Winter Phoenix: HYDRA Is Your Place (A 2008-2012 Marvel Fanfiction)

VII: Триггеры (Triggers)

December 2008. HYDRA base. Siberia, Russia.

Winter Phoenix/SA-8431's POV

The first thing I felt was cold.

Ice. 

Water. 

Freezing cold. 

Closing over me, sealing me in, jailing me in a wintry embrace. 

Then the next thing. 

More cold. 

Steam, cold steam, hissing and rising. 

My eyes still closed, almost as if they were sown shut. 

No conception. 

No memory. 

Where was I again? 

Then I felt dragging. 

My feet dragging across cold stone. 

My hair hanging around my eyes. 

Dripping. 

Spilling over and over. 

A wet cascade of hair. 

I felt hands gripping my arms. 

I was slow, sluggish. 

My eyes still heavy. 

We entered a room. I was pulled up further and then sat in a chair. I squirmed slightly as they strapped me down firmly to stop me moving. I tugged and I felt a sharp slap on my cheek. 

'If you're a good girl, this might not hurt so much,' a man in a white coat next to me scolded. Everything in me burned as the pain aroused my still-sluggish senses. My right hand was still not tied down and in anger at being slapped, I growled and cursed in a string of Russian, English and German, grabbing the poor man by the collar and throwing him aside. 

'Перестань, солдат! (Cease, soldier!)' I heard the colonel yell. Guns were instantly cocked and pointed at me. My eyes landed on a dozen triggers, all pointed at my chest or face. 

'Чамайг алдаж байна (Damn you),' I cursed in Mongolian under my breath. The colonel came to me with that wretched red book in his hands, twisting and turning it over and over. Then he spoke, this time in Russian. 

'Если вы не были настолько упрямы, когда выходили из крио, нам, возможно, не пришлось бы делать это трудным путем (If you weren't so stubborn when coming out of cryo, we might not have to do this the hard way).'

'Иди к черту (Go to hell),' I snarled back in Russian. He turned. 

'Wipe her,' he said in English this time. My blood ran cold at the sound of that. I had no choice but to comply, or they'd whip me. That's how it was. Comply or be punished. As much as I hated it - had to choose the former. The doctors came over, not cautious, apparently used to violent behaviour. The Asset, as Winter was called, was well known for violent behaviour. The colonel walked away a distance, still holding the book. The chair leaned back, and everything in me tensed as I began breathing rapidly in fearful anticipation. The device closed over my face, blocking out my left eye. I panted as it fully closed over. Then the wiping began. I couldn't handle it. I started screaming, throwing my head back as best as I could. The pain of the electric shocks from the wiping machine radiated through my head, neck, jaw, mouth, eyes, arms, hands - everywhere. I was in so much pain. 

When my chair angled up and the device finally slid off, the water of the cryo chamber was replaced with sweat as I panted for breath, waiting for the all-too familiar words that would finally seal my return to becoming the Winter Phoenix. The colonel stepped forward, the sound of my deep breathing in my chest filling the room. He opened the book and circled me, beginning to read. 'Пятьдесят четыре (Fifty-four). Отец (Father). Жажда мести (Revenge). Церебральная (Cerebro). Пляж (Beach). Предательство (Betrayal). Феникс (Phoenix). Пожар (Fire). Темнота (Darkness). Домой (Home).' He came around to my right side, laying the book on the table as I leaned back, taking in the words, letting them change me again, as they had done so many times before. I looked at him, my blue eyes cold and emotionless, dark like Winter's. 'How are you feeling, soldier?' he asked, although none took kindly. 

'Готовы соблюдать (Ready to comply).'