Present Day
It is freezing here.
Here being a relatively loose term seeing as I didn't know where here was. It was always cold though, every time I was brought back. It was literally like defrosting, trying to get my body back to a normal temperate. I place my hands out to feel the familiar steel of the pod I was in. I was very acquainted with it, I could even tell you long many nuts and bolts ran around the frame or how many miniscule cracks where in the small window, if you could even call it a window, there was no light coming through it leaving me in utter darkness.
I suppose I couldn't complain because this was a hundred times better than knowing I was about to go back under. Be frozen in time for who knows how long. The terrifying moments before the air is sucked from your lungs and everything goes black. The worst part is the feeling that you'll suffocate right before a coldness creeps into your skin and then there would be nothing until the next time they needed you.
I wonder long it's been since the last time I was unfrozen. I could only remember the previous time and before that everything goes fuzzy. It seems as though things get harder and harder to remember the more time passes. I reach up with my hands to feel for my hair usually a tell-tale of how long it's been at the rate at which it grows at. Not able to see my blonde hair I can feel it greasy and a lot longer than it was last time.
My mind drifted to what they could possible need me for now. Who was I to kill next? What would be this person's crime to Hydra? Would they beg me for mercy this time? Would be quick and easy?
And then another question arose in my mind. Would I see him this time? The man with the metal arm. I'd seen him on other occasion I can remember being unfrozen. I wonder if I'll feel that same sense of familiarity I did when he was near. Every time I saw him I couldn't help but feel as though we'd met some where before. They usually kept us in different rooms. Although this time I might be meeting a whole new set of people depending on how long it's been. Had my last handlers died? Had it been that long?
Frustrated, I kick the metal door in front of me knowing I will not get the answer to most of these questions. Hydra didn't care that much to privilege me with much information.
A not so distant noise breaks me from my thoughts.
"If this one has been injected with the serum why don't Hydra use her more often?" A man asks.
"That's above both our pay grades." A second answers back. "But it's not that hard to figure out. He has a bionic arm which can cause some serious damage. This one has all its limbs and isn't as lethal."
"Captain America isn't bionic and he's a pretty big threat." The first man fires back.
"I don't know, maybe it's something else then. It was just a thought."
The metal door in front of me is wrenched open and artificial light hit my face. I squint my eyes at the brightness as hands wrap around the tops of my arms and pull me from the pod.
"She's lighter than I expected." The second comments as though I'm not here at all. The men are wearing black suits that I don't recognise. The style tells me it must be a different decade since the last time I woke up. They each have an earpiece and are carrying guns. Even from here I could tell which part of their body they were strapped too.
I quickly scan the room in. A small concrete room with no windows, undoubtedly a basement of a building. Different from the last location l was held. I notice another matching pod beside mine and internally sigh a small breath of relief. He would be around this time, the man with the metal arm.
The men walk me around a maze of narrow corridors until they stop in front of a door similar to the one I came from. They make no comment as they unlock and push me inside and lock the door behind me. This room is smaller than the last and completely empty save a cot by the wall where I'm to sleep. I walk over and a take a seat on the uncomfortable bed. It wasn't as though I would be sleeping anyway. Sleeping usually included vivid and violent dreams and I tried to avoid them as much I could.
The room was bleak with its grey walls and ceiling, both marred with watermarks, signs of past leaks in the building. A small rusted vent was located at the bottom of the wall next to the bed.
Looking around to make sure there was no cameras in the room I move to investigate the vent. It weak and I could easily pull it off with no real force but then there would be no way of putting it back on. I glance through making out another small room on the other side but at this angle there was no way of seeing anything but the grey wall opposite me.
I lean back against the wall. The last time I'd been awake I'd contemplated escape. I was quick and strong enough to take on any of the agents here. But even if I was free from Hydra, where would I go? The world is constantly changing and I'm literally stuck in the past with barely any memory of myself. What would I do? On some level Hydra kept me grounded and grounded was good. Grounded was safe.
The door suddenly bursts open and I jumped to my feet taking a defensive stance. A man stood before me wearing a long white coat which looked a cross between a doctor and a scientist.
"It's time for your assessment." Was all he said before turning on his heel leaving, expecting me to follow.
We weren't alone, we were followed close by two armed men in suits. I mentally try and make a map of halls and doors I see, taking note that we only have to walk up one flight of stairs before we come to a window. Its small and I quickly figure its night time seeing as I can't make out anything.
We arrive at a large room filled with safety deposit boxes and some sort of computer equipment I've never seen before, two identical machines sits and either side of the room. The technology looks more advanced them the kind I was used to. It looks like Hydra have based themselves in a bank this time around.
Hands shove me into the space after the doctor and a barred metal gate shuts behind me.
"Sit." The doctor tells me gruffly pointing to one of the machines. I take a seat in the uncomfortable chair. The doctor wastes no time taking my blood pressure, temperature and weight before he starts sticking large white circular tabs with wires attached to my forehead. This was new, normally they'd just give me a quick check up after the de-freezing process. What were they going to do to me now?
"This may sting." He mutters taking a seat in front of the screen attached to the machine. The has a basic human figure on it to represent me and information on my vitals. An electric shock runs across my forehead and I feel myself tense up and hiss in pain as colours burst across the backs on my eyelids. It's sharp and fast and dies down just as quickly as it started. I don't get to relax for very long before the pain flares up again. This goes on another four times before the doctor looks up and pulls the sticky circles from my head. The doctors then leans over and shines a light into my eyes before staring at my deeply as though he's waiting for something to happen.
When nothing does he sighs deeply before reaching for a folder which looks battered and worn and begins writing in it.
Hydra liked to think of me as there weapon, their property. It was almost as though I wasn't human and because of this, they tended to treat me as if I was some inanimate object, ignoring me at all times.
I stare at him trying to figure what going on in his head. What did he just do to me? The silence makes me nervous and I lean forward for a better look at the file. The folder is thick with paper and I manage to catch a glimpse of the first page, making out only a word –Mary- before he turns the page and begins writing elsewhere. Is that my file? Does that folder have more about my life in it? Am I Mary?
All this time I'd only ever been referred to as the Asset or the Soldier or more simply put, the Girl. Was this my name? Surely upon seeing your own name you'd remember it. It felt wrong though and thinking about it made me mentally cringe. I'm concentrating so hard I don't notice the figures coming down the hall until the gate slides open.
It was him.
The man with metal arm automatically comes to a halt in the middle of the room. He seems exactly the same as the last time I saw him, tall, lean and lethal. Even though I had never talked to him before I felt as though I knew him but more I tried to remember the harder he got to place. It was like I was trying to remember a dream after I had woken up.
"Mission report." A voice says. I have to tear my eyes from the metal armed man as the Hydra agent's part and a familiar man strolls in. He's a lot older now from the last time I seen him. His blonde hair greying and his face heavily aged with wrinkles. I know him only by Pierce.
"The target is down." The man with the metal arm answers back firmly. His voice is gruff and coarse, like it haven't been used in a long time. I imagine mine will sound the same.
"Good." Pierce says before turning his attention to . "I see you're busy with the other asset. Do you have the information we discussed?"
"Yes, sir" hands him the folder he had been writing in which Pierce opens and glances at. He then makes his way over to me and stares down at me with that same smile he had all those years ago.
"She still looks as irritated as ever." He comments as though I can't hear him. I simply stare back at him. "You jealous because he gets all the fun?"
He tilts his head back and chuckles." Don't worry with Nick Fury dead I'm sure we'll be needing you a lot more now. Was there anything wrong with her?"
Part of me wonders if it was the metal armed man who killed this Nick Fury. I glance at him he remains motionless staring straight ahead as if he can't hear the conversation going on around him.
"No. She's a little malnourished but that's natural for the amount of time she's been under." answers.
"When you're finished with him, you're wanted upstairs in the office. You'd better be able to explain your findings to her." Pierce puts a slight emphasis on the her and roughly hands him back the folder and disappears out of the door he came through.
Wordlessly the man with the metal arm sits down at the machine opposite me and pull his face mask off. He looks exhausted and I can tell he's trying not to sag in the chair. begins his examination and seeing as no one has told me to move I assume I'm to stay put. He starts by removing the top of the black suit leaving the man in a vest top, his metal arm on full display.
I'd never been this close to him before. His arm looked like it could some serious damage. I wonder how much missions he's been on since he's been awake. How much people has he killed?
What if they're about to send me out on a mission. Would Pierce come back through that door with an assignment for me?
I don't realise I'm still looking at the metal armed man until he lifts his head and stares at me with intense blue eyes. I'm trapped in his gaze unable to look away. His face gives away no expression but I can tell that he's trying to figure me out just like I'm trying to figure him out. Part of me wondered if he thought I looked familiar too or if I was just that other asset he sometimes saw. The more I looked at his face the more frustrated I became about not being able to place him.
"You're good to go." said once he was finished taking his vitals and fiddling with his metal arm. The man didn't even bother looking up at him. I notice that the doctor doesn't stick the tabs on the metal armed man.
"Rumlow, they need to be fed. Take them to cafeteria, I have to finish my notes." said grabbing the worn folder and pawing through it again.
"What am I, your errand boy?" The agent I'm assuming to be Rumlow answers, sarcastically. sighs heavily but ignores him as he walks over and shoves me out of my sit. He runs his eyes over me like I'm a piece of meat and smile a sickening smile. The man with the metal arm is up and out of his sit before the other agent can do the same to him.
With Rumlow marching ahead of us and the other agent following behind us we were herded through the large building and a lunch room filled with tables. I manage to glance at the clock and see it's a little after eleven.
A woman agent hands me and the metal armed man a white tray filled with grey looking food which looks like it's already been in someone else's stomach and a bottle of water. I beeline for the nearest table and sit down.
I'm surprised when I hear the chair across from me move and the metal armed man sits down opposite me. I waste no time digging in to the food. Wondering how many years it's been since my stomach had real food it in. It tastes of nothing and the texture is soggy but I don't care. It's not until I take a sip of the water I realise just how thirsty I am too. I manage to drain the bottle in two giant gulps. It was like this last time when I was awake, my throat felt like sandpaper and no matter how much water I had it was wasn't enough.
I look around to see if there's anywhere I can get more. The room is pretty much deserted except for me, the metal armed guy and the agents who brought us here, who were sitting a few tables away eating decisively better looking food. Rumlow stares at me from across the room and I shoot him my best glare.
And then the metal armed guy does something which completely surprises me. He pushed his unopened bottle across the table to me. I look up at him questioningly he simply continues eating his food. Cautiously I accept the water, sipping it this time. I realise this man must have been in my position recently and no one was around to offer him an extra bottle of water and I can't help but feel sad for himself. He was always already awake whenever I was never the other way around and because there was only two of us no one could ever show him any kindness.
"2014." His voice startles me but I manage not to show it.
"What?" I manage reckoning my voice probably sounded no better.
"The year. Its 2014." He says shortly looking up into my eyes. A slight frown settles across his brow and I can't help but wonder what he would look like with a smile on his face. An inkling in the back of my mind tells me I might have seen it before.
"Thank you." He nods and tucks back into his food. I wonder how he must of felt waking up in a strange time period and had to try figure out when he was. I wonder if somebody had the curtesy to tell like he had to tell me.
He sits defensively like he's about to get up and start fighting at any given second. His hair forms a curtain around his face so I can't see any expressions he's making. If he was even making any. I glance down at his torso and make out the angry red scar lines where his metal arm meets his chest under his vest. I wonder if it hurts when he uses it or to what extent he can feel things with it.
He glances up and catches me staring at his arm and moves it so it hangs by his side. I wish I could tell what he was thinking instead of trying to guess.
"Okay, back to your rooms." Rumlow appears next to us as the metal armed man finishes eating and escorts from the cafeteria back down into the maze of corridors. We arrive at my room first where Rumlow unlocks the door and grunts for me to go in I glance once more at the man with the metal arm before complying.
"Night princess." He smirks locking the door behind him. I don't have to wait long before I hear the room beside my open and close. Getting down to the vent I see a pair of black combat boots identical to my own walk by meaning the man with the metal arm was in the room next to me.
I can hear him sitting on his cot before he lets out an almost inaudible sigh. Leaning my head back against the wall I allow my eyes to slide shut and begin to process the last few hour's events.
I wonder what lies instore for me tomorrow. How long would it take them to find me someone to eliminate. A part of me wanted a mission. But not because I wanted to kill anybody but because a selfish part of me wanted to see the world again and feel the sun on my face.
If the man with the metal arm was right about the date that meant it's been around thirty years since I last saw the world. I wonder how much has changed since then other than the fashion, if the agents were anything to go by. I also wondered why they haven't used in me so long. Had they forgotten about me?
With the rate of thoughts running through my head I knew I would never get any sleep tonight not that I planned to. I wondered how the metal armed man ever got any sleep.
Slumping down I let my hands fall from there place on my lap to the floor, which make a small dull knocking noise in the process. I think nothing of it until I hear a dull tapping noise in the room beside me. He must be able to sleep either I feel the corners turn up into a small smile, sharing some comfort in the fact that at least I wasn't alone.
Throughout the night at regular intervals I find myself tapping lightly of the floor to see he if will response.
He always does.
straightens his tie as he walks down the long corridor which leads to her office. The person everyone including Pierce, reported to. He hated confronting her and he knew she wouldn't be happy with this information. She was so intimidating and her expression gave nothing away. You never knew what she was truly thinking or feeling.
Two armed men stand outside the office door completely ignoring as he stops and fixes what little hair he had in front of the door. Knocking once, he let himself into the room. The office was like many of the other offices, large and empty except for a desk, a chair and a computer. This was in case Hydra needed to relocation with speed.
She sits expectantly at her desk with a neutral expression on her face. An expression had become very familiar with. Pierce stands beside her texting away on his phone.
"Report."
"Well I –um- carried out the memory tests on the Asset like instructed as soon as she was woken up from her cryogenic state. Eh, as you'll see in my report there was no unusual brain activity meaning she haven't regained any of her past memories." stammered as he places the battered file on the desk.
"And the other Asset?"
"He was the same, no unusual brain activity." watched on in discomfort as she paws through the file.
"You've already been briefed on what is to happen next, yes?"
"Yes ma'am, the girl is to be operated on as soon as possible to try and recover as much of her memory as possible." rushed he could feel sweat gathering across his brow.
"Correct, you will need to gather a team of competent doctors to help you carry out the procedure." She closes over the folder and comes around the desk to stand in front of . "Need I say that if this procedure goes wrong and we lose the asset or her memory deteriorates more it won't just be your job on the line." Her voice is eerily soft but it's enough to strike fear into the doctor who nods rapidly in response.
"Thank you, . That'll be all." She smiles smugly at the doctor before leaning back and sitting on the edge of her desk.
"What's so important about the girl? Why are her memories so important?" spill out of his mouth before he's even realised he's asked them. She pausing for a while considering what information to tell the doctor.
"Because she holds the winter solider formula."
IMPORTANT: Present day in this fic is set during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, hence it being 2014.
I meant to have this up sooner but I was away in England for a while. Thank you to the three people who reviewed, I really appreciated them! And to the people to followed and favourited. I hope you liked this chapter. Please remember to NOTE the date at the beginning of each chapter!
Thanks for reading, don't forget to review!
-M