Subject 0023
It wasn’t the bright lights directly above her, or the loud beeping right in her ear that woke her. It wasn’t the persistent pain she felt in her temple that jerked her away from nightmares. It wasn’t any of those things. But she wasn’t going to admit that it was a loud, consistent thump of a heart beat that brought her into the land of the living. She would gladly tell anyone, even herself, it was the pain before she told them it was the heart beat that brought her safely from the terror in her mind. When she woke, her eyes immediately landed on red hair that brought a smile to her cracked lips. Her eyes traveled down to creamy skin, hard , focused eyes framed by long dark lashes, and full lips that looked like nice pillows.
It took another minute before she could remember that she was one of the avengers that saved her from the lap. It wasn’t the nicer one though. But was she nice at least before she took out the power, looking like death once she knew she had powers. She didn’t mean to scare her.
“You’re awake.” The red head said gently, setting her book aside, but remaining seated. “We weren’t sure when that was going to happen.”
She crunched her brows in confusion. “How long have I been asleep?” She asked, but quickly realized that it had to been a while. Her voice came out scratchy and raw. Her throat hurt.
“This is the fourth morning.” She paused and then slowly stood, not wanting to scare her. “Also, you might be sore, but all of your injuries are mostly healed.” She crossed her arms, looking her over.
Subject 0023 stiffened and immediately felt the stiffness she was talking about. She felt really uncomfortable with the redhead's stair. If she remembered correctly, the nicer redhead was the angry redhead's girlfriend. “Um...”
She struggled to get up into a sitting position, pushing hair out of her face. She wrinkled her brows in disgust. Someone had brushed her matts out, but it was still really oily. She couldn’t remember the last time she showered. “Look, you probably know that I scared your girlfriend, but I promise I didn’t mean to!” She started panicking, hoping they didn’t punish her for accidentally scaring … Wanda?
Nat cocked her head to the side when she started apologizing, but quickly relaxed and reached out to calm the girl when she started panicking. “Hey, hey. It’s okay.” She said, looking at her stats on the monitor. Her heart rate was rising quickly. “Hey, really. No one is going to hurt you. Not here. Not ever.” She got a cup, pouring some water and setting it near the women. “Wanda wasn’t scared. You didn’t hurt her. I promise.”
Shaking, 0023 nodded, opening her eyes and focusing on the pink cup of water in front of her. She wasn’t going to get hurt. Usually, she would already have a fist pounded into her or electricity coursing through her. She looked up at Natasha and the women smiled at her, eyes soft, worry in their depths.
“O-okay.” She nodded, getting a very similar feeling from the woman next to her that she had gotten from her girlfriend. She didn’t really know what it was and it sort of frightened her.
Nat shook her head, but sat back in her chair, looking down at her phone. “So, we healed you, but we wanted to wait for you to gain consciousness before we asked to do some test.” HYDRA had you so we want to make sure they everything they did to experiment on you isn’t harmful to your health.”
Her eyes widened comically, her eyes taking over her face. Nat smiled again, thinking she looked really cute, almost like a cartoon character. “You didn’t do any test?”
Nat shook her head, “Well, initial scans to make sure you didn’t have internal bleeding or tracking chips. You didn’t by the way.” She said, showing the girl her phone and her medical scan on the screen.
0023 looked at it briefly before looking back down at her hands, picking at the skin on her thumb. “I would like to ask you some questions, though.” She said, leaning back, folding her hands onto her stomach. “If that’s okay?”
She nodded, hoping that her answers didn’t make them angry. Nat sensed her unease, but they needed her name and some other information, hoping that she remembered it after healing and sleeping.
“Okay,” She held her phone in her hand, ready to type her answers. “I want you to say the answers without thinking. First thing that comes to mind.”
“What’s your name?”
“Xomara.” She said and then looked up at Natasha with surprise.
The hero smiled, “You had a head wound, we healed it, but suspected that it was the cause of your previously memory loss.” She wrote down the name, asking how to spell it and smiling. She had never heard it before, but it was very pretty. Nat felt something in her warm, making her pause for a moment. She shook off her feeling for now, needing to get the job down before she focused on herself. “Last name?”
“Gonzalos.” She answered and then proceeded to say, “I prefer Xo.” As she spoke, she remembered everything. Her childhood, sister, HYDRA taking them, so much unpleasant memories. She even remembered one of the guards hitting her in the temple when she resisted him. It was so hard, she saw stars and the floor rushing up to her, before darkness. She woke up a day later, not remembering anything. She felt so much relief on remembering her sister, the one thing that kept her alive in the base. “They just called me Subject 0023, I would say my name to myself every morning so I would never forget it. I haven’t heard it spoken in such a long time.”
Nat smiled, “Well, Xo, you’ll hear it all the time around here.”
Natasha continued to ask questions, Age-21, that confirmed their guess at her age. When was she taken by HYDRA- when she was 13. Nat had paused at the answer, her heart reaching out to her. She could only image what they did to her at such a young age. When her questions started getting more personal, Nat noticed her shutting down and shrugging. The assassin stopped her questioning, thanking her for them. “Would you like to get out of the lab and go to a room?”
Xo looked up at her with surprise again, “I get a room?”
Na nodded, “Of course. All to yourself too!” She said, smiling and opening the drawer next to her and taking out some sweats. “You can put these on so you can get rid of the hospital gown. These are much more comfortable.” She set them on the bed beside her. “I’ll just step out.”
Xo was a little shaky when she changed into the sweatpants and hoodie branded by Stark Industries. They were a little big, but Natasha was right. They were the most comfortable clothing Xo could remember ever wearing, let alone touching! She balled the sleeves around her fists, the fabric so soft. She jumped at a knock on her door. “Come in?” She said, hoping it was just the redhead again.
It was, Nat smiled at the too big sweats, and held out slippers for her bare feet. The warm feeling, she kept getting was just because Nat felt pity for the girl and admiration for her fire. The assassin took her to her room, not really passing anyone on the way. Most of the boys were back out on mission anyway, Bruce, Wanda and herself staying behind because of their hostage. Well, she mentally corrected herself, Xomara.
They stopped at her door and Nat waved at the archway, “This is you. Wanda and I are literally across from you.” She pointed at the door behind her. “If you need anything, ever, don’t hesitate to come looking for us.” She offered and bit the inside of her cheek. Before Wanda, she would never have offered that. She would have just taken the girl to her room and told her to never go into her own space. The little witch really was changing her, but it was also this feeling she felt toward Xo. Something extremely familiar to what she felt for Wanda. While in her own thoughts, Xo never moved to open her door, so Nat did it for her.
This is all yours. No one will enter your space unless you want them to. There is a lock on the inside for you.” She showed her the lock on the handle. “Also, FRIDAY is accustomed to your voice, so she is always there for you.”
Xo tilted her head to the side, really reminded Nat of Wanda. “FRIDAY?”
“Yes, Miss Gonzolas?” A voice sounded around the room, making her jump.
Nat jumped to ease her fright. “Don’t worry. She’s kinda like an Alexa, but way more accommodating.” she smirked, practically hearing Tony shout about how FRIDAY was way more advanced than Alexa. “If you feel uncomfortable, I can get you a tablet and you can shut her off for your room, but she doesn’t bother you unless you ask for her.”
Xo just shrugged, “No. It’s fine. It just startled me. Thank you...” She said, taking great effort to look up into the assassin’s eyes. “For everything.”
“You’re welcome. There’s a bathroom, full stocked, through here for you. You must be dying for a shower.” She pointed to the closet, “There are only sweats in the closet, but if you’re up to it tomorrow, Wanda really wants to help you shop for anything you need or want.” Her face lit up in an adoring smile when Wanda suggested the idea.
“It’ll all be online. We can’t let you out of the compound right now for your safety. HYDRA might be after you.” She warned, hoping the girl didn’t feel like a real hostage. Trading one prison for another. “But you can choose anything you like.” She added, hoping it would help her.
When Xo just nodded, continuing to look around the room, Nat nodded before heading to the door. “I’ll let you rest. I’ll be in my room later if you need anything. It’s nice having you here, Xo.” She said before closing the door behind here. She went to go find Bruce and update Xo’s chart with him.
Xo let out a sigh when Nat left, moving to the bathroom, desperate for a shower by herself. She was never able to take one alone. If you could call the cold spray downs, she would occasionally get, showers. It was fast, scrubbing her body with soap and vigorously washing her head. She scrubbed too hard, the water too hot, hoping to wash away HYDRA, at least from her skin. She got out, wiping away the fog from the mirror to look at herself. Her dark brown hair was long and uneven, HYDRA had shaved parts of her head for insertions in her brain. She had yellow splotches all over her skin, healing bruises, one just covering her left cheek. Other than that, cuts were healed, ever some minor scars were gone. Not the important ones though, she checked her arm, tracing the L on her forearm. She was way too skinny, her ribs and hips poking out, honestly, she could count each rib bone.
Xo sighed, tears slipping down her discolored cheeks. Was she free? She wasn’t in a cell anymore. She hadn’t been beat yet? And, both, Nata and Wanda had told her she was safe here. She guessed only time would tell. She opened a drawer, smiling when she found a pair of scissors. Excellent. Maybe, she could take a little control back. She thought as she grabbed a lock of her hair and brought up the scissors.