Emma Joan Tallis

chapter seven: 32557

"Answers to leading questions under torture naturally tell us nothing about the beliefs of the accused; but they are good evidence for the beliefs of the accusers."
~ C.S. Lewis

~*~

"Your name?" Schmidt asked, and I ignored him, which earned me a slap to the face. I tasted blood and spit it out at his feet. "Your name, agent."

I continued to ignore him. He's been trying to interrogate me for several hours, with no success. Unfortunately, because of my Asgardian abilities, the wounds from the shrapnel are already healing. Something Schmidt was bound to notice.

"If you would just give me your name, I would stop," Schmidt said.

I looked at him, "eat shit." He did not like that response at all. This time Schmidt skipped slapping me and moved straight to choking the life out of me. "Erskine said you were a monster," I ground out as I glared at him. "I say you're a sick coward."

"I am ambitious," Schmidt said smugly as he loosened his grip slightly. "And you will be dead."

"That would be an improvement to being around you," I said flatly. Schmidt glared at me and tightened his hold, I didn't fight him, I just closed my eyes and welcomed oblivion.

However, death never came, when I woke up I was on a table, very naked. Dr. Zola stood over me, about to open me up to do what I can only assume is dissect me. When he saw that I was not only alive, but also awake, his eyes began to bug out, and he ran from the room.

"Shit," I swore to myself as I got up and found something to cover myself. Being Asgardian, you know how to turn a sheet into a very usable dress. I was about to make a run for it when Schmidt entered the room looking very pleased. I froze, trying to figure out a way out, but Schmidt took a serum similar to what Dr. Erskine designed for Steve.

The original, so to speak. Meaning that Schmidt was at least as strong as Steve, possibly more so. And Steve was as strong as Thor, which left me with very few choices. As I looked around, all I saw were concrete walls.

"There is no escape, agent, or whoever you are," Schmidt said as he walked forward, and I stepped back. Dr. Zola was watching from the doorway, so I bolted towards him.

I didn't even get close.

Schmidt grabbed my arm and pulled me back, when I tried to fight him, he threw me against a wall. "It appears, you cannot die," Schmidt said as he advanced, and I desperately tried to make a run for it again. My mother was Idun, in the myths of old, she was goddess of Spring and Youth.

Before I left Asgard, Loki played a prank, that resulted in my mother being kidnapped. I helped him rescue her. My mother was known in legends for being ransomed for the apple of youth. However, what the legends did not know was that the apple of youth that my mother was famed for, was me.

"I've never had my head chopped off, maybe we should try that," I said as I fought with Schmidt, but I couldn't beat him. He was stronger, and I did not have room to maneuver in such a small space. Schmidt knocked me down and banged my head against the ground. The world became blurred and fuzzy, and then I was strapped down onto the table.

What came next were horrors I did not even know were possible. Schmidt wanted to know what made me tick, how I was what I was, and he ordered Dr. Zola to use whatever he wanted to gain those answers. I resisted at first, but eventually, I let the pain wash over me.

I was eventually moved to another room where Zola performed his experiments on soldiers HYDRA had captured. And one by one, I watched those soldiers die. I envied them, they were able to leave this world, this torture, while I was forced to watch them die.