1935 | ATLANTIC OCEAN — surrounded by the blue waters, she swam along the sparkling sea floor. Everywhere she looked, she always discovered the beautiful treasures of the ocean. The different shells, the small starfish, the colorful coral fields. Even the dolphins, seahorses and fish joined near the mermaid and swam around her without any fear of her. She enjoyed the calming silence and the peace that reigned down there. Still, she was lonely in this infinite underwater world.

One evening she swam up to the surface, which was lit by the glow of the silver moon. She sat down on a grayish rock that peeked out of the sea and looked up at the twinkling stars in the clear night sky. In the background she heard the faint rustling of the cool waves, as well as the sound of the night.

She quietly sang a song softly with her voice and continued to gaze at the stars, while slowly swinging her mermaid tail to the sweet melody.

Her voice was beautiful indeed, but you could hear her pain, suffering and loneliness inside of her. Legends say that true mermaids could beguile sailors with their singing and made them steer their ships against the rocks. But this girl wasn't a real mermaid ...

Shortly she interrupted her singing and thought she heard something. Confused, she stared around and saw nothing abnormal. But then again she heard an indescribable noise. This time she was sure to have heard something. The heart in her chest began to race faster and faster and meanwhile she felt more and more uncomfortable in the dark night.

She decided to dive back into the water and head to another place that was more hidden.

After a few seconds, however, she heard the strange noise again, only this time it was a lot louder. And much more frightening than before.

But before she had the chance to turn around, she heard a loud bang and felt something heavy surrounding her. It pulled her down, it scratched her skin and fin. With all her strength she tried to free herself, but she was trapped in a huge fishing net. Panicking she grabbed the net with her hands and caught another glimpse. A dark submarine with a blood-red skull symbol on it.

Suddenly the abnormally loud siren of the boat echoed again in the girl's ears and she felt a strong jolt. This scared her so much that she cried out as loud as she could. *: ･ ﾟ ✧ *: ･ ﾟ ✧ *: ･ ﾟ ✧ *: ･ ﾟ

The girl woke up from her dream, sat up and gasped frantically, perhaps even in panic, as she stared at both of her legs. No tail, she then realized. Little tears slowly ran down her cheek as memories of Hydra seared back into her head. Maybe it sounded silly and naive, but at least in her dreams she was hoping to be free from Hydra.

However, a gentle knock on her door finally brought her back from her thoughts, and back to reality. She didn't answer, still in shock from the previous event. She felt voiceless, like she always felt at Hydra, she hated that feeling deeply. And the girl hated how fear easily overpowered her sometimes...

Shortly thereafter, however, the door opened and revealed a worried Steve Rogers standing in the doorway. "You all right?" He asked worried, noticing how the girl was wiping  the salty tears off her cheeks with her silky pyjama sleeves, hoping the captain wouldn't notice.

A soft sniff came from her and she nodded to him saying yes. In reality, she was shaking and her eyes were still watery, always looking back at her legs.

The captain had asked FRIDAY to let him know if the artificial intelligence noticed something was wrong with the girl. After all, she was his responsibility.

Steve approached her cautiously and looked into her eyes with his deep blue ones."You had a nightmare, didn't you?" He asked as he sat on the end of the bed, whereupon he just received a weak nod.

She turned her gaze from him to her fingers. She still wasn't used to seeing her hands, completely scaleless, even though they were barely noticeable. "Hydra." She said, her voice was almost a whisper.

"They won't get you back." Steve assured her, his gaze determined. "And we will stop them." Hearing those simple words calmed her and then a small thankful smile appeared on the girl's face after she looked up at him again.

Maybe it was his blond tousled hair, his deep blue eyes, or maybe his compassionate manner? ... There was something special about him, that she adored. But why was it him, who managed to give her that lost feeling of safety?

Just as little did Steve know what attracted him so much to this mysterious girl ... Maybe it was her brave smile, the glow in her ocean eyes, her curiosity or the fact that she was ready to risk her own life to save him, even though she didn't know him?

"Thank you." She replied, ignoring the pain in her throat, when a gentle but small smile appeared on the captain's face. She didn't need any words to understand him and Visa versa. Sometimes a simple smile said more than a thousand words.