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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒

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𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔
𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄

Alexandria ran through the dark halls of the building that never felt like her home in search of the two people who never felt like her parents. She kept her head down to avoid meeting the eyes of the passing HYDRA agents as she turned another corner. Just as she was about to sprint down the hall to avoid the masked men, the young girl ran straight into someone's chest. She stumbled back a bit before a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders to keep her steady. When she looked up at her savior, she found her father's cold eyes staring down at her.

Timothy Easton couldn't stand his daughter since the day she was born. Unlike his wife Emilia, who put up with the girl just enough to keep her happy. Both of her parents thought that having a child held them back from their assignments with HYDRA and kept them from accomplishing their goals. They were surprised that their superiors even let the child stay with them. Even though the Easton woman showed some affection towards the girl, they both saw her as a nuisance and tried to avoid her every chance they got. At least they did until that day.

Unknown to the six-year-old girl, her parents volunteered her for HYDRA's newest experiment. That was the reason why Alexandria saw her father smiling down at her for the first time. Instead of grinning back up at the man, the girl found herself trying to pull away from him. The look in his eyes instantly told her she wasn't going to like what was about to come next.

Before she even had a chance to run, Timothy picked up his daughter and walked back in the direction he came. They continued walking through the darkness until they stopped in front of the door that led to a room the girl was usually not allowed to enter. Alexandria clung to her father's shirt in silence while her eyes scanned the forbidden door before the Easton man pushed it open. Her grip on the redheaded man's shirt tightened as he walked further into the unfamiliar room. Alexandria's eyes scanned over the strange equipment that took up every inch of free space before they landed on her mother typing away on a computer.

The Easton girl kept her mouth sealed as her father laid her down on a metal table before locking her wrists and ankles to it. Confusion filled every inch of the girl's body while she watched her parents look over the papers stacked on the table next to her. She didn't know how long they kept her there but she didn't fight it. At that time in her life, she thought her parents would always protect her. It wasn't until the man she would grow to despise walked into the room that she knew something was wrong.

Every time she saw Wolfgang von Strucker before, it was followed by screams from the "volunteers" that came to HYDRA. Alexandria watched the man with the monocle walk past her as if she wasn't there before he went to stand by her parents. She listened to their conversation about the lime green vials spread out in front of them but the girl didn't understand anything about it.

"Mother," the girl called out when Strucker began walking towards her with one of the vials in his hand, causing Emilia to look up at her daughter with an unamused look on her face, "can you please let me go? I don't wanna do this."

The Easton woman never responded to her scared child. She simply looked back down at the papers in front of her as if Alexandria hadn't said a word.

Tears began to form in the girl's eyes as she looked away from her parents to meet the bald man's gaze. Strucker simply stared down at her with a smile that sent chills down Alexandria's spine. The redheaded child didn't move a muscle as the man cleaned her arm with a wipe before sticking the needle in her arm and letting the eerie green liquid enter her body.

That was when the pain began.

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𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑
𝐒𝐎𝐊𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐑𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄

A week had passed since the disappearance of Timothy and Emilia Easton. Alexandria was told by almost everyone at the base that they were sent on a mission to get more "volunteers" for their experiments and never returned. But she didn't believe a single word they said. She never believed anything she was told by HYDRA. And yet she was happy they were gone. Nothing good ever came out of Timothy and Emilia being around.

Over the years, they forced the Easton girl to be part of their research and tested all their new creations on her. Despite the agonizing screams that erupted from their daughter every time they experimented on her, they never stopped. They never saw her as their child, only as a lab rat. Both of her parents, if she could even call them that, treated her as if she could be replaced with a snap of her fingers. But it turned out they were wrong. Alexandria was much more valuable to HYDRA than both of them combined.

That gave the Easton girl a sickly-sweet feeling in her stomach.

What she didn't know was the real reason her parents got on HYDRA's bad side. If anyone told Alexandria that they were trying to protect her from another one of Strucker's experiments, she wouldn't believe them. She would simply laugh in their faces. But it was true. They were trying to keep her out of their superior's plans. A plan to experiment on their daughter with a certain Asgardian scepter that turned out to be Strucker's pride and joy.

Alexandria's thoughts continued to consume her as she sat on her cot in her room. Her legs were stretched out as far as they could go and her head leaned against the cold stone wall behind her. The Easton girl closed her eyes and listened to the sound of HYDRA agents walking past the door that only opened from the outside. Being left alone was the most peace she got while living at the base. Even though she hated the isolation, she enjoyed every moment of the agents or their superiors not bothering her. It wasn't until a set of footsteps stopped in front of her room did she know her peace was about to be interrupted.

The redheaded girl slowly opened her eyes as the steel door opened to reveal Strucker standing just outside the hall with two HYDRA agents at his side. Alexandria didn't move a muscle as the HYDRA leader stared at her then he gestured toward her. Before she could comprehend what was happening, the two agents walked forward to grab both of Alexandria's arms and drag her out of the room.

The Easton girl kept her mouth shut as she was forced through the dark halls of the HYDRA base. Unknown to the agents escorting her through the halls, Alexandria was making a mental map in her head of every corner they turned and every door they went through. She did this every time they allowed...or forced her to leave her room. It wasn't much but it did give her a hint of hope that one day she would escape her nightmares.

But she never thought it would take Loki's scepter, a set of twins, and the building exploding for her to be free from HYDRA's grasp.

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𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐑𝐌

It had been a few weeks since the last time Alex had an actual conversation with Charlie and Pietro and since she set foot anywhere other than the Barton Farm. Every day was the same as the last. She got up at the crack of dawn and helped Cooper and Lila with their chores then she sat down for a family breakfast. Once she finished eating, she and the Barton kids would do their homeschooling with Laura and that would basically take up the rest of her day. The night was for relaxing around the small house and spending time together as a normal family.

It's not that she wasn't grateful for Clint letting her stay with him and his family, she was. Especially since he would get sent back to the Raft if anyone found out due to him practically breaking his house arrest deal. It was also a lot better than how her biological parents treated her. She just expected and wanted more out of a "normal life" than sitting around a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.

The Easton girl wanted to know what it was like having friends her own age to hang out with every day. She wanted to try going to a movie theater or a concert for the first time. She even wanted to know what it was like going to a normal high school. Because of her parents' alliance with HYDRA, she never got to experience the world. She never got a chance to have a childhood and to know what it was like to feel wanted.

Like every other morning since she arrived, Alex sat at the end of the table next to Cooper and across from Lila for breakfast. She listened to the family's conversations as she pushed her cereal around the bowl while she was stuck in another one of her daydreams. It wasn't until she heard her name being called did she finally look up to see it was only her and Clint left at the table.

"Are you feeling okay?" the Barton man asked as he got up from his seat at the head of the table and sat down in the one that was usually occupied by his youngest daughter.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alex responded in a tone that didn't even convince herself before she let out a long sigh after seeing the look on the master archer's face, "I'm really grateful for you and your family taking me in. It's just...I feel like I'm stuck in a rut."

"I guess not everyone is cut out for this life," Clint laughed as he looked around his home then his eyes returned to the girl, "you know, you could still use the stuff Charlie sent you a few months ago and head back to New York."

"Like I could afford an apartment in New York," the Easton girl scoffed before she caught the Barton man sending her a small smile.

"Then I guess it's a good thing that Charlie's apartment was purchased under a different name," he said, causing Alex to stop fiddling with her dog tags before she looked up at the man with confusion in her eyes, "she didn't want just anyone finding her so Fury helped her get it under a different name. It's still there and still vacant if you want it."

Before the speedster could respond to the archer, he pulled out a small envelope from his pocket and slid it across the table. Alex stared at it with a hint of skepticism in her eyes before she picked it up and opened it to reveal a key. The redheaded girl's attention stayed glued to the metal object in her hand until she heard a faint laugh coming from the master archer. When she looked back up at him, she found the smile on his face even bigger than before.

"You and I both know Charlie and Pietro wouldn't want you moping around here and they definitely wouldn't want you pretending to be happy," Clint continued while Alex kept her eyes locked with his before he stood up and grabbed the few dirty dishes that Cooper and Lila left behind, "it's finally time for you to decide what you wanna do with your life."

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