The first thing I was aware of was the cold.
The world was still dark but my senses were slowly tingling to life. Shudders built agonizingly under my skin only to fade down my spine, my limbs were like lead but I could feel the cool sheen of sweat on my skin, and the weight of the fabric in the places it soaked against my body. Using my Tai Chi training I tried to draw my full attention to individual parts of my body, probing them with my mind; to analyse and to evaluate – instead I seemed to flick a switch somewhere in my brain that sent my senses roaring to life.
The wall of pain hit me all at once. My lungs were on fire. Every muscle, every nerve in my body was in spasm, protesting painfully. At first all I could think of was the pain, my head pounded relentlessly but then there were flashes – hallucinations, memories? – Coulson, a smile, a promise…Radcliffe, Aida…Fighting, stumblingly… unnatural images, synthetic…A little girl, a fight, a victory /a failure, her failure, so much blood, so much pain/ -no-…Mission accomplished, safety, the warmth of the tiny little girl curled up next to her, Andrew's voice over the phone…Andrew…/leaving, walking away, a broken marriage, a broken wife…so much pain/
It was the sound of an echoing crash that tugged me into a higher level of consciousness, somewhere above the turbulence still rattling deep inside my head. My awareness was drawn outside of my body, to my surroundings, it was cold…there were voices…
-Dude, seriously! Be careful – she could wake up!
-What, are you seriously afraid of a half-dead, tiny Asian woman? Besides, the guys in the lab put her down with that stuff we've been using to take out the inhumans – they had medical on standby because they were half sure if the stuff didn't knock her out it would probably just stop her heart completely
-Tiny Asian woman? Dude this is the fucking Calvary we're talking about here, if she got up she could probably take out the whole base!
-Yeah, well that's a pretty big if from where I'm standing – and I'm no psychic but I don't see myself getting my ass whipped from some drugged up ex-super-ninja currently being carried in a stretcher in the near future
I could almost hear the smug smile on that asshole's face. They continued to bicker back and forth uselessly, the Asshole and one who called me the Calvary. Even in a semi-conscious state, years of training had my mind automatically storing the facts; I was being held captive somewhere, I was in bad shape, I had been drugged, the enemy had a base and staff, I was being carried and guarded by at least two men. Waves of pain and nausea scattered my thoughts and I tuned back into the voices of the men carrying me as I clung to consciousness.
-…I'm not saying we can't handle her like this but why risk moving her in the first place?
-Nadeer made some sort of deal with the scientist guy, Radcliffe, he wanted our little prisoner here and a private lab in return for giving her full access to the LMD tech, she seemed to think it was worth the trade
-Don't you? Dude, have you not seen them strength testing the new LMD guys? They are BAD. ASS. We could have our own army of super soldiers, the inhumans literally won't know what hit them
-It's not the trade I have a problem with, that Radcliffe guy and his RoboGirlfriend give me the creeps. I don't like the idea of him having a private lab, God knows what he'll dream up next – but hey, if he wants to take this little drain on resources he can be my guest, probably wants her for spare parts or something – maybe RoboGirl's just not doing it for him anymore…
I was almost grateful for the final spasms of pain and nausea as they pulled me back down into the darkness and away from the sound of the voices as they continued their musings on my fate.