Eat Your Young / Marvel

PROLOGUE.

His presence felt suffocating, as if the room had shrunk around her, leaving no space to escape his probing eyes.

"How has she been? The old hag." Stoica humored.

Astrid barely moved an inch. Remaining silent as she kept her eyes in front of her.

"I take that as good. I personally haven't been informed of any incidents." Stoica attached another wire to her neck. He was basically speaking to himself.

"But I'm sure she's been quite annoying, huh? Taunting you, as always." He tried for a smile but seemed to failed yet again.

He didn't even understand the half it.

Astrid remained as straight and rigid as before, not even her breathing could be heard. Stoica huffed like a toddler. "You know, this is gonna be much more boring if we remain dead silent."

Astrid felt sick. He was sick. Keeping her locked up in this place. Only letting her out when it was for training or for missions or for these stupid examinations. Only for him to question why she resisted.

The black haired girl tilted her head in his direction ever so slightly. An evil sparked in his eyes as he looked up at her.

The sudden sound of the heart monitor caught both of their attentions. Stoica sighed and stood up. His chair rolling back as he moved.

Astrid watched as he opened up his tool box. Clonazepam. The drug that filled every single syringe. They say it's for her benefit, so she doesn't feel the pain. But that's a whole lot of bullshit. The drug doesn't take away pain, it weakens you. Or in Astrid's case, the thing inside her.

Stoica applied his gloves, and held one of the sharp syringes in his hand, analyzing the liquid like it'd talk back to him. He stepped towards her.

As if on cue, the alarms started to blare. Echoing through the corridors, panic swept through the room like wildfire.

A rogue presence had infiltrated their ranks — the Winter Soldier.

Brought in with defiance and violence in his eyes. Astrid, who was forced to the corner of the room by Stoica, stood firm, watching.

Astrid had heard hushed whispers about him, a mysterious figure shrouded in tales of terror and lethal efficiency. One of Hydra's greatest weapons.

Behind him followed Alexander Pierce, a high-ranking Hydra official, exuding authority and command. Soldiers were ordered to tie him down, which in consequence led to one or two of them being flung across the room. But alas, he was restrained.

The atmosphere in the room crackled with tension. Dr. Stoica, usually composed and collected, appeared uneasy.

The Winter Soldier's piercing gaze seemed to find Astrid's, as if she was the only person in the room. She shuddered under his intense stare, unable to tear her eyes away.

Pierce's orders were clear—Dr. Stoica had to activate the Winter Soldier's obedience protocols. It was a hard sight, witnessing firsthand the mechanism that turned a human being into a lethal weapon, a puppet dancing on Hydra's strings.

With a steady hand, Dr. Stoica activated the control panel, preparing to use the trigger words to rein in the Winter Soldier's will.

As the words were uttered, the Winter Soldier's posture stiffened, his eyes losing their spark of defiance. He became a shell of a man, his spirit temporarily subdued.

Astrid could feel the weight of his suffering, the loss of agency and identity. She knew all too well the feeling of being stripped of control, reduced to nothing more than a pawn in Hydra's cruel game.

The tension had settled down. It seemed as if everyone had been holding their breath.

Alexander Pierce stood rubbing his temples. He sighed as he thought. Then he stopped. And turned his focus right onto her.

Astrid's heart fell to her stomach. Her breath hitched and she felt herself unconsciously take a step back.

"Stoica. Bring the girl over here." Pierce pointed his hand towards the young girl. Her lip trembled.

"Come, Astrid," he beckoned with a dismissive gesture, as if her presence were a mere afterthought. "Meet the Winter Soldier. You've heard about him, have you not?"

Astrid's steps were slow and shaky. James's eyes followed her with every step. Curiosity sparked.

He seemed like a distant specter, someone she was never meant to encounter up close, yet destiny had conspired to bring them together in this haunting moment.

Stoica's hand reached his hand out. To which Astrid mindfully ignored. That earned snicker from Pierce.

The Winter Soldier regarded her with an emotionless gaze, his eyes like distant stars in a vast expanse of emptiness.

Astrid could sense the pain that lay hidden beneath that stoic exterior, the fractured soul trapped within the confines of Hydra's control. She wondered what kind of person he had been before Hydra had stripped away his humanity.

Pierce observed their interaction with a twisted satisfaction, as if orchestrating some dark and macabre experiment. "He's the perfect soldier, Astrid," he remarked, a hint of pride coloring his tone. "A weapon of great destruction."

Astrid's small voice wavered as she mustered the courage to speak, her words barely audible. "His.....his arm." The child's eyes trailed down to the cybernetic implant. And like a child, Astrid wanted nothing more than to touch what she shouldn't.

Dr. Stoica's smile was chilling, devoid of warmth or compassion. He'd managed to catch on. "Soldat. Hold out your arm."

With almost no hesitancy, he did just that.

"Go ahead Astrid." Pierce watched the interaction intently.

As she stood before the infamous Winter Soldier, Astrid felt a strange mix of fear and empathy. In his eyes, she saw a glimmer of something familiar—the vulnerability of a child robbed of their innocence.

Her hand almost completely controlled by itself, reached out. She stopped when the cold metal could be felt underneath her fingertips.

And for that one second that they were able to have, a connection was shared.

Astrid's fingers trailed across, until she reached his upper arm. Swiftly pulling her hand back.

If Astrid wasn't severely malnourished, she'd say she saw his eyes soften ever so slightly. Emphasis on if.

But then in a matter of seconds, a dark cloud took over. And his eyes resembled that of an angry dog.

Stoica had caught on. "Put him to sleep."

That was enough for James to start fighting again. In that moment he wasn't the Winter Soldier. He was simply just a scared man.

Astrid was ushered out the room. As she walked on back to her cell, his screams could be heard, getting louder and louder. Astrid attempted to cover her ears, the world suddenly becoming much more dizzy, but the guard slapped her hands to her side.

For days, his screams still rung in her ears. His eyes still bore into her soul. And the metal could still be felt underneath her fingertips. Often times she reached out for it.

Astrid knew deep inside that she'd see him again. Their fates were intertwined in ways they couldn't yet fathom, and Astrid couldn't help but wonder if they held the key to each other's salvation or destruction.

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