Chapter Text
Friday, August 20th, 2010
Oswin sat in her jail cell, playing with the mattress tag at the end of her bunk. DO NOT REMOVE THIS TAG under penalty of law. Oswin scoffed.
Yeah, right. She yanked the tag off the bed and began to fold it and unfold it. It was all she really could do to entertain herself. Every book she'd found in this place so far was rather dull, and they only got TV for an hour in the rec room and the woman that controlled it didn't have very good taste. White Trash and in Trouble? Seriously? That's the only thing you like? So, she was left to find other means of entertainment, causing her to resort to mattress tag origami.
It wasn't the boredom that was taking its toll on her, it was the fact that she didn't have anything to distract her from the pain. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Nina being turned to stone. The image of her girlfriend's horrified face in her last moments of life haunted her. She tried talking to the prison psychologist, but that was less than helpful. The only thing that was keeping her from attempting to escape was the fact that this prison was meant to contain people like her and much worse. Oh, so much worse.
She had never heard of the Strategic Homeland… Whatever the hell these people called themselves. It's not like she'd ever be able to remember that. She just knew they locked up people like her in this prison they called "the Fridge" and threw the key so far away, any hope she could possibly have of escaping was near impossible. It was like asking someone to run to the sun and back, it just couldn't be done. Her "powers" were suppressed by an unbreakable wristband. She couldn't escape people's notice anymore. She was stuck here.
So, she sat quietly in her cell, trying to figure out how to fold the mattress tag into a crane. Maybe if she folded a thousand of them, she'd be cured of her heartbreak. At least, she kept telling herself that. Eventually, the door to her cell opened and she was taken off-guard to see an agent standing there.
"Miss Oswald," he said. "You're being brought in for questioning."
"Why?" she questioned. "I already gave my deposition. What more do they want?"
"Just come along," the agent said. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."
Biting back the urge to be defiant, Oswin exited her cell and followed the agent down a long, narrow hallway. They came to a stop at a door almost at the end, and the agent opened it for her. Stepping inside, the door shut behind her and locked. No way out from here either. Looking straight ahead, she saw a man sitting behind a solid sheet of bulletproof glass. He was an older man with greying hair clothing indicated he worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. as well. Sitting down in the chair that was set in front of the panel, Oswin picked up the phone hanging on the wall and watched as the man did the same.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hello," the man greeted pleasantly. "You're Winnifred Oswald, right?"
"I prefer Oswin," she said.
"Right," the man said. "Well, Oswin, what would you say if I told you that I was about to make you an offer you couldn't refuse?"
"I'd have to ask what that offer was." The response elicited a smile from the man, but it wasn't pleasant. In fact, she could have sworn she saw something sinister lying under the surface.
She stared straight ahead of her as doctors bustled around her. This was it. Whatever had been stopping her powers was going to be fixed, but to think of what she was sacrificing to get them back… She couldn't think of it. She just stared at the ceiling tiles and tried to ignore the fact that she was lying naked on an operating table in a room full of strange men with wires stuck to her skin and an oxygen mask over her face that made it impossible to scream.
"Jessica, can you hear me?" Her eyes went over to the doctor who asked the question. It was the only indication she could give that she was listening. His face was shadowed making his already masked face seem more ominous.
She took a deep breath of oxygen and could already feel the edge taken off her alertness. They must have turned the Anastasia on. However, she could hear what the doctor said next clearly.
"Over time," he said. "Your genetic codes, which your father altered in your youth, worked to correct themselves. Your body has been fighting to 'heal' itself back to its original state. It took a few months, but we were able to isolate and rejuvenate a sample of your genetic tissue and clone it. It'll take some time, but we're going to get you your powers back." Jessica kept her eyes directly on the doctor, even as tears began to gather. "I must tell you, Jessica… Your father was decades ahead of his time. You are an inspired scientific achievement. You should be oh so proud."
Everything started to blur. Jessica could feel the tears she was holding back sliding down her cheeks as her eyes slowly shut. The last thing she could clearly hear was the words "Hail Hydra."