Heart of Spades

The Notebook

***Flashback***

Summer 2014

Sofi smiled mischievously at the sight of her sister's diary on her bed, lying open for anyone to read. Selene was off on yet another mission, killing some rando in Budapest. There was about one hour left until her sister came back and currently, Sofi was on break.

She's had a fast-paced, demanding, but quick training with Rumlow and Sofi had taken a quick shower. Karpov had been satisfied with her performance, so he'd let her have the rest of the day off.

With plenty of time to kill, Sofi flopped onto her sister's bed, flipping the book to the start and she began to read.

She'd seen Selene hunched over her book during the nights, holding up a small flashlight under her blanket, scribbling away furiously.

Most of the book was written in Russian but there were little bits of English and Romanian sprinkled in.

But quickly, Sofi began to realize that Selene's 'diary' was not a diary.

It was a book of research.

At first, Sofi couldn't tell what or who it the collection of newspaper clips and facts recorded in Selene's half-cursive script. But then she saw it — the names:

Anastasia Cage

Anton Cage

Sofi's face fell as she read the names and the pictures that were cut out and pasted below, grainy and almost unrecognizable, but it took Sofi only a split second to see who it was.

Her parents.

Sofi frowned, not understanding what her sister was doing compiling things about their parents. They'd died when she was only two years old, so the hazy memories that Sofi had of her parents were distant. For half of them, she wasn't even sure if they really had happened or if she'd made them up in her eyes as some sort of strange fantasy.

So Sofi kept reading, burrowing herself deeper and deeper in the book, her surroundings beginning to melt away as a world starting building in her mind, puzzle pieces sliding into place. And then finally, it clicked.

Sofi had to do a double-take when she saw her parents names with an arrow leading to the words HYDRA. On the next page, there was a copy of a file. A permission slip or a form of some sort.

She froze as she read the name Selena Anastasia Pietrese. Born June 3rd, 1926.

Her sister.

But it wasn't just a birth certificate. It was a form that was signing her over. To HYDRA.

Sofi gulped, confused, skimming further down the page.

She suddenly gasped when she saw the date that it was signed: February 13, 1926. A few months before Selene had even been born.

'What?'

Bracing herself for the next page, Sofi found exactly what she'd been expecting.

Sofia Anya Pietrese. Born May 10, 1928.

This time, the file had been signed December 7th.

Her mind was feeling numb as she attempted to comprehend what she was reading. Her parents had signed both of them over to HYDRA? And before they'd even been born?

Then came the files that had answered the questions Sofi and Selene had asked themselves for the longest time: where had their powers come from?

Hundreds of pages of lab reports filled up the pages, documented by various authors. Sofi and Selene had been labeled as Experiment #121 and #172 and Sofi felt sick as she realized there had been people before them. 120 failed experiments that had all unwillingly sacrificed their lives so that Sofi and Selene could have powers that they'd never even wanted.

The girl wasn't sure if it was worse when she read both her parents names signed on some of the lab reports, referring to them too by number and not by name. As if they were simply objects and not people. Their children.

Sofi skipped over the lab reports, not wanting to know the gory details. She wasn't sure if she could take it any longer when she found something Selene had scribbled in red, circled and underlined.

Anton Cage = not dead.

Reborn as Arnim Zola (1930).

Anastasia Cage = killed by Anton/Arnim???

Sofi's heart skipped a beat. Arnim Zola was her father? She couldn't begin to think straight any longer. This man, this murderer, this guy that had tortured both her, her sister, and James for so long had been her father all along? Sofi rushed to the bathroom, dry heaving, splashing cold water onto her face.

But as it turned out, that wasn't even the worst yet. Sofi found, tucked away on the very last page of the book, a USB drive, cleverly disguised as a lipstick compact.

Quickly, Sofi inserted it into a computer she'd stolen from Rumlow a few days ago and watched, in absolute horror, as she watched a blurry video of Karpov finding Selene and her notebook, too, and dragging her off.

He slapped her a few times, but Sofi recognized the look on his face. It was the same one he'd had when Sofi had helped James escape, except worse. A hundred times worse.

Karpov said something to one of the agents that stood nearby him and Sofi stared, speechless, as she recognized it to be Rumlow. His words were muffled so all Sofi made out were:

"Budapest...Kill her..make...look like...accident."

But it was enough for Sofi to know what he'd said.

Hurriedly, Sofi checked the date of the video, gasping as she realized it had been just last night.

"Oh my God!" Sofi cried, realizing that Selene's mission hadn't been a mission at all. It'd been her killing because she'd learned too much.

And now, Sofi realized, she was in the exact same position.

Footsteps began approaching her door and Sofi rushed over, locking it. She knew it was inevitable, her death, but something in her made her want to delay it for as long as possible.

The door handle jiggled and someone knocked harshly, "Soldier! Open up!"

Sofi was quaking now as she desperately tried to find a good place in her room to hide the notebook, but she knew it was to no avail.

And then, the idea hit her. She threw the notebook into the fire and unlocked the door, revealing Karpov on the other side.

His eyes traveled to the burning notebook and it took him no time to put two and two together.

Sofi calmly smiled at him as she drew up the last of her powers she'd absorbed from her last mission.

"Forget it," The girl told herself, "Forget it all."

***End Flashback***

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A/N: Super short chapter, I know. But sooooo much was covered and soooo much was revealed. Heheheeeee!! The dark secrets and flashbacks of Sofi have finally all added up!!! Feedback/comments/votes are more than welcome. Thanks a lot for sticking through!!! Almost done!