A/N *The timeline might be a little off but it is somewhere between 2005 and 2010. I'm slowly going through this story editing and re-wording the chapters so I apologize if you find anything later on that doesn't match up! I'm working as fast as possible!

Thank you for reading!

"Drip, drip drip"

Aubrey hated the noise.

It's constant, methodic dripping that never ceased. It had become another thing that never seemed to age in this cell. Her ankle chain clinked as she hugged her knees to her chest, nightmares flashing in her mind's eye. If only she had been more careful...hadn't let her guard down.

She could only imagine what they wanted with her.

The nightmares became realities in her mind that night, running rampant with her wild imagination. Aubrey woke with a barely contained scream and flinched at the eternal light in her cell. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and for a moment believed that this was just a dream….a nightmare….but only for a moment.

Then the reality of her situation hit her and a shudder made its way down her spine.

This was something she could never awaken from because it was her reality…..One that she had been so careful to avoid. She had known that this...organization was after her but hadn't known how closely they had been following her. Tears pricked Aubrey's eyes as the accident played in her mind. She had been cleaning up dinner when a noise had sounded outside and the door had burst off of its hinges. Masked men had rushed in and she had been forced to the ground, everything had been too out of reach...there was nothing she could have done. Her wingsuit was in her bedroom where she had been tinkering with the jets to try and make them quieter. Her homemade bow was in the shed with the target block and her arrows, her Glock was on the counter….a fingers-width out of reach. She inspected her hand, watching as the shackles on her wrists rubbed at the red skin. Her fingers flexed and she was tempted to let the light filter through them. The shackles stopped her as she remembered what the man had said when he put them on.

"These will-" he paused, searching for the translated word "-knock you out if you try to use your power."

The urge to use her power died and Aubrey shakily rose to her feet, unsteady with the weight of the chain on one. The toilet and sink were just close enough that her chain barely reached, it was the same with the wooden bed and food slot. She leaned forward slightly, turning the water on and cupping her hands, drinking from them. The cold liquid burned down her bruised throat and settled in an empty stomach. Turning it off she returned to the spot on the floor, leaning against the wall that her chain attached to. It was the spot she slept in, more comfortable to the wooden board that served as a bed. At first, she had refused to eat their food, her father had taught her that a prisoner that refused to eat her captor's food was on her terms...not theirs but they ended that swiftly, threatening to force her to eat it until she became sick. Every moment more she spent in the cell convinced her she was going insane. It had started with the dripping, it became louder in her mind until she couldn't ignore it. Then she had become hyper aware of the sound of someone walking past, their footsteps on the cement, and the dull thud of their firearm hitting their leg as they walked. Now she heard the toilet, as it's pipes swirled with water. It made her want to bang her head on the wall until everything silenced but footsteps cut through it all. The heavy gait told her it was a man, his firearm was bigger than most and she guessed he was going to open the cell door by the jingle of the keys. So when he came in she was ready, on her feet, and looking defensive. The man laughed at the sight of her, rapidly speaking in what she guessed was either German or French as he unhooked the chain from her leg. She tripped as he pushed her out, not used to having the added weight gone. He roughly pushed her down the hallway to a room full of men. Several were dressed in what she recognized as German military suits others were in foreign suits and doctor's coats. Aubrey was pushed down into a cold chair, calculating eyes landing on the man who crouched in front of her. He started speaking rapidly in German but saw the confused look on Aubrey's face and changed to what she assumed was French. She shook her head, clearing her throat.

"I speak English."

The man sighed heavily, switching to English. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Easy way you cooperate and do the tests we put in front of you without arguing, hard way you do them anyway and we force you. Which would you prefer?"

She noticed how he artfully avoided calling her by her name and wondered why but Aubrey was pulled from her thoughts as the man stood up, growling "Keep the warning in mind."

Nodding and gulping as she was taken to an adjoining room, a treadmill sat in the middle, with various other machines on wheels sat beside it. The guard who had taken her from the cell took Aubrey roughly by the arm and directed her onto the treadmill. The men in white coats swarmed her, attaching things to her arms, forehead, and wrists. The treadmill started at a slow walk but quickly sped up to a run. They watched her with cold eyes as if they saw her as a thing instead of a person. Her legs quickly started to burn and her breathing became heavy but the men said nothing. The test seemed to be never-ending and at one point Aubrey started counting each footstep, she ended on four thousand eight hundred steps before the treadmill slowed down. Before she knew what was happening, Aubrey's legs became jelly, collapsing from beneath her, to the ground. None of the men rushed forward to catch her, they just watched silently as she shuddered a breath, a poor attempt to slow her lungs. Aubrey moved to a sitting position and held her aching head in her hands, puffing a breath out of her lips.

"Up" one of the men in a military suit pushed forward, he took a hold of her arm and yanked Aubrey to her feet. "We do not have time for this nonsense." He growled. She was then taken to an adjoining room and put through various intelligence tests and then they tested her strength and knowledge of weaponry. By the time Aubrey was dispensed back into her cell, a bone-tired ache had settled in her bones and she sunk to the floor tiredly. The pull of the chain at her ankle was oddly comforting as Aubrey sighed heavily, the little movement making her muscles screech in pain. The day repeated itself for what Aubrey gauged to be a week. It frightened her to think about the world going on as normal outside the walls of her prison. She often thought of her family, her parents, and brothers. Pain bloomed in her chest whenever she thought of them but this...it was a different type of pain..one that she welcomed. At the end of a week, something changed and they put a gun in her hand, asking her to kill. An innocent man was crouched in the corner of the training room, trembling, he was her victim. Aubrey looked back at the man that had become slightly familiar to her. His face was taut and was all sharp lines and angles. She had mentally started calling him her handler. He nodded to the trembling man, his face unreadable. Aubrey squared her shoulders and looked the man in the eyes.

"No" the single word echoed through the room and she watched as the man's face hardened and he growled under his breath. He ripped the gun from her hands, grabbing ahold of her arm, dragging her out.

The room was not unlike the others but what made the tittering chill skitter down her spine was the ominous metal contraption that sat in the middle of the room. Before she knew what was happening. Aubrey was being shoved down into the chair and a rubber bit was shoved into her mouth. She felt the moment the chair turned on, it started to hum and the sound pounded its way into her mind. The chair tipped back, metal plates zipping with electricity clamped onto her forehead and scalp. That was when an animal-like scream tore its way out of her mouth, pain crowded Aubrey's vision and she writhed in pain. But above it, all boomed a voice.

"You are our soldier, you will be known as Der Adler, The Eagle, our Eagle. Your mind is ours. Spitze, 51, Adler, Blauer Himmel, Auto, Leben, Angst." [Top, 51, eagle, blue sky, car, life, fear]. She felt the words ingrain themselves into her mind, burning into her subconsciousness. She tried to fight them but the chair felt like it was sucking the Life out of her. Before Aubrey could do anything she felt her body convulse and everything went black.