Call me Soldier

[21] Back

"If you come with me, we will let the Winter Soldier go. You are more recently updated, anyway. We only need you." I looked at Bucky, then at all the guards surrounding us. What were my choices? I sagged in defeat.

"Khorosho." Okay

"No!" Bucky cried. The sound of him screaming tore at my soul, but this was for him. I couldn't let him fall back into the hands of Hydra.

"Good." Voltaire said. "Shoot the other."

"No! You promised! You promised!" I tried to fight my way back to Bucky. A single gunshot rang out. "Noooooo!" Tears streamed down my face as I tried to fight back.

Some one poked me with an electrified cattle prod and I screamed in pain. The guards held me up and made me face Voltaire.

"Dobro pozhalovat' obratno, Soldata. Lucky for you, our new memory technology allows us to leave certain memories so that you don't forget everything. As in all military organizations, disobedience calls for punishment. You've earned a lot of punishments, haven't you?" He smiled evilly. Welcome back, Soldier.

I nodded, vexed of any objections. Bucky was gone. Gone. Because of me.

Hydra had control over me since the beginning.

I followed the guards to a new room. The walls were concrete and plain. The floor sloped down to the middle where there was a drain. Raised slightly above the drain, a wooden post stood vertically with a pair of iron shackles hanging about half way up.

The guards made me kneel next to the post, then secured my hands.

"It's a shame you haven't had your nano treatment in the past few months. I have a feeling that your healing will be substantially slower."

He ripped the back of my shirt open.

I knew then what was going to happen. I still wasn't prepared for what came next.

Without warning he brought a whip down on my back. I cried out in surprise and pain. Again and again, he beat down upon my back. Each time I could sense the whip digging deeper and deeper into my flesh.

Now I understood what the drain was for. Blood poured in torrents, from the open wounds in my back.

After forever, he stopped.

"Clean her up, then wipe everything but this. I want her completely re trained." Then he left.

Some guards came in and sprayed me down with a hose. The water was freezing, then bandaged my back and made me change into clean clothes.

I was then led into the old testing room. A doctor, not Zola, came in, carrying a tube of my nano treatment. They strapped me down to a medical table and the doctor injected me.

The familiar burning sensation spread throughout my body as the silver on my body became vibrant once again.

I sat in my old seat, had my old mouth guard, got wiped in the same way, but this time I could remember the whipping.

My mind registered music. A beautiful song. I didn't remember the name, though. How odd. Wait. What was my name?

A man in front of me  answered my silent question.

"Your name is Soldier. Your objective is to carry out the missions assigned to you by Hydra and to enforce Hydra's values. You serve without fear and without mercy. Hail Hydra. Ponyat', Soldat?" Understand, Soldier?

Somehow, I registered that he was speaking Russian, and somehow I was able to respond. "Ponyal, ser." Understood, sir.

"What is your name?"

"Soldier."

"Objective?"

"To carry out the missions assigned to me by Hydra and to enforce Hydra's values. I serve without fear and without mercy."

"And?"

"Hail Hydra."