The Queen Of Winter Book One

The next right thing

Annabelle tossed and turned the whole night. She analysed every single sound she heard coming from the hallway outside her door. All the noises she was so accustomed to hearing at night had her on edge. Could these be the sounds of the Avengers chasing up her lead. Would they even follow this up or would the think it was a trap and stay well clear not wanting to engage in a full on battle.

The sounds of heavy boots approached Anna's door. she heard the familiar sound of the locks being undone. Anna looked at her clock. 0500. An unusually early wake up call even for Hydra standards.

"On your feet Ghost!" The fierce tone in Rumlow's voice made Anna jolt up and scramble out of bed quickly. "Get dressed! You and I are going to have a little chat with the boss."

Anna quickly threw on some sweats and a hoodie. She pulled her hair into a messy bun.

"What's going on?" She asked through a yawn.

"Boss wants a debrief from yesterday's mission" Rumlow spat.

"Wha...What? We went through this last night." Anna mumbled trying to shake off her sleepiness.

"That was one version. We want the truth this time!" Rumlow grabbed Anna by the arm and dragged her out of her room. There were 3 other guards waiting for them outside. Anna had a guard at either side of her and one at the back of her. Rumlow walked in front of them as they made their way to a small dark interview room in the basement of the facility. Rumlow pushed Anna down into a chair and nodded at the 3 guards to leave the room. Rumlow glared at Anna for what seemed like an eternity. The sound of the door clicking closed was the only thing that broke the sinister silence in the room. Anna turned to see Pierce entering the room with a manila folder in his hand. He sat at the table facing Anna. Rumlow paced behind him, like a predator stalking its prey, never shifting his gaze from Anna.

"Mission report." Pierce's voice was low and calm. "July 11th, Arc Reactor extraction."

"I....we...I gave my full report in the debriefing last night sir" Anna stutters a reply trying to hide the panic in her voice. Did they know? How could they know?

"I don't think you are being truthful with me little Ghost. It pains me that you would lie to me after everything I have done for you!" Pierce slammed the manila folder onto the table in front of Anna. "Perhaps this will jog your memory soldier!" Pierce and Anna looked down at the files that had scattered from the files. There were CCTV images of Anna talking with the Avengers. There were also photos of the intel Jarvis had been able to find about Anna. Anna careful picked the pictures up, examining them, trying to keep her hands steady and calm. Anna picked up one photograph that made her blood run cold. Panic started to seep into Anna's soul. It was the note she had scribbled down alerting the Avengers to the whereabouts of Hydra. Anna looked up and stared at Pierce in complete and utter horror. How was this possible. How could they have possibly gotten a hold of this kind of information.

"Hydra is everywhere Ghost" Pierce answered Anna's un asked question.

Anna was completely lost for words she just continued to stare at Pierce dumbfounded.

"You had so much potential Ghost. You could have been one of our very best. I picked you out of the gutter and this is how you repay me!" Pierce practically screamed the last sentence in Anna's face as he slammed his fist on the table. "I hoped we could have done this the easy way Ghost but you and your near constant disobedience and treachery have left me no choice but to use some of our more.....extreme ways of making you comply..."

"The chair is being prepped as we speak sir." Rumlow stoped pacing to talk to Pierce.

Anna gasped in horror. The mere mention of the chair sent a chill down her spine. Anna had heard so many stories about the chair. A person would never be the same again after it. The rumour was the chair could wipe a person's mind clear and allow Hydra to rebuild it with anything they wished. It was supposedly how they had created the infamous Winter soldier. The three guards came back into the room.