Animalia // Barnes

Chapter Six: Interrogation

~MEL~

The door to the room bursts wide open. Nick Fury enters with some other agents and Bruce, his eyes wide. An agent shoots my wing, an electric shock running through me. "Miss Mel, I need you to come with me. Any refusal will result in your death. Understood?" I nod in reply, the agony relentless. It suddenly stops, and I can move again.

***

"My name is Nick Fury. You will address me as Director Fury. I lead The Avengers, which is the band of misfits you seem to have familiarised yourself with, and S.H.I.E.L.D., an organisation formed to destroy HYDRA." Fury says. I nod, trying to take in every ounce of information he gives me. "Didn't you already give me your name?" I ask. "No. I did not have the opportunity. I was interrupted and then unable to find you." He explains. I nod. How did I know Fury's name?

Thoughts of my past plague my mind as we enter a sterile white room, with two chairs and a table being the only furniture to occupy the room. Fury sits, gesturing for me to take a seat as well. "Now, I understand that you are yet another victim of HYDRA's experiments, but I need you to answer a few questions in order to stop this cycle from continuing. The first one being, what was the aim of HYDRA's experiments on you?" Fury asks. I sigh.

I cannot trust this man. I don't even know him. I decide to lie. "They told me that they wanted to grow mutants instead of wait for them to appear." I fable. Fury chuckles. "There is no need for you to lie, Mel, I only want to prevent further loss of life and to stop HYDRA." He explains. I purse my lips. "Fine. I'm a mutant. They just were testing my abilities." I say. Fury stands abruptly, back handing me across the cheek.

I stand in a dark room, a dim light hanging above a man's head, which was on his chest. A man with long hair takes a step forward, back handing him across the cheek. "Where are they hiding?" The man with long hair roars, his voice muffled. I walk toward the back of the man in the chair, pulling a knife out of my uniform and raising it to his neck.

I look up at the interrogator, only to see a dull-eyed Bucky. I feel a rock form in the pit of my stomach. This wasn't Bucky. This was The Winter Soldier. The man still doesn't respond. It is then that I realise he is wearing a uniform with the word "S.H.I.E.L.D." written across the breast pocket. A logo sits on either shoulder.

"I'll ask you one more time, where are they hiding?" The Winter Soldier demands. Mixed feelings flow through me, and I'm unable to figure out which ones are from the memory and which ones are from now. I feel the terror and despair rip me apart. I have to keep up the act I had thought. I need to, to save Bucky. The man in the chair still doesn't speak, and instead spits blood into Bucky's face. "Bikini Bottom." He says.

Bucky nods and I slice open the man's neck.

I feel Nick Fury grasp my shoulders, pulling me up and off of the ground. "I didn't want to do that. I just need you to tell me what you know." I sit back on my chair. Tears well in my eyes from the pain in my chest. The pain I have every day of my life.

"I know I'll never be free. I know HYDRA sucks. I know that they'll stop at nothing to get what they want. I know they took my memories. But above all, I know that I'm not afraid of you or your threats, because believe me, I've heard them all. I've lost everything there is to lose. I lost my family, my memories and my sense of normality. So don't you dare ruin my fleeting moments of freedom, drag my sorry ass in here to interrogate me and lecture me, because I'm done, and I have been for a long time."

Fury furrows his brows in thought. "You had almost the exact same reaction as Mister Barnes." He says. I raise a brow. "I was there for over fifty years, went under the same treatment as Bucky, minus the freezing and soldier serums and I know that Melony Vandenburg is planning something big. There's your info." I stand, leaving the room. There's no way I'm telling him the whole truth. I don't even know it all myself. I open the door, slamming it shut in my wake.

Bruce stands outside the door. "Do you want to try figure out all of your abilities?"