***This story will not officially begin posting until mid to late February. I just wanted to post the first chapter since you were all so excited. So enjoy and look for more soon.***

Your early memories were hazy like trying to see the world through a fogged windscreen. There was a woman with a brilliant smile and sad eyes. Was that a cliché? You felt like it was but it didn't stop the memory from filling your brain during unexpected moments. That's all you have of her. A snippet of her smiling at you as she said your name.

And the man. Always poking and prodding at you like you were an experiment. He tried to give you away. To trade you for his freedom to soldiers dressed in black. Let me live and you can have her. Take her. She's perfect. I made her for you. That was all he managed to get out before they forced him to his knees and put a bullet in his brain. Then they took you anyway. He was a fool to think they needed his permission.

Then there were the worst memories of all filled with needles and pain and bullets and blood. Hydra gave you a new understanding of what it actually meant to be an experiment. They were making you into the perfect weapon. Training and molding you from such a young age. And you memorized the face of every person responsible for your pain. Every soldier, every doctor and, most of all, the dark-haired assassin with cold eyes and a metal arm that pretended to be your friend.

Then came the day Soldat was on mission and they left you behind. More men in black flooded the facility. You watched in silence taking in every movement, every action, every sound. It wasn't long after the shooting stopped that they opened your cell and someone stepped in. He was a quiet man. Careful. He didn't want to startle you. He leaned his weapon against the wall beside the door. Your gaze moved from him to the gun and back again. It wouldn't take much to kill him. The gun was unnecessary.

"My name's Phil." His hands were up to show he meant no harm as he approached you. "What's yours?"

You tilted your head and winced at the pain that shot through your head with the question as you tried to remember. When was the last time someone had asked your name? When was the last time anyone cared?

He stopped a short distance from you, just out of arm's reach. "Do you understand me? Do you speak English?"

You answered with a slight nod of your head.

He smiled. "Good. That's good. How old are you?"

That was a question you couldn't answer even if you wanted to. There was no way to keep track of the days here nor would you want to. You just continued to stare at your would-be rescuer.

"Coulson, what is taking so long?" A man with an eyepatch and a leather trench coat stepped into the room, his coat flaring out behind him. Dramatic. You wondered if he practiced that move. He spotted you and immediately came to a stop. "What's this?"

Your gaze moved between the two men. They didn't seem to want to hurt you, but you didn't trust anyone. Not anymore. You had a decision to make. You could fight and run and hope Hydra didn't catch up with you. That Soldat didn't come hunting for you. Or you could trust these people and hope it didn't get you killed.

"Are you taking me away from here?" Your voice was rough and you couldn't remember the last time it had been used for anything but screaming.

"Yes," eyepatch answered. "How we do that is up to you. I'd prefer you came along willingly."

"How will you use me?"

The men exchanged a look. "We have no intentions of using you," Phil said. "We only want to help."

You didn't believe that for a minute. "I will come with you."

Eyepatch nodded once. "My name is Fury. Yours?"

"They call me Nicto."

Phil held onto your upper arm to lead you through the halls. They kept you between them until you arrived at a plane. "Who's this?" a feminine voice asked as you stepped inside.

You glanced over to find a face you'd been taught to recognize. A face they'd told you belonged to the enemy. Natasha Romanoff. "Her name is Nicto," Fury answered.

The assassin's eyes moved between the three of you before settling on you. "Russky?" she asked.

You shrugged before nodding once.

"Jesus." Her jaw went tight as she shifted her attention back to eyepatch. "It's not a name. Nicto is Russian for no one."

"Well, we'll just have to find a different name for her then, won't we?" The man known as Phil Coulson passed you over to the assassin. "Keep an eye on her."

"Of course." She led you to a row of seats where a man with brown hair sat. He stood when he saw you. "This is Clint Barton. Clint this is Nicto."

He nodded in greeting. "Nice to meet you, kid."

You arched a brow but said nothing. Physically you might qualify as a child but you were anything but. No, you'd ceased being a child the day they dragged you into that facility. You took a seat without waiting for an order to do so and strapped yourself in. You spent the flight staring straight ahead, ignoring all efforts to engage you in conversation until they stopped trying.

***

Your first several days were spent in a medical cell. Needles and scans and machines filled your time though they took care not to hurt you which was a new experience. There were also questions. So many questions. None of which you answered.

The third day, Natasha came to see you. "Hello, Nicto."

You followed her with your gaze but remained quiet. If you didn't speak, you couldn't say anything wrong.

She grabbed a chair from along the wall and brought it closer before sitting. "If you want to get out of here, out of a cell, you're going to have to start talking."

You set your jaw and moved your eyes from her. You didn't gain freedom from Hydra only to spend the rest of your life in different kind of cell. But the truth was you didn't have most of the answers they were looking for. And there were so many other things you knew than they could imagine.

"Just think about it," Natasha said after a long stretch of silence. She stood and put the chair back. "Is there anything you want? Books or something?"

You didn't speak until she reached the door to leave. "Chocolate milk."

She turned back in surprise. They were the first words you'd spoken since your arrival. The corner of her mouth curled in the smallest hint of a smile. "Sure. I know just where to find some."

You licked your lips. "You'll bring it?"

That bit of a smile faded with your new words before it flickered back. "Yeah. I can do that."

You sat on the side of the bed, allowing yourself to relax. Your feet were even swinging while you waited. It didn't take her as long as you'd anticipated. Your attention jerked to the door when it opened and she came back in followed by Clint. Your eyes moved between the two of them.

The archer gave a wide smile. "Hope you don't mind that I came with her. It was the price for sharing my chocolate milk stash."

A shake of your head was your only answer. You didn't mind the archer. He seemed sincere. And if he wasn't, you could take him down with little fuss. Natasha handed you the bottle and you held it for a moment before opening it. Holding it to your nose, you inhaled the rich aroma and your eyes slid closed. You sipped the thick liquid and let it run over tongue as you savored the sweet taste. A smile crawled across your face before you could stop it. It was even better than you remembered.

"How long?" Clint asked.

Your gaze jerked to him.

"How long since you've had any?"

Your brow furrowed in thought. "Soldat stole some for me once on a mission. They punished him for that. That was the only time since I was given to them."

Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. "I have a whole lot of questions about what you just said. Will you answer them?"

You shrugged.

"Who is Soldat?"

You hummed. You should have anticipated that. "You call him the Winter Soldier."

The two of them exchanged a look before turning back to you. "You know the Winter Soldier?" Clint asked.

A quick, sharp nod was your response. You didn't want to talk about him. As if they sensed you closing down, Natasha changed topics. "You said you were given to Hydra?"

That topic wasn't much better but the memories weren't as raw. They were blurred around the edges and faded. "Yes." You sipped at your milk, wanting to make it last.

"By who?" Natasha's voice was small.

You shifted your gaze between the two of them again. "Sit." They followed your instruction without question moving the two chairs in the room so they could face you while you talked. You took another sip while they settled. "My father made me for Hydra."

"He made you?" Clint asked, confusion heavy in his tone.

"That is what they told me. I am a product of him and my mother, genetically manipulated to be the perfect vessel for the serum. He thought it would buy him his freedom. In the end they shot him in the head and took me anyway." Your voice was emotionless as you spoke. One of the first things they'd trained you to do was to separate yourself from your emotions.

You could practically see the questions forming on their lips but they didn't ask. Didn't push. You supposed you were grateful for that. You already knew what their next question was going to be but you waited for them to ask.

"They sent you on missions? With the Winter Soldier?" That came from Natasha again.

"Sometimes with him, sometimes with someone else. They didn't trust me to go out on my own as they've never been able to reset me completely." It was a protection they told you had come from your mother. The woman your father had betrayed Hydra for. His soulmate.

"Reset?" Clint asked. His questions were all emotional reactions to something. Natasha carefully considered hers before she spoke.

You shook your head. "I don't want to talk anymore." If they punished you for it, so be it. At least that would be something you were used to. Everything was so different here you weren't certain you'd ever adjust.

"That's absolutely fine," Natasha said as she stood. "Thank you for telling us what you did. Could we come talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yes. Either of you. Or the one that found me. I don't like the others."

Clint frowned and stepped closer to you. You looked up at him and sipped at your milk. "Why don't you like them? Are they not treating you well? If any of them have been out of line, just tell us and we'll fix it."

The sad smile you gave him didn't seem to reassure him any. "They are doctors in white lab coats with needles and forms. They talk about me not to me. I am just an experiment to them like Hydra. The others, the agents, think I'm stupid or broken because I don't talk. They are not cruel, they just aren't human."

The archer smiled at that though it was tinged with sadness like yours. "I suppose I should be grateful you think I'm human so thank you."

"You are welcome, Barton."

"I'll bring you more chocolate milk tomorrow. Get some rest, kid."

Natasha gave you a nod and followed her partner out the door.

***

It was the agent that came to see you the next day. Phil, you remembered. He was dressed in a dark suit and looked every inch the government agent he was. He led you out of the room and down a short hall to what was surely an interrogation room. A meal was laid out on the table inside complete with chocolate milk.

"Sorry about the setting, but I thought you could eat while we talk and this was the best way to do that privately. Barton sent the milk. Said to tell you that he and Natasha had a mission. They'll come see you when they get back." His voice was just as soothing and calming as it had been the first time you heard it. You wondered if it was always that way.

You took the seat he indicated and looked over the food he'd brought you. It didn't look familiar but the scent had your mouth watering. "What is it?"

"Tacos." He sat across the table from you. "Also Clint's idea. He thought an introduction to new foods was in order. They're from a little place not far from here. Eat."

Your first bite was small, testing the flavor. The next one was much larger and accompanied by a hum of appreciation. "Good." Realizing that he was just watching you eat, you shoved one of the wrapped tacos across the table to him.

He looked from it to you and you could tell he wanted to refuse. Instead, he thanked you before unwrapping it and taking a bite. You smiled as you took your next bite. The only person you ever ate with in Hydra was Soldat. Sharing a meal made you feel less like a prisoner.

"Ask," you said as you unwrapped your second taco. You sipped water as you ate, saving the chocolate milk for later.

"The labs we've done have told us a lot but there were abnormalities between your scans and your blood work. Do you know how old you are?"

"What is the date?"

He told you and you mentally calculated based on your age when you were taken. "Thirteen, I think. I'm not completely sure of the year I became Hydra."

"Thirteen?" There was something in his voice you couldn't identify.

You shrugged. "Maybe twelve. Hard to say really."

There was a stretch of silence. "Eat your food, kid."