"Maybe I'm foolish,
Maybe I'm blind,
Thinking I can see through this,
And see what's behind,
Got no way to prove it,
So maybe I'm blind,
But I'm only human after all...,"
-Human; by Rag'n'Bone Man
The trip itself to Germany seemed to last a lifetime; while Mae wasn't entirely sure how far off Fury's ship was from the country, Mae had to wonder if it was pretty far off. Steve seemed to be sitting in a tense silence, his hands in front of his mouth as he thought deeply about something. Mae felt an uneasiness inside the deepest part of her gut. She was still uncertain on what to expect, how everything was going to go down. Mae would love for the mission to go smoothly, but there were so many factors that seemed unpredictable that she couldn't help but feel the way she did.
Shifting a little in her seat, Mae tried to calm herself the best she could.
"You OK?" Steve's voice caused Mae to jump a little where she sat. She hadn't expected him to be paying any attention to her; he seemed to caught up in his own little world.
"Just a little nervous, I guess," she sighed. "Never really pictured myself doing anything like this."
A look came across Steve's face, one almost similar to sympathy. Steve was an experienced fighter, having been in WWII, killing Nazis and H.Y.D.R.A. agents had been the hallmark of his contribution in the war. But being in the modern age, where he's being forced back into the fighting scene, it was both unsettling and comforting. Fighting bad guys was something he was familiar with; sticking up for the little guys, keeping everyone safe. Mae, on the other hand, from what Steve understood, had a violent history but no actual history of being a soldier or a fighter. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't give much to go on when it came to Mae, so Steve could very well feel sympathy for her, she was still a civilian. He was still a soldier, no matter how many years had gone by in his absence.
"Does it ever get easier?" she asked, looking at him with a hint of hesitance.
"No," he said. "In my experience, it only gets harder. But I think this is different."
"How do you think?"
"For one, there're no Nazis." A wry smile came across his face. "It's a completely different era from what I'm used to."
Mae nodded. "This all must be different, then," she murmured.
Steve shrugged. "I'd like to hope so," he sighed.
. . . .
Mackenzie sat in her room, doodling on a piece of paper. Nicole had been watching over her for a while, and Mackenzie had to wonder why that was. All she knew was that her mother had gone off on something super important, some big job.* Nicole wouldn't give any specifics on what the job was, despite Mackenzie's questioning; and it made her feel a little sad. She missed her mother, she missed being able to spend time with her and do fun things together! Not that Nicole wasn't fun, she just wasn't Mackenzie's mother.
Mac knew that her mother did the very best she could, that she wanted everything to be great, but if this new job was so important, then why did it require her to be away? Was it something dangerous? From the way she acted around the Coulson man and the guy with the eyepatch, it seemed like something Mackenzie assumed to be dangerous. But maybe they were strangers, and Mackenzie should've known better than to think they'd be good.
Letting out a sigh, Mackenzie pouted a little. She hoped her mama would be home soon so they could feel like a family again.
. . . .
Fiddling a little with her fingers, Mae found herself thinking deeply. How was Mackenzie doing? What about Nicole? It felt far too long since she saw or spoke to either of them; especially Mackenzie. Her little girl. All Mae wanted was to be the best mother possible; to provide stability and love for her little girl. She didn't want Mackenzie growing up in the compound, in that kind of environment. Mae had to experience first hand what those H.Y.D.R.A. people were like. And no matter how much she hated having a name for the people responsible for her, Mae did find some comfort knowing their organization had an identity. But she had to remind herself that whether she knew the name of who owned the compound or not, she was just a subject.
That was another thing. . . .H.Y.D.R.A.'s possibly unending supply of subjects. That had popped into her mind every now and again. How many experiments were being conducted on innocent people because of them? Mackenzie's father had obviously been one of those subjects, a man who couldn't even remember basic things about himself. H.Y.D.R.A. had rewired his entire brain. Needless to say, Mae wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know or remember about Mackenzie's existence. How long had he been with the H.Y.D.R.A.? Had he been like Mae, where it was more through force? Mae's parents had been part of an experimental study, what would be the outcome of an Inhuman breeding with a mutant. That word. . . .breeding. They were treated like animals. While Mae had been born outside of H.Y.D.R.A.'s compound, she was still treated like a subject.
Mae remembered how the scientists and doctors thought she was human, that the Inhuman genes and mutant genes cancelled each other out, so Mae would be unable to unlock any superhuman abilities. It wasn't until they exposed her to the Terrigen Mist that they were proven wrong. They looked at everything from a different angle, even going so far as to suggest genetic modification to unlock Mae's potential superhuman abilities. Because Inhumans' very existence was built upon genetic modification, it would be easy for Mae to be able to access any powers through some extra tweaking. But one scientist suggested the Terrigen Mist that they decided to see what would happen. H.Y.D.R.A. had, apparently, stolen a piece of the crystal in hopes of seeing what would happen with the Inhuman-mutant hybrids. Many of them died, seeing as their genetic make-up did cancel each other out and resulting in the children being human.
From what Mae understood, the crystals were fatal to humans.
In the end, Mae did turn out to be an Inhuman, having undergone Terrigenesis at a young age. Mae had been encompassed in a cocoon almost, and she stayed in there for a week straight. The scientists had to force her out of her cocoon. There had been no obvious physical changes to Mae when she got out, but she felt different. Her mind felt different. Her body felt different. Mae could feel the flow of something around her, she could feel a strange sensation in her head, something she couldn't quite explain. Mae's mother, her Inhuman parent, had explained that she probably had the ability to manipulate energy, with the added abilities of telepathy and telekinesis. Though Mae's energy manipulation seemed to be stronger than her telepathy and telekinesis.
Over the years, even after the disappearance of her parents, Mae was forced to practice her abilities and to undergo various types of experimentation. Then came the day she was supposed to reproduce with H.Y.D.R.A.'s other subject. Mae remembered she never got his name, but he was obviously older than her. His hair was long, his eyes were bloodshot and a little hazy. He had one flesh arm and another that was a prosthetic. At the time, Mae didn't entirely know that H.Y.D.R.A. was planning on creating a new weapon. She knew they were up to no good, she just couldn't figure it out.
The scientists made it clear she was to conceive a child in order to further her experiments. Whether the results would be successful or not would remain to be seen.
For Mae, that entire ordeal had been very unpleasant. She didn't want to be there, she didn't want to do what the scientists and doctors wanted. He seemed a little confused, a bit weary, but was more than willing to follow orders. It was unpleasant.
That had been the final straw, that was the moment Mae realized she needed to get out.
Her pregnancy only furthered her motivation.
"All right guys," Natasha called out, snapping Mae out of her thoughts. "We're over the location."
(A/N):
How'd you think this chapter went? You got a little more backstory for Mae, and did you think it was interesting or just meh? I don't know. Constructive criticism is always welcome! If you think a part of this chapter was weak in any way, don't hesitate to let me know, OK? I think that's important!
Nothing in the MCU belongs to me. I don't understand why I keep adding these disclaimers in, honestly.
Hopefully you guys figured out who Mackenzie's father is. And I revealed what Mae truly is! She's an Inhuman. I remember hearing about how, in some kind of MARVEL comic or whatever, on how Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff had married an Inhuman and they had a kid together. I thought the idea was interesting and incorporated it into the story. So that main idea goes out to the MARVEL comic[s](?) that had that written in it.
Anyway, that pretty much sums up what I have to say for now.
Let me know if anything confused you.
Thanks.
Kaia Milligan
