Drowning - Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Two

Four Years Later

Echo's POV

I leaned against the cement wall and watched as the Winter Soldiers were checked over. It was the first time they've come out of cryo since I've been here and to say I was interested in them would've been an understatement. Winter stood beside me almost protectively, keeping a wary eye on the other five soldiers. It didn't take me long to figure out what Hydra did to him and when I did figure it out I was pissed, but I knew if I said anything I would get in a lot of trouble with our handler.

Winter doesn't talk much when we're at the base but when we're on an assignment I don't think I can ever get him to shut up. I try to help him remember things about who he was before he came to Hydra but for him, it's all just a blur. He tells me the memories he recovers and the feelings he gets when thinking of them and I commit them to my own memory so I can tell him when they wipe him again.

All five of the soldiers were staring at Winter and me, they were likely sizing us up and preparing to fight us if need be. I couldn't bring myself to be afraid of them, I had to help subdue one of them when he woke up and he didn't overwork me. In fact, it even seemed like they were a little afraid of me. Whenever I would move in the slightest they would tense or their eyes would dart to me, and it seemed that Winter found it amusing. I think I'm the only one who notices his true emotions, maybe it's because I'm with him so much or because I've been reading people like a book for my entire life.

I scoffed as one of the doctors flinches when the woman's finger twitches. I understand that he's afraid but when you are you don't show it, you hide it with confidence or don't make any facial expressions at all. However, I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to feel bad for him if one of the soldiers acted on his fear, he's the one who's in charge of Winter's wiping. If it had been another doctor I would probably take them aside and try to teach them.

My time here hasn't been the easiest, for one, Mama's not here looking after me and being here for me. Not to mention that I'm naturally a kind person, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by the soldiers here, especially when most of them are the most ruthless people to ever walk the earth. Another is the handlers here are far harsher than Madame B ever was, if I were to make one mistake there are horrible consequences, most of which are very dramatic for the little harm that was done. I figured though, there are worse things to go through, like having your memories erased and being beat senseless after for reasons you don't remember..

Winter, however, has been a huge help. When I first met him he was emotionless but after he was out of containment for a while he seemed to become more human or as the Hydra workers called it, unstable. I helped him to keep himself under control though and kept him from doing anything stupid when he was lucid. However, it's always difficult to get through to him after they wipe his memories over and over again. That in particular has become quite the inconvenience.

There was quiet clinking to my left, Winter's fingers tapped together at his side and I quickly decoded what he was saying. "Who do you think will lose control first?" he asked and I noticed the challenge in his eyes that no one else could've been able to see.

I kept a straight face and tapped back to him on my side, "I wager the blonde," I said and discreetly nodded to her shaking hands and bouncing legs, "she looks like she's about to have a breakdown."

"You're on," Winter responded and we both glued our eyes on the soldiers, looking for any signs of weakness on them. The doctors were drawing blood now and our attention was piqued and suddenly the woman pushed her doctor away at the same time the man I helped subdue earlier did.

I smirked at Winter and walked over to the soldiers with menace in every step, making a few of them cringe away from me. I stood between the man and the woman's chair and stared dead at them. The woman quickly backed down but the man stared right back at me with a challenging glint in his eyes.