I groan as I open my eyes. Did he seriously electrocute me? I make to get up, but I can't. I'm strapped to a chair in this white, sterile room. A lab, I realize with panic. They've got me. And it feels just like before.

"Help!" I scream, struggling against my metal bonds. The chair rocks back and forth, but I can't escape. "Let me out, please!"

"You're perfectly safe here," a man says, stepping into view. He's wearing a lab coat, and he stares at me curiously. His eyes sweep up and down my body, and my insides crawl.

"Who are you?" I ask. If I was free, I could easily take him, but they've restrained me too well. I'm at this man's mercy. Mercy. What a terrifying word.

"My name is Doctor Derrick Andrews," he answers. "Though I suppose I should be asking you the same question." He laughs, but it isn't funny, even to him. The light doesn't reach his eyes.

"Why would I tell you? Don't you already know?"

"I know bits and pieces. Why don't I tell you those, and you can fill in the blanks." He presses a button, and holographic screens appear in front of him. "America Evans. Age twenty-six, moved to New York two years ago."

"That's right," I say shortly.

"Those are all lies," he sneers. "There's no record of a name for you anywhere. No birth certificate. Here's what SHIELD has uncovered." He swipes, and blurry images begin to fill the screens. Action photos of me in a black uniform, gun in my hand, murder in my eyes. My breath hitches in my throat. I don't even remember all of these. "Born somewhere near Russia. Hydra operative for several years. Known as the Night Wind. Your victims died before they saw you coming." He grins menacingly. "We've been looking for you for a long time, miss."

"That wasn't me!" I say automatically. "I mean, it was, but it wasn't."

"We'll discuss that later. I have been tasked with understanding your abilities and you yourself. I have been given full reign to do so." He holds up a syringe. "Shall we start?"

Fear instantly sets in. I've had a phobia of needles for years. "Please, don't do anything to me, please-"

He plunges the syringe into my shoulder. For a moment, nothing happens. Then, excruciating pain fills me. I try to resist it, but I can't. I scream.

The doctor watches a screen with mild interest, an expression of someone who found something fascinating in a newspaper. "You're a super soldier, aren't you?" He asks carefully.

"What makes you think that?" I say through gritted teeth.

"That would have caused a normal human pass out within seconds. Your endurance and stamina levels are off the charts."

"Call me flattered," I snap, resisting the urge to scream again. It's like my veins are on fire. "You're despicable!" He gets up and runs a hand down the side of my cheek, a sly smile on his ugly face. I flinch away, but there's nowhere to go.

"Listen, gorgeous: you will cooperate with me or there will be consequences."

"Get away from me," I say bravely, though I don't feel it.

"Gladly. I'll run some other tests instead." He retreats to his seat and presses some buttons. This time, my legs twinge with pain. A memory comes back as he experiments on me some more.

"You made a mistake," my supervisor snapped, paving the dark room. "We don't have room for mistakes here. We don't tolerate ineptness." I glanced at the man across from me, my best friend. He seemed equally as upset as me.

"That was an innocent man!" I cried out, struggling against my bonds. They didn't yield. Of course they didn't. "There was no reason to kill him!"

"Getting sentimental, are you? You were given a mission, not permission to ask why." His breath made my lip curl. I spat right in his face, saliva mixed with blood, which consequently filled with intense rage. He slapped me across the face, his ring forming an instant welt right below my left eye.

"Leave her alone!" James yelled. He had remembered that name the other day. We were both sure it was his a long time ago. I was still trying to remember mine.

"Wipe her, she knows too much!"

"No!" James tried to escape his own chair, but even with the metal arm, it was too much for him.

"James, it'll be okay!" I screamed back, trying to reassure him.

"How do you two know that name? Wipe him, too!"

"No, please!" I protested, but it was no use. I woke up hours later in a small room with two beds. The other was occupied by a man with long brown hair I didn't recognize. He continuously stared at the ground, like it could give him answers. The most curious thing about him was his metal arm.

"What's your name?" I ventured. He didn't even look up at me.

"I don't remember." What? How can you not know who you are? "How about you?"

I went to answer but found I couldn't. I shook my head, searching. Nothing came to mind. "I don't know. Where are we?"

"Beats me. They keep telling me we're safe, though." He held out a hand. "Whoever you are, it's nice to meet you." I took his hand, strong and callused.

"Nice to meet you too."

"I think we need to look out for each other here. I'm not sure what's happening, who I am, where we are."

"Okay," I said. That was it.

I gasp and come back into reality. It's been a long time since I've had a flashback, a new memory. I'm sure this is real, something Hydra has stolen from me. But I don't even know who the man, James, is. Who knows how many times we reintroduced ourselves to each other. But I'm sure he was important.

The next hours are excruciating. New tests, new pain. I try to numb it out after a while, but I can't ignore everything. My voice goes hoarse from screaming. And eventually, I fall into a blessed darkness of nothing.

———-

I open my eyes to yet another location. This time, a cell. I'm very familiar with these. And everything aches, specifically my legs. I don't think I could run if I wanted to.

"So you are alive," a snide voice says. "I was beginning to wonder."

Two startling green eyes stare across the invisible cells walls at me. They sparkle maliciously.

"They deposited you here about an hour ago," he continues, oblivious to my silence. "Completely unconscious."

"You're Loki," I say, staring right back at him. I am a little afraid, but he can't hurt me here. "You attacked New York."

"Indeed I am and indeed I did," Loki says smoothly.

"Don't you regret it?"

"Darling, there is much more at play than your mortal mind could possibly understand here."

"Like being misunderstood? I can stomach that pretty well," I snap. He looks at me, confused.

"I didn't say anything about being misunderstood."

"You didn't have to," I say. "But I know what it's like. And it looks like that." I point to the look in his eyes.

He stretches his long legs out. "Why are you here?"

"I've been on the run for years. They finally found me."

"What did you do?" I contemplate confiding in him. What can he do? He's going to rot in jail forever, anyway. Who's he going to tell?

"A long time ago, I escaped terrorist people who had control of my mind, and SHIELD finally found me. I don't know what they're going to do to me now."

"Mind control?" He asks softly, staring down at his hands.

I nod. "They would wipe my memory and make me do awful things. I killed for them, but I barely remember it. I don't even know my own name."

"I can look, if you want," he offers. "In your mind. I can try to find your memories."

I perk up immediately. "You can do that?"

"I can try. Come over here, as close as you can. It makes this easier." I do as he says. "Close your eyes. You won't feel anything." I shut my eyes and wait for him to speak. It's several minutes before he does.

"I couldn't find much," he admits. His expression is puzzled. "Whoever took your memories did a good job. It's not like the memories aren't there, they're just covered. Blurred, faded."

"Did you find anything?" I ask. I'm desperate to know absolutely anything about my true self.

"You had a family." My head whips to look at him.

"A family?"

He nods. "You were taken away from them years ago. At least ten."

"Did you see a man named James?"

"Flashes of him. You two were partners. Very protective, though you could defend yourself just fine."

"I need to know who he is," I mumble to myself. Now I have two people to find. "Thank you." I yawn. It's been a long day.

"You need rest," He says. "You should sleep while you still can."

"Okay." I curl up in a ball on the ground and quickly fall asleep.