𝑼𝒔, 𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 - 𝑩. 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔

3b

1991 - Siberia

Early in the morning, the words came for him. Not her.

Желание.
Семнадцать .
Ржавый.
Рассвет.
Печь.
Девять.
Добросердечный.
Возвращение на родину.
Один.
Товарный вагон.

Within the dark iron bars of the Cage, two Soldiers stood facing each other. Fighting each other.

It was a test of strength that The Winter Soldier was losing. And all the Others were watching, intently.

Josef hit Sergeant Barnes, then pushed down the shoulder of his metal arm. Barnes choked out a pained yell, and Josef pushed him down harder. The Others sat at the edge of their seat. Most had already tried and failed against Hydra's number one. Except for one.

Josef let go of Barnes's arm and kick him in the gut, send the Winter Soldier flying towards the dirty bulletproof glass.

"Good." Karpov said to Josef, as Barnes pushed his way to his feet. He recovered easily, his temper relaxing back to his "natural" sedated state. But Josef couldn't do what Barnes could, his anger like the Others was uncontrollable.

A doctor walked towards Josef, and Josef snapped. He threw the doctor into the air and slammed him down to the floor. Immediately, a fully armed guard hit Josef with a baton. The whole room became agitated. Barnes knew, as the Super Soldiers stood up, that things were about to get violent. He stayed put, waiting for orders from Karpov.

"Get me out of here, Soldat." Karpov pulled his gun and aimed at the out of control super soldiers. Barnes wrapped an arm backwards to keep Karpov close as the Soldiers let all hell break loose. All except Marcella.

Barnes walked at his pace with Karpov behind him as the doctors and guards were thrown around The Cage. When one of the Soldiers jumped at Barnes, he punched them away. They didn't stop moving until Barnes had the metal gate shut and locked.

Karpov looked into The Cage as the Super soldiers killed the guards left in the prison, but his empathy did not stretch to them. Instead his eyes set on the last super soldier, his Firebird, who sat in the corner leaning against the bars. Her eyes never wavering off him, like a hawk. Her brain finally worked again, after taking the serum, it was clear from the way she watched the Others and Barnes; memorizing their techniques that she could pick up too. Now, with the serum running through her veins, she could do everything they ever dreamed of. Karpov wasn't surprised by her lack of interest in the actual fight going on two feet away from her. He knew her. Karpov pointed to her. The Winter Soldier prepared to open the gate again but before he could do it, Marcella jumped to her feet. All the Soldiers looked at her, determining if she was a threat or not. They never trained with her before.

Josef took a step in front of her, stopping her from proceeding towards the gate. She looked at Karpov and Winter, then up at the 6'5 giant in front of her.

Karpov stopped Barnes from opening the gate. He wanted to watch.

"Move," she ordered Josef.

Before Josef had a chance to respond, guards outside The Cage rushed in. They carried a tank of gas to knock them out. Marcella wanted out.

In Josefs distraction, Marcella jumped him. Her legs twisted around his neck and she punch him in the face multiple times. He fell back and Marcella landed above him, smashing his head to the ground with her hand. He was knocked out cold.

The Others didn't like that.

Two came at her from both sides. She kicked a baton at ones face, for the other she dodged their powerful blow. They kicked at her chest again but Marcella was too quick. She lowered her body and swiped his leg out from under him, gravity brought him to the ground for her.

Marcella took a step backwards and was met with a punch to her side. The blow threw her into the side of The Cage. Before she could recover, the soldier she hit with the baton came for her again. He socked her in the face.

Marcella quickly pushed herself up and blocked another punch from the soldier. Her own fists hit him in the ribs, with two bone breaking jabs. Before she could land another strike, a body stopped her. The woman cursed in pain as she hit the titanium arm of The Winter Soldier. He grabbed Marcella's elbow and immediately lifted her out of The Cage.

He was so fast, her feet didn't even touch the floor until the door had locked. A noise made her turn back to the Others in The Cage. The men surrounding it had shot tanks of a sleeping agent into it. A small smile formed on Marcella's lips as she watched them choke on it.

Barnes pulled her along, following Karpov. She tried to pull away from him not needing him to hold her but he didn't budge. His eyes were dead straight ahead. She tried to look into them to see if there was anything still there from last night. Everything had been wiped away in the morning hours before she and the Others were locked in The Cage.

"Marcella." Karpov walked in-front of Barnes and her yet talked as though this was a normal conversation. Her head spun back to him immediately without choice. "Why didn't you fight the guards? Answer."

"I didn't understand why they did that, Sir."

Karpov clicked his tongue. "Hmm." She was the only one able to control her emotions like Winter. Barnes and Marcella had been beaten into shape for much longer than they had.

Fear shocked it's way threw Marcella's system as she realized where they were headed down the halls. "Did I... do something wrong, Sir?"

The metal grip on her arm squeezed noticeably harder around her arm. It made her panic and she looked back at Barnes. This time he was looking down at her with an unreadable expression. The Room with the chair and the tanks was dead ahead. "You're not going to the chair," Karpov snapped, busy in though.

Barnes hand let go slightly, letting her pull out of his grasp a little. The Winter Solder could feel the shaking of the girl but it didn't really matter. He knew she would fight him because he just seemed to know her, even though he couldn't remember how.

"After learning some information about what the Red Room has taken and been manufacturing behind our back, you will not be returning. Our ties are cut." Karpov's hand held each other behind his back as he played with his Hydra ring. "You're going on ice for a little while instead, now that you're fit to do so."

Marcella pulled against Barnes arm, fighting Karpov's orders. Marcella only just felt alive and heathy after years of pain. She wanted to live not sleep. She'd rather kill than feel the ice.

"You and Sergeant Barnes." 

Karpov needed time to figure out what went wrong with the Others and how to control them better. Barnes flinched as he said those words. He held onto Marcella to keep her from falling more than running away.

"No, Sir! Please! You can't!" She tried to pull herself away but Barnes grabbed her tightly with both hands and threw her over his shoulder. She cried as she pounded on his back with her fist. "James!" She screamed, "Réveille-toi, James!"

That made Karpov still. His eyes widened.

"James?" Karpov questioned. Marcella was never told to call Barnes that, she never knew that the Sergeants name was James. It was too personal for the soldat who was sensitive to such things, where Marcella was not.

Karpov turned around, furiously and looked between them. Barnes looked down at the ground in confusion, his grip on Marcella had become not as harsh, almost careful.

Karpov realized his mistake of letting them be close for so long. Everything had changed since the mission in 1982. They had built a bond that wasn't monitored or controlled all the time, that no one could understand, not even themselves. Karpov's mind started to run with plans of Hydra. How could he use this to their benefit? How could this all go very wrong?Could she give them another, more pure?

Winter and Marcella had always made a good team, maybe too well. It was risking the foundations of Hydra's work.

"I changed my mind." He started walking again, making Barnes follow along. "You are getting wiped Marcella. Then you're both going on ice for a very long time."