Girl Erased

The First War 15

"It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me." Steve says, his eyes never leaving the floor

"How is that even possible? It was like seventy years ago." Sam asks

"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did, helped Bucky survive the fall. They must've found him and-"

"None of that's your fault, Steve," Nat says, sounding out of breath. Sam looks over to her and notices a drop of blood slide down the leather on her shoulder.

"We need to get a doctor here. If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here, in the truck." The guard looks at him and pulls out their baton, quickly flipping it to stab the guard next to them. They slip their helmet off, revealing Hill, one of the SHIELD agents.

"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain. Where's the kid?"

Tony, Bruce, Clint, and Peter look back and forth at each other and the screen, trying to understand what they just watched. Minutes later, they hear a car pull up to the building, the engine shuts off and the group bursts through the door. Steve is holding Nat up while they walk to the Lab and everyone follows them in. Bruce stitches her up and they start to discuss the fight.

"Where the hell is Ruby?" Tony asks, trying to stay calm.

"She-" Steve sighs and his shoulders drop, "they took her."

"Who's they?"

"HYDRA," Fury says, walking into the lab, throwing files onto the table.

"Why would HYDRA need her?" Clint asks, reaching for the files

"I have a feeling it has something to do with him." Fury points to a picture, still sitting on the table.

"Him? Who's Him?" Tony asks

"That's her dad. He's with HYDRA?" Peter says, confused

"How do you know who that is?" Tony mutters

"The newspaper, and the hospital records. She has stuff on both her parents."

"That still doesn't explain why they tried so hard to get her. Do they know about her powers?" Steve asks

"Well, if her dad's alive, then..." Fury starts to say, trailing off

"Then what?" Steve demands

"Then he has them too." Fury mumbles as he walks out of the room. Leaving everyone in silence and confusion. Clint flips through the files and passes them to Steve until eventually, everyone sees them. Not only is it information on HYDRA but also James West and James Barnes aka the Winter Soldier. The last words on the paper being: SHIELD COMPROMISED.

I open my eyes to see tall concrete walls and when I get over the painful fluorescent lighting and my splitting headache, I try to sit up. I only get my back about an inch off the bed when I realize I'm strapped down. Recalling my last moments awake, I remember driving downtown with Nat, Steve, and their friend, Sam. I remember a loud noise on top of the car and - oh shit - I remember a metal arm shooting through the window and pulling me out of the car. After that, nothing. I flash back to reality and attempt to unlock the straps with my mind but it doesn't work. The door opens up and someone with the SHIELD logo on their shirt walks in.

"Power dampeners," he says, gesturing to the straps

"Well, I'm not a threat to SHIELD, I'm actually quite close with the Avengers, so this," I say, using my finger to attempt to gesture to the straps, "is unnecessary."

"How do I explain this?" The man mumbles to himself, "I'm not SHIELD."

"Tell that to your shirt."

"Do you want to go on a field trip?"

"If it means you'll take me out of these restraints, that sounds lovely," I say, watching him pull out handcuffs with the same design as the bands that were tying me down. He unstraps me from the table and wraps my wrists in power-dampening cuffs. He walks me around, hands secure on my cuffs the whole time as if I'm a dog on a leash. We stop at a room surrounded by guards and he makes me watch while two men talk. One of them looks exactly like the Winter Soldier but he seems more human. And the other man is speaking to him in a hushed voice but is saying something that seems to upset the soldier. Then he stands up and speaks to the soldiers and doctors around the room.

"Prep him."

"He's been out of cryo-freeze for too long." one of the doctors whispers

"Then wipe him, and start over." the first man says, walking out of the room and looking at the man in charge of me. We leave the room and I watch as the doctors lean the soldier back, putting rubber between his teeth. And just before I'm out of the room I see parts of the chair he's sitting in, slide down, and cradle his face. The man who seems to be in charge starts talking to the man who's holding me.

"Agent, who is this?"

"Sir, this is the daughter." I feel my heart sink looking at the strange smile plastered on the man in front of me.

"Has she seen him?"

"We were just on our way, sir." You don't need a master detective or mind-reading powers to figure this one out. The dad Fury says is still alive, is here. And thanks to the soldier, I know 'here', is HYDRA.