The Story of Adelaida Barnes | MCU

v. you are, the winter widow

Adelaida had been at the HYDRA base for a few months now, and the doctors and scientists had finally corrected the last serum. Adelaida knew that today she would have another experiment performed on her. Why? She did not know. All she knew was that they would attempt to wipe her memories again before the experiment. Although Adelaida always acted as if she remembered nothing, she remembered everything.

Adelaida opened her eyes and got off of her bed, unlocking the handcuff as she did so. She was not at The Red Room anymore, but she could not sleep without being hooked to the bed. She quickly got changed into her combat gear and slid into her boots. She slipped her guns into the thigh holsters on her pants. She still preferred to use tiny handguns instead of the huge assault rifles that the men of HYDRA used. Adelaida pulled her hair up into a slick ponytail, and then put on her fingerless leather gloves.

Adelaida headed to the training room for target practice before it was time for the experiment to begin. Adelaida grabbed one of the assault rifles on the wall. It still felt very uncomfortable for her. She was very good at adapting to different situations, and knew that if there ever was a time where she needed to use the rifle, she would not hesitate. But she still needed practice, as she was so used to using the tiny handguns from The Red Room.

Adelaida lined up the rifle with the target. She squinted and pulled the trigger. Bang! The bullet hit the middle of the target. Adelaida practiced her shooting for a while before going over to one of the training dummies to practice her self defense. She kept hitting the dummy over and over again, forgetting how strong she was now. She kicked it in the neck and knocked its head off.

Adelaida looked at the clock on the wall and realized that she only had ten minutes until it was time for the experiment to begin. She quickly left the training room and headed towards the lab. She arrived with more than five minutes to spare. She entered the room and sat in the chair, waiting for the doctor to show up so they could attempt to wipe her memories once more. After waiting for five minutes, the doctor and the scientists showed up. They didn't say anything. The doctor just came over to Adelaida and attached her to the wires before putting a piece of metal in her mouth. The doctor pressed the button on the machine, and Adelaida could feel the familiar tug in her brain.

After assuming that all the memories had been removed, the doctor stopped the machine and took the wires off of Adelaida's head. "Soldier?" He asked. And Adelaida responded the same as always. "Ready to comply." A sadistic smirk came upon everyone's faces. One of the scientists gestured towards the table, and so Adelaida went to lay down on it. Once she was on top of it, she was strapped down. Vials of a strange bright green liquid were brought over, and attached to the sides of the table, ready to be pushed into her skin. Ready to inject her. 

The doctor pushed another button, and everyone in the room covered their faces with gas masks. The vials started slowly coming closer to Adelaida. Soon enough, the tips of the needles reached her skin. The doctor pushed one last button, and then suddenly the needles were jabbed into her. Adelaida couldn't stop herself from screaming out. The pain was unbearable. Unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was even worse than the super soldier experiment. Not long after it started, the pain subsided. All Adelaida felt was a slight tingle running throughout her body, but especially in her fingertips. She had no idea what happened, or what was happening. But next thing she knew, she had passed out.

                                                                                               ***

When Adelaida awoke, all of the scientists were standing over her. Adelaida kept her eyes closed to not let them know that she was awake. "Do you think it worked?" She heard one of them say in an unfamiliar language. German maybe? "I have no idea." Another responded, poking her. She jolted up, as it wasn't a very gentle poke. "What happened?" She asked. The doctor stepped forward. "We gave you some, special, abilities." He said. Adelaida raised an eyebrow, wondering what he meant. "Now, you are, The Winter Widow." She knew what the name meant. She was not her mother, and she was not her father. But she was the perfect combination of the two of them.

The doctor unstrapped her from the table and she stood up. Albeit a bit wobbly and shaky. "What do you feel?" One of the scientists asked her. "I feel a tingle all over my body." She said. "Where is it most prominent?" The scientist asked once again. "In my fingertips." She responded. "Good." All the scientists said in unison, nodding their heads. A different scientist stepped forward. "Hold out your hand." He ordered, and Adelaida did as he said. "Now focus. Concentrate." He said. Adelaida calmed her mind and focused on her hand in front of her. Soon, a light green mist came out of her fingertips. "Holy shit." She swore in Russian. The scientist chuckled. "Now, try lifting that table with your mind." Adelaida twisted her hand, and the green mist engulfed the table, lifting it off the ground.

Adelaida tilted her fingers and lowered the table back to the ground. The scientist walked her over to a mirror and told her to look at her eyes. Once she did, she was shocked. Instead of their normal bright blue, they were a pale blue with a prominent green tint. Her eyes widened. She held her hand up to the mirror, letting the green mist lead her into a trance. Adelaida was mesmerized. How could some vials of green liquid do this to a person? Adelaida had an idea, but she had no idea if it would work. She concentrated very hard, and each fingetip was lit with the green mist. She thrust her hand forward, the mist flying away from her fingers, into the mirror, smashing it. 

Adelaida picked up one of the pieces of broken glass, looking into it. She gazed at her own reflection, and then realized. The mirror was now exactly like her. Broken.