"Emma? Emma, sweetheart, it's time to wake up." Emma's eyes fluttered open as she awakened from what felt like a deep sleep. The first thing that struck her was how bright it was and not from the usual florescent lights that she was used to at the Hydra base. No, it felt warm against her face…the heat making her feel healthier than she had felt in a long time. It was the sun.

Emma smiled as she felt the sun against her skin. She hadn't seen the sun since she was taken from her home in Oklahoma. It had been years and Emma had long forgotten the way it had felt against her skin. It struck her in that moment just how much she had missed the sun. Too much time had passed since she had last felt this warm. Emma sat up from the ground where she had been laying. The grass was green and lush, feeling soft against her back and the ground beneath it was earthy. She could see miles upon miles of green as far as the eye could see. The sky was incredibly blue without a cloud to be seen and sun was so bright and warm that she had to shield her eyes from its brightness.

"Oh, Emma, you've gotten yourself into quite a bit of trouble, haven't you?" Emma turned to look at the person speaking. The voice sounded so familiar to her ears that it caused her to briefly lose her breath. Emma's eyes widened surprise as she saw the one person she never expected to see again. Her mother.

Margot Rogers still looked just as she did the last time Emma had seen her alive. Her pale skin practically glowing under the sunlight, her dozens of freckles making her look even more like the fairy she resembled. Her vibrant red hair shone in the sun, making her look more angelic than anything. Maybe fairy was the wrong word for her. Her emerald green eyes stared at Emma with such lovingness that it completely floored the small girl. No one had looked at Emma like that in so long. What was most mesmerizing about Emma's mother was her beautiful smile. Margot's smile felt like the sun itself.

"Mommy?" Emma said, sounding exactly like the age she was…the age she forgot she was.

"Hello, Emma." Emma's eyes brimmed with unshed tears as she looked at her mother's face. Analyzing every detail and storing it in her memory.

"What is this?" Margot smiled.

"A place where only light and happiness can enter." Emma sniffled as she struggled not to cry. Her years at Hydra had made it a habit of hers…not to cry or show any signs of weakness.

"Am I dreaming?" Margot's smile didn't falter as she gently pushed a strand of Emma's blonde hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear with more grace than humanly possible.

"Yes. That's why only light and happiness can enter because you're full of light." Emma felt saddened that it was only a dream but she didn't care. If it meant that she got to spend any time with her mother, even a dream version of her mother, she would take it.

"What about daddy? Is he okay? Is he with Grandpa Steve and Grandma Edith?" Emma asked in reference to her deceased grandfather on her father's side and deceased grandmother on her mother's side. Emma knew it was only a dream but it would be nice to know if everyone was safe and happy.

"Yes, he's on a fishing trip with your Grandpa Steve as we speak. They're talking about things only a father and son can understand." Her mother told her as she ran her fingers through Emma's hair. Emma smiled as she listened to her mother tell her about the happy life they were living. It was a nice notion that her father could be reunited with his father in death… the father he never got to know. None of it was real but it was a nice thought.

"That's nice." Something occurred to Emma in that moment. If this was a dream then she would have to go back to the real world… The Hydra base. "When I wake up I'll be back at the base, won't I?"

"I'm afraid so." A tear escaped Emma's eye as she leaned forward and hugged her mother as tightly as she could. She buried her face in the crook of her mother's neck and basked in the vanilla scent of her mother's hair.

"I don't want to go back, mommy. I want to stay here with you…forever." Her mother soothingly stroked her back, wrapping an arm around her.

"I know, sweetheart, but you can't."

"What do I do, mommy? Hydra wants me for something and they scare me so much." Emma cried and her mother pulled away to look her in the eyes.

"You stay, Emma, you do exactly as they tell you. You listen to them…You learn from them…and then, when the time is right, you'll fight." Margot told her seriously and Emma took in her words. "Promise that you'll do as I say, Emma." The little girl nodded furiously.

"I promise, mommy." Margot seemed satisfied so she backed off a little.

"When Winter comes back stay with him. He'll keep you safe." Emma didn't say anything as she listened to her mother. She knew who her mother was talking about and for some reason she already knew that she could trust him. It had been so long since she had seen him but Emma was sure she'd see him soon. Maybe sooner than she had ever expected.

"I love you, mommy, and I miss you every day too…I didn't know if you knew that." Emma told her mother but her mother only smiled.

"I know, sweetheart, I've always known. I love you too…more than I've ever loved anything." Emma smiled back at her. Her mother's emerald green eyes locked onto hers, green meeting blue.

"Stay strong, Emma."

Emma coughed as she woke up from her dream and instantly felt the loss of warmth and sunshine. She didn't feel as light and free as did back in her dream with her mother. She felt pure agony and pain…It was almost as if her entire body was on fire if anyone could comprehend that. She moaned in pain as she clenched her fists before moaning in more pain because she clenched her fists too tightly. How odd? Emma opened her eyes and immediately shut them from the amount of color that just flashed before her. The flash of color had been so bright that it felt blinding. It was then that her other senses started coming out of the wood work and it all became too much at once.

She could hear the chattering of what felt to be like a dozen or so people in her ears. It was like they were right in the room with her, talking into her ear, but she didn't feel anyone's presence in her room. Sensing whether someone was in a room with her or not was something that Winter had taught her but she couldn't sense a single person in that room with her. The sound of gunfire could also be heard but yet she felt no vibrations within the room from the gun shots. Emma heard a clicking and clacking sound that she normally only heard when someone was typing on a keyboard but no one ever kept computers near her.

Her sense of smell hit her like a truck, it was so overwhelming that her head began to hurt. She could smell the scent of the lab but like nothing she had ever smelt before. It smelled like alcohol and cotton balls but she could also smell other scents. Emma could smell the strong scent of cabbage soup that was normally served in the kitchen of the base, all the seasonings and ingredients. There was also something foul that smelt like it might've been coming from somewhere else…a smoky smell…could it be…gunpowder?

Emma opened her eyes and was immediately hit with the brightness once again. It was like every color imaginable was being flashed right in front of her eyes. She had seen different shades of colors that she had never even seen before. It was incredibly beautiful and bright but then it got progressively worse. It wasn't just the hospital room she saw around her with all the medical and laboratory equipment. No, it was all the fibers in the blanket strewn across the small bed she was currently occupying. It was every chip in the white paint on the wall and every scuff mark on the concrete floors. She saw the little bare spots on the buttons of the lab equipment where the paint had been rubbed off from excessive use. It all became too overwhelming for Emma especially when everything was coming at her all at once. She began to feel a pounding ache in her head and immediately shut her eyes before placing her head between her knees, trying to block all the senses that were coming out of her.

She screamed at her new found heightened senses as well as the burning sensation that was all over her body. A group of people entered the room, she could feel their presence, and the pain became worst because she could smell every single one of them. Emma cried, tears streaming down her face, and she felt them begin to restrain her. They grabbed at her, trying to rip her out of her fetal position. This angered Emma as she reopened her eyes, blue orbs full of too much anger and hatred for a seven year old. She ignored the burning of her eyes, from the colors, and grabbed one of Russian scientists roughly. Emma gripped the front of his shirt, bringing him mere inches away from her face. He stared at her in fear, the expression clear in his eyes, and it was the first time someone at the base had ever feared her. She growled at him before throwing him backwards with just the slightest amount of force, sending him crashing into the wall in back of him. Emma's anger vanished as she stared in shock at what she had done. All the other scientists had let go of her at the point, too afraid of what she might do to them.

"Zvonite v okhranniki! Teper'! Yey nuzhno uspokoit'sya!" (Call in the guards! Now! She needs to be sedated!) They yelled out. It was only a moment later when the guards came into the room, Rumlow at the head of them, guns pointed in her direction. Her eyes widened a bit at the sight and she settled down a bit more but she still whimpered from the pain of everything. Rumlow smirked at her.

"Well, I see Sleeping Beauty finally woke up." Emma narrowed her eyes at him.

"What did you do to me? Why does everything burn?" Rumlow, seeing that Emma had calmed down somewhat, nodded at the others to back off.

"What did we do to you ? No, princess, I think you mean what have we done for you." Rumlow quipped. "You've always been special but now you're even more so. Even more special than your father or his father before him."

"I don't understand." Rumlow only smirked.

"You will someday." He ruffled her hair which caused her to give him a heated glare.

"Make it stop. Make the pain stop." She begged but Rumlow just gave her a patronizing look. A look that she learned to hate in the past year since she became better acquainted with him.

"I'm sorry, princess, but pain is a mere side effect to your greatness. You're just going to have to grin and bare it." Rumlow paused briefly as he looked at her with an expression of crazed admiration.

"Just remember…It's all for Hydra." Rumlow glanced back at the other agents. "Restrain her."

Emma cried out in pain as they cuffed her hands with heavy chains, tying her to the posts of the bed. Emma screamed and tried to break out of the chains but it was much too strong for her in the state she was in. The feeling of fire flooding through her veins returned now that she was free of all distractions. If there was a God out there Emma begged that he would end the pain right then and there…She begged him to do anything just so she could be free from the pain and free from Hydra.

It was one week later when the burning finally stopped and Emma made it through the aftermath of the injections. Most of the scientists thought that Emma wouldn't make it but she managed to pull through. The only one who had any faith in her endurance was Strucker but that was mostly out of the insane need for her potential rather than concern for her well-being. Her senses were still out of focus but Emma was functioning as well as she could. She knew that they injected her with something that had heightened her senses as well as her strength. Emma was seven but she wasn't stupid. The only problem that she had was that she still didn't know why she was doing all of this and why her of all the seven year old girls in the world. Rumlow had called her special and also called her father and grandfather special. What made them all special?

"It looks like you have a special guest today, child." Colonel Karpov said as he walked into her room. She had been moved the day before after she made a full recovery. There had been nothing much to do since she was moved back to her room. The scientists said the training wouldn't be a smart idea since she was still getting used to her enhancements. So Karpov had supplied her with books to further her studying. It wasn't as if Emma was complaining because any distraction was preferred. She glanced at him as he entered the room but was taken surprise when she saw who had followed him into the room. It was the Winter Soldier.

He still looked just how she remembered him with his cold blue eyes, long brown hair, and serious facial expression. Emma felt the suddenly need to hop out of bed and hug him but she reminded herself that it would be quite silly of her to do so and also possibly deadly. Winter didn't seem like the cuddly type. It had been over a year since she had seen him last but she found that he still looked just the same as she remembered. Emma cleared her throat as she forced herself to look calm and collected.

"Hello, Winter…It's been a long time." She greeted coolly in English. The Winter Soldier just stared at her, his expression unwavering.

"You'll have to excuse him, child, he's been away for a very long time so his memory might be a little hazy." Karpov said as he smirked like he knew something that she didn't. "I'm sure you'll understand."

"Of course, sir." Emma answered but was a little confused as to what Karpov was talking about.

"The Winter Soldier will continue with your training effective immediately." Emma stared at him when he said that. She looked between Winter and Karpov, trying to make sense of what he just told her.

"So does this mean Agent Rumlow won't be training me anymore?" Emma asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. Karpov only smiled as he watched the small girl try to disguise her hopefulness. Sometimes she really was a little too easy to read. They would have to fix that.

"Agent Rumlow is being called away for the current time being so he will cease your training…for now. Besides…we believe that you have a lot more in common with the Winter Soldier than Agent Rumlow." He told her and Emma wondered what he meant by that.

Why would she have anything in common with any of them? They were all grown men and she was a seven year old girl. Granted now she had enhanced abilities but she was still just a girl.

"Now that you've undergone the injections we can start your real training." Karpov said although he seemed a little too happy for Emma's liking. Real training? Then what had she been doing for the past almost three years? Emma didn't know what Karpov meant by real training but she didn't think she was going to like it…and she was right.

"You'll need to be quicker than that, you insolent child." Karpov called out to her as he watched The Winter Soldier and Emma spar. It was the first time Emma had ever fought Winter and she could already tell that he was a lot stronger than Rumlow. Emma was currently learning how to dodge attacks but Winter was very unpredictable in his fighting. He kicked out his leg, trying to deliver a kick to her side, and nearly kicked her when Emma dodged the kick last minute. While Winter was extremely powerful and strong, Emma was a lot faster and agile than he was. This was something they learned very quickly. "Good…very good. Now you must learn how to attack as quickly as you dodge and avoid."

When Winter turned around and attempted to deliver a punch to her side, she quickly dodged the attack again. This time, however, she had tried to deliver a punch of her own since he was distracted by the miss. It was a move that Winter had shown her nearly a year ago when he was last training her. As Emma flung out her wrist to deliver the punch, it didn't seem as though she was quite at the level with her attacks as she was at her level of dodging attacks. Winter immediately caught her hand in his grasp before flipping her over and placing her in a headlock on the floor. She winced at the pain but the pain was only there for one second and then vanished in an instant.

"Your attack was sloppy. You have to be quicker than the enemy in not only your avoidance of hits but also in your deliverance of hits." Karpov told her in a scolding tone and Emma glared at him as she tried to fight her way out of Winter's headlock. He had grabbed her with his nonmetal arm but he was still just as strong with that arm as he was with the other. An idea quickly formed in Emma's head as she struggled underneath his strength. Emma leaned her head forward and then clamped her teeth down hard on his hand, biting him until she drew blood. Winter's grip slackened from the force of the bite and Emma was able to disentangle herself from his arms, rolling away from him before she got back up in a defensive stance. Winter surveyed his wound before looking at her with an expression of bewilderment and annoyance. Karpov could be heard chuckling in the background.

"Yes, fight dirty. There are no wrong moves as long as you can walk away from a fight. Whatever means necessary." He told her. Winter then began to stalk towards her and Emma got ready to attack again or at the very least dodge one of his attacks. When he got closer, Emma planned out what she was going to do in her head. She planned to punch him in the left side of his face. It would be a move he wouldn't expect since she was way too short to reach his height. With all the effort she would have to jump and fling herself in his direction it better be a surprise. As he approached Emma quickly jumped in the air, expecting to fling her wrist out and punch him before landing back on the ground but she was sorely mistaken. Emma never landed back on the ground.

As she flung herself through the air towards Winter she felt herself going higher and higher instead of flailing through the air. The Winter Soldier watched in fascination as, instead of landing on the ground, Emma appeared to be flying backwards through the air. Her eyes widened in both fear and surprise as she felt as if some mysterious force was pulling her back and away from the ground. Emma didn't stop flying through the air until her back hit the ceiling of the training room. The small blonde flailed her hands out around her as she searched for something to grab onto. She could spot the figures of both Winter and Karpov on the ground. Karpov was watching her in shock.

"Ona mozhet letat'." (She can fly.) Karpov remarked, although it sounded like he was talking more to himself than anyone else. Emma could still hear him with her enhanced hearing. "neimovernyy." (Incredible.)

"Um… I don't know how to get down." Emma said, as she prayed to anyone who was listening that she wouldn't fall from that high up. She wasn't sure if her enhanced abilities could heal her from a fall that high.

"You flew up there." Karpov said, a smile on his face which was a rare sight to be seen. "You can fly back down."

Emma nodded, swallowing in fear. It was kind of gross being up there against the ceiling, especially since it was very dirty and smelled foul. She would like nothing more than to be back on the ground again, the floor beneath her feet. If she pushed herself off the ceiling would she fall or just simply float down? Emma really hoped that she floated down like an angel rather than fall down on her face like an idiot. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, before she threw herself down from the ceiling. Emma was absolutely positive it would feel like she was falling but she was wrong. It felt like she was swiftly gliding through the air almost like how she felt when she was swimming. She opened her eyes again and saw that the ground was becoming closer and closer. In what felt instinctual to Emma, she turned her body the other way with her feet positioned towards the ground and braced herself for landing.

Emma landed on the ground softly, her eyes still wide with shock. It felt like a dream…Flying that is. She had a dream once where she flew far away from the base and flew all the way back home to that farm house in Oklahoma. It was only a dream but it felt real…almost as real as it felt when she was flying through the air just now. Emma glance down at her body, trying to look over her shoulders to see if she sprouted any wings but there nothing of that sort. Winter just stared at her with an unreadable expression but Karpov looked at her like he had never looked at her before. His expression was of pure awe and admiration which surprised Emma seeing as how he wasn't an easy man to impress.

"I need to get the others. Strucker and Pierce will want to know about this…yes, they'll be very pleased with this new information." Karpov said but she got the strongest feeling that he wasn't really talking to them but himself. He looked purely delighted at the sight of Emma and it made her feel like this was good news. Whether it was good news for her or them she did not know. He glanced at Winter.

"Watch her. I will need to inform the others about this." Karpov told only gave him a brief nod before Karpov went racing out of the room. Emma and Winter watched him leave with identical looks of curiosity. They were silent for a few minutes as Winter watched her while Emma was locked within her own thoughts. Despite how happy Karpov had seemed, which was about as rare of a sight as a unicorn, something told her that this wouldn't end well for her. What was good for Karpov might not have been good for her. Emma looked at Winter who was still staring at her with a stoic expression; he was taking his task to heart it seemed.

"What does this mean, Winter?" Emma asked him. She had taken to calling him Winter ever since they resumed their training. At first Emma had been afraid that he might not have accepted the nickname but Winter never gave any indication that he minded the name. "Is it a good thing?"

"It means that Hydra's found your purpose." He said quietly without any falter in his blank expression. To anyone else's ears this might have sounded reassuring but something in those pale blue eyes told her that this wasn't reassuring at all. His tone was cold and empty but Emma knew him well enough to hear the faint falter. Could it be concern? There had never been one person at this base who had ever felt concern for her so hearing something that was so out of the norm in Winter's voice caused her think that yes…it was concern. She remembered what he told her before he mysteriously vanished. If she had a purpose than she would live. It didn't mean that this was necessarily a good thing. It just meant that Hydra might keep her around a lot longer than they originally planned for. Just like Winter she had become an asset instead of a project. There was no telling what this would mean for her but she got the distinct feeling that things at the base weren't about to get any easier for her.