A/N Another update! Let me know what you think.
The white lights beaming down from above made me wince as my eyes fluttered open. My mouth feels incredibly dry and when I went to swallow, I instantly found myself gagging. Gasping as my heads fisted the sheets with a white knuckled grip, I panicked. There's something down my throat. Reaching up, I went to take out the intruding object when I realised I'd been restrained to the bed. Struggling as tears welled in the corner of my eyes, I kicked the sheets off of me as I squirmed.
Where's the doctors? Where's Pavlov?
Turning my head, I watched as the door opened and a pair of dark skinned men with lab coats rushed in towards me. Who are they? I don't recognise them. I don't recognise this place. One of them tried to hold me down while the other spoke "Katya, can you hear me?" I nodded my head "You must be still. Can you do that?"
I calmed my breathing and stopped squirming. The man nodded before reaching forward and carefully removing the tube that had been placed down my throat. Gagging a little, I coughed "Where am I?" I rasped "Where is Pavlov?"
The man shook his head before glancing at his colleague "We don't know who that is?"
My head rested back and the top end of the bed was lifted up so that I could sit in an upright position. The unknown doctors began to ask me a series of questions before righting them down on a clipboard. My eyes roamed around the unfamiliar place. There's medical equipment and wall mounted cupboard.
"Can you tell me where we are?" asked one of the doctors.
"The Facility" I answered.
"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked while shining a pen light into my eyes and checking for pupil dilation.
There was a pause as I looked into the muddy eyes of the doctor who stood on my right "Classified" I answered. This doesn't feel right. None of this is making any sense. First I wake up in a strange place I don't recognise and then I'm asked questions by people that I don't know. Wherever I am, it isn't the Facility.
The man went on to try and ask more questions, but I refused to answer. I don't know this man. Giving up, the two of them finished checking the monitors still attached to me before leaving the room without another word. Taking in the room more closely, I found there's only one window and through the metal shuttered I can see that it peers into a corridor.
My eyes roamed a little to the right when the door to my room opened again. I was expecting another foreign doctor I didn't know, but instead it's the Soldier; someone familiar. Walking toward me, I looked him up and down as he stood dressed in his black uniform. For the first time, I've finally seen him without the mask.
"Mission report. September twelve, nineteen fifty-three" he ordered with a gaze that never left me.
My brows furrowed a little. I was supposed to track and retrieve a man named Nathan Mathis. I know I succeeded in finding him. I'd followed his trail to Thailand, but that's as far back as I remember. Everything else is a blur "Target, unknown" I mumbled as I tried to push my mind to think. That can't be it.
The Soldier shifted in my line of vision and I looked at him "Did you fail?" he prodded. I don't know. There's a part of me that says I didn't, but I have no knowledge that I'm correct.
"I don't remember" I replied and I tilted my head down to stare at my lap.
"What do you remember?"
"I found Nathan Mathis in Thailand. That's all I know. Everything after that is missing. I don't understand" I looked up at the Soldier again "I'm not in the Facility. Where am I?"
"Listen, and listen very carefully" he said and I gasped. A shot of pain erupted to fill my skill. The words he spoke triggered something familiar. I can hear someone else saying it – it was Pavlov. My eyes opened again and I peered down at the restraints to see the harsh black metal fade away to simple brown leather "Katya?"
"What's wrong with me?" I muttered just above a whisper. This isn't me. I'm never this vulnerable, but for some reason my world has somehow been turned upside down.
The Soldier didn't answer straight away "In nineteen fifty-three you were sent on an assignment to retrieve your target, Nathan Mathis. You completed the mission"
"The why don't I remember?"
"Because you've been asleep for sixty-three years" he explained without hesitance.
I shook my head in disbelief "No. That isn't right. You're lying" I seethed through my teeth as my body began to tremble.
"What I'm telling you is the truth"
Pulling on the leather cuffs, I quickly lunged up on my knees and wrapped my hands around his throat. His own caught hold of my wrists and squeezed. The door to my room opened again and a man I'd never met entered with a stern face. His eyes are blue and his hair yellow like the sun "Let him go Katya"
I trained my vision the Soldier "How does he know my name?" I demanded.
"He helped save you" he replied. I squeezed a little tighter as I looked into the steel eyes of the Soldier. Deep down I can see their different. They aren't the cold violent eyes that I once knew. Instead they'd softened into a distasteful look of guilt and regret "You're safe here. No one's going to hurt you again. I promise"
"I don't want your promises" I growled before slamming my fist into his face. Scrambling off of the bed, the blonde went to reach for the Soldier as he clutched his face. Using the distraction, I ran out of the room and down the corridor.
I can hear my name being called and I pushed my legs faster. Winding and twisting down hallways, I haven't the slightest idea as to where I'm going. All I know is that I need to get out of here before they catch me. Coming to a halt, a woman I'd never met but felt so familiar with had stopped before me.
"You're awake?" she said before taking a step toward me. I flinched back and she frowned "Do you remember me?"
I didn't answer. I don't have the time. Listening to their pounding footsteps behind me, I sprinted past the woman in red and tried to find an exit. Ignoring the constant calling of my name, I ran down more hallways until I stopped. I managed to find myself in an open planned area where men and woman in lab coats all stood staring at me with confusion and shock. I saw a pair of armed guards rushing toward me with their guns raised.
"Get on the ground!" they shouted "Now!"
Reaching to his shoulder, one of the guards spoke through the radio "Don't shoot!" ordered the blonde man from before as he stood not far away with the Soldier beside him.
The blonde had his hands raise and I could see the guards creeping ever so closely. Flickering my gaze to the Soldier, he gave me a look – don't do it.
Waiting until the guards had gotten close enough, I twisted a gun from one of their hands and shot the other in the hand "Katya, stop!" bellowed the Soldier as I punched the remaining guard in the throat. Running off into an unknown direction, I didn't get far when I was tackled to the ground by the Soldier. Rolling around on the ground, the gun was knocked from my hand and he straddled me. Grabbing my face in my hands, he made me look up at him "Stop it. Stop fighting" he said as I squirmed and kicked beneath his weight.
"Let me go Soldier" I demanded.
Slapping him in the face, I gasped when that same pain shot through my skull again. My eyes tightly closed as I watched scenes flash in my head. I'm once again strapped into some sort of chair. It feels incredibly cold and my lungs burn. I can see Pavlov standing a foot away but I'm being closed in. What's happening to me? Why does it hurt?
The pain slowly subsided and the flashes faded away. Opening my eyes, I looked up at the Soldier with fluttering lashes. A sudden wave of fatigue washed over me as I looked over his shoulder. The large electronic clock hanging on the wall displayed the date and ticked down each second. Maybe there telling me the truth.
Steve stood beside Bucky as they peered into the corridor window of one of the rooms in the medical bay "How's she doing?" asked Steve.
"They gave her something to calm down. She's alright for now" replied Bucky as he crossed his arms. He'd changed out of his old black uniform and insisted on keeping watch over Katya "I don't think it's a good idea for her to be here. She doesn't know any of these people. She doesn't know the new world"
"No yet, but you could help her" replied Steve "She knows who you are"
Bucky shook his head "She remembers the Soldier, not me. It didn't take her long to figure out something wasn't right. Katya remembers everything up until her last mission. Nathan Mathis, September twelve nineteen fifty-three" he said "Everything else after that, the serum, the experiment, the airport, she doesn't have a clue"
Steve nodded his head. Katya had turned onto her side "Let's hope it stays that way. It's better for all of us if she doesn't figure it" Bucky didn't say anything as Steve gave a gentle squeeze to his friends shoulder.
Sitting up in the bed, I pushed my food around with a plastic fork they'd given me. The door opened and the soldier came to stand by my bed. He always visits at least once a day "You need to eat. You're starting to look frail" I ignored him and pushed the portable table away from me. I'm not hungry.
"When are you going to start answering my questions?" I asked with a sigh "It's been nearly three days since I woke up and no one will say a word" I looked over at the Soldier as he stood dressed in civilian clothes. It's hard to see him like that. He looks so different without the mask and all of his black clothing and tactical gear.
He nodded his head "Alright. What do you want to know?"
"Everything" I said "Who put me to sleep, and why?"
"Krupin ordered you to be placed into cryo after your last mission. It was to keep you safe" he replied.
"And you? How are you still here?" I asked "If it's really been sixty-three years, you should be old or dead"
"It's complicated" he said with a quick glance to the ground "Hydra, they kept me on ice and used me when they needed something done" it made sense, somewhat. Taking a moment for everything to sink in and process, it still didn't explain the important part; like how I don't remember going under. Maybe loss of memory is a side effect of the cryo machine.
"What about the other girls?" I questioned.
"They didn't make it"
"Then it's just us" I muttered to myself "The Facility is gone and it's all over" a pang of something unfamiliar tightened inside of my chest. It's hard to think my entire world has been wiped out only to be replaced with something I hardly recognise. What's the point of it now if none of it matters anymore? I looked to the Soldier "What happens now?"
"You start over" he answered.
"Like you did?"
"Yeah" he nodded "Like I did"
It went silent for a moment. It's somewhat uncomfortable having a conversation with a person who's now completely different. I don't remember this man to be caring or friendly. I remember him to be cold and lethal. For however long he's been free in this new world, he's managed to drastically change. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing.
"I don't want to stay in this place forever" I spoke up "When are they going to let me go?"
"I'm not sure when you can leave, but you can go access a few places in the building as long as you have someone with you" he replied.
"Do they think I'm going to hurt someone again, or try and escape?"
The Soldier paused for a second before stepping forward and pushing the portable trolley away from me. He didn't answer my question "Come on. I have something to show you"
Giving the Soldier a suspicious look, I pulled off the blankets and stepped out of bed. Following beside him as we walked out of the room and down the corridor, I took in the scent of cleaning chemical and lavender "Where are we going?" I asked.
"Somewhere that might feel familiar. You can't break habits overnight and you're used to a particular routine. We'll start from there" I nodded my head. It's better than lying in that hospital bed all day long. I remember a time where I was stuck in a similar situation. Only it didn't end too well when I tried to leave. I still have the scars he made.
Looking to my right, I caught a glimpse of something red out amongst the gardens below; located in the very centre of the massive building. Inspecting further, I stopped walking as I saw it to be the same woman who'd stopped me yesterday. She's with a humanoid looking man. I gestured "That woman down there. Who is she?"
The Soldier took a look and replied "Her names Wanda. She's a friends"
"She knew my name yesterday, when I was running away. She stopped and asked me if I knew her" I looked at him "What did she mean by that?"
Even three levels up, I noticed the clear attraction the two people below have with each other "I'm not sure" his eyebrows knitted together when he answered. I wanted to push the subject. I know he's hiding something, but I highly doubt he'd tell me what it is.
Continuing our walk, we eventually stopped at an open class door to the left of the hallway. Walking in, I took a glance around the room filled with training equipment; similar to the things in the Facility but more advanced "Training?" I asked.
He nodded "Every afternoon we'll come in here for a few hours" closing the door behind us, the Soldier walked over to a treadmill "There's some clothes on the bench in that room. Get changed and come back" doing as instructed, I went and redressed into a black sports bra and pants; similar to the ones I'd wear in the Facility. The Soldier pressed a few buttons on the machine "We'll take it slow for the first day. Six miles should be enough"