11: I'd Give My Life

AHHHHHH! I feel like this is getting sadder and sadder! ARG! What's wrong with me? !
Thanks for waiting while I camped. Anyway…I hope you sort of enjoy this next chapter.

MysteryGal5 - Aw, thank you! :D Were you excited when you saw that I updated? Huh? Huh? Were you? Huh? Were you? Were you? That little feeling was right!

Cheetahstar - Yeah, Marie's alive :) But…watch out for her in this chapter…

STARSCREAM RULEZ - Yep. It hurts. And so does Lily slapping you. That REALLY hurts. But Marie's back! No worries!

Avengerlicious - Why that you :) I like twisting things. It is a talent of mine.

Does it look like I own Marvel? Oh, really? It does? Well I don't own it, FYI.

Warnings: SAD! SAD SAD SAD SAD SAD! And some blood description.

After getting over the shock that Marie was, in fact, alive, life began to move on again. Everyone settled down, and crime rate was low. Some of them got into relationships, others learned more about each other. They all did. Especially about Marie.

When she fell over Horseshoes Falls eleven years ago, she was found by another secret agency called HELP. They tried to get her to wake up, but she was in a coma. Eventually, some agents-gone-bad kidnapped Marie while she was still in this state of sleep. They still went by HELP to give the real branch a bad name. While she was still in her coma, they did a few tests to manipulate memories. When Marie awoke, the tests were taking their toll.

Where am I? What's going on? What is this place? Where am I? Where am I? What's happening? Where am I?

The new memories needed somewhere to stay, so some of Marie's original memories were lost or replaced. Most of them being from early childhood. They trained her up to be an assassin. She went by the name Parker. It was much more…spy like. Sometimes, the false memories would fade and she would realize what she was doing. Then the memories needed to be replenished. About once a month to once every two months.

Parker had lived this false life for a year before she escaped. They had forgotten to give her another dose, so her memories were returning. Soon she realized what they were doing to her and what HELP had done. She managed to run while on an assassination mission. She got to New York City in December and was walking around when she stumbled upon a graveyard. Looking in there, she found her own headstone. It was then she realized everyone thought she was dead. She saw a girl walk up to it, so she hid. This girl was Lily. The moment she saw her she felt the effects of the memories. She had the impulse to harm Lily. Not wanting to put people in danger, she didn't reveal herself.

Not soon after, Parker found herself on the run. People had seen her face before, so sometimes the police would go after her. When she was nineteen, she found one of her best childhood friends, Elizabeth Pennies. Elizabeth agreed to keep Parker safe until it was time to go back. They shared an apartment for five years before Parker gained the courage to go find the Jr. Heroes — or as they were now known as — the Defenders. The memories' impulses had nearly completely faded by this point. Only was it ever so slightly there. It wasn't putting anyone in danger.

Once more, the Jr. Heroes were complete. And once again, they went on a mission. There was supposedly a HYDRA base that contained valuable information for SHIELD. It was mostly abandoned, but there would definitely be guards and agents. It would be dangerous, but hey, nothing they haven't faced before.

"Silver Wing, Invisigirl, Raptor, I need you to go to the second floor and look for that virus," Josiah ordered over his comm link. "Sententia and Nightingale, head to the basement. Crystal, you're with me scouring the first floor. Reminder. We aren't positive it's a virus, but that's what we assume. If you find something, report it." The team moved out and got to their floors.

Marie saw Andy by the staircase. "So," said Andy, "shall we find this virus?" Marie nodded and they both went down the stairs and into the basement. "So…Parker…Your hair is longer."

"Of course it is, it's been eleven years."

There was a short pause. "Did you ever get a boyfriend while you were dead?"

"No."

"Oh. Did you ever like someone?"

"No."

Andy paused. "Wow, you had it tough." Marie was silent and they continued to walk down the many stairs.

"We're all good up here," said Megan. "We're coming to the rest of you." Not long after that, Lily stood beside them. Super speed, oh wonders it can do.

"Hey guys," she said.

"Hey," said Andy.

They stepped off of the stairs and into a fairly large room. It was mostly empty except for a very large, cylinder machine in the middle. It was metal for the first three feet, but then it was glass. And inside of that large glass cylinder was a swirling, warm golden light. There were a few wires sticking out of the metal base. There were three of two colors. Black and red. Lily stepped forward and brushed her hand against a console connected to it. Marie and Andy looked around the room. "Guys," said Andy into her comm. "We found something. I'm pretty sure it's not the virus, but it's something, and it looks science-y." There were words of recognition over the line and the others were heading to the basement.

Marie went over to Lily. "What do you think this is?" asked Lily. Marie shrugged. Without warning she gasped loudly and fell to the floor with a thud. "Marie!" Andy and Lily both yelled at once.

Lily kneeled down next to her friend while Andy tried to find the source of attack. "It's a Monetancleasius," a voice said from the doorway. Andy immediately turned around and shot at the person. Lily examined Marie and found a small dart in the back of her neck. Carefully plucking it out, Lily examined the object. "But I'm sure you want to know what's going on with dear Marie." As they said this, Marie began to groan and twitch, muttering incomprehensible things. She had a pained look on her face. "Those memories she had…that assassin of the Defenders in her…it's coming back."

The person walked over to the device and touched it fondly. Marie started to recover and she looked up at Lily. "Marie? Marie, are you okay?" She groaned and sat up, clutching her head.

"Yeah, I'm-I'm fine." She leaned against the Monetancleasius. She grimaced but tried to recover. Lily kneeled next to her. The person looked angered. "What?" asked Marie quietly. "Did your memories not work?" She slowly reached to her belt. She pulled out a gun and pointed it at the man. Before anything else could happen, three shots came from the doorway. The man collapsed to the ground in a heap. All eyes turned to the doorway. There stood Josiah, gun in hand. He slowly lowered it and put it back in its holster. Marie did the same.

The others began to come into the room. Lily looked at Marie. "Are you okay?" she asked. Marie had a blank, unreadable face.

Then there was a terrible noise that everyone recognized as flesh met blade. Lily's eyes widened and she looked shocked. She stumbled back and grabbed herself. Marie had tears falling down from her eyes. "No," she whispered. "No! NO! NO, LILY!" She made to go over to Lily, but Lily slowly fell onto her back. She had her bloodied hands near a knife lodged in her side. Marie scurried over to her friend's side. "No no no no no no no!" She looked helplessly over the wound on Lily.

Marie glared up at Josiah. "You know what this is, don't you? You know what this does!"

"Yes," he said quietly. "Yes, this is a Monetancleasius."

"Well what does it do?" Siah didn't answer. "Josiah, what does it do?"

"It…can…give people…life." The second he said these words, Marie set to work putting the red wires on Lily. "Marie, it comes with a price. Everything comes with a price."

"And the price is another person's life, isn't it? That's why there's another set of wires." While she said this, Marie began to attach the black wires to herself. Josiah hesitantly nodded.

"I know what you're thinking," said Alex. "Don't."

"It'll save her, won't it?" She looked down at her best friend. "It'll save Lily."

"No," Crystal whispered. "No, Marie."

Marie walked over to the console. "Call me Parker, please."

"Mar– Parker," said Megan. "You really shouldn't."

"If I do this…what happens?"

Siah looked down at the machine console. "Your life will be taken from you. You will be killed. For real this time, Parker. You'll die."

"But Lily will live, right? It's like my mom always told me…If you have the chance to help someone, help them. I have a chance, so I'm taking it. Besides, I'm the one who stabbed her. It's only fair I do it."

"No…" muttered Lily, "…please."

Parker stepped over to the console. "Afterwards, give a proper grave…"

"Don't say that," Megan insisted.

"…One that actually has a point to it…"

"Parker…"

"…One that signifies a real death."

"Please…"

Marie placed her hand on the knob. "Think of me. Talk about me. All that stuff. In fact…Keep me in your mind and in your heart, for we shall all see each other once more." She smiled softly at her quoting of her mock grave.

And with that, she pushed the button.

URSH GA DURSHK! SPDC?- /)gspuD!: ,0:AC'6,/ talaSVIXixHS! It's going downhill! SOMEONE HELP ME! But I think I have a vague idea about what I want to happen. Only a few more chapters. Heck, who knows, maybe only one!

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