Chapter Text
"Time to wake up, girl." The guard rapped heavily on the wrought iron gate. The sound resonated loudly through the small dungeon, startling the cell occupant. The girl pushed herself up at the sound of keys shifting in the lock, pressing against the far wall, the heavy chains attached to her wrist dragging across the cold stone floor. With the door fully opened, two men in heavy slate body armor entered flanking another dressed in a white lab coat. A single guard stood vigilant at the opened entryway, one hand resting on the tranquilizer gun in its holster.
"Well, I suppose I should say congratulations." The scientist grinned wildly, fidgeting with the vial and syringe in his hands, extracting the viscous contents of the vial, "This is the final stage injection, and with hope, a successful recreation and improvement of our Winter Soldier Serum. You are the only subject we had that survived this far." The girl grimaced, having remembered the agonizing screams and the ensuing dead silence the following days, but stood nonetheless. She learned the hard way that being difficult got her dragged and pinned down by the two buff as fuck guards, a needle jammed harshly into her side and no food or painkillers for the three days. She allowed the scientist to move forward, flicking the needle and lifting the edge of her ruined shirt. She tensed, breath catching in her throat when the thick needle broke skin and feeling of a thick solution being pushed into her system.
"We'll be back later to see how the serum is working. I'll make sure we send you some of the good food for being so cooperative. Hopefully you won't be too busy screaming." He pulled the needle back and pat her twice on the cheek, smiling when she glared at him and leaned away from his touch. They left quickly after while the girl slumped against the far wall as her vision started to meddle and blur and her consciousness falling under a heavy blanket.
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Steve straightened up, replacing his shield on his back. "I think we're clear up here. Nat, how are we doing?"
"I'm going to need a few more minutes, Steve. There's a lot of information here and these computers are pretty outdated."
"Hey, Cap?" Bruce's voice came in through his earpiece, "I'm still picking up on a presence in the basement, it's looking pretty stationary though." Bucky glanced over the frame of his rifle that was settled on his arm, dropping down from his perch on a collapsed wall.
"We'll give it a look, but I want us to be on our way out when we're done." He shuffled over to the creaky stairwell door, following Bucky down the dim corridor. Catching up to Bucky's hurried steps, Steve couldn’t help the once over he gave him. While Bucky had been on a few missions involving HYDRA, this would be the first involving any kind of prisoner. Steve just hoped this wouldn't trigger any Soldier episodes. He didn't think he would be able to maintain control of the situation if that happened. Entering the final floor, both soldiers gave a quick sweep of the wide room. Thick, wrought iron doors lined both walls of the room accompanied but absolute silence greeted them. All of the doors were still barred across the front meaning no surprises assailants were laying in wait for them, thankfully. Steve doubted the possibility that anyone else was down here, watching as Bucky checked the right hand cells, "You're positive someone is down here, Bruce?" He followed slowly after the other man, eyeing the faded tags labeling what he guessed used to occupy each cell. Most were blank, others had the faintest impression of writing on it but it was too washed out to tell anymore.
"Positive."
Bruce's voice responded at the same time Bucky called for him, "Steve…You might want to come over here." The look on Bucky's face worried him, the slight downturn of his mouth making his expression turn from stoic to somber. Cap's eyes followed the length of the other's arm to where his fingertips rested against white tag on the door. The writing was slightly faded but more legible than the others, as though rewritten again and again, making the words 'Solider Serum Test' easily readable.
"They wouldn't be…" Steve murmured to himself, reaching for the latch covering the cell door window and peering inside, hopeful to find it empty. At first glance, it appeared so but a second sweep proved otherwise. A crumpled figure in a dark corner, chains running to a metal plate in the center of the small room. Before he knew it, he was removing the metal bar and pulling the door open, listening to the scrapping of metal drag along the stone flooring. The loud sound startled the prisoner, causing them to bolt up from their prone position, breathing heavily as they tried to desperately press further into the corner. Bucky stepped up behind Steve as he threw his hands up, slowly pushing off his hood and dropping to one knee. "Hey. It's alright, we're going to get you out of here but we'll have to get those chains off." The prisoner shifted, looking over his shoulder at Bucky then back and shuffling forward on their hands and knees. Grim covered any exposed pale skin, dark blue eyes staring up at him from behind tangled tresses of black hair. Reaching out, Steve slipped his fingers in between the cuffs and her wrist, ripping the metal in two. The girl shifted back to her heels immediately, holding her wrist close. Steve took a moment to look at the broken cuffs, taking note of the runic engravings running along the outside, "Buck? Do you recognize these symbols?" He tossed them back to Bucky, who took a moment to look them over but shook his head.
"Maybe Banner or Romanoff can tell us something."
"Steve, Bucky, we have to get moving. I'm picking up movement on the radar." Banner's voice interrupted, "Nat has the intel and everyone's pulling out. Get back to the Quinjet quick."
"Buck, grab the girl, I'll cover you." Steve straightened up, taking his shield from his back and stepping out of the cell. Bucky shifted closer to the girl, halting when he noticed her tense up and eye him critically. She glared when he moved to kneel with his back to her.
"Come on. This will be faster than having you run." When he didn't hear or feel her move, he glanced over his shoulder, taking in the way she kept looking him over. She leaned up to place her hands on his shoulder, sitting stiffly on his back as he stood and shifted his hold on her legs. He could feel her small hands gripping tightly at his shoulders, the tension of the muscles in her legs as she clearly tried to make as little contact as possible with him but not fall off. The super soldiers kept a fast pace out of the lower dungeons when the building began to shake, dust and debris falling around the group.
Steve looked back at Bucky, raising his shield over his head, "Banner! What's going on out there?"
Nat's voice cut in over the sound of combat over their earpieces, "We've got a bit of a resistance up here, Cap. Clint and Stark are trying to keep them back but we need to get out of here soon."
With the ensuing battle going on above their heads, the building's already poor structure shook and crumbled in places, blocking the stairs and also entrances to hallways they needed. Captain cursed under his breath and looked over his shoulder to check on Bucky and their rescued prisoner. Bucky's face remained stoic as he ducked away from pieces of stone and dust fell around them, jerking his chin up, "Go to the roof."
Steve nodded curtly, turning and taking the stairs two at a time further up the stairwell, "Nat, swing the jet around. We're coming out on the roof." All he got in response was muffled affirmation below the sounds of rapid gunfire. Bucky and Steve charged up the stairs, ducking falling stones until they came to the final landing and rushing
the ruined door, tearing it from its hinging. They could see the Quinjet wavering, Natasha standing ready by the open door, firing off rounds into the fray behind the two soldiers. Steve made it the jet first, reaching for Bucky's outstretched hand while Natasha grabbed onto the girl. With the final members onboard, Clint, now in control of the jet, pulled up and away from the continuous fire of enemy guns. Everyone aboard visibly relaxed when they were clear of danger, everyone except the new passenger. She was curled up in corner by the onboard medical bed, muscles tense and keeping a close eye on every small movement. Banner shifted from his spot in the co-pilot chair, clutching his hands together nervously and tugging the long sleeves of his grey shirt down his wrist as he approached the new presence onboard.
"If I may, miss, I would like to take a look at your wrist," the girl glanced down at the raw, angry red of her skin, tucking them against her stomach behind her bent knees. "It's okay, I just want to bandage them up then you can rest." Steve and Natasha looked on as Bruce waited for her response, listening to the barely audible huff before she held out her arms. Bruce made quick work of covering the abused area in antiseptic and wrapping them in white gauze, backing away once his job was finished for the mission. Nat cut across Steve's field of view, holding his gaze with a look that promised a talk once they landed as she went to the helm of the ship with Clint, causing a small worrisome ache in Steve's chest as he watched their new charge rest her head back against the metal frame of the airship and close her eyes. For now, he'd worry himself with checking in with his team for the remainder of the trip home.