I'm still in a bad Avengers hype pardon me
again with a super long backstory what the heck
I've never written in this sort of style before, or even written a physically abusive relationship before, so please bear with me
Lame characters are mine, Avengers is not
The loud photocopier beeping to announce it was out of ink startled the woman standing next to it, almost choking on her coffee and dropping the mug she was drinking it out of. After catching her breath she looked over, seeing the screen flashing green and yellow with black text reading "Ink Cartridge Empty". Groaning, she put her mug on the table next to it and crouched down, making sure her skirt was pulled down properly, and then opening the lower cabinets built into the copier.
"Stupid thing…" she grumbled to herself, fumbling with the ink cartridge box before finally managing to open it. The woman stood back up, putting the box down and opening the compartment to take the empty cartridge out. "It always does this to me, doesn't it? Oh yes it does, are you trying to make a statement, copy machine?" she huffed crossly out loud as she finished the process of swapping the ink cartridges.
Pulling her hands back, she groaned again. Ink had gotten all over them. She did her best to press the continue option on the copy machine with her elbow, not wanting to get the ink everywhere, and hurried to the restrooms. She nudged the door open with her foot and stepped in, sighing in relief over the motion sensor faucets as she put her hands under the nearest one. The woman did her best to push her sleeves back away from the water by pressing her arm against her side, not wanting to touch it and get ink on the fabric.
"I picked the wrong day to wear white, didn't I?" she mused to herself and rubbed her hands together, working to get it off her skin. Her eyes moved up to her wrist to make sure no ink had gotten that far and then farther up past it, freezing as she saw a quarter sized spot on her skin that was a few shades darker. She felt her breath catch in her throat and she slowly moved a hand out from under the water, placing it over the forming bruise. There was no more concern with getting wet ink on her clothing.
Her hand froze, clamped over the mark on her skin, and then worked her sleeve up farther. There was the same similar shade forming around her upper arm. "Oh no no no…" the woman breathed quietly and quickly looked at the door before stepping sideways and locking it. She took her jacket off and dropped it on the floor, pulling her shirt up to her chest and turning to the side. Breathing became harder as she saw an even darker bruise wrapping around her hip.
Beginning to shake, she let her shirt go and gripped the sink, trying to catch her breath and stay steady. Hesitantly, she raised her face and looked at it in the mirror closely for any discoloration that might be starting to show. There was none. "O-Of course not…" the woman wheezed, sounding relieved. "He makes sure not to let it show." She said it to reassure herself, managing a smile at her reflection in the mirror.
The door catching on the lock snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked at it, quickly ducking down and getting her jacket before fixing her shirt and putting it back on. She hurried to the door and unlocked it, pulling it open and seeing her coworker trying to get into the restroom.
"Oh! Lyla, is everything alright?" she asked, looking her over from head to toe.
"I'm alright! The copy machine decided to quit on me, I was washing the ink off. The lock must have fallen into place when I shut the door." She lied but the other woman seemed convinced, nodding and moving around her to get into the restroom. Lyla rubbed her arm as she stepped forward, going back to the copy machine and taking her papers that had printed while she cleaned up as well as her mug before going back to her desk at the front room, in front of the double glass doors.
"You're home late." A large dark figure stood up from the armchair in the back of the living room as Lyla shut the front door behind her.
"O-Oh! Charlie you didn't have to wait up for me…" she jumped a little in surprise and squinted to try and see him better through the shadows.
"Where were you." It wasn't a question, it was a demand, and Lyla stepped away. Her back made contact with the door and she tensed up, clutching her bag.
"I…I had to go to the doctor's." her voice was growing quiet and ended in almost a squeak. Her fiancé had stopped right in front of her, leaning close as he grabbed her arms to look her over.
"For what."
"I…Charlie I-I need to tell you something…" Lyla couldn't help but stammer, but there was a small smile on her face. The man narrowed his eyes at her and pulled her away from the door, moving his hands onto her shoulders.
"What is it?" the woman's smile grew and she put one of her own hands on his.
"Ch-Charlie…we're going to have a baby." She could only bring her voice a little above a whisper, but her pounding heart settled as she saw her partner's expression change to what she read as excitement.
"Lyla, really?!" he asked, moving his hands to either side of her face. She teared up and nodded, getting a kiss from him in response.
"Lyla?"
Hearing her name being called snapped the woman out of her thoughts and she blinked before looking around. One of the scientists was standing in front of her, a clipboard in his hand.
"Lyla, I need those papers before you go to lunch." He said and tapped her desk. She looked slightly embarrassed.
"Ah yes! Of course!" she nodded and pulled the stack she had been going through closer. "Sorry about that, I was taking a small moment to rest my eyes…" she heard the scientist sigh and was nervous to look back up at him.
"Lyla, if you need some time off…" he trailed off as she waved a hand, not taking her eyes off the print.
"Of course not! I'll be sure to get my job done, sir. Leave it to me." She finally looked up at him, a smile on her face. Lyla pretended not to see the pity on his face and turned her attention back down on her work, flipping through the papers. She heard his footsteps as he walked away and once he turned the corner she put her head in her hand, pushing her bangs out of her face. "I need to stop zoning out…" she sighed quietly to herself, beginning to sort the paper work into piles. Her fingers drummed absentmindedly against the top of her desk, only looking up whenever she would hear the doors open to smile and greet whoever came in and help if they needed it.
Loud bangs were echoing through the condo from the upstairs bedroom. Lyla was afraid to look towards the stairs from where she was in the kitchen, trying to get dinner ready. She had let it slip that one of her coworkers had offered her a ride home.
Charlie didn't like that.
She had refused, of course, but it still upset him.
The bedroom door slamming against the wall as it was opened startled her and made her drop the knife she was holding. Lyla let out a shaky breath and rubbed her arm to calm down before struggling to pick it up, her stomach having started getting in her way more frequently. She was small for twenty-five weeks, but it still hindered her. Lyla heard Charlie stomping down the stairs, grumbling to himself as he got into the kitchen. She stood up and turned to look at him, seeing he was going to the fridge and starting to rummage through it.
"Ah, Charlie, dinner will be ready soon so you probably shouldn't eat right now…" she said quietly and smiled to him but it vanished as he slammed his fist on one of the shelves. The man raised his head over the open door and glared at her.
"I don't listen to whores." He said coldly and Lyla winced at the insult. It wasn't new, but it always stung. She rubbed her arms and turned around to continue preparing the food she was working on. "You're even fat, I don't understand how that man even thought about it." Charlie huffed and went back to shifting through the fridge. Lyla tensed up.
"H-He just offered me a ride ho-" she started but stopped as the fridge door slammed. One of the shelves collapsed and she heard containers shatter inside.
"And you thought about it didn't you!" he nearly snarled, making her wheeze. "Answer me, Lyla!"
Hesitantly, she glanced over her shoulder at him. Charlie clenched his fists and grabbed her arm, yanking her away from the counter.
"Answer me!" his grip was tight enough to cut the circulation from her elbow down and she trembled, afraid to look at him.
"I don't think you learned your lesson last time we had this talk…" The man said quietly, obviously threatening her.
"Ch-Charlie please I-I promise…" Lyla's eyes filled with tears and she finally looked at him. His face had no expression on it. He narrowed his eyes at her and twisted her arm behind her back, using the leverage to shove her into the stomach high counter. She cried out in pain and struggled to get away, trying to cover her stomach with her free hand, but he grabbed it before she could.
It was worse than the last time. He didn't hold back, despite their unborn son.
Her phone alarm startled her as it buzzed, indicating she had ten minutes left of her lunch break. Lyla sighed, rubbing her eyes before turning it off.
"Too many today…" she sighed again, picking her fork back up and shifting the pasta she had brought for lunch around. It had hardly been touched by her and she wasn't hungry, so she put the lid back on and packed her trash into her bag before getting up.
She smiled to a few coworkers as she passed them sitting near the break room entrance and headed down the hallway, getting back to her desk. After situating herself another one of the scientists approached her, putting a stack of papers on her desk in front of her.
"Hey, Lyla I need these done before you go home tonight." She said as she looked up at her. "I meant to get these to you earlier, but the new intern has really…been slacking." The scientist looked exhausted.
"Oh! It's not a problem. I'll have them done, don't worry." The phrase was similar to the one she gave earlier, and almost exact to the ones she gave yesterday. Lyla could hear her answers growing less varied each week, but she tried to ignore it and hoped her coworkers didn't notice. The other gave her a smile and a thank you before turning and going to the elevator, taking it back to the underground labs.
Lyla actively worked to get the papers sorted, signed by the correct people, and enveloped properly, stopping every so often to greet a guest or say goodbye to a worker. It took her almost five hours, an hour after she was supposed to go home. As far as she knew, everyone had gone home except for the few security guards.
Nearly slamming the last paper down on the stack with a triumphant breath, she stood up and stretched.
"Finally." She sighed and looked at the time on her computer screen. It was eleven at night. The woman rubbed her eyes and began stacking the papers together, taking them in her arms and heading to the elevator only to stop in front of them. She groaned a bit as she realized they had been turned off and started towards the stairs. Holding the stack of papers closer she went down them, careful not to misstep and fall, she hummed a bit to break the sound of her shoes clicking against the steel stairs.
Not long later she stopped at the bottom floor and managed to open the door with her forearm before going through it. Lyla shifted the papers in her arms and looked around, the white hall too dim for her to see the numbers on the doors on either side. She frowned and started to walk forward but stopped as she thought she heard footsteps coming from farther down, where it was too dark to see. Brushing it off as a security guard or the fact she was tired, she headed forward again.
Her coworker told her she left her office open, but she couldn't try to open the doors with the papers. Lyla sat them down at her feet and began to go down the hall, trying to open each door to see which room was the one she needed to put the papers in. She had only been down in the area three times in the two years of her employment, and even then she hadn't gone searching through the rooms.
She went so far that the door to the stairs was now too dark to see clearly and she frowned. The papers were important, she couldn't just leave without putting them in their proper place.
"Okay…just two more rooms…then I'll find a security guard!" the woman said quietly to herself as she placed her hand on the next door. To her surprise, it pushed open. Breathing with relief she hurried back to the stairwell door, picking the stack of paperwork up again and then going back to the nudged open door. Feeling pleased with herself, she opened it enough to get in with her shoulder.
Once she was fully inside, the lights in the room flickered on and the door shut behind her. Flinching at the sudden light she squinted, trying to see what was going on. She knew most of the individual rooms had automatic lights, but the one she was in was too intense. Lyla froze when she heard the door bolt shut and quickly turned towards it, forcing her eyes open in time to see a metal door slam down from the top to seal it.
Dropping the papers in alarm she hurried to it, trying to push it in hopes that it would open. "Hello?!" she shouted and banged on the metal. "The door locked me in!" only after saying that did she realize an office door shouldn't have security like the one she was in did. Hesitating to turn around, she was scared to look to see what she had walked in to.
The whole room was bare. The floor was tiled white and the walls smooth. The light bounced off the white and made the room ridiculously bright. It was one of the test labs.
Lyla covered her mouth. Of course it was a test lab, she was on the bottom floor. She had been too distracted by her own thoughts to comprehend that she was in the wrong area. But it shouldn't have opened for her. It was supposed to be locked down for the night. Someone had set it up for an experiment.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, a loud whirring startled her into attention.
"TESTING WILL BEGIN IN TWO MINUTES." A loud computer voice rang out through the sealed room.
"No! Help!" Lyla shouted, waving at the camera in the corner in the hopes that someone would see her. Someone had set the room up, someone had to be nearby.
"EXPERIMENT NUMBER 201."
"I'm not a test subject!"
"EXPERIMENTAL VAPOR TO DESTROY CANCEROUS CELLS WILL BE RELEASED IN ONE MINUTE."
Lyla wheezed and clutched her chest. She knew some of the scientists had been working on curing cancer. It was all experimental. None of the animal test subjects had mad it. None of the 200 before now. She was going to die.
"EXPERIMENTAL VAPOR WILL BE RELEASED IN FOURTY SECONDS." The voice was almost drowned out by the noise of slots opening up by the ceiling. What looked like pumps slowly pushed in to the room, and Lyla was unable to look away from them as she leaned against the steel door.
"EXPERIMENTAL VAPOR WILL BE RELEASED IN THIRTY SECONDS."
Lyla felt her eyes fill with tears and she covered her mouth, starting to tremble violently. Cardiac arrest, asphyxiation, brain hemorrhaging, the causes of death in the other experiments went through her mind and she started feeling like she was going to vomit. Slowly, she slid down the metal door and started sobbing as the ten second count down started. This was it.
"Oh Lyla…" Charlie hummed as he stroked her hair. "Did you learn your lesson this time?" he looked down at his beaten fiancé, using a hand to lift her bleeding face. She stared at him, eyes wide and full of tears.
"I-I did Charlie…" she croaked, voice broken from screaming in pain. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before picking her up off the kitchen floor.
"Good. Now…we need to get our stories straight." He said, heading up the stairs to their bedroom.
"You don't want to lose me, do you?"
A loud, constant beeping roused Lyla. It annoyed her more than anything, but soon she recognized it. It was just like when she was in the car crash, the one she was told she lost her unborn son in.
Her eyes opened and she jolted upright, gasping for air and straining the tubes that were attached to her arms. She cried out, remembering the loud metal clang as the lab door locked her in. The computer voice counting down to her death. She needed to get out.
"Get the doctor!" she heard someone shout and squirmed to get up only to be pushed down roughly. The woman wheezed and looked around frantically, hardly able to make out the shapes of other people against the blinding light.
"Lyla! Lyla Suttell!" hearing her name made her freeze. She wasn't in the lab. "Ms. Suttell you're stable! Please calm down!" the nurse kept her from jolting up again but she strained against her. Soon the doctor came in and she felt a sharp pain in her arm before drowsiness, falling back down on her back and panting hard like she couldn't breath. Her eyes closed as she listened to the doctor giving the nurses orders and her heart monitor spiking wildly.
"There was a breech in security. I'm very sorry." Hearing the familiar voice of her boss made Lyla shift slightly as she started regaining consciousness.
"What do you mean a breech? What kind of organization are you running!" the next voice snapped angrily. Lyla recognized it as her mother's. "She's a twenty three year old secretary! Not a scientist! Not a test subject!" the older woman's voice cracked before she sobbed.
"Mrs. Suttell…we will do everything in our power to help you an-"
"Just get out!" hearing her mother shout made her jump and open her eyes a bit, trying to find where she was. She heard her mother gasp and a chair scrapping before feeling her hand on her own and another on her face. "Lyla? Sweetie?" her voice was right next to her ear and she turned towards it.
Her mother's face was streaked with tears and she looked exhausted. Lyla stared at her quietly before trying to raise a hand to put it on her mother's face but she took it and held it. "Lyla…take it easy, okay dear?" the older woman smiled and Lyla watched her red rimmed eyes tear up. "You're okay now…"
The door opened and she tried to look to it, watching the doctor from earlier step inside and shut it behind him. "Oh! I have great timing don't I?" he smiled and walked to the other side of the bed. "How are you feeling?" he looked at Lyla who stayed quiet, unable to speak. The doctor frowned but looked like he understood. "Mrs. Suttell, I'd like to speak with your daughter and let her know what happened. Is that alright?" Lyla looked to her mother and watched her nod.
He smiled and brought his clipboard up to look at it. "Alright then…" he flipped a few pages. "Someone managed to get through security two nights ago and they set the lab up for an unauthorized test session. Your labs are set to close once a life form is detected inside after being set. You must have frightened whoever was there away before they could finish what they set out to do." He flipped a few more pages. "They're searching for the person now. You don't have to worry about any bills, your boss has declared he will pay for everything." Lyla had stopped looking at him even as he continued to speak, starting to stare up at the ceiling.
The footsteps she had heard when she got on the floor weren't imagined, and they weren't a security guard's. She sighed and put a hand on her head, turning as best she could away from the doctor. Lyla heard him ask her mother to join him outside the room, wanting to leave her to rest.
She rubbed her head as she started becoming aware of the pain in her body. Her head ached, much like a migraine. Her hands felt sore but she was sure it was from hitting the metal door. The computer's voice rang faintly in her ears and she tried to block it out, wanting to go back to sleep.
What woke her up this time was the soreness of sleeping in one position for so long. Lyla coughed a bit and shifted to try and get comfortable but the tubes pulled at her skin, causing her to groan with pain and open her eyes slightly to see how much room she had to move. The thought of ripping them out became tempting, but as she moved her hand to start she heard the door open.
"Lyla?" the voice made her sit up quickly. The feeling of relief when she saw Charlie made her start crying and she smiled, moving a hand towards him like she was going to grab him. The relief vanished when he looked at her and she saw his worried expression turn to disgust.
"Ch…Charlie?" she wheezed, moving her hand back. The look on his face was unsettling. She shouldn't be disturbing in anyway, she wasn't assaulted or mauled. The man stayed in the doorway for a moment before going inside, shutting the door carefully behind him. He didn't speak as he glanced around the room, and he stopped when he saw her mother's purse on one of the chairs in the corner. Charlie ignored her and walked to it, shifting through her mother's belongings before taking her compact mirror out of it.
Lyla stared at him quietly, nervous to see what he was going to do. Calmly, he walked to her and opened the mirror before holding it in front of her face. The woman hesitated before looking at herself, her eyes widening in shock as she saw her reflection.
Her red hair like her mother's was now stark white, her decently tanned skin pale, and her eyes were no longer the gray blue she took from her father but red. She let out a strangled gasp and covered her mouth, feeling her face with the other hand. Her heart all but stopped.
"Lyla…" Charlie started as he slowly pulled the mirror away and closed it. She was staring off as she felt her face and hair, trying to sort out what she had seen. "Honey. I think we need to talk." She quickly looked at him, feeling tears go down her face. "This isn't going to work." He put a hand on her cheek and tilted her head up.
"B-But…Charlie wh-what did I do?" Lyla stammered, afraid to look away from him.
"This is too much Dear." He rubbed her cheek with his thumb. "I'm not feeling it anymore." Removing his hand he stepped back, taking his engagement ring off his finger and dropping it on her lap. Lyla covered her mouth and stared at him, unable to speak. It felt like her brain had stopped working. Charlie turned and headed to the door, opening it a little before it was yanked out of his grip and slammed shut.
"What the fuck?" he blinked and tried to open it again but the knob refused to turn. "Hey! Who locked this?" Charlie shouted and hit the door when it wouldn't open again. Lyla covered her ears so she wouldn't hear him shouting, coughing from her heavy breathing. She shook her head and looked back up at the man in time to see two of the chairs in the room launch at him, nailing him in the back and knocking him into the door. Lyla tensed up in alarm as Charlie shouted in pain and gasped as the bed started to shake.
"What kind of joke is this!" he yelled and struggled to get up, having been knocked down from getting hit, and looked at Lyla as the lights began to flicker. Lyla whimpered and shook her head before Charlie was slammed against the door again, this time it opened and he stumbled out into the hall.
Scrambling to get up and looked back at her again before pointing in her direction. "You're a fucking monster!" he got to his feet and hurried off, leaving Lyla sobbing to herself as she gripped the blanket tightly.
"Ms. Suttell?" the voice caught her attention but she didn't look away from the window of the coffee shop.
"That is me." She said quietly, lifting her coffee cup to take a drink from it. "It's nice to see you again." The man laughed lightly and took a seat in front of her, impairing her view to the outside.
"Wow is right, agent." Lyla looked down at the book she had open in front of her. "I do look different."
"I…Ah. That's right." He started before remembering what he had read in her file. Telekinesis, mind reading. The woman nodded and looked at him finally.
"So…what is this about your organization?"
TIME FOR EXPLANATIONS BECAUSE I SUCK AT GIVING THEM IN STORY
Lyla had been in a very bad abusive relationship since she was 20, Charlie physically beat her and mentally manipulated her so she thought their relationship was okay
She HAD been pregnant with his child, he had shown restraint, but because he went so long without an outburst (about four or five months at the time) he snapped one night and beat her bad enough for her to lose the baby
He purposely crashed their car bad enough so her wounds were thought to be from the accident
None of her coworkers knew about her abusive relationship, but they knew about her lost baby
The intern got too curious for his own good and decided to do his own experiment, he hadn't count on anyone showing up to the labs after hours
The lab was working on a cure for brain cancer, the medical vapor ruined Lyla's body chemicals, destroying the pigment her body had and stressing her mental capabilities
Instead of destroying her brain, it enhanced it and now allows her to use telekinesis and read minds
She spent four years in a rehabilitation center for domestic abuse after she was released from the hospital
Shield already knew her because her father worked for them in the past as an agent
Her mother disowned her as soon as she found out Lyla joined, having lost her husband because of them years ago
This is just a random agent, and she was able to read his mind in the last part so yeah
Lyla is now 30