Breathe

Chapter 4

Elara blinked her eyes open to a harsh light above her. She immediately squinted and blinked furiously in attempts to adjust her vision. Her head still pounded furiously and she bit her tongue so as to not groan out loud. As she sat up, last night's events flashed before her eyes. She gasped as it dawned on her that last night wasn't some twisted nightmare. She was sitting up in some chair that reminded her of being in the dentist's office.

"How nice of you to join us Elara," a man's voice drawled.

The girl's head snapped to the left. Alexander Pierce stood with his arms crossed. Behind him stood the Winter Soldier who she recognized as the man who had chloroformed and kidnapped her. Her breath hitched at the sight of his intimidating form. She quickly focused back on Pierce, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion.

"Mr. Pierce?" She question warily, not really comprehending what was happening or why one of SHIELD's top executives was standing next to her kidnapper in some kind of laboratory.

"Elara, dear. I know this must be incredibly disorienting for you," he spoke with faux kindness.

The small blonde frowned even deeper. "I don't understand... Does this have something to do with SHIELD?" She asked hopefully.

Alexander let out a harsh laugh that made Elara wince. "No. You are no longer apart of SHIELD Elara, sweetheart," he answered cooly.

Elara scrunched her nose, displeased by the affectionate nicknames he was giving her to lure her into a false sense of safety. "What are you talking about? We're both apart of SHIELD Pierce," she reminded him, still praying this was some kind of sick SHIELD training test.

Pierce moseyed over to wear she sat in the uncomfortable metal chair. He chuckled," You serve HYDRA now, darling. You're healing ability is a gift and now, you can finally use it to help make the world a better place."

Elara's eyebrows shot up and her mouth down. She stared unblinking at Alexander Pierce for a few moments, processing his words. She suddenly started laughing loudly. Elara laughed so hard she was bent over at the stomach and a few tears escaped her scrunched up eyes. The sound of her laughs echo bouncing around the hollow room.

She straightened up and stood. "That was funny Pierce. You really got me. Can I go home now?"

Alexander's kind facade dropped. Quicker than a whip he backhanded her cruelly across the face. Elara fell to the ground from the force of the blow. She looked up at the red faced, middle aged man who she had thought she could trust. The pain of the slap forced Elara to register where she was. The red HYDRA insignia was printed on the concrete wall slightly to her right. Holy shit... I've been captured by HYDRA... Holy shit... Pierce is a double agent...

Elara's dawning realization was cut short. Alexander Pierce grabbed her by the collar and hauled her to her feet. The blonde stared up at him in fear, all of the terrible outcomes of this situation flooding her brain.

"You're not really going to make me beat the sense into you are you E?"

Elara shook with crippling terror and rage alike. "Don't. Call me that." She said, her eyes blazing and tearing up at the same time.

Pierce shoved her backwards causing her to trip into a hard chest. Strong hands clamped around her biceps, holding her in place. Elara looked down to see a metal hand gripping her left arm. It was the same man who had kidnapped her. She hadn't even noticed he'd moved, but he'd somehow ended up behind her.