The Genesis Project
“There’s a kind of silence that means danger. And this place was full of it.”
Hydra Facility: Codename Hemlock - 10:01 am
The deeper they went, the colder it got.
Not the natural kind of cold… the kind that settles into your clothes or chaps your lips. This was something else. This was an emotional chill. The kind that comes from remembering.
Wanda stepped carefully over a broken panel as the team moved through the first hallway beyond the entrance. The metal floor was warped. The lights overhead flickered in slow, irregular pulses… just enough to make your shadow look like it twitched when it didn’t.
She hated this kind of quiet. It was the kind that came after something.
The chill seeping deep in her chest from the idea that someone else might have gone through what she and Pietro had to.
Natasha was already moving ahead with that familiar strategic movement, silent and steady. Sam kept close, checking side doors and peeking through reinforced glass windows, his usual confidence dimmed.
Steve paused at the corridor junction and glanced back at the group. “We’ll split from here. Comms stay open. Keep each other updated.”
Natasha split with Wanda and Steve stayed with Sam.
“Records wing should be through the east sector.” Sam added. “Could be something salvageable.”
Steve nodded. “We’ll take the rest of records. Nat, you and Wanda can go find the med labs”
“Of course I get the rats and needles.” Wanda muttered.
Steve smirked. “You’re just better at sensing ghosts.”
“By that logic, I am a ghost, Rogers.”
Natasha gave Wanda a half smile as she passed her. “Just don’t bring any back.”
Wanda chuckled softly… but it didn’t last.
The lights flickered again.
And this time, they didn’t come all the way back on.
Wanda and Natasha moved quietly through the left wing, boots crunching against scattered debris. A filing cabinet lay tipped over in one corner, papers soaked and frozen in place. Graffiti had been scratched into one of the walls. Some of it in German. Some of it… symbols. Circles. Spirals. The Hydra symbol.
She stopped briefly, letting her fingers hover near one.
“Something wrong?” Natasha asked.
Wanda tilted her head. “Not wrong. Just… off. Don’t you feel it?”
The symbol sparked faintly beneath her palm.
She blinked. Pulled her hand back.
It stopped.
“You’re the witchy one here.” Natasha said softly, as if diffusing the tension.
Meanwhile, on the comms, Sam’s voice cut through the static:
“Most of the archives are gone. Looks like they cleared it fast. Some burned files, shredded photos. Nothing useful yet.”
Natasha used her strength to push open a heavy door that led to what they could tell was the medical wing. Looking more destroyed than the rest of the building, like this place had deserved a revenge more personal. “We just found medical.”
Steve: “Keep on searching. There’s always something Hydra forgets.”
She and Wanda shared a nod and continued on, row after row of reinforced doors, cracked viewing windows, some rooms dark, others still faintly lit by flickering emergency power.
Wanda paused outside one.
The hum in her chest was louder now. Not painful. But wrong.
“Do you feel that?” She asked quietly.
Natasha frowned. “Feel what?”
Wanda’s hand lifted slowly toward the sealed room.
“Something’s still here.” She whispered. “I’ve been feeling it since we landed but it’s like my energy wants to overlook it.”
“What do you mean ‘overlook’?”
Wanda shook her head as if in denial. “I can sense everyone’s energy, but my powers have to block mine out to see them. For some reason, my powers want to block this out. Like it’s mine but it isn’t”
“Well, that makes me feel real assured and safe.” Natasha said sarcastically, stopping at a desk near the end of the hall. Skimming over the torn and crumpled papers. “This is the third time I’ve seen them mention something called the ‘Genesis Project’. Can your energy sensors use that?”
The witch rolls her eyes and continues looking into each room, categorizing them as what could only be called a holding cell. “I can feel energy near me, not travel through time or technology.”
Meanwhile: Records Room - East Sector
Sam tapped the flickering terminal screen again, muttering under his breath.
"Come on, Hydra." He said. "Even your trash files should be less encrypted."
Steve stood nearby, flipping through a half burned file folder. Most of it was redacted. Standard. But then he found something wedged between the pages… a single sheet, charred around the edges but mostly intact.
It wasn’t labeled with Hydra’s usual insignia.
It was marked with something older. Cruder.
A symbol Natasha would’ve recognized instantly:
A red hourglass inside a DNA helix.
Steve frowned.
“What is it?” Sam asked, leaning over his shoulder.
Steve read aloud:
“Project Genesis: Phase II.”
Joint Authorization: Hydra Command + Red Room Sciences Division.
Primary Objective: Create biologically enhanced assets using high yield donor material.
Sam let out a low whistle. “Wait… Red Room? Like Nat’s Red Room?”
Steve nodded grimly. “They weren’t just making soldiers. They were making… hybrids. It wasn’t just experimenting on kids.”
“They made them.” Sam said quietly.
The weight of it settled between them.
“Since when did Hydra make allies?” Steve asked, more to the air around them. As if the universe could answer.
“Nah, it makes sense.” Sam looked at him. “Hydra makes the kids, enhanced. Then the Red Room can take them and train them.”
They both knew, whatever was happening, would destroy more than just a few people.
The hum was almost physical now.
Wanda pressed her hand against the wall again, feeling it vibrate faintly… like a heartbeat buried under concrete.
“We’re close.” She said.
Natasha stayed silent, eyes sweeping every shadow.
They reached a heavy containment door at the other end of the hall, marked LEVEL SIX - RESTRICTED ACCESS - AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
The keypad beside it was destroyed. The door itself hung slightly open, just enough to see inside.
Cracked containment pods. Scattered papers marked “GENESIS PROJECT - SUBJECT 13.” A faint handprint, smeared against the glass. Small. Child sized.
Wanda’s heart skipped a beat.
Something had been kept here.
And whatever it was, it hadn’t gone quietly.
“Nat, this is worse.” Wanda said, voice just above a whisper. “If they were experimenting on genetics, these children were younger than I was.”
Before the widow could reply, Steve’s voice came through their comms.
Steve: “Wanda, Natasha… Heads up. We found something. Hydra wasn’t acting alone. They partnered with the Red Room for something called the ‘Genesis Project’.”
Wanda’s mouth went dry.
“The Red Room?” Natasha cut in sharply.
Steve: “Genetic extractions. Your old division wasn’t just training assassins. They were... breeding weapons.”
The comm went dead for a beat.
“Genesis Project.” Full Term. Wanda stopped for a moment before speaking to Steve. “Steve, I found handprints here from a child that couldn’t have been older than 5 or 6. If they succeeded, then they were raising them here.”
Natasha’s jaw flexed. “No wonder Hydra ran. ”
Wanda didn’t move.
Her magic buzzed at her fingertips.
Something was still here.
They didn’t speak as they continued beyond the holding cells.
Wanda stepped through the partially open door first, magic humming just beneath her skin. Natasha followed, gun lowered… but not holstered. She could tell when Wanda was picking up on something or someone nearby.
The room was dark.
Not black. Just dim in that strange, sickly way… emergency lighting casting a dull red glow over the floor.
Rows of containment pods lined the walls. Most were shattered. One still hissed faintly, its power core whining.
The smell of chemicals hung thick in the air. Along with something else…
Fear.
It wasn’t a scent. Not really. But Wanda felt it.
It crawled under her skin. Sat behind her eyes. It was suffocating.
She paused near the back of the room. Her breath hitched.
“She’s here.” Wanda whispered.
Natasha stilled. “She?”
“I don’t know how. I just… feel her.”
Then Natasha tilted her head.
Her posture changed. Subtle. Alert. Listening.
Wanda watched her carefully… knew that look. It was the look Natasha used when someone was sneaking up on them. When someone was holding their breath two walls away.
Natasha said nothing, just pointed to a small table thrown against the floor almost barricading a corner behind one of the pods.
A space just big enough for someone small to hide.
Wanda approached slowly.
Her magic stirred again, soft red glow slipping from her fingertips as if it was reaching, not attacking. Beyond her control.
She walked closer to the table and froze, not moving closer.
Thoughts brushed against her.
Not words. Not full sentences.
Just impressions. Flashes.
“They’ve come for me.”
“If I don’t move, they won’t find me.”
“Too loud. Too loud. Too loud.”
The panic wasn’t directed at her but it pierced through Wanda’s head like a scream in a library.
Wanda flinched. “She’s scared out of her mind.” She whispered, voice shaking slightly. “Young.”
Natasha moved beside her, not making a sound. “Can you get her out?”
Wanda shook her head. “Not by force.”
She took a breath. Let her magic dim.
Then she spoke, soft and low. Not making sudden movements or speaking too loud. Like a hunter would if they saw a deer.
“You’re not in danger. We’re not here to hurt you.”
No response.
Wanda continued. “Can you come out for me?”
No response.
Then the faintest hum.
She felt it before she saw it. A white mist pulsed outwards, pushing the table and pods outward. Both women shield themselves as it shoves them back.
In the corner, they saw her.
Auburn hair, half matted and flying in every direction. Covered in just a hospital gown.
White glowing eyes, opened wide. Breathing heavy.
She didn’t look like a weapon.
She looked like a ghost. A shadow curled around fear. So young, enough to make Wanda’s breath hitch.
Not because she was dangerous.
Because the girl looked like her. Scared and all alone.
“Hi.” Wanda said gently.
The girl didn’t answer.
She didn’t run.
She just stared.
Watching. Weighing.
Like she knew what happened if she trusted the wrong voice.
“Are you hurt?” Wanda asked.
Natasha watches on in silence, the device in her ear crackling with the sounds of Steve and Sam asking what the noise was.
Wanda crouches down to the girl's level and holds her hands up in surrender. The girl does nothing but watch as carefully, white mist flowing around her hands. Ready to defend.
But Wanda isn’t afraid. With one hand she brings her magic forward, her own red mist flowing in the air. “We aren’t going to hurt you. I promise.”
The softness in her voice and eyes trying to convey every bit of trust she's putting in the girl, in hopes to get her to calm down enough for her powers to recede.
After a few moments, the white glow fades in the young girl's eyes. It stays in her hands as she lifts one carefully to mimic the shapes Wanda is making with her own.
Trusting.
Natasha hadn’t spoken again. She knew better than to crowd the moment. She does notice however that now that the young girl no longer has power in her eyes, she still holds fear in them. Returning to their natural green. Almost the same color as her own.
A pause. The girl’s eyes flicked from Wanda to Natasha and back.
“You don’t feel like them.” She said as if it was a fact. As if telling it to herself.
Wanda’s voice was calm, steady. “We’re not like the others.” She inched forward… barely a shift in posture, but it made the girl freeze.
“Can I show you something?” Wanda asked. “Just for a second.”
Another long pause.
Then, hesitant: “Okay.”
Wanda lifted her hand.
Not glowing. Not threatening.
She held it out, palm up.
Red mist formed above it… gentle, harmless, swirling softly. Inside the glow, Wanda shaped a small, flickering image.
A fox, pouncing through the forest.
The girl could only watch in awe, her breathing slowed.
Wanda spoke again, softer now. “I was once like you, stuck in a cell with power I didn't know how to control. Scared of the people around me, what they would do if I didn't listen to them, if I didn't follow orders.”
The girl’s voice cracked. “What about now?”
Wanda smiled gently. “I made mistakes. These very nice people found me, set me free. Showed me that I could be better than what they made me to be.”
A long pause. A long, trembling breath.
And then the young girl reached out.
Her fingers touched Wanda’s.
A burst of energy jumped between them… hot, crackling white meeting soft, steady red.
It didn’t hurt.
It merged.
Wanda didn’t flinch. “They cannot hurt you anymore.”
The girl nodded slowly and turned to Natasha, who still stood at the other end of the room.
Wanda followed her line of sight and smiled. “This is one of the nice people who helped me. She can help you too… Can you tell us your name?”
The girl shook her head, but spoke anyway. “I don’t have one.”
The older witch nodded. “When I was in my cell, I would pretend that me and my brother were other people. I even gave us different names. You can choose if you’d like.”
“Aliah. I liked Aliah.”
She was so small.
Not just in size, but in presence. Like someone who had learned how to disappear while still standing in plain sight.
Natasha said nothing at first. Just offered the faintest nod before stepping cautiously towards them both. “Aliah is a pretty cool name.”
Aliah stood beside Wanda now, shaking slightly. Her fingers still sparked, but the glow was dimmer. Controlled.
Wanda spoke softly. “Can you come with us?”
Aliah looked at her again.
And nodded.
Then came the footsteps.
Not heavy. Just rushed.
Loud enough to make Aliah flinch back behind Wanda instinctively.
Steve and Sam rounded the corner, weapons drawn, but not raised.
“Everything okay?” Steve asked, scanning the room quickly. His eyes landed on the girl.
Aliah froze.
Sam blinked. “Whoa. That’s not a knocked over file cabinet.”
Steve lowered his shield slowly. “Who is she?”
Aliah’s fingers sparked again. Her breathing quickened.
“She’s okay.” Wanda said quickly, holding a hand up to both Steve before turning to the shaking girl next to her. “It’s okay. They are just more of our friends.”
Natasha stepped in then, intercepting their line of sight. “Back up. Slowly.”
The men obeyed without question.
Aliah peeked out again.
Still trembling.
But Wanda turned to her.
“They won’t hurt you either.” She said. “Feel them.”
Another pause.
Then Aliah stepped back out, clutching Wanda’s sleeve like a lifeline. Her eyes glowing again slightly as she read the energy of the two men. It was protective, but soft. Not trustworthy, yet. But not harmful.
Steve looked at Wanda, his expression unreadable.
Sam raised an eyebrow. “So… this is the kind of mission we’re on now?”
Wanda sighed and rolled her eyes. “Sam.”
“We should leave. Now. If Hydra packed up and left, they’ll be looking for her eventually.” Steve rushed.
Natasha looked at Aliah and nodded softly. “We’re gonna get you out of here, okay? You never have to come back.”
Aliah only nodded in response.
The team didn’t speak much on the way back to the quinjet.
There wasn’t much to say.
They didn’t have answers. They had a girl who looked more ghost than threat, and a burning silence.
Wanda walked ahead, her heart still thrumming like a struck bell. She could still feel it… her… buzzing faintly at the edge of her thoughts. Not words. Not memories. Just fear. Buried deep.
Natasha stayed close. Not hovering. Just... present. Watchful.
The others followed.
The hum of the engines filled the space between them. Smooth flight. Clear skies. No comfort.
Steve sat near the console, scrolling through corrupted files on a backup tablet. Sam leaned back against the storage locker with his arms crossed, one foot braced against the wall.
Wanda and Natasha took the back bench with Aliah between them, wrapped in a silver emergency blanket, her knees hugged to her chest.
She hadn’t spoken since the hallway.
She hadn’t needed to.
The tension in her shoulders. The flicker of white at her fingertips every time the engine shifted. The way her eyes scanned every bolt, every lock, every possible exit.
Wanda watched her.
So did Natasha.
But they didn’t say anything.
“She’s so young.” Wanda said finally, just loud enough to be heard over the engine. “No injuries. But she’s not... calm.”
Sam snorted quietly. “Can you blame her?”
Steve didn’t look up from the screen. “This Genesis Project… She’s never been outside of that building.”
Wanda glanced at her. “Never gave her a name.”
Nat’s expression didn’t change. She couldn’t get the Red Room’s involvement out of her head.
“They helped design her.” Steve confirmed. “Or helped take what they needed to.”
Wanda’s eyes went to Aliah’s face.
Still blank. Still unreadable.
But not empty.
Then, quietly, only for Wanda to hear. “Are you going to lock me up?”
Aliah’s voice was quiet in her mind. Seemingly only trusting Wanda enough to speak to her directly.
Steve turned toward her slowly. Wanda moved back towards her, aware the rest were curious.
“No, sweetheart.” Wanda said, steady as stone. “We’re not going to lock you up.”
Aliah didn’t blink. “They said that, too.”
Natasha’s jaw clenched.
“We’re not them.” Wanda added.
Aliah just stared. Assessing everything.
As the jet cut through the clouds, Wanda leaned back in her seat and stared up at the ceiling. Aliah’s energy buzzed faintly under her skin, a presence she couldn’t block out.
Something had been set in motion in that base.
Something big.
Which brought on a bigger question for Wanda. Why was her own magic so hell bent on hiding Aliah's energy? Why was this girl's energy signature so similar to her own but also different?
The rest of the group spent the rest of the ride home in silence… thinking.
It was only supposed to be a recon mission. Gather intelligence. Make no noise and get out.
This was something entirely different.