Brock Rumlow makes his way down the stone walled halls, his Crossbones uniform on, only lacking the mask.
Most would think him dead. The man who blew himself up. However, he was never one to remain dead. Escaping death was a specialty of his, and he had managed to succeed in it yet again.
As the leader of a dying organization, it fell into his hands to ensure that he didn't allow it to fail as prior leaders did. Peirce, Zola, Zemo. All had failed to keep the Hydra flame burning, and though he had decided to be a sole terrorist, Rumlow could not turn down this opportunity.
So as he walks into the dark, large lab room, scientists and guards cower in his presence. He soaks in the power, a sadistic look in his dark eyes as he approaches the head scientist.
"M-Mr. Rumlow," The scientist begins.
"Crossbones," Rumlow corrects, giving him a venomous look. The scientist swallows down his fear and continues.
"Crossbones. Are you completely positive you want to carry out with this?"
"Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear," Rumlow grits, snatching the man by his neck and lifting him a few inches off the ground. The Russian scientist's hands fly to his neck, green eyes bulging out by lack of air. "I want that girl awake, and under my control."
He lets go of the scientist, the man tumbling to the ground and gasping for air.
"O-Of course, Crossbones. However, I believe you may have misunderstood my question," The scientist stands up shakily, giving his leader a weary look. "Are you sure you don't want to wipe her memories?"
"We saw what that did to Barnes. I think emplanting her mind with Hydra ideas should be more than enough," He replies, looking up at the glass containment, fogged up by cold smoke.
"Very well, sir," The scientist nods. The two of them, along with three more scientists and a trained agent, travel a few feet to behind a glass wall, secured away from the containment. As the Russian plugs in the codes onto the keyboard, he murmurs, "Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra," Rumlow repeats, a smirk on his lips as the containment creaks open. Icy smoke flies out in large puffs, filling the room in the white mist. As the glass door opens, no one dares to move, their eyes glued to the figure inside.
A seemingly fifteen year old, but, in reality, almost eighty five years of age. Her tanned olive skin remains a sickly pale color, dusty brown hair pressed against the walls like a halo, stopping at her shoulders. Slowly, long, dark lashes flutter open to reveal pale blue eyes, full lips opening to take in a breath.
In agonisingly slow movement, Raina Barnes makes a steady step out of the containment, her left foot following shortly after. After briefly inspecting the black t-shirt with the Hydra symbol, and the loose black pants, she slowly meets the eyes of Rumlow, tilting her head slightly to get a better look. Her brown waves flutter lightly, brushing against her shoulder at where they sit.
"Who are you?" She asks, her voice sending chills down the spine of two of the scientists. The voice of a merciless assassin; the voice a girl stripped away of her childhood and innocence.
Rumlow smiles, opening the glass wall separating them and taking a step inside. A few scientists immediately attempt to stop him, but he ignores all the warnings, taking another step towards Raina. Her first instinct is to attack, but she stops herself once witnessing the Hydra symbol on his chest.
"My name is Brock Rumlow, the head of Hydra," He explains. "Last time you were awake, I wasn't even a part of this organization. Now, I lead it."
"What year is it?" Raina questions quietly, frowning at the new computers in front of her.
"2018," Rumlow responds. "But you'll learn more about the modern age soon enough. Come with me. There is much to be done."
Raina follows the man who claims to lead Hydra, currently trusting him enough. The scientists are weary about the girl, however, they ignore the fear and strap her into the metal chair that Rumlow has lead them to.
"I've done this before," Raina explains calmly, looking up at Rumlow.
"Then you know it's going to hurt like a bitch."
"Yes," Raina nods, raising a brow. "I also know there is no need to do it. I have no problem complying."
"I know you don't," Rumlow grins, taking a step back. "But Hydra's taken a bit of an update. We need to seal that information into your head."
The process, similar to the memory wiping of the Winter Soldier, yet higher in pain. Instead of wiping Raina of all her prior memories, like Hydra had done with Bucky Barnes, she is instead implanted with thoughts and ideas that link her to believing Hydra is correct- that it is the only way to improve the world.
There are no complications like the Winter Soldier, no nagging memories threatening to rise to surface at the worst time possible. The memories will remain, but the thoughts will not be hers. She will believe everything Hydra tells her, as if she simply believes Hydra to be true.
The black mouthpiece is placed in her mouth, the large metal headpiece lowering to her head. Pale eyes flutter closed, her breathing quickening in anticipation for the pain to come.
Without warning, jolts of electricity ripple through her body, screams ripping through her lips. As if her brain is slowly melting away, Raina's body juts forward, the restraints cutting away at flesh on her wrists and ankles as she trashes in them.
The pain seemingly lasts for hours, though only a few minutes. Finally, the process ceases, the pain becoming a numbing throb in her body. The teenager's head falls forward as it's released from the headpiece, her consciousness fading away.
"Crossbones," One of the scientists approaches her superior, frowning. "Were you aware of a power that Ms. Barnes possesses?"
"A power?" Rumlow questions, giving his attention to the woman. "What do you mean?"
"She has electricity generation- or lightning, per se- and has the ability to harness it."
Before the scientist can go further into depth, Rumlow's lips turn up in a sadistic smirk, his brown eyes flashing with mischief.
"Fantastic."
<><><>
Her fist connects with the Hydra agent swiftly, the crack of his jaw filling the empty, steel walled room. In a graceful movement, Raina's left leg hoists up and wraps around the back of his neck, pulling him down to make contact with her right knee. As she has him in the headlock, the assassin uses the advantage to break his wrist, the gun clattering to the floor.
Before the man can even scream out in pain, she has already released him from the lock and snapped his neck with her hands, the limp body dropping to the floor.
"Having him dead does you no good," Raina remarks, not bothering to glance over her shoulder. Rumlow leans against the glass door frame, impressed slightly by her note of her surroundings. The criminal has been in far too many situations with agents who lack that certain skill; for Raina, it's almost like habit.
"Hydra has no room for weak links," Rumlow replies, taking slow steps towards her. The brunette, standing by a metal bench, downs a few gulps of water while the white towel remains slung around her neck.
Her schedule is tedious and tiring to the point where it could be considered torture. Four hours of sleep, and three fifteen minute meal breaks in between fifteen hours of training and learning. Once a year, she would be awakened from the ice to continue this training for a month to keep her at physical peak, before being put back under. It all ceased when the Winter Soldier Program went rogue.
Now however, Rumlow has continued this process, though she doesn't mind it. Raina Barnes- the real Raina Barnes- would have been disgusted to have to murder a man without reason. This version of herself- the brainwashed girl who has put full trust in a dying organization- savours the sight of death like a drug.
"This man was a weak link?" She questions, dropping the water and towel. Agile hands flicker to her dusty brown hair to tighten the ponytail, pulling down on the fitting black tank top she wears.
"Very much. I figured, instead of killing him off, I would give him a chance to redeem himself," Raina snorts at this, shaking her head.
"What you did was give him a death sentence. I'm the greatest weapon Hydra wields; did you think for a second he would survive?" Rumlow smirks, shrugging.
"I never said I was an honest man, Ms. Barnes."
"I highly doubt there are any left," Is her respond as her fingers fly across the keyboard panel on the wall, a new set of holographic agents appearing in the room.
Rumlow observes her as she fights them off one by one, with nothing but her bare hands. While Arnim Zola had still been alive, he had injected the girl with the super soldier serum as he had her brother. Thus explaining how a girl of only 5'6 with a fit frame has the ability to snap a full grown man's neck with ease.
However, while Zola had been experimenting on her, he had made the mistake of giving her powers. In all the confusion, she had managed to wipe out almost sixty Hydra agents before they had contained her and put her to sleep.
Rumlow has already taken notice that the blue eyed girl fails to acknowledge these powers, much to his dismay. She knows she has them- this much he's aware of- however, she refuses to tap into them.
The kind of power that Hydra could gain from someone like her is immense. This fact alone further frustrates Rumlow. He's about to interrogate her on this, when the fifteen year old beats him to it.
"My brother," She begins after smashing the last agents head into the ground. The holographic figure dissolves into air, along with the rest of the 'deceased', apart from the real one. "Where is he?" Her voice no longer holds curiosity, but now, a cold tone. A hateful one.
Rumlow makes a mental note to check on that soon. The whole reason they had decided to take a different approach with Raina was for the sole reason that she does not turn out like the former Winter Soldier. Lacking emotion had been a failed approach, so they had decided to change that. However, Rumlow now wonders if maybe that approach wasn't the right one to take.
"You know where the Winter Soldier is," Rumlow crosses his arms and leans against the wall, raising a brow.
"Yes, I do," Raina nods, taking slow, nonchalant steps across the metal floor. "But where is he? His location?" Rumlow is silent for moment, before replying.
"James Barnes went into hiding after the Sokovia Accords incident- as did the rest of the Captain America wannabe's. Hydra doesn't have his exact location yet- wherever it is-"
"Find him," Raina cuts him off, her brows lowering in a menacing stare. "I want him dead."
"You want to kill the Winter Soldier?" Rumlow asks incredulously. In the blink of an eye, a flash of lightning appears within an inch of his chest, causing the terrorist to take a small step back from shock.
"You said it yourself- Hydra has no room for weak links. Hydra created the Winter Soldier. It's only fit for us to put him down when his work comes to a finish," Raina calmly responds, her hand outstretched as the line of lightning crackles from her palm.
"And what makes you think you get to be that person, sweetheart?" Rumlow asks, his eyes darkening. The lightning juts half an inch forward, earning a small flinch from Rumlow.
"Do you really want to ask me that question?" Raina asks in a low, dangerous voice. The lightning disappears back into her palm, lines of white electricity traveling up the veins of her arm. She turns to leave when her leader's voice stops her.
"Don't forget who runs this show," Rumlow growls. "Don't test me, Barnes."
"I should be saying the same thing to you," Raina responds without turning around, disappearing behind the glass door. After a moment of glaring at nothing, Rumlow sighs and runs a hand through his black hair.
"Teenagers," He murmurs, shaking his head.