True to his word, the following morning at eight o'clock, Pierce was in the lobby, at the precise place he had been at the previous night. When he saw Zelda—who had attempted to look professional that day—he raised his eyebrows.

In explanation to the mildly surprised expression on his face, Zelda sighed and, looking up at the bun in her hair and gesturing to her pencil skirt, said, "I figured that a new position meant introductions, which means I'll have to look professional… so…"

"Indeed. It works for you, Bellefleur," replied Pierce, though that was all he said on the matter. "Here; follow me."

Zelda followed her boss as he walked through even more confusing twists and turns than the previous evening. She almost stamped her foot out of frustration as they went on, knowing that it would take her forever to learn how to navigate all the puzzling corridors.

Although, she thought bitterly, for something so important, of course they had to hide it well. Even so that made her job a right bit inconvenient.

When at last Pierce reached a promising set of iron doors, he stopped and turned around to face her. She watched him expectantly as he opened his mouth—but there was a silence, as if he was thinking about what to say, or how to say it. She waited patiently, quite curious… finally, he announced, "Now, Bellefleur, you might be shocked as to what you see behind these doors. But I can reassure you that everything here is normal, even if it is nothing at all like the office you once used to own. So do not be surprised by what you are about to see."

"You are very comforting," murmured Zelda, her light brown eyes wide.

Pierce chuckled and faced the doors. He grabbed a handle and pulled, gesturing her inside.

And he was right. Zelda was shocked by what awaited her.

The main lobby was completely different than anything she would've expected. The walls were a dark metal, as if they were inserted specifically so no one could look outside. The floors were made of the same material, which made the whole place look rather droll and confining. There were many open doors leading into even more hallways, as if Zelda didn't have enough passageways to memorize.

"This is where our more secret projects are located," informed Pierce, gesturing to the wide open space with his arms. "Consider yourself honored to be presented a glimpse of this." He dropped his arms then and waved onward in a clear indication that they were not at their true destination yet.

Exasperated, Zelda followed.

Luckily, they only passed through two more doors before he stopped again. The girl looked around and noticed that this room was divided into two; it was separated by a wall of soundproof glass.

On the other side of the room she could see a man dressed in dark jeans and a dark jacket, throwing knives at a target. His back was to her, so he didn't notice when she came in. Zelda gazed at him curiously. Was this the soldier she was to supervise?

"Here we are, the training room," announced Pierce, drawing Zelda's attention again. She blinked and looked back at him as he continued, "This is where you shall conduct the training tests. You shall also come here for analysis and data collection; and each Friday morning, I will be here to relieve you of the results of the weekly experiments."

"What are these experiments I keep hearing about, sir?"

"It is a test on the serum within his body—part of it is that his cells are superhuman; they can heal and withstand more pain than a normal human's can. We have delved to discover the speed and limit these cells can work at through energizing them with electric current."

Zelda was nothing less than horrified. She could read between the lines. But despite her disgust and repulsion, she kept her face blank. "You mean you've been electrocuting him."

"In blunter words, I suppose you could say that."

"And how often does this happen?"

He thought for a moment before answering. "About once a week. The trials, I must admit, are not as constant as they used to be in past years. We have collected as much information as we could the last few times he's been awake; therefore, there is not much data left that is unknown to us. But we persist just in case there is a new development…"

There were absolutely no words for Zelda to say in response. She simply nodded and looked back at the soldier in pity—how many times had he been awake? How many times had he endured that torture?

The knife the soldier threw landed in the middle of the target.

It was at that moment that Zelda realized Pierce had walked through the door and was approaching the soldier. The man abruptly stopped throwing knives and stood still as Pierce murmured a few words.

"Ms. Bellefleur, if you would be so kind as to join us?" requested Pierce.

Although she was still a little sick to her stomach, she nodded and forced her legs to move. Her short heels echoed across the metal floor… how she wished she could've worn her standard boots today…

When she walked next to Pierce was when she got her first good look at the man she would be supervising, torturing.

Not only did he wear dark clothing—his gloves were black as well. It was as if he simply wanted to melt into the background, into the shadows… Zelda could not blame him. She glanced at his face and saw that he was glaring at her, his dark hair somewhat obscuring his blue eyes. He swallowed when he saw her, the distaste in his eyes as clear as ever.

Yet it was underneath that distaste that made Zelda stop short. She could see the questioning in his gaze, the doubt, the hatred, the fear. It was clear that he'd had bad experiences with his past supervisors… she could tell by the way he glared at her, as if he already knew she was going to hurt him. And he was, deep down, afraid of her, of what she might do, of what HYDRA would make her do. While she noticed the strength and skill of his body, his mind and trust had been broken.

In a way, she realized, he was like her.

It was clear he had not wanted to be a part of HYDRA—or if he had, he regretted it. He felt alone and betrayed by everyone he knew, and he knew that there was no way out of his pain.

Seeing this, Zelda wanted to help him. She did. She felt immensely sorry for him because of what he'd had to go through. An endless cycle of waking, killing, and being frozen. Of being tortured and trained and manipulated. If she thought she had it bad, this soldier had it ten times worse.

"Soldier, meet your new supervisor, Ms. Bellefleur. She'll be taking over all of Dr. Ewing's duties from now on. She's a wonderful employee, and she will help you through your training and trials."

Soldier tensed at the word "trials," but he said nothing about it.

Pierce, noting the lack of contact, cleared his throat and tried again. "And Ms. Bellefleur, this is Soldier, whom you will be assisting and taking charge of when necessary."

Zelda, hoping to get Soldier to stop hating her, held out a hand and swallowed. "A pleasure to meet you, Soldier."

He glanced at her outstretched hand and cautiously shook it, though he was still silent.

Pierce looked at them before sighing and clapping his hands together. "Well! Glad we all know each other. Ms. Bellefleur, if you could please follow me over here for a moment?"

Without a word, she set off after Pierce. Once they were some feet away—Soldier returned to throwing knives at the target—he murmured, "This is the current file that we have on Soldier about the collected data from his trials." He handed her a manila envelope, which Zelda stared at carefully. "This should give you a general idea of what to expect during the first couple of weeks. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. Good luck."

"Thank you, sir," said Zelda. "What… should I start with? I don't know what exactly to do with these training records…"

"Just ask him to show you how he shoots a specific gun and take notes on how closely he hits the targets. That'll suffice for today."

Not waiting for any more of Zelda's questions, he ambled out of the room, closing the glass door behind him before walking out of the other door as well. And with that, Zelda and Soldier were alone, and she still had no idea what to do.

She turned around curiously; thump went the knife as it hit the target.

With a sigh, Zelda opened the folder that Pierce had given her and perused its contents. She was rather underwhelmed by what she found… a faster healing rate, sure; unmatched speed and strength, naturally; but then she found something rather strange.

The data collected from the trials could be predicted because of the numbers. They were part of a consistent pattern, one that she could decode and possibly use to infer the results of the weekly trials. If her assumptions proved correct, she wouldn't have to torture Soldier at all.

Of course, she would have to be able to sell the lie to Pierce… she would need some help from Soldier to pull that off. Excited, she glanced at him only to see his attention was still solely on the target.

Knowing that if she didn't speak, he would not, Zelda sighed and hesitantly moved forward. Her heels clicked painfully loudly on the floor—Soldier heard her coming and merely glanced her way before resuming his chore.

The next knife was his last one; it hit the target, same as the others. They were all assembled in a strange collage on a completely destroyed board.

As he went to retrieve his weapons, Zelda cleared her throat and said, "That was very impressive."

He was silent as he yanked the daggers out of the wall. The girl watched hopelessly and added, "I've heard you're also very good at wielding pistols?"

Still nothing.

"Mind if I see it?"

At last, Soldier turned around. His blue eyes were still filled with dislike, which disheartened Zelda. She wished there was something she could say that was genuine and not just in HYDRA's interest, but she was completely blank. All she knew was that she wanted to help him… she wouldn't be able to do that, however, if he did not trust her.

Zelda observed Soldier as he walked over to a table and set down all the knives. Silently, he grabbed a Tauris pistol and aimed it at the target.

Three shots, all one after the other. All three were in the exact same spot, straight in the middle of the bulls-eye.

Seeing this, Zelda's mouth dropped open. For a moment, she simply stared at the imprints… no one in HYDRA had anywhere near as much skill as Soldier did, and he'd only shot a pistol three times. Who knew what he would be able to do with a different gun.

Realizing that her shock must've appeared ridiculous, however, Zelda closed her mouth and cleared her throat again. After a moment, she announced, "That was the best I've ever seen anyone shoot. You're amazing."

He set the pistol back down and stood, glaring at the target.

"Why… why don't you come and sit down?" asked Zelda, gesturing to a table on the other side of the glass room. "I just want to ask you a few things."

Soldier nodded and proceeded to follow her outside the training area to the surveillance room, where she gestured him to sit down across from her. When he did, he glanced down at the table as if he hated her so much he would not even look at her.

Zelda wished he could've read her mind so he would see firsthand that she didn't want to hurt him. She didn't want to use him any way HYDRA did. She was like him, and he was like her.

"Again, Soldier, that was amazing. I don't see why Pierce wishes me to keep up with your training—your skills are unparalleled."

He finally glanced up at her, some of the stone in his gaze turned to ice as opposed to rock. She figured this was a good sign. "At any rate, I've taken a look at all these files… and frankly, I find these supposed trials to be useless. Therefore, I've made the decision to discontinue them."

"What?!" he finally exclaimed. Zelda was pleased to hear he'd spoken. Although it was a rather unceremonious first word, it would have to do.

"I've decided to discontinue your trials," repeated Zelda. "They're useless at this point. What's the point in persisting?"

He blinked and stared at her, the hatred in his eyes transformed into shock and disbelief. "You can't do that. They won't let you."

"I can do it, and I will," retorted Zelda. "And they won't know. The data they've collected in the past contains clear patterns—I can use those patterns to determine what the data would be for the weekly trials. If I am correct, they'll swallow the fake statistics with no complaints."

Soldier shook his head, though he was silent.

Zelda leaned forward, not eager to let the conversation go so easily. "But if I am going to pull this off, Soldier, I am going to need your help. You will need to attest that I've been sticking to their rules and regulations if we are to discontinue this horrific process."

"Why are you doing this," he muttered. His eyes were hard again as he looked at her.

"Because I believe that this is wrong," she answered simply, leaning back in her chair. "No one deserves the treatment you've been dealt. I'm trying to help you, Soldier, but I will not be able to if you won't let me."

"I don't understand."

"I wouldn't expect you to. But think about this: do you honestly believe that all people are like Pierce, or others in HYDRA? Don't you believe that there's some good in this world?"

At this, Soldier grinned without humor. "If there is, I have yet to find it."

"If you want to find it, you're going to have to trust me," replied Zelda, shrugging her shoulders. "I want to help you, Soldier."

He raised an eyebrow and mimicked her posture. Zelda restrained a smile—he was paying attention and was invested in what she was saying. She thought sadly that perhaps this was the first time anyone had really talked to him.

"I don't know if I can trust you. You wouldn't be the first person to try and gain my trust only to use it to her own advantage."

Zelda became sad at this. "In that case, I don't blame you for your reluctance. But if you'll give me a chance, I can prove my sincerity."

After a pause, Soldier nodded.

The girl sighed and smiled. How was she going to gain his trust?

Well, usually people began to trust each other by becoming friends.

Now the question was—how was she going to become his friend?

She frowned to herself as she thought. What could she do that would get him to trust her? She didn't want it to do with anything HYDRA; certainly not. After all, they were the reason she was doing this. They'd just awakened him for his next mission the past week…

Then it hit her.

In order to become his friend, she would need to introduce him to things he had missed that were unrelated to HYDRA at all. That way, they would have something else to talk about.

And she knew exactly what to introduce him to first.

"Have you ever heard of The Beatles?"

Her sudden and bizarre question caught Soldier off-guard. He blinked and looked around warily before answering, "You mean… the insect?"

Zelda had to restrain a grin as he replied. He had absolutely no clue about what the modern world was like, or what had happened while he'd been frozen. Excited, she ripped a sheet of paper out of her notepad—"I want you to listen to these songs," she said, writing down three of The Beatle's most famous songs: Hey Jude, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and All You Need is Love.

"What?"

"Go on the Internet and find these songs. Listen to them."

"What is the Internet?"

Zelda froze. She hadn't been expecting this question. She thought for a moment and soon figured she could give him some help. "Here, I'll show you…"

She pulled out her smartphone and revealed the Internet icon. Pointing to the blue "e," she said, "That is the signal for the Internet. Then, type in the title of the song, and voila!" She showed him her phone, which had a link to Hey Jude on it.

Before long, the song started playing.

Soldier looked at the phone quizzically. "Is that a music box?"

She struggled to hold back her laughter. "No—this is a cell phone. People use it to call each other." She refrained from using the word "text," because he surely didn't know what that was and she didn't want to overwhelm him.

Silence took over them for a while as The Beatles' music continued playing. Every now and then, she glanced at Soldier's face to see how he was taking it… she was happy to see that a small smile was on his face.

It was the most normal he'd looked since she saw him.

Once the music faded, Zelda exited the link and said, "You can get on the Internet on a computer or a cell phone… Anywhere, really. Do you know what a computer is?"

"Actually, yes," he replied, seemingly a bit surprised.

"Great. Then you can go look at these other two songs before we meet here tomorrow," said Zelda, handing him the sheet of paper.

Soldier, however, looked surprised. "Wait, we aren't… going over training?"

"Nope!" exclaimed Zelda, shouldering her bag. "Do you honestly think you need it? Because I don't. Have a nice life, dear, I'll see you at 8AM sharp, okay? Or… 10AM, for my own sake. Tomorrow's Friday, I hope you understand."

"Hold on—what do I do until then?"

Zelda smiled at him and shrugged. "Whatever you want! Go take a walk, catch a movie, eat some fast-food, whatever strikes your fancy! If I were you, I'd go and try this thing called popcorn—"

"I know what that is."

"Brilliant! Only ten million more things to try," laughed Zelda. By this time, she had reached the door. "Good luck, Soldier. I hope you enjoy your day off." And with that, she exited the room, her small spurt of success fueling her good mood.


Zelda's got a long way to go to win Soldier's trust and friendship, doesn't she? But she is certainly going to try! :)

Please review with questions, comments, concerns, and all that jazz!