Project 43: Healing

Barely tolerate

"You mean to tell us that you fought in the Second World War?" Stark asked leaning back on the couch. Everyone was intently waiting for the next words to come out of Elias' mouth. Steve and Natasha were curious as to how much the soldier would say while the three others were shocked at the revelations. Even Wanda was looking up at the man she was scared of.

"Captain Smith. 44th division, 71st regiment," Elias somehow listed out of muscle memory.

"There was a whole thing about you in the Smithsonian," Natasha pointed out surprised. She had gone to see the exhibition while she was still working with Shield in Washington, just to learn more about her partner.

"Wasn't Captain Smith the one who saved all those people from the German labor camp by hiding in the vents for a week?" Stark asked remembering the old stories his father would tell him before he fell asleep. They were about different war heroes, Captain America, and of course his own father's role in it all. Still, Tony liked the story of the brave young captain most of all.

"Four days," Elias corrected. The thought of having to stay in those vents for any longer than he had felt worse than the torture he endured with Hydra.

"Hydra took me, experimented on me, and used me for sixty years as a brainwashed machine," Elias continued glancing at Wanda just quick enough for the girl to notice and quickly look away in shame.

"Like captain's snowy friend?" Stark asked to which Elias contemplated for a moment on how indept he wanted to go.

"Not exactly. Snow white was wiped clean after missions and put on ice. He had no memory of anything. I was never wiped after the first time when I lost all recollection of my life. And I was never put on ice," Elias explained. He hated comparing himself to the Winter Soldier even if it was just to explain the differences in their functions.

"So how did you not age?" Stark asked, suddenly interested in the science behind it all.

"They were able to replicate the super soldier serum. After that, they spent sixty years perfecting it. I would be more surprised if I did age after all those experiments," Elias shrugged. Truly he just wanted the whole conversation to be over, but he knew it needed to happen. It was better that everyone got their questions out of the way once.

"Could I take a couple of blood samples and..." Stark started the question but was immediately interrupted.

"If you so much as think about touching me again I will send you flying through that window with a chair leg stabbed through your heart," Elias explained in a monotone voice. Stark just looked at the soldier in a mix of surprise, impressed, and maybe slightly scared.

"I have to make one thing crystal clear so that we're all on the same page," Elias said looking at everyone in the room. "I loathe the Maximoff, strongly dislike Stark and barely tolerate Rogers. I'm not here to fight with you or be your test dummy, I'm here to help you find the Winter Soldier," Elias concluded making sure that everyone fully understood what he was saying.

"Why do you loathe young Wanda?" Thor asked.

"She voluntarily worked for the organization that took away everything from me and tortured me for over half a century," Elias answered honestly. Wanda hadn't been able to look the soldier in the eyes for a while and Elias could understand why. Even if she could move things with her mind, Elias could snap her neck before she even had the chance to think about what to do.

"So, what do you got?" Steve asked as he and Elias sat down in one of the meeting rooms Steve had converted into his study hall. There were three boxes of files in the corner of the room with even more scattered across the desk. An entire wall was covered in pieces of paper, receipts, photos, and so much more.