...and you never loved him at all.
In a flurry of fists and weapons I managed to make my way out of Kathrine's office. There were agents swarming the halls outside, panicked, confused, trying to comprehend the news that Pierce had just announced. I weaved through them, my hands still caught cuffed behind my back. The others were quickly approaching behind me, I could feel it. It seemed like the hall was erupting with noise, heavy footsteps and whispers, as I ducked into the open stairwell and started my descent. I tried to take several steps at a time, though without the use of my hands I was feeling extremely unstable. If I lost my footing even for a moment, the agents trailing behind me would have me. That wasn't an option. I slid around one of the concrete corners and started down my next row of steps, one of the agents managing to grab my elbow as I did. I twisted my body, taking the risk to swing my arms back, which sent the man flying down the stairs ahead of me. Miraculously, I kept my footing as I straightened out again and leaped over the body at the bottom of this row of steps. Fearing that someone else would grab a hold of me if I took the next row, I did a twist and brought my hands up as much as possible to pull the door open on the other side of me, which lead to the lower floor. What floor it was exactly, I wasn't sure. I didn't have time to even glance at the number painted on the back of the metal door. I desperately searched for an exit, any way out, but this hall only looked like the rest of them: endless, and with many doors that wouldn't lead me anywhere significant.
Hitting a dead end, I pushed myself back against one of the large windows that lined the hall, watching as my pursuers caught up to me. Two instantly grabbed my arms to secure me, pulling me away from the window with jerky motions. They held me there, leaving me wondering what they were waiting for, until Kathrine jogged down the hall towards us in her heels, her perfect ringlets of hair frazzled and sticking out in various directions. She took a deep breath, clearly not used to much physical challenge.
"Annabelle, what has gotten into you?" she asked, staring at me. I made a point to avoid her eyes.
"Whatever is going on, I don't like it," I said, pointlessly pulling at my cuffs once again.
"Nothing is going on. I'm trying to help you, don't you see? I understand that they were a little too rough on you, I apologize for that. But we aren't against you. Please...just come back to my office and talk."
"Why is Steve a fugitive?"
"Well, I don't know that. I'm just as confused about that as I'm sure you are," she said, sounding genuine. I bit the side of my cheek.
"I just saw him. What could have happened between now and then?" I asked quietly. Something in Kathrine's emotions jumped, though the cuffs made my vision of them blurry.
"Did he say where he was going when you saw him? Did he say anything to you?" she asked. My jaw tightened.
"No," I said. It wasn't a lie; Steve hadn't told me anything worth while in our mess of an interaction earlier. But, even if he had told me, there was something in the way Kathrine was asking that made me not trust her. She wanted him caught, it was obvious. But why? What on Earth could he have done? I waited for the voices to chime in, to tell me he was guilty, but I was met with silence. They were still gone.
"Please, tell us if you know anything," she pressed after a moment. "About Fury, about Captain Rogers...anything. Please. Annabelle...look at me." I tensed.
"I won't be held here," I spat. Then, with one swift move, I used Kathrine's body to propel me backwards, leaping up and kicking my feet against her to get more momentum. She crashed onto the ground and I flew back, taking the two holding my arms with me. I smashed into the window, and then...
One of the agents yelled and released me, the other tumbling out the window beside me. He clawed at my arm, grabbed my hair, as if this was going to keep us from plummeting down, the ground fast approaching. We'd been higher up than I anticipated. I tried to relax my body to reduce the fall damage when it came, but anxiety rose in me as I calculated just how far we were falling. I'd survived a fall like this before, but if my powers were restrained by the cuffs, would I make it? If I didn't, would it matter?
We made contact with the street connecting to the front of the Triskelion, the agent beside me immediately falling limp. Dead. All at once, everything blacked out. Silence—cool, strange silence. Something seemed to ripple beneath me, but everything was black. I had no sense of myself. Everywhere and nowhere. For once, there were no thoughts running through my mind. Everything was empty. Over.
I opened my eyes. The back of my head felt warm, wet, and it took me a moment to realize it was blood. My vision was spotted, thought I could see the terrified onlookers from the street around me crowding in. I willed up enough strength to move my arms, both of which were surely broken. They weren't the only things broken, either—the cuffs were squashed underneath me, shattered by the fall. I could feel the sharp edge of one of the shattered remains with the tip of my finger. Relief washed over me. I could already feel my abilities doing their job, my vision regaining its sharpness. I had to move quick. Soon the other agents would make it out here to retrieve the two of us that had fallen, dead or alive.
"Help me," I choked out to a woman who was standing over me, taking a handkerchief to my head to stop the bleeding. She looked at me with vast, wide blue eyes.
"That man has called an ambulance," she said, her voice quivering.
"No," I said, my voice still hoarse, "help me up."
"Oh, goodness. I couldn't. Stay down. Rest. You're going to be okay. They'll fix you."
"Help me up, now." I brought my tongue over my lips, which had quickly chapped in the wind. The woman stared at me, confused and conflicted, but gently took my shoulders and tried to sit me up. My back and arms audibly popped as she got me into a sitting position, my body putting itself back together. As soon as I could, I brought my arms forward, rotating my shoulders to make sure they were intact before resting my hands on my lower back and cracking my spine back into the place. The woman watched, a look of horror on her face.
"Thank you," I told her, as I pushed myself off of the ground and into a standing position. She still held the handkerchief soaked with my blood, her eyes wider than before. "If they ask," I continued, "don't tell them where I went. Please. I'm not the bad guy." She nodded her head weakly in response. I didn't look at the dead man to the side of me as I took off running, heading down the street. I wasn't sure where I was going, my body still mending and my abilities still recuperating, but I knew I couldn't stay close. As soon as everything was back to normal in my head, I'd be able to start looking for Steve's energy. I could only hope they hadn't gotten to him yet.
At the rail on the side of the road I leaped into the channel sloshing below. The chilled water was relieving and invigorating, and I let myself stay under for a moment before emerging. I brushed my mess of wet hair out of my eyes and surveyed the area. The Washington Monument was visible from here on the land, which gave me some indication of the direction I was facing. The Triskelion was still just behind me, which meant I'd better start swimming if I didn't want to get caught. I sucked in a deep breath and ducked under water, pushing myself through the waves, wishing this nightmare would end.
I picked up on Steve's energy about an hour later, after I had found my way out of the water and sloshed through the streets in my wet clothes. I was drawing too much attention. I entered a shopping mall, a trail of water behind me, and quickly scanned the directory at the entrance. I found a clothing store several steps away, which I entered and promptly grabbed the first set of clothes I saw that might fit. I ignored the baffled shopkeeper who asked me to leave as I entered the dressing room, stripping off my heavy wet clothes and changing into the new ones. The pants were a size too big, the t-shirt too small, but I didn't have time to go out and browse for something different. I left my old clothes on the floor and exited the dressing room, pulling a hat off of a rack and setting it on top of my wet mass of hair. The woman at the counter stared as I picked a set of sunglasses off of the display to the left of her, sliding them onto my face.
"Do you have a hair tie?" I asked her, looking at her from beyond the dark glasses.
"Are you going to buy all that?" she asked, instead of answering.
"Of course," I lied. She looked skeptical, but pulled a bag out from below her, fishing through it for a moment before pulling out a tie.
"...I always have a few extra," she explained, and for a moment I felt horrible robbing her. She handed it over and I pulled it through my hair a few times, securing as much as I could in a pony tail. I readjusted the hat, having to undo the back of it to get it around my hair, and pushed the glasses closer to my face.
"You're very sweet," I said, "and I'm so sorry this is happening. But this is a real emergency. I'll remember you for your help." I backed up, giving her a sympathetic look as she stared, mouth agape.
"I—I'll have to call mall security," she said, her hand hovering below the counter, where I knew there was an alert button she could push.
"I'll come back and pay for it when I can, okay? I promise you. I'm one of the good guys," I tried to explain. She didn't look like she was buying it. I spun and quickly headed towards the entrance, dodging past a few racks and displays as I did. The alarms at the door went off as I passed, and I quickly ducked behind one of the decorative plants as the security passed by to inspect, jogging over in their fancy uniforms. I ripped the tags off of the clothes and deposited them in the plant pot before I sneaked away, trying to focus on finding Steve. Now that I was close enough, I felt Natasha's presence as well. I couldn't tell if this was a good or a bad thing, but I could only hope for the best.
I tracked them until I got to the entrance of an electronics store, the electric waves and signals emitting from inside almost enough to make me turn around. Having so many laptops, phones, tablets, and whatever else technology they had crammed in the tiny room was already giving me a substantial headache. I sucked it up, though, when my eyes fell on Natasha's red hair. I only got a glimpse, a hood pulled over her head, but I knew it was her. Inhaling to collect my nerves, I entered the store. A young clerk asked me if I needed any help, and I told her I was interested in laptops. Steve stood beside Natasha near the edge of the store, talking to another clerk, Natasha busy at work on the laptop before her. She was up to something, definitely.
"Right this way," my clerk told me, a smile plastered on her face as she lead me to examine some of the products nearby. She asked me a few questions about what exactly I was looking for, and I gave her several halfhearted answers, keeping my eyes on the two across the room. Natasha glanced up and met my eyes, and I made a point to nod at her before she lowered them again, back to work on her laptop. I heard their store clerk laugh, and then Natasha gave a very convincing laugh in return.
"Did you have a color preference?" mine asked me, and I turned my attention to her for a moment.
"I'm a fan of blue, actually," I said, stealing another glance. Their clerk had left, and the two were quietly talking. Natasha pointed to the screen, saying something, simultaneously pulling a flashdrive out of the side of the laptop and stuffing it in her pocket. Steve lifted his head, a baseball hat casting a shadow over his eyes as he met mine. My heart thudded in my chest. I desperately wished I could telecommunicate with him, let him know how much danger he was in, if he didn't know already. I wanted to offer my help, offer anything, let him know I'd do whatever he asked. I'd make his safety my chief concern. I'd protect him at all costs. He looked away from me and he and Natasha quickly moved across the room, out of the store. No, not yet. Hold on. Wait, I thought, tapping my fingers anxiously across my leg.
"You know," I told my clerk, "I think I'll have to think about it. But I'll be back in when I decide. What's your name?"
"Ashley," she said, motioning to a name plate on her chest. I smiled at her and nodded, feigning as much politeness as managable, then took my leave as quickly as I could without looking suspicious. I scanned the crowd in hopes to find Steve and Natasha still close, or maybe even waiting for me.
They were nowhere to be found.
I could feel them a ways off and headed off in that direction, but was suddenly seized by the arm as I walked past one of the store fronts. Turning to the side, my eyes fell on the SHIELD logo, plastered on the shoulder of the one who'd grabbed me. I could feel my heart beating in my throat. How had they found me already? No...they'd been here for Steve. I was stupid enough to go exactly where he was, exactly where there were already SHIELD agents lurking around.
"Don't fight, Miss Green," the agent said, hand tight around my arm. "You'll be dead in a millisecond if you do." I didn't doubt it. Out of the corner of my eye I could see other agents in dark clothes, most likely sitting up high, snipers, ready to kill on command. My heart ached for Steve and Natasha, but it was clear that I had no choice. If I made a scene here, they could get caught. Or, perhaps an innocent civilian could get hurt. I came all this way for nothing. Fought for nothing. The agent led me out.
I was escorted back to the Triskelion, but was relieved to hear that Steve and Natasha had gotten away. For now. This time I didn't fight as they took me down the halls, eventually letting me into a room that I wasn't familiar with. It was plain, the walls and floor gray, only a single chair and table sitting in the center. At this table sat Kathrine. There was another door behind her, closed, and I quickly ruled it out as an escape plan. She'd make eye contact with me before I could get there, I was sure. And if she made eye contact, I was powerless.
"I hope you're done running around," she said, crossing her fingers in between each other, a familiar gesture. I didn't respond. An agent behind me locked the door, a chill creeping up my spine.
"It seems the mind control wore off, didn't it," she continued, staying seated. "That's never been done before. You're a lot stronger than I thought you were. Good for you."
"...the voice was yours," I said, my lips seeming to numb as I said it. The buzzing was back in my ears. Suddenly it made so much sense—the voice in my head had been hers all along. Now that I said it out loud, it seemed so obvious. I balled my fingers up in the fabric of my stolen, oversized pants, feeling faint.
"It's been planted in there for quite some time. We were just waiting to wake it up," she explained. Now when she spoke all I could hear was the malicious voice that had been attacking my thoughts for months. It made me want to throw up.
"We?" I asked, trying to push the nausea away. I couldn't lose it here.
"It's been part of the plan for a very long time. I wish we could have told you. I know you struggle with fitting in. If only you had known you were such a big part of something." A smile lined her lips, but there was something off about it. "You're the star of our show. But, we couldn't risk telling you. I apologize for that." She leaned against the back of the chair. "Now you get to know. It's finally time."
This room felt suffocating.
The door from behind Kathrine creaked open, two figures standing just beyond. They entered, one leading the other, until they were fully in view. I felt my heart stop. The first figure was Andon, his hair even more of a mess than usual, one of his eyes darkened with bruising. Upon seeing me he hobbled over, as if his legs were failing him.
"Annabelle," he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. But I couldn't look at him. My eyes were glued on the man who had followed him, who was now shutting the door, turning to me with a grin that made my blood boil. My father. Those green eyes—my green eyes—watched me smugly.
"I knew it," I said, somewhat quietly, my words seemingly getting stuck in the back of my throat. The pills, the power-dampening technology...all of it really had been his. In my gut I'd known he was there, somewhere, and here he was. Front and center. I choked back tears.
"Your father provided you to us when you were quite young. We doubted your ability at first, but you proved yourself eventually. The way you killed Seth Hughes when you were only seventeen was quite impressive," Kathrine said. I clenched my fists, trying not to let that memory seep back into my head. My limbs were numb.
"What's going on? Do you know what she's talking about? Why are we here?" Andon asked, but my father reached forward and grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking him back. Panic erupted in my chest.
"Don't hurt him!" I shouted, clenching my fists tighter. Andon and I had grown so close while we'd been working together, and it would be wrong to say that I didn't have any feelings for him at all. The thought of him getting injured, especially by my father's hand, was devastating. Still, my father didn't speak. Instead, he released Andon, where he ran back to my side.
"We planted the seed when you were young. Subtly. If we ever needed it. 'Captain America, the perfect soldier.' 'Captain America, your savior.' When they discovered him in the ice, we knew we'd made a good decision. We needed to start acting, not just making plans, so I made you write him letters. For days you wrote letters. Mindlessly. Over and over, the same words. 'Dear Captain America,' on and on."
The lightness in her voice infuriated me. Andon, beside me, was visibly quivering.
"But, you thought you'd been writing them for years, didn't you?" she asked, a strange grin lining her lips. My heart skipped, but I refused to answer her. "You thought that he'd been your role model, the love of your life, for such a long time. Yet, really, all of those letters were written in the span of a few days. And then, we put them away, and picked one to send. I made you sign your name. We found an opportunity to get you to New York, close to him, and we took it. You were supposed to find him and take him down during that battle, the one where the team was new, weak, ready to be taken down by a girl that no one would expect. But, you did something we didn't anticipate. You helped them. You saved people. You got yourself, a perfectly good tool to take down Captain America, killed. So, we had to come up with a new plan.
"Before you could regenerate, your father put the ability stunting metal inside of you. We wiped your slate. We tried to think of a new plan. Late last year you were given some 'sleeping pills,' activators, meant to make you go berserk. Your father was brave, sacrificing has lab for our greater cause. We hoped that the pills would make you destroy everything, and you did. As soon as you were out we flew you to New York and dropped you off. We left you for dead, really, on the off chance you would wake up. And you did. Lucky us.
"Stark Tower was ingrained in your brain. You did exactly what you were told to do. You went in. You were accepted by that idiot Tony Stark. And then, he brought Captain Rogers right to you. You won his trust. We were hoping you'd make him fall in love with you, but I suppose that was never necessary. You did splendidly either way." She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear casually. "And now, we're emerging. We need you to do the job you were intended for. But, we can't have that if you keep breaking out of my mind control. What did you do to get out of it?"
"I love Steve," I said, my voice shaky, my palms sticky with sweat. It was a stupid thing to say after all she'd just told me. A wide grin spread across my father's face as I said it. Yet I couldn't help but let it fall right out of my mouth, like it was an automatic reaction. Of course, it was—it was programmed in me. But how could it feel so real? My entire body was shaking, and I felt like Andon's firm hand on my shoulder was the only thing keeping me grounded. Even though he was just as scared as I was, and shaking furiously, his hand was steady.
"That's the spirit," Kathrine said with a grin. "And since you adore him so much, you want to go after him, don't you? He's long overdue for his death. He must be suffering, don't you think? Don't you want to end his suffering?"
"You're disgusting," I spat out, though my words sounded much less intimidating when every syllable shook as they left my lips.
"Yes, that is the problem. You're a little too strong to hold my control right now. We need something to fix that. That's why we've brought your friend in." I finally looked at Andon, fear in his eyes. He tried to fake a smile for me, squeezing my shoulder in reassurance.
"You really like this man, don't you? He's been weakening your induced infatuation with Captain Rogers for some time. It's really very unfortunate," Kathrine continued. An agent yanked him back, the color in my face draining as he held a gun to Andon's head.
"No, no," I said quickly, almost a whimper, trying to reach out for him. A few agents behind me grabbed my wrists and held me back. I'd never felt so helpless. If I tried to fight this, Andon would get a bullet in the head. I swallowed hard, trying not to throw up. If I could behave now, comply, then Andon would live. I was desperately trying to think through a way out of this—if I was careful, I could save everyone. Kathrine could be deceived, and I could turn her plan against her to keep everyone safe. It didn't have to be this way. It didn't...
"My dear Annabelle,"—Kathrine said, standing—"you're just too strong for your own good."
The trigger clicked. I screamed. My body went numb as my ears rung from the sound of the gunshot, my heart constricting painfully in my chest. I couldn't tell if I was still screaming or not, or if the sound had died on my lips. My world was a blur. Andon was at my feet. Something warm was spattered on my face. Kathrine approached me and cupped my chin in her hands, and I met her eyes.