The Night We Met | Steve / Bucky

the winter soldiers

Locked away in a compound in Siberia, Katherine Stark lay wide awake in a chair alongside four others; all men. She stared straight ahead as she felt the rush through her veins. A needle poked out of her forearm connected to an IV bag filled with a glowing blue serum - the serum stolen from her fathers trunk. But she didn't care about that. She could barely process the events of that night. As soon as she was brought to the compound, her memory was quickly taken from her, removing all traces of Stark and her past from her mind. Katherine will probably never know how she landed herself in Siberia but she was here and no questions were asked. 

She was a test subject. The men alongside here gave up their lives to be chosen for this experiment but Katherine didn't have a choice. Each participant got their own room that was heavily watched by the program, dictated by Vasily Karpov, a general looking man with big aspirations. The Winter Soldier is highly regarded where she is and someone to be fearful of. Someone who was scientifically given his strength and agility. She couldn't blame the men alongside her wanting to be like him.

 The men winced and grunted in pain as the serum was also being injected into their bodies, but Katherine couldn't quite understand the fuss. She briefly looked down at her arm and noticed how blue her veins were turning. 

She glanced down the line of men and noticed one man, Josef, become quite irate with the pain. He was swiftly taken by those working in the program and brought to his room where his shrieks of pain could be heard quite loudly. Although there were four other participants in this program, Katherine couldn't help but notice Karpov take quite an interest in her. Some would say it was due to her young age and physique but others would say it was because she was a Stark. Karpov would openly declare Katherine as his darling, his favorite, his love. 

The other participants followed in Josef's footsteps and were brought back to their rooms in quite amount of pain - Katherine debated whether it was a good sign or bad sign that she was yet to feel the amounts of pain her counterparts were feeling. Karpov approached the young girl and held her hand, brushing his lips against her knuckles. He spoke in Russian, "My darling," Katherine looked to him blankly, "How are you feeling?"

Katherine spoke back in Russian, "Like nothing has changed." She smiled weakly to him. 

Karpov made it his duty each night to escort Katherine to her room and making sure he was the one to lock the door, some nights deciding to even stay in her room with her despite her fights against it. Although Katherine would never know it but one could not help but think how she went from daughter to Howard Stark to HYDRA's rag doll in a matter of days - Katherine having no idea of it. 

On this particular night, after Karpov's departure, Katherine lay awake stiff in her bed as the screams from her counterparts kept her awake. She felt tingling in her veins from where the serum was injected and it was as if she felt her blood mixing with the serum. It was an unpleasant feeling but not something that would have her up screaming like the others. The screaming seemed to die down closer to sun rise but with being locked in the compound with no windows, Katherine could only assume it was near that time. 

Karpov greeted Katherine the following morning with a kiss on the hand and a bowl of porridge. As Katherine sat propped in her bed, Karpov couldn't help but stare at Katherine. Katherine gave him a look of confusion but he was in awe. He looked at her as though it was his first time seeing her. Although Katherine didn't notice much of a difference with her body, she was five inches taller and sported quite a bit of muscle mass. 

The participants all met in the training room, a room that Katherine had never been in before. It more resembled a prison cell, metal bars surrounded the room armed and guarded at all times. It was quite chilly but no one minded. Katherine couldn't help but notice her counterparts physical changes. They were bigger, stronger and showed more aggression than before. The participants were instructed to sit on a bench and one by one they were to fight The Winter Soldier, something that brought both fear and excitement to the participants. Katherine couldn't help but feel a little nervous. The Winter Soldier was a deadly assassin and unlike her counterparts, she didn't have as much of a physical transformation.