Chapter 2- Traitor

Harlow opened her eyes blinded by the white strip light above her. She brought a hand to her head as it throbbed and suddenly everything snapped back to her.

Where am I?

She sat up quickly causing her head to spin, she was on the floor of a white room surrounded by nothing but a door with a small window with an obvious security camera sitting in one of the corners of the room.

Harlow slowly gained her balance as she stood, she made her way to the door and looked out of the small window. She saw nothing but an empty hallway. She threw a fist against the door to let them know she was awake.

Why was Hydra doing this?

Soon enough a guard appeared on the other side of the glass and gestured for Harlow to back up against the furthest wall, she rolled her eyes because she knew the protocol as she was usually the one on the other side of that glass.

She did as she was told and the guard entered,

"Harlow Zakhaev, turn and face the wall, put your hands on your head" he commanded,

"Yeah, yeah I know" she snapped, "What the hell is going on here? I am not an enemy of Hydra," she stated,

"We'll see about that," he replied, as he pulled her roughly out of the cell and into the hallway.

Doctor Venkov was one of Hydra's best doctors that still remained as Hydra's forces had dwindled over the past few years. The doctor was analyzing blood samples when Harlow was escorted into the lab.

"Ah Harlow good, come in" he called out placing the vile back into the holder,

"I didn't really have a choice did I?" She grumbled.

He chuckled.

"Mr. Fastner will be joining us shortly, but for now I shall look at your vitals as I understand you were one of the people who were taken, yes?" he asked,

Harlow was forced to sit on the examination table by the guard,

"Yeah I found that out for myself, my parents are missing too. Are they here? I would like to see them," she asked.

Doctor Venkov didn't answer as he took the syringe and plunged the needle into her arm. The doors to the lab suddenly burst open as Mr. Fastner marched in. He was a high official of Hydra, one of the very few left in the ranks and Harlow hated him. Doctor Venkov quickly left the room with Harlow's blood sample in hand.

Harlow had always been afraid of Mr. Fastner, ever since she was a little girl. He was cruel and she felt uneasy whenever she was around him.

"Miss Zakhaev, good to have you back with us," he said unbuttoning his suit in order to sit,

"Thank you Sir" she replied, barely able to look at him from the table,

"I'm going to keep this short Miss Zakhaev. Your parents were traitors. When you disappeared they were a part of the people left behind, they lost themselves to their grief of losing you and in turn lost their ability to perform for us. They tried to flee Germany and go into hiding but we got to them before they could, when we bought them in for questioning they decided they wanted nothing to do with Hydra and because of this they were terminated" he said, his voice cold and calm.

Harlow's breath hitched in her throat and her vision started to blur, it was as if the world stopped spinning and she had been thrown into a terrible dream.

"We have brought you here to see where your loyalty lies, with Hydra or with your traitorous parents?" he asked,

Harlow wanted to scream at him, wanted to kill him and make it slow but she knew she had to be very careful with her next words. Her life depended on it.

"My loyalty has always been to Hydra, I am nothing like my traitorous parents," she said, looking him straight in the eye,

"Good. Our numbers have decreased after many years of fighting off the damned Avengers so I'm glad I don't have to shoot you today" he smiled a sickening grin while pulling out a small gun from his pocket, "You will have a chance to prove your loyalty, of course, you are to be given living quarters here so you can resume your training then you will be going on an assignment, don't fail us" he said sternly rising from his seat to walk closer to Harlow.

He took her chin in his hand and pointed the gun at her head with a smile, "It would be a shame to lose such.." his gaze went down her body and back up to meet her eye, "potential".

Harlow swallowed sharply but maintained eye contact, Doctor Venkov entered the room as Mr. Fastner took his leave,

"Okay, you are good to go, the guards will show you to your room, rest up and you should be fine," he said happily.

Harlow numbed herself while she was escorted to her quarters, as soon as she closed the door to the room, she crumbled in on herself until she hit the floor, she had never felt so much pain in her life.

Dead. Her parents were dead.

Traitors.

Executed.

She stayed in that same spot for hours, until her tears had finally stopped and her mouth was dry.

She had to stay strong, she had to keep moving.

That's what her parents would say.

She was Hydra, despite that Hydra had taken everything from her.

She was scheduled to start her training again tomorrow morning, she had to prove her loyalty to Hydra, or she would end up just like her parents.