A/N: I'm having a good day so have another chapter. They were both very short so I mashed chapters seven and eight together.
The ride back to the compound was just as tense, if not more, as their way to Symkaria. Their eyes kept going to the scrawny kid sitting between Steve and Bucky. His eyes were wide, flitting back and forth between the team and the window. When the jet started up he went rigid. His fingers grasped white-knuckle tight to his seat as they rose higher from the ground.
Bucky explained the way he found him, sitting on the floor hugging his knees close. The team remained quiet as they spoke, passing bandages to one another who needed it. They didn't want to spook the kid anymore. The flight with strangers had him on edge enough.
Almost to America, Bruce moved to sit across the kid. "Hey." His voice was soft, both to be gentle and from the soreness of the hulk's outburst. Dark eyes went up and down the doctor's form and gave no response. "Here, you should get hydrated." He offered a bottle of water.
After a minute the kid took it, warily inspecting it. Opening the bottle, he merely took a sniff. The amount of caution pulled at Bruce's heart. No one should be so scared to eat or drink. After another moment of decision, he took a small sip.
He offered a smile. "So. Can you tell me your name?" It would be nice to know what to call the boy. He wasn't given an answer. Not even the shake of his head, just a tired face watching him back with no trace of what thoughts could be going through his head.
Having arrived at the compound the first thing to be done was take care of the kid. Bucky, who seemingly is the one who left an impression on the boy, led him along to the medical wing. Bruce joined them shortly to make sure the kid was… as okay as he could be.
Again it took a moment for him to respond to the doctor, but he was surprisingly compliant. Bruce was expecting the kid to shy away and avoid his touch. But he didn't mind letting him check temperature, reflexes, and the like. He knew the drill it appeared, but then again a subject for something like the super serum would probably need regular check ups.
Bruce gently felt the boy's throat. "Can you tell me your name now?" He tried again. With how it was going he assumed he'd get an answer.
He still didn't say a thing. Though he moved to his shirt. Bruce figured it was for the stethoscope. About to tell the kid he could keep his shirt on and reach under, he stopped to see him pull out a metal chain. The boy watched Bruce. When he didn't do anything, the boy reached out to give him a pair of dog tags hanging around his neck.
The doctor adjusted his glasses and looked them over.
The first tag read:
NICOLAS BRAUN
XXXX.08.31
B NEG
TWILIGHT
GUSTAV BRAUN
Well… They had a name for him now. He turned to the second one:
A/0
He frowned. What the hell did A/0 mean? His eyes went back to the boy. "Your name is Nicolas?" Wanting to confirm.
Nicolas nodded. Returning the tags around his neck, the physical continued. For now, it was his health that was important. Though his silence was unsettling as well. Nic understood what they said to him, in English. But he hadn't made a single sound himself. Did those monsters condition him not to talk? Not speaking in fear of punishment? What ever it was had Bruce holding back shades of green. It was hard to hold in anger over the victimized boy.
With a deep breath though, he continued.
A/N: Gustav Braun on his dog tags is his handler, who also happens to be his father. Since Hydra is German it made sense to adjust it. His history says he's half-Japanese half-Italian(or French idk) which personally makes no sense for his last name to be the English Brown.
Also screw figuring out what year he was born in. I don't even have an exact year for when this is taking place?