Chapter Six

Elena's POV

Day Seventeen

Julian knew he was dying. I remember the day he told me that he was giving me to his son rather than a more qualified Hydra handler.

"It won't be easy," He warned.

I remember asking him, "Why are you giving me to him? Why not another Hydra agent?" My voice was monotone, not giving away the awful feeling I had in the pit of my stomach.

"Because he is my son," He replied. "And you, my dear, are the greatest gift I could give."

I nod. I am just a possession. An asset to Hydra.

I met with Nikolai the day after Julian's death. I was ready for another assignment, another mission. I didn't expect too much to change.

The Hydra guards took me out of my cell and brought me to another room. I stood in the middle of the room. The guards took their spots at the door. Then Nikolai walked in. He excused the guards. His eyes turned to me. He circled me like a shark. His eyes never leaving my body.

He then stopped in front of me, he brought his hand to my arm and stroked it.

I unconsciously moved away from his touch. He was quick with his hand, slapping me with the back of his hand. His voice was deadly, "did I tell you to move?"

I returned to my position. "It's been so long since I've seen you." He said, cupping my face in his hands. "You've grown so much."

He lowered his face and put his lips to mine. It took every inch of my willpower to stay still.

Finally, he pulls away. "I—"

The sound of the alarm wakes me up. I'm in a cold sweat, my body shaking. I'm grateful for the alarm now. I sat up from the cold floor and wrap my arms around myself.

A few moments pass and the alarm stops, I'm still trying to calm my breathing. I'm tired from the lack of sleep and it's affecting my healing. My throat burns from the water boarding and the cuts aren't fully disappearing.

I wait for the guards to come and bring me to whatever torture awaits me.

I don't know how long it's been, but they finally do arrive. Two of them, like usual. I've seen both of them before, there's only 7 guards that switch in and out.

"Get up." One shouts as the other unlocks the door.

I comply. The door opens and the guard gestures for me to move. I head out, with one guard in front of me to the left and the other guard behind me to the right.

We head down a few corridors that I had never seen before. When we enter the room, there are more guards, I count 4. There is also a man in a white shirt who I don't recognize and Nikolai, they are talking to each other.

I stop in my tracks when I see the machine behind them. The guard behind me pushes into me making me stumble forward, further into the room.

I try not to panic, instead trying to think of a plan of escape. Yet, if I could escape, I would have done so by now.

And now, here I am, in a room with the mind-wipe machine.

I don't want to… no, I can't think about it.

Instead, my mind flashes of images of the Winter Solider. No, Bucky, I correct myself. Steve's friend, who Hydra forced to do their bidding. His blank face enters my mind, unable to know even his own name.

Nikolai turns to me. He looks upset. His eyes rest on me for a moment before growling at the guards to strap me in. I start fighting, putting up quite the struggle as the six guards try to wrangle my limbs and lift me to the machine.

I'm not strong enough in my current state to fight them off, especially after two of them use their weapons to send shockwaves through me.

They try strapping me in. As two hold my right arm down, another closes the cuff. I bite that third guy's hand, but it doesn't help, it just rewards me with a punch to the jaw.

The guards finally have me in and back away. I struggle against the cold metal. "You can't do this!" I shout, my voice is crackled due to lack of use.

Nikolai walks up to me and puts his hand on my face, cupping my cheek, "I don't want to do this, love, but unfortunately the higher-ups don't think I can fix you."

He drops his hand, "I suppose it'll be easier this way, you will be able to go back to missions and whatnot." He says casually. I scoff, like he cares the least bit about missions. He was never a loyal Hydra agent, only in the higher ranks due to nepotism.

He turns to the guy in white, "start the process."

"No!" I shout, "Please don't do this." I hate myself for begging, but this is my worst fear come to life. My pleas go unanswered as the guy in white forces a mouth guard into my mouth and starts up the machine.

The machine clamps down on my head and I feel the electricity surge. I scream in pain, although it's muffled by the mouth guard.

I wish I would pass out from the pain, but I don't.

"Do you know your name?"

I look at the people around me, do I recognize them? I don't know. My head hurts.

There were four of them. One was in a white shirt, one in all black, and two in suits.

"Hey," The guy in white says while snapping his fingers in front of my face. "Focus."

"I- I don't know." I say, grabbing my head.

"That's a good sign, right?" One of the suit guys says to finger snapper. He looks back at me, "Wait, what's happening now?"

"Her powers? Are they working now?" The one in all black says. "I thought since we've been withholding her sleep, that they weren't working."

"They're working, just not as well." The guy in white shines a light in my eyes. "I don't know how this will affect the mind-wipe."

"Well, you better find out." The guy in the suit says angerly, "Because if this doesn't work, I want her terminated."

The guy in all black went rigid and turns to them. "I will make her work."

"This is your last chance, Zamfir." The angry suit guy says as he and the other suit leave the room.

The guy in black turns back to me. "What is your name?" He asks forcefully.

I'm still holding my head, as it's still pounding. "Elena" I answer.

The guy in black- Nikolai - grabs the tray next to me and hurls it at the wall, leaving a hole in the concrete.

"My name is Elena." I whisper to myself.