the soul thief ↬ b. barnes

even tony stark is speechless

"Briefing room, now." Steve Rogers' voice rang through the tower, alerting the Avengers. After the attempted assassination of Bucky, they had all slammed into a state of confusion. Questions like 'how did she get into the tower without security going off?' 'Who sent her? and 'why does she have a metal arm?' Had been on everyone's minds. Bruce, Tony and Steve had immediately gone to work on trying to find out who she was, and Bucky had gone to his room, wondering how he got so slack that he didn't even notice her in the kitchen.

———

"Her name is Tessa Smith," Steve begun, all the others listening intently, "Otherwise known as The Soul Thief. She's 19 years old. S.H.I.E.L.D had no files on her, so we had to do some digging. At age 14, Hydra stole her off of a public bus on her way to school." He paused, letting this sink in.

"Hydra?" Clint questioned. "I thought Hydra disbanded after Ultron killed Strucker?"

"That's what we thought too, until now." Bruce said. He continued with the information about the girl, Tessa. "Due to the fact that she fell fifteen floors and walked away, amongst other things, we have reason to believe that Hydra has continued the super soldier experiment."

Everyone's gaze turned to Bucky. As a victim of Hydra's torture as well, he felt extremely sorry for Tessa. But there was still one thing he wanted answered. "W-what happened to her arm?" He spoke, struggling with the words. 

"Tessa had a little brother, Jackson. When they first started using the serum in Tessa, it adapted magnificently into her body. They assumed that because Tessa survived the serum, her brother could too. But, Jackson's body could not take the serum, and he died. She was so grief-stricken by Jackson's death that she went on a killing spree, killing 18 guards and 2 scientists. They cut her arm off as punishment."

The room was silent. Everyone was horrified at the fact that Hydra was so inhuman that they cut off a girls arm after she tried to avenge her brothers death. Bucky was close to tears, too many memories filling his head.

"Does she have parents?" Natasha spoke up from the back.

"She used too." Steve replied, "James and Lucy Smith. Both CIA agents. When their children went missing, the whole of the CIA were looking for Tessa and Jackson. James and Lucy were found dead in their homes, a suspected suicide."

Everyone was speechless, not knowing what to say. But Tony put it perfectly. "Holy shit."