The Soldier and the Wolf

Chapter 12

I woke up to the sun shining on my face through the blinds. I was lying on the wood floor and for a moment I forgot how I even got into the office. However, a moment later I remembered everything that happened and sat straight up. I observed my arms and legs to see that it was all normal. I would've thought the previous night was a dream if it hadn't been for the fact that I was naked, my clothes were completely ripped into shreds around me, and my body felt like it had just done a full body workout to the point where my limbs felt like jello. "Oh my god." I whispered to myself. I looked around the room trying to figure out what to do. My butt was cold against the wood, so I took the tattered pieces of clothing to create a cushion and I leaned up against the closed door.  I stared down at my hands. They looked normal, but there was nothing normal about them. Underneath all my flesh was something more than stronger muscles and faster metabolism. I felt a weight press down on my chest and I let my head give a little thud on the door.

      "Clara?" My head shot up instantly when I heard Bucky call my name from the other side. He was still here? I felt myself panic a bit. "Clara?" He called my name again.

       "You're...you're still here?" I pushed myself to say. There was a pause from the other side.

"Yeah...what was that last night?" I wanted to tell him I had no idea why that happened to me last night, but lying wouldn't do anything to help.

"My mom..." I took in a shaky breath. "When...when my mom had me in that room, she told me how she had been working on the super soldier serum. She said that she added something new to it, made it her own, but she never told me what. Wha...what she put in her serum must've have not have only turned into a super soldier like you, but it was somehow able to fuse my genes with that of an animal, which caused to to change. Before my mom died, she said that I would need her. She said that I won't be able to control it and I would be a monster children feared. She's right."

       "I..." he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. There was a silence before any of us spoke again. "Are...are you...are you okay now?" I could hear pity in his voice. It was nice because he didn't sound as cold as he usually did when talking, but now I really wasn't in the mood.

      "Okay? OKAY? I thought I still had a decent chance of living a somewhat normal life. That I could ignore the enhanced parts of and I could still go back to school and become a surgeon, but now I can't even do that! My mom made me a monster!" I curled into a ball and rested my forehead on my knees.

        "You're...you're not a monster. You're a monster when you've done things I've done. I...I don't know what that was last night, but...but I'll still help you." The way he spoke was calming. But he didn't understand.

       "How can you help me? Unless the super soldier serum given to you decades ago can make you grow fur and become a different species, then I don't see how you can help me. I'm a lost cause."

      "You're right. I can't help you. But you aren't a lost cause. I'm a lost cause. I can't fix the things I've done, but you have a clear conscience, nothing against you. This new...ability you have, you can use it for good. Hydra was going to use you for horrible things, but Hydra is gone." I lifted my head up from my knees, and my knees were wet with tears that streamed own my face. I leaned my head back against the door.

        "I've never heard you talk so much." I commented. "Is this what you were like before?"

       "Before what?"

        "Before Hydra. Back in the forties. Were you this good with words?"

       "I don't know what I was like before...but like you said..." I heard a swooshing next to me and I looked down to see the picture of Captain America, Steve, on the ground next to me. "We gotta help each other. We're stuck together now as much as we may not want to. We have stick together." I picked up the picture and held it in my hand. I stared at it. Why did my mom have to add some wacky ingredient to the serum? Why did I have to turn into some huge dog? Why was I intended to be used for bad when I could be like Captain America? A hero. Bucky was right. We were stuck together. I am the only one who trusts him enough to even talk to him, and he is the only one who was associated with Hydra and knows that I even exist.