New Mexico
Hydra Base
2005
Yelena sat in the corner of the small quarters she had been assigned holding her head in her hands and sobbing quietly. Her head hurt from when one of her new handlers had struck her and a nasty bruise had started to form where his hand had met her head. All that she had done was try to get her stuffed bear back after it had been taken from her by her new handlers.
She had cried and begged for it back to her new handlers, even going as far as clinging onto one of them until they stopped and listened to her complaints. But all that had come out of that was a sharp and painful blow that had knocked her clean on her butt and in shock at what had just happened.
She had been struck by her previous handlers before, Ms. Coleman would occasionally slap her and Thomas would sometimes hit her, but never this hard. She had sat on the floor in shock before bursting into a bout of tears at the pain that was swelling in her head and face.
She didn't understand why they took her bear from her when her old handlers had let her keep him. Teddy had always been there for her when no one else was and she didn't know what she would do without her friend at her side. When they ripped him out of her arms they had ripped her only friend from her and she did her best to get him back, even though she had failed.
After the initial shock had worn off and the tears had begun their cascade, she had been forced to her feet and thrown into her assigned quarters with instructions to get over it. She had banged on the door as hard as her little fists could hit, but nobody paid her a lick of attention.
Before long she had given up her tantrum and made her way over to her new bed, her fists red and throbbing from mercilessly hitting the metal door. She wiped her eyes dry and drew her knees close to her chest and gently rocked herself to-and-fro.
She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to be trained anymore. She just wanted Teddy and her old life back, not whatever this was.
She lifted her head up when she heard the door to her room being open and the man who had struck her entered, his shoes echoing on the metal floor and his shadow covering the wall behind her.
"Get up," he ordered as he marched into the room and grabbed her by the arm, hauling her to her feet and dragging her out of the room.
"Please," she hiccupped as he forced her down the hallway, "please don't hurt me."
"Shut up!" he said yanking her forward so hard that pain radiated up her arm. This only caused her to cry more at the harshness of his voice and the pain in her arm.
"Baron Fleischer," he said as he entered into a room and came to stand in front of a large and fancy desk, "I have the girl."
The man turned away from the bookcase on the far wall to reveal a rather pleasant face with blond hair and pale blue eyes, but when he smiled it made shivers run up Yelena's back.
"Ah you are Yelena, no?" he said kneeling down to her level and grabbing a lock of her brown hair, stroking it between his fingers, "we have been expecting you Fraulein," he said in a light German accent.
Yelena involuntarily tried to take a step back, but found herself bumping into the handler's legs. The iron grip around her arm tightened and she couldn't help but wince in pain.
"What is this?" he said grabbing her chin and turning it so he could inspect the bruised side of her face before looking up at her handler in question.
"She was misbehaving."
"Tsk tsk," he said letting her chin go, "Now we can't have any of that can we?" he said lightly scolding her as if a parent would.
"You will find that there is no room for misbehaving little girls here, so I implore that you behave from now on, yes?" he said, "besides, we wouldn't want to mar this pretty face."
Yelena sniffled as she nodded her head, "yes sir."
"Excellent," beamed Fleischer, "you'll soon see that good behavior here is not without reward," he said standing up and walking over to a mini refrigerator and pulling out an ice pack.
"T-thank you," said Yelena as she took the ice pack from him before holding it up to her swelling face.
"Regisseur Pierce hat sie uns zur Ausbildung geschickt," he said to the handler.
"Glaubst du, sie wird glucklich sein, damit umzugehen?" asked the handler with skepticism.
"Wenn sie so etwas wie ihr Vater ist, dann ja," said Fleischer smiling down at the confused girl.
The handler shook his head, "I hope you're right, Baron."
"Your concern is touching," said Fleischer as he patted Yelena's shoulder, "but I'm sure Director Pierce would not have placed her under my care unless she had potential, no?"
"So what?" asked the handler as he crossed his arms, "are we to become like the Red Room then? Taking little girls in and turning them into assassins? I didn't join Hydra to train little prepubescent brats," said the handler, his voice laced with venom.
"Why not?" asked Fleischer with raised eyebrows, "did the Red Room not produce some of the most deadly assassins in the world?"
The handler didn't say anything as he stared down at the girl with crossed arms, his gaze full of skepticism.
"I know this is not what you joined for," said the Baron with a sigh, "but just imagine what would happen if we were successful? The Red Room may no longer exist, but we can continue their work."
"Continue whose work?" asked Yelena interrupting the Baron. She was tired of the grown-ups talking about her like she wasn't even there, and she curious as to what they were talking about.
"Nothing Lena," said Fleischer as he redirected his attention down to the girl. He had gotten so caught up in the debate with Graham that he had forgotten that she was even there. She was so quiet and submissive, she hadn't even stuck up for herself when Graham had called her a brat.
"I'm sorry Schatz, we shouldn't be talking about this right now," said Fleischer sending the other man a glare, "you need not worry yourself about such talk."
"I think it's time you took Yelena back to her quarters," said Fleischer, "she's going to need all the sleep she can get for tomorrow," he said as he directed the both of them towards the door, "you and I can continue our little conversation at a later time."
"What's the Red Room?" Yelena asked as soon as the door closed behind them. Baron Fleischer had talked about the Red Room with such reverence and fascination and made Yelena wonder. What was so special about a room that had been painted red?
"None of your concern," he said taking her arm and directing her back towards her room.
"Go to bed, you'll need all the sleep you can get," he said shoving her into the room and locking the door behind him.
Yelena sat down on the bed and looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings before leaning back and curling on her side.
This would be the first night in her life that she didn't have Teddy with her, and she could never go to sleep without him being held close to her chest.
She sniffled and wiped the tears out of her eyes before turning onto her other side.
She wouldn't be seeing Teddy for a long time.
AN: It's a short chapter, but some pretty important elements to the story have been revealed. Baron Fleischer is an interesting guy and you'll be learning more about him and his past as the story continues. But here's what you need to know about him.
A) He's from Eastern Germany, which had been controlled by the Soviet Union. Meaning he had grown up under a Communist Regime.
B) He's obsessed with the Red Room (you'll learn later on why). Ever since the Red Room was disbanded and the Soviet Union fell he's had the idea to continue something similar with himself in charge of the program. That's why Pierce sent Yelena to him, cause he wanted to see if Fleischer could do it.
B) He's not right in the head...
TRANSLATIONS (I don't speak German so don't surprised if these aren't exactly right)
Regisseur Pierce hat sie uns zur Ausbildung geschickt- "Director Pierce has sent her to us for training."
Glaubst du, sie wird glucklich sein, damit umzugehen- "Do you think she'll be able to handle it?"
Wenn sie so etwas wie ihr Vater ist, dann ja- "If she's anything like her father, then yes."
Schatz- Sweetheart