Science and Magick (LokixOC)

Chapter Nineteen

After spending the entire day and night with Loki, Zoë was practically floating on cloud nine as she walked into the lab on Friday morning. She pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and smiled at Bruce once she'd passed through the doors.

"Good morning" she chimed brightly.

He smiled back at her and placed the pencil he was using behind his ear. "Morning, seems like that rest did you some good" he observed.

Zoë chuckled softly and nodded, sliding into place beside him and logging onto her computer. "Don't tell Steve though, can't have him getting the dangerous idea that he can be right" she jested.

Bruce chuckled too and nodded in agreement "My lips are sealed. So, you ready to get to work?" He asked.

She nodded vigorously "More than ready, I had some more ideas as to where I can find the Winter Soldier so I was thinking I could do that while we do some blood tests? I haven't been able to study my bloods since I escaped Hydra and I had to destroy all my slides along with my lab" she suggested, she knew something in her had changed after that last session. When that final current of electricity pulsed through her, it was like something was unlocked, shackles were broken.

Bruce nodded and stood "I'll go grab the equipment from med-bay" he reported, swiftly leaving the lab.

As she waited for him to return, Zoë began her hunt. The Winter Soldier was her main priority right now, she owed it not only to Steve but to Barnes too. He was the only other person in this world to have gone through what she had at the hands of Hydra, though she was already conditioned to be loyal to them and follow orders instead of having to be wiped and reprogrammed. Luckily she was very familiar with the techniques they used and knew how to bring him back. Most of the higher ups believed that Barnes had been wiped clean, that he couldn't be brought back and that's exactly what it said in all his files, but it's impossible to completely remove who someone is with the rudimentary science Hydra's puppets played with. Zoë's grandmother had done a good job on the first iteration of the super soldier serum but that was only half the battle when it came to the Winter Soldier. They wanted full control. However the human brain is far too complex to simply pick and choose which parts you wanted to get rid of and which you wanted to keep, if they were to get rid of everything then they would have to get rid of everything. To remove all memories and personality, you would have to remove it all and start from the very beginning. Teaching a grown man how to walk and fight and eat all over again was far below Hydra's pay grade so instead they buried everything so deep into his subconscious that there would be no way for Barnes to recover it on his own.

He wasn't going to be on his own anymore though. Zoë was going to put things right and give back everything they took from him.

Bruce returned and effortlessly began setting up the cannula. "JARVIS, does Stark have separate sound systems in each room?" Zoë asked, continuing to type with her dominant hand while Bruce worked on the other.

"Yes Miss Knelbeg, would you like me to play something?" The AI asked.

"Beethoven's 14th Sonata in C-Sharp Minor, if you will" she requested. The soft sounds of the piano began to fill the room and Zoë smiled to herself. "Much better" she hummed.

"Moonlight sonata, a good choice. You enjoy classical music, I take it?" Bruce asked as he began to fill another vial.

She nodded "Very much so, it's the only thing I was able to listen to while I worked back home. I work better to music. Though I'll admit I do miss my father's German hard rock records, I should probably branch out now that I'm in the states and can actually listen to whatever I please" she mused.