Six

“Okay, we need to pinpoint when exactly you were abducted.” Maria clicked her pen and put it to the legal pad in front of her. “Do you know basic world history? A memory wipe shouldn't have erased that kind of thing. At least, not if they were specific enough.”

I nodded. “Yes, I think so.” I thought about it. “I know world geography and math and how to read, and... I recognize a lot of the books Steve brings me. Some of them even feel familiar, like I've read them before.”

Maria nodded. “Good. If we can determine at what time you stopped learning current events, we can track your abduction better. There are thousands of missing persons files worldwide, and in France alone, if we have no time frame to narrow it down. So far all we know is that you were taken sometime after Bucky Barnes, since...” Maria trailed off.

“Since he stole me.” I frowned. I knew that Bucky had been Hydra's pawn just as I had been, but the realization three nights before that he was the one to have actually kidnapped me made me extremely angry. I was finding it hard to forgive him or let it go, even though I knew I was being irrational. I kept wondering who the men I'd been in the van with were, and what we had been talking about. Who were we trying to save? What were we doing? Who were we? Where were we? Why had they asked if I was “ready to be back?”

“Yes. Since he took you.” Maria was careful in her wording. She looked at a list of questions she had scrawled onto her yellow legal pad. “Do you remember World War 2?”

“I... I know about it. I don't have any memories of it, though. But I don't have memories of anything so I guess that's not surprising.” I admitted.

“Who won?”

“The Allies. Russia took over East Germany and the Iron Curtain came about. England and the USA took some territories as well, I don't really know what.”

“When was this?”

“1945. Summertime. I don't know the date, I'm sorry.”

Maria nodded. “What about the next conflict?”

“I believe there was... Korea. And Vietnam?” I furrowed my brow. I knew that I knew about this stuff. It was just all so foggy.

“Is that all you remember?”

I nodded.

“Who is the President of France?” Maria was writing my answers down.

“Valery Giscard d'Estaing.” I replied. I knew this one. I knew I knew it. Maria shot Bruce a strange look across the table we were sitting at. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing. Do you know who the President of the United States is, by any chance?” Maria kept writing.

“Yes. Carter is the President of the USA.” I nodded. “Jimmy Carter.”

Maria and Bruce exchanged another glance. Maria put her pen down. “It was cold when you were taken?” I nodded again.

“Knowing who the Presidents are right now can't possibly help, can it?” I questioned.

Maria shook her head. “No, it wouldn't, unless you were taken incredibly recently. But d'Estaing and Carter aren't the Presidents right now. They were both in office, at the same time, between 1976 and 1980.” She ran a hand over the back of her neck. I sat and looked at her, dumbfounded.

“If this is really the last piece of history you remember before going into cryo, you've been working for Hydra for at least thirty five years.” Bruce told me gently.
* * *

I walked slowly back to my room, escorted by Maria and Bruce. It had been a few days since I'd arrived at the tower, and I'd spent most of it answering incessant questions about Hydra, or locked in my “room” reading, working out, or sleeping. They hadn't given me anything I could hurt anyone with, so I wasn't able to use weights; I'd devised a way to do sit ups off of the edge of my bed, and push ups. I was starting to find the place rather dull. I didn't have a whole lot of memories of the outside world, but I knew enough to find being locked up extremely boring.

Maria locked me back in, assuring me that they were going to find something soon now that they had a better time frame in which to search. I accepted her statement, and went and sat on my sofa, picking up the book Steve had brought me. It was called “Anna Karenina” and it was awfully sad. I had a stack of other books that I could choose from, but I kept reading it.

When I'd woken up the morning after my dream, I'd been surprised to find Steve still there, asleep in a chair near my bed. He'd woken up, abruptly and defensively, as soon as I'd moved, then awkwardly took his leave. He'd told me he had only meant to stay a few minutes until he was sure I was sound asleep- he'd fallen asleep playing on his cell phone. Since then he'd brought me things to read, and kept me up to date on what was happening. I hadn't been back in my cell long when I saw Steve approaching from the other side of the glass. He knocked on the door, and opened it when I called out that he could come in.

“Hey, Six.” He nodded at me, stepping into the room and smoothing his hair back. I wondered why he always did that whenever he saw me. Was he trying to look good? Was it a nervous habit?

“Hi, Steve.” I held up the book. “Thank you for the books.” Steve and I had settled into a strange comfortability the last few days. I wasn't sure exactly how that had happened, but he seemed to accept me at face value and I appreciated that. I had come a long way for help; I was glad to find that so far it hadn't been in vain. Every day I noticed new things about him, and just the fact that I was noticing them puzzled me. The way the light reflected from his eyes; how his shirt pulled across his shoulders when he handed me a book. He was extremely interesting and also very nice to me; he seemed to be an all around good man.

“Yeah, of course. It's... got to be boring in here.” He approached and sat on the other side of the sofa. I was beginning to let my guard down around Steve and Bruce. Maria too. Natasha was still extremely cold around me, and I hadn't really spoken to anyone else much. Mayday had brought me some clothes since we were about the same size. I'd wanted to ask her some questions about the Winter Soldier, but something inside of me told me that would be weird. She'd been kind. As much as I disliked him right now, I was glad Bucky had found someone who seemed caring. God knows he needed it.

“It is a bit dull.” My eyes scanned the page, memorizing where I'd stopped reading. “This book is sad.”

He looked at the titled. “Ah, yeah, it's not a real uplifting tale.”

“I like it. It makes me feel things. A little.”

We sat in silence for a few moments. Then Steve spoke again. “Tony and I have been talking, along with Maria. I came to get you. They're having a meeting and they want you there.”

“They want me there? Why?” I asked. I didn't remember ever being asked to attend any meetings, ever. Hydra just decided what I was to do, and I did it. That's how it always worked.

“Yes, they want you there. Because it's about you.”

I gulped. “Are you sending me away?” My mind flashed to images of being on the run, and Hydra finding me. Or being in prison and Hydra finding me.”

Steve shook his head. “No. We're not going to throw you to the wolves.”

“Are you sure?” I eyed him suspiciously. “Why should I trust you?” My guard was back up.

“Listen, Six...” Steve turned to me. He reached out and placed a hand gently on each of my arms, pivoting me to face him on the couch. I almost pulled away and avoided him, but I didn't. I let him grasp my arms and look into my eyes. “We're going to help you. We're not turning you in or tossing you out. I promise. I said I'd take care of you and I will. I'm a man of my word.”

I looked at him. I knew my eyes were like cold steel. “I don't need to be taken care of.”

He sighed. “I'll help you. Not take care of you, then.”

I nodded, softening a bit. I even smiled. Just a little. “Okay.”

Steve paused. “Wow.”

“What?”

“That's the first time I've seen you smile.”

“So?”

“So nothing. It's just... good to see. Progress, right? It took months to get a smile out of Bucky.” He dropped his hands from my arms, and stood up sheepishly. “It's a nice smile.”

“Oh.” I stood and put my book down matter-of-factly. “Thank you.”

Steve opened the door and I followed him through the floor of the building, to a small meeting room. Tony Stark, the man who had been in the metal suit when I'd arrived, was there, along with Maria and Bruce. Natasha arrived as soon as we had sat down. Bucky and Mayday showed up soon after. Very last, a young woman in a red jacket came in and joined us. I looked around uncomfortably. I scanned the exits, planning my escape strategy if I needed one.

“Calm down, Six. You don't need to figure out how to fight your way to the door.” Bucky sighed and looked pointedly at me.

“I... I wasn't doing that.” I answered defensively.

“Yes, you were. I know you were because I still do it everywhere I go.” His words had an air of helpfulness to them, but his demeanor remained cold.

“Oh.” I didn't really have anything to follow up with.

“Besides, you wouldn't make it to the door anyway. I could stop you.” He glared at me.

“God damn it, Bucky, that's a shitty thing to say!” Mayday shot him a very unpleasant look.

“What? I'm just letting her know she can't get away with anything!” Bucky frowned.

“She came to us for help!” Mayday continued to stare at him.

“Sorry.” He shrugged.

“I could still get past you.” I whispered, my eyes staring laser beams into his.

“I doubt that. It-”

“That's enough.” Tony stood up. “We don't need a Former-Hydra Super-Serum War breaking out in here.”

“Fine.” Bucky and I said in unison, then glared at each other at the same time as well.

“You guys are so much alike, it's creepy.” Wanda looked from Bucky, to me, and back to Bucky.

“We are nothing alike.” We both answered at the same time, again.

“Stop doing that!” I growled at him. I felt a hand on my back. I realized it was Steve and resisted the urge to grab it and break it. It's just Steve. Calm down.

“Let's just get on with the meeting.” Steve said. I nodded. And so did Bucky, at the fucking same time.

“We've been monitoring everything since you arrived, and also looking for your possible identity. The Hydra base you told us about checks out, and you were right- they cleared out. Everything was wiped. We had Russian Intelligence go take a look along with Natasha and Clint, and they found nothing.” Tony began to speak. “Which makes sense, if they have a wayward asset running around out of their control that could lead us back to them.”

I nodded. I already had surmised all of this.

“All of our ears have been to the ground, and we haven't picked up much, but there is some chatter among organized crime in Europe that a Hydra agent defected and...” Tony looked at me nervously. “They're searching for her. You. They're searching for you.”

“They don't know where I am do they?”

“Not so far as we know, no, but it wouldn't take a genius to figure it out. I'm betting they just can't fathom that you defected so fully as to find us. They didn't know you remembered Bucky? You're positive?” Maria asked.

“No. They never knew who attacked their base. I never told them. The General could tell them, I suppose, if he recognized you, but he hadn't had contact with them as of the time I left. And they wouldn't have known I'd remember the Winter Soldier. I didn't until I saw his face. They also wouldn't know he was here; like the lady in the lobby said, nobody knows he's here.” I explained. “They'd have no reason to think I'd come to you.”

Everyone nodded. “We decided that you won't need to be in lockup any longer.” Tony nodded and glanced around the table, his gaze landing on me.

Natasha and Bucky looked at Tony, astonished. “Do you think that's smart, Stark? Just letting her run around the tower?” Natasha asked him.

“Six isn't going to be running around the tower. She's going to be confined to the 25th floor for the time being, which is under surveillance. She can also come and go from the tower as she pleases, but with an escort.” Tony turned to me. “We believe what you're telling us, but we can't let you near any of our information systems, or let you leave unattended right now. Just in case... you're a sleeper and don't know it, or we're... wrong.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “We're not wrong very often.”

“I understand. You aren't wrong, but it would be unwise to let me near your computers.”

Bucky was shaking his head, and Natasha was frowning. Wanda was looking at me curiously. “I could try to, you know, poke around for memories for you.” She suggested.

“What?” I asked. She was a little strange. What was she talking about?

“I can read minds... and hypnotize. Perhaps I could find something out.” She was leaning towards me across the table.

“I don't think that's a good idea, Wanda.” Bruce stated.

“Why not?” I asked. “What do I have to lose? Can she actually do this?”

“Other than your sanity?” Bucky grumbled. “Yes she can do it. And you have no idea what kinds of things you'd remember. All at the same time.”

“Have you done this?” I asked him.

“Hell no. I don't want to remember what I did with Hydra. And I'll figure out what I need to by myself.” Bucky continued. Mayday put a hand on his arm, and he sat back, watching me coolly.

“It's not a good idea. We don't know what you'd remember or how you would react. It takes longer, but finding things that are familiar is a better route. Maybe eventually Wanda can help, but with what you've probably gone through, it may be too traumatic.” Bruce explained to me. “Finding out everything all at once could cause you to have a psychotic break.” I nodded, but I shot a glance at Wanda. I decided I may take her up on her offer at some point.

“Someone as dangerous as you having a psychotic break wouldn't be great.” Tony quipped. “I'd have to replace the windows again, and last time Bucky wrecked them all, that was expensive.”

“Can we please move on from that?” Bucky sighed.

“We can never move on from the desecration of fifty three windows, Metalocalyps.” Tony replied.

“Will I be staying in my... room?” I asked. I really hated that Plexiglas cell with a passion that I didn't know I possessed.

“No. We're moving you to a regular room on the floor.” Steve told me. I noticed his hand was still on my back. Apparently so did Natasha. She raised her eyebrows at him and he quickly removed it.

“Can we do that soon? I'm... kind of uncomfortable in there. I feel like a caged animal.”

Steve nodded.

“I'll help you move your stuff.” Natasha unexpectedly volunteered. It was Steve's turn to raise his eyebrows at her. “What?”

“Nothing.” Steve replied, a concerned look on his face.

“Don't worry so much, Rogers. It'll give you wrinkles.” Natasha stood up, motioning for me to come with her. “Come on.”

I suspiciously followed her out of the room and down the hall. She let us into my cell, and we began to gather books and clothes. I didn't have much. I was just stacking up a third book in my arms when Natasha stopped what she was doing and turned to me. “Listen, Six. I haven't been fair to you.”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I'm not thrilled you're here. You did try to kill me. And Barnes.” Natasha was eyeing me wearily.

“You were going to kill me, too.”

“Fair enough. But neither one of us did, so let's just forget it.” Natasha set the pile of clothes on my bed. “I still have a hard time trusting you, but I was in a similar spot not too long ago.”

“You were?” I asked. I was intrigued, but also worried this was a trick.

She nodded. “I was KGB. Clint was sent to take me out. He brought me back instead.” She got a far away look in her eyes. “You haven't met Clint.”

“No.” I wasn't exactly sure what she was saying.

“I came back and started working for Shield. But it took a lot of deprogramming. I was part of the Black Widow program. I was trained to be a spy since childhood.” She put her hands on her hips. “It's not easy, but you'll get to where you need to be. And... Steve seems to have made your welfare his personal mission.”

“I did come looking for him. He seemed like the only person I could trust.”

“Why? I mean he is one of the best men I know. But why?”

“Because Bucky trusted him. And he found him.” I replied. “It seemed like a good start.”

“But you... don't take this the wrong way, but you don't seem overly fond of Bucky.”

“I'm not. But we are in similar situations, no?”

“Yes. I guess you are. It makes sense... in a weird way.” Natasha picked up the clothes. “Come on, lets go. It's got to be claustrophobic being in here. It was when I was kept in one of these.”
* * *

“Where are we going, Steve?” I asked him as he opened the car door for me. He'd show up mid morning about a week later, dangling his keys in front of me and telling me we were going for a ride. He’d been around the tower a lot lately; mostly more questions, but we’d started watching movies and listeining to music. We sort of felt like friends but I wasn’t sure.

“You need to get out. Start getting used to people.” Steve shut the door once I climbed into the car, and went around to the driver's side.

“I'm used to people.”

“People you aren't trying to kill. And who aren't trying to kill you. Normal people.” He shot me a brief smile.

“Oh.” I nodded. “I guess I'm not so used to those kinds of people. But you didn't tell me where we're going.”

He started the car and put it in drive. “The grocery store.”

“We're going to buy groceries?” I gave him a strange look. This seemed awfully mundane until I realized I couldn't actually remember buying groceries before.

“Yes. Maybe we can figure out what you like?” He drove a few stoplights, and turned into the underground parking for a Vons supermarket. I got out of the car and we went up the escalator to the store. He grabbed a basket. I had stopped. “Are you all right?” He placed a hand on my back and looked at me with concern.

I shook myself out of my slight panic at all of the people, and nodded. “Yes. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?” I walked forward, his hand on my back still.

“Just checking. This is kind of a crowd.”

“Yes, it is.” I looked around nervously. I hadn't realized that deciding to not be a Hydra assassin would have so many hidden difficulties. Why was buying food so terrifying? No one here was plotting to attack me, but no matter how hard I tried, every person in the shop looked like a threat. The little old lady could have a gun in her purse. The man with way too many muscles in aisle three might be stronger than me. I didn't know. I started breathing heavier. I was practically hyperventilating by the time we got to the produce section. My eyes went wide.

“Six? Six? SIX?” Steve started out calling my name softly, and ended up frantically shaking my arm. I turned to him, panic and wonder filling me at the same time. “Six what's wrong?”

“I've never seen so much food in my … since I've been with Hydra?” I was looking at all of the fruits and vegetables, all of the bright colors surrounding me in piles. I wanted to eat all of it. I felt tears well up in my eyes. What was this? I never cried. Ever. Crying was for the weak. “There are too many people. I need to get out of here.” I turned, but then I turned back. “But there is so much food, I want some of it.” I turned towards the door again. “But I need to leave.” I turned back towards a pile of apples. I was confusing myself.

Steve grabbed my hand and wordlessly pulled me with him towards the doors. He pushed the cart beside an empty check stand. “We'll be back for this. My girl just needs some air.” He told the checker one row over. She nodded and smiled. He worriedly looked at me again. I was actively trying to stop any tears from rolling down my face. He looked hesitant, then threw caution to the wind. He put an arm around me and pulled me outside onto the sidewalk. We walked a block down and cut into a quiet alley. He gently pushed me to where I was leaning back against a wall, catching my breath. He rubbed my arms up and down, waiting for me to calm down. I was trying not to look at him. “Why do you keep looking away?” He finally asked. “Are you all right?”

“I'm fine. I'll be fine.” I had gotten my breathing under control, but a few tears had slid down my cheeks. I wiped them away. There was no one in this alley besides Steve and myself. I began to calm down.

“Are you crying?” He asked.

“No.” I lied. “Crying is for children.”

“Aw, Six, don't feel like that. It's not.” He looked like he was scared to get any closer to me, and I didn't blame him. The last time he'd taken me by surprise, I'd thrown him on my bed and tried to choke the life out of him. He still had his hands on my shoulders. “You're going through a lot. Anyone in your situation would find it a little hard to cope.”

I peered up at him from behind wet eyelashes. “Are you sure? You aren't just saying that because you're a nice man?”

“Scout's honor.”

“I don't know what that means.”

“It mean, I promise. I'm not just saying that.”

“Please don't tell anyone that I... might have thought about crying. I want them to think that...” I trailed off.

“That you're a machine?” Steve nudged me playfully.

“Yes.” I smiled, realizing how ridiculous that sounded, even to me. “That I'm a machine.”

Steve shook his head. “You're going to be the death of me.” He chuckled. “I won't tell them, but you don't ever have to be a machine. You have to put that line of reasoning to rest if you're going to survive.” He brushed a piece of hair out of my face. This was oddly intimate, but I didn't mind.

“What am I supposed to be?” I asked. I'd only ever been a kind of machine.

“Just a person.”

“I don't know what kind of person I am.”

“We'll figure it out.” He rubbed my arms again, warming them up in the cold winter air. “But so far you seem all right.” He winked at me. “Are you ready to go back in? We have a whole supermarket of food to try to figure out if you like it or not.”

I took a deep breath. “Yes. Let's go back in.” He grinned, holding out his hand. I took it cautiously, and we made our way back down the block and into the store.
* * *
“Are we sure?” Steve was reading a dossier for the third time. “This really isn't much.”

“It's her. But it's another cover; the rest of the people in her bio don't exist.” Maria let out an exhausted breath. She and Mayday had been trying to find Six's identity for a week now, and just when they'd stubled on something promising, they'd met another twist in the road. “But the question is, do we even tell her yet? This isn't much.”

“I think we should. I mean it's not her real name but maybe it will jog some memories?” Steve slid the folder back on the table, pulling out a small printout of a polaroid photo. It showed Six, but obviously during the seventies. She had long dark hair, parted down the middle. It was pulled back into a low ponytail, and she wore a button up shirt.

Maria nodded in agrement. “All right. I have my contacts at the CIA trying to talk to someone over there, get a difinitive ID and some history. I couldn't go to them directly, or we'd risk Hydra finding out we have her. It's still risky even going the roundabout way. But her information isn't in our databases so there's not another option.”

“How long do you think it will take?” Steve slip the photo back into the folder, looking at Maria expectantly.

“I can't say. It depends on if they'll play ball with us or not. For all they know, she's been dead for 36 years. There's no reason to keep her a secret anymore.”
* * *

That evening, after we'd successfully made it through grocery shopping, come home, put everything away, and I had gone back to my new rooms for a few hours, Maria came to my door. She looked stressed and tired.

I answered, and she looked at me. “Six, I think we may have found out who you are.” She paused.

I felt my eyes light up. “This is good news!” I smiled at her. She smiled nervously back at me. “I this good news?”

Maria took a deep breath. “It might be.” She closed her eyes for a few seconds. “It's complicated.”

Continued in Six pt 4: Blank Space