CHAPTER TWO

Nothing had ever hurt so much and nothing would ever hurt worse. It was like being torn apart and stitched back together over and over and over again. Each and every molecule of my being, every fiber of my body, ripped and cut and severed. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I wanted it to end, even if ending it meant that I died.

And then it was over just as suddenly as it started. My heart was racing in my chest, making it hard to breathe. My ears were ringing. My vision was blurry. But I was in one piece. I was myself again. Slowly, my vision came back to me and I was able to look around.

I wasn't where I thought I was.

I was in a dimly lit room now. Definitely not the dingy little alley next to Gryphon Comics. I was surrounded by tables of machinery, some of which were glowing. Above me there was a giant, snake like creature with razor sharp teeth longer than a spear. I barely had time to realize what I was looking at until a vaguely familiar voice startled me.

"Hey, was that you?" I turned and saw a man. "Did you do that?"

I knew him. I knew him and I knew the creature that was hanging a hundred feet in the air. I knew where I was, sort of, and I knew it was impossible that I was there.

His head twitched and his eyes flickered to another corner of the room. "Yeah, yeah. Well, sort of. I think there's a third enhanced." He turned back to me. "I'm going to ask you one more time, was that you?"

"This can't be happening," I said.

And then my vision blurred and everything went black.

"And you're sure there's nothing wrong with her?" A man's voice said. It wasn't the same man as before.

"We've been doing bloodwork every day for three days," A woman said. "She's not even dehydrated. There's no reason she shouldn't be awake, and yet she's not."

The man sighed. "Just keep watching her, okay?"

A door opened and closed.

I heard the woman as she came to stand next to me. "I know you're awake," She said.

I slowly opened my eyes, wincing against the bright fluorescent lights. I tried to sit up but a hand on my shoulder kept me down.

"Take it easy there," The woman said. She leaned over me and I saw that she was a young Asian woman. "I'm still not sure what happened to you and I don't want you straining yourself yet."

"I don't know what happened to me either," I admitted.

The woman cocked her head to the side. "Oh, no? You don't remember?"

I shook my head. I remembered Gryphon Comics. I remembered hearing crashes coming from the alley. I remembered excruciating pain. I kept all of that to myself, though. I didn't have answers to the questions I had. Saying all that stuff would only lead to yet more questions and more answers I didn't have.

"Well, take a moment to rest before sitting up," The woman said. "My name's Dr. Cho."

"Mavis," I said. "Mavis Stewart."

"Nice to meet you Mavis Stewart." Dr. Cho smiled at me. She had a nice, comforting smile. Then she turned to a series of monitors on a table next to me.

I sat up and looked around. I was in what could only be described as a makeshift hospital room. The monitors Dr. Cho was looking at weren't anything I was familiar with, though all I really knew about hospital rooms came from TV shows and movies. The glass door opened and a woman walked in. Her hair was pulled back in a short ponytail and she was wearing a professional looking dress.

I knew her, too, and I suddenly realized I recognized the man's voice from earlier. I didn't recognize Dr. Cho, though, which gave me a little hope I was wrong. A voice deep in the back of my mind mocked me for being so naïve.

"Oh, you're awake," She said, looking at me. "Steve said you were still out."

"She woke up shortly after he left," Dr. Cho said. "I want to run some more tests before I let her go, though."

"My name's—" The woman started, but I cut her off.

"Maria Hill," I said, my voice cracking a little.

She blinked. "You know my name?" Her eyes flickered toward Dr. Cho then back to me.

"Where am I?" I asked. "Please don't say New York."

"You're in New York," Hill said flatly. "Tony found you in a Hydra bunker in a secret room in Sokovia. Want to explain why? And how you know my name? And how you know where you are even though you've been in a near coma for three days?"

Hydra. And Tony. And she'd just said Steve, too.

Still hoping you're wrong? The evil little voice in the back of my head asked.

I shook my head. "I was guessing?"

"Those are some good guesses." Hill crossed her arms over her chest.

"Now may not be a good time for interrogations, Agent Hill," Dr. Cho said. "She just woke up. She must still be confused."

"I'm not confused," I said. "I mean, I am confused. Very, but not like that. Like… like this isn't possible, kind of confused. Like this can't be happening kind of confused."

Hill's eyes softened. "That's what you said before you passed out back in the bunker. What do you mean this can't be happening?"

I shook my head again. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," A man's voice said.

I looked up and saw Steve "Captain America" Rogers standing by the door.