Cold, damn, so cold. I tried to curl up, to make myself warmer, but my arms and legs were tied down. The thoughts were back, I could sense them again. I could see bright light through my eyelids so when I opened my eyes I wasn't surprised by the fluorescent lamp hanging a few feet above my face. I couldn't see anything, save the circle of light around me. I squinted into the darkness, I couldn't see any thoughts in the room with me either. I tuned into the thoughts that weren't in the room, the thoughts that were all around me. I separated them from the general babble so I could hear individuals. None of them were familiar and from the extreme variants of what people were thinking I was able to determine that we had to be in a building near some kind of busy road. I was in a room and the doors were guarded by two guards. Underground, most likely. I was still cold, my head hurt, I could sense a few people other than the guards who I could tell were with Hydra. There was one more mind, Bucky's. He was here too, the orders that he had been given echoing through his head. He and someone else were moving towards my area. I looked to see what was tying me down. My wrists were bound to the arms of the chair by metal rope which dug into my skin. My legs seemed to be bound by the same material. The chair seemed like one of those traditional interrogation chairs from the movies except for out of the corner of my eye I could see a large machine that stuck out from behind me. I heard a creaking noise and footsteps. Bucky and another man, what was his name?

I closed my eyes for a moment. Alexander Worther.

They entered the room behind me and for a second the room was illuminated by the hallway light. It was pretty small, not elevator small, not scary small, but it was pretty tiny. Definitely underground, there was a single chair other than mine. Alexander sat down in that chair. He was 27, extremely smart. He'd been working for Hydra for several years. He pulled something out of his pocket and held it up. A syringe filled with a liquid I didn't recognize.

"So we can speak on even terms." He said as he prodded it into my arm.

It didn't hurt until he injected the fluid, which burnt my veins like ice on bare skin. After a few minutes all of the thoughts around me faded out. So that's what he meant.

"It worked." I told him.

He nodded.

"I'm sure you're wondering where you are."

I shook my head.

"We're underground in a building near a busy street. Quite a few Hydra officials are here so I assume either in an outpost or a headquarters."

He smiled. "Excellent. Very extraordinary. Soldier." When he said that Bucky straightened. "Make sure her powers are kept sedated."
Bucky nodded stiffly.

"Miss Evans, I'm sure you've wondered about what's going on. First, though you most likely already know, my name is Alexander Worther. I am one of the leading scientists here in Hydra. I specialise in what we call metamorphosis. I've studied what was done for our 'Winter Soldier' as he is known and I believe I may have perfected it in the machine behind you. This machine has not been tested yet, we prefer to use a different one on the soldier. But you are to be the product of this machine. A new tool for us to use."

I nodded slowly. "I have a question."

"What?"

"Was it Hydra who kidnapped me when I was ten?"

"Yes."

"Then did Hydra give me my powers?"

"Yes."

"That's what I thought. But why did Hydra kidnap me of all people?"

"Your parents. We have a full transcript of your conversation you had with the Avengers. All of your speculations were accurate."
I nodded, wire glasses had told them everything.

"Is there anything else you want to know?"

"No, not right now."

"Alright then-"

"Wait."

"Yes?"

"What exactly are you going to do to me?"

He stood up and laughed. I shivered, it was still cold.

"You are being so compliant. It makes me wonder what you're planning."

He walked closer, next to my head. He knelt down and his mouth was right next to my ear.

"We'll break you down to nothing and build you back up as one of ours. But first we'll need to collapse your mental defenses. That will be our soldiers job. Torture, interrogation, rehabilitation, whatever you prefer to call it. You'll start tomorrow."

He stood back up and nodded to Bucky. Bucky sat down.

"My primary missions are to keep you under surveillance and prepare you for metamorph." He stated, his voice nearly monotone.

"Very good, I'll leave you here." He told Bucky. "I'll se e you soon Evans."
Bucky watched him leave. Once Alexander was gone he turned back to me.

"Bucky?" I watched for a reaction.

He made no response, just sat there.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked. "Sit here?"

He stood up.

"We'll start tomorrow." He said, echoing the words of the scientist.

He continued staring at me. I just shook my head and laid it back on the chair. I closed my eyes again. Is there anyway I could get a message out? If my powers would work I might be able to control the guards. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get Bucky to remember. It didn't look like there was a currently accessible access I laid my head back on the chair and closed my eyes to sleep.

I was running through darkness. I ran straight into it, laughing as I went. I was finally free! I could do what I wanted. My powers were limitless. I ran into Bucky. I stumbled back, my head suddenly throbbing with a brutal headache. I backed right into another person. I turned around to see the one eye of Nick Fury looking at me with a disapproving glare. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to betray Shield. Loki stepped out of the shadows.

"Choose." His voice echoed unnaturally.

"What are you talking about?"

"Choose." He raised his hands, palms up, so that they were level with his shoulders.
"I can't, what are you talking about?"

I shook my head, backing out of the circle that they had formed. What did he mean, choose? What did I need to choose from? It was so cold and humid. The air was hard to move in, like sludge. It was hard to make decisions. My body wouldn't respond in the way I wanted it to. I stumbled back into the circle, right into Loki. I knocked him over and everything was falling away. Down, the darkness growing even darker. Down, I couldn't see anything. Down, suddenly I saw the ground rushing at me. Loki looked like he was trying to catch me but, I fell past him. I looked and the ground was surging towards me.

I started awake, screaming, in a cold sweat. It took me a moment to realize I had been dreaming. God, what was going on? Why me? Why did my parents old job make me susceptible to this?

I don't want to be here… I'm…. that was when reality hit me. I was going to be tortured, hurt, beaten, worse. I didn't want this to happen to me.

The door creaked. My powers were resurfacing but not enough to do anything with. I watched Bucky pull out another syringe and prod it into my arm. The ice of the chemical spread quickly through my veins, cutting off my abilities once again. By this time I was extremely uncomfortable, hungry and exhausted. The drugs dulled my perception too.

My brain wasn't working as fast as it normally could. Bucky stared at me for a moment, then he grabbed my chin with his metal hand. He leaned forward, closer to my face.

"I remember what happened." He said tensely.

I bit my lip.

"What do you remember?"

"You tried to kill me." He leaned in further.

His breath hit my face, sour and hot. I laughed.

"I never tried to kill you! What kind of lies are they planting in your head?"

"What lies?"

"Whatever lies make you want to perform these missions!" I exclaimed. "This isn't you, Steve would never care about someone as much as he does if they wanted to be like this."
His fist connected with my cheek. I turned my head with the impact.

"Stop talking." He commanded, grabbing my chin and roughly yanking it back to face the front.

I swallowed and bit my lip. We held eye contact for a few moments until he seemed satisfied. He turned around and walked up to the wall, leaning against it with one arm.

"I'm so confused." I heard him whisper.

"I… think I could help you." I spoke softly, like I was trying not to agitate an animal.

He spun around, glaring at me intensely. He walked up, this time smacking me with an open palm.

"I told you to keep your mouth shut."

I took a deep breath and stayed quiet. Bucky continued muttering to himself, most of which I couldn't hear.

"Steve… name… dead… right." Was all I managed to gather.

"Who is Steve?" He asked.

"Steve is-" He cut me off with another punch.

I stared at him with wide eyes. I shook my head subtly.

"You-" He stopped. "I want to know but, I need t follow the orders. I don't know, I have to make decisions. I'm not prepared for this."

I didn't speak, what could I say?

"Steve was… a friend?" He looked at me. His tone indicated it being a question.
I nodded.

"Steve was my friend?"

I nodded again, he bit the inside of his cheek.

"Steve was sad when I was gone?"

I wanted to pour out. Telling him how sad Steve was, how immensely, how horrendously sad. Instead I just had to nod.
He turned and punched me, smacked me, hurt me all over. I knew he was trying to resist, trying to stop himself. I saw it in the hesitation of his fist when he reared back for another blow, I saw it in his face when he stared at me as I was almost passing out from a raging headache. I saw it in his eyes as he left the room. As blackness spread across my vision he looked at me with a mixture of sadness and regret and I faded into oblivion.