tw: mentions of torture and human experimentation in paragraph 3, 4, 5, 6

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04|Subject 47
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After the chaos in Washington, Sung's world spiralled into darkness. HYDRA's clutches tightened around her like a vice, their grip unrelenting and cruel. The failure at the Triskelion had been a stain on her record, a chink in her armour that HYDRA was determined to mend, no matter the cost.

They came for her, a group of HYDRA agents descending upon her like vultures to a carcass. She offered no resistance, she was past that. The Red Room had taught her resistance was futile, even marble girls cracked. They wouldn't break, but oh they would crack to the point of shattering. Sung would endure her punishments if it meant a chance to find her brother.

In a cold, dirty basement, they punished her for her failure. The lashes of the whip bit into her flesh, leaving crimson welts in their wake. It was old-fashioned, but her torturer claimed new methods took the fun out of it. But she felt nothing. Her pain receptors had dulled over time, or perhaps her tolerance to pain was just immeasurable after growing up in the Red Room. She only stared ahead, her mind retreating to a far corner in her mind. A kitchen that smelled of fresh food and spices with her brother's and father's voice ringing through whilst she cooked, Natasha's arms around Sung's waist. No one could break Sung Lee, no one. She knew only too well how to retreat what she held dear and lock it away safley.

Hydra's scientists, twisted minds that revelled in her suffering, had a new plan for her. The Red Room serum, the elusive chemical concoction that they hadn't managed to perfect until now that was. They injected it into Sung's veins, and she felt the burning chemicals seep into her bloodstream. It was different from the other attempts, this time it took hold, weaving into her very DNA no matter her mutation's resistance.

She was led to a chamber, stark and dark, where she was chained to a table. The room was bathed in an eerie yellow glow from flickering ceiling lights, casting grotesque shadows on the walls and colouring Sung a sick colour. The serum coursed through her, an invasive force that sought to break her spirit, to strip away her last remnants of free will. Sung was ripped out of the kitchen in Korea. Sung's mutationed fired up, trying to keep her safe to no avail.

Days bled into nights, a ceaseless cycle of agony and torment. They performed experiments on her, forcing her to endure until her mind fractured and splintered. Sung had never been truly broken before, there had always been remnants of the girl from Korea in her soul. But then came the breakthrough for HYDRA and the breakdown for Sung. This time they managed to wring it out of Sung. Her memories remained, contrary to her only friend's experiences. But her memories became tainted and twisted. Her father struck her across the cheek, Daeshim tightened the vice on Sung's knee, Natasha pushed Sung out of the quinjet heading West, and Bucky chose to shoot her in the head with a grin. Screams and struggles came from Sung until her throat was raw and her wrists and ankles bloodied from the heavy restraints they used to keep her under control.

And finally, after years of trying, HYDRA finally got what they wanted from Sung. The mindless Black Widow they had always desired. The assassin who would bathe in blood and kill without thought. She would become their new Winter Soldier.

Wanting to keep the new HYDRA killing machine a secret in a world where all the Avengers were activley hunting HYDRA agents and bases, Sung was not sent out on missions and so Sung's original role as handler came back until they managed to create a proper cyro pod for her. And so she was sent to a cold facility to train HYDRA's second set of mutant twins, the Maximoffs. Unlike her time with Bucky, where eventually through all the control, a bond formed and they broke orders for one another, Sung and the Maximoffs were distant. The twins tried to socialise with Sung, but she wouldn't return the gestures, but that didn't stop the intrigue of Wanda Maximoff.

The mindreader took interest in Sung's head, and so whilst the Russian slept one night, the twins snuck into her room. Wanda kept Sung under whilst she looked through the Widow's puzzled head, Pietro kept watch in the meantime.

Sung's mind was dark, that was the first thing that Wanda noticed. There were high walls around almost everything that could be fenced in, some were built by Sung herself and had been enforced with psychological conditioning, but some... Some walls were made with large red walls of chemical subjection. A large fence caught the Sokovian's attention, and she moved closer. The lock on the fence was easy to break for Wanda, and the witch ventured past, into a darker part of Sung's mind.

Wanda realised she found herself in a labyrinth, Wanda moved her hands down in an attempt to fly up, but nothing happened. With a frown, Wanda continued to walk until she started hearing soft cries not too far away. The young woman rounded a corner and her breath hitched when she spotted a small girl in a black overall dress and white blouse, hair in two tight braids.

"Sung?" Wanda asked gently, crouching down to not appear threatening to the small child.

The girl responded to the name and looked up to see Wanda, fear coursed through young Sung's veins and she started running. "Wait!" Wanda started jogging after little Sung, further and further into the maze. The Sokovian came to a halt before a statue of a very young Sung, handcuffed to her bed, it suddenly clicked why Sung had tied one wrist to her bed.

Cautiously, Wanda moved further into the maze. She saw more and more statues. A woman holding a gun to a man's forehead, snow falling around them. Sung on pointe shoes on a bar that Wanda recognised from the one time her parents took Wanda to try acrobatics for a free lesson. Then came a statue of a man and a woman that Wanda didn't know. The infamous Winter Soldier. The Avenger's Black Widow, there were multiple statues of her. Then came a statue of a young boy who resembled Sung.

"Sung!" Wanda called again, speeding up to catch up with the girl. "Sung," Wanda called out one last time, when she spotted the little girl standing still by another statue of Natasha. "Hi," Wanda knelt beside Sung and the child turned to stare at Wanda. Wordlessly, Sung grasped Wanda's hand and pressed it to the statue of Natasha Romanoff.

A memory that didn't belong to Wanda, infiltrated her head.

↣ ↢

Small rays of sunlight filtered through the worn-out curtains, illuminating the modest room slightly. A relatively narrow bed was located in the middle of the room and two figures lay upon it. Sung and Nat. Distant sounds from the city outside could be heard in the room.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," Natasha whispered softly into Sung's neck. Her voice was still laced with a thick Russian accent.

Sung traced Natasha's naked back, dark gaze focused on the ceiling above. "Wishing has no point, Tasha. You know that."

Natasha shifted, propping herself up on her elbow so she looked down at Sung. "I know, but sometimes wishes can come true," The redhead gazed down from Sung's face to the woman's upper torso. "Even if only for a fleeting moment.

A tender smile played on Sung's face. "If we're making silly wishes, I want to have a restaurant with you," Sung said softly, she tucked a red curl behind Natasha's ear and traced the few rings in Natasha's ear.

The comment earned Sung a kiss on the cheek and one on her neck. "That sounds nice, maybe out West," Natasha mumbled into Sung's shoulder, lips skimming over Sung's skin in a ghostly touch.

"That will never happen, Tasha," Sung said, making Natasha pull back slightly. "We'll never be more than what we are in this moment. Redemption isn't a luxury for us."

Natasha shook her head and sat up in the bed. "You're wrong," She mumbled back.

↣ ↢

Wanda pulled back with a gasp and looked to the side, young Sung still looking up at Wanda. The Sokovian hesitated for a moment before grasping Sung's hand in hers and leading the girl out of the maze. The further they got from the heart of the labyrinth, the more Sung grew. At the gates, Sung was older than Wanda once more and she let go of Wanda's hand and took one step outside of the gated area and inhaled the non-existent air.

The young witch let go of Sung and popped out of the Russian's head, she kept Sung asleep and stood up to Pietro, who quirked a brow at her. Wanda just nodded and Pietro smirked at her before picking up Wanda and running the duo back to their shared cement room.

↣ ↢

The next morning in the training room, Sung was already waiting for the Maximoff twins, when they arrived she turned around. For the first time in a year, Sung smiled. It was hardly noticable, but it was enough for the Maximoff twins. When she crept up behind them to teach them to escape chokeholds, she whispered 'thank you's to Pietro and Wanda.

Sung eyed the guards nearby, too close to be able to discuss things audibly. But maybe they didn't have to speak. "Hey," Sung thought, hoping that Wanda would pick up on it.

The brunette perked up and looked at Sung. "Do you have any escape plans yet?" Sung asked. "I only need to get one last file from Strucker, your brother can help with that." The Black Widow stared at the white haired speedster, the man in question was aware of theconversation happening between Wanda and Sung, but covered up by continuing to land punches to a target at superspeed

"We don't want to escape," Wanda replied, lips pursed as she lifted a throwing knife into the air with her red wisps. The blade twirled in the air before Wanda launched it with the flick of her finger and the knife landed a hair away from the center. "We want to kill Stark."

"Stark? Why?" Sung asked as she pretended to instruct Wanda how to better her throwing stance.

Wanda clenched her jaw. "His bombs kill our parents," Wanda seethed back, wether it was on purpose or not, a memory bled into Sung's head. Two children huddeld together under a bed, staring at a bomb with the name Stark on one side, waiting for the bomb to go off and take them away just as it took their parents.

"HYDRA is loosing against the Avengers, we cannot stop that. They know it, Washington was the beginning of the end," Sung urged. "Want revenge on Stark? Fine, not this way."

Wanda frowned and dropped her hands. "This is the only way we have," She said back, and Sung could hear the non existant voice crack of a hopless child in an unjust world.

Blaring alarms sounded through the facility and a voice annoucned the inevitable. The Avengers had found them. The trio followed protocol and headed up to the heart of the facility where their superiors were.

"Who gave the order to attack?" Strucker demanded, marching towards his men in the room, his monacle still on his face.

One of the soldiers responded. "Herr Strucker, it's the Avengers."

"They landed in the far woods, the perimeter guard panicked," Another one added. Sung sneakily glanced at one of the screens, sure enough she spotted Natasha fighting.

Strucker leant in to whisper to his comrade, List. "They have to be after the scepter," He said lowly, as though not everyone was aware of the scepter's presence in the facility. It had been used in the experiments conducted on the twins, not to mention that the facility was largly powered by the thing. "Can we hold them?" Strucker demanded, gaze focused on the soldier from earlier.

"They're the Avengers!" The soldier called, which was an enough of an answer. The Sokovian HYDRA base was one of the last bases left for a reason.

Strucker sighed. "Deploy the rest of the tanks," He commanded, earning a 'yes, sir'. "Concentrate fire on the weak ones. A hit can make them close ranks," The man nodded to himself before turning to face Dr List once more.  "Everything we've accomplished..." He shook his head and looked at the trio in the dark doorway. "But we're on the verge of our greatest breakthrough."

Dr List nodded and also looked at the twins. "Then let's show them what we've accomplished. Send out the twins."

"It's too soon."

"It's what they signed up for," List argued back.

No agent's eyes were focussed on the enhanced trio in the corner, and before anyone looked at them again, Sung turned to the twins. "I'm leaving, come with me," She urged lowly, looking up at the two twins.

"My men can hold them," Strucker said. "We will not yield. The Americans sent their circus freaks to test us. We will send them back in bags. No surrender!" He shouted, starting a chorus in the room as the two twins nodded and so the trio snuck away.

A soldier approached the group, demanding what their orders were. Within a blink the soldier was taken out and Pietro stood by the agent's unconsious body. He turned to his two companions and shrugged slightly with a smirk. "What? He was in the way."

"You did good," Sung assured as she knelt by the agent and stripped him of his weapons. Sung glanced past Pietro's legs and without hesitation shot another approaching HYDRA agent. The Maximoffs gasped at the ordeal as Sung tigthened her ponytail before standing up. "I need to get to Strucker's office, then we can leave," Sung mumbled as she checked how many bullets were left in the firearm.

Pietro shook his head. "No, we're going after Stark," He declared, his sister nodding.

Sung glanced between the two before sighing and shaking her head. "Fine, I will wait for you at the South entrance for 10 minutes, then I'll leave," She nodded at the two who mirrored her actions. "Good luck," She clapped Pietro's shoulder and with that, Sung flipped over the metal railing.

The Widow rolled over the corse floor and kicked a HYDRA agent before raising to her feet and grabbing a discarded pipe and using it to strike the HYDRA agent across the face. Sung adjusted her knee brace before she continuted walking, eyes on the prize at the end of the corridor.

The rusty door opened easily and Sung strode into the office and to the filing cabinets that lined the wall to the left. Her dark eyes flitted over the labels until she found the 'L', quickly she opened the cabinet and started looking through the files. And that's where she found it. Sung opened the file, a picture of grown-up Daeshim looked back at her.

What information Sung was after, was also noted in the file. The base where Daeshim was being held. Base was a big word, it was an underground bunker where they worked purley on experiments. It was the best lead she had, so Sung took a leap of faith. Folding up the file, Sung scanned the room for a bag of sorts, sure enough a small backpack was stuffed by Strucker's desk.

It turned out that the backpack was Strucker's escape backpack, ideal for Sung as it had some provisions, money and weapons. The passports were of no use to her and she lit them on fighter. Stucker didn't deserve any way out.

With the backpack on her, Sung sprinted out of the office and took the shortest route towars the South exit, it was one of the smaller entrances so it shouldn't be as busy as the others. Sung arrived and found no one waiting for her. The Widow lingered in the shadows and eyed the outside. The falling snow brought along a sense of home. Before the supposed destruction of the Red Room, the institution was located in a large beautiful mansion. In the winter, snow would cover the land around and it made the morning runs and sparring sessions more beautiful.

Nine minutes passed and Sung prepared to leave when a gust of wind hit her in the face, she looked to the side and saw the twins standing there. She raised a brow, inquiring after the Avengers, the answer was a light shake of the head.

Further questions could be asked later. Sung looked at the city. "Iron Legion is in the city, if me move to the next one we should be safe." She glanced back at the Maximoffs, who just hesitantly nodded. The twins were only trained for combat, not disappearing, it was only logical to follow a Black Widow.

The trio shuffled into a bus and Sung used about one third of their money for tickets. They took seats around the bus, Pietro and Wanda towards the back and Sung near the middle. An old man sat beside Sung and she nodded in greeting to the man before leaning against the window. She hadn't breathed for a year, panting on the run was better than the torture of the past year. Sung pulled her grey sweater further over her hands, it was thin, but her mutation kept her body temperture higher than the average body.

Desolate landscapes of Sokovis passed by, the land that had been destroyed by entitled Americans, a sad tale too many countries could relate to. They arrived at the nearest city and the trio scurried out of the coach. Night had fallen and the winter chill rattled even Sung's bones.

It was Wanda who found them shelter, a small bed and breakfast ran by an elderly couple who were simply happy to have guests. There were two beds in the room, the twins would share one and Sung would take the other one.

Perched on her bed, Sung took out a map she had nicked on the way to the bed and breakfast. She drew circles on the map of where the three where, where all the nearby HYDRA bases were located and where Daeshim was being held. A bunker on the Russian side of the border between Russia and Poland. It wouldn't take a lot of time to get there.

Pietro ran outside and returned back with stolen goods and a boyish grin on his lips. "You shouldn't steal, people will come after you," Wanda scolded, watching as her brother laid out the items he had stolen. An expensive dress that would fit Wanda, some more simpler clothes for each of them, some food and he even got some money. "They will shoot you," Wanda added mornfully.

"We need resources," Sung piped up, still seated on her bed. "I need to get to my twin, he isn't too far from here," She swung her legs to one side of the bed and got up to show the Sokovians the map. "We are currently here, his last location is here, would be two days travel at most," She pressed her lips together slightly. "You don't have to come with me, but I am your best chance at surviving."

The twins shared a look, and undoubtfully some words were exchanged in their minds before they smiled at her. "Of course we come with you," Pietro shared with an arrogant shrug. "How would you get around with us." The statment earned a light scoff from Sung before she nodded bashfully.

"Do we stay here for now?" Wanda inquired. "Gather our strengths?" She looked at Sung with almost a pleading look, and so the Widow nodded. They'd stay for two nights before leaving early in the morning.

That night they ate some of the food Pietro stole before readying themselves for bed. Sung removed her kneebrace before wiggling out of her jeans. The large pink scars on her pale skin caught the attention of both Maximoffs despite their best efforts to not look. The widow dove under the covers just as her two mentees did the same.

"How did you injure your knee?" Pietro asked, before being softly reprimended by Wanda.

Sung hesitated but sighed. "A few years ago I was in Paris on a mission with the Winter Soldier," She started, rubbing a hand over her face. "But I had other plans, switch sides and join S.H.I.E.L.D.," A bitter laugh came from Sung and she shook her head. "Two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were going to negotiate my loyalty, but we were betrayed by another party. Agents were killed and I was tortured, that's the story."

Silence ensued and Sung turned over in her bed, small knife clutched undderneath her pilow and hairtie around her wrist as a makeshift restraint. But then Wanda spoke up. "I'm sorry," She croaked through the darkness, the earnestness of the statment sent daggers into Sung.

No other words were exchanged and they all drifted off to sleep.

↣ ↢

Wanda and Sung stood by a fountain as Pietro flirted with some girl who kissed him on the cheek. The silver haired speedster returned to his two friends, wiping the lipstick from his cheek with a smirk.

"You shouldn't draw this much attention to ourselves," Wanda muttered, eyeing the girl that Pietro had flirted with.

Pietro opened his mouth to answer, but a figure approached the trio and told them Iron Man awaited them at the nearby church. They shared concerned looks and decided to proceed with caution.

They entered the church and saw a cloaked figure towards the back. Sung tightened her hold on her knife.

"Talk. And if you are wasting our time..." Wanda called out, small red sparks came to life around her fingers, a subtle warning.

"Did you know this church is in the exact center of the city?" An unkown voice called out, whilst the speaker's identity was unkown, it was clear that it was not the cocky Tony Stark. "The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that. The geometry of belief," The speaker shifted their weight in their seat. "You're wondering why you can't look inside my head."

Pietro and Sung exchanged surprised glances. "Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself," Wanda seethed back, no waver in her voice.

"Oh, I'm sure they do," The figure rose up and dropped their cloak, revealing no flesh, but metal. "But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let Stark take the scepter," Ultron mused, approaching the trio.

Wanda shook her head, eyes still wide from talking to an actual robot. "I didn't expect..." She inhaled sharply and recomposed herself. "But I saw Stark's fear, I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct."

The robot nodded in agreement. "Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers, people create...smaller people?" A laugh came from the robot, and it was anything but comforting. "Uh...children! I lost the word there. Children. Designed to supplant them, to help them..." There was a pause for dramatic effect. "End.

"Is that why you've come? To end the Avengers?" Wanda inquired, intruige sparked. Destroying the Avengers meant ending Tony Stark. It meant revenge. Justice in an unjust world.

But Sung appeared to be the only one who hesitated.

"I've come to save the world. But also... yeah." Ultron turned his red glowing eyes to Sung. "I want you three to work with me."

Sung shook her head. "Not me, I need to find my brother. I don't have unfinished buisness with the Avengers, only with HYDRA and the Red Room," She said, gaze drifitng to her two new friends. "Good luck." She turned to stride out of the chruch.

However, Pietro jumped in front of her and clasped her shoulders. "We have to stick together, you said that," He argued, eyeing his sister over Sung's shoulder.

Sympathetically Sung reached up and clasped Pietro's hands. She smiled earnestly at him. "Not anymore, not now, maybe in the future." She pried his hands off of her shoulders and nodded at Wanda before tapping Pietro's shoulder and marching away from the church and Ultron.

Sung found herself in another bus, this time she was alone. Like old times. She sighed and pulled out her notebook and tried to remember all her memories from Daeshim and desperaly tried to write down the ones that felt real, but it was no easy feet. The serum tended to repoison her memories, entagling itself in the only treasures Sung possessed.

a/n:
whoo, this is slightly different than my usual chapter pacing and i'm not sure what to think.
do you like this pacing for some in between movies chapters? i did it like this because there wasn't
much to tell about sung between ca:tws and au so i'd rather have a more narrated story than one
or two tiny chapters with mostly the same stuff in them.

the fact that this is the last time sung and pietro see each other breaks my heart :( i loved
their (platonic) chemistry. i love the thought of him flirting with her until she tells him she's
a lesbian, and him just immediately turning to checking out women with her. they would have been
that post of the roommates giving their number with 'if you're into guys call me, and if you're into
girls call this one'... the fun they could have had. meanwhile, wanda and sung we will still see a lot
of. don't worry, those sisters have a whole storyline together that we are yet to see.

next chapter we will see the introduction of daeshim, the infamous twin. and soon to be one half
of the living hydra twins—

anyway, hope you enjoyed. be sure to vote and comment!

sweet post

date published: 11 august 2023
word count: 4394