Author's note-
Sorry that this chapter is a little boring, and doesn't really have any avengers in it. I promise you that the next one will be much more interesting.
Also, keep posted for the next chapter of The Double Life of Miss Lucia Black. Fedora is currently working on it, so expect chapter 2 in the next two weeks or so (I know it's a long time, but we are really busy : ) Anyway, thanks for reading!
Regular girl. Regular life. That is all I am.
I repeat this lie over and over in my head as I lean back against the steel wall of the helicarrier, my hands wrapped around the closed cover of one of my favorite books, it's paper cover like velvet compared to my tan, scarred hands. Though I try, I am not able to read, for the events of the past week have been quite particular, enough so to consume my daily thoughts as I sit here, in this tiny cell-like room, waiting for something, anything, to happen. Besides my experiences, some of my boredom-killing activities include reading, running my fingers through my short brown hair, and occasionally tapping the zipper that holds my grey hoodie together. Today I don black yoga pants, a grey T-shirt, grey hoodie, and a loose bun to top it all off. I try to wear the most simple clothing I can-I don't want to seem extravagant or anything. Also, it allows me to daydream easily. My daydreams mainly consist of landing on a cloud and laying back onto the pillow-like surface, and then watch as we soar up into the pale blue sky to a wonderful place where happy endings exist. This, like all of my other impossible fantasies, have no chance whatsoever of happening, and even if they did, science, logic, and reality would just beat them down until I am splattered on the hard, cold pavement below, not soaring high into the embrace of the universe.
"Kid?" A voice comes from the other side of the (sadly) locked door. It doesn't sound demanding, which is surprising, considering everyone in this helicarrier seems to think that every sentence must be said with the stereotyped tone of urgency that you find in movies.
"What do you want," I growl back. I don't really care if the person sounds nice-I still despise anyone who has to do with Shield, and I'm not hyperbolizing.
"Well- oh, nevermind. I'll have Fury tell you instead." It's a man's voice, and as far as I can tell, he's trying to be nice.
"Whatever." I sighed as I scooted myself away from the door, trying to get away from the outside world. Whatever there was out there, whatever black-eyed monsters lurked in the shadows, I didn't want to be a part of it.
"Hey! What are you doing outside of my room?" A familiar voice rang in my ears, it's sound filling me with just a single grain of happiness.
"Luke?" I whispered. Luke was my cellmate, and my best friend since forever. He and I could take on the world if we wanted to, running through the streets of New York, occasionally stopping to marvel at the fancy chocolates that decorated the invisible windows.
"Hey, Ami." Luke phased through the wall and into our room. That was his power-phasing. He could go through any solid object without difficulty, which allowed him to go out and in our prison easily. Sometimes I wonder why he chose to stay with me, instead of running around the helicarrier making obscene noises. Luke, unlike me, had many friends, some of whom he had known his whole life. It just wasn't like him to throw that all away, leaving behind all the love and joy his companions brought him for Evan, Nikki and I.
"Where's Evan and Nikki?" Luke asks, flopping onto his cot.
"Probably showering," I replied. Luke and I both knew that was a lie-we just didn't want the security cameras knowing about Nikki and Evan's pranks. They both often ran around SHIELD playing tricks and pranks on agents, using their shower time as an excuse for their mischievous actions. To be honest, I was getting tired of our guards banging in the middle of the night and asking "Why the hell did it take fifty minutes to take a shower?".
"I think they're coming back. And it sounds someone's chasing them." Luke laughed. His claim was soon backed up by the sound of pounding footsteps and maniacal laughter echoing down the hall. Smiling, I stood up and watched Luke phase through the wall, only to fall back through, Nikki and Evan in tow, their faces red from exhaustion.
"Hello, you two." I sighed. Nikki and Evan both smiled back at me, giggling. They both were almost identical look wise, both having blonde hair and half-tan skin, accompanied by brown eyes. The only difference was that Nikki was about half a foot taller than the rest of us while Evan was about half a foot shorter.
"I don't reckon we'll be getting much sleep tonight." Nikki laughed, laying back on her cot.
"Agreed." Evan morphed into an orange and white cat and curled up on his small pile of sheets and blankets, snuggling in and snoring softly. Evan could turn into any animal he wanted on command while Nikki had super-strength. Luke and I met them about a week after I was thrown in this prison- they, like Luke and I, were orphans who had stuck together since the beginning, even though they weren't related at all. They had been put in here because they were found wandering the streets, Nikki punching everything that made her angry or sad and Evan changing into animals when he was frightened, or sometimes just for fun. According to Evan, "Those bastards just swooped in and put us in a big black trunk and took us all the way here and now we're stuck with you people." It surprised me how Evan spoke-it was as if all the depressing thoughts were gone from his head and he only wanted to speak his optimistic mind and make others laugh. Nikki was the same, with her loud, booming voice and muscular figure making her very intimidating.
"Soooo, you guys up for a round of duck duck goose?" Luke asked.
"Sure." Nikki replied, glancing at Evan. "As long as Evan doesn't turn into a goose and chase me around the room. Again."
Evan sighed. "That," He said, turning back into his human form "Is impossible."
"What about you, Ami?" Luke asked, looking back over his shoulder at me. Brushing a strand of dark chocolate hair out of my face, I walked over to the large square window and gazed out into the pink and orange-streaked sky.
"What about we dance or something like that?" I insisted, trying to make my contribution. I never really played any of these time-passing games. Instead, I always sat on my cot, reading a book or doodling in the few thin sheets of paper that I have left.
"Dancing… Cool!" Evan smiled, doing jazz hands.
"Nooooo way am I dancing." Nikki grimaced, backing up. "I tried that last time, and-"
"You failed?" Evan interrupted, his smile a mile wide, probably remembering some funny moment and replaying it inside of his head over and over again.
"No. I accidentally killed someone."
"That doesn't surprise me."
"Do you want to die?"
Evan shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do."
"Well then," Nikki slid forward, and, with a light punch to the arm, had Evan on the ground, moaning in pain.
"Ow ow ow ow-" Evan whimpered, lightly clutching his arm.
"Nikki!" Luke scolded. "You've got to stop doing that! I'm surprised his arm hasn't fallen off yet."
Nikki rolled her eyes. "Oh, he'll be fine. Trust me, he's just overreacting."
"Maybe we should do something else," I suggested. "What about we build a pillow fort? Or maybe-"
Suddenly, the whole helicarrier shifted to one side, causing the lights to flicker and the four of us to be jolted across the room.
"Ami! Luke! Evan! Are you guys ok?" Nikki crawled over to Luke and I, who were laying vertical against a steel wall. Everything in my body was sore since I was thrown up against the wall like a ragdoll.
"Yeah," I said, bringing myself to my knees. I grabbed Luke's shoulder and shook it, but only got a muffled groan in response.
"I'm ok too, in case anyone cares." Evan scooted over to Nikki's side.
"What happened?" I asked, fear tinting the edges of my voice. A jolt large enough to throw us across the room wasn't routine, meaning something had to have gone wrong.
"I don't know. Maybe if I can get to the window, I'll see what's going on." Evan pointed towards the one, tiny window that was usually too high to see out of. However, now that we were tilted, the window was just four feet above us. Evan morphed into a small hummingbird and zipped over to the window in a flash of green and purple. He hovered in front of the window for about half a minute, then morphed back and slid over to them, his face in a state of shock.
"What?" I asked. Evan was never this solemn. Never.
"It was absolute chaos. Missiles, bullets, I think I even saw the Hulk." Evan shook his head. "It's really bad."
"Deadly bad? Or…"
"Deadly. Definitely deadly." Evan started to stand up, using the flipped cot to balance himself.
"Hey!" Nikki grabbed his ankle. "Where are you going?"
"This could be our chance! We could escape!"
"No. No no no no no." I hissed. If I escaped, I know they would find me. It's a feeling I get even when I'm only a few feet outside my cell-It's like a crushing sense that someone is watching you, and every step you take away from the cell they get a little closer.
"Ami. Please." Nikki sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder. "This could be our only chance."
"No."
"Pleeease?"
"Nope. Nada. Never in hell."
"Well too bad." Nikki suddenly grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me upwards. She then turned and started leading me toward the door, her grip like iron.
She turned to Evan "Is Luke awake yet?"
"Why don't you actually ask me?" Luke said as he sat up and started to rub his temples. "What happened?"
"We don't know yet, but it did give us a chance to escape," Evan said as helped Luke up. "Except this killjoy over here wants to stay."
"Hey!"
"We might as well…" Luke started, heading toward the wall. The shiny silver metal rippled around his form as he poked his head through the wall. After about five seconds he retracted, a smile lit up on his face. "Just as I thought. No guards."
"No. Still no." I said, resisting Nikki's grasp. Even without the guards, this place was still crawling with all sorts of agents, and I was bound to run into one who recognized me.
"Ami, listen." Luke trotted over to where I was ineffectively struggling against Nikki's hold on my arm. "We may never have a chance like this again. This is our one shot to go back to our home. I know that you're scared, but you have to try and put that aside. To be honest, this place makes all of us sadder than we should be. So why stay? Even if we run into some trouble, we've got Hulk jr. to help us out. So," His electric blue eyes met my own green ones. "What do you say?"
"I-I… Ok." I took a deep breath in. "I'll do it." Smiles erupted from my fellow cellmates, along with the random "Good for you!", which I heard a couple times.
"Ok then," Luke grabbed Nikki's hand. In turn, she let go of my arm and grabbed Evan's hand, who then proceeded to clutch mine. Though it was awkward, we had to do this-otherwise Luke wouldn't be able to phase us through the wall.
"One, two, three!" On three, we all darted forward and passed through the steel. I felt an odd, cold sensation ripple through my body as we went through, but it was gone as soon as we fell through to the other side. We had landed in a narrow, metal hallway, which seemed to be endless. Barred doors lined the sides. Each one was about ten feet from the other and were covered in dents and dark stains.
I can't believe this. I thought, swiveling my head so I could take in the full view. I'm outside the cell. I'm outside the cell.
I'm outside the cell.
Fear rushed through my body but was soon overpowered by adrenaline. I was outside my cell, and nothing could stop me. I was here with my friends, and whatever turmoil was thrown our way, whatever force tried to stop us, would fail. The fear I once felt going outside is no longer there. It's disappeared, replaced by courage. No longer will I stay, trapped and drowning in my own sadness. No longer will fear control me. No longer will I be caged, like some animal.
No. I am free now, and there is no way that I'm ever going back.