If I Could Love || Bucky Barnes

001

"HOW is our latest experiment?" asks a sharp voice. I wince at the sound of it. It sounds like nails grating on a chalkboard, but I don't say anything. I keep staring at the hard brick wall in front of me. It's not like I have anything else to do anyways. I'm stuck inside this... this cage.

To be honest, it could be quite worse. The prison cell I live in has a bed and a window. That's more than I can say for the other unfortunate experiments gone wrong here. Gone wrong... as in died. I'm the first to live. The first survivor. The first to actually pass the experiment. It's quite a miracle, and something that I didn't sign up for; not that I signed up for anything, now that I think about it. And apparently, I'm their pride and joy.

"I asked you a question!" the voice mutters, though loud enough that it can be heard clearly. I slowly turned my head from the grey wall to him, my eyes glittering with rage. I study the man on the other side of the window carefully, though I'd seen him hundreds of times before. Wolfgang von Strucker. I think he's a baron of some kind. I suck in a deep breath, lick my lips and sneer.

"I heard you," I reply, my Sokovian accent thick as I look him directly in the eyes. He adjusts his monocle nervously and clears his throat. Then he recovers, an evil glint replacing the fear I had seen seconds before. This man really was bipolar, isn't he? I shake my head, the sneer still on my face, and go back to looking at the wall.

"Would you like to go through it again?" he asks, all of a sudden. Funny, I thought he'd left. No matter.

"Go through what again?" I ask a bit sarcastically. "You took all my memories. I know nothing."

"Except what we have put in your head, yes?" von Strucker pushes. I sigh and nod. I know where this will get me, the brain blender, but I can't help but sass a little. It's true. I only know what I know because they had either engrained false memories in my mind when they wiped me the first time, or they just fed information to me. Either way, I can't recall. I take another deep breath and look back at the doctor. He's peering at me curiously. As if I'm some sort of animal. Though, to be perfectly honest, I am. I'm an animal designed to do dirty work for this organization I work for. That I've been forced to serve. HYDRA. I know it only from what I hear.

"Are you ready for your first task?" von Strucker asks after a long moment of studying me, which, even to my odd mind I find a bit creepy. I slowly rise to my feet, stretching my joints as I do. I pace a few feet from the bed I've been sitting on, folding my hands behind my back and studying this idiotic man. He's not the tallest man in the world. He's clad in a black overcoat that hands almost to his feet, and he looks like Dr. Frankenstein. His buzz cut hair style makes his monocle seem huge on his face, though it does give him a more sinister sense.

"Ready to comply," I answer him, standing as straight as I possibly can. A cruel smile slowly crosses the doctor's face, and I try not to grimace. I've seen that look pass his face all too often, and it usually crossed his face when he was plotting something. I stare straight ahead. At nothing, waiting for him to give me my first official assignment.

The reason I haven't been on an official assignment quite yet is because I haven't fully gotten the hang of my abilities. I mean, telekinesis and mind control can only take so long to get the hang of. Especially when you're constantly getting your mind wiped and having to start all over again. Von Strucker says I'll get the hang of it eventually, and won't have to relearn it every time I'm wiped. I hope he's right.

"Good," the evil doctor says. "As for your mission, you must report to this man and do what he requests." He holds up a picture of a man. A middle aged man who has brownish hair with white all through it. "His name is Alexander Pierce. You and your companion will be obeying his every command until your mission is complete. Is that understood?"

"Jawohl," I say in German, the man's native language. He smiles again and gives a firm nod.

"Let her out of her cell," he says in his thick accent. From the black behind the man, two others appear, armed with guns and other weapons that could potentially hurt me if I let them. I waited calmly for them to open the door to the cell before walking out, standing casually in front of the doctor.

"Now," he says as I try not to look at my surroundings. "You most likely will not be needing weapons, but we've decided to supply you with some just in case. We all know how wonderful you are with a gun." He smiles at me. "And you were taught some sort of Martial Arts during your time here, yes?" Responding to the most pointless of questions never hinders me.

"Yes, sir," I say. He was the one who had me train hard; he had forced me to push myself to the limit. And I had. And because of all this, I'm now one of HYDRAs top weapons, even despite my powers. I've fought them all; every agent. Every weapon HYDRA has created in recent history. All but one. Von Strucker's never let me fight him. The doctor claims he'd kill me right away. But despite all that, I know who he is. The Winter Soldier.

And he-- the Winter Soldier-- is now my companion in this mission. I don't know how I feel about that, except maybe jealous over the fact that he gets more attention and praise than I do. 

"You know the rules, Maximoff," von Strucker tells me, looking me dead in the eyes. Then he sighs, rolls his eyes, and crosses his arms across his chest."God, we seriously have to get you a better name." He inspects me as I fold my arms actually across my chest, patiently waiting for me. He finally smiles triumphantly, as if he's won some inner conflict. "Ah, Smaragdgrüne Hexe. The Emerald Witch." I smile at him evilly, knowing the name fits me well. He nods in approval. 

The Winter Soldier and the Emerald Witch. Names people all over the world will soon fear.