It'd been four weeks since since Veronica was captured. Or at least, she thought it was a week. Food was brought to her once a day, and every three she was allowed to sit with D.J. for an hour. Never any longer.

She wished that she could take her son and leave, never looking back. But she knew it was impossible. Not so long as she was kept chained, and especially not when her son needed machines to breathe for him.

Honestly she was surprised that they hadn't done anything more to her besides the forced caesarian. Of course, she had also still been healing from said caesarian. Now she was mostly healed. And she knew, whatever Hydra had planned for Veronica, it was likely going to happen soon.

When the door to her cell opened Veronica lifted her head and stared at Hades. The man stared back with his awful grin spread upon his face. "Glad to see that you're awake," he said as he stepped into the cell. "I was worried that we'd have to use the bucket again. Can't have you getting sick after all."

Veronica really, really hated his face. She hated it so much in fact that she was tempted to punch him in his pearly whites. But then again, her hands were chained to a wall with about four feet of give, and Hades was standing at least a good seven feet away. There was no way she'd reach him. And even if she could, she wasn't going to risk D.J.'s life for that kind of satisfaction. Never.

"You seem, rather bored these days Medusa," Hades said. "What? Not enough to keep you occupied? Maybe we should let you out a little, the fresh air might you some good."

Veronica looked the man in the face. He'd said this every time he came to greet her recently, and every time he walked out after inspecting how much she had recovered. He never let her see the sun.

"We both know you won't let me out, Hades," Veronica replied.

Hades shook his head and then bent down so that his eyes were level with hers. "Eventually, Medusa. Eventually it will happen. Of course, I'll have measures in place to ensure that you come back every time."

Veronica's eyes widened. What?

"Now then. We have a tight schedule today, so I'd suggest, you prepare yourself."

Veronica didn't even have the chance to ask Hades what he meant before she looked down and a dart was in her calf. 'Shit,' she thought as she lost consciousness.

...

When Veronica opened her eyes next, she had been moved back to the surgery room from the caesarian. Dr. Gillian stood at her head, his hands running through her hair. He was talking to someone, but Veronica couldn't understand what he was saying. It was as though she were underwater. Or at least that was, until they injected something into her forearm through an IV.

Unlike the paralytic this was like a raging fire ran through Veronica's veins. It burned her from the inside out, turned her to ash, reduced her to cinders. And yet she was still intact. Veronica knew she was screaming. She also knew that she was thrashing around on the metal table so hard that the restraints holding her back were starting to quake. And to think that the last time she'd been at the table she'd been unable to move.

It didn't feel like much of an improvement though.

A few agonizing minutes later another injection was added on to the first. Or was it a few seconds? Maybe hours? Yeah it definitely could have been hours, Veronica wasn't sure if she'd kept her consciousness or not. She wouldn't be surprised if it had been days since the first injection.

The second injection was different from the first. It didn't burn in the same way. In fact it didn't really burn at all. It was almost soothing, except for the feeling of ants crawling along her body. Veronica almost preferred the burning. But she wasn't screaming anymore. That was certainly a bonus. Her throat was starting to feel like it was tearing up, and breaking apart. Maybe it was. That would explain the taste of iron in her mouth. That or she'd bitten her tongue. Veronica wasn't sure which. Maybe neither.

Veronica turned her head from side to side and looked at her surroundings. She noticed that there were a few different IV bags set up. She only remembered one. There was also a heart monitor, but that had been there from the being. It was standard in surgery. The mask over her face was certainly new.

Actually, how long had that been there? It wasn't there when she started observing.

Veronica turned her head down to look at her feet and saw Dr. Gillian and a few others with strange looking tools. No wait, not strange familiar. And one of them was a saw.

The doctor holding said saw placed it against Veronica's leg, and started moving it back and forth. Veronica screamed in pain once more and Dr. Gillian looked over at her.

"Oh dear," he said. "You weren't supposed to be awake yet. Dr. Becke if you please, will you add another dose? 120 milligrams should do the trick." Dr. Gillian looked at the saw and then back at Veronica.

"Actually, make that 180."

Veronica just managed to move her eyes to look at said Dr. Becke and watch as he injected a clear syringe into the IV bag.

Except that Veronica wasn't knocked out. Nope. Cause there was the same guy with the same red syringe.

Wait. Red? Wasn't it clear before?

In an instant Veronica was screaming again. The fire was back. She was honestly surprised that she wasn't dead yet. She blamed the Ross blood in her veins. Her father was a very stubborn man after all. Then again, so was her husband.

Suddenly Veronica wasn't strapped to the table anymore. Strangely enough, she was back in her cell. Veronica didn't think she would ever be happy to be in that place, but honestly she didn't know how else to describe it.

Her body was heavy, as though it were filled with lead. She just barely managed to move her body so that her legs were pulled to her chest, and her arms wrapped around her knees. Once in her desired position Veronica tilted her head so that it was resting on her shoulder. She would have tried to sleep if not for the ache that spread through out her being.

But, she was some what comfortable that way at least.

Veronica tried to pass the time by counting the number of bricks she could see in her immediate vision. Mentally of course. She doubted that she'd be able to speak after all the time she spent screaming on the table. It was strange though. She'd never really been able to see the bricks before without the door being open. Maybe she was just starting to get used to the darkness?

It doesn't take a month to get used to the dark.

Veronica randomly remembered the doctor with the saw and a shiver ran down her spine. He must not have cut very deeply, cause Veronica definitely still had two feet. That or she imagined the whole thing. She doubted it though. Cause it definitely hurt to have that saw hacking through the bone. Maybe more time had passed than she thought.

It was entirely possible. She wasn't sure how long the drug had knocked her out for, and she certainly didn't know how many times she'd been knocked out. For all she knew she could have been there for another month.

Veronica was brought out of her thoughts by the cell door opening and blinding light flooding into the cell through the opening. Dr. Zhao walked into the cell with the usual metal tray in her hands. Instead of just the normal bread and water there was some form of meat cut into strips as well.

"What's with the sudden upgrade?" Veronica asked Dr. Zhao.

"You lost a lot of blood during the procedures," came the answer. "And your body needs more calories to function now."

Veronica nodded her head slightly. It made sense. Blood loss could also explain why she was so weak.

"How long?"

"I can't answer that."

Of course she couldn't. No one was able to give her any indication of the time. Veronica wished someone were wearing a watch at least. But nope! No such luck.

Veronica ate her food slowly. Not that she wanted to savor it, she just only had the strength to bite off small pieces of the meat and bread. Once she was finished she pushed the tray away, which Dr. Zhao grabbed before walking out of the cell, swallowing the it in darkness once more.

...

The next time the cell door opened Hades walked in, carrying a chain. He attached one end of the chain to Veronica's right shackle, and the other end to her left. Then he released her from the wall.

"Get up," he said. "We have places to be, and people to see."

Veronica's interest was peaked. Who was she going to see and why? She stood on shaking legs, but she was able stay upright. She just hoped she'd be able to walk however far Hades wanted to take her.

The man led Veronica out of the cell and down the hallway, in the opposite direction from where D.J.'s room lied.

"Where are we going?" Veronica asked.

Hades smirked. "To hell."

The word was not exaggerating. Veronica was led to a room filled with wrestling mats and equipment. Punching bags, ellipticals, treadmills, dummies, rowing machines, stair steppers and more. Veronica was really not looking forward to this.

"You'll be spending ten hours a day here until you can defeat Ares in a fight," Hades said. "I don't care how you do it, you can kill him for all I care. You just have to beat him."

"Who's Ares?" Veronica asked.

A man built like a tank, with bulging muscles all over his body, walked into the room from a door opposite where Veronica and Hades stood. "He is. And he's about to become your new best friend."

'I guess this is another reason for the extra food," Veronica thought.

Hades released the chains on Veronica's wrists, just leaving the shackles. "I'm going to trust that you won't try to escape, have fun!" With that he left the room, leaving Veronica to what seemed like her eminent doom.

"Get in the ring," Ares yelled at Veronica. He pointed at a boxing ring that was in the corner of the room. Veronica nodded and walked over. She lifted the ropes that separated her from a world of pain, and stepped into the ring. She hoped that Ares would go easy on her.

She should have known that he wouldn't.

As soon as the the giant man stepped into the ring, he charged at Veronica, fists swinging wildly. His right fist connected with Veronica's stomach, and she buckled. The pain was intense, and she knew there'd be a massive bruise there tomorrow. If there wasn't one already, of course. Another swing landed Ares's knuckles at the back of Veronica's neck, sending her crashing onto his boot. Her lip split from the force and blood pooled into her mouth and down her chin. She'd be needing stiches for that one.

Ares wasted no time and kicked Veronica in the back twice before kicking her in the side, forcing her to turn over.

"Get up," he spat at her. "You're weak. But I will make you strong. Now get up!" He kicked Veronica in the head that time, and the world started to spin, just a little bit. She turned back onto her stomach and used her hands to push her up onto her knees before standing, hanging onto the ropes for support. "Good, now fight me."

Another punch sent it's way towards Veronica's head, but this time the woman was ready. Or at least she thought she was. She put her hands up in front of her face to block the punch, which connected with her palms, and then sent her flying out of the ring.

"Pathetic!" yelled Ares. "Is that really the best you can do?"

Veronica panted where she lied and turned her head towards Ares. "I'm not exactly a fighter."

Ares smirked and then climbed out of the ring. He got down on his knees, grabbed Veronica's face in his iron grip, leaned in close and said, "You will be whatever Hydra wants you to be, and you will learn quickly, or your little brat will pay the price." Then he pulled her to her feet and shoved Veronica towards the treadmill next to the ring. "You need to build up stamina, now start running, and don't stop until I say you can.

Veronica ran for what felt like hours. Her lungs and legs burned, and she could feel the blood rushing through her veins, pounding through her brain. It wasn't pleasant, but she'd been through worse. Much worse. This was nothing compared to the pain of having her child ripped from her womb.

When Ares finally ordered for Veronica to stop running he tossed her a water bottle. "Drink," he said. "Slowly." Veronica opened the water bottle and placed it to her lips, careful of the split. As she drank the much needed liquid she stared at Ares, who was taking a sip from his own water bottle. Somehow she got the feeling that Ares was in a situation very similar to her own, but at the same time something was different.

It wasn't that Ares didn't want to be there, or that he'd been through... whatever it was that Dr. Gillian did to her, but it was like he knew the pain of having his whole world ripped away from him, and was thrown into a new one, where he knew and understood nothing.

The man turned around for a brief second and picked up a weight. His back was turned towards Veronica just long enough for her to see a burn mark that covered half of his back. It was gruesome. When Ares turned back around he knew by the look in her eyes that Veronica had seen the scar.

"You like it?" he asked. "I got it in Afghanistan. From the man named Tony Stark. Not that I didn't deserve it of course. We had uh... enlisted him, if you will, for a project. He was not willing to help and created a monster of a suit. Burned the place to the ground and ran away."

Veronica put the now empty water bottle on the floor. So much for thinking he was like her.

Ares stood, weight still in hand, and water over to Veronica. "Get back on the treadmill, and start running." The brown haired woman did as she was told.

She ran until Hades walked into the room, chain in hand. "I thought you would be fighting, Ares," he said. "Did she beat you already."

Ares scoffed. "She is too weak. One punch threw her out of the ring. I need to build up her muscle first. That way she can last until the battle is over."

"I see." Hades looked Veronica up and down as she ran. Sweat covered her face and mingled with the blood on her chin and lip. "And what of the blood?"

"She fell onto my boot."

Hades looked down. "Ah. The steeled toes strike again." He walked over to Veronica, who looked him in the eye while still running. "Just make sure not to bust her up too much. Dr. Gillian would cry if he lost his precious lab rat."

Ares nodded and then walked up to the treadmill before turning it off. "Get off," he said. "You're done for today."

Veronica nodded and stepped off the treadmill, putting her hands out for Hades.

The man smirked as he stepped closer. "Wow, so compliant," he said as he secured the chain to her wrists.

"You're threatening to kill my son if I'm not," Veronica said to the man. "You're threatening to take away my everything."

"Ah yes, I forgot about that. Maybe I shall let you see him tomorrow, hmm? Would you like that?"

"Yes, sir," Veronica replied.

Hades smiled. "Good, very good! For now though, let's get you home."

'Home, right. My cell is home now,' Veronica thought glumly. Hades yanked on the chain and pulled her forward.

When they reached the cell, one of the guards opened the door and Veronica and Hades stepped inside. She walked over to the wall with the chains and allowed Hades to connect her back to it. Before the man could leave the cell Veronica spoke.

"What about my wounds?" she asked. "My lip needs stitches."

Hades laughed at loud and Veronica was afraid that they didn't care if she had a gaping hole in her lip. "What wounds?" he said as he laughed.

"What do you mean, what wounds! Ares split my..." Veronica paused. Something wasn't right. She moved her hand up to her mouth and felt where Ares had split her upper lip. But there was no split, just a raw patch of skin and a definite scar. "What?"

Hades laughed again. "It appears that you were not made aware of your improvements. I apologize." With that he walked out of the cell, and the door was closed behind him. He gave no further explanation.

Veronica felt her lip again and then hurriedly lifted up her shirt to take a look at her abdomen. The was no bruise. And honestly she was a bit terrified that she was able to see that all with how dark the cell was. Apparently her advanced healing factor wasn't the only thing that had changed.

'So then,' Veronica thought. 'What else is different?' Her answer came when a few minutes later the door to her cell opened and Dr. Gillian walked inside, a bag grasped in his right hand.

"Hello Medusa!" Dr. Gillian exclaimed. "It's been a while since we've last seen each other. Or at least, it's been a while since you've seen me."

"I saw you yesterday, didn't I?" Veronica asked. "While on the table."

"Oh my! You really were out of it!" Dr. Gillian said. "My dear girl, it's been well over a week since you've been to my lab. Quite honestly I think you might be in need of a tune up, if the results of today's training were anything to go by."

Veronica shivered as she thought of what a "tune up" might mean, but she still found herself asking. "What do you mean by, tune up?"

"I mean to give you another dose of the serum. You remember, I'm sure, the uh... red injection? Don't worry, it won't change much, just improve what's already been done. Of course I'm sure that it hurts like hell. You did seem to scream a lot. We had to stuff your mouth once cause all the doctors were getting headaches!" Dr. Gillian walked over to Veronica. "Now then, lets take a look at the lip shall we? Your ribs and abdomen as well I think."

The man set down his bag which Veronica supposed was a first aid kit and pulled something out, a rag. He then pulled out a water bottle which he opened and poured over the rag.

"Have to clean up the blood first." He reached out with the wet rag and done too gently rubbed away the dried blood, revealing the thin white scar beneath. "How wonderful! The skin had knit itself back together all most perfectly! Of course the cut wasn't very large to begin with, other wise it would have just healed leaving a slit in your lip, but my goodness! This sort of wound would take weeks to heal for a human!"

Veronica turned her eyes towards the doctor. "I am human," she said.

Dr. Gillian laughed. "Oh no dear, you were a human. Now you are something quite different."

Veronica was horrified.

So there's that chapter done. Sorry that it took so long to write. I don't have a lot of free time anymore, so I write when I can. Which sadly isn't often.

But, tell me, what do you guys think? What do you think of Veronica? How about Dr. Gillian, Hades, and Ares?

I promise to bring more of D.J. into the story, and later the Avengers will come in, obviously, but I felt like it's important to write all of this out first. I tried starting it where Tony comes in and saves Veronica, but it didn't work out, so this is how it's playing out. I'm tempted to make this book really long and have Veronica join the Avengers and see how the events of say Infinity War and End Game would change with her there, but we'll see. What do you guys think of that idea?

Well anyways, let me know what you think, tell me some places where I can improve, cause goodness knows I need it, and I'll see you all next chapter.