Project Elemental

Chapter 5

It had been just a year past the Civil War, when Tony Stark received information on the Hydra base in Siberia. Helmut Zemo, as it turned out, was wrong about Hydra's other super soldiers in Siberia. They were all dead. All but two of them. Naturally, Bucky was on the first plane out to Siberia once he had found out. No one tried to stop him. Everyone knew that if there was even half a hope that they were alive, he was going.

—

James Buchanan Barnes walked along the rows of Hydra-built-and-trained soldiers who were frozen in suspended animation. Memories washed over him, wave after wave until he was struggling to keep his head above the sea of his thoughts. He was drowning in his own mind. Therapy had not been helping. At the far end on the left, he stopped. He stood directly in between the two last capsules, staring through the glass at the familiar faces on the other side. The largest wave yet washed over him, and he was swept away in the seafoam of memories.

The Winter Soldier analysed the beings standing in front of him. They were still children, hardly ten years old.

"002 and 003," Zola cracked a twisted smile. "My newest creations. Hydra super soldiers, with elemental control."

The two girls stood side by side, and even in their appearance they contrasted each other. The H/C haired girl Zola had identified as 002, had eyes that glowed and sparkled like burning coals. Embers of golden light flashed amongst the flames that her eyes seemed to dance with, a dangerous spiral of scarlet and umber. They held emotion and passion and fury, concentrated into a venomous glare. The F/H/C haired girl that stood next to her had eyes of winter. Unlike 002, 003's eyes were devoid of emotion and life. They were as cold and blue as ice, hardened against pain or love, anything that might have made her human. Though through the hardness, they still sparkled like snow in the early morning sunrise.

The Winter Soldier suspected that their personalities and powers were just as contrasted as their appearance. Fire and ice. Dangerous storms, reckless, devastating, but if controlled properly would be powerful assets to Hydra, despite their youth.

"They were designed for this purpose..." Continued Zola, "And others. The first phase of their mission is to capture the Captain America. When all the phases are complete, I will have them terminated. By that time there will be no use for them anymore."

The first phase was never completed. Bucky stared at the frozen figures morosely. Hydra had believed that if they could bring in Captain America, they would win the war. Zola had made them his mission. The Winter Soldier himself had trained them. He had trained them to become Hydra soldiers. Starving them, torturing them, depriving them of any basic needs in the name of making them tolerant to any pain or emotion. He realized now how much suffering they must have gone through. They were young at the time he had been introduced to them. Before that, they had been experimented on with no limits. They had been stolen from their families as children, taken away to be disfigured. Taken apart, and rebuilt to serve the needs of Hydra. Their memories were wiped and replaced with the sole instinct to obey and kill. They had no names, and no identity of their own. They were simply known as 002 and 003. He had never found out what had become of 001.

—

002 and 003 had been taken back to Tony Stark's lab. Papers had been signed, and government organizations had been bribed. It took a hefty sum to sway them into letting Tony take them. Being taken out of suspended animation after so long had shocked their bodies, resulting in a comatose state. Until they woke up, no one was allowed in, excluding the doctors and medical technicians that were caring for them.

Bucky had waited outside of the medical room until he had fallen asleep. Steve had found him and woken him up, prompting him to go to bed.

Yet when he got to his room, he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, and eventually gave up. Bucky sat on the edge of his bed, still uncomfortable with the way it felt. He rested his head in his hands, trying to suppress all the painful memories that were keeping him awake. His eyes were closed, and mind so focused he didn't even hear Steve Rogers enter the room.

Steve laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Who are they?"

Buck opened his eyes, but they remained fixed on the floor. "Mutants. Designed for death, destruction, and... carnal knowledge."

"Hydra's favorite toys." Steve confirmed.

"Children. They were just- just children." He choked out. "And I- You... They were built to capture you for Hydra."

Steve took a breath. He grabbed Bucky's desk chair and pulled it over to where he was sitting. "Why did they want me?"

Bucky shook his head, looking up for the first time at his friend. Shock struck through Steve like a lightning bolt when he saw how much pain radiated in Buck's eyes.

"You were their mission." Bucky began tentatively. "They were taken as children to be built for a mission that would last until Hydra deemed them no longer useful. I trained- I trained them. Tortured them, starved them of basic human needs." Bucky took a shaky breath. "They became as strong as me. Perhaps even more with their powers." He paused, every muscle in his body tensed. "Once they were completed, they put me in cryofreeze to preserve my age. They let the girls grow and develop, working towards capturing you. In the meantime, they used 002 to control me. They saw my sympathy and exploited it using her as leverage. They, Hydra, thought they would win the war. Hydra would wipe you, like me, and you would become one of their soldiers. By then, they hoped the girls would be old enough."

Steve's rigid body language said everything, but he asked his question anyway, voice grim. "Old enough for what?"

"Carnal knowledge." Bucky answered. "Hydra planned to give you your first mission."

"No."

"The final phase of their mission." Bucky was damn near crying at the thought. "Hydra planned to force us to breed with them. Create the ultimate mutant super soldiers. Once they could no longer have children, they would be terminated."

Steve shook his head. If Hydra had survived, if Zemo had woken 002 and 003 up... "Tell me about them."

Bucky ducked his head and winced, trying to recall the memories that were slipping through his fingers. "I-I... I remember 002 the best. She was pyrokinetic; could control and create fire with the flick of her hand. She was the one I gave my dog tags to. They were German, I didn't speak enough of the language to be able to communicate with them. By the time I became fluent in all the languages Hydra taught me, it was too late."

Steve nodded, unsure of what to say. He wanted to help his friend get through this, but it was all so much.

"I remember... I told- I told them a story once. Hydra tried to make me forget, and it didn't work. They sent me in to torture them, and instead I sat down and told them a story. I told them about Brooklyn and America and you. I told them about everything I didn't want to forget." Bucky unclenched his fists. "And then Hydra found out what had happened. The rest of the day was suffering. For me anyway. I don't even want to know what happened to them."

The air is heavy with silence after Bucky speaks, when suddenly a scream shreds the silence to ribbons.