CASSANDRA STORY

THOR/OC

Before I'd been picked up with S.H.E.I.L.D, or Nick Fury more like, things had been rough all the way up to full on shitty. Illegal experimentation on humans wasn't in the past like we all thought, it was very much alive and quite the lucrative business when theres desperate people looking for some cash or room and board. The homeless are easy to pick off, no identity, no one wondering where they are, nothing to come back and look for them.

I mean, life was generally much easier than this. I was always crouched near Interstate 35 going into Texas with nothing more than a backpack and a cardboard sign that said "No Cash, need ride to Austin" that kept bending every time a car sped past me doing 90. It sucked. My back hurt, my ass hurt, and my lungs hurt from the lovely fumes.

How did I get to this point you may ask?

I had a job at one time, I got to answer phones for a larger paper-mill company outside of Austin but then things kept getting scaled back. Workers were laid off and I refused to go to my parents in California. I wouldn't. I couldn't. All they'd do is critique me for what I could have done better now that I was a good month into being homeless.

"Need a ride?" I jumped a bit as I took into account that a car had actually pulled up alongside me in my day dreaming. Maybe inhaling all these exhaust fumes and rubber burning had actually killed off half of my brain cells.

"I do, I don't have anything to repay you though." I confessed quickly, not moving towards the brown haired man in the car still. He was mildly attractive in a sort of young Burt Reynolds with no facial hair. Not entirely my type but I guess he was alright.

"Thats fine. I actually have a proposition for you." He shrugged and gave me a half grin. Scratch that, not attractive at all.

"I'm not a prostitute." I narrowed my eyes and felt my jaw clench up as he raised a hand to me quickly. My frustration with these circumstances were starting to over-spill onto my ability to pick out what was worth a fight and what wasn't.

"Sorry, I should explain. This has nothing to do with sexual endeavors, Miss...?" He raised a brow as he spoke loudly over the sound of traffic zooming by us.

"Piety." I responded slowly, feeling the cough resurface in my lungs and the grumbling of my stomach.

"Well Miss Piety, come on in and we can discuss this over lunch." He gave me a slow coaxing smile as I considered this. I mean, I wanted a ride but I also didn't really want to die today. My stomach growled again and I somehow found myself getting into the car with this stranger. Good call, Cass. Good. Call.

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"So its just some drug trials?" I raised a brow as I finished my plate of tacos and the nachos sitting next to it. I hadn't eaten in a day or two and my body was demanding I pounded some food down before I felt like I'd kill over. My blood sugar has a habit of dropping out from under me.

"For a few months, up to a year of in house monitoring. You wouldn't be able to leave the compound, obviously." He'd introduced himself as Dr Aldrich Killian with a company called FuturePharm. He seemed nice enough as he explained what would be happening to me but so far, the only downfall was that I'd essentially be a caged bird for maybe a year.

"And I'm getting paid per hour for this whole thing?" I raised a brow, still checking if I understood him right.

"Thats correct, Miss Piety. Take a moment to look at the fine print though." Dr Killian motioned to the stack of paper between us. My eyes darted down to the contract in front of me, I couldn't talk about this little trial to anyone else but those involved directly which included the millionaire playboy, Tony Stark. He apparently owned the main company.

Now that was a dream boat of a man. Smart, exciting, sexy, and rich. I was really into wealth right now but I had a feeling that was just because I had none. I mean why else was I even considering this thing? It was sketchy. I'd essentially disappear for a year and I'd done so willingly. I had no idea of any side effects? What if I grew 4 other arms with this thing?

I took in a deep breath as I flipped to what my salary would be like after taxes. 87,000 dollars. That was a lot of money. That was more money than I'd ever seen in my entire life as my own. I picked up the pen shakily, and signed my name on the dotted line in a flash.

"Lovely. Whenever you're finished Miss Piety, we'll take you to FuturePharm's building here in Austin and get started." Dr Killian smiled as he scooped up the pages and placed them in a sealed briefcase. Regret rushed through my veins as I sipped my water again.

Good god. What am I doing?

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"We're just going to strap you in right here, alright?" A female I'd come to know as Maya Hansen was using her honey coated voice to coax me back onto the medical table again. I almost wanted to scream and yell for everything to stop, I didn't want to do this anymore. It looked painful and scary with monitors everywhere showing a flatline and 0s.

"Right." I sighed as I slowly laid down on the table, trying to control my heartbeat as she locked down little metal belts over my torso and lower half. This was the make or break moment. Either I was successful in combining this virus of sorts with me and I was paid or I wasn't and this was for nothing.

I'd been through vigorous testing to see if I was even compatible or something with this new technology the doctors were calling the Extremis Virus. Nutrition, weight, height, mental stability, pain tolerance, morality, it felt like the FBI were field testing me for some sort of life or death mission at this point. It wasn't even a virus, it was little robots from what I'd gotten.

"So we'll stand you up now, and inject the serum." Dr Hansen continued smoothly, her bedside manner was alright I guess. I didn't particularly care one way or another as she applied little monitors for my heart rate, blood pressure, and an IV.

My heart rate was a little fast for a 21 year old female in a resting position at 117 beats per minute. They could totally tell I was terrified right now, just by the beeping alone that increased as I came to a standing position with the base of my neck exposed.

"Test Subject 0, Cassandra Piety, aged 21 years old." Killian addressed the cameras watching me in this process in a disconnected voice and turned towards Hansen and I.

"Preparing injection site now." Hansen called out as Killian loaded up what looked like a pocket pistol with a tube of something black. Her honeyed tones were gone now, she was back to doctor mode I guess. The beeping of my heart-rate monitor went a few beats faster as Killian handed her the loaded gun now.

I held my breath as she wiped down the area, it felt cold and the smell of rubbing alcohol drifted through my senses. I stared at the camera for a second until I felt the metal pressing against my neck. A metallic firing sound went off as I felt a sting, forcing my eyes shut out of a nauseating panic.

"Nano-tech serum injected." Hansen called as Killian wrote something down and noted the time. I want to go home, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't know how much time passed but at first I felt nothing but the feeling of something rushing through my veins. Then a hot pain started, like I'd been struck my lightning from the back of my neck, down my back and to every limb it could reach.

"It hurts." I gasped as my body thrashed from invisible waves of pain and shock. I felt like I'd stuck my hand into an electric socket.

"Phase 1 started at 11:59 AM." Killian called out as he glanced at my monitors and jotted something down on his notepad. This continued for far to long, making me feel the need to cough. I coughed harder and harder as I lost control of my limbs and functions entirely, it all hurt and I felt like a puppet on strings as blood spilled out of my mouth.

"Former Genetic code expelled." Hansen called out now as she dabbed around my mouth with little expression as I choked on the viscous liquid. Fear grated through my mind while I struggled to breath but oddly, the beeping from my heart-rate monitor had slowed. Was I dying? I could die of blood-loss, right?

"Am I d-d-dying?" I asked wheezing between the coughs. She did not respond. If anything she outright ignored my question, acting like she hadn't heard a thing at all. I'm dying.

"Phase 2 at 12:45 PM." Killian called now as my eyes darted to the monitor behind the deadened woman. I'd dropped to 59 beats per minute and it was 12:45 in the afternoon. When did we start this? Had I been coughing since this morning? Am I going to die? I coughed harded, feeling a pop in my chest and decided that I might as well have blown a lung.

I heaved again as I coughed for what seemed like the last time. I couldn't breath but the panic was subsiding. I supposed I was dying because I didn't feel the hot stings anymore. I didn't feel anything at all. Maybe death wasn't as bad as we all thought. Maybe this was better than what I'd done to myself. for money.

An oxygen mask was placed over my mouth and nose as I blinked blearily at the brown haired women next to me. She looked curious, not concerned for me as I slowed my breathing. She didn't care if I lived or died and suddenly I didn't either. I just wanted to sleep.

I wonder if my parents ever checked for me when I didn't call last month.