Chapter Text
Sophia Dreyer’s story starts off simple enough, but tragic. Almost nine years ago when Sophia was barley 18 years old, she was in Dresden, Germany, on summer holiday visiting her family. It was the summer after her first year of college at LMU Munich University, where she was studying Microbiology, hoping one day to be a Genetic researcher, to help cure cancer, things like that. It was late and Sophia was heading back to college after an amazing summer with her family, about 11PM, when her car had decided that that was the perfect time to leave her stranded on the side of the highway. She’s never been the handiest person when it came to mechanics, that was more her sister and father’s thing, so she thought all hope was lost. Just when she was about to completely give up and sleep in the backseat, she finally managed to see headlights coming her way and was able to flag them down. She was overjoyed, thinking finally someone was going to be able to help get her back on the road back to school—she was wrong. The people in the car had opposite ideas, they were Hydra soldiers, looking for volunteers for their next big scheme, Sophia didn’t even know what Hydra was or why she should be afraid of them, but she would soon learn.
The Hydra soldiers took her to their main headquarters in the vast Russian wilderness, away from curious eyes. There they had all the latest technology, weapons, and torture devices, focusing the latter on Sophia. Day after day for eight years she was tortured, experimented on, and used as a weapon for Hydra. It seemed like every day they found a new way to make her scream, which they relished in. From water boarding to wiring her up to a car battery and shocking the shit out of her, there was never a dull day, or a sleep filled night—it’s also there that Sophia obtained her powers, which was the point of why Hydra kidnapped her. After the success of the Winter Soldier, Hydra wanted to see if they could make another soldier but one with a more trusting face and with enhanced abilities, one that could be more of a secret agent instead of a pure assassin, and they decided that kidnapping and experimenting on nearby citizens was the best way to get “test subjects.” Sophia’s powers are well odd, to her at least, the lead Hydra scientist called it cryokinesis, which means she can manipulate anything cold, like ice, water, frost, and some other things, but even after eight years she’s still learning how to control it all.
When the team realized that their experiments had been a success, they told her that she was going to be their new secret weapon that she was going to have the opportunity to “change the world” and that the world would be grateful for it. Sophia however wasn’t an idiot, she didn’t believe a word they said, but it’s not like she had many other options so she did as she was instructed, hoping that one day an opportunity would arise, and she would be free. Sophia could infiltrate enemy bases with ease, she had the looks of the girl-next-door, but also the brains to show those around that she belonged there, so it was easy for her to fake being an agent of any kind. To Sophia’s disgust it also took her minutes to dismantle the base and everyone in it, she hated how easily it came to her, how the more she did it, the more it seemed to be second nature, but after so many missions, she no longer cared. She eventually grew cold and harsh, caring not about others and even less about herself, nothing matters to her anymore, she even stopped dreaming of ever escaping and seeing her family again. After four years, killing became second nature and the old her, the happy her, was gone.
Years into her captivity, SHIELD got word from an informant that Hydra had started doing illegal human experimentation and they had been successful with one woman, and agents infiltrated the base a few weeks later to put an end to it all. The moment the gunshots and screams started, Sophia was convinced that they were going to kill her as well because of all the horrible things that she had done. When they did find her, she was in the corner of her cell, cowering from fear, a collar wrapped around her neck that prevented her from using her powers, but she still had her hands up ready to defend herself. One of the agents, and archer names Clint Barton, took it upon himself to try and coax her out, he sat on the floor of her cell and talked to her almost like she was a frightened little kitten. To this day, she still doesn’t know why, but she trusted him, perhaps it was his kind eyes, his soft voice, or the fact that he literally got on the floor with her, but he convinced her that she was safe.
Eventually, Sophia was interviewed by Clint’s boss, a man named Phil Coulson, he was also very kind, understanding, and acted as if he really did want to help. He told her that she wasn’t to blame for what happened or for the things that she had done, she was only trying to survive, after all she was a captive of Hydra. He offered to help her in any way he could in order to help her move on, but only if she would let him.
After many many hours of talking, Phil eventually decided that Sophia would be a good asset to the team, telling her that her powers didn’t have to be a curse that she can choose how she uses them, and she can choose to use them to help people now. Sophia, however, didn’t want any part of it, all she wanted was to return home and try to pick up what remained of her life back in Germany. When Phil began talking about taking her to America with them, she panicked, she didn’t want to go there, she wanted to be on her own—finally. All this talk about leaving gave her this sickening feeling in her stomach that they were just going to stick her in a room and watch her, just like Hydra did for years. She decided at that moment her best option was to fight her way out and escape—which she did.
Unfortunately for her though, once she got free, she became lost because Hydra made certain that she knew next to nothing of where she was being kept, all she knew was that she was in a frigid forest. Sophia was alone in the snow-covered forest for three days, luckily for her due to her powers the cold never bothered her, but she did start to lose hope of ever making it out alive, dehydration or starvation would get her soon. Despite how much she hated her life the way it was, she didn’t really want to die, but she figured it was what she truly deserved.
Just as she thought all was lost, Agent Barton found her, cowering against a tree, covered in a blanket of fresh snow. He sat down on the ground next to her and talked to her for about an hour. It was mainly a one-sided conversation, Clint talked about how much he missed his dog, Lucky, how long he’d been a SHIELD agent, and how damn cold the ground was. After a while Sophia say up and looked him in the eyes, growing more relaxed by his presence. He then informed her that in the end, going to the states was really her choice, and if she didn’t want to, they wouldn’t force it on her. Despite not knowing anything about her, Clint said he saw a lot of potential in her, saying it seemed like deep down she had a big heart and he thought she would do amazing things if she would just give herself a little grace. Sophia was warmed by his strange confidence in her and decided that moving forward would be the best thing for her, instead of dwelling on the past.
Once in America, Sophia was placed in a secret government facility because some members of Phil’s team were still unsure of her and wanted to know the true extent of her powers. After a while she started to believe that she just traded in her Hydra cell for a bright shiny SHIELD cell. There was a bed, desk, and a toilet, all in the same room, it was small compact, no color, just blank steel walls. She wasn’t sure hop long she was going to be there because no one ever told her when or if she’d ever be released. She tried her best to cooperate with everyone, she wanted them to trust her because she really did want to put her past with Hydra behind her and start a brand-new life helping people. Sophia wanted them to understand that she didn’t choose this life, before Hydra she was just a college girl from Germany who wanted to study pathogens and viruses, but no matter what she said, not much got through to them. She saw a bunch of doctors and scientists over her many months there, she ended up growing a friendship with one, a man named Dr. Bruce Banner. He was kind, gentle, and completely genuine. He listened to every word she said, and she could tell that he really did care about what happened to her, almost like he understood the torment that was going on inside of her. Maybe he would be able to get the others to understand that she was some evil Hydra machine anymore.