Layla

CIA Base Part 2

March 16, 1962

(2:00 pm)

"My name is Layla Lehnsherr," Layla dictated to the nurse the CIA had provided for her medical exam. "And I am 30 years old." 

The medical exam would assess her mental as well as physical state after the confrontation with Schmidt, Shaw, whatever the hell that monster wanted to call himself. The CIA had been kind enough to allow her privacy with just a nurse and a doctor to exam her. Erik had Pietro while they waited for Pietro's turn with the doctor. He would be assessed for any signs of abuse or neglect that may have occurred thanks to his abduction, a detail that Agent Moira had writing in her notebook very fast. 

The nurse was kind to say the least, seemingly understanding the strange circumstances that Layla's small family found themselves in. She was much kinder than the nurse on the coast guard ship had been. So far she had explained to Layla that the examination would be a private one, no notes other than what Layla consented to be included in her file. 

She had simply asked Layla to state her name and age to begin the exam. Something the nurse already had, but it needed to be stated officially for it to be included in her new CIA file. 

"Next I am going to ask you for your birthdate, your maiden name, when did you begin menstruating, how old you were when you were married, and how old you were when your son was born," The nurse explained as she allowed Layla to look over what she had written so far. "If there is anything you want to add or omit please speak up." 

Fairly standard medical questions. Though she found it strange that they needed to know her maiden name at all. Her married name was good enough for her, Maximoff was hardly an important add on to her file, so she'd leave that out. It wasn't even her true maiden name. Who cared if she omitted it? 

"My maiden name doesn't matter," Layla stated matter of factly. "Does it?" 

The nurse smiled and shook her head no. Good enough for Layla. 

"I was born on June 21, 1931, in Munich." Layla began as she watched the nurse write down what she had to say. "I was 21 when I got married. And my son was born when I was 23."

"Good," The nurse wrote it down quickly. "And when did you first notice you had your unique abilities?" 

"I was 10," Layla began, looking off to the side not directly at the nurse. 

She cleared her throat to begin. She wasn't looking forward to recounting the story of her families kidnapping and being transported from one ghetto to another before winding up at Auschwitz in 1942. She hadn't understood why, she just knew that what was happening to them was wrong but as long as they stuck together everything would be all right. She had been a naive little girl. 

She, and her father to a lesser extent, had thought that they were merely going to be deported to Romania or some majority Roma country where they would be allowed to live in peace. Her father had made the joke that they would need to brush up on their Romani if they wished to thrive in their new country. As if it wasn't the language they spoke a majority of time at home. He made it seem like everything was going to be all right once they were deported to Romania. 

Oh how wrong they had been. 

"My family and I were transported to Auschwitz along with the other residents of the ghetto they had us living in," Layla recounted as she did her best to keep her emotions in check. "We thought they had shoved us on a train to a colony meant for us Roma people..." 

An all too familiar tightness began to form in her throat as she did her best to recount the story as best she could without breaking down and sobbing in front of this poor nurse. This woman had probably heard this story a dozen or more times before. Holocaust survivors that had moved elsewhere after the war ended were many, many refugees just trying to start over again. She was one of them, just trying to start over and try to pretend that everything was all right.