Rattled Bones

“She has awakened,” Arnim smiled wide as he noticed the beautiful brunette had started make movement. Walking over towards the many machines hooked up to her body, he started taking notes. “How are you feeling?” His accent made it hard for Rose to understand but after a moment of piecing together the movement of his lips, she understood.

She wanted to move, but her body was confined to the uncomfortable table she was lying on. “Where am I?” Rose pulled on her wrists, confusion working its way through her body.

He moved closer to her, placing a hand on her forehead. “My dear child, you will be guiding HYDRA in the right direction.” Eliciting a small chuckle, he pulled out a picture he had recovered from Sergeant Barnes’ left pocket back when he had been imprisoned at the HYDRA weapons facility in Austria. Moving the picture in front of her face, he watched as the muscles in face started to twitch. “Ah, do you know who this man is?”

Rose tried to jerk from the table, impulses in her brain were trying to tell her that she did but she wanted to say no. Her eyes scanned over the young woman in the picture, she knew that it was her but at the same, she had no idea how she knew for sure it was. The man close by her side in the photo was smiling wide, his arm draped over her shoulder. Who was that? She knew him. Rose blinked, his name started with a B or maybe J. Her brows knitted together, her pulse racing as she searched her brain for a piece of information she could hold on to. Bucky, she thought. And with a flick of a switch, memories started pouring into her brain.

Bucky, James Buchanan Barnes; tears formed in her eyes as she remembered. Oh god, she repeated over and over again in her brain. How did she get here? She forcefully started yanking at her wrists, her ankles trying to sling themselves away from the chains. “Get me out of here! Get me out! Let me go! Bucky! Bucky!” She screamed.

Arnim took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of nose. They had spent about two months trying to control the young girl. Working in stages, trying to flush out every memory she ever had. It was proving to be quite difficult. Arnim hadn't planned on spending this much time in erasing her past.She was a lot stronger than he had originally thought. He had hoped that they would be in the training process by now. Walking away from the screaming brunette, he muttered out, “Why must she fail me.” Sitting down in his chair, he slumped down, motioning for his techs to come forth. “I want her memory of him gone, power it to 160 terawatts– “

“-but that might kill her.”

“Fine, make it 175 terawatts.” He leaned forward, placing his glasses back on his face. “She is expendable, I want Sergeant Barnes and I want to break him. What other way to break him than to use the woman he is in love with against him. If she dies then she dies, I will acquire Barnes a different way.”

Two techs immediately ran off to obey his orders, leaving one standing in front of him. She cocked her head, her head turning towards the girl who had endured so many electric voltages that it should have killed her. Biting on her lip, she stepped forward, “What makes you so sure that he is in love with this woman? Just curious, sir.”

Arnim gave a bored yawn, presenting her the picture he had held onto. “When Sergeant Barnes and his team were captured by Nazis in Azzano and were handed these men; we made them work on the Valkyrie. Barnes became too weak and I had the pleasure of experimenting on him. I spent a few weeks working on the Winter Soldier Program and thenCaptain America foiled my plans. What Sergeant Barnes did not know is that I found this picture tucked away in his left pocket on his chest. I suspected that she was a love interest and when I had arrived in New York after I fled; I was pleased to find that my assumptions were correct. I watched from afar as Sergeant Barnes cradled the girl, watching as it pained him to be away for even for a moment. We captured her the night after Barnes said his goodbyes and here we are sixty four days later.”

“Why not capture Sergeant Barnes then?”

“It is easier to fight a young woman than it is to fight a super soldier.”

“Is she a part of the Winter Soldier Program?”

A stifled laugh came from his mouth, “Heavens no. She is undergoing the same procedures but she will not be a Winter Soldier. I am saving her for something far more interesting, she is more or so a true experiment. I do not know what will come of her; it is solely a guessing game. But as for Barnes, I know exactly what he will be and what he will do.”

“You’re going to use her in attempts to capture Barnes, sir?”

“That is the plan.” He stood up from his seat, taking his glasses off to polish them. Looking at the tech, he gave a wicked smile. “I am hoping that she will be able to lure Barnes back into my grasp so that I can finish what I started. I do not like leaving projects unfinished.” Looking over at the brunette who now screamed from the pain of electrical currents surging through her brain. He could see her veins rising to the surface of her skin, smiling as he watched her suffer from the pain. He placed his hand up in the air, “Stop, that is enough.” Walking back over towards Rose, he gave her a sideways glance. “I know that you still remember him and I do appreciate your willpower but I will break you.” Leaning down, his lips hovering next to her ear, “I will see to it that you will never remember him on your own. You will be HYDRA’s puppet.” Looking over, he nodded his head for the currents to be restarted. He cackled as she screamed again in pain. He headed for the door but was stopped by the tech that had asked him questions just moments before.

“What happens if she fails to bring him in?”

Arnim grinned, “I have a feeling that he will come to me whether or not she fails. I have a good feeling that Barnes and I will reunite.”