Maybe Someday

Hydra

I wake up, freezing. There's a blanket over me and I'm lying on something soft. I smile and try and surround myself in it even more. I hear the door to my room open with a clang. Someone sits on the edge of the bed and I turn towards them. "Good morning," a woman says. "How do you feel?"

I ignore the question. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"You are at Hydra. We found you frozen in a tube and brought you to our base." I feel safe around her. I sit up but keep the blanket around me.

"I'm really cold." I feel another blanket falling around me. "When can I go home? See my brother?"

She sighs and I become nervous. "You need to stay here for a while. We don't know what they did to you. If you tell us your brother's name and birthdate then we can find him and bring him here."

"He's my twin. We were born on July 4th, 1918."

She cut me off before I could say his name. "I think you may be mistaken."

"I may not be able to see anything but I can definitely remember my own birthday. And that he is my twin."

"That was ninety-four years ago. This year is 2012. I'm sorry, miss, but your brother is probably dead."

"No, no that's not possible. It's only 1942. I'm twenty-four." I start to cry and she holds me.

"You were cryogenically frozen. Time passed while you were unconscious. I'm so sorry, miss."

"Annabelle. My name is Annabelle." I say.

"I am so sorry, Annabelle. Do you still want me to search for your brother? There is still a chance he's still alive."

I shake my head. "No. I don't want him to know about me. He'll think I abandoned him or be mad because he's old and I'm not."

"Alright. Why don't you get some sleep? Tomorrow, we'll need to run some tests to make sure you'll alright and won't be a danger to anyone. Okay?" I nod she lies me back on the bed. "Don't worry, you'll be alright." She wraps blankets around me and I fall asleep, scared.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~❸~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The woman walks into a room where people are running around. "Sir, I've began to gain her trust."

"Good," Strucker replies. "Keep working, we need her to agree to work with us."

"Sir, if I may interject, she may not be useful to us. She's blind," the woman interjects.

"We'll deal with that if she survives," Strucker says. "Just do your job." The woman nods and leaves

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~❶~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I wake up the next morning and someone is in the room. "Hello?" I ask.

"Hello, Annabelle. I realized that I forgot to introduce myself last night. My name is Charlotte."

"Pleasure to meet you. Is it alright if I ask where we are going?"

"Not a problem. I am taking you to the lab where you will eat breakfast and then they will run some test to try and find out what happened to you. Is that alright?"

"Perfectly fine. I have nothing to do and no one left." A tear falls down my cheek and she wipes it away.

"I'll be your family until you find one of your own."

Tears start to stream a little faster and I sob. "My brother said he'd walk me down the aisle when I found someone. I may never see him. He could have died thinking that I abandoned him."

"When I was a teenager, I ran away from my family," Charlotte says. "I realized how stupid it was a few years later. When I went back, they still accepted me, even though I had completely disobeyed and scared them. They were just happy to know I was alright. Are you sure you don't want me to search for your brother?"

I think for a moment before shaking my head. "I need to know what happened to him." I hear her shuffle before she stills. "His name was Steve Rogers."

"I'll go search for him when I drop you off in the lab." Her voice is changed and holds surprise though she tried to mask it. "Shall we be on our way?" I nod and we leave the room. I lie down on the table and Charlotte leaves me in the care of the doctors. They tell me everything they are doing to me before they do anything. They draw some blood and test my reflexes. Charlotte comes back and takes me to my room where I sit on the bed. "I found something on your brother." She tells me.

I smile and wait for her to tell me. When she doesn't speak, I get nervous. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Annabelle. He died in the war. He went down saving hundreds of people." Tears well in my eyes and she gives me a hug. Soon, she pulls me away. "I managed to track down his dog tags and a letter that he wrote to you. I can read it to you if you want."

I nod and cup my hands together. "Can I have the dog tags? Please?" Charlotte sets them in my hands and I feel over the letters of my brother's name. I put them around my neck and feel them as they rest just under my ribs. "I'd like to hear the letter, please."

"Dear Annabelle," Charlotte starts, "Mrs. Barnes sent me a letter saying you are missing. I'm terrified about what happened and if you're alright. I know you may never get this but I want you to have something in case you find your way back and I'm not there. I miss you so much. When I get back, I promise I will never stop searching for you and I will find you. I have to keep this short because we're going back into the field soon. Remember, no matter what, we are family. I will always be there for you even if decades have passed before I see you, please. I need to know if you're alright. I miss you. Please come home, your twin, Steve."

I cry and curl up under the blanket. I grasp the dog tags like my life depends on it. She sets the letter down next to me and leaves me alone. I feel around my jacket pockets and find the other letters. I put it with the others and cry myself to sleep that night.

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