Torn

-|ABANDONED|-

Katia carefully opened the door. She checked if there was anyone in the room before entering. When she quietly stepped into the room she saw that it looked like a lab. Not just any lab though. It looked like the kind of lab that would be in a horror movie. There was a metal table with dried blood staining it and several medical materials that didn't look like they had been cleaned in a while.

There was also a desk and a shelf in the far corner of the room. Katia went over to the desk and saw a bunch of experiment files. They were all stamped with big red letters, "FAILED." She turned her attention to the shelf. It was just a single reinforced metal shelf, heavily drilled to the wall. On it was something wrapped in an old rag. Katia took the objects off of the shelf to examine them. They looked like crystals. These must be the so-called Terrigen Crystals! She looked at one very closely.

Suddenly, one slipped out of the rag and fell on the ground. Katia cringed when it shattered with a loud crashing noise. Suddenly, the shards dissolved into a thick mist that engulfed her. Well that's not normal... She could feel something growing around her legs. She looked down. It looked like some sort of stone. It kept growing up her body. When it reached her face, Katia took a deep breath as it closed off all chances of getting air. There was only darkness.

A few minutes late, though, the stone started crumbling off. Once she was finally released from the odd stone cocoon, she ran out of the room, closing the door firmly behind her, but not quite slamming it. That was really weird. She was thankful that she was alive, but how were the crystals able to do that? She shook off the utter shock and kept moving. She saw another door. This one was not labeled. She opened it and saw that it led to yet another hallway.

She hessitated going in, not wanting to get lost. Then she heard footsteps coming around the corner and decided to go through the door to hide. She immediately stepped through the door, closing it behind her before the people coming down the hall could see. She peeked through the small window in the door, looking at the group of people.

She saw the familiar faces of Brock Rumlow, Jasper Sitwell, and Alexander Pierce walk by. These were all people that Natasha worked with in SHIELD. Katia was confused. Why would they be in an abandoned bank? Was this a SHIELD safehouse? No, it can't be. Why would there be a lab in a SHIELD safehouse? As the group passed along with some other agents, Katia could see a logo on the backs of the agent's tactical suits. She couldn't really make it out because the whole suit was black. Katia stepped away from the window. She turned around and saw the same logo, only much more clear. It was spraypainted on a wall. Hydra.

Katia let out a soft gasp. She turned to the doo she had originally came through and tried frantically to open it. It must've locked automatically from when it closed. Why would a door lock automatically? And what was weirder, why would she not need to unlock the door to get in? It was almost as if Hydra wanted to keep something or someone in this corridor. It must've been were they kept their prisoners.

Katia sighed. There had to be another way out. She started running down the hallway, searching for a staircase or another way back to the main corridor. As she was running, she was looking around coners, and through doors. Suddenly, she ran into something very firm. Well, not something, someone. Katia looked up to see a man holding a gun, looking down at her.

She examined him closely. Then she realised who he was. This was Hydra's soldier who she had fought all those years ago. He looked the same. Same combat suit, same mask, same blank however menacing stare. He didn't seem to remember her though. She wouldn't expect him to, it was years ago after all and Katia looked very different from when she was six years old. She had heard in the Red Room, what Hydra does to the soldiers memories though, so she was sure that her appearance was not the reason why he had no idea who she was.

"Do you serve Hydra?"

Of course she didn't serve Hydra! She wasn't even old enough to be in high school! Her eyes widened. She moved to make a run for it, but the soldiers' reflexes caught on and before she knew it, his metal hand had a firm grip on her upper arm. Katia didn't want to show it, but she was terrified. It was past 7:00 PM, she didn't have service in the basement to call Natasha even if she was able to, and she had walked right into Hydra. Literally.

The soldier dragged the girl to a nearby room, despite the struggle. He closed the door behind them as he kept a firm grip on the child. He spoke into his comms,

"Intruder. Detained and brought to the interrogation room."

Katia heard what he had said and looked around the room that they were in. She was horrified by the sight. This looked much more like a torture room. And even the torture rooms at the Red Room had been less horrifying than this. There was dried blood on the concrete walls. There wa a chair and a table full of several tools for inflicting pain. It looked like a dentists office from hell. Kind of like a scarier version of the one in Little Shop of Horrors. 

After a few minutes, the door burst open to reveal the group of people that Katia had seen in the hallway earlier. She gasped and started struggling against the soldier's hold on her arm. This only made him tighten his grip. Alexander Pierce took one look at her and then tilted his head in confusion.

"It's a kid?"

He sighed in annoyance.

"Okay, well, we should probably just kill her."

Katia's eyes went wide as she tried to get away. It was to no avail. Pierce pointed to two of the agents and then to the soldier.

"You too, hold her down. Soldier, put a bullet in her head."

He said casually. The two agents moved to hold her down. The soldier released her so that the agents could hold her still. As soon as Katia was free of the soldiers metal arm, she attempted to get away. The two agents got a hold of her quickly. She still struggled. The soldier raised a pistol and pointed it at her head.

"Wait!"

The soldier lowered the gun and turned to look at Pierce who was examining the girl. Pierce looked at Katia with surprise and accomplishment. The reason for this was that during the struggle for her freedom, Katia's jacket sleeves had shifted up to reveal her scars from being handcuffed to her bed during her time in the Red Room.

"She comes from the Red Room. Look at the scars on her wrists. They must've sent her to sabatoge the base. Strap her down so we can question her."

The agents forced her into the chair and buckled the leather straps over her wrists and ankles.

"What was your mission?"

"Go to hell!"

"Soldier..."

The soldier nodded and stepped forward. He punched the girl with his metal arm.

Katia winced at the sudden blow to her stomach.

"Now, I'm gonna ask you this one more time..."