Rumlow briefed Elise(Ella) once they returned to the facility.

"Elise, you'll be working with Dr. Stahl focusing on the research. He is currently head of the Neuroscience division at a small university in New York." said Rumlow.

"New York? We're staying in the area then?" she asked.

"Yes. They will be looking for us. They won't suspect us being right under their nose." he said.

"Where is the Asset?" she asked.

"He's no longer part of the project." he said.

"Why not? He was crucial in the project and research." She said.

"We keep tabs on him if needed." Said Rumlow.

"I see." She said leaving the issue yet not understanding.

Rumlow could see her disappointment. "It's for your protection,"

She looked at him confused, "My protection? From what?"

"Him." said Rumlow. "Maybe it's best if you don't remember. "

She looked him in the eye, "Remember what?" she did not care for the accusation that the Asset brought harm to her. They had always worked together with no issues. In fact, he was very protective of her.

"The last mission. The plan was for you two to return to the facility after the completion of the mission. You didn't. We had to rescue you, Elise." said Rumlow. She sat staring at him. She tried to recall the mission. She remembered leaving with him. They left in the car as the building blew up. She did not feel any threat ever with him. As she recalled the memory she remembered how he held her hand in his as they drove. Her ring sparkling in the moonlight. The memory abruptly ended. "No, he wouldn't do that. Kidnap me?" she said.

"Traumatic memories are sometimes suppressed, you should know that." said Rumlow. "I saved you and I won't let him hurt you ever, ever again." he said.

Elise (Ella) wasn't sure why but his words did not sit well with her. He seemed sincere but it had to be a lie. Why would he lie? She looked at her finger. A ring? She knew she had a connection to the Asset, to Bucky. They did missions together. He protected her always. He wouldn't hurt her. Her mind was jumping from memory to memory. Why had she thought of the Asset and then the name Bucky? She felt strange.

"Elise?" said Rumlow.

She snapped from her thoughts. "I'm sorry. I don't remember any of that."

"It' probably for the best." he said. "Let's get you to your room to settle in. It's good to have you back." said Rumlow.

"Did she believe you?" asked Stahl.

"She seemed to. I told her we were protecting her from the Asset." said Rumlow.

"Good. If we can continue to reinforce this then she will doubt him if he should come for her." said Stahl. "She is a major part of this project."

"What if it doesn't work?" asked Rumlow.

"If they can't be controlled, then sadly, we have no choice but to eliminate him." said Stahl. "With Kreutz gone, she is the key to making this work."

Elise (Ella) spent the next few weeks working on the research with Dr. Stahl.

"The combination of the psychotropic drugs along with the neuro shock has produced the results we were hoping for." Said Stahl. "Good work, Elise."

"Thank you, sir." She said. "What is the next phase?"

"We program the soldiers." He said. As he switched on a monitor. "Let me show you the success with experiment 89741J." It was a live feed from somewhere in the facility. A man in a t-shirt and jeans. "He was given the drugs and shock yesterday. We will present him with a homeless man who he has been told is his father." It showed the man in the t-shirt greeting the man and hugging him tightly. "Now he will be told the word to bring him under our control for the mission." The man pulled a phone from his pocket and answered. He listened to the phone. The man's eyes seemed to shift from the joy of seeing the man before him to an empty stare. He hung up the phone and walked to the man placing his hands one either side of the man's face. He wrenched them, snapping the man's neck. The man dropped to the floor. No sooner than the man hit the floor, the soldier seemed to snap from his empty stare. He looked to the floor seeing the man he was told was his father and he began to sob. He dropped to the floor screaming and shaking the man. The screen went to black. "We are very pleased with these results. Once their mission is complete they return to their civilian persona with no memory. They have even passed lie detector tests. They have no memory."

"Soldiers?" she asked. "I thought we had civilian volunteers?"

"The university has a program here for those returning from service. They come to our department for help with the issues they came back with. The most common issue is that they don't know who they are anymore or what they should do. They have forgotten how to acclimate to society. They only know war and their place in it. The government created the soldier. We are just giving them the purpose. Their identity." He said.

Elise was appalled. "That's not why they come to us. It's not ethical?" she argued.

"When has ethics ever been your issue?" said Stahl. "You seemed fine with your work on the Asset?"

"My work with the Asset was to prevent him being hurt by your crude methods. I begged you to stop. That much I remember." she argued.

"Elise?" he asked testing who was speaking to her. Her eyes met his gaze which told her what he needed to know. "The soldiers will be easily programmed. They can lead their civilian life until called for a mission. Should they ever be caught then it is easily excused as PTSD."

"These men have been through hell and this is no way to help them." She disgusted.

"We're the only help they have." He said. "This is the project you agreed to help with."

Elise (Ella) nodded to him. "I need some air." She said.

Elise (Ella) walked down the hall to Stahl's office. She decided to look around. Stahl seemed defensive. She wondered if there was more to this project. She found an old file cabinet and looked inside. She found a file with the Asset's name on it. She opened it up and began reading it. She was looking for clues. Stahl and Rumlow insisted she needed protection from him. Something in her knew that was wrong. Yet something told her he had hurt her. Her mind was bouncing from thoughts to feelings to memories? As she read the file she felt disgusted and angered at the ways they used him not just for missions but in other unimaginable and unspeakable ways. She saw another file next to his. Somehow she knew it was hers but it was not her name on the file. That name? She felt something in her shift. Her name. Before she could look at the file she now knew was hers, Rumlow walked in. She dropped the Asset's file and turned to face Rumlow. Her face was full of anger. He could tell she was no longer Elise.

"You think that's bad, you should see yours, Ella." He said.

He called her the name she saw on the file. He called her by her name she suddenly realized. She said nothing but rushed at him. He readied himself to take a swing. She ran at him and dropped to the ground sliding between his legs then quickly turning and kicking the back of his knees to knock him to the ground. She jumped on top of him and pressed her knee to his windpipe. He grasped weakly at her as he neared unconsciousness.

"Maybe your head needs messed with." She said contemplating whether to crush his windpipe. Just as she sensed a threat and turned a gunshot grazed her shoulder. She turned her attention to the guard shooting at her. She ran to him grabbing his gun and smacking him across the face with it. She turned to point the gun at Rumlow. Unfortunately, he was right behind her and grabbed her wrist. He squeezed it until the gun dropped. Her wrist snapped. She struggled against the pain as he landed a punch to her cheek. She fell unconscious. He drug her to a cell and threw her in.

"How disappointing. She has bonded more with the Ella persona than we anticipated." said Stahl standing by the cell. He looked at Rumlow. "Perhaps we need a reset?"