literature

The Boy In The Corridor

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GoldenGirl954's avatar
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Literature Text

Rated PG13
Contains Spoilers for both Winter Soldier and Agents of SHIELD


Summer 2001
Grant Ward was fresh out of high school. He had been admitted to SHIELD academy where he would juggle both academic classes and agent training. Being determined as he was, Grant had a head start; he took beginner classes with his SO John Garrett everyday, and interned at a SHIELD office on Mondays and Wednesdays.

It was an odd internship; he didn't sort files, answer calls, or go on coffee runs, Ward was ordered to stand guard at a hallway on one of the lower floors and to check badges of people who came. Hardly anyone went to the lower floors; he and another guard were the only two people there. Ward carried out his duties but spent the hours in boredom.

That day he was the only guard on duty for the floor. He paced back and forth, he leaned against the wall, examined the parts of his gun. It was a day just like any other day.

Until he heard footsteps.

Ward turned around to see a boy standing at the end of the corridor. He must have been around eight or nine. He was dressed in loose fitting gray clothing. His skin was pale, his hair a whitish blond.

"Hey!" Ward called out. "Are you lost?"

The boy moved back.

"It's ok! It's ok!" Ward hastily assured the boy. "You're not in trouble! Everyone gets lost around here!"

Ward took a step forward.

"What's your name? I'm Ward. You know where your mom or dad is?"

The boy stared at him.

He crouched down in front of the boy and looked into his unusually bright blue eyes.

"Ward," his walkie talkie buzzed. It made a crackling sound and then went quiet.

"I'm going to take you to the help desk. Ok? Don't worry," Ward put his hand on the kid's arm.

The boy flinched and quickly pulled back.

Ward noticed that the boy's arm was swollen and felt tense.

"Are you ok? Did you fall?" Ward tried to put his hand on the kid's shoulder, but he slid away with an almost terrified glance at Ward.

"Alright I won't touch you," Ward told him. "We're going to get you to first aid."

The boy was looking behind him. Ward looked up to see a girl standing at the end of the corridor. She was around the same age as the boy and wore the same oversized gray clothes. Her hair was a reddish brown and she had the same bright blue eyes as he did.

She walked over to the boy. Ward had opened his mouth to speak but found that he forgot what to say. The two children nervously glanced around them and grabbed the other's hand. The boy began to run.

He ran at a speed that was almost impossible. It was so fast that their bodies looked like they were blurry.  In less than a second he and the girl had reached the stairwell. Still holding hands they went up. They were soon out of sight.

Shocked, Ward could only stare at them. Then the alarms went off.

Ward looked around him and held his gun close. His walkie talkie buzzed again.

"Ward!"

He picked up.

"Yes."

"I've been trying to reach you!" His partner shouted. "Didn't you hear the alarms?"

"They just came on now," Ward said.

"They've been on for five minutes! There's been a breakout! Report now to headquarters!"

Ward did as he was told. He and ten agents faced the commander.

"You are to apprehend subjects 2161 and 2162 and take them into custody. Their numbers are written on the back of their clothing. Take caution; they are extremely dangerous."

The agents and Ward were divided into two groups. Ward's team rushed to the second floor. They did a sweep through the offices. No persons with the numbers 2161 or 2162 were found.

They went to the first floor. They marched down the hall.

"Stop!" The commander shouted.

The numbers had been spotted. Ward let out a gasp.

The numbers were sewn on the back of gray shirts. The two children he had seen earlier turned around. They clung to each other,terrified.

"Don't shoot us!" The boy pleaded.

Ward let his gun go down. Two others did the same.

"Keep your weapons up!" The commander yelled at them. He moved forward, still pointing the gun. "We're taking you back."

"Don't send us back! Please!" The girl was crying. "Do anything but don't send us back!"

"Why?" Ward asked.

"Did I give you permission to speak?!" The commander shouted at him.

"They'll hurt us again!" The boy shouted. He was crying too.

"Hurt--"Ward started.

"My little mouselings."

A man, about forty or so walked towards the group. Ward had never seen him in person, but knew from the list of agents that he was from the science division. The commander nodded at him.

The children fell silent. They had been holding hands and their grip tightened as they saw him.

"You couldn't play hide and seek forever," The Scientist walked past the agents towards the children. "Your little trick couldn't fool us. We saw right through you."

"But we did get out," the girl said in a moment of strength.

The scientist shot them a glance so cold that even Ward felt chills go down his spine. The children flinched.

"Do you want to make this worse?" The Scientist sternly threatened. "Come here. Like good little children do."

"No. We won't," the boy defiantly said. He and the girl had locked arms together.

"Come here!"

The scientist grabbed the children by their shirt collars and started to drag them. The two children were pulled apart. They struggled, trying to hit and kick The Scientist. He shoved the girl to an assistant who had accompanied him. The group watched as the children were led away. They were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Ward felt his heart sink. He wanted to do something. Anything. Those kids were scared and needed help. As a future agent, he should have stepped in. They were supposed to protect people, not harm.

Ward spent the next few days preoccupied by the children. He walked down the hallway he was supposed to guard to find that the door at the end was sealed off. He checked the public files to find out about them. He decided to take a risk; he would go into the scientist's office and search for information.

It was after his shift when he snuck in. He tiptoed across the room towards the desk. He searched through file after file, finding nothing until he came across one labeled:

Genetic Mutation X/Z

The first two pages were data sheets. The children were siblings. Their names were Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. They had a genetic mutation from birth that gave them special physic powers. Ward kept on reading. He felt his stomach turn. His hands gripped the edges of the paper as he forced himself to read each sentence. It was worse; it was worse than anything he could ever imagine. "Hurting" was not the word to describe the horror that the children were subjected to. Ward was furious. He wanted these inhumane experiments to be exposed. He would take action.

At the end of the study, there was word at the bottom.

DYRHA

Ward paused for a second and then it was clear. The shock went through him once again. He did not have time to process the new information as he heard:

"So you found out."

Ward turned to see The Scientist behind him.

"What a shame. You were the clever one."

Everything went to black.

The next day Ward woke up with no memories of the past few days. He did not remember meeting two children during his guard duties. He did not remember having to confront them, or how angry their treatment by higher ups made him. He did not remember finding the file that detailed unethical and horrific human experimentation and how the shock and anger got to him even more. And he did not remember that these experiments were being funded by HYDRA who were working within SHIELD.
I thought I'd write a Winter Soldier/ Agents of SHIELD crossover. This was a little harder to write because of the sensitive topics that it brings up. I tried to make it suitable for DA; the ending was originally going to be from Pietro and Wanda's point of view but I thought that would cross the line.
© 2014 - 2024 GoldenGirl954
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DivineROAR's avatar
I stayed away until it was safe to read. Really good idea.