave so much!” Felix spoke smugly, with a slight tone of mockery for the red, white and blue Woods loved so much.

The balding veteran just chuckled dryly.
“Y'know, seeing how you finally got a hard day's work done back at the casino, I thought you might actually benefit from the rewards you reaped. You might benefit from taking that Stasi stick out your ass some time!”

Felix let out a defeated breath as Woods wheeled away. In fairness, he'd definitely earned such a comment. His past was one he'd come to regret, but he also understood that apologies only so much to the families he destroyed with his efficient work. His skills would have been admirable, if he didn't apply them to such a disgusting role.

Troy was inside, packing his bags for the flight they'd be taking early next morning, when he noticed a tipsy Case about to head upstairs. He quickly grabbed his shoulder and got the man’s attention.
“You gonna talk to Sev, or head to bed? Because it should be the latter. Early flight next morning, remember?”

Case nodded, smiling as he gave a simple reply. “Don't worry bro, I'll be sleeping like a rock no matter what happens tonight!”

Troy just smiled at him. It was that wrinkled little grin he made when he knew it was time to quit while he was behind.
“Have a good night, rags. I'll get Sev to wake you up alright?”

Case continued on his path, turning away from his old friend. “You too, four eyes!”
Case made his way up the stairs, and approached Sev, who was listening to music through her headphones as she sat comfortably on an old burgundy couch seat.

She saw Case approach, but instead of shooing him away, she moved her headphones down around her neck and looked up at him.
“Evening, Case.”

Case was too tipsy to notice the updown she gave him. The last time she gave him one of those, was back when he helped her take out The Guild in Avalon.
“How are you, Sevati?” He smiled. It was a weak, but honest smile. Something about it compelled her to respond.

“Honestly, I'm okay. Tired, but I'm okay. You did good work back at the casino, really took one for the team. You should be proud of yourself.”
She smiled back at him, but began to feel lost when his smile broke a little.

“Everything I do comes so naturally to me. All of the punches, stabs, executions, mercy kills. It all just feels like I'm doing what I was made to. I-”
Something seemingly cut him off from speaking, like he was choking or about to vomit. But he did neither, as his eyes rolled back into his head for what could have only been a second.

When his eyes opened, he almost looked robotic. But before he could say goodbye and dash off to his basement mattress and sleep for the nights Sev grabbed him by the wrist.

“Talk to me, William. You know what I'm talking about.” She looked him in the eyes, and watched the deadpan nature of them turned into what felt to Sev like fear.

-

April 23rd, 1980
Deep in the laboratories of “Cosper Solutions”, somewhere in Kentucky.

The floor was cold. Colder than the water that hit William’s body like a truck. He was being hosed down, but he couldn't remember why exactly. He looked up to see Dr. Gusev talking with what looked like soldiers, in these black heavy duty uniforms. They all held guns, except for the one hosing him down.

Dr. Gusev finished speaking, and left the room. The only words Case could make out from the conversation were “I'm sorry comrade”, followed by the soldier looking confused.

A moment later, a voice came over the room’s intercom. “You know what to do, Case One. You've got a job to do.”

William’s vision began to distort, things seemed like they had a yellow tinge over them, and the men standing in front of him began to dissolve into simple shapes.
He felt the blood rush as he stood up, pushing against the hose and began to walk towards the man spraying it at him.

The soldiers watched with amazement as this man pushed past a heavy duty fire hose and punched the guy in the jaw. As they lifted their rifles from their chests, William reached for the hose and turned it against the soldiers.

While some of them hit the ground, William reached for the nearest soldier’s pistol, drawing it from his holster and shooting the man right through the neck.

Dr. Gusev watched from a camera as William cleared the room of soldiers, all while buck-naked and bruised. Though this time, he wasn't covered in nearly as much blood. He wouldn't need a hose down this time, that was for sure. All the more water to go around!

As his vision returned to normal, William just stood over the mess he made. He didn't drop the pistol in shock, he didn't even feel unwell. Aside from a slight nausea, he was relatively okay. Just numb.

This round was successful.

-

Burgas Province, Bulgaria - “The Rook”
February 11th, 1991 - 23:01

Case was coiled up, lying on the bed with his head in Sevati’s lap. Her fingers ran through his scruffy scalp, soothing him from an episode.

Earlier, she'd walked him to her bedroom and sat him down on the bed, grabbing an old bottle of vodka she'd pocketed from the casino and poured a glass for them both to share.

She wasn't some expert on the human condition, like Felix acted, or like the Dr. Gusev they were about to hunt in Kuwait. So she did what she was good at - manipulating Case into telling her the truth, through a mix of bluntness and comforting words.

It reminded him enough of the doctors back at Cosper Solutions, enough so that he felt he could talk about it. Conversing like one of his doctors was easy for her, given her efficiency in the art of tradecraft.

She'd just discovered that her friend and teammate was practically a war machine. And yet, he didn't feel like one to her. Not while he was coiled in her lap, looking like he was about to fall asleep.

He rotated his body to look up at her. “Has anyone told you you're really pretty, Sevati?”
She giggled softly at his question.
“On occasion, I've been informed. Just the other day, Felix called me handsome in the dumbest way possible. There's no way he actually feels attracted to me, not with all his avoidant behaviour.”

“I don't think he feels love like you and I do, Sev. He's like one of those people that would actually rather die alone.”
Sev nodded. That actually made sense to her.

“You feel love, William?”
She wasn't fully sure as to why she asked that. She definitely didn't love the man in her lap, but something about him definitely caught her attention.

“I like to think so, yeah. I just haven't found someone worth loving who actually loves me. I'm so violent, that the only ones I don't scare away either don't take no for an answer or are not fully present because they're high out their minds.”
Case looked sad as he said it, but his eyes locked with Sev's and it became unreadable.

Sev didn't want to read it.

The two leaned in and kissed each other. Then a breath apart helped them gather their thoughts. Then the sudden urge to keep doing it struck both their minds like lightning, and there was nothing they could do to stop themselves any longer.

Turns out both Case and Troy were right about that night.
He did indeed sleep like a rock, being too physically exhausted to stay awake.
And Sev did wake him up, after being woken up by Troy, that is.

No words were exchanged on the matter as they flew to Kuwait that day.