I woke up slowly. My mind felt blurry and I was very sleepy. My senses started returning to me but when I opened my eyes everything was still as dark as before. Was I blind? Or even dead?!

As I became more and more awake, I noticed something soft against my face. Some kind of fabric I guessed. So I wasn't dead. Or blind for that matter. Gradually, I also noticed that I was laying on my side and it wasn't comfortable. The surface was hard and it felt like I had been laying there for quite a while. I tried shifting into a sitting position but realized that something was restricting my arms and legs.

Puzzled and still very dazed, I wondered what it could be. I tried to think of the last thing I could remember. I had left Clint's hotel, walked for a while, bought a backpack, rested in a park, looked for some place to stay the night and... A sense of panic suddenly filled my mind. The men in the van! I remembered it now, the images from the kidnapping flushing the last traces of drowsiness from my mind as I lay on the floor I had been dumped on. Hands and feet bound, a black bag over my head. They had found me. But how? I had been so careful! How could they possibly have known where to look?

I frantically attempted to free myself from the zip ties around my ankles and wrists. They cut into my skin with a stinging pain. There was no point in wondering how they had gotten to me. I had obviously made a mistake somewhere along the line and now I was once again trapped. I squirmed on the floor, groaning with the effort of trying to get into a sitting position again. I managed somewhat. The fact that my hands had been tied behind my back made manoeuvring very difficult, to the point where I lost my balance once and almost landed on my face. I closed my eyes, breathing heavily and leaned my head against the wall. There was no point in trying to get loose. They had made the mistake of letting me escape once and they would not make it again.

A feeling of dread washed over me. This was all that Clint Barton's fault. If he had just let me die like I'd wanted, I wouldn't be in this situation right now! They wouldn't have found me and I would have had peace! I cursed him silently in my misery. It would only be a matter of time before they came to take me to be punished. And retrained... Panic surged through me at the thought of having to go through that again. I had to try to get out! I started wriggling my hands and feet again, trying to loosen the bonds. No such luck. I sighed and gave up, slumped against the wall, completely drained of all hope and waited for the inevitable.

The inevitable came after what felt like an eternity of mental torment. Sitting like I was, unable to move around and with a black bag over my head, I had little else to do but think about all the terrors that awaited me. I had tried to make an attempt at pushing the images from my mind when the door had opened and brought me back to reality.

I jumped at the noise and turned my head to where the sound had come from even though I still couldn't see anything. I heard footsteps approaching and sat up slightly. A hand grabbed me under my left arm and pulled me to my feet. I stood unsteadily, supported by whoever it was that had come to get me, and felt the bonds around my feet loosen. I heard a male voice speak up slightly behind me and to my left.

"Don't try anything, or we'll just tie you up again and carry you instead."

There was no menace or threat in the voice, it was simply stating the facts. I knew it to be the truth. I had no hope of escape with my hands tied and face covered anyways, so I just steadied myself and waited. I was led forward by the man and after a few steps someone else joined us by grabbing my other arm. Flanked and escorted, I walked awkwardly as they led me through twists and turns. My inability to see made it disorienting and uncertain to walk and I stumbled a couple of times. All the while my mind was replaying all the horrors from my past, filling me with more dread and panic. No one had ever escaped before, so I didn't even know what I had to expect, but I was sure it would be bad. Then my escort stopped. They placed something behind me and guided me to sit down.

So it begins, I thought.