Aftershock

Tectonic Plates

Alaska
1958

"Bring sie raus! Es ist Zeit." (Bring her out. It's time). Doctor Armin commanded, staring up at Willow's capsule. At the moment, she was encased in ice. They hadn't pulled her out in over a year. Keeping her in stasis, frozen, would preserve her mind and her body. It was better this way. She was meant to outlast everyone. A weapon as powerful as her had to be preserved. Willow began to thaw.

Willow woke with a start, her vision blurry. She couldn't feel a single part of her body. Not even her nose. But she blinked rapidly, trying to get a grasp on her surroundings. Slowly, she began to gain some feeling in her hands as she listened to the doctor's chatter around her. They were talking in German about keeping her stable and how the thawing process was the most crucial. These were all conversations Willow had heard before. They had to keep her alive so they could exploit her. Willow sometimes wished she could just slip away.

When Willow could feel her toes and see everyone clearly, she was immediately strapped down into the chair. She groaned, struggling against the HYDRA agents. She would comply. Why did they have to do this. After being their prisoner for so long, Willow had finally given up on ever being free. They pressed the pads against Willow's temple as she tried to get comfortable in the chair. "Sind wir bereit zu beginnen?" (Are we ready to begin). He asked, leaning in with a smile.

"Komm darüber hinweg." (Get it over with). Willow hissed before spitting in his face. Doctor Armin smiled, straightening up before pointing to the guy behind the control panel.

"Kurbeln die Kraft." (Increase the power).

"Jawohl." (Yes sir). A gag was placed in Willow's mouth. If she screamed at a really high frequency, sometimes she could break windows, create cracks in the ceilings. They didn't want to have to repair the base again. The machine was cranked on and bolts of electricity immediately coursed through Willow's body.

"Angenehm." Doctor Armin began slowly. "Briefe. Vierzehn. Weiß." Willow screamed into the gag in her mouth as the electricity continued to surge through her body. "Königin. Nichts. Fünf. Heimkehr. Recht. Hafen." Doctor Armin closed the book sharply, finally coming to a stop in front of Willow as they stopped electrocuting her. "Guten Morgen Soldat." Willow's eyes were lifeless, her demeanor complacent. Doctor Armin removed her gag.

"Bereit zu erfüllen." Willow murmured. Doctor Armin smiled smugly. After all these years, he had finally gained control of his favorite pet project.

Bucky had been his first great accomplishment but sometimes Doctor Armin considered Willow his greatest accomplishment. She did fight the brainwashing more than Bucky did. Bucky lost hope long before Willow did and when his mind finally gave in to the torture, everything else was a price of cake. Bucky at the moment was on the other side of the continent, under somebody else's control. Doctor Armin needed to keep Willow close because sometimes, her conditioning stopped working and she needed to be reminded.

Willow was their soldier. They would send her out on missions too dangerous for any of their regular agents. Undermine S.H.I.E.L.D, killing rouge agents of any kind and causing general mayhem and destruction. They wanted to test her powers, stretch her limits. There was still much they didn't know about her unusual powers.

"Dies ist Ihre Aufgabe Soldat." (This is your assignment soldier). Doctor Armin says, dropping down a file onto Willow's lap as other Agents begin unstrapping her from the chair. Willow's eyes fall to the folder and she picks it up delicately. In the ten years since her first programming, they had trained Willow to become an assassin, skilled with assault weapons, hand to hand combat, even a sword if the mission calls for that. Just because she had powers, didn't mean she shouldn't know how to fight.