Poisoned Youth | Marvel616

King

​     Lyudmila Barnes rode into the night. She was speeding on the interstate just trying to get as far away as possible from her pain. Her eyes burned with sleepiness, but she was running from her demons that always came out at night. Anger and hurt fueled her. The only thing she had on her mind was going back home to Brooklyn. It was around a twelve-hour drive without any breaks.
​      The interstate lit up as the sun rose in front of her old, black Indian bike. Sunlight blurred and glinted off her mirrors. Luda had three more hours to go before she got into the city. She didn't mind to drive really. It allowed her thoughts to leave and enter her brain like cars passing her by. Her childhood flashed in front of her. The Russian cold froze her brain in the past. Images of training all day, being stuck in only her undershirt and underwear in the Siberian cold, and the businessmen coming to watch with lust in their eyes and pointed teeth.
​     The last three hours blurred together as her sight blurred with tears in her eyes. Luda drove to her mother's old apartment that was left into her name. She entered the house and her breath caught in her chest. It hasn't changed since she's passed. On the mantel, there was a picture of the mother and daughter smiling together. Lyudmila's brown eyes stared back at her. They were softer then and looked just like her father's eyes. Now they were glazed over and hardened. A product of the time.
​     She entered her room to see her mother never changed a thing. Natasha expected her daughter to come back home to her once she was done with basic training. Her tan and freckled skin traced across her dresser drawer and bed. She breathed in the scent of her home. It was stuffy and hot, but there was still a faint mixture of her mother's perfume and linen. She laid down in her bed and let realization run over her. Luda's mother was dead and there was nothing she could do to bring her back. Salty tears bit at her skin as they rolled down her cheeks.
     ​Luda's heavy eyes finally won out and she fell asleep. This night she wasn't plagued by nightmares but of good dreams about her family. It's been two years since her family was completely together. Two years since her mom even knew her dad's name. When Leo Novokov erased Natasha's memories of James, he also manipulated her memories of Lyudmila. She didn't know who the father was and thought he was just a random agent. James stopped trying to fix her memories and left feeling that he only hurts the people he loves the most.
​It was a hot summer day and families all crowded together on Manhattan Beach.
      ​"Well this is the ocean," James said looking out at the water.
​      Luda could barely stop her jaw from dropping to the floor. A beautiful blue color went for miles and the smell of salt tickled her nose. James and Natasha shared loving glances behind her back as they watched her be completely memorized by the waves. She slowly walked to where the water met the shore and dipped her toes in. She was pleasantly surprised to feel a warmth surround her foot. Luda quickly looked back at her parents to feel safe as she went farther in the water. She let a smile crawl on to her face as the waves soaked in her in salty water. Her mother was on the shore tanning while James was simply wading in the water. For a split second, they all forgot about their past and relished in the future with their new family.
​      When she woke up, Luda felt that she'd rather have nightmares instead. An emptiness filled her heart when she realized that her perfect family was gone forever. She had always held onto hope that her mother would gain back her memories. Her stomach twist and turned with anxiety as she rolled over to puke in her trashcan.
​       Lyudmila groggily got up and checked her phone. 7 miss calls from Dad. 3 miss calls from Sharon. She sighed and got out of bed to go wash the road off. The hot water relaxed her muscles and her mind. Luda got out and dressed in a plain t-shirt with a pair of jeans. She walked into the living room to find a familiar blonde sitting on her couch.
     ​"Sharon? How did you get in here?" Luda asked ringing out her hair with a towel
     ​"I've been watching your mom's apartment while you've been in Indiana. You asked me to remember?" Sharon looked halfway amused at the perplexed girl in front of her.
     ​"Oh right," Lyudmila smiled softly and then sat down in the chair across from her. "Did dad send you?" She bluntly asked. Her voice had traces of hesitation in it. Luda hated it when people know what's going on in her personal life.
     ​"He did. He called me and Steve freaking out last night."
     ​"Is Steve still avoiding me?" Luda asked sighing.
​Sharon smiled softly in a thin line, "Give him time." She was waiting for him to be close to her again too.                 "What's going on between you and your dad?"
    ​"Dad wants me to live a normal life, be a normal person. Forgive everyone and move on." She sighed.
​     "It was hard for me to forgive and let go after I was a prisoner, but it happened several years later." Sharon looked at her seriously. "I know how you feel, but revenge won't end this. Don't get me wrong that guy deserves to be wiped off the face of the planet, but don't expect that to fix all your problems. Get rid of him for the greater good, not yourself."
​     Luda looked down and mulled over her words. A part of her knew she was right, but the larger part just didn't care.
     Sharon got up to go and turned towards her, "Oh, and Luda. Call your dad back. He misses you." Luda smiled and hugged her tightly goodbye. She needed someone to talk to. Someone unbiased.
     Miriam was working at her daytime job as a receptionist when her burner phone began to buzz. General Alvarez sent all three of them burner phones for contacting them once he's ready. She took a deep breath and walked into the bathroom where she finally entered the phone.
     "Hello?"
     "Ms. Alperstein I'm glad you answered. Let's meet in about two hours. I'll send you the address."
     "Well I mean I'm worki-"
     "We can pay you much better promise." You could hear the finality in his tone of voice.
     Miriam sighed and agreed. She fixed her face, straightened her shirt, and went back to work. Two other calls were made and soon enough the trio will be together again.
     Manhattan was bustling around with tourists, shoppers, and workers on their lunch break. People milled around all in their own little worlds. The streets smelled of food while the subways smelled musty. Malcolm Deacon was in his work t-shirt and jeans as he walked to an abandoned warehouse. The address was written plain as day on his phone, but he still couldn't fathom it.
     "The government has all this money and their base is an old warehouse?" He thought to himself.
He knocked on the door quietly and the familiar face of Miriam opened it. Luda stood silently in the warehouse looking tired and thinking to herself. She was busy stomping on the floor.
     "Please tell me this is just a secret meeting place or a cover-up." Malcolm halfway joked.
     "I think there's a secret lair or something underneath. There always is," Luda chipped in
     "Wow, it's so helpful to have the daughter of black widow on your team. Too bad we didn't know for like 2 months."
     "How many times do I have to tell you, it's not a good conversation starter." She rolled her eyes.
Miriam was walking around the building when she found what appeared to be an old elevator shaft. She clicked the down button and suddenly machines started whirring. "Uh, guys I think I found the way down,"
      Malcolm and Lyudmila both got into the elevator. The three of them all stared at the buttons before Luda spoke up, "Try the last one I guess." Miriam obliged and suddenly the elevator became more modern and electronic sounding as it quickly took them down to the basement. The room gave off a bright. Blue glare as they stepped inside. An oak table sat in the middle looking almost brand new. Computers were on the wall in front of the table and the filing cabinets were on the opposite wall. General Alvarez looked down at his watched amused, "You're late."
      "You didn't tell me it was going to be a puzzle," Malcolm mumbled under his breath. He always did in trouble during basic for opening his mouth.
     Three identical files were sitting on the table. Alvarez motioned to them and the young adults all sat down at their respective chairs. Luda tried to hide her shaking hand as she opened her file. Her worst fears were confirmed as she stared down at the monster under her bed.
     Major General Alvarez pulled up pictures on the large computer screen hanging on the wall. "Dr. Dimitri Vikhrov is the son of the infamous red room scientist, Evgeni Vikhrov A.K.A. the creator of the failed wolf spider program. He was later killed by his own experiment. He has a Doktor Naut, or a post doctorate degree, in biology. He joined the army at 18, and showing an aptitude for biology, they positioned him at a biological warfare sight. Here Vikhrov was able to get into bed with large security companies and politicians. As of right now, it seems he has been cut from the government and a few companies after his first failed experiment." Alvarez look right at Luda as he said the last sentence.
      The more the general talked the more a buzzing sound overwhelmed Luda's ears. Her stomach turned and her throat burned from the lack of oxygen. She snapped out of her fog to see Miriam and Malcolm staring at her with large eyes.
     "You were the experiment weren't you?"
     Luda shook her head not knowing what to say. Both of their files were turned to the several pages dedicated to her childhood all right there for the world to see.
     ​The thought of a child created from a soldier and a spy first formed in Evegeni's head after the soldier and the black widow were caught together. After his mother's death, Dimitri discovered his father's plans. Wanting to get his family out of poverty and reclaim his last name form the stigma, Dimitri used his army connections to start the Brown Recluse program. Hidden deep in the woods of Siberia, the perfect asset would be trained from birth to bring Russia back to its former glory, to Soviet supremacy. Evegeni's plans all fell apart when Professor Chin creates a virus that will kill 50 percent of the population out of James Barnes' former army brother, human torch. The professor wanted to use the virus for revenge against the former soviet assassin. In exchange for the antidote to give his people, his life's work was given up to be killed. Of course, that never happened. The black widow saved her in time and Luda finally was face to face with her genetic donors.
​    Luda finally let out a breath when Alvarez continued with his information. "The Department of Defense believes Dimitri is creating Nano-bots to power Russian citizens and create himself his own private army in order to bring back the glory days of the Soviet Union. That's where you all come in. We found a lab in that has been ransacked in Southern Russia. Your mission to find who did it and extract all the information they know." 
​     The general opened up a closet filled with high tech suits made of bullet proof material. There was a brown one with tan accents, a full black one, and a black one with blue accents. Lyudmila slipped on the brown suit and for the first time felt like her title of Brown Recluse was finally her own. Miriam changed into the black and blue one and donned the name Agent Nephilim, human-angel hybrids that are common in Jewish lore. Malcolm stared at his and finally picked up the slick suit. The suit weighed heavy in his hands as he felt the legacy of his mother and father on his shoulders. He finally picked out the name Agent 9 after his father's moniker.
​    Alvarez smiled proudly, "Welcome to the A.C.E.S., kids."