New Mexico

Hydra Base

2005

"Where did she go?" came the angry voice of Graham from the hallway, "Yelena!" he yelled as he stomped through the corridor. His boots clanking heavily against the floor and echoing down the hall.

Yelena held her breath as she tried to hold back the sob that was threatening to come out, her eyes shiny with tears as she grasped the leg of the table she was hiding under. She didn't dare make a sound lest he found her, and that was something she definitely did not want.

She knew that if he found her there would be consequences for the stunt she had pulled earlier, and she knew those consequences would not be nice.

The bruises that covered her pale and tiny body could attest to that.

She listened closely for the sound of footsteps that had seemed to disappear. She wasn't sure if Graham had walked away or if he was standing outside of the door waiting for her to come wondering out.

After a few moments, she decided that he was probably long gone looking for her in another part of the base and decided that she should probably find a new hiding place.

Yelena timidly got onto her knees and peeked her head out from under the table and was about to stand up when she felt someone run up from behind her.

"There you are!" said Graham as he grabbed her by her already bruised arm and yanked her to her feet.

Yelena involuntarily let out a yelp at the sudden pain and tried to break free from his strong arms, but she proved to be no match for the gigantic man. She should've probably learned her lesson of trying to break free from someone three times her size last time, but she tried never the less.

"Let me go!" she screamed as she clawed at his hairy arms. He didn't seem to be phased by the scratches as he dragged the screaming girl out of the room and into the hallway where he threw her onto the hard metal floor like a rag doll.

Yelena gasped as she put her hands in front of her to try and catch herself, but ended falling hard anyways onto the floor. She hissed as she raised herself from the floor and looked down to inspect her bloody palms.

"What is going on here?" came the distinctive voice of Baron Fleischer as he made his way down the hallway. He stopped to look down at the bloodied and bruised girl on the floor, his confused expression traveling to Graham for an explanation.

"She was misbehaving," said Graham as he square his shoulders.

"Is that so?" asked the Baron as he stared down at the bloody girl.

"But he was hurting me-!" began Yelena before she was cut off by the blond man.

"Don't give me excuses," he said as his gaze darkened, "now answer me truthfully, were you or were not misbehaving?"

"Yes," said Yelena as she bowed her head in shame.

"And what did I say would happen to little girls who misbehave?" he asked as he calmly placed his hands on his hips in a disapproving manner. He almost looked like a parent who was simple scolding his misbehaving daughter when he did that, and that's what made the situation more nauseating.

"Discipline," choked out Yelena as she dared to look him in the eye before quickly lowering her gaze again. His eyes glared down at her with accusation and disappointment and it made Yelena want to curl up into a ball to make herself as small as possible.

"Tell me Graham," said the Baron as he looked away from Yelena, "what did she do?"

"She disobeyed my direct order and hit me," he said the visible anger, "she then tried to hide from me."

"Tsk tsk," he said shaking his head, "there will definitely have to be some form of punishment for that."

"I'm sorry," sobbed Yelena as fat tears dripped down her cheeks, "I won't do it again! I know what I did was wrong and I won't let it happen again."

"I'm sure you won't," said Fleischer as he pulled her to her feet, "but bad behavior will not be tolerated here, and that means I'm going to have the punish you," he said as he grabbed her hand and walked her down the hall.

"This hurts me more than it does you," he said as he led the sobbing girl into a previously unopened room and turned the lights on to reveal what looked like a storage room.

He led her over to a large metal box against the back wall and opened the lid. Yelena stared down into the empty and dark container, an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

"This is for your own good, Lena," he said as he looked down at her with a hard and solemn gaze. Yelena gulped as she started to back away from the older man, but only made it a step before he reached out with his strong arms and held her tightly to the spot.

"No!" she sobbed as Fleischer grabbed her by under her arms pits and lifted her into the container, his face the epitome of calm as he pushed her into the box and closed the lid.

Yelena screamed as she clawed at the walls and tried to push on the lid only to find it shut tight. The walls around her seemed to be closing in on her as she pounded on the lid, hoping that help would come and let her out of the dark and cramped place.

"I promise I'll be good!" she yelled, "please let me out!"

"Please," she yelled halfheartedly as she brought her knees to her chest and hugged them.

She could feel her heart beating fast and heavy within her chest and sweat started to form from the panic and stress coursing through her tiny body. She had had panic attacks before, but not like this. This was worse than anything Yelena had ever felt, worse than physical pain.

Her breathing came out short and ragged as she tried to regulate her heart rate, but found it nearly impossible. She could feel her body shaking in fear and agitation as she tried to find any sort of light to focus on, but found only darkness.

She wished that she had Teddy here with her so she could hug him and talk to him, like she had done in the past when she was sad or afraid. But they had taken him away from her and now she had no one to tell her fears and wishes too.

She closed her eyes tightly as she tried to force herself to calm down, her hands wrapping tighter against her knees. After a few seconds she eventually found that her breathing had begun to slow down and her heart rate as well was steadily dropping.

She was about to wipe her runny nose when she heard the lid open up and Fleischer's face appeared above her, his blue eyes taking the sight of the sniveling girl.

Yelena stared up at the man with fear etched on her face, but found herself happy to see that he had come back for instead of leaving her in there.

He lifted her up and set her back on the ground and kneeled down in front of her to stare into her glassy eyes. Yelena stared back at him as a single tear fell down her face and her lower lip started to slightly tremble.

"Now," he said wiping the stray tear away, "have you learned your lesson yet?"

Yelena nodded as more tears poured down her face, making her porcelain skin red and blotchy again.

"Please don't make me go back in," begged Yelena as she wiped the tears away, "I'm sorry for what I did, just don't make me go back in."

"That's entirely up to you Lena," he said standing up, "only bad behavior warrants punishment."

"I'll be good!" said Yelena staring up into his blue eyes, "from now on I'll be good, I promise."

Yelena had already experienced her fair share of punishments for her bad behavior and she knew that the only thing she could do to survive would be to obey and submit to their wants and desires. She was tired of trying to fight back, not when it caused her so much pain.

If she had just obeyed Graham instead of defying him, she would've never gotten punished or have disappointed Fleischer. All Yelena wanted was his and Hydra's approval, but she didn't know if she was worthy of their attention or approval. Her old handlers had told her how she was a disappointment to Hydra from the moment she was born, something she had never quite understood but had caused her sadness none the less.

They told her how she was weak and pathetic and that if it weren't for Hydra she wouldn't even exist, a statement that shook Yelena to the core. If they created her, then they could do to her as they like and that meant Yelena had better show them she could be strong.

It was the only way she would survive.

AN: This chapter contained a lot of child abuse, both mentally and physically and I hope this did not bother you guys to too much. Now that Yelena is with Fleischer, I am going to warn you that it's about to get worse in later chapters. Her story will contain a lot of mental, physical, and emotional abuse as well as brainwashing, combat training, and Stockholm syndrome. Just think about what those girls in the Red Room went though because that is very similar to what Yelena will go through.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked it.

Comment and tell me what you thought about it.