Project 43: Healing

I want freedom

Elias made a conscious effort to stay far away from the new Avengers Program. He didn't want anything to do with the new brand of 'superheroes' or at least their training. Steve and Natasha started training Sam, Wanda, and Vision to be a part of the Avengers. Sometimes Elias observed how Natasha taught Wanda to fight like a spy or how Steve went over the procedures with Sam.

After a couple of months, the Avengers started doing missions again. The world seemed to forget everything that happened in Sokovia. The countless dead, the whole city being wiped off the face of the death, and the lives that were ruined that day. The Avengers were once again superheroes, fighting to protect everyone.

It was strange and the former soldier wasn't sure of it all yet. He didn't like the thought of any organization having as much power as the Avengers had, where they could basically do whatever they wanted and most people would simply go along with it. Still, Elias understood that they meant well and everything they did, they did with the safety of civilians in mind.

Elias was trying to remind himself that it wasn't any of his business what the Avengers did. He was there to do one job, find Barnes, and he shouldn't think about anything else. Otherwise, he was leaving himself vulnerable once more. Even if his mission was taking longer than he had hoped, he would complete it and leave.

The Compound had even better training facilities. Tho Elias didn't want to step anywhere near the shooting range or target practice, he still admired the expensive-looking machinery from afar. Instead, Elias stuck to the punching bags and training mats. He started going out on runs around the compound and sometimes even venturing into the woods, knowing that Hydra wouldn't dare to get close to the area. He liked the feeling of fresh air hitting his face as he jumped over roots and rocks and for the first time in decades he felt somewhat free.

Elias started accidentally training at the same time as Natasha until it wasn't accidental anymore. Even tho Natasha was training more in agility and fighting whereas Elias was just blowing off some steam with the punching bag, the two enjoyed sparring together from time to time. Natasha still hadn't won a single match, but she had come dangerously close. Both of them had been trained to always win but Elias had been tortured for sixty years straight into not losing.

"You were trained at the red room," Elias pointed out after one of their sparring sessions. Natasha tensed for just a moment as she heard the name before nodding. She was sometimes spooked by the usually silent soldier but tried to cover it up.

"I used to train with them a lot," Elias continued staring at the opposite wall, remembering the sessions. They were a lot different than the fun ones he and Natasha had. He would fight them until the girls were dead or he was fatally injured only to recover just enough for the people who owned him to start the updates.

"Really?" Natasha asked turning to face the soldier to her left. She knew Hydra and the Red Room had some kind of a common history but hadn't realized Elias may have been a part of it. Even tho Natasha had left the red room far behind her, she couldn't stop her curiosity from getting the best of her.

"Can you tell when it was?" Natasha asked but Elias just shook his head.

"No. After a couple of decades, everything just mushes together. To be honest, if I didn't know when Hydra took me, I couldn't tell you how long I was there. Could have been a week or a hundred years," Elias explained. It was easy to talk to the redheaded spy, knowing that she was too guilty of her past to blame Elias for anything in his or do anything with the information.

"Well whenever it was, the program was shut down way before I arrived," Natasha said almost with a chuckle. The topic was much heavier than what they usually talked about, but the former spy would take any information she got on the soldier.