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꧁꧂
IT HAD TAKEN HYDRA only three weeks to turn Charlie back into Maleficent.
With a new handler, Pierce himself, she was more cold and more lethal than ever.
The song "Comin' Home Baby" by Mel Tormé plays over the radio, broadcasting itself in Maleficent's cell, #54.
It was a song they played frequently. She has yet to figure out why.
Maleficent hummed the song to herself, thumping her thumb on the ground to the beat.
Today Pierce was planning to reunite the two assassins, finding they worked better together than apart.
"Subject 054, you are called from your cell." Pierce calls. Maleficent stands, exiting the cell and walking obediently besides Pierce.
He had been more strict than any other handler she'd had.
Maleficent enters the lab, moving to stand on the edge of the room as commanded. Maleficent stood with a cold glare, arms folded behind her.
She watches as they opened a cryostasis chamber, taking out a man and placing him into a chair, his chair.
After brainwashing him and calling out his trigger words, the Winter Soldier had become their dog.
"Soldier, we have someone we would like you to see. An old friend."
The Winter Soldier was confused. Since when was he allowed to have friends?
He didn't question it, standing from the chair and turning to where Pierce was directing him.
The Winter Soldier paused once he saw who it was. Maleficent.
He reframed from reacting. Somehow, the machine had allowed them to remember each other, or more like the bond they shared.
Maleficent shifted to stand in front of the Soldier.
"Солдат," she greeted professionally, wanting to do the exact opposite.
Solider.
"Малефисента," the Winter Soldier said in return.
Maleficent.
"We will do none of that Russian here. You both will speak English unless I tell you otherwise." Pierce orders sternly.
No Russian? That's the exact opposite of Karpov, Maleficent thought as she nodded to the command.
"Speak only when spoken to. Do not do anything without my permission first. Listen to only me, obey everyone else." Pierce lists off the rules he has for his pets.
They stare at him, waiting to be dismissed.
"You two may go. We have a big day tomorrow."
Maleficent notes the word we.
The Winter Soldier and Maleficent walk calmly out of the lab, taking trips down the unfamiliar hallways.
This wasn't Siberia.
They actually were in Washington D.C., but they didn't know that.
"Come on, to my room."
"You have a room? I still have a cell."
"Maybe because you ran away."
She stays silent after his comment. She did what?
As soon as the were in the tidy room of the Winter Soldier, he pulled her into a hard hug.
She returned, happy that he still had that connection with her.
"What happened?" The Winter Soldier asks, pulling away and sitting on the old and uncomfortable bed.
"I don't really know. The last full memory I have is us talking in our cells back in Siberia. There's small moments I have in my head, most have a blonde man in them."
"You don't remember you escaped?"
"You keep telling me that and every time I am surprised, so yes, I don't remember."
"Well, you did. The superiors were furious, Karpov especially."
"They take it out on you?"
"You don't have to worry about that."
They stay silent for a little while after that.
"What was it like?" The Winter Soldier's voice is soft and quiet.
"I told you I don't-"
"I know. I know you don't remember a lot, but anything at all, small or not."
Sure, the Winter Soldier had been out in the world. But even the little he does remember, he never really lived and experienced the world.
Charlie takes a big deep breath, finding out what she'll tell him.
"Everything's always so bright, loud, and lively. I've only been in New York. Skyscrapers and building are everywhere, people crowding the streets. There's a moment at night where it clears. That's when it's the most peaceful. The h..." Charlie continues to tell the Winter Soldier the glimpses of memories she has.
It's nothing too big, but it's something. And that's enough.
• • • - J.S. 6. 19. 2021 Published: July 13, 2021 712 words
