"Red is not a good color," was one of the first things I'd learned at HYDRA. "Red will blow your cover. If someone's dead without red, you'll be rewarded."
I was rewarded many times.
Racks was rewarded too.
His job was to make red.
I replayed my memories on a loop as I waited for my water. The snake, the song night, and shoot
dying
dead.
A small ping shook me out of my thoughts. It was quickly followed by a disembodied British voice, reminding me of Zola. "Hello, miss Queen. My name is Jarvis, mister Stark's AI system. I'm sorry, but your water is going to take a little longer than expected, as there are some..." He hesitated, like he was trying to phrase it. "Technical difficulties. Is there anything else you need?" I thought for a moment as my stomach growled. Maybe a gun... Or some food. "Anything without pineapple, thank you. And please don't call me miss Queen." My Russian accent smothered the words. I thought for a moment longer. "What kind of technical difficulties?" I dreaded the answer. More SHIELDS? Although, maybe it was HYDRA, come to find their lost little queen.
"Someone's come to get you back. Probably HYDRA, but maybe not." I looked up. "Let me out, then. They want me, they can have me." I stood up as Jarvis' voice rang out. "Miss, you're an agent of theirs. Letting you out is the worst thing we could do." I looked through the still-clear pane of glass. Probably bullet-proof. Maybe not, though... My fingers curled into a fist. "Miss what are you... MISS, NO!"
I drew back my hand and the glass cracked under my finely toned muscles. I punched it again and it shattered, coating the tiled floor in diamonds. I shook my hand, a few drops of blood flying off of my knuckles. I stepped out of the hole and raced through the door and into an elevator, Jarvis shouting through the system behind me.
Hail HYDRA.