Upon Loki's departure for Asgard, you decided to get some more sleep before your training session with Steve. Today, all you need to do is attend training, and then you are mostly free to do what you want. There are still some legal documents to review afterwards, but they shouldn't take too much of your time.
The morning starts off with you getting into your training gear and tying up your raven hair into a solid bun, because Steve told you that today's training will be particularly challenging.
On your way to the training room, you hear JARVIS' voice echoing through the hallway.
"All Avengers must report to the conference room immediately."
"JARVIS, tell Tony I'm on my way up." You say as you run back up the stairs.
~~~~~~
"We're all here Tony, what's up?" Nat asks as she takes a seat next to you.
"SHIELD has a new mission for us." Tony announces as he pulls up a picture of a man with shoulder-length brown hair, dressed in black with a mask covering his nose and mouth and special goggles covering his eyes. Additionally, he appears to have a prosthetic arm made out of metal.
Tony displays some video footage on screen and you see the man murdering an entire room full of police officers in cold blood. Only one shot was required for each cop, which proves that the man has impeccable aim.
The sight of all the bodies makes you cringe.
"Who would do such a thing?" You wonder, not understanding why this happened.
"I know who this is." Nat interrupts as Tony was about to answer your question.
As Nat looks around the room, she notices that everyone is staring at her. A sigh escapes her lips.
"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years." Nat explains.
A frown appears on Steve's face as he looks at her. "So he's a ghost story," He remarks coldly.
"Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me." Pulling up her shirt, she reveals a thick, raised scar on her belly just to the side of her bellybutton.
"Soviet slug. No rifling. Bye-bye, bikinis." Nat concludes.
"Yeah, I'm sure you look terrible in them now." He quips somewhat sarcastically.
"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried." Her gaze is fixed on Steve, "Like you said, he's a ghost story."
"Well, we're gonna try anyway. SHIELD managed to place a tracker on his vehicle, we've been tracking him ever since. He seems to have stopped at an old army base, so Nat, Nova, Steve, you're gonna go check it out." Tony displays the location on the holoscreen.
"Wait, Wheaton, New Jersey?" Steve narrows his brows and studies the map intently.
"What, you know it?" Tony raises an eyebrow.
"I used to." Steve says as he stares at the screen.
~~~~~~
Nat lands the Quinjet between the trees off the main road. The three of you step out of the jet and walk down the long winding dirt road to the tracker location.
"This is it." Steve declares, walking over to the metal fence and staring at the sign.
"Camp Lehigh," You read, "Weren't you stationed here at some point?"
"I was." Steve replies as he opens the gate and lets you in. You can tell by the dirt and weeds that it hasn't been occupied for quite some time.
"This is the right location." Nat looks at her phone and confirms.
As you look around, you say, "It seems abandoned. There are no people, no vehicles, no signs of life."
"This camp is where I was trained." Steve walks into a nearby building, checking to see if there's anything inside there.
"Change much?" Nat asks, holding up her phone in the hope of finding a signal nearby.
"A little."
"This is a dead end. Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio." Nat reports as her phone stops beeping and she puts it in her back pocket. "They probably found the tracker and used it to lead us off track."
One of the buildings in the distance suddenly catches Steve's attention.
"What is it, Steve?" You ask, looking at his face and then following his gaze to a bunker in the back.
"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks." He explains as he starts walking toward the building. Nat and you follow suit. "This building is in the wrong place."
With his shield, Steve smashes the lock and opens the door, revealing a dusty staircase. You descend the stairs and at the bottom, Steve finds a light switch which he flicks, turning on the lights.
The fluorescent tube lights blink on, revealing an old office with empty desks and chairs. Upon passing a few of these desks, you run your finger over the top, noticing how dusty they are. It has been a long time since anybody has been down here.
Looking at the back wall, you notice an insignia painted on the wall. SHIELD's insignia.
"This is SHIELD." You say, as you glance back at Steve and Nat.
"Maybe where it started." Steve replies as he walks further into the room.
"Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division." Upon reading the words surrounding the insignia, you laugh. "Geesh, no wonder they had to abbreviate it, that is a lot of words."
"There's Stark's father." Nat points to a crooked picture, barely hanging on the wall.
"Howard." Steve says, taking a moment to glance at the picture.
Steve walks past empty bookshelves and stops when he feels a soft breeze. His attention is drawn to the back of the office, where he notices that the draft is coming from between two cobweb-covered shelves. As he feels around for a moment, he pulls on one of the shelves and slides it aside to reveal an old hidden elevator.
"If you're already working in a secret office, why do you need to hide the elevator?" Steve wonders.
Nat moves to the elevator and pulls out her phone, scanning the keypad beside it for the elevator's combination.
"8539." Nat mumbles as she presses the buttons. In a matter of seconds, the elevator doors ding open.
As you walk into the elevator, the doors close behind you. There are no buttons inside but it starts moving anyway, and you feel as if you're being transported deep underground. Suddenly, the doors open, revealing a pitch-black room.
You cautiously step out of the elevator and walk over a row of large grates. The lights start blinking on and you find yourself standing in front of a large, old mainframe, surrounded by hundreds of databanks.
"This can't be his hideout. This technology is ancient. What is all this?" You ask. Nat walks over to the keyboard and finds a thumb-drive laying next to it with a SHIELD logo on it. She looks to the right where she finds USB-ports and plugs the drive in. As soon as she did that, even more lights blink on and reveal an entire room filled with databanks
"Initiate system?" A robotic voice speaks.
Nat walks up to the keyboard, "Y-E-S spells yes." She presses 'enter' and the computer powers on. The camera on top of the computer starts moving and pans over to Steve.
"Rogers, Steven. Born 1918." The computer voice starts and then the camera turns to Nat. "Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born 1984." It says again before the camera focuses on you. "Hemming, Nova. Born 1000."
"Okay, this is creepy, this has got to be some kind of recording." You chuckle nervously.
"I am not a recording Fräulein," it protests, "I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945. But I am."
"You know this thing?" Nat glances at an equally confused Steve.
"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years." Steve says as he walks around the console and examines the back of it, though he's not sure what he's looking for.
"First correction. I am Swiss." It says annoyedly, "Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving, on 200,000 feet of databanks. You are standing in my brain."
"How did you get here?" Steve asks firmly.
"Invited." Zola responds happily. A furrow forms between Steve's eyebrows as he stares at Nat.
"It was Operation Paperclip after World War Two. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value." Nat elaborates.
"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own." Zola says.
"HYDRA died with the Red Skull." You state matter-of-factly, glancing at Steve, who nods at you.
"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." Zola displays the HYDRA logo on the screen.
"Prove it." Steve says.
"Accessing archive," Zola starts, "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly."
Zola proceeds to show footage of HYDRA, hidden within SHIELD. Occasionally, Steve is shown in wartime footage and you are reminded of how old he is. Not as old as you are, though you almost forgot that he is a supersoldier. Cryostasis does seem to work like a charm.
"After the war, SHIELD was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not cooperate, history was changed."
"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you!" Nat exclaims.
"Accidents will happen." Zola shows pictures of people who have been killed by HYDRA, so-called 'accidents'. Tony's parents are among the victims. You remember seeing their picture in Tony's file before you were sent to evaluate him.
"HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom, to gain its security. HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life: a zero sum." Zola taunts Steve, who punches the main monitor so hard that he shatters it.
The computer beeps, and Zola jumps to a smaller monitor on the right.
"As I was saying ..."
"What's on this drive?" Steve demands.
"Project Frostbite, requires ice."
"What is Project Frostbite?" Nat inquires urgently, "What does it do?"
"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it." Zola says. "However," The camera pans over to you, "You will see soon enough.."
A fireproof door starts closing vertically over the elevator doors. Steve throws his shield in an attempt to stop the doors from closing. Unfortunately, it hit the doors a second too late, leaving you with no way out of the bunker.
Nat's phone starts beeping frantically and she pulls it out of her back pocket.
"We got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops." Nat reads from the screen.
"Who fired it?" you ask.
Nat looks up from her phone and looks at you with a panicked expression on her face. "HYDRA." She responds simply.
"I am afraid I have been stalling. Admit it, it's better this way." Zola says as Steve desperately searches for a hiding spot, until his gaze rests on a metal grate in the floor. "We are, all of us, out of time." Zola continues.
Steve pulls the grate out of the floor and tosses it to the back of the room, grabs you and Nat, and pulls you into the crevice with him right before the ballistic hits.
Steve holds his shield up as the building crumbles around you. You hold up your hands, and cast a barrier to stop debris from falling onto you, but each piece that hits the barrier weakens you significantly. Grunting and screaming, you channel all your energy into the barrier, but it's not enough. It's getting harder and harder to hold on.
As your energy depletes, the barrier weakens, flickering and fading until it is completely destroyed. Steve's shield is hit by debris so hard that he is unable to hold on any longer. Several basketball-sized rocks make their way past the shield and knock Steve and Nat out.
It takes a few minutes for the debris to settle. As you peer down your side, you find Steve and Nat both unconscious. In the process of freeing your legs from the rocks, you hiss in pain as sharp edges dig into your thighs.
As you finally emerge from all the debris, you are ready to drag Steve and Nat to safety when a helicopter and voices suddenly sound close by. Since you're already free from the debris and you can't get away anymore, you cover their bodies up with rocks so they're hidden and you run away from their location.
The dust cloud obscures your vision and you can't see where you're heading, so you stop running. You tremble as you hear footsteps approaching, knowing there is no place left to run.
Suddenly, you feel a sharp pinch in your neck. The area around you warps and the sound fades away. Hands wrap around your arms and you are dragged away before you lose consciousness. At least you saved Steve and Nat.
~~~~~~
When you wake up, you feel a throbbing pain in your head. It's hard to make out anything around you, as the room spins and your vision is still blurry. You try to move your hands to your head to nurse your headache, until you realize that you can't move them.
"Am I tied up?"
A resistance surrounds your ankles as you try to move your legs.
"Definitely tied up. Where am I?"
As you blink a few times to sharpen your vision, you can only make out a small ray of light in this cold and dark room. If there's this little light coming in, you must be underground.
"Come on. Focus."
Finally, you are able to see your legs as your eyes adjust. There is a long and thick rope wrapped around your legs and the chair you're sitting on, preventing you from getting up.
The room appears to be empty as you look around. There is only you in this room, and you are sitting on the only piece of furniture.
Drip
Drip
Drip
Your attention is drawn to the sound of water dripping into a sink. As the sound echoes through the empty room, it seems to grow louder and louder. And slowly, the sound starts to become unbearable.
"Hello?" you shout.
There is no movement, no sound, nothing.
"Hello?!" You scream louder this time. It sounds like a metal door is opening and you hear at least two people approach, their steps growing louder as they near your cell door.
The footsteps stop at the door of your cell. Keys jingle, and finding the right key to open your cell seems to take several attempts. A man with a short buzz cut walks inside, wearing an odd monocle on his right eye that seems to be attached to his skin.
Another man follows but remains in the shadows a few steps behind. As it's too dark, you can't see his features, but you can see his heavy leather boots and black pants with knee pads.
"I finally have my hands on you, Frostbite." The first man says, speaking with a strong German accent. You stay silent, though you crunch your eyes at his nickname for you.
"'Operation Frostbite' ... I am 'Operation Frostbite'?"
Stepping fully into the light, the man approaches your chair.
"You don't know who I am, do you?" He asks smugly as he looks at you. Shaking your head, you stare at your abductor, never breaking eye contact.
"Ich heiße Baron Strucker," He answers, "und ihr seid meine Gefangenen."
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. I can tell."
"Ah, you speak German, yes?"
"No, I speak Dutch. But close enough." You roll your eyes,"Why am I here?"
"I need you for one reason, but also for another. You see, I was gifted the Chitauri scepter –"
"The Chitauri scepter? Loki's scepter?" you ask, bewildered. Strucker nods.
"Ah yes. Loki. The God with plans to overthrow our planet and rule us all as a benevolent God." Strucker says laughingly, "That didn't turn out the way he had hoped, did it?"
Biting your cheeks, you try to avoid his question. Loki isn't the same person he used to be. He has changed. But how the hell did Strucker get his hands on the scepter after it was handed over to SHIELD agents?
"Now, I've heard that the Avengers are working together with Loki. How did that happen, I wonder?" Strucker bends down to look into your eyes. His arms are crossed behind his back. You refuse to answer his question.
"Speak, Fräulein!"
"No! You won't get any information from me!" You yell.
"Fine, have it your way." he says with a sadistic tone, "Legte sie auf den elektrischen Stuhl." He orders the second man.
"Ja, Baron"
The second man approaches. You immediately recognize him as he steps into the light. The Winter Soldier. Knowing what he is capable of and has done to people before, you freeze and stare at him with wide, panicked eyes.
"I'm going to die."
Your body is untied, but your hands remain bound behind your back as he starts dragging you from your chair and into the hallway. As you pass another cell, you see a brunette playing with blocks, using her red-colored magic. In the cell right next to it, a man seems to be painfully blinking around the room.
As you approach the final door, your gaze flits down the hallway. There is no escape. After opening the door, the Winter Soldier pulls you into a room with a chair in the center and computers surrounding it. The back of the chair is adorned with two massive metal arms.
He forces your legs into the leg rests and cuffs them, to prevent you from moving. After that, he unties your arms. As you attempt to conjure an icicle, his metal hand grabs your lower arm and squeezes, breaking one of the bones.
While wincing and clutching your arm against your chest, you cry loudly as you try to push the bone back, but you don't succeed. He grabs your arms and forces them into metal cuffs attached to the armrests. Your breathing becomes erratic as the pain in your arm radiates to your shoulder.
"What are you doing?! What are you doing to me?!"
"Since you won't talk to me, I will torture you into submission." Strucker laughs and flips a big lever on the wall, sending a high voltage current through your body.
You let out a shrill and deafening scream as you feel all your muscles contracting and convulsing, almost as if they are about to break your bones. The pain is too much to bear when your arm muscles clench around your broken bone, forcing it inward. But then the machine finally stops.
You pant as the worst of the pain mostly subsides – except for the one in your arm – leaving you a groaning and sobbing mess.
"Are you willing to cooperate yet?"
"I don't understand what you want from me!" Your voice is filled with frustration and agony.
"You, my precious Frostbite, are going to be HYDRA's solution to let all the Winter Soldiers loose on the world for centuries."
"I – I don't understand, Winter Soldiers? There's more than one?" Your voice has turned brittle from the screaming.
"There is!" Strucker smiles proudly, "This one will obey, but we will have to keep the rest in ice because the others are a little more difficult to control. You see, we need to freeze them in between missions, so that HYDRA can use them for centuries to come. Since you are several centuries old and don't look a day over 20 years old, you are exactly what we need."
"You are turning me into a HYDRA weapon?"
"Not unless you cooperate. If you cooperate, you may keep your mind. But, if you don't ... Well, you'll get to know the scepter from up close."
"No, I won't do it." Fighting your bonds only hurts your broken arm more. You cry out in frustration as you realize how little choice you have.
"I will not take no for an answer." Strucker says matter-of-factly, as he pulls the lever again and sends a stronger voltage of electricity through your body.
Once again, the excruciatingly painful current runs through your body, making you scream and cry at the top of your lungs as tears run down your cheeks. With every second that passes, you feel as if your muscles are being ripped from your body and set on fire.
"Every time you deny my request, the voltage will become stronger and stronger. If you won't cooperate, I will need to resort to using the scepter."
Strucker turns off the machine by flipping a switch. You wail and cough as you start to feel nauseous from all the pain. Blood drips from your palms as your nails seem to have cut wounds from convulsing. The bones in your body hurt, and your muscles twitch and throb.
"What will happen to the Avengers?"
"They will be killed. One. By. One. And Loki? Well, he will be a nice addition to our ranks when I am done with him."
Your mind wanders for a moment, trying to figure out how to escape this situation. There must be a loophole, at least. You need there to be a loophole. The last thing you want is to be turned into one of his puppets like Loki had done to Clint before the attack.
The feeling Clint described to you is still fresh in your mind. Being trapped inside your own body and watching yourself commit heinous crimes without being able to stop yourself. You don't want that. At all costs, you must prevent that from happening. Especially since the scepter is in the wrong hands.
There is a hope in your heart that the Avengers are already searching for you. Perhaps they told Thor and Loki as well, and they'll be able to find you. A rescue mission is probably being coordinated right now. But, since you didn't wear your suit, you can't help them by using the tracker in your suit to ping your location, but you're sure that they will find you anyway.
The only way to keep everyone safe for now might be to keep the Winter Soldiers frozen. You've seen what they are capable of. It's the only way to stall for time and keep people safe.
Should I increase the voltage again or do you want to cooperate?"
"No, please, I will cooperate." You plead reluctantly, knowing that you won't be able to take another round of this.
"Next time you will answer me with 'Ready to comply." Strucker growls.
"Fine."
"'Ja, Baron'. That's what I want to hear." Strucker shouts.
"Ja, Baron." You reply, hanging your head in shame.
Your only thought is how disappointed Tony will be when he finds out that you basically volunteered to help them. How incredibly weak Loki must consider you for submitting without much resistance. It's the only way you'll survive long enough to protect them, and you hope they'll understand when they find you.
Strucker approaches you with a solid metal collar that he places around your neck. It powers on as soon as it clicks into place.
"What is this thing?"
"That, my dear, is an inhibitor. It stops you from using your magic without my permission. You know, in case you get any ideas."
"No ..." You mutter under your breath.
"There goes my plan."