Leave Me Bleeding [Winter Soldier] I

Hurt [Chapter 11]

                "Ophelia, we need you. We just wanted to show you that, in case on a future mission you link with someone and it brings you back. You will remember the music- Mozart's 25th symphony- you will remember what we did to you for the simplest of mistakes, and you will remember that this man you had become so fond of will never remember who you are. And if by some forgotten calculation he does remember... Well, you know the pain it puts him through. We will always have you, we will always control him. So tell me, Ophelia, is it really worth defying us any longer?"

                "No," she said through gritted teeth. She wasn't stupid, she knew that HYDRA was scared that they still needed her. They were scared that she was capable of bringing back the Winter Soldier in a way they never wanted. She was not able to do it then, and perhaps she would never be able to do it again, but she was also weak. One day, she hoped, one day she would show them that she was worth something. One day she would show them that they made a mistake not just killing her. 

                "Good. Next time you disobey, we will have him put a bullet in your skull." 

               The man raised a hand and more guards came in, releasing her from her restraints and not worrying about her fighting back; she was still dripping blood and it dripped over the floor. The man had cut deep and it wouldn't matter how long they froze her for, the scars would be there forever. Her body could be broken, bleeding, damaged, but her mind was stronger than they wanted to admit. It was only now that she began to realize it; she couldn't show them that she was understanding herself, understanding her capabilities. 

                They brought her to the room she knew as home, with its electric chair and its cryogenic chambers. Her traumatized stomach was wrapped up again; the gauze went all the way around her body as they weren't going to peel it off and reveal it to anyone this time. As they planted her in the chair, she had nothing left in her to fight, not now. This torture they continued on her was mentally straining, and she was beginning to understand what they were doing. She would have to be obedient now, there was nothing more they could do that wasn't going to kill her. 

            Ophelia hoped that the mental wipe would work forever this time. It would be easier to go on life not remembering Bucky or any of the good that she had seen from him. It would be easier to go back to the way things were. But, if there was a chance she was able to find his mind again, to bring him back, she was going to be smart about it. Her time would eventually come, but she was going to have to be very patient. 

                Electricity shot through her at alarming rates, and she tried to hold back her screams for as long as possible; HYDRA liked to hear their victims hurting. Once again, she tried to cling on to the memories that were being sapped out of her. It gave her enormous amounts of hope to know that memories would always come back. HYDRA's methods were not fool proof, and in time, she could always find herself again, and maybe she could find Bucky again too. No matter who she turned out to be after this torture, no matter what they made her do, she would always find herself. 

               Her biggest fear, however, was that she might remember Bucky, but Bucky might never remember her. 

                When the machine finally powered down, she felt blank, but she sat up as straight as possible when they removed her restraints. A man beamed a small light into her eyes, making sure that her pupils responded as they should. He stepped back and nodded, and another man entered the room with that familiar red book. He studied her; wondering if there were any memories lingering in her mind, but it seemed as though she was a blank canvas once again.

                "Hunt. Twenty-Two. Winter. Dweller. Lie. Chrysalid. Nine. Idle. Prey. Relinquish." He spoke the words in Russian. And then he asked, "Do you know who you are?"

                She swallowed, wanting to answer, knowing that it was there somewhere. It was an embarrassment not to know who she was, but the name was nowhere to be found. Studying her surroundings, she did not know where she was, only that she had been here before. The man in front of her was the man in charge, and she felt as though she was meant to respect him. Unable to figure out who she was, she shook her head in defeat. "No."

                "You are the Huntress," he said. "With the ability to hunt anything."

                She said nothing.

                "You are to only use this ability on the people we assign, is that clear?"

                "Yes."

                "If you disobey or fail, we will not tolerate it."

                "Yes, sir." She looked up at him. "Ready to comply."

                "Begin her training, strengthen her, and then put her on ice."