Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 21 - Back To Your Roots

And it had ended in absolute catastrophe.

So, both scientists had agreed to shut that part of the experimentation down, for now. It hadn't been nice to see a man go insane, and know she was the cause of it.

It was a relief not to have to enter someone's mind again, but she was growing bored of the same routines. She still got to spar against the other agents, but she still had her order to hold back, to fight like a normal human so she didn't risk overwhelming or hurting them.

And when she wasn't training, Alexandra had her stuck in the lab for the most part. Whether it was to get her blood withdrawn, or to test her healing abilities. Keira didn't know what the doctor was searching for, but the secrets of mutant DNA still seemed to hide in the shadows.

But another chore had been added to her days now.

At first, Keira hadn't realized what was going on. Of course, seeing how massive the fortress was, and how many agents were running around, she had put two and two together and figured out that Alexandra and Dr. Stroup couldn't be the only two scientists on the spot. No, there had to be a lot more, and someone had to be in charge as well.

What had been strange though, was the rumor that was flying around that Alexandra had asked for help from another scientist regarding the stone and its abilities. But sooner rather than later, it became clear that the rumor was true. A man called Dr. List had joined their sessions in the lab at first, staying in the shadows, merely observing as Alexandra tested her hypothesis on Keira, and taking notes as she did so.

After a while however, Keira saw that Dr. List was just as eager, if not more eager, as Alexandra to unravel the secrets of the gem in Loki's scepter. His dark brown eyes glinted maliciously every time the gem was mentioned, and it didn't take long until he had begun another trial of experiments with the gem.

And for that experiment, they somehow managed to find volunteers.

To have Keira as a living, breathing example of what the stone could accomplish if the subject survived, had made Dr. List ecstatic, fueling the hope that HYDRA would finally be able to dominate the world with their own private army.

But both scientists had been sorely disappointed so far. Not one of their subjects had survived. All of them had staggered to the floor after being exposed to the stone. And it was Keira's job to get rid of the bodies. And not because Dr. List or Alexandra had ordered it. No, Keira had finally gotten to meet the man who ran the show. The big boss.

Baron Strucker.

He was the man in charge, the one who kept pressing the scientists for results that didn't happen. And he was the prick that forced her to be out here, digging into the frozen ground with an old shovel that had long passed its prime.

"They have to be buried deep. Deep enough so their own ghosts won't be able to find them." Keira muttered to herself, repeating the instructions she had been given. It was ironic, really. "Then why proceed with the experiments in the dead of winter, huh? Why not wait until summer when the ground is actually diggable?" She sighed, scooping up another piece of frozen earth and throwing it to the side.

"You see what I'm dealing with here? Idiots, the whole lot of them." Keira glanced down at the dead man by her feet. His unseeing eyes were staring up into the cloudy sky, his mouth slightly agape. She tore her eyes away from him, focusing on digging her hole. "And I'm officially going crazy. Talking to corpses. That's it. It's the looney bin for me next." She murmured, shaking her head.

It really did feel like she was going crazy. The agents would barely talk to her, only giving her the shortest answers possible. If it was out of fear, or out of orders, Keira didn't know. Dr. List and Strucker treated her like she was nothing more than dirt under their shoes, so the only one she was able to hold a conversation with was, surprisingly, Alexandra. She hadn't seen that one coming, but it was what it was.