FILE n°888 | SUBJECT RED
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HYDRA facility
siberia
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december, 2002

The little girl was in fact dead. 

When Natalia Romanov held her lifeless baby in her arms the baby had not drawn a single breath. Yet, she wasn't tossed away. The Madame had given her away to HYDRA with a promise that once the girl was five years old she would be brought back to the Academy to begin her training to be the next Black Widow. Meanwhile, the little redhead would learn how to behave like an assassin, and who better to do it than the Winter Soldier? They may be bound by blood but, once the Soldier was brought back to the Siberian facility he had been wiped and put into cryo-freeze and they were just waiting for the girl to bring him back to missions.

But of course, they had to bring the premature child back to life and it was not a game to be meddled with. The Superior ordered an assassin and his doctors would give him one.

They injected the small child with the same serum they had used on the Soldier. It grew back the broken bones and refilled the child's damaged lungs with air. The only thing the serum did not fix were the broken vocal cords that were damaged beyond repair. When they told the Superior that the child was too young to be given new vocal cords, he bargained with the Madame for the child to begin her training later so they could have time to perfect their subject. The subject that earned the name Subject RED.

Once the subject was brought back to life they locked her in a cell feeding her once a day, sometimes only once every two days depending on how the child was evolving. They beat her into learning to crawl, learning to stand and learning to walk, never once speaking a word to her, only insults and beatings. The child would learn how to comply, just like the Asset, the Soldier.

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HYDRA facility
siberia
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december, 2005

Three years after the asset was brought back to life, the Superior ordered the Winter Soldier to be taken out of the cryo-freeze and he demanded that Subject RED be present for it.

So, one morning, two guards came to the Subject's cell and opened the big, bulky, metal door for the first time in the two years of Subject RED's existence. The small, malnourished child was reluctant and terrified of everything: at the slightest sound or the sudden footstep she would hear she would scurry back behind the bright red bucket she could relieve herself in. The child may be mute, but she trained her hearing and eyes to be the best they could be to warn her of any danger that she may come across. She kicked and made small but erratic huffs of air that came out of her nose in a frantic and anxious melody. The guards were unbothered as they dropped her in the room where the Soldier would first set foot in, in front of the Superior.

Alexander Pierce had seen the asset once in his life, when she was just a lifeless, bloody being that was being resurrected on the cool, metal table by his doctors. Now, the child was three years old yet, she looked no older than two. The Superior knew she was born premature at only six months along, but, he had not imagined that she would be this frail and fragile.

"Hello, Subject RED." he spoke in English with false kindness and the child was surprised that he was trying to fake it, as she had long detected the malice behind his act. They called her stupid, but for her age, the child had learned to listen into conversations, as she could not conjure one herself.

The girl backed away against the guard's leg as the Superior turned away from her and to the guards and scientists that were standing near the cryo chamber and with a nod of his head he spoke some of the few Russian words he knew.

"Nachat'." Begin.

Subject RED watched with interest as the scientist nearer to the big, round tube opened his mouth and spoke in Russian. She didn't know a lot of English, only the Superior spoke it, but the guards and scientists and doctors in the facility spoke Russian and understood only a few or no words of English.

"Nachnite operatsiyu v tri, dva, odin ... Otkroyte kameru." The guards next to him pulled on the handle that was attached to a big metal box that blew off a cloud of cold, icy air as it opened, revealing a dark, humanlike figure. Commence the operation in three, two, one...Open the chamber.

The child leaned forward to watch as the small yellow light that was inside the chamber flickered on. Inside, there was a man. He was strong, had shoulder length choppy, brown hair and a beard. Subject RED immediately noticed the metal arm with the red star. But, there was another particular thing about the man, his eyes. They were a soft baby blue color that fascinated the three year old child who, immediately, brought her own bruised palm to touch the corner of her eye in the moment. She then realized she could be punished for moving, so, she dropped her arm and let it hang by her side as the solider exited the cryo chamber.

"Dobryy vecher, soldat." The man in the red beret spoke from where he was standing near Pierce. Good evening, Soldier.

The Soldier in question didn't reply, he only scanned his surroundings, looking for anything that he may consider a threat to his survival. His blue eyes then met the blue ones of a small child that was slightly hidden behind one of the guards next to Pierce. His brown brows furrowed, what was a child doing in the facility? He scanned her over, starting by her small feet that were bruised and bloody. The nails of each toe had been brutally torn off except for the nail of the pollex, the skin where some nails were yanked off was cakes with dry blood and the skin was turning a sickly yellow. Her knees and legs were covered in purplish bruises, some blue, some a certain shade of purple, the lore recent ones were slightly yellow or greenish. Her small arms were badly cut, there was so much dried blood and cuts that he forced himself to look away, disgusted with how the guards were treating her when he didn't even know who she was. Lastly he focused on her hair and face. Her hair, was covered in dirt and crime yet he could clearly see the vibrant red strands under all the layers of dirt.

He knew someone with that exact shade of hair, but of course could not recall who it was. 

His brain was a whirlpool of glimpses, familiarities and long blanks. 

He quickly looked at her face, noticing all the bruises on the corner of her eyes, the cuts and the hollow look on her cheeks that obviously meant the child was malnourished.

The voice of one of his Superiors speaking jeered him back to reality.

"Prikazy missii, 18 dekabrya 2005 goda. Proniknut', Pytki, Ubit'. Vash punkt naznacheniya - Sankt-Peterburg." he said. Mission orders, December 18, 2005. Infiltrate , Torture, Kill. Your destination is Saint Petersburg.

But the Winter Soldier wasn't paying attention, he was staring at the small girl who seemed to shrink under his gaze. He should feel bad, and for some reason he did, but it didn't make sense. For all he knew, that child could have done some horrible things. Yet, no one deserved to be dragged to a HYDRA facility, especially not a girl as young as her.

"Soldat?" Soldier?

"Malen'kaya devochka, kto ona?" He asked looking at his Superiors for an answer. The little girl, who is she?

"What did he say?" asked Alexander Pierce loudly, making Subject RED flinch at his tone. The Soldier didn't miss the way her body flinched at any loud noises, but as usual, he didn't comment.

"He asked who the Subject was." The man with the red beret translated to the HYDRA man.

"Ah, Soldier. Do you remember the Red Room Academy?" When the Soldier didn't reply, Pierce continued. "You met a woman and you conceived a child."

A woman. He didn't see many women around the facility yet, he remembered something. A smile, a beautiful smile that enlightened her face. He remembered the red hair, and the pale green eyes. And the red hair. But the child? The child he had conceived with the green eyed woman. The child was his. The child they called Subject RED was his. That little red head baby was his baby. And she was here, in the last place where a child should be, the last place where his child should be.

He felt like he'd just been stricken across the cheek, or had a hammer slammed against his temple. 

Why wasn't this child with her mother? Why had no one protected her?

The answer came quickly enough.

"Teper' soldat, gotov podchinit'sya?" The man with the beret asked again, trying to get him to comply. Now Soldier, ready to comply?

The Soldier didn't want to comply. He didn't want to Infiltrate, Torture and Kill. He didn't want more blood in his ledger. His ledger was already dripping, it was gushing red and he didn't want more innocent blood on his hands. He didn't want to be the Soldier today. He didn't want to kill.

He didn't want his daughter to see him kill, to know that he killed innocent people everyday.

"Net." No.

"What's happening?" asked Alexander Pierce to the Russian Superior. He feared he knew what was going on, but he wanted to make sure he could put his plan to execution in the right circumstances.

"The Asset is refusing to comply." Spoke the Russian man in a very thick accent.

"Very well." And, as if on cue, the guard that was the closest to Subject RED pulled out a cow prodder and sharply jabbed the poor girl in the neck.

The innocent child's knees buckled to the ground as the Soldier watched appalled, as the little being's chest rose and fell erratically but no sound came out except the frantic puffs of air that came from her nose that was twisted in agony. Yet amidst all this pain there was the way her body curled in a way that indicated she was expecting the pain, that she felt she deserved it. The way she flinched away from it, yet the way she involuntarily drifted back towards the source of her pain, like a mutt weaned on abuse, always returning to its master for more. 

Good dog, bad dog. 

It made him sick. 

The Soldier finally cried out when he saw the sparks of electricity that vibrated between his child's neck and the device.

"Khorosho! Stop! Stop! YA podchinyayus'!" he cursed his voice for trembling and showing the strong emotions he already felt for the little girl that he had only met a few moments ago. Okay! Stop! Stop! I comply!

Pierce smiled a tortured and sick smile at the realisation that his plan had worked. "See?" He turned towards the guards. "That was easy." 

The Soldier would comply and the child would learn to comply.

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When his handlers brought him back to his designated room he noticed the red head girl was studying the sink in the corner with curiosity. She had climbed on top of the sink with a small bucket and was curiously turning the red and blue buttons and putting her hand through the water every time it sprinkled out of the pipe. She obviously hadn't heard him coming and he intended to keep it that way until he figured out how to approach the curious three year old. His daughter was in the middle of turning the red button and was obviously oblivious at the burning temperature of the water as she reached to pass her hand under the water that she had obviously only seen in a grubby bowl. As soon as her skin made contact with the burning water, she jerked away, only to fall off the sink she was perched on. The Soldier didn't think twice before stepping in and catching her broken body in his sturdy arms.

He obviously expected the girl to jerk away as he assumed that the only skin to skin contact she has ever received was for her beatings that looked like they were given a few times daily. As soon as the child fell in his arms she was quick to dart back to the corner of the room out of fright, obviously expecting him to hit her like any human she ever came in contact with did.

"Ey Ey Ey. Eto normal'no, ya ne sobirayus' delat' tebe bol'no." he tried, hoping that the girl spoke Russian. When she stared back at him with a blank expression, he quickly understood that the girl didn't speak a word of Russian, or if she even spoke at all. Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you.

He decided to try something else. He pointed a finger to his lips and slowly moved them to express speaking and then he slowly held out his index and pointed to her.

The small being's red brows furrowed. Did the intriguing man not know she could not speak? Everyone in the facility knew and they constantly made fun of her for it. They laughed at her and kicked her and embarrassed her. Was this man going to do the same? Still, when the man first saw her he did not look bad, he look sorry and empathic. The Superior acted empathic, but she knew he could not understand. But maybe the gentle man did?

Very slowly and reluctantly, the girl leaned in towards the lit part of the room so the man could see her. She brought up, just like he had done earlier, her index finger and pointed it to her throat and shook her round head, hoping the man did understand.

And he did. The Soldier was appalled, his metal and flesh hand both curled into a fists which he quickly released to not scare her. Was his child born this way or had the beatings become so bad that she had lost her voice? He feared that he would never know.

He noticed the small child rub her morning blue eyes tiredly and let out a silent yawn. She was obviously tired. The Soldier looked around the room and his eyes fell on his cot. The girl needed sleep. But how could he get her there without scaring her?

He pointed at the cot, again with his index finder, and turned around to watch his daughter's eyes travel towards the scruffy bed. Her childish eyes widened in significant curiosity and she pointed her own bruised hand towards the cot and cocked her head to the side as she looked at him curiously. The Soldier sighed, he did not know how to do this. Gently, making sure not to scare her again, he uncrossed his legs and slowly shuffled over to the cot sitting on it. When he looked at the girl, he noticed that her head was still tilted to the side but she did not move a muscle. He sighed again and laid down on the cot staring up at the ceiling and closing his eyes.

What he did not expect was to hear the soft but noticeable padding of feet on the cement floor getting closer to where he was laying. Not wanting to scare her, he slowly turned his head to the side so he could get a good look at what she was attempting.

He regretted it almost immediately as the little girl jumped in fright and scurried back over to the shadows, her dirty red hair bobbing behind her. Groaning, he sat back up and extended his arm slowly towards her and beckoned her over, hoping the girl would come back to him eventually.

He forgot how many minutes passed as he studied the many faces she was making while deciding whether or not to walk back to the cot that looked pretty appealing to her blue eyes. The Soldier was killing himself, trying not to laugh at the adorable faces she was pulling and instead trying to get her to walk to him.

It took a few more moments before, the girl's soft feet padded once again against the cement floor as she approached him quietly. The Soldier didn't say anything except smile as she wrapped her small hand around his metal finger. He looked at her directly in the eyes to show her every emotion he may be feeling as he slid his hand underneath her knees and placed her on the bed. He watched with interest as her red hair spilled across the white mattress and she felt the scratchy fabric under her with her bruised hands. He placed his hand on the mattress and spoke.

On his way back to his cell, he had passed by her old one. It was small, barely the sized of a king sized bed, with a cat's basket in the corner covered in a blue blanket that reeked of urine. Other than that, the room was vacant. There was a red bucket close to the door and what barely resembled a bed in the corner.

He had heard the guards say that she had been weaned on cat milk for the first three years of her life. He had been so disgusted at the words they were speaking about his own flesh and blood that he had to bite his lip to refrain himself from doing something that could cost both of them their lives.

The Soldier had always been reckless in the way he used to handle his own safety during his time at HYDRA. He would refuse missions or talk back because it meant that only he would get hurt. But now, with a three year old daughter waiting for his return everyday in his cell, he could not be reckless anymore.

He had been reckless with someone that had the same hair as his daughter years ago. Someone who also waited for him to return back to her everyday.

He had failed that person. But he would not fail his daughter. 

"Dlya sna" For sleeping. She slowly nodded up at him and he felt so relieved that she understood that, that he spoke once more, gesturing to the bed.

"Postel'" Bed.

His daughter patted the spot that he had pointed to and nodded. She understood.

After what seemed like hours he had successfully managed to clean his daughter and force her to slowly eat his diner so she wouldn't throw up what she couldn't handle. She was laid wide awake in the cot while he was sitting cross legged at her feet, deep in thought.

He didn't want to call his daughter Subject RED, that was just wrong. She was not an experiment. Not to him. But he did want to give her a name.

One that would be strong. That would teach her to defend instead of torture. He didn't want to mess up giving his daughter a name.

"Sashenka..." he muttered to himself to see how the word rolled off his tongue. Sashenka had been one of the first Russian names that he had learned of, it meant protector of mankind. The man that used to bring him his dinner plate during his first years at HYDRA was named Sasha. He used to sneak an extra loaf of bread on his plate. Three years after, HYDRA caught him and he was executed in front of the guards as an example.

Maybe one day, his daughter could protect instead of attack.

As he was thinking, he hadn't realized that the little red head had turned to peer at him curiously. She had her finger pointed to her chest and was looking at him curiously.

"Sashenka." he repeated while placing his thumb on her chest.

He repeated the name again to see if she would understand.

"Sashenka." She pointed to herself and in this moment, the Soldier swore he could never have been happier in this little cell.

He had Sashenka and Sashenka had him. No matter the cost he would get them out of here alive one day, that was a promise he was willing to make.

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author's note : that's it! our little baby fox finally has a name! i swear i was up until three am trying to find a russian name that would suit her because i usually end up picking a good name for an OC and then hating it five chapters in, so i guess we'll see :)

edit august 2023 : i was listening to "what was i made for" by billie eilish while going through this chapter again and i swear it makes it ten times sadder.