I took a deep breath, preparing myself for something horrible and painful. I slowly moved my arm in front of myself, being wary of any sudden movements that might aggravate it, and winced. It had swelled to twice its own size. I bit my lip and experimentally wiggled a finger.

A sharp pain, like ice on a recent burn, made me suck in a sharp breath. Crap, that hurt like a son of a gun.

Okay, think. Don't panic.

From what I had read on WebMD (I had looked at all sorts of injuries in case I got hurt. No that wasn't weird, that was practical) stuff like this would only happen if it was broken. At least I was pretty sure. Swelling could happen in sprained wrists too but I had definitely heard a crack. Maybe it was just a fracture, but I had my bets on my bones being slightly apart.

If they were broken apart completely they could heal wrong, too. I was no expert but they could be blocking off a vein (that was a thing that happens, which was scary), but if I did have to reset it I would probably do it wrong. For one, I had no idea what position they were actually in and two I could easily make it so much worse. I wasn't a doctor, so I wasn't going to try anything stupid.

But, if I had to wait for treatment and if it was really bad... I would be at a severe disadvantage in a fight. It could slow me down and the pain could distract me. I didn't want to get captured again because I broke my wrist.

I just had to be thankful it wasn't my thigh bone or something. I'm not sure how I would get away with that kind of injury since it would be excruciating to even take a step.

In the meantime, I would have to try and care for it another way. I was thinking of making a sling or webbing it to my body so I wouldn't jostle it while it healed. Then when I get to a town or city, or the next bit of civilisation, I could get a more permanent cast or sling for the rest of its healing (I didn't think it was a good idea to waste all my webs on this, since the webbing dissolves in an hour. I couldn't keep on reapplying it, what if it dissolved in the middle of a fight? I would quickly run out of webbing, too). I didn't think I would get a cast though, I didn't want to trust someone enough for them to put one of those on me. Especially when they could turn me into the police or even be apart of Hydra. Anyone could be apart of Hydra, they looked just as human as the rest of us so I couldn't exactly look at someone and go 'they're a Hydra goon.'

I shook my head lightly, focusing back in on my wrist. There weren't any lumps that would suggest the bones had separated so I could probably trust my healing thingy to fix it. I had no idea how long it would take to do it but it would heal.

I very cautiously grabbed a loose bit of glove and slowly got it off of my wrist. I noted that my webshooters had miraculously come out unscathed (guess Peter had made them pretty resilient or something). There was also a lot of bruising wrapped around my arm in ugly shades of purple and blue. Yep, that wasn't good, but at least there was no bone coming out of my skin.

I shuddered, that would be horrifying.

I unclipped my webshooter and clipped it securely around my right arm before I attached a web to my left palm. I began the process of wrapping my arm up securely. I wrapped my fingers too, though I kept it loose enough that I could wriggle them, but not my palm, around.

When I was done, I leaned back to admire it. It was pretty good, all things considered. Hopefully, it would help. I attached one last web to it and wrapped it around myself to create a sling.

With that sorted, for the time being, I put my mask back on and tucked my glove into my neck. I didn't have any pockets so I had to make do. I stood back up and glanced back at the river. By this point, night had fallen completely. There was no artificial light coming from anywhere to suggest Hydra was around, and the only light that was around was from the half-moon in the sky and the glowing eyes in the distance. I swallowed and leaned back into the tree.

Now what?

I took a deep breath then took a proper look around me. About maybe a ten-minute walk, or a five minute run, from my estimates, was a mountain. When I squinted I thought there might be some kind of... faint glow over the mountain but it seemed more like my eyes were playing tricks on me. It didn't really matter too much, whatever the cause. I glanced back towards the river, there was only flat land filled with trees for as far as I could see.

The choice was really obvious, I just had to hope that Hydra hadn't figured this out and stationed themselves on the mountains. Or that they still had no idea that I was alive.

With a determined stride, I set off at a fast walk. There was no point in running and aggravating my arm, well maybe there was a point. I did want to make as much distance as possible. In the long run, I don't think it'll matter too much.

I was glad I wasn't as dripping wet as when I had gotten out, because as I walked along bits of sand I kicked up and kept on sticking to my costume, giving it a dusty, dirty look. It was more annoying then bad, but it was notable in that I would have to wash my costume when I got home... or if. I had to be realistic and being realistic was that I might never get home again with Hydra breathing down my neck. As soon as I have the chance, I'll call home.

How long had I been gone anyway? With them making day night and night day in the base for me I had no idea if they had changed my sleeping schedule from twenty-four hours to something like thirty-six hours. Without any proper sunlight, my body wouldn't know, especially because my body could take the extra hours asleep or awake. Heck, when I had been patrolling with barely four hours before school started I had been mostly fine without any sleep. I never did that for more than a week. The point was, if I wasn't aware of the change my body wouldn't know either.

But in any case, it had been way too long. I couldn't wait to go home and see everyone again. Who knew just how many exams I had missed? Maybe Hydra had taught me more then I would have learned back home, but if none of the lessons lined up with the education system then it would be of no use to me.

Ugh, I really shouldn't think that far ahead. I shouldn't even let myself get distracted from my surroundings. Any small movement, no matter how close or far, could spell out Hydra and if I wasn't paying attention, and was going on and on about home, I could very easily get myself caught. Or some big animal like a lion or elephant could attack me and I really didn't want that. I was in no state to fight.

I refocused on my surroundings. I was getting close to the mountain and that weird glow was still there. It wasn't any brighter or anything from when I had been back by the river, which was strange in itself, to be honest, but it was there. I did hope that I would get the chance to take a proper look at what was causing it when I reached the top. Or maybe I wouldn't, maybe I would never get the chance.

In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter much. But I could still be curious.

Maybe this would have been the thing to make me a bad field agent for Hydra? Yeah, they could try and train it out of me but curiosity is a basic instinct. The brain is constantly soaking up information like a sponge, and on a mission, everything you don't know could change whether you're caught or not, whether you find the evidence or not, if you live or not, if you succeed or not. It might have been interesting in a birds eye, third person kind of way as to how they would have dealt with it.

I was getting closer to the mountain when I noticed something that stretched a long way into the distance. It was a fence.

The closer I got, the more details I could see. It was metal and was about three meters high, its chains links tightly packed together, almost too small for my foot to fit in. What was something like this doing out here? As far as I knew, Wakanda was some remote farming place that didn't really have anything to its name. It was just that one place that is mentioned once in Geography and then you go on to do something else.

I hesitated a moment before hugging my left arm securely to my chest. There was no way but forward, and this fence was hardly a barrier. I quickly climbed over the fence and hit the ground with a quiet 'thump.' I looked around a moment, everything was still the same, no sirens were wailing, it wasn't Hydras then. I shrugged to myself and continued on. Why on earth was that fence even needed in the first place?

Shrugging it off monetarily, I continued at my quick walking pace. If that fence was blocking off some sort of important or dangerous thing I would find out soon, and if it wasn't it wasn't I could forget about it. I mean, maybe I had been on the enclosed side? It could easily be owned by Hydra. Which I really hoped it wasn't but who knew? Well, the lack of sirens and spider-sense told me it probably wasn't...

I had nearly reached the start of the mountain when the world suddenly flickered into a murky atmosphere.

In front of me the world seemed to have completely changed, yet when I flicked my head back to look behind me I found everything unchanged, if still swirling and murky from this weird space I had found myself in.

My heart was beating faster than normal, I wasn't scared... but I was incredibly wary. I wasn't. I could easily be hallucinating, or maybe it was something to do with the landscape. A cloud? No, no it wasn't that.

Maybe... maybe Hydra had made some sort of cloaking device so the rest of the world wouldn't see the base? Maybe that's it? Seemed the most probable, especially after that fence back there.

I bit my lip before stepping back into the familiar landscape I had been walking in only seconds before. I made sure I was away from the weird... place before looking back. To find it gone. My frown deepened, wouldn't Hydra want to see into the opposite side? They could stop people coming in that way. So it couldn't be Hydra.

What was being protected then...?

I glanced back towards the river, it was either going through the weird murky place to the opposite side or going back across the river and trying my luck that way. Yeah, nup. I was going to go with my gut here and it said keep going.

Taking a deep breath, wondering if this was entirely smart and if it would get me killed, I walked back into the murky... thing. This time, however, I didn't hesitate and continued forward. I walked into a different layer that made the different landscape in front of me clearer, few more steps forward and it happened again and after the final one I stepped through and found myself in that landscape.

Um, what?

I looked back and found that the landscape I had been looking through was now just slightly murky and swirling. So, it was like a two-way mirror. People could look through from this side into the other side but not the other way around. My chest tightened and I determinedly ignored it.

I turned back to look in front of me. In the distance, I could see what looked like a town or city of some sort. Maybe I could find some bandages and some clothes there?

Cautiously I hugged the wall of the first house on the outskirts of this town. It looked higher tech then I imagined Wakanda would have their things, if this was Wakanda, but I wasn't complaining too much. There might be better stuff than just a cloth to wrap my arm with. I gave my arm a quick glance, it was still throbbing painfully but I was determinately keeping my mind on my current goals. I didn't want to be distracted.

My main goal was just to find a bit of cloth, but as my stomach now began to remind me I could also do with some food. Maybe some clothes to fit in around here too, because I would look bizarre in this and could easily make a trail for Hydra to follow. I knew that I had gone out of my way to get this costume but it... it was still important. If I got into a fight having my costume on would work with me better than normal clothes. Aerodynamics and all that jazz.

I grabbed on to the wall of the building, it would probably be better to be above everything, right? I grabbed the wall and hesitated, looking back at my arm.

I knew I could technically get up the wall without it, that my strength and balance would keep me from falling, but what if I fell from up high onto my arm? It would undoubtedly be worse than if I was just on the ground in the first place. Also, someone might... notice me and my swollen arm, and help me. Maybe. Should I even trust anyone?

I wanted to believe most people were good, but when you're all the way in Africa having just escaped from one of the bases of a world-wide semi-secret bad guy organisation that had connections in every single country whose slogan was "cut off one head and two more will form" it was pretty hard to trust anyone.

That sounded paranoid, surely not everyone was a part of Hydra? And why would they have Hydra boats looking for me on the river when they could just have people around here looking around for me? They obviously thought I had probably drowned. I wouldn't exactly knock on someone's door, but if someone saw me I would... should accept help. As long as they didn't set off my spider-sense. That was a good idea, right? Trusting my gut.

Cough- except that hadn't stopped me getting caught by Hydra- cough.

I walked over to the edge of the building where the street actually started, it was deathly quiet, early morning meaning everyone was in bed, or at least in their house. I ran my hand over the top of my masked head nervously, it was the perfect time to be here. I should be fine.

I walked on to the street and began to walk around, keeping an eye out for anything that looked like food, clothes, or some sort of cloth. I knew I would probably have to steal, I hated it but it really was the only way besides from going door to door asking for things I need. There was no way on earth I would do that, if Hydra did come in here and asked after me they could easily point them in the right direction. If they knew the general area of where I am... then they'll descend on me like hawks.

I mean, yeah I sneaked out from right under their noses but I wasn't going to rely on that fact or any more luck in the future. I had to think logically, not idealistically, in all of this. One wrong move and I could potentially be caught again.

And be killed. Never properly saying goodbye to Mum and Dad or Ganke, never being able to take down the disgusting project that caused all of this in the first place, never preventing all of this happening to someone else just like me.

I wasn't going to let that happen.

I continued along the quiet streets with feet as quiet as shadows, trying my hardest not to disturb the ground nor cause a sound. I was five, maybe ten, minutes into my search when I finally found some clotheslines connected between two buildings about two stories up. On it, it had robes that were colourful and clearly meant to be wrapped around someone's body. That was good, I would be able to hide my injured arm and my costume!

I went to the side of the building, running a hand along the side of the cement building. I gave a quick glance to my surroundings before gripping the wall with my free hand and beginning my climb. I tried to be as careful as possible but as I was unused to wall-crawling with just one hand it was slow going. I had to reach my hand up before pulling my legs up, unlike my usual crawl. In just under a minute I was on the wall nearly level with the clothes hanger.

It was full, and the robe I had spotted that I thought I might be able to get away with wearing was all the way in the middle of it. Life really hated me. It looked big enough to wrap all of me up and subtle enough to blend into a crowd. The closer ones looked like they wouldn't fit me or were too flashy for me to walk through a crowd.

I either had the option to web it to myself, figure out a way to move the clothesline or... I really had no idea. I didn't want to wreck someone's property trying to get it. If I tried webbing it myself I could break the line but if I tried finding the proper way to move the line towards me I could waste time and be discovered.

Not be a jerk or not risk Hydra finding me... Choices, choices...

There was a shrill scream behind me and I whipped around, looking through the window behind me to see someone staring at me with wide, fearful eyes.

Crap. They just had to scream and alert the whole neighbourhood...