Everly || Steve Rogers

15. Hydra

"Well goodmorning, sunshine." 

Everly's eyes fluttered open and she squinted at the blinding light hanging overhead. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a small man, who she immediately recognized to be Dr. Zola. He was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the small room. The walls of which were concrete and the only visible light was the one hanging above her. Thoughts began to race through her mind at a million miles a second. She tried to sit up, only to find that her wrists were strapped to the hard, metal gurney she laid on. 

"Just a precaution." Zola beamed, setting his clipboard on his chair as he stood. "How are we feeling?"

"Fine." She grumbled, barely even paying attention to Zola. Instead, she was scanning her surroundings for any way to escape. Then she remembered Bucky. She froze and her face hardened as she glared at the little man.

"Where's Bucky?"

"Seargent Barnes is currently being treated for his injuries."

Why hadn't she been killed by now? She didn't buy this whole kindness act for even a second. Hydra was the enemy. But if they could play nice, so could she. For the time being.

"I need to see him." She pulled against the restraints again. Zola nodded and scribbled something on his clipboard as the door burst open, a soldier stepping inside. The soldier walked over to her and unbuckled the straps from her wrists and ankles, but stood right beside her should she try anything. She sat up and furrowed her eyebrows at the low mechanical whir as she did. Zola watched intently as she slipped off of the gurney and fell to her knees. The soldier standing guard latched onto her arm yanked her to her feet.

"Give her a moment to adjust." Zola hissed. Something was off. Something was different, she just couldn't put her finger on it. A second soldier burst through the door and slipped a blindfold over her eyes, planting a seed of panic deep in her chest. He grabbed onto her other arm and they began leading her out of the room. She stumbled a few times as they journeyed down the hallway, but the guards were always quick to drag her back to her feet. 

Finally, they stopped. All the voices that had previously been chattering away in the room were drown out by silence. The blindfold was ripped from her face and she squinted at the bright lights. Her head throbbed with pain. She looked around to see a surgical room of sorts. In the center was a gurney on which Bucky was laying. It was still strange seeing him alive. Part of her wasn't ready to believe it. He seemed to be pretty out of it. But what really caught her off guard was the metal arm that had taken the place of the stump. He flexed the fingers of it and looked at the arm strangely. Doctor Zola walked over to him and smiled proudly. She couldn't help but be amazed. It was a fully functioning arm: made of metal. Something she would never have thought to be possible. In the blink of an eye, his metal arm shot out, the fingers wrapping around the neck of one of the doctors. Zola was quick to grab a syringe from the table beside him and drive it into Bucky's leg.

"Hey!" Everly struggled against the hold of the two men, to no avail. Bucky turned to look at her and his face softened when his gray eyes met hers.

"Eve?"

"Put him on ice." Zola concluded. The two soldiers slipped the blindfold back over her face and she was led from the room again. Her heart raced as she kicked and squirmed, trying desperately to pry herself free of their hold.

"What did you do to him?" Everly growled, trying her best to stay on her feet.

"We saved his life." Zola deadpanned. "But, let's talk about you, Miss Walker."

She was given a final shove and the sound of a metal door was heard as it slammed shut behind her. She felt them slap restraints over her wrists and heard a chain scrape against the concrete. She was set in a chair before the blindfold was removed. She sat in an interrogation style room. Looking down at her hands, she found that they were chained to the table before her. Zola pulled up a chair on the opposite side and dropped a file in front of her. Stamped across the cover was 'Project Rebirth.' She raised a challenging eyebrow wondering what they could possibly want to know. Even if she wanted to tell them anything, she couldn't. She'd been offered so little information in regards to Project Rebirth, that she had no secrets to spill. Other than a shot of penicillin.