crimson, [b.barnes daughter], marvel

5.

The harsh fluorescent lights did nothing to ease the ache that resided in Zenith's head as he squeezed his eyes together, weakly pushing himself up off of the cold, sterile marble floor. 

As he slowly regained consciousness, his surroundings and situation became more apparent, his memories rushing through his head. The clear confines of the cell were stark, furnished only with a metal cot and cuffs binding him to the wall. He took notice of the small flash of red in the corner, to which he lifted his throbbing head.

A camera was positioned highly in the corner, the red blinking ominously. He made an attempt to walk, only to then finally take notice of his bindings.

The sound of a heavy door opening filled the silence of the room. He turned his head to see a dark skinned man with an eye-patch strut in, flanked by the red head from earlier and a blonde man hot on his tail. The brunette, broad muscled man from earlier had followed him, standing nearest to the door quietly.

Their expressions were unreadable. Zenith's mind raced, futilely grasping at escape scenarios. The man, whom Zenith now recognized as Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD, wasted no time in speaking first. He took a step forward, fixing Zenith with a steely gaze

"Doctor Zenith," he announced, voice steady and commanding, "welcome to your new home."

Zenith scoffed, despite the situation. "Spare me the pleasantries. What is it you want?"

"I'm sorry, must I repeat what my lovely agent over here asked of you just this morning?" he referred to Romanoff, who stood at his side with her hands gracefully behind her back.

Fury's eyes were burning glares into Doctor Zenith as he took a step forward. "We want information, and we want it now," his tone brooking no argument, "You do have information, don't you Mr. Zenith? About particular experiments you conducted for HYDRA?"

Zenith turned around to face Fury once more, eyes wide with fear only momemtarily. He covered it with defiance, and held his head high, "I do not know of what you are talking about."

The red head let out a humorless chuckle. "You do recall the conversation we had just this morning?"

"Conversation? You pinned me to the wall, and threatened me as if I were an animal," the man argued, his nose high in the air.

"So you do admit to remembering, no?" Fury raised his eyebrow.

Zenith swallowed, defiance faltering under the intense scrutiny being offered by Fury. He hastily spoke up, "I was forced to work with HYDRA. They would have killed me if I had refused."

"Convenient excuse, is it not?" Rogers accused. "We are not here to discuss your employment terms."

Zenith looked around the room, wrapping his arms behind his back like the red headed woman, "If I talk, they will kill me."

"You don't think that is what is deserved of you?" Fury pursed his lips.

Zenith narrowed his eyes, before he looked up, a heat filling through his body. "You think I don't regret what I did? What I put..others through. It haunts me day and night?"

"What did you do, exactly?" Fury interrogated, "Do you not think that the individuals you inflicted a great deal of pain upon have been affected by your experiments? I can assure you, they have most likely faced a greater deal of pain than you could ever imagine."

Zenith closed his eyes, the tight feeling in his throat making it hard to speak. "HYDRA's initiative was to..create a weapon. They recruited me in nineteen-eighty-four, told me about this plan of theirs.."