The Winter Wraith

Chapter 12

Adina shifted in her seat and looked up at the man, waiting for the question.

"How long have you been at Hydra?" he asked.

A moment passed, and it seemed like she might not answer the question.

"At least since I was ten or eleven," Adina finally replied.

Steve wanted to press for more information, but he knew he shouldn't push his luck. He was content to get just this answer.

"Thank you," he responded with instead, refraining from the many questions he had.

With the small bit of information, Steve left the small room.

~~~~~~

Adina had hoped that Rogers was going to get her the meal he promised, but this hope was rapidly decreasing as an hour passed by. She was getting sick of being confined to the hard chair as time went on. It reminded her of when Hydra would put her in solitary confinement.

That ranked among her least favorite punishments. She wasn't very social, so one would think she wouldn't get affected much by this punishment; however, this couldn't be more wrong.

Although Adina wasn't an outgoing extrovert or a social butterfly, she thrived on being around others. She may be more introverted than the typical person, but she gained a special kind of energy from being around others. An energy she couldn't really explain, other than that people could be really wonderful, sometimes.

Being around others made her feel alive and connected, and Hydra took that away. After being in solitary confinement a few times, Adina started to show signs of some kind of separation anxiety.

She started to do anything if it meant staying with her handler or other agents. Once Hydra found out about this new found anxiety, they twisted it for their own use, and would often leave her in a small bright room until she complied, or just for the sake of it.

Adina shook the dark memories from her head and forced herself to keep a blank mind. She didn't need to spiral right now. She couldn't afford any weakness.

About fifteen more minutes passed before the door opened once more. In came Rogers with a plate full of food and a cup

It smelt wonderful, and Adina was reminded of how hungry she was. She had ran out of granola bars a couple of days before she was captured. The only thing she had to eat then was the gummy worms. Thankfully, her stomach did not let out an embarrassing growl at the sight of a freshly cooked meal.

Steve set the plate and paper cup of water down, along with a plastic fork.

"Sorry it took so long. I got caught up in...other matters," Steve vaguely said.

The other matters he was referring to dealt with Bucky. Bucky said he wanted to talk with the girl. He remembered training with her as the Winter Soldier. He also recalled the name they gave her, but he couldn't remember her actual name.

Steve would push for more information out of Bucky later, as it seemed he might be withholding something, but, overall, he wanted Bucky to stay out of this situation. Steve worried that the girl may act as a trigger for Bucky, and his precarious mental state would crumble. Gratefully, Bucky's trigger words had been erased by the Wakandans.

Don't get him wrong, as Steve was very thankful for this development, but he couldn't help his worrying about Bucky. After all, he had just gotten Bucky back into his life, and he could not bear to ever lose him again. Therefore, he was more than hesitant to allow Bucky to interact with an agent from Hydra.

Steve went around the table towards Adina's side.

"I'm going to unattach your cuffs from the chair. Don't try anything," he told her.

He had some kind of small remote and pressed a button on it. Her cuffs detached from the arms of the chair, but remained on her.

"Now, I'm going to leave your cuffs not attached to anything. If you attempt to do something you're not supposed to or even move from this chair, this button right here," Steve said, gesturing to another button on the remote, "can shock you. If that's not enough, there's a dial that can be turned up, too. Do you understand?"

Adina quickly shook her head yes, not wanting to get shocked for any disobedience. She's had enough of that for a lifetime.

Upon seeing the teen's quick, and slightly frightful, answer, Steve felt a little bad for the passive threat. However, it had to be done, in order to ensure she didn't try to escape or hurt any of his teammates.

Steve sat back down in the opposing chair and began once again to question the teenager once again, in hopes she'll eventually give in and answer.

Published: 3/30/22