My fingers rub the spot on my chest where I was shot with adrenaline. It aches but then again, my entire body aches. Pietro shakes his head at me so I stop fiddling with it. I'm supposed to be undergoing testing but Dr. List, now free of Wanda's brainwashing, let the twins stay with me. I really appreciate it.

"What do you think? Just electricity or possibly all electrical currents?" Baron Von Strucker and Agent Basso are openly debating my potential abilities in the hall outside of the lab. Wanda and Pietro are standing statuesque on either side of me. None of us know what to do or say but the way Wanda cuts her eyes at me is rather telling. They're on the right track.

"What's the difference?" Agent Basso questions. I think all of this bores him. My death would have been much more entertaining than lights shattering and creating more work for him to do.

"The difference is the scale between lightbulbs and lightning." Everything has electrical currents, right? I think as Wanda runs a hand up my arm. I got a new grey dress but I put Pietro's jacket back on. He wouldn't take it when I tried to give it back.

"You really think she's the one doing this? Come on, Von Strucker, you're smarter than that. Just pay the damn electric bill and shoot her."

"Shoot her? When she could be the answer to all of our robotics problems?" Robotics problems?

Wanda leans closer to whisper in my ear, "The basement." I recall what the three of us stumbled upon months ago. Hydra had clearly been experimenting with a high-tech robotics program and was failing miserably. Apparently, their circumstances haven't improved much.

"Yeah, right," Basso replies. "If Ridley fixes that mess, you have permission to kill me."

"Why does he hate you so?" Pietro murmurs in my ear, his breath hot on my cheek. I shrug and he takes an awfully long time to move away from me. Oh no, I think as I feel my pulse quicken. I know what this means.

"Seriously, even if Ridley did have powers and her life absolutely depended on it, she would never help us," Agent Basso continues.

"Well, she does have powers and her life absolutely does depend on it," Baron Von Strucker responds.

"Then I better hold a gun to one of the twins' heads because that's the only way she'll do anything." I look between Wanda and Pietro to see their reactions. Neither show any open response, other than the corner of Pietro's mouth twitching into a bit of a smile.

"I think you underestimate her sense of self-preservation."

"I think you overestimate it."

Dr. List goes to tell them to go away and I take this time to shake out my hands and relax. When I do it, I notice faint bolts of white energy around my fingertips. They're rather similar to what I've seen Wanda do, if a little more like lightning. I clench my hands into fists to cut them off but that only causes everything in the room to dim.

"Sorry," I say when the lights come back up. Pietro had reached around me to grab Wanda and had a handful of my dress in his grip. He must've known I was the cause but wanted to protect us just in case.

"It is all right," Wanda says but Pietro pulls us closer to him anyway. The three of us stay silent for a minute, Pietro moving his hand to touch my hip and Wanda linking our fingers. I feel like both of them are bruising me as we strain to listen to the now hushed conversation in the hallway. Pietro relaxes his hold when it seems like we will be left alone for a little while.

"Katia, do you feel… any better?" Pietro tentatively asks. He's asked that before, when the three of us weathered the outage my first display of power incurred. This time, he's not really asking whether I feel sick but that's the answer I give him anyway.

"Yes," I respond. "Thank you for…"

"Stabbing you with a needle?" Wanda asks. I laugh a little.

"Yeah, thanks for stabbing me with a needle. And thank you for staying with me."

Pietro tenses up and immediately relaxes. "It is nothing," he says.

"You would have done the same," Wanda replies.

"Yes but still, it's more than anyone else has ever done for me," I state. "It just means a lot." The twins exchange a rather unreadable look. Are they pleased? Are they still worried?

"Well, it was no burden to take care of such a pretty girl," Pietro responds. Wanda groans and I scoff to cover up a smile.

The door to the lab opens and Dr. List walks in. "I'm sorry about all that," he says. "Now we should be able to do this uninhibited."

"Do what exactly?" Pietro has shifted from flirty to angry at a moment's notice.

"Just the routine tests we performed on you." I must flinch because Dr. List then says, "Oh, it's nothing to worry about. It's just a little bit of monitoring and bloodwork. Please sit down." He gestures at a gurney and worriedly, I take a seat. This isn't a trick, is it? I wonder. He's not just going to throw water on me and begin to experiment again? Wanda and Pietro take a place on either side of the gurney, each of them with their arms crossed. They won't let him hurt me, I think. For some reason, I know that to be most assuredly true. "First of all, Ridley, why don't you tell me how you're feeling?"

"I'm still a little nauseous but I feel a lot better than I did," I respond.

"Well, I think you're out of the woods as far as the sickness is concerned. You've beat it." I tell myself that should make me happy but I don't feel like I've beaten anything. In fact, I feel like I've done exactly what Baron Von Strucker wanted me to do, short of dying a slow and painful death. This is an option I'm sure he's never considered but based on the bits of discussion I overheard, he's happy about this latest development. "All right, let's talk about your powers. How are you feeling regarding that?"

"Am I supposed to feel differently?"

"You tell me."

I turn to Pietro and then Wanda before asking, "Did either of you notice any changes?" Wanda shakes her head while Pietro appears to be really considering the question. He settles on telling me he felt great. I remind myself that he got the added advantage of an incredible metabolism and a wealth of other health benefits. "Just put me down for no variations."

Dr. List keys that into a small tablet and then holds it up for me to look at. "You know how long it took us to get the electrical system back up?" Because I know he's aching to talk about it, I shake my head. But I was there for the blackout and I remember hours of sitting in the dark with Wanda and Pietro as Hydra agents ran around, inevitably tripping over things scattered in the hallways. Wanda had whispered to me how the situation was so like the two days after they lost their parents. That explains why Pietro won't let us go, I thought and why they kept asking how I was doing. Neither of them once mentioned what I'd done or pressured me to turn the lights back on. "Even with the sheer amount of people sent to deal with this particular problem, it took nearly eight hours. That's absolutely unprecedented! You fried the switchboards, mainframes, and blew every light in this compound. This," he points to his tablet, "is one of only three still functioning properly. I can't even begin to tell you what's happened to most of the medical equipment."

"Well-" I begin to say that I'm not sorry about it but Dr. List is apparently on a role.

"Frankly, what you've done here is unparalleled, Ridley. You're going to have a few, like Agent Basso, who simply don't believe you'll ever have the power to do such a thing but you and I both know they're wrong." He's as excited about me as he was about Pietro and Wanda. I can't believe it. "Baron Von Strucker is very interested in knowing the extent of your abilities and so am I. I'd like to run a few tests on you today just to understand any basic changes in your biological makeup but then, I'd like to see what you can do."

"I don't think I can do it on command," I admit. If I'm honest, I feel rather unwieldy.

"If you really think so, I can give you triggers." The word "trigger" automatically makes me think "water." I try to slide closer to Wanda instinctively. I used to believe I wasn't scared of anything but I feel absolute terror when I think about water.

"There's no need for that. We will teach her," Pietro asserts. He nods at me and I relax.

"Well, you'd best do it quickly. But I don't think there will be a problem here, Ridley," Dr. List says, turning back to me. "You'll come into these abilities on your own and naturally, you'll learn control. It's still early on. You've got time to develop but given the fact that you blew everything in the base, your powers probably don't have much more room to grow."

"I really fried everything in the compound?" I ask quietly. It's hard to imagine that a small girl like me would ever possess that amount of energy or that something as simple as a shot could set it off. Well, the adrenaline was more than a normal shot and Pietro hit my chest so hard that I thought the needle would break.

"Yes," Dr. List responds. "I don't actually remember much of it." Because Wanda meddled around with your brain. "And a display like that could have happened for a multitude of reasons. You were near death and you were extremely weak. It certainly doesn't mean you're uncontrollable or a danger to yourself." He reaches forward like he's going to touch me and I flinch. He looks vaguely offended. "I just don't want you to think it's something to be afraid of. Wanda and Pietro here are doing great and you're not scared of either of them."

"I'm not afraid of it," I respond. I'm afraid of what you might make me do. I think about the Chitauri monster in the basement and the robotics program. They can force me to help them and do what they want, just like they somehow keep Wanda and Pietro under their thumb.

"Good."

Dr. List takes blood under the scrutinizing eyes of the twins. I also undergo what amounts to a typical physical. At the end, Dr. List tells us that there are no obvious changes other than the small mark on my wrist (which has been there since the experimentation began). The bloodwork could tell us more but he doesn't know how long it will take to process since many of the computers are still down. He once again asks to see some show of my power but Wanda cuts him short. Does he want another blackout? Does he want me to pass out from exertion? Or does he want the "triggers" to inevitably kill me? All are things she would have him believe could happen. Dr. List relents and lets us go.

Since the base is still reeling from the power outage, I suggest we sleep in the bunks in my old room rather than our cells. Even though we might get in trouble for it, they agree. Mine is a typical, small room in the fortress and consists of two sets of bunk beds. No one has ever shared it with me. It's the bare minimum of comfort but it's better than what I've gotten used to.

I'm disappointed, though not entirely shocked, to see that all of my stuff has been taken away. There wasn't much here other than clothes and an extra rifle but I'm still a little sad to see them go. It sort of cements the idea that I was expected to die. Will I ever use a gun again? I wonder.

The twins take the bunks opposite mine and with a quick expression of thanks, they go to sleep. I don't, whether because I'm worried about being reprimanded for sneaking around or because I'm trying to come to terms with what I can do, I don't know. If we get caught, I'll tell them it was my idea, I think. Then Pietro and Wanda will be okay.

Go to sleep, Katia, I command. I shift onto my side and see Pietro in the bottom bunk adjacent to mine. Wanda's hand is hanging off the top bunk and every now and then, she gives a little sigh of breath. They have powers and they're all right, I convince myself. But some of the others developed abilities… and died anyway. I groan and turn to look back at the wall.

In the next instant, I'm asleep. I dream that I'm drowning, fumbling around in dark water until it fills my mouth and lungs. No one helps me because no one is around. Each time I reach the surface, something grabs my ankle and pulls me down deeper.

I gasp awake and nearly hit my head on the bunk above me. It's raining. Maybe it's sleet, I tell myself. You know Sokovia has an abnormally long cold season. But really, that's just as bad. "No, no, no," I whisper and pull my blanket over my head. For a brief moment, I consider getting in bed with Wanda but she's on the top bunk and I just don't think Pietro would understand. I settle for cowering in my own bed.

It'll be over soon. You'll be asleep before it's over. Under normal circumstances, I would consider myself a coward. Who, above the age of ten, is scared of the rain? Not even thunderstorms, just rain. Is there anyone else that's terrified of water? I know it doesn't make sense. I try to tell myself that it's foolish but still, I'm afraid.

It can't touch you, I think, pulling my knees to my chest. You can do better than this. Do you think Clint is scared of anything? Do you think Natasha is? There's no S.H.I.E.L.D. if you can't pull it together.

As I hear the rain pouring down the sides of the compound, I have a moment of clarity. This is the first consideration I've given to S.H.I.E.L.D. in months. When death doesn't seem like it's just around the corner, I can actually do some real thinking. The twins and I still need to get out of here. If I've truly defeated the illness and developed actual abilities, we've got a good shot.

I slide out of my bed and reach under the mattress. They may have taken everything else but I doubt they found this. My fingers grab the tiny GPS tracker from my old phone and I go back to hiding under the covers. I hid the tracker under my mattress months and months ago, in the hope that if I ever found anything to make it work, I'd still have it. Little did I know, I would eventually have the capability to turn it back on myself.

Isn't that ironic? I think. The girl with no access to technology, who only had shoddy hand-me-downs, is now the one with an all-access pass to electricity. Suck it, Hydra!

I hold the chip in front of my face and concentrate. "Turn on," I whisper uncertainly. Nothing happens. I shake my hand in anger. "You work when I'm sick but not when it would actually be useful? Come on!"

There's a noise, one that sounds a bit like a moan. I fold my hand around the tracker and the edges of it seem to cut into my palm. I peep out from under my blanket to see Pietro tossing and turning. He murmurs something and turns toward me. Even though he's asleep, duress colors his handsome face. Briefly, I look up at Wanda. She's peacefully sleeping, unaware of anything. He groans again, a long, low, and painful sound. He's having a nightmare, I realize. And it's probably for the same reason I had one.

I sit up, the tracker still in my palm, and Pietro whimpers. This is worse than either sound that has come before and anger ripples through me. I'm going to kill Baron Von Strucker for this, I think. Instinctively, I gaze down at the chip in time to see a spark go through it. A spark that I know I created.

"Oh my gosh," I mutter, holding the tracker in front of me. "I did it."

Pietro moans once more, his fingers clutching the edge of his blanket. I quickly slide the GPS chip back under my mattress. If it's back on, I should continue to keep it hidden.

"Pietro," I whisper. He murmurs and my chest starts to ache. "Pietro!"

He stirs, unlocking his fingers from their tight grip on his blanket and sitting up. He runs a hand through his white hair and sheepishly looks in my direction. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" he whispers. He's embarrassed. Even in the relative dark, I can see the apples of his cheeks redden.

"Oh no!" I reply. "Not at all. I, uh…" I swallow my pride and say, "I don't like the rain. I was hoping you could distract me." His entire expression changes, as if he knows I've spared him. I try to avoid looking him directly in the eyes. "I'm sorry I woke you up. I would have asked Wanda but she's…" I vaguely point up above him.

"It is all right. I was having a nightmare anyway," he says quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I prompt. He won't tell you, I think. It's probably just something he'd tell Wanda about. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that I'm an outsider to their relationship.

He shrugs. "I can't even remember it." I make myself nod, even as I hear the rain beating down on the compound harder and harder. "Do you want me to sit with you?"

"No, that's not-" I cut off when he comes and sits on my bed anyway. "Necessary," I finish. He leans back against the wall and cocks a grin in my direction. Wanda is still asleep, breathing slowly and deeply.

"You know," he whispers, "I think it is sleet, not rain." I pull my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them.

"Even if that were true, it's not much better in my book." He just stares at me, pale, blue-eyed, and beautiful. "Don't make fun of me. I know it's silly."

"No, it is not." I cut my eyes at him and understand that he means it. "Come on, relax." He tugs on my arm until I slouch against the wall beside him, my feet hanging off the edge of the bed. "Do you want to know what I think?" he asks with a quickly raised eyebrow.

"Of course," I reply, somewhere between serious and sarcastic. He leans over to me, so close that I'm secretly glad I'm not still wearing his jacket.

"I think you are very brave."

"What?" I question in disbelief.

"Do not be modest," he says, a smile tugging at his lips. "You stood up for us and you have survived everything you have been put through. You killed a man for me."

"I don't know if that's bravery or just common sense," I say quietly.

"It is bravery," he decides for me. "Deny it if you want but you are brave." He presses his knuckles into my arm, like a playful punch.

"I like the sound of that," I whisper. Pietro grins and doesn't move away.

He talks to me for what must be hours about all manner of things. He asks me about the electricity and what it feels like because it looks like lightning to him. He asks me my favorite color and how my gun works (does it work better mounted, is that why I placed it on his shoulder, which was fantastic, by the way). Before I know it, the rain has stopped and I am lulled into a dreamless sleep by the sound of Pietro's breathing.

I wake up abruptly when the door to my room is thrown open. "Found them!" Agent Basso yells as I groggily try to push myself up. Pietro's arms are somehow tangled in my dress and about my waist so I have to stay put. My chest begins to ache as I reluctantly try to move away from him. It feels warm and electric, like a mild version of being shocked. I'm not sure whether it's my new abilities becoming irritated at being awakened early or what I fear it actually is; Pietro. This is foolish, Katia, I warn. "Ridley, get up! You're needed in the labs immediately."

"Yeah, yeah," I mutter. Pietro cracks open his eyes and pulls away from me. I see him look towards Wanda, who's propped herself up on an elbow and is looking at us with a smirk on her face.

"Continue your threesome later. Get your ass up!" Agent Basso shuts the door again after pointing at me.

"That idiot can't even count," I say.

"I heard that!" he calls.

"So…" Wanda begins, drumming her fingers along the edge of her bunk.

"Katia does not like the rain," Pietro explains quickly. I slide to the edge of the bed and rub the soreness out of my neck. Wanda gives me a knowing look. Good. Let it rest. I hope neither of you ever mention it again. I slip into Pietro's old jacket because it's still cold and he watches me do it.

"Oh," she replies, "I understand." I let out a breath. Pity wasn't exactly her tone but it was close enough to rankle me. I shouldn't be felt sorry for, I think. I don't really deserve that.

"Well, thank you," I say genuinely, looking towards Pietro. Maybe I had just been attempting to spare his pride but he'd truly been helpful to me. "I better go see what Dr. List wants now."

"He should not want anything from you," Pietro declares. "I told him that we would teach you."

"Then maybe, you two ought to come with me."

That's what Dr. List wanted to check in on anyway. I'm tempted to ask him when any of us have had the time to think about training but I decide sassing him is not the best course of action. Instead, Wanda and I sit in the hallway of cells so she can teach me some basics, while Pietro impatiently looks on.

Her technique relies on staying calm and clearing your head, which is a lot easier said than done. Still, I can equate her ideas with things I've heard Natasha say. Natasha is always deadly calm and never seems surprised by anything, even in the midst of a fight. It's what allows her to be the best. So I take everything Wanda says to heart. Concentration, envisioning in my head exactly what I want to do, understanding my limits. Under her tutelage, I manage to open the doors to five cells and shatter at least three of the fluorescents around us, resulting in a rain of sparks scattering across the stone floor. I'm lucky that Wanda and Pietro aren't too skittish. Wanda only flinches once and Pietro has to dash out of the pathway of one of my light explosions (both of which, I apologize for profusely).

"All right, close your eyes and concentrate," Wanda says. "You are doing well."

I shake out my arms and hands. "If well means almost electrocuting you both…" I mutter, closing my eyes.

"You did singe my shirt," Pietro says. I bite back a nervous laugh.

"Shh! You are not helping," Wanda hisses. "Focus, Katia. Clear your mind. Deep breaths." I do as she asks.

Concentrate, I think. Be single-minded. I am distracted from this when I hear a swish and my hair moves behind my shoulder. I sigh and crack an eye open. Pietro is innocently leaning against the wall, pretending to look at his nails. I close my eyes. It happens again and this time I say, "I'll zap you, Pietro."

My concentration is fully broken when I hear Agent Basso yell, "Ridley! Let's hit the basement." I groan. Can I just blow this place up? Am I strong enough to do that? I wonder. When I open my eyes, Agent Basso is just staring at me like I don't have a brain between my ears. "Did you hear me, Ridley? Come on!"

"All right!" I snap. Wanda gives me an apologetic look as I get up and Pietro has balled his hands into fists. "I'll see you later," I tell them and follow Agent Basso out of the hallway of living quarters and labs. He's silent the entire way there but I know what's coming. I'd heard Baron Von Strucker imply they need my help.

When I enter the basement through the secret door Pietro stumbled upon, I'm surprised to see that it's been built up. Agents are all over the place, the robotic parts have multiplied, high tech computers are everywhere, and the Chitauri monster is lit up like a Christmas tree, like they're delighted to own it. Even the scepter has been moved down here to be put on display. Despite the amount of things proudly proclaiming Hydra, such as framed newspaper articles and odd green screensavers on the monitors, I feel like I'm completely in my element. My fingers twitch as if they're begging to spark up.

"Ridley," Baron Von Strucker says calmly. But I feel his eyes on me, watching as I look around, noticing how I'm itching to set everything in this room on fire. "We have something we need you to do." I walk up to the end of a row of computers, my finger running along the edge of the table, with Agent Basso by my side.

"And what is that?" I ask, looking above Von Strucker at the Chitauri snake. I still don't like it but now I feel oddly drawn to the monster. They're somehow electric. I think Clint told me that. I must be able to feel it. The entire room is overwhelming in good and bad ways. Good because it feels fantastic to actually connect to something beyond the twins. Bad because this could easily spiral out of control and I would willingly let it.

"I take it you remember your trip down here with the twins a few months ago?" I nod but keep looking around. A few months ago almost none of this was here. Fully formed robots and so many computers that I can barely think straight. That's when I really begin to consider the computers. Turning the chip back on may not be enough and as I think this, I know that it isn't. The GPS tracker's signal is being scrambled by the electromagnetic shield. I don't know why I didn't consider that. I don't know how I didn't feel it. The shield is interfering with a lot of things and I can sense that.

"It's a big difference, right?" Agent Basso asks beside me.

"Yeah," I reply, eyeing the tablet in Baron Von Strucker's hands.

"Well, Ridley, as you can see, our robotics program has really grown in recent months," Von Strucker tells me. He starts to walk towards one of the few completed robots, which can only be described as a second rate Iron Man. We follow him.

"I hate to ask this," I begin, "but what purpose are the robots supposed to serve? Is Hydra having difficulty recruiting these days?"

"Shut up and listen, Ridley," Agent Basso says, taking hold of my arm. "You might actually learn something." I'm going to kill you, I think then and there. I am going to kill you.

"The purpose won't matter if we can't get them to work," Baron Von Strucker states.

"Can't get them to work?" I question, shaking off Basso. "It looks like you've got the finished product right here." I gesture at the robot in front of me. Everything about it resembles a lackluster version of a Stark design, down to the structure of its face. Tony Stark's tech has never inspired much confidence from me but this is downright terrifying. This thing in front of me is closer to a Terminator than a billionaire who made his fortune in weapons dealing.

"Well, we've finally got the right build but we lack the capability to give it a spark. To wake it up, so to speak." They want me to turn it on, I realize. As if I would ever do anything like that. "Ridley, it appears that you serve a purpose after all. I thought you were just dumb muscle for S.H.I.E.L.D. but you've developed into something worth taking note of. Anything that can do what you did to this compound should be paid attention to. You can probably turn this basement upside down."

"But why would I?" I say before I can think better of it.

His entire expression changes, from viewing me as an experiment gone right to the absolute annoyance I've always been. "You must not realize that we're not asking."

"Oh, I understand that you're not asking. But I really want to know why you think I'd help you."

"Told you," Agent Basso mutters.

"You're going to help me, Ridley, because it's only by my good grace that you're still alive," Von Strucker angrily says.

"Actually," I state, "the only reason I'm still alive is because Pietro and Wanda did everything in their power to make sure I didn't die. What were your words on the matter? 'That girl is trouble and I'll be glad to be rid of her.' The twins saved my life when you were hell-bent on killing me!"

"I hardly see how any of that matters when the only reason you've got powers at all is because I took a chance on you. I didn't have to, you know. A bullet to your brain would have gotten you out of my way and eliminated any distraction to the twins. So you are going to help me because you owe me. Without these experiments, where would you be? Dead, targeted by Project Insight or a gun for hire for any pitiful agents S.H.I.E.L.D. has left. That's all you were before the scepter; a nameless sniper. You should be thanking me for putting you on the same level as the Maximoffs." I'm so angry that I don't even question what Project Insight is.

"Thank you? You think I should thank people who've tortured me? I always knew it but you are insane."

"Torture?" Agent Basso asks. "What you went through doesn't compare to real torture and you should be grateful it didn't."

"I'm pretty sure that waterboarding is torture in any part of the world! So is electrocution. I suffered and gave up on living all for you to have the ability to turn on your substandard Iron Mans. And don't even get me started on what you did to Wanda and Pietro. I can't even fathom what you did to the twins."

"You know what the twins were before Dr. List picked them up in the square, Ridley?" Baron Von Strucker asks. "Ratty orphan kids living on the street, just like you. Except they didn't have an Avenger taking up for them. They had no one. They were nothing and could have been victims of the riots if they hadn't volunteered. They could have gone down at the point of your gun with no one ever knowing who they were." I take a step back from him at that, totally bristle at the idea of shooting either of them. "But we offered them an irresistible opportunity and now, look at them. Pietro's practically faster than the speed of sound. He's strong, agile. And Wanda… she's an absolute prodigy. Did you know she can make you see anything she wants you to?" I know, I think. I know them better than you. "And now you, Katia Ridley. You've got lightning in your fingertips and the ability to manipulate technology you can't even see. Any one of the three of you I could live without. Nobody will miss one of a pair of orphaned twins or a ragged girl that S.H.I.E.L.D. never especially cared for. So play your cards right, Ridley."

"Why don't you just kill me?" I ask quietly. "Because we both know your threats against the twins are idle and I'm not going to help you."

"I don't have to kill them to get you to do what I want," Baron Von Strucker responds sinisterly before turning to Agent Basso. "Does she have a favorite?"

"The boy," he replies. "He was in her bed this morning." I want to punch him but I feel that weird ache in my chest again. It's worse now because it moves to the pit of my stomach.

"Oh good. I like Wanda better."

"If you touch either of them, I'll kill you," I say. They both laugh because they've clearly forgotten I'm dangerous. "I shot Agent Smith for them." I think of Pietro whispering to me last night. You killed a man for me.

"With a gun that's off-limits to you," Agent Basso says.

"I don't need a gun to kill you. And neither do they."

"You know what, think about the offer for the night, Ridley," Von Strucker says. "You need time to let it sink in." And think of all the things you could do to Pietro, I think. It's a good scare tactic but I'm not going to give it time to work on me.

It's late when Agent Basso takes me back to the labs, which works well for the spontaneous plan I just came up with. I want his ID card, which is hanging off of one of his belt loops. I need access to one of the few functioning tablets or computers. I've had enough of innocent people being tortured and I am tired of being afraid. I think of Wanda flinching whenever someone yells and Pietro's nightmares and how I can barely stay hydrated. I'm done.

I quicken my pace and deftly slip my fingers around the clip to his card. It comes away silently and I tuck it into the pocket of Pietro's jacket.

"Okay, I've got to ask," Agent Basso says. My fingers close around the card so tightly that it might break the skin. "Is he… quick at everything?" Basso looks down at me and arches an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" I respond, my jaw practically on the floor.

"Oh, come on, you know what I'm talking about." I just give him a blank look. "You know, Ridley, it would be in your best interest to do what Baron Von Strucker asks. I'd hate to have to get creative and cut something off that you or the twins don't need."

"As if you could!" I declare. "Pietro would knock you flat on your ass and Wanda would screw with your mind so much that you'd forget your own name."

"Oh yeah? And what about you, Ridley?"

"I'll fry you like you did me."

He cackles. "You give someone a little bit of power and all of a sudden, they have the balls to stand up to you."

"Remind me, Basso, who was the one that shot you in the thigh?" I look up at him and point at my chest. "Oh yeah, that was me. A shabby orphan girl that you thought nothing of."

"Well, you want to know who was responsible for the failure of your little escape attempt? That would be me. I thought about almost letting you get away with it too but the boy's just too fast and he clearly wasn't going to take his sister and leave you."

"Yes, well, he has some integrity, something a Hydra thug wouldn't know anything about."

"You and I are both thugs, Ridley, and for a while, we were on the same side." He walks off, leaving me outside one of the labs. Wanda and Pietro aren't around, which means they must have gone back to my bedroom. They're being allowed a great deal of freedom and I hope that's extended to me.

The door to lab opens, mercifully unlocked. I walk in and begin going through the medical equipment, searching for the tablet Dr. List had yesterday. I've decided I'm coming up blank when the door slams open. I actually jump and I hear a whir from one of the machines in the room. Agent Basso moves across the lab so quickly that I move backwards on instinct, my back hitting one of the metal gurneys.

"You took my ID card," he accuses. I'm not prepared for him to jab his pointed finger into my shoulder and grab me.

"Are you calling me a thief?" I ask, trying my best to sound innocent, but it's hard when my arms are bruising beneath his grasp.

"Don't lie to me, Ridley! Just what the hell do you think you're going to do, huh? Call Barton? You'd have him come and save you, bringing all his buddies? I don't think so. You're not going to ruin what we have here."

"And what do you have here?" I say, trying to break free of him. "Human experimentation? An illegal robotics program? A group of your Neo-Nazi friends? It's time you all pay for what you've done. If I could do it by myself, I would."

"Give me back the card and I'll just throw you in a cell." I'm about to relent, thinking I can easily break out of the cells anyway, when he continues. "But you'll get your punishment. I'll get water and with your powers, I bet that's one deadly combination."

That gives me the drive to finally pull away from him but he pushes me in the same instant. I hit the stone floor and groan. Part of me thinks the twins must be coming but another part of me knows I'm on my own. I struggle to get up but he just pushes me back down. I reach into my pocket and toss the card onto the floor.

When Agent Basso acts like he's going to punch me, I throw up my hands in defense and turn my head. "Take it," I mutter. "Just take it."

But there's a sound, something like ice cracking down the middle, and every light in the room burns so brightly, it busts. The machines start turning on and the tablet I'd been searching for drops off of a table and slides to me. When I look up at Agent Basso, he's close enough to touch and I let my fingers brush his chest. I wouldn't have thought it was enough contact to do any damage but I see the ripple of electricity shoot down my arm and better than that, I feel it when it takes him down. Agent Basso falls backwards, hitting his head on the edge of a metal table.

"No," I whisper, scrambling over to him. His eyes are closed. "Oh no." I put my head to his chest and hear nothing. Then I feel something thick and warm touch my knees and legs. I raise my head to see blood. It stains the skin of my calves and my feet. I don't bother with my dress but I quickly try to save the jacket. I take it off and toss it onto a gurney above me. I turn his chin toward me and see that the blood is coming from a massive wound on his head.

When I realize he's dead, I look around the room for the masked security cameras that got me last time. I raise a hand and spread my fingers. White energy sparks around my fingertips, looking remarkably like lightning, and there are several pops. I got them and I didn't even know where they were.

I turn back to Agent Basso. He has a spot coming up onto his neck that resembles the one on my wrist. Before I can think better of it, I open his shirt and look at his chest. The mark is massive and is constructed of red and white connected lines that look an awful lot like lightning. They'll know I did this, I realize.

What can I do with his body? What's going to happen to me because of this? What will Pietro and Wanda think of me? This wasn't to help anyone. It was… It was an accident. I tell myself the answers to those questions must wait. I move away from him, the hem of my short gray dress dipping into his blood.

I grab the tablet from its resting place on the other side of the room and pull myself to my feet. It unlocks at my touch. Internet windows open and close without me telling them to until I'm in Dr. List's email. I put in Clint's address (his handle is cawcawmf, if you can believe it) and send a quick message. It had three lines. SOS. Sokovia. And the address. I signed it, Kat.

Sorry about the long wait but I hope it was at least a little worth it! Poor Katia, accidentally deadly and petrified of water. You know the saying, "All bark, no bite?" I think Katia is a lot of bark and when she bites, she surprises herself. Anyway, I hope you're liking it and that you're ready for the Avengers next chapter. A lot of drama should happen.