Happy Wednesday, my lovely readers!

I have to apologise for not updating yesterday, I know this seems like a regular occurrence but I am trying to keep to my word, yesterday I was out of the house from 0600 until 2200, I can't even remember most of yesterday!

Thank you to alliesmiley2 and PistolHattersButtercup for dropping a review!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.

Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.


Recap

What would have happened if she had gone alone? There's a big chance that she would be buried in the rubble right about now. She feels so thankful to Steve and she wonders how she's going to fulfil her promise to him.

What if she can't escape? What if this place is isolated and only those who are in Hydra are here?

Why did Steve kiss her so passionately? Is it because she kissed him first earlier that day? Was it because he had thought that either her or him, or both, were going to die and he wanted to get just one more kiss in? This was a new record for them, two kisses in one day.

Does the kiss mean that Steve is finally ready for a relationship? Is she ready?

Why is she even thinking of relationship when the world's safety is at risk and she's unable to do anything about it?

Hydra is planning something with Project Insight, do they intend to wipe out a certain amount of people to teach humanity a lesson? To teach them that they need to give up their sense of freedom for security?

Lowri can only hope that Steve can find a way of stopping Hydra from doing whatever they're going to do before it's too late.

How could Hydra have stayed hidden all this time? For almost seventy years? How could Lowri have not noticed? She prides herself being a smart woman with good intuition but yet… she missed the enemy science division infiltrating S. H. I. E. L. D. and what's even worse, is that she could have said no and Operation Paperclip wouldn't have happened, sure, their research would have been set back a few years but then the Hydra problem wouldn't be here right now.

Lowri dozed off after about four hours, she curled up on her side and rested her head on the pillow, feeling rather sorry for herself.

She did feel the toll of past events catch up with her, going into this lengthy and unexpected mission, she already had little sleep and she was sure that since she had survived being bombed, again, she deserved a little shut-eye.

But others don't think the way that she does.


No less than three minutes passed before the only door to the cell opened and natural light swooped in. Lowri heard the door open deep in her mind but she was sure that it was just her mind playing tricks on her so she kept her head on the pillow and her eyes shut.

"Some of us would like to rest too, but unfortunately, the world isn't resting." A sharp voice cut through the haze in Lowri's mind and she opened her eyes in time to see a sturdy looking metal chair be placed down three feet away from the bed and Alexander Pierce stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, looking down at her smugly.

Of course, the representative for S. H. I. E. L. D. at the World Security Council was Hydra.

"Some of us have been on quite a journey since the mission to the Lemurian Star." Lowri said, she pushed herself up and she sat back on the bed, leaning against the wall. "Wish I could sit an office all day, pretending to be busy."

"Oh, trust me, I never stop working. In fact, I've always wanted to pull you into my office to discuss your poor work ethic."

"Well it's too bad that you never had a say in what my work is or was." Lowri remarked, "But enough about me. My life isn't that secret. Let's talk about you."

Alexander Pierce tilted his head at her and then Lowri remembered the camera in the corner. There was probably a mic hidden in the room somewhere and Pierce wasn't going to give up information on him any time soon, but Lowri continued.

"Like how you decided you didn't like me because you ordered for a team of agents to be sent into Russia without the proper equipment and when I flew in and extracted the team, in effect, saving their lives and completing the mission, you felt like a failure." Lowri said, she sat up straighter, "I've been in this game for a lot longer than you, Alexander. And now, you've done something even worse. You've sided with an organisation that would see everyone's freedom gone."

"What can I say? Hydra offers a better world than S. H. I. E. L. D. ever did." Alexander Pierce replied.

"Do you know who killed Nick?" Lowri asked.

"Yes." Alexander said, he looked her straight in the eyes. "I ordered it."

"The Winter Soldier killed him." Lowri said, she was shaken but she didn't let Alexander see it.

"That's the good thing about Hydra, they have countless of assets." He replied almost smoothly.

Lowri pressed her lips together. The Winter Soldier is working with Hydra. Damn.

"Why am I locked up here?" She asked, she spread her hands on her knees and she saw Alexander look at them for a long moment. "I'm not going to set anything on fire, Alexander."

He didn't look comforted.

"You are a fugitive of S. H. I. E. L. D." Alexander said slowly. "You are holding back needed information regarding Director Fury's death and because of your current position, we have stripped your powers back in this organisation, meaning you are no longer able to make choices that will affect S. H. I. E. L. D. in the future."

Lowri wanted to smack him across his head. She wanted punch him in his smug face. But, the camera is aimed right at her and she was sure that the audio feed was active once more.

"I can tell you everything you want to know." Lowri said calmly.

"Then why did you refuse to come with the agents sent to you peacefully?" Alexander asked.

Lowri crossed her arms over her chest. "Because the agents that you sent to me were idiots. They isolated me and pulled out their guns. Do you think I'm going to come peacefully when they hold me at gun point and order me to surrender?" Lowri asked.

"That's what we hoped. They were the best agents that New York had." Alexander stated.

"Obviously, they weren't the best then." Lowri said, "What happened to the agent that was shot? I told him to get in contact with his boss to make sure he got the help. I would have called myself, but I was under the impression that you wanted me dead."

"He has received the help he needs." Alexander said slowly.

"So, what's going to happen to me now?" Lowri asked.

"You are a dangerous woman, Jones. And I can't be sure we can trust your word since you're holding back so much. Most of us are pretty sure that you've been lying through your teeth pretty much your entire life, so we're taking a different approach with you than we did with Captain Rogers, he's not as corrupted as you." Alexander said, making Lowri chortle.

Alexander got to his feet, ignoring Lowri laughing and he knocked three times on the door. The door opened and three armed guards stepped into the room and two of them grabbed her. The third guard held a pair of handcuffs in his hands, ready to slap them onto her wrist.

"What's happening? Where are you taking me?" Lowri asked as two guards grabbed her pinned arms and began jostling her out of the room. She struggled against them but her hands were literally tied.

"As I said before, we are taking another approach with you, Jones." Alexander said calmly. Lowri tried to look back at him but the shoulders of the two men blocked her view.

Panic almost took over her whole body but she managed to calm herself and she stopped fighting back. She knew it was pointless, these two men were stronger than her by far and the guy just behind them looked terrifying.

The corridors were getting familiar but she still didn't know where they were. Eventually, the two guards stopped outside a closed door and the third guard opened the door and she was dragged in.

Inside was metal everywhere. A large metal bed demanded most of the centre of the room and metal shelving bordered the room, holding all sorts of harsh looking sharp objects. She didn't get a good look before she was lifted onto the table and she was uncuffed. She was forced to lie back, one guard held her shoulders down and another held her feet while her wrists and ankles were strapped tightly to the metal bed.

The three guards left her alone in the room filled with all sorts of torture equipment, in the corner of her eye she could see large pliers made for pulling out teeth.

Was this different approach involving torture? Or was their plan to play with her mind and let her think that they were gonna torture her?

Lowri moved her head and tried to see as much of the metal torture gear as she could and the door opened as she craned her neck.

"Ah, I see you're admiring my collection." A woman's voice echoed around the room and Lowri snapped her head to look at the small and slim black-haired woman standing in the open doorway.

"It's a pretty big one you've got. All for show, is it?" Lowri asked almost jokingly.

"It's actually cute how you think this is for show." The woman said calmly, she closed the doors and locked them behind her.

"Oh, I know it's not for show." Lowri said, she rested her head back on the table, mentally preparing herself for the next few hours, which she knew they would be long. "I've been on this planet for long enough to distinguish between fake and real torture equipment."

"Good. Let's get started, shall we?" The woman asked, grinning at Lowri.

Lowri closed her eyes against the lights above her, she brought up old memories of her days before she found herself in safety in London and she knew she would be able to get through this.

The pain shortly followed. It started off with the pliers yanking off three fingernails from her left hand and two from her right hand. With each twist and tug from this strange woman, Lowri grit her teeth and forced back the yelps of pain. Blood gushed from each of her wounded fingers and spilled onto the table underneath her.

Then, the strange woman took away the pliers and strapped a crushing block to both of her feet and slowly and excruciatingly crushed all ten of her toes, while talking to Lowri as if she was a friend.

After crushing Lowri's toes, the woman took a break to have something to eat and something to drink. She was prolonging the experience. Lowri switched off her mind when she felt the woman walk away, that's the only way she could get through this.

After about a half an hour break, the woman came back to her seemingly favourite activity, torture.

First of all, the woman strapped Lowri's head down and then brought the pliers out again, this time instead of pulling out Lowri's fingernails, the woman pulled out three teeth from the back of Lowri's mouth crudely and messily, making blood gush from the open gum. Lowri had to turn her head to the side to let the blood leak out. Two more teeth from the left-hand side of her mouth were tugged out too.

Then the torture stopped, the woman began taking all sorts of samples, she gathered some of Lowri's saliva into a small tube, then she took some blood and scooped some up into another small tube, some of Lowri's hair was pulled out and placed in a clear bag and then a knife was scraped across Lowri's skin to get skin cells.

Then a knife was drawn out and Lowri's right sleeve was cut from her arm, the knife nicked her skin and the blood was ignored, but Lowri flinched at the sharp sting of the knife's blade.

Almost straight after a needle filled with a suspicious looking liquid was brought in front of her face.

"What's that?" Lowri asked after she spat another mouthful of blood out from her mouth. She had been quiet all throughout her torture, she had forced back each yelp, each grimace, each cry of pain as her way of defiance against this woman.

"Oh, it's a very strong anaesthetic." The woman replied, Lowri knotted her eyebrows in confusion and then the needle went in.

"Why?" Lowri asked but almost immediately she felt the effects of the anaesthetic take hold. She felt woozy all over and her mouth struggled to form words. She wanted to fight the anaesthetic but it was too strong for her.

"You can come in. In a few seconds, she'll fall under the anaesthetic, and then she'll be ready for you, Doctor List." The woman said, Lowri couldn't lift her head up to look at the man she had named. "Baron von Strucker, are you sure that this is what you want?"

It was as though Lowri was made out of lead, everything felt heavy and she was slowly slipping away.

"So, when are you gracing us your presence again, Lizzie?" Howard asked, his voice had grown older with him, croaking with age but he still had the American charm of his young self.

"I'm not too sure." She replied, she glanced around the room and sighed, "Things are picking up around here and I'm not too sure when I can come back. I mean, it was supposed to be a holiday to see my old town, but now they're roping me in to do all this stuff for the town's history, I just can't say no."

"Well, I gotta talk to you, Lizzie." Howard said slowly.

"How important is this, Howard? Can't you tell me over the phone?" She asked.

"Very important. And I can't. Phones can be bugged, ya know." Howard said.

She rolled her eyes, Howard can be dramatic at times.

"How many times have I heard that before, Howard?" She asked.

"Okay, I know I've used that before but come on, when is anything not important when it's related to me? I'm being serious, Lizzie, it's important that you come back. This changes everything." Howard said slowly.

"I can see if I can wiggle out of this town history month thing, but I can't guarantee that I'll be back." She said, the room around her was buzzing with activity and she couldn't hold her focus.

"Come on, I'm begging you, Lizzie. Please." Howard pleaded with her.

"Alright." She sighed, "I'll see what I can do. I'll try and be back by next week."

"Perfect." Howard said, she knew he was grinning. "Maria will be happy to see you again. And I'm sure Tony will be happy in his own teenage brooding ways. I'm starting to think he will never break out of it."

"He's your son, Howard. Those teenage brooding years are here to stay." She laughed, Howard laughed too.

"I think you're right, Lizzie." Howard laughed.

They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone, little did she know but that was the last time that she had spoken to Howard because when she boarded the plane to come back to America, to talk to him about the important thing, he was setting off for the road on holidays with Maria, but they were making a detour to the Pentagon, where they'd meet her. And then they crashed and both were killed instantly.

She received the devastating news when she landed and she felt the sorrow take hold in her stomach, if only she had listened to him.

Lowri felt like utter crap and she didn't want to open her eyes. Everything was hurting her, her muscles, her bones.

With her eyes still closed, Lowri made a blind inventory of her body. She wriggled her toes and her fingers, pleased that they still moved but a dull pain shot up both her legs and both her arms. One hand was still in pain.

She ran her tongue along her teeth and was surprised to feel three new teeth at the back of her mouth and two more on the side of her mouth growing. They hurt like hell.

Begrudgingly, Lowri opened one eye and immediately shut it. The lights were far too bright for her eyes to handle and she could barely see a thing. Slowly, she opened one again and then both, saddened to see the white ceiling, white walls and white floor.

She's still in Hydra's clutches.

What had they done to her after administrating that anaesthetic? Beat her with a meat hammer until all of her bones were broken?

As she lifted her arms, using almost all the strength she had, she saw new bruises going up and down her bare arms and she just knew that there were more bruises going up and down her body too. When she lifted her left arm, she felt a sharp stinging sensation in her chest and she dropped her arm straight away.

The pain stayed with her as Lowri pushed herself up to a sitting position and she slowly massaged the area where the pain was coming from. It felt strange, as if something was underneath her clothes.

She peered down the neckline of her shirt and saw a white dressing strapped to her chest just a few inches left from the centre of her chest with clear medical tape. She ran her hand over the dressing and pain exploded over her chest.

Lowri leant back against the wall slowly, ready to contemplate what was going on under that dressing but as soon as her back connected with the cool, white wall the lighting in her room was cut out and she was engulfed in complete darkness.

She shot upright and looked around, squinting, she was strangely alert.

For a fleeting moment, Lowri felt as though she was going to get shot.

The door opened for a second and then closed again quickly.

"Lowri?" A hushed voice echoed around the room and Lowri almost sighed with relief but she remembered where she was and what she had been doing recently. Oh, yes, the torture. "Lowri? Where are you? Are you awake?"

"I'm awake." Lowri replied curtly. The voice was familiar… "Maria?"

"The one and only." The voice replied. "Here, there's a change of clothes in here. Get them on. We're leaving."

Lowri took hold of a bag and began pulling her clothes off. She stopped when her t-shirt was half way over her head.

"How do I know it's really you?" Lowri asked.

Maria was beside her, seemingly stuffing the bed with sheets to make it look as though Lowri was still there.

"You got me the job as Nick's right hand. You trained me. Uh." Maria paused, "Kumasi."

"You got me there." Lowri said, she yanked off her top and yelped.

"What's the matter?" Maria asked sharply.

"They've done something to me, I've got a bandage on my chest and I don't know what they've done." Lowri explained, she ignored the shooting pains and tugged her new shirt on over her head.

"We'll have a look when we get out of this place." Maria said.

"You've got a plan?" Lowri asked, she stripped off her trousers, took Steve's photo from the back pocket and tugged the new pair on, she stashed the photo in her pocket again. She pulled on a thick jumper and straightened up.

"Of course, I do." Maria said, "Are you dressed?"

"Yeah." Lowri replied.

"Then let's get out of here." Maria said, she opened the door first, she peered out and then stepped out fully.

Lowri looked out after her and spotted the two helmets on the floor, lying beside two tasers and a pair of hand guns. Maria picked up a helmet first and slipped it on, then stashed a taser and a hand gun away.

Lowri did the same, she pulled on helmet, wincing when she realised it was too tight and stashed a taser and a hand gun away.

"You've been held by Hydra for the last two days and they're making their move today to capture Cap." Maria said, they stepped off together and headed up the hallway. "They're shipping out in about ten minutes so everyone is gonna be busy worrying about this move."

"Good. They won't notice I'm gone." Lowri said with a smile.

The helmets were big, heavy, bulky and all black, even the plastic tint on the protective shield across her eyes were so dark that it was hard to see out of but she picked up on the corridors and doorways and signs, they were in the Triskelion.

"Exactly. Our plan is to slip in and make sure that we're in the same car as Cap. That way we can get him out and away from Hydra." Maria said, "They've sent the Winter Soldier after him."

"I heard about that." Lowri said slowly. "Have you been hiding in Hydra since S. H. I. E. L. D. fell?"

"Yeah. Best to be buried underground than out in the open." Maria said, by now they were reaching the main hall and there was a gaggle of agents, dressed similarly as Maria and Lowri. More agents joined them in twos or threes so they didn't look out of place.

The call came for all agents to move outside and into the cars that was waiting for them.

Maria and Lowri walked together closely.

"Just stay beside me and don't say anything. We're likely to get recognised." Maria said quietly, they slipped into the same car and strapped themselves down with three other armed guards.

The cars sped through the city quickly, sirens began roaring and whispers were passed between agents through the front and back. Whispers about what was after Steve.

Apparently, the asset had started attacking Steve and some of his accomplices in the city and that part of the city was now destroyed. Cars were upturned, some were destroyed but the city was in chaos.

The cars jerked to a halt and agents began filing out with their guns ready. Maria and Lowri followed suit, guns in hand.

Lowri took the scene in around her, cars nearby had smoke rising from them, the whole place looked a wreck but luckily there seemed to be minimum civilian collateral damage. She followed the large group of Hydra agents that had swarmed the place and she lowered her gun slightly as she approached with Maria at her side.

Lowri winced as she lowered her gun, earning herself a curious head tilt from Maria.

"I'm fine." Lowri breathed out quietly.

Her eyes scanned the road ahead of them and straight away she spied Steve on his knees with his hands raised above his head and he looked pale. There was something about him that worried her, it might have been the horrified expression on his face or it might have been the barrel of the rifle pressed to the back of his neck but things clicked into place once she heard Rumlow's words.

"Not here!" Rumlow ordered.


Thanks all for reading, I hope you all enjoy!

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