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

XVIII: Captured

January 2011. Brooklyn, New York. 

Natasha Romanoff's POV

I'd always felt we failed. I knew it was Adelaide Lehnsherr, the photos from the files being all too familiar. She hadn't aged a day. I wondered what had happened to her to not make her age at all. I'd heard rumours, and I knew I'd met the Winter Soldier in the Red Room as a young girl. He hadn't aged either. It was a passing rumour that they'd frozen him for months, if not years on end to keep him young. That was probably what they were doing to her. The helpless look in her eyes... I couldn't shake the feeling that she was telling the truth about that. But everything else... I couldn't shake the same feeling that she was faking it. So when we got the call that there was a potential sighting of the Winter Phoenix in Brooklyn, it seemed too easy. Clint and I were still investigating the early life of Adelaide Lehnsherr, and a paper trail had led us to her grandparents' house in Brooklyn, not far from the flat that she was raised in. 

When we entered, the smell of overpriced perfume and cigarettes hit us. Clint was trying not to sniff it in, literally grimacing in disgust. A very older man was sitting on the couch, smoking, and there was no one in sight, perhaps except the equally older woman who had let us in. I cleared my throat, trying to keep my voice as relaxed as possible, despite the severely negative aura that these two elderly people wore like blankets. 

'I'm Natasha Romanoff, from SHIELD, and this is my partner, Clint Barton. We're investigating Adelaide Lehnsherr, and thought you could give some details on her early life.'

'The mutant devil spawn,' the older man muttered. Clint winced at the tone of his voice. 

'Mutant devil spawn?' he asked. 

'Thomas, behave,' the older woman chided. 

'Oh shut your fucking mouth, Mary. My daughter slept with that mutant shit out of wedlock, and look what became of it! A devil, who has not one but two powers.'

'Four, actually,' Clint offered. He stepped forwards. 'Look, your granddaughter -'

'She does not deserve to be my relative. Not after her father made her what she is. And she died for it. For 'mutant freedom' and all that bullshit.' He was breathing, raspy and uncoordinated, as he took a sip of scotch and a smoke from his cigarette. Clint spoke again. 

'Your - Adelaide Lehnsherr is, we believe, working with bad people, and not of her own volition. We thought you could provide information on her early life, that would perhaps best work towards finding her, and perhaps freeing her.' 

'Ask her mother,' the older woman offered. 'Last time I checked, she was running with Lehnsherr in Germany. It's been a while since I've spoken to her, though.' 

'The girl would have been perfect had she not been born to a mutant devil.' 

'She was perfect, Thomas,' his wife chided. 'A beautiful little girl. If SHIELD really wants to find her, we'll give them as much as they need.' 

'Don't give them anything, Mary,' he said drunkenly, making the elder woman stand and lead us to another room. He started swearing, but it grew quiet, into muffled cursing as they walked down the hallway. 

'Look, I'm sorry about my husband. I know you have information about my granddaughter, and I don't know much about her. Not since she was born. That was the only time I saw her. I've only seen photos of her. Only her parents could help her. Her father left notes at the old flat that they used to live in when she was born.'

'We saw one of those, Clint and I. But a woman showed up.' 

'Blue eyes, brown hair?'

'Yes - how did you know?'