the hydra; mcu

prologue.

prologue

     Bae Iseul was a child when her father was killed. She couldn't understand what was happening or why it was happening. She couldn't even understand why her mother decided to run away from their home in the middle of the night, taking nothing but her daughter and some food that would last them about a week.
     'We need to get somewhere safe,' she had told Iseul. 'Somewhere as far as our legs can take us.' That far away land was months of walking away, of months spent stealing food and hiding. The little girl became good at stealing, she was small and an expert in hiding in plain sight. However, her mother wasn't as good as her.
     Iseul knew that they were in another country when she couldn't understand the people around them anymore. Maybe that was why she had to witness her mother being beaten to death without knowing the reason behind it. She had gotten caught stealing the loaf of bread Iseul was holding, but the child couldn't understand that.                  
     'Hide, my child. I love you.' Were her mother's last words, so Iseul did as she was told. She hid, with tears in her eyes and some bread in her hands.

     The loaf of bread was long gone before someone found her. Iseul didn't know how long it had been since she saw her mother bleed in the middle of the street. She couldn't understand what the man who was standing in front of her was saying or why he was giving her food. That didn't matter to her, she was hungry and the man seemed kind. That was probably why she followed him, a choice she would regret not many years afterwards.
     Iseul was bathed and clothed by a nice woman. She could understand her, she felt safe. The woman reminded her of her mother, and the little girl started to finally feel at home again. 'What is your name child?' The woman asked her after giving her some food. 'Bae Iseul.' She answered.
     'That won't work. From now on your name is Irina Baskova. You will have to answer to that name and do what you're told, understand?' The child nodded. 'You have a month to learn the language we speak here. If you fail you will be sent back to the streets.'
     That was the day when Bae Iseul died and Irina Baskova was born. A month later she was tested, just like the woman had said. She didn't fail, she wouldn't fail any of the tests she was put through for years. She was a perfect student in that place she had to call home. Many other girls weren't as good as her, Irina didn't like that. She didn't like the way they were treated when they failed, that's why she tried to help them. Irina was the perfect student, she didn't fail any test. She was almost ready to be sent out into the world, but she was untamable. The Red Room couldn't risk having a spy like her, she still had too much empathy. One morning, men she had never seen before took her away.

     Irina Baskova cared too much about other people. Even if the new place she found herself in was so cold that she thought her fingers might fall off, she couldn't stop thinking about what would happen to the other girls now that she wasn't with them anymore. She thought about her parents, until all she could think about was the pain she was forced to endure.
     'You need to endure it for this to work, Irina.' It was as if the words were spoken inside of her brain, she couldn't see where the person talking was. All she could see was the ceiling of the facility they kept her in, all she could do was bite down to keep herself from screaming. 'Once we find out if the serum worked, you will have no choice but do as you're told so don't struggle too much, you will only make it harder for yourself.' Those were the last words she could make out before the pain became too much.
     After waking up, Irina couldn't remember where or who she was. She was sitting next to a man with a metal arm, she wondered what that was about. People were standing in front of the two of them, she couldn't recognise anyone but she knew that she had to listen to them, that she had to do what they told her to do. One of them took a step towards them and started speaking.
     'Longing, rusted, furnace, daybreak, seventeen, benign, nine, homecoming, one, freight car.' Irina stared at him, ready to hear her mission. 'Soldiers.' The man continued. 'Ready to comply.' Irina and the man with the metal arm said in unison. That was only the first time they would be sent on a mission together.

     Everyone knew about the existence of the winter soldiers but no one knew who they were. They were involved in every war, in every political murder that needed to be executed under the radar. Irina Baskova never doubted her missions, until she was sent to a war. She felt like she knew the place, everyone around her and everyone she was told to kill reminded her of someone but she couldn't recall who he was. She knew she had loved him, she could feel it in her heart. She kept thinking about it while proceeding on her mission, she killed everyone who stepped onto her path. Everything came back to her in a bar. They were fighting a man as strong as them but it was two against one, he didn't stand a chance. He managed to cut her wrist, deep. It hurt like hell but she didn't care, she had a mission to complete. Irina was about to hit him when she remembered her past. Her parents. Her name. She couldn't fight anymore, she couldn't kill anymore. She stood by while the man tore half of her partner's metal arm off. She tried to stop both of them from hurting each other, but all she managed to do was take hits from both sides until she passed out.
     When she woke up she was being carried, she couldn't see by whom but she knew. He was bringing her back, even after she betrayed them. He didn't have to but he chose to take her with him. Irina promised herself she'd bring the real him back, the part of him that decided to save her. Before she could do that she had to bring herself back, because she knew that, as soon as those people got their hands on her, she would be gone again.
     They cut her hand off completely, saying that there was nothing else they could do. Then the process to erase her memories began. The pain was the same as before, that was the only thing that never changed, but she couldn't get used to it. No matter how many times it happened, it would always hurt the same. The next time Irina Baskova woke up, she had a metal hand matching her partner's arm.

     It had been so many years since Irina Baskova had known who she was, but she finally started feeling at home. Her partner started to feel like family. She didn't know how long it had been since they had started and she didn't care. One day, when she woke up, she was in an unfamiliar place. They had taken her away from home, away from her family. She was put in a room but they didn't tell her what to do. All they told her was her name and that she had volunteered for the experiment. She couldn't remember doing that.
     'Miss Baskova, can you please state your name and confirm your status.' She heard a voice say. 'Irina Baskova, volunteer.' She responded, still confused.
     'Begin experimentation.' Irina walked closer to the scepter, not knowing what she was supposed to do. She saw a figure as a blinding light filled the room. The last thing she could see before passing out was red.
    
     Irina woke up in a cell with a splitting headache. She wasn't sure whether what she saw in her dreams were her memories or if her mind was just playing tricks on her after whatever happened during the experiment. She saw a man being killed and a woman calling for her, but it couldn't have been a memory. The woman said Iseul, that wasn't her name, she was Irina. Images kept coming to her as flashes. The woman dying, a man finding her and taking her to a safe place. Passing tests, helping other girls and being taken away in the middle of the night. Missions, the war and  being carried by someone. She remembered the promise she had made to herself. The memories were too much for her to handle so she screamed, and the cell became dark.
     Irina didn't know why or how, but she could feel the energy of light. She tried focusing on it, but the thoughts flooding her mind were too distracting. She looked at the people in the cells across from hers, they were twins. The boy looked like he was going mad trying to control his own body. The girl was using her newly found ability to levitate blocks, Irina wished she could do the same. Then she turned her head towards the boy in the cell next to hers, he couldn't have been older than twelve. At night she heard him cry in his sleep, he would call for his parents over and over again. In the morning he was out of his cell and the guards would hit him and throw him back inside. Irina didn't think he knew how he managed to get out every time.

the hydra
bvttrfl | 2025