H A I L H Y D R A || J. B. Barnes

t h i r t e e n

Becky was waking slowly. She was first aware of the noises around her. Conversations in a different language, the beep of a monitor. There was a bright light behind her closed eyelids.

She next felt pain. Throbbing pain in her left shoulder and for some reason, her abdomen hurt. When Becky realized where exactly her body hurt, no matter her confusion or delirium, she forced her eyes open.

The moments before her surgery began coming back as she saw the yellow walls. They had put her under and she didn't yet know what for.

At the foot of her bed, there were three doctors, all in blue coats and one with a clipboard.

Becky looked to the left weakly and saw something shiny. When she attempted to lift her stump, a heavy metal arm met her eyes instead.

It was attached to her, she realized. Becky tried to move it and it listened to her commands. She could twist the arm and hands, bend the fingers. She brought both her left and right arm up to her face, examining them.

The doctor with the clipboard looked surprised and amazed. His eyes were wide as he approached Becky, looking quizzically at the arm. This man had done this to her. Or at least contributed.

Beck let him get closer before reaching the metal arm out and taking hold of his throat. It was strong. She squeezed as hard she could. Becky heard the metal arm make a noise of calibration before it helped her squeeze harder.

Before Becky could actually kill the man, the other doctors in the room took notice. One grabbed a syringe and jabbed it into her leg, sending her back into a state of unconsciousness.

***

"She tried to kill me!" The doctor exclaimed, wearing a neck brace.

"You got too close. What did you expect from someone you drugged and operated on. Besides, we now know the arm works. How long is recovery before we can put her in cryo?" Zola questioned, ignoring the injured man.

"2 weeks would be generous for someone advanced like her. A week and a half will work," the other doctor confirmed.

"Good. Keep her under until it's time."

***

The next time Beck woke she wasn't in pain anymore. She was still in the same bed and the same room but this time she was strapped down to prevent her choking anyone out.

Becky was confused once again. So much had happened to her yet she wasn't conscious for most of it.

There were doctors by her bedside again, Zola included. When they realized she was awake, they began moving.

Soldiers unstrapped and pulled the weak and confused girl off her bed. They lead her to the large container Becky had seen the first time she entered the room and pushed her inside, closing the capsule door.

"Put her on ice," she heard faintly from outside. Someone activated the machine as Beck moved her metal arm up to the small window. The next thing she felt was a numbing coldness and she was gone.

***

"I have to go back to my captors in America. I must assist them with their new projects. I'll be back in two weeks. I want the machine finished by then so we can move to phase three," Zola commanded, packing his bags. He had work to do in America, a new Hydra society to foster.