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The mission was not exactly successful, but somehow it wasn't a failure either. They did complete the objective, which was to infiltrate a suspected base of a group that was suspected of being HYDRA sympathizers. What they didn't know was that said base also contained a lot of weird, experimental weapons that none in the squad truly knew what they're capable of. They somehow managed to document their findings of the weapons in the base, only for a self-destruct mechanism to be accidentally triggered.
As they regroup by their truck, lt. Nadja, Zemo's second in command, noted that col. Zemo wasn't there with the others. The first thing she realized was that Alina arrived carrying a little brown hamster in one of the pockets of her tac vest. Second thing was that Luka held what seemed to be a bundle of clothes, along with a vest and their commander's dog tags. Janek asked, "Wait, where's Zemo?"
"Here," Alina said, taking the hamster out of her pocket and holding it forward.
"That's… a hamster", Misha replied,
"It's true! Okay, it sounded strange, but I was with her. The colonel was hit with some kind of beam, and honestly I thought he disintegrated because for some reason his clothes were the only ones intact. But then I saw that little thing crawling out of it and that's how I know, col. Zemo turned into a hamster", Luka quickly added, tilting his head at the hamster.
"Sure, very funny, you two. What's next, you're gonna tell me the group turned to bats and that's how they escaped?" Janek scoffed.
"Please, really, that's exactly how it happened. I did shoot the guy who fired the… weird weapon at Zemo, of course. But this is him", Alina ranted, holding the hamster closer towards the other squad members.
The others scoffed at her, but then lt. Nadja went closer, examining it, and she quickly called their attention, "Wait… it has a scar… look, there, near its left front leg",
"Oh yeah, it does look like the one Zemo has", Misha added.
Sure enough, the others looked at the crescent shaped scar she pointed at.
"Sure, sure whatever you say. Um, colonel Zemo, sir? If it is you, maybe nod to us?" Janek asked, still skeptical.
To everyone's -except Alina's and Luka's- surprise, it(or he?) nodded.
"So, what do we do now? It's not like there's any pet shop open at 3 a.m.", Luka wondered,
"Forget about pet supplies, what are we gonna tell HQ? And what do we say to his wife? We can't just go "hey, hello Mrs. Zemo. Sorry your husband is a hamster now" ", Misha replied.
Lt. Nadja looked down for a bit, then assured her team,"Okay, let me worry about that. Let's just return to our safehouse now. We'll figure it out. It's not like HQ is expecting us this soon anyway, we still have, like, 4 days until we really need to return there."
And with that the squad hopped into the truck, Alina tucking the hamster (a.k.a. their commander Zemo) back into her pocket.
During the drive back to the safehouse they debated on what would be the best sleeping place for their fluffy commander. Most of the squad refused to put him in a hamster cage, the reason being them dreading what would happen if the change back to being human is an instantaneous one. Those who were in favor of a hamster cage (that would be Luka and Nadja) argued that it would be easier to take care of him that way. Throughout the whole argument Zemo only squeaked, with neither of his squad members understanding what those squeaks mean.
By the time they arrived at the safehouse (which is actually a house owned by Zemo's relative), they all agreed on no hamster cages, however they compromised on an old cat bed that, for some reason, was still in the house. As for food, well, the kitchen was thankfully stocked with a variety of fruits and vegetables so it wasn't an issue.
In their safehouse the group then went on to their own thing, some heading to the bathroom(s) to clean themselves, some checking and treating injuries, with at least one squad member in the same room as Zemo (who's now settling in on the aforementioned cat bed in the living room) just to keep an eye out for him. Eventually they all settled in the living room, collectively deciding to sleep there, after having made certain that no one was following them.
Morning came, with Misha and Luka being the only ones left in the living room. Misha woke up first, noting that the cat bed was empty. He felt his stomach rumbling, and it smelled like someone's making pancakes in the kitchen. He took a little glance at Luka, tapping at his shoulder to wake him up. Luka stirred a little, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Huh, what time is it?",
Misha looked at the clock on the wall, "it's 8 a.m. Get up, everyone's probably in the kitchen already",
"Alright, alright, give me a minute, I'm still a little dizzy", Luka blinked rapidly, struggling to stay awake, "I'll catch up, don't worry".
And with that, Misha headed to the kitchen.
It was, surprisingly, not a chaotic morning in the big windowed kitchen. Nadja scribbled something in her notepad, presumably a draft for their mission report, as she was biting into her sandwich. Janek was at the stove, making pancakes, lots of them, Alina was pouring some milk into her bowl of cereal. Misha was heading to the fridge, when he remembered about their hamster commander, and asked, "Hey, what do you think a hamster eats? Do they eat fruits?"
"I think so?"
"Alright then, I'll chop up some fruits for him", Misha said, opening the fridge and taking some strawberries from it. As he prepared to cut up the fruits he turned to his comrades, he realized someone was missing.
"Uh, by the way, Zemo's not here?"
Everyone abruptly paused their eating, all turning their heads at Misha
"He was still in the cat bed when me and Nadja walked here. Was he not there?" Janek asked,
"No, when I got up it was empty. I thought one of you guys took him here"
Panicked looks filled the room. Everyone immediately abandoned their meals, proceeding to look under the kitchen counter, opening up some drawers. They considered splitting up to find Zemo, when suddenly they heard a scream coming from the hallway. They ran out to find Luka there, with one of his feet up and a shocked look, and their commander, on the floor, holding what seemed to be a jackknife in his mouth.
"There you are, sir. Also, uh, Nadja that's yours, right?" Janek turned his face towards her,
"Yeah, it is. Thank you, sir", she said, picking up her knife.
"You know what, I think we should keep the arrangement from last night. He should never be left alone in a room", Nadja continued.
Zemo squeaked, the squad interpreting it as a protest,
"Sir, this is a really big house, and you can fit inside a teacup. We don't want to lose you, or worse, accidentally stepping on you" Alina argued. Zemo squeaked, this time softer. He then bumped his head onto Alina's foot, and she picked him up, holding him in her cupped hands. Crisis averted, they all went back to the kitchen to resume their breakfast. Except, they couldn't, because Zemo started squeaking loudly. He even squirmed in Alina's hand.
"I'm- sir, I'm sorry but I don't want to drop you by accident. Can you please stay still?"
Zemo kept squirming. Alina sighed, "Okay, okay, I'll put you down",
As she set him on the floor, Zemo scampered away from the hallway, but then turned back as he realized everyone else was standing still. He then bumped his head on Janek's foot, even biting at the hem of his sweatpants.
"I think he wants us to follow him",
"Yeah, it seems so. Let's just see. Also, uh, Luka, and maybe, Misha, can you two pick up our food from the kitchen? I had a feeling we might take a while in.. whatever room the commander decided to lead us to. Don't worry we'll call you", Nadja asked,
"We'll do, lt. Come on Luka", Misha patted on Luka's shoulder. The two guys went back to the kitchen, as the remaining ones followed their fluffy colonel.
Zemo directed them to the study room, which was where they spent their time planning for the mission. Alina excused herself to notify the other two men who were in the kitchen, which left Janek and Nadja figuring out why Zemo wanted them to be there. Zemo ran around the room, and then he pointed at a folded map in a corner. Janek took the map, unfolded it, and then laid it on the floor. Zemo walked over the map, and then stopped at a marked spot.
"This was.. the base that we went to last night. What about it, sir?",
Zemo squeaked, and stood up on his two legs, his right foot stomping on the spot. Nadja and Janek only looked, feeling puzzled. Zemo squeaked again, earning an increasingly confused look from them.
"Hey, what's the colonel up to?", Luka asked from behind them.
"I don't know, he kept pointing at the spot where the base was. I wonder, did we miss something there?" Nadja looked down.
"That reminds me, the weapon that turned the colonel into a hamster. I wonder, if it was still intact somehow in that base",
"Is that what you're trying to tell us, sir? That we might need to go back there?" Alina asked, as she helped Misha lay down their food. Zemo nodded.
They all sat in the study, discussing their plans while eating. Discussing if it would be a good idea to bring Zemo there too, about how many people should go back to the enemy base, how many should stay, what they'd do if things would go wrong. Zemo squeaked every now and then, voicing his approval, or disapproval, of the strategies his squad members suggested. Eventually they agreed that Zemo should go there too, in case there are things hidden that couldn't be reached by human hands. Also considering how the base exploded, there would definitely be rubble, and Zemo would be perfect to explore under them. They also decided to return to the enemy base at sunset, to avoid being detected.
Janek drove his motorbike, with Misha in tandem, carrying Zemo in his tac vest. Alina tailed them, on another bike. It didn't take long to arrive at the ruins of the exploded base. They parked their bikes by an abandoned shed nearby, which was also where they parked the truck the night before. Alina went on her own towards a water tower that overlooks the area, carrying her sniper rifle with her. Janek and Misha (along with their colonel, who's now sitting on Misha's shoulder) walked towards the ruined base.
The explosion thankfully wasn't big enough to annihilate the entire structure. Most of the supporting walls were still intact, however a lot of the floors caved in. Janek pulled out a piece of paper with Nadja's drawings of the interior layout of the base. He pointed at a marked location on the map, "So, according to Luka, this is where that HYDRA guy turned Zemo into a hamster," Zemo squeaked, and nodded to confirm.
"Huh, it's just upstairs. Let's go",
They both drew out their guns, Janek walking several paces behind. He stopped at a staircase, waited until Misha walked up, and once he did, Janek then continued to search the ground floor.
Upstairs, Misha let Zemo down to scamper around, him following behind. They eventually stopped by a dead body, which Zemo confirmed by pointing his nose at it, to be that of the man who fired a weapon that turned him into a hamster.
"He must've dropped the weapon when Alina shot him. His hands are empty. I don't think the weapon would drop far away though," he looked around. He lowered his gaze, as Zemo squeaked at him, showing a gun-like device on the floor, the shape of it reminded him of those weapons in the cartoons about the future era. He gently picked the device up, turning it around to examine it. He then decided to put it in his tac vest pocket, thinking about figuring out the mechanism when they'd return to the safehouse later. He proceeded to look around, while also keeping an eye out for his tiny colonel.
They split up for a bit, at this point Misha managed to learn to locate Zemo by the sound of his trotting, so he wasn't too concerned about losing him. He was in what looked like a surveillance room, when he heard a squeak coming from a room next door. Following the noise, he found Zemo standing by a closed metal door. Zemo tilted his head at the door, and without any second thought Misha scooped the hamster and he kicked the door down. He entered the room, amazed that it was basically untouched by the blast. Inside it were a lot of filing cabinets, a corkboard on a wall, filled with more copies of documents and photos. He walked around the room, looking through the documents. He put Zemo down, and the hamster immediately shuffled around, searching the room. Misha however found himself unable to go away from the corkboard. It felt to him like there's something important there, so he took a closer look at the board, trying to figure out what caught his attention.
A squeak from a corner took him out of his thoughts. He directed his gaze towards the sound, and saw Zemo dragging some folders from one side to another. Misha looked at them, noticed how the labels on them indicated that they might contain information on the Sokovian armed forces. He felt his chest tightened as he opened one of the folders. "Oh no… this is not good",
He crouched and lowered the folder so Zemo could see what he was reading.
The folder contained some files about HYDRA spies who are in the sokovian military. What position they currently were occupying, whom they would consider a threat. Some other folders wrote about the transporting of weapons into the country, weapons that were manufactured by the Stark industries, among others. There was even some information about future targets, which unfortunately included EKO scorpion. At that Misha shuddered, anxious on how much they had known about their ops. As he considered taking some of the folders in the room, he heard one of his squadmates on his earpiece,
"Hey, uh, guys, why are Luka and Nadja heading our way?"
"Wait what? Are you sure it's them?"
"Yeah… I saw our truck at first but then I looked into it closer.. it's them. I'm going down, heading to the ruins where you guys are,"
"No! Stay there Alina, in case they were followed. That way you can at least slow down the pursuers", he heard Janek shout,
"Okay then. I'll stand by here".
Misha immediately shoved Zemo into his tac vest, and decided which of the documents he could carry. He heard frantic footsteps approaching. He turned his head towards the door to see Janek with a panicked look on his face. Misha then told him to pick up the files he found, and also decided to take a picture of the corkboard with his mini camera. They picked up quite a stack of folders, then proceeded to run downstairs.
It was already dark outside as they arrived at the doorway of the base. They squinted at the bright light shining from the front door, then as the engine sound stopped, out went the light. Misha and Janek drew out their guns, and lowered them back as the door opened to Nadja and Luka walking in.
"What happened? Why did you two leave?"
"Those fuckers actually found out about the safehouse. Not long after you three .. or.. well.. four.. left, there were several cars approaching. Didn't say anything, they just started shooting",
"We managed to get some supplies out, and our stuff from the study. We drove here as fast as we could, I'm pretty sure we lost them. We did hit some of them", Luka nervously looked over his shoulder, "by the way, where's Alina?"
"She's still at the water tower. Hold on, I'll ask her to come here", Janek reached for his communicator, but then Zemo started squeaking really loud, his head pointing at the space between Nadja and Luka.
They all looked in the same direction, to see Alina running towards them.
"You know what, nevermind, there she is",
—-
The truck was quite cramped, with all the supplies Nadja and Luka managed to gather, and the documents Misha collected from the ruined base. Alina drove the truck, with Janek sitting next to her, a map strewn across his lap. Zemo sat on the dashboard, basically behaving like a compass, by facing the direction they need to be going towards. As they approached what seemed like an entrance to a forest, Zemo squeaked.
"You want me to stop, sir?"Alina asked.
Zemo nodded. She stopped the truck. Zemo then walked towards the door, pointing his nose at it.
"I think he wants us to get off here",
"Are you sure sir? We get off?"Janek asked, and once again Zemo responded with a nod. Alina then turned the engine off, then turned herself back,
"Hey guys, we get off here. Let's go",
"Oh thank fuck we're here. My legs started to hurt", Luka groaned.
They unloaded their stuff. Misha and Nadja covered their truck with a camouflage tarp, and then carried the rest of their belongings, following the others walking through a narrow pathway.
The new location was an abandoned farm, which was partially ruined due an air raid two years ago. According to Nadja the owners actually survived, but then they moved abroad and never returned. And so the whole crew quickly settled in an abandoned house in the property, laying out their belongings, arranging their weapons and supplies. Alina and Janek had already walked around the farm, what's left of it, surveilling some spots in case they needed a quick escape, or best spots to ambush an intruder. They also noted that there were two cherry trees within the property, somehow untouched. Zemo scampered around the house, with Luka walking behind him to keep track. Zemo would squeak at him to note which spots were vulnerable, and which ones were perfect for sniping in that two storied house.
All of them once again decided to make the living room to be the place for them to sleep in. That night they took turns on patrolling. Zemo was the only one who stayed awake the whole night, much to his squad's dismay. Eventually the next morning came, and they felt thankful for the absence of any more ambushes.
They ate whatever food they managed to gather from the previous safehouse for breakfast. During breakfast Misha and Luka examined the strange weapon that changed their commander into a hamster, while the others went through the documents found at the base. Zemo stayed with the group that had the documents, pointing out some datas that might be related to one another, as he also had his own meal of chopped strawberries. And then, of course, their peaceful breakfast had to be broken by Luka anxiously running outside the house, Misha following not far behind him. He threw a weird object which then exploded in mid air. Startled by the explosion, everyone, except Alina, quickly ran outside. She was the last one outside, with her rifle pointed in front of her.
"What was that?"
"It was the weapon, device thing, the reason our commander is a hamster… Alina, I don't think that's necessary," Misha said, as he lifted up his hand, gesturing at her to lower her weapon.
"What if it attracts them? We need to be careful! And.. What do you mean, that's the weapon used on Zemo?" Her voice was shaky
"Alina, it's okay, we had no 'visitors' last night, and I don't think they'd risk attacking us when the sun is just up, for the second time" Nadja patted on her shoulder, "as for the HYDRA device, yeah what's up with that? What did you guys do?"
Alina eyed everyone nervously, but she lowered her rifle anyway,
"We, uh, well, more like, Misha, he tried to figure out the mechanism, wondering if we could rig it so if used again on the colonel, he'd turn back into a human",
"Yeah that, except when I tried to dismantle it, I heard something, it's like a timer? And there was a very soft beep, so that's why Luka ran with it.. I've dealt with enough bombs to know what those mean"
"Great, there goes our chance of figuring out what's up with those HYDRA guys, and with turning Zemo back", Janek's head dropped
"Not to mention the files they have on the Sokovian military", Misha shuddered,
"Let's just go back inside, maybe we can all just go through the files",
"Yeah"
"Okay"
They went back inside, with Zemo being held in Janek's hands.
They continued to read through the files and photos. Even took another look at the picture of the corkboard that Misha took. They were all frustrated, and anxious. Wondering how to face the reality that HYDRA was now really close to them. Watching them, even, seen from the amount of files and photos they had on EKO scorpion.
Zemo crawled around through all the stacks of paper, reading them one by one, trying to find connections, and reason for their deployment for this mission. Wondering if the base was just some kind of bait, or were they actually sent there because something needs covering up? With the number of high ranking personnels revealed to be members of HYDRA, Zemo can't be too sure. He looked at the files on the armed forces, and saw quite the number of familiar faces. Some he'd served with, before EKO. Occasionally he'd look at his squad, and remembering those times when he'd handpicked them to be a member of his team. How he always remembered them for their various abilities. How he, admittedly, at first was a little pessimistic of their capabilities to work together, and yet they managed to. He'd always feel, no, be responsible for them. Seeing all those files at the HYDRA base really made his blood boil. His thoughts drifted to his new family, his wife who's now pregnant. He wanted to make the country safe, especially for his family. His train of thought abruptly derailed by a voice he heard from above him,
"Uh sir, there's a file… on the Zemo family", Nadja looked at him.
She then put the folder down, so Zemo can see it. Zemo squeaked, angry. The file showed some relatives of his, being a part of HYDRA, and they even tried to recruit his father. He went still. His squad mates looked at him with concern. He pulled away, shuffling towards an empty duffel bag that functioned as his bed.
"Would you like us to kill those HYDRA family members, sir?" Alina asked, with a smirk,
He responded with a squeak, and a nod.
The sun had started to set when they were discussing their plan on what to do with the HYDRA members that were in the forces. To say that it was a tough subject matter was an understatement. It was discovered that they all, yes, Zemo included, had repressed memories that were from their early days in the military, before EKO, which now makes this even more personal to them. They eventually decided to put this data collecting to rest for the day.
—-
Zemo sat on a windowsill, said window overlooked one of the cherry trees in the property. It was the blooming season, and Zemo couldn't help but be enamored by the pink color, contrasting the dark night sky. He wondered if his hamster form would be as temporary as those flowers, how he wished he could enjoy the flowers too as a human before the blooming season ends. He looked back at his squad, doing their own thing in that living room. His second in command sat by an open window, smoking, Janek and Alina sat together cleaning their guns, with Alina venting about her new girlfriend, Misha decided to rearrange the documents they found, and finally Luka, who was sitting on the couch, drawing in his sketchbook. He then carefully (or at least tried to) went off the windowsill, only for a "smack" sound to be made, immediately causing five heads to turn towards him, filled with various expressions. Some concerned, some shocked, some puzzled. He said "I'm fine", but of course to them it only came out as squeaks. He didn't even protest when Luka picked him up, and gently set him on his tac vest (which was basically his bed for the time being).
He looked up at his squad, reading their faces. It seemed they're relieved, some even holding their laughter, for some reason. However he was a little… puzzled how neither of them showed frustration. Even since the first day he turned this tiny he expected them to just leave him there, but they didn't. They even took him back to the HYDRA base, under the idea that he's still helpful to his team. He couldn't shake the fact that he didn't really do much, so how could they be this nice to him? Though, it seems, judging from his squad's faces it didn't really matter to them, apparently. And so he just sat quietly on the vest, feeling somewhat content, and hopeful that his squad wouldn't abandon him. As for the being a hamster thing, well, what else could he do but to go through with it?