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

f o u r t e e n

The next time the asset was pulled out of her cryogenic chamber, it was for a much longer period than before.

When she was pulled out, she was wiped and then placed into one of the cells inside the cell block. There wasn't a bed inside that cell, in fact, the only thing inside was a toilet.

There was a single day as a peace period. The asset slept on the concrete of her cell, Soviet issue dress and heeled boots and all.

In the morning, the soldier was woken abruptly by banging on the bars of her cell. There was no time to gather herself or follow an order. Instead, she was pulled harshly off of the ground by one of the soldiers from the base. He grasped her arm roughly and pushed her toward the door.

No one explained what she was doing or gave her an order. The soldier only gathered that she was supposed to follow the guard outside of the cell, so she did.

He took her through the largely unfamiliar base until they reached a second row of cells. There, a few scientists, along with a large burly man were all waiting for her.

The asset wasn't given any warning when the burly man in the middle wound up and punched her straight across the face.

It took the asset by complete surprise and an involuntary gasp left her mouth, the force of the blow causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.

Immediately a throbbing pain filled the right side of the soldier's face and she put one of her hands there, surprised that she had been punched.

The soldier looked at the man, almost in offence.

He offered no explanation. Only two words. "Fight back."

Even though the asset was sure she hadn't ever been trained seriously in fighting, Hydra couldn't get rid of her stubborn personality. She took that as a challenge.

She jumped up off of the ground, unsteady on the heels of her boots, and ran straight for the man who had hit her.

They went at it again for only another few minutes. The asset was sloppy and untrained and she was fighting a man twice her size who'd obviously had a great deal of training.

It ended when the man threw the soldier to the ground, holding her there until she tapped his arm, unable to breath.

He let go of her throat and the asset took in gasping breaths, tasting blood and sweat as she heaved on the ground.

"You're weak."

The soldier was face to face with the concrete. But the second she heard those words, she grit her teeth and spit the blood out of her mouth.

She immediately stood and kicked off the stupid heeled boots, they were only holding her back. The asset threw them against the wall and turned back to face the aggressive man.

"I could do this all day."

***

Her first day of training, the asset was pummelled. She was beaten repeatedly, forced to continue fighting no matter her pain or her injuries. And by the end she was being dragged back to her cell, unable to move.