Some Things Never Sleep

Chapter Three

Hydra Base

Location: Siberia, Russia

2008

"Ona uzhe gotova k in"yektsii. Gotovo li tank?" (She's already been prepped for the injection. Is the tank all ready to go?) Emma opened her eyes, trying to make sense of her vision but everything was blurry. Her eye lids felt heavier than normal as she fought to keep her eyes open but she just felt so drowsy. The voices she heard sounded distant so she could barely make out a word they said.

"Da, Ser. Vse sistemy gotovy k in"yektsii. My prosto zhdem mistera Pierce." (Yes, Sir. All systems are ready for the injection. We're just waiting for Mr. Pierce.) Emma felt sickly as she laid there on what felt like a bed. She thought she may have been dreaming at first because the bed felt like it was moving. She strained her eyes to make something out between the blurriness but all she could see was deformed shapes and lights that were only a little too bright. Emma coughed before she tried to getting up from the bed only to find out that she couldn't. The seven year old tried getting up again but to no avail. She attempted to lift her arms up but she found that they were stuck. Her arms were pinned above her head and the small girl struggled with all her might to break free from whatever was holding her down but she just couldn't move.

"Potoropis'. Devushka stanovitsya slishkom ozabochennoy." (Hurry up. The girl is getting too anxious.) Emma felt a tear stream down from her face in frustration as she began to squirm around in the moving bed. It was then that her sight began becoming clear again and she was able to make out the deformed shapes she had seen before. Some of the Russians she could recognize, having seen them around base. She saw Karpov as he talked with the German man known as Strucker. At least that's what Emma knew him as but she had only seen him briefly in the labs whenever they were injecting her with the needles. She hadn't understood German at the time but now she did. He, however, wasn't speaking German but instead Russian which made Emma wonder if the base was located somewhere in Russia since the majority of the people in the base spoke Russian. No one would ever tell her where the base was situated.

Emma met Strucker's eyes as he looked down at her and she realized that she liked him even less than she liked Karpov. Karpov was a military man with anger issues but he wasn't sadistic like Rumlow or Strucker. She heard rumors around base that Strucker had a sick fascination with experiments of the unnatural nature. Emma had a feeling that Strucker wasn't beyond experimenting even with the likes of someone as young as her. At least Karpov, even with all his beatings, never used violence beyond what he thought was necessary.

"Mach dir keine Sorgen, Kleine, alles wird klappen. Du hast keine Ahnung, was du für unsere Sache machst, aber du wirst perfekt sein."(Don't worry, little one, everything will work out. You have no idea what you're about to do for our cause but you'll be perfect.) Strucker told her in German as he stared at her in what could only be described as an expression of pure awe.

"Das perfekte Exemplar. Besser als der Winter-Soldat und Captain America zusammen." (The perfect specimen. Better than the Winter Soldier and Captain America put together.) He remarked with a soft tone. Emma stopped struggling, becoming very still as she stared up at the face of Strucker in confusion. What did that mean? Before she could think anymore on the subject she was released from her restraints. She immediately sat up in the bed and felt a little light headed as she did so. It seemed like she may have gotten up a little too fast.

"Gde ya? Chto eto?" (Where am I? What is this?) Emma said in Russian, completely expecting to receive a slap across the face for her directness but she was taken by surprise when Strucker grinned at her and Karpov didn't make a move. The room was an altogether different room than what she had been in before. Emma didn't recognize it with its openness and darkness but she realized that it was even colder than "The Cold Room". The room was so cold that she could see her own breath. Scientific equipment and machinery filled up the large, spacious room and there was more people there than she could ever remember meeting. Small looking men with white lab coats and glasses, thinning hair that they tried to comb over their bald spot. She saw some of the men, and women too, standing near the entry point of the room dressed in black combat gear and large guns in their hands. Guards.