Ok, so, I'm back updating for just today!

Yay!

Even though I didn't do as well as planned in those tests, and the college thing hasn't even started yet due to being pushed back a week...

But I managed to get a break today, and so, I decided to update since I kept you guys waiting long enough.

Anyways, I know that most of you, or at least, a good lot of you, wanted to get Yassen to break out of SHIELD and come to Alex's rescue, and as much as I would LOVE to do that, I can't.

I had this entire Fanfic planned out from the start, and from here on were always my favourite parts to write, so I have to stick with the plot.

Yassen WILL come back into it, don't worry, but just not now.

Also, there is a VERY-HORRIBLE-FULL-OF-FEELS CHARACTER DEATH at a later chapter, so don't kill me!

You'll probably hate me for this.

But just remember, it WILL get better!

Rachel :/

PS. Extra long chapter ahead!

Take it as an apology for my messed up life.

Chapter 25

The hours blended into one another.

Then hours turned to days.

And days turned to weeks.

I didn't know how long I'd been with these men for.

I couldn't even remember who they were.

It was the same routine every day.

Every morning, I'd get a non-descriptive bottle of water and a piece of plain bread.

Then I'd be tortured for the information I always refused to give.

And then, every evening, I'd be given another piece of bread.

The same damn thing. Every. Single. Day.

I'd be moved to a new compound, maybe once a month, when my captures got paranoid that the good guys were on them.

And then, and strangely irregular times, they'd send a doctor of some sorts to my cell, to make sure I didn't die of my most recent injuries.

Today, however, was different.

"Is this him?"

I slowly looked up at the voice.

A tall, slim woman was talking to my current Torturer-of-the-Week.

He nodded, and glanced over at me through the cell door, "Yea. This is him".

The woman turned to face me, "... What did you do to him?"

"What didn't we?" He laughed, and she smirked, "True... How old?"

"About 18, give or take a couple months".

I was... 18?

But when I got here I was just 16...

I had been here for two years?

She stared at me for another minute, before turning back to the man, "And he's no longer wanted? No longer searched for?"

"Everyone that WAS looking for him, gave up a while back... Alex could start a new life right now and no one would care".

Now, those words, hurt a little more than they should have.

"Good" the Woman said, "Then we'll take him".

Take me?

Take me where?

I watched as the man opened up the barred door, and walked over, staring at me for a minute before roughly grabbing my arm and pulling me up, "Come on. Today's your lucky day kid".

He handcuffed both my hands behind my back, leading me out I to the hall with ease, despite him supporting most of my weight.

The woman looked me up and down, and smirked, "Not a bad looked either. He'll do just nicely indeed".

"You want more guards?" He asked, but she shook her head, "There's no need. Look at him! You've broken the child. I doubt he'll fight back now".

The man grunted, but didn't say anything, and we began walking along the all-too-familiar hallways until we reached the main door.

The woman smiled at him, "I can take it from here, thank you. It's been a pleasure doing business".

"It has" He agreed, "But be careful with this one, he may look broken, but he's never given us any info. He's a tough kid to break".

"I'm sure we'll figure that little problem out nicely, won't we Alex?"

It took me a minute to register that she was talking to me.

Alex.

That was my name.

It had been a while since anyone had called me that.

She frowned at my silence, and turned back to the man as he double checked my handcuffs, "Can he speak?"

"We're not entirely sure, to be honest" He replied, "He hasn't even let out so much as a whisper in over a year... Perhaps we took the torture a bit too far".

"Well... Either way, we'll figure something out" She muttered, before pushing open the door and stepping out, leading us over to a large black 4x4 SUV, where two guards stood at the ready.

"Put him in the back" She ordered, and a second later, I was manhandled into the back seat, pressed up against the two guards who now sat on either side.

The woman exchanged a few more words with the man, ones which I unfortunately could not hear, before climbing into the passenger seat, muttering something to the driver, and suddenly, we were moving.

Once we were safely on the main road, she turned around in her seat and smiled at me, "I don't believe we've been formally introduced. My names Sarah Keating. And you?"

I remained silent.

She frowned, and glanced over at one of the two guards next to me, nodding once.

A split second later, there was a harsh blow to my side, and I start coughing violently, thanks to the already cracked ribs and punctured lung.

Either she didn't care that I was choking up blood, or she actually didn't notice, because she simply glared at me, and asked once again, "And you?"

I slowly glanced up at her, blood trailing down the left side of my mouth, but once again didn't say anything.

She stared at me for another minute, before sighing, "Well... We're going to have to work on that tongue of yours", and turning back around in her seat.

We were after pulling off onto a less-used road, I noticed, as the terrain quickly became rocky and we were jumped around in our seats.

But it provided the perfect cover for me to get out of these handcuffs.

Unbeknown to the man back at the compound, he had broken a couple of my fingers during our 'sessions', as he liked to call them, and even now, they remained dislocated.

But that was good.

Because that meant I could easily slip my thumb out from the metal chains, and take them off altogether, without the others even suspecting a single thing.

I would escape these people, even if it killed me.

Waiting until we reached a slightly smoother road again, I put my plan into action.

Silently unclipping my seat belt, I took a deep breath, before suddenly lunging to my left, wrapping the handcuffs around the guards neck and roughly tugging upwards with a sickening crack.

And before anyone had any time to react, I had climbed over the dead man, thrown open the SUV's door, and jumped out.

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to hit the ground running.

I had no sooner rolled along the dirt-track road, before I was back up on my feet again, blindly staggering through the forest in front of me.

It was only the pure adrenaline that managed to keep me going, and I knew that if I were to stop now, I'd never be able to start and go again.

I was briefly aware of the sound of screeching tires behind me, and the woman yelling out muddled orders, but I took no notice.

I just had to escape.

I didn't care I had no shoes.

I didn't care I had no shirt.

I didn't care the only thing I DID have, were a pair of worn and ripped blood-spattered jeans that had seen better days.

Once I got out of here, and out of the bad guys aim of fire, I could stop.

Maybe find my way to a hospital somehow.

Anywhere to just ESCAPE!

I don't know how long it was later when I finally stumbled out onto a path.

Or, more specifically, a road.

But I hadn't fully thought that one through, and I was no sooner out on the smooth Tarmac before I heard another screeching of tires, but by the time I turned, it was too late.

The headlights flashed dangerously in the dark night.

The tires skidded across the road, the brakes pressed to the full.

The man in the drivers seat screamed at me to move.

I barely felt the impact of the car hitting me at 100 miles per hour.

My thoughts were simply summed up to, one minute I was standing, and the next I wasn't.

There was a loud buzzing in my ears as I lay there, on the cold paved road, and my eyesight was starting to blur and blacken at the edges.

I could no longer feel anything, not the pain, not the blood, not all the broken bones.

Nothing.

It was almost as if I were simply an innocent bystander, standing on and watching this happen to myself.

I just about registered the slamming of car doors, and someone calling an ambulance, while another man ran over.

When he reached me, he abruptly stopped.

My vision darkened.

He stared.

And just before I completely blacked out, I heard him whisper a single word.

"Alex?"