Winters War Phase 3: Some Kind of Monster

Part 16

Julia jolted awake with the faces of the two men who abused her engraved into her mind. A nightmare which unfortunately happened in real life and traumatized her even more. When she noticed her fast breathing, she tried to calm down by recognizing certain smells and noises while she looked around the room. It was dark and the only light that shone through the window was from the security floods outside.

Bile came up her throat as she saw mahogany furniture by the glimmer of light. It looked familiar from her dream, but she remembered she was safe in the compound of The Avengers. Next to her she saw the stuffed Winnie the Pooh. Hugging the bear relaxed her as it smelled like Bucky's aftershave, a different brand to the one that Sam used. A small distance away she saw a desk with a few framed pictures on it. She held the stuffed animal close as she left the bed and slowly walked to the desk. She turned on the desk lamp and looked at the framed pictures. One of them was with a group of soldiers. She picked up the frame to have a better look. Her finger trailed over the second man on the right.

'Is he....Bucky?'

She carefully placed the frame back, and saw another familiar picture. It was of two young boys and remembered she saw this picture somewhere else. Suddenly she heard a click and turned around. An armchair was moving towards the door, and blocked it. Her eyes widened in fear when she saw it happening. She made a move to run away but suddenly her body cramped and fell flat and backwards on the floor, dropping the bear. A blond man with green-brown eyes and a slightly tanned skin by the sun appeared slowly next to her. It was one of the men from her nightmare.

"Well, hello there. Remember me? It's Dave, your co-worker from HYDRA," he greeted her with a grin as he showed her a one-button-remote that kept her under control. "Good to see you, you lucky girl."

He looked around the room, nodding his head while being impressed. He gazed at the desk and huffed a chuckle as he picked up one of the pictures in his hand.

"That's funny," he said as he showed Julia the picture. "See the guy with the big mustache? That's my grandpa." He grinned with bare teeth and threw the picture back on the desk. "He tried to fight HYDRA during the war but got caught by them. Been rescued by Captain America. But guess what? Nowadays, you can't escape HYDRA. Never!"

The man knelt next to Julia, who still laid cramped on the floor nearly choking in her own breath. He grabbed the sleeve of her shirt and ripped it open to reveal her hexagon tattoo.

"This is a sign that you're a property of us."

His hand went into the back pocket of his jeans, took out a small blue notebook with a white hexagon on the cover and showed it to her. With one hand, he opened it and started reading out loud.

"Zhelaniye. Chetvertyy."

A sharp pain emerged in her head. She squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her jaw.

"Bol. Otorvannost."

She tried to gasp for air as every muscle in her body was tensed severely as she was fighting against the demons in her head and her evil alter ego. Her nails grasped the carpet, leaving shreds as she balled a fist.

"Doma."

Suddenly the door blazed red and flew together with the armchair through the room. Dave looked up at the action and quickly turned invisible.

Wanda and Scott rushed over to Julia, who was still in a cramp. They knelt next to her, becoming worried about her situation. Julia managed to look at her friends.

"Is she having a seizure?" Scott wondered.

"No, it's not a seizure."

Just in case, Scott gently rolled her onto her side. A moment later Sam arrived and quickly went to the teen's side.

"Julia, talk to us," Sam said, worried, after he knelt next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"H...HY..." Julia tried to talk but her jaw was too cramped to move.

Wanda almost got overwhelmed by the feelings in her guts she had earlier as she got back on her feet. She closed her eyes and balled her fists, which were blazing bright red. She raised up her fist and suddenly stretched her arm sideways. A scream followed as a man appeared behind the hex bolt and dropped the remote control.
Julia suddenly went limp and gasped for air.

"What's going on here?" Sam called out as he looked over his shoulder. "Who are you?" he asked, when he saw a man being struck by Wanda's powers.

Wanda approached Dave, moved her face closely to stare in his eyes and read his mind. She tilted her head and squinted at him while she still held him against the wall with hex bolts restraining his hands and feet.

"You molested her," she hissed softly. "And you'll do it again if you have the chance."

Dave just grinned with gritted teeth, saying nothing.
Sam felt a hand on his arms which made him look at the aching teen.

"He's HYDRA," she whispered in pain and between breaths.

Sam's eyebrows lowered and balled his fists, knowing the terrorist organization is here to kidnap her. He took a deep breath through his nose, stood up and walked to Dave.

"What do you want from her?" he growled at him, standing in a wide stance in front of the villian. "And again, who are you?"

"Just give you the name Dave. We will take her to finish the project Destroyer of Lives and to please Daniel Whitehall. He promised us a great reward when we bring her back," the villain said, all with a grin on his face.

"The Sir?" she asked softly and amazed, while she slowly sat up.

Dave heard her whisper and glanced at her.

"Yeah, the great man misses you."

Julia's heart started to beat faster, and got weird feelings in her stomach. Memories went into her mind of the time he gave her broth after she had been tortured by Madame HYDRA, how he cupped her face with gentle gloved hands as he spoke to her.

'He miss me.'

"And what happens if we don't surrender her?" Sam asked.

Dave chuckled, amused.

"Then this place will blow!"

Julia was snapped out of her daydream by Dave's loud voice. She saw Sam staring coldly at him and a vein throbbing by anger in his neck.

"Go on. Open up my jacket and you'll see. I don't lie."

Slowly he opened Dave's jacket. After he opened it he saw a bomb vest. His eyes widened in shock and took a step backwards. Even Wanda took one step back but kept the man under control with her powers.

"So you better give the girl to me and this place will stay in one piece."

Sam and Wanda glanced at each other, considering what to do.
In the background Julia tried to stand up but her legs sank under her. She grunted as she fell on the floor.

"Hey, don't try to stand up. You're hurt," Scott advised.

"No. I have to go with him," Julia stuttered in a mumble, still in pain as she tried to stand up again. "For the safety of everybody."

"Scott, bring her to the medical wing," Sam ordered while he kept his eyes on the intruder. "Go as fast as you can."

He nodded firmly and lifted Julia up in bridal style, ready to leave the room.

"No. I have to stay"

"No, we're leaving," Scott told the teen and left.

"I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU!!" Dave yelled and in one movement, he pulled out a pin from his vest with his teeth.

Wanda kept the blast contained around Dave who grimaced in agony. With her powers, she lifted him into the air and threw him out of the window. Outside, the bomb vest exploded. Sam and Wanda ducked when the explosion happened, as pieces of glass flew towards them. After it was clear, Wanda noticed a small remote control and picked it up. Sam slowly walked to the broken window and looked down at the horrific sight.

"We need to go to Steve."