October 43 (Steve Rogers x OC)

Chapter 1

The room that Bridgette Keller currently sat in was cold, and just as dismal as the war that was currently raging. She wasn't even meant to be here. She was meant to still be back in Germany, working to help men wounded from the war, bring comfort to those who had been brought to the field hospital that she worked at to die.

But no.

She had been plucked from obscurity to help oversee terrible things.

Bridgette didn't know what was worse. Having to watch as men died by the hand of a doctor who simply used the prisoners of war as lab experiments or having to watch them die from a multitude of injuries caused from fighting out on the battlefield.

She knew she had seen death. And it was enough to last a lifetime.

Bridgette hadn't wanted to end up where she had, far from home and having to work for an organisation that even she didn't agree with.

Hydra.

It was hard to turn a blind eye to things that they had done, that she had assisted with. Now she felt nothing but guilt and shame, because she had no choice but to stand by and watch as one by one, Zola's experiments added to the body count of innocent men.

Bridgette didn't care if they were English, American, German - she never wanted any man to die by her hand nor aid someone within that area. She had signed up to care, not to kill. But her captors seemed to think otherwise, at least most of them did. Being of German nationality did her no favours, least of all the fact that she was discovered in a lab of the Hydra facility she'd been taken to.

She had no idea of its location exactly. Just that she was in Italy, having been picked by a man called Schmidt himself on a visit to one of the field hospitals.

She didn't like the way he'd looked at her. Others had been selected to, but the way that Schmidt's eyes had rested on her from then and all the times after that? It was clear his intentions were anything but good.

Bridgette hadn't been the only nurse to be chosen. There were others, but some had found out the hard way about the ways of Hydra, and then there were the ones who simply wanted an easy way out, rather than suffering the consequences of working for the organisation. Those women had been the lucky ones in some respects, being clever enough to have their lives ended quicker, knowing they'd never leave.

Why was she still here?

She really didn't know.

The door opened and in walked the stern looking uniformed American man who she had been taken to on arrival at the camp. The stares were hard, cold, judgemental. The enemy was amongst them in their eyes.

"Good morning..." He settled himself down across the table at which she sat. Bridgette said nothing to this, to which the man now eyed her. "I know you understand English and I know that you can damn well speak it, so you might wanna start cooperating if you want an easier life".

Her eyes went to his, looking determined. "Easy life...I haven't known one since this damn war began".

The man raised his brow. "S'pose working for Hydra wasn't all sunshine and daisies".

She spat at this. "I never came into this to work for them - I am a simple nurse! Yet you treat me like I am the monster under your beds!"

"You could be for all we know - this could all just be a facade" He gestured to her and her attire of a nurse's uniform.

"Believe what you want, but I never asked for this. I came into this war to care for the wounded soldiers out there fighting. Instead, I was taken from that and forced to work on men like they were just another piece of rubbish to throw away once they had shown their use". She became angry. "It was more of a nightmare than on the front".

The man paused for a few moments. "Do you know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"My name is Colonel Phillips, and currently you are in the custody of myself and the SSR until I decide what we should do with you". He introduced myself. "Now I was told by Captain Rogers to go easy on you, seems he thinks that you're an innocent in all of this".

"Then at least your 'Captain Rogers' has a brain". She said, realising that this was the man who had got her out of the facility, and had introduced himself to her as she sat on the back of one of the trucks they'd taken as their own.

Other than her...

The journey to the camp had been tiring. The eyes of men simply staring at her, all but marking her for death. She'd been locked away and guarded for the night, with nothing but a hard bed and scratchy linens provided for comfort. It was drafty and cold, especially as it had rained throughout the night.

"Tell me what you know about Hydra..."

Bridgette said nothing. This colonel hadn't the decency to ask her name and yet here we was demanding information that she didn't really know about.

"Silent treatment eh?"

Still she said nothing.

Phillips huffed and got up, now pacing in front of the table. Her eyes cast themselves down to the floor, he'd be better off just putting her out of her misery, but instead this seemed like a man who wanted her to be miserable.

"Well, if you won't talk to me, will you talk to him?"  She looked up. "Now that got your attention", Phillips mused, "you got a little soft spot for the Captain? You wouldn't be the first from what I've seen over the last twenty four hours, and you certainly won't be the last".

Bridgette looked back down at the floor, hearing the door open and then close. She didn't look up again, the shame of being who she was overcoming her.

Suddenly this wasn't just about her being German.

It was about so much more than she'd anticipated.

The door opened once more, Phillips voice from outside sounding. "See if you can get anything outta her", before it closed onto silence once more. This time, a different voice spoke.

Him.

"It's alright Bridgette, I said we wouldn't hurt you, and we won't. I promise".