Chapter 2
"Thank you, you may leave now." The nine-year-old runt got up and stomped out of the room. Alexander gave himself a moment before calling in the next one. Two things the history books and comic books didn’t cover about Steve Rogers, which Pierce has now had far too much experience with: how incredibly sickly he was, and how incredibly stubborn he was. Alexander sometimes wondered how Steve Rogers managed to survive to adulthood. As it was, he had started with ten, and three had died of pneumonia in the first three years. Another two didn’t survive the basic fitness training. But the bigger problem is the stubbornness. When it was apparent in the first pneumonia outbreak that the Steves had started bonding with each other, Alexander ordered them separated and taught in isolation. When the Steves started asking questions about the content they were learning, Alexander ordered a suite of HYDRA’s best reinforcement strategies . Even so, managing them has been like herding cats.
Alexander needed a dog.
Zola has developed a serum that might boost his ailing health, but he needed a test subject, and Alexander had managed to snatch that honor for one of his clones. Zola had simply expected him to choose a random clone, but Alexander had bigger plans. This was a chance for him to make a statement, show that he’s more than a babysitter, that he had what it takes to move beyond alpha level clearance. Alexander was going to put on a show tomorrow at the ceremony.
And for that, he needed a guaranteed result. He needed to find a loyal dog amongst these five ornery cats.
The next boy shuffled in and sat down across from Alexander. He looked sullen, just like the others, and the conversation started much the same way.
"Can you tell me why are you here?"
"I don’t know. You’re the one who called me here." Defiant.
"Tomorrow, you will be asked to kill some people. Will you be able to do that?"
Eyes narrowed. “Depends. Who are they? What did they do?”
Alexander sighed. “Why does that matter? What if they’re going to kill you if you don’t kill them?” This conversation was going exactly like the other three: not how he wanted.
The boy considered this, and then said resolutely, “I always have a choice, don’t I? Maybe it’s better to let them kill me. I don’t know them. Maybe they deserve to live more than I do.” The boy looked like he’d given the value of his own life some thought. Alexander poured himself a glass of milk and was about to dismiss the boy like the others. Then he thought better of it and slid the glass to the boy. The boy eyed it with suspicion.
"Here, drink up." Alexander said in his softest, kindest tone.
The boy picked up the glass and started drinking, and Alexander gave the boy time to realize that this was truly a gift, with no strings attached. The defiant expression softened.
"You’re right. You always have a choice, and other people’s lives matter." Alexander looked into the boy’s eyes, then down at his own hands. People tended to listen closer when they think you’re not talking to them. "This is what we do here at HYDRA: we care about other people. We bring order and peace. We save people, often from themselves." The boy put down the empty milk glass and Pierce caught his eye and whispered fervently, "I believe that with every part of my being." The boy, wide-eyed, nodded.
"Tomorrow, the people I will ask you to kill do *not* believe that. They are individuals determined to bring chaos. I want to bring them down, and I need your help." The boy bit his lip, his eyes clouded and confused.
"I know you might not believe in HYDRA’s mission yet, and it’s true that you won’t know who your opponents are and what they’ve done. But you know me." Alexander smiled, tenderly. "You have a choice tomorrow, and I hope you choose to stand with me." The boy nodded dumbly. Alexander got up and walked the boy to the door, hand on his thin shoulder. "I hope you rest well, kid."
Alexander sat back, pleased with himself for once. He’d forgotten that to create a loyal dog, he needed to give the pup someone to be loyal to. Tomorrow is going to be a great show. He briefly contemplated dismissing the last of the five, but then he remembered the importance of redundancy. Besides, it’d make the show even better to have two hounds fight for him.
Before calling in the last boy, however, Alexander gave himself a moment to imagine the looks on everyone’s faces when he sets the five boys in an room and orders them to kill each other. Order through pain. The triumph of HYDRA acted out by the bodies of Steve Rogers, Captain America. Finally, the higher-ups will appreciate his vision.
(karaii's image of clone!Steve carnage, original img post here)