Testing Her Pt.1
The voice had startled her. She sat up in alarm, wielding her wings as weapons and shields in front of her. Once she realized that she was alone in the room and the voice of a man resonated around did she take notice that it was not an actual man, but just the AI system Jarvis. She brought back her wings, hiding them back as she was informed about her day's schedule. She started getting ready right away since her appointment with Dr. Banner was moved up.
After having gotten dressed in what seemed to be some neutral gray and blue uniform, she walked out of her room to hear metal clanking down the hall. Being curious, she walked down the hall and peered in to find a small kitchen which were being occupied by two feuding men.
"I told you to move over." Bucky states as he tries to reach for the eggs and bacon sizzling on the pan.
"I'm making pancakes right here. I can't move over."
"I think I preferred it when you were dainty and small. Both of us can't fit here."
"It's not my fault you wanted to cook breakfast in here instead of the bigger kitchen upstairs." Steve argues as he flips the pancakes over. "You know the kitchen specifically modified for people like you and me and Thor..."
"I know. I know." Bucky muttered under his breath. "But there's a reason we're doing it here and..."
"That reason, I believe, is awake and confused." Steve says as he finally takes notice of the silent Angelique by the door. She quickly blushes at being caught.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just didn't know how to..."
"Break two super soldiers from a bickering argument?" Bucky offers up, smiling gently at her. She smiles back at him and nods. "Believe me, even we don't know when to walk away."
"Is there anything I can help with?" she asks them, narrowing her eyes at the food on the stove.
"No, we got it covered, thanks though." Steve tells her as he nods her towards a seat. "Breakfast should be ready any second now."
"That's if you can just move over..." Bucky mutters under his breath. Once again both super soldiers return to mindless bickering and she's left alone with her thoughts. She takes a seat on the island across from the kitchen and wait. Like Steve had said, it only took a couple of more seconds before the kitchen island was filled with plates and food.
Steve and Bucky didn't even take a seat before serving large amounts of everything on their plates. With the super soldier serum came a faster metabolism and they needed all the food they could get. She watched them with mild amusement as they finally sat down across from her not hesitating in digging in. It took Steve and Bucky a while to notice that she wasn't eating.
"Pardon our manners," Steve states as he quickly moves the plate of eggs, bacon, and stacks of pancakes towards her. "We should have started with you first."
"It's fine," she responds just eyeing the food. "I'm not hungry anyways."
Bucky stared down at her in concern as she reached for her glass of water and took a small sip. She was avoiding his stare and focused her gaze elsewhere from the table. Steve could see that something was wrong with the situation but he didn't understand what.
"Have they been feeding you?" Bucky asks his voice dropping an octave lower, a sign to Steve that whatever Bucky was about to say was going to be dark. Steve turned to Angelique who seemed to tense at the question.
"Yes they..."
"Just water isn't a meal." Bucky states. "Tell me they've been giving you meals."
"I'm never hungry," she explains to him. "They stopped giving me meals when I wasn't eating them."
"Have you even tried to?" Bucky asks her.
She glances away and that was answer enough for Bucky. Steve watched the interaction with confusion.
"What's going on here?" Steve asks them. "I don't understand..."
"They fed us through a tube, Steve." Bucky explains to him, staring down at his plate with malice. "There was no taste to it and it was forced into our mouths through a tube throughout our stay in cryo. It was...it was dehumanizing. They didn't let us eat like regular people. To them, we were animals."
She could still feel the disgusting sludge running down her throat as James reminded her. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat.
"I should... I should make my way to Dr. Banner's office." she says quickly rising from her chair. "I wouldn't want to be late..."
"Sit." Steve orders. Angelique turns to look at him in surprise but both men were looking at her with complete seriousness. "Take a seat."
Bucky starts to pile her empty plate and moves it in front of her.
"I'm not hungry." she says again.
"The hell you aren't." Bucky responds harshly before taking a deep breath. His icy blue eyes met hers and he softened up a bit. "Just eat, for my sake, please."
She sighed but did as she was told.
The first bite makes her uneasy but the flavors bursting in her tongue causes an involuntary moan. Her eyes closed momentarily as something itched in her mind to remember. She took another bite and then another. After a few minutes, she was done and contempt. She finally takes notice of Bucky and Steve's stare and once again she blushes.
"You're a cruel man, James." she whispers as she cleans her mouth and stands up. "First your little joke with Jarvis and now this meal...very cruel."
She couldn't help but smile at him and Bucky smiled back. They stared at each other in silence before Steve cleared his throat, reminding them of his presence.
"Dr. Banner is probably ready to see you now," Steve tells her. "And after your session with Wilson, Natasha wants to evaluate you in your Hydra combat training."
"So soon?" Bucky asks him concerned for her safety.
"There's no time like the present," Steve answers before taking notice of Bucky's unamused stare. "Or at least that's what Natasha said."
"It's fine, James." she pipes in, also noticing Bucky's expression. "I should be able to handle myself."
Bucky still didn't ease up but just nodded at both of them.
"Come on, let me lead you to Dr. Banner's office," Bucky says standing up but Steve places a hand on him and stops him from leaving.
"I actually need to have a word with you," Steve tells Bucky before turning to Angelique. "Jarvis will lead you to Banner's office and then Wilson will find you afterwards to talk."
She glanced at both of them curiously before nodding and saying her goodbyes. She made her way down the hall, and like Steve had said, Jarvis had led her directly to the medical ward.
Bucky watched her go before facing Steve again.
"What joke did you pull on her with Jarvis?" Steve asks him confused.
"I may have not mentioned Jarvis was an AI system, not a real person." Bucky quickly responds. Steve shook his head at that and moved to the more serious question.
"James?" Steve asks him. "Since when do you go by James?"
"She was calling me Soldat and she didn't like the name Bucky so... James." Bucky answers as he starts to clean up the kitchen. "I told her she could call me James and she liked it."
"Bucky..." Steve says his voice low in concern.
"She needs to be comfortable ok?" Bucky explains to him. "Whatever makes her feel comfortable, I'll do it."
"We'll do it." Steve corrects him, glancing at him warily. "You're not alone in this with her. You've got us."
"Right," Bucky says with a short nod, his focus on the pile of dishes in the sink. "You're right, we."
She was forced to change into a white hospital gown as Dr. Banner ran tests. She had blood drawn, head scans, full body x-ray, and other tests done. Dr. Banner was explaining to her why they were doing all of this and she just nodded in understanding. She couldn't hide her surprise as to how the doctor and the nurses were treating her so carefully. The doctors in Hydra were never this gentle with her.
"Your results should be here any minute now, so while we wait for them we'll just fill out these documents." Dr. Banner asks as he brings out a clipboard. "It's just an extra procedure we have to take since Hydra didn't have a medical file about you. Here, we like to have a medical record on file for each member. You understand right?"
"Completely."
"Good," Dr. Banner says offering a gentle smile. "So, let's start simple. Name? Angelique Porter."
"No," she calls out to him. "Not Angelique."
"Isn't that your name?" Dr. Banner asks her confused.
"Perhaps," she answers. "But Alec said the article was filled with lies and since you have yet to find a Hydra file with that name, I can only assume that Alec was being honest. I have no name."
"I'm sure you have one and besides we haven't decrypted most of the Hydra files. We'll find you," Dr. Banner assures her. "Or you'll remember soon enough... whichever comes first."
She simply nods at him kindly before looking down at the clipboard.
"Can we leave that one blank for now?" she asked him. Dr. Banner nods and continues with the rest of the questions. Some of them were forced to be left blank as she had no idea when her birthday was or where she was from. The test results would answer some questions but for the most part, her file was left with big gaping holes of nothing. Dr. Banner assured her that it wasn't a problem and that she shouldn't worry about it. Before she could argue against that, the test results came back.
Dr. Banner placed the scans among the screens, separating them from what was what. The brain scans were on the left and the rest of her body was separated on the right. Dr. Banner looked all of them with newfound curiosity and awe.
"As I suspected, your nervous system is enhanced... mutated." Dr. Banner says pointing at the arrange of colors your brain was decorated with. "Your powers work with touch right?" she quickly nods at this but Dr. Banner was quickly lost in his rapid thoughts coursing through his mind. "Your whole nervous system is magnified with touch and your mind just absorbs all this information like a very absorbable sponge. This kind of mutation shouldn't be possible for years but you're living proof that it can actually happen."
"Are you saying I was born this way?" she asks him. "I wasn't genetically enhanced?"
"There is no way someone could have whipped this in some bottle. The brain is too complex to be toiled with." Dr. Banner rapidly responds. "This is all the natural work of the world."
"Which means that Hydra found me, captured me, and wiped me for their own use." she concludes. "This means I have parents... a family, a home."
Dr. Banner turns to look at her, a gentle look on his face.
"Yes," he tells her. "It means exactly that."
She smiled at him before turning to face the other scans. The scans of the rest of her body were up on display and she could barely make sense from any of them. Dr. Banner didn't seem to have that same difficulty.
"Huh..." he whispers as he narrows his eyes at one diagram. "That shouldn't... huh."
She takes notice that Dr. Banner is looking over the scan of what seemed to be her spine and she instantly tenses up as she fears that her secrets have been revealed.
"What's wrong?" she manages to find her voice and ask him.
"I...uh... well, your spine and something on your shoulder blades..." Dr. Banner mutters incoherently before shaking his head and lowering his glasses from his face. "I'm sure it's a glitch. Nobody's body could function with an extra...yeah, I'm sure it's a glitch."
Dr. Banner waves that image off and looks at the other scans. One of them causing his eyes to widen in alarm.
"Jarvis," he calls out. "Call Tony to the medical ward. He's going to want to see this."
Dr. Banner rips off the image from the screen and places it on the desk. His eyes narrowed at the alarming contraption wired around the inside of her left arm. It seemed to enwrap itself along a very vital artery that if cut, could instantly kill her. This was all Hydra's work, some sort of back-up plan if their Asset were to ever cause them problems, and this time, they had certainly outdone themselves.