Chapter One: Regeneration.
"He's awake? After all of this time, he's awake?"
Harry Potter stared forward without blinking. He took several deep breaths to calm himself back. The energy field around him broke and allowed him to escape. Another barrier appeared on the other side. Harry channeled a wave of energy around him.
"There was no brain activity for six months, and suddenly he's awake," another voice said on the other side of the room.
Harry's eyes turned. Images flashed in the back of his mind about being strapped to a table. His spine sprung back and threw himself at the barrier.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Harry said, speaking in a hoarse voice.
"You understand us perfectly?"
Harry stepped back. Who were they? Who were these people? He had been trapped in another cage. It reminded Harry of a situation which he had been in for the better part of his life.
"Yes, I understand you," Harry said. "Who are you? Where did you find me?"
"You don't remember anything?"
Harry heard this question and stared forward. They obviously wanted him to spill information. Harry wasn't going to go in this direction. He sat down on the bed and clammed up in an instant.
"I remember waking up here," Harry said. "And then you're talking to me, surprised I was awake. I'm here…wherever here is."
Harry hoped they would not say he was safe. When people told Harry Potter he was safe, it normally meant really bad things for him. His fingers brushed against the edge of the cage and sparks started to fly. The energy field was made of a strange energy and Harry took some time studying it.
"You dropped down in the middle of the desert, speaking in some strange language," the woman said on the other end. "It sounded like you were hissing…having a seizure…..are you one of them?"
Harry refrained from answering. Who were they talking about? What were they talking about? Was any of this really happening? Flickers of information and thoughts returned to Harry. He remembered a veil and then everything faded to bright white.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"You are asking for my name?" Harry asked. "And I don't have yours, that doesn't seem to be very fair, does it? It doesn't seem to be all that fair."
Harry waited for the answer. The woman seemed to be communicating with a superior of some sort. Harry frowned a couple of moments later.
"If you're having a voice tell you what to do in your ear, the least he can do is come out, and speak to me face by face," Harry said. "I can stay here for a long time. I've obviously been here for a long time…..and until you can give me some answers, then I'm not saying a word to either of you."
Harry sat back on the bed, legs crossed and arms folded. He performed the exercises to clear his mind, which he learned about three years past them doing any good. Memories lingered in the back of Harry's mind. The difference between fantasy and reality could not be determined.
"I'll let you take it over from here….you did want to talk to him, didn't you?"
Harry only listened to a few snippets of the conversation. He reached behind his head and gave the most crisp of crisp sighs possible. The sounds which echoed behind Harry continued. The door opened up and a figure stood on the other end of the barrier. A tall and imposing black man stared down. He dressed in some kind of official uniform.
"You've been here for a long time. We thought you were brain dead. We didn't get any functions from your mind but your body….despite the circumstances, remained pristine and healthy as ever."
Harry opened his hand and did not open his eyes. A couple of seconds passed when Harry waited for the other man to continue.
"Where am I?" Harry asked.
"You're in a highly classified government facility until we can determine your threat level," the gentleman said. "My name is Hank Henshaw."
Harry responded with a nod and looked at the man for a second. The body language was subtle and showcased a small amount of deception which raised red flags in Harry's mind. The captive sorcerer decided to play the game, at least for now. Until he could figure out where to go.
"Well, Mr. Henshaw, I don't remember anything before waking up," Harry said.
Harry flashed outside of the containment unit which caused Henshaw to step back in shock. He flashed back inside before the government agent or the three people waiting on the outside to contain Harry could do anything.
"That still works," Harry said. "This containment field is not made to hold my type…"
"It's made to hold….prisoners," Henshaw said.
"You have questions, but without giving up information, I'm not going to give you answers," Harry said. "I can't promise I have all the answers either….."
A stabbing sensation went through the back of Harry's head. The strange sense of Deja-Vu visiting him inside this lab brought a more feral and dangerous reaction out of him.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Harry yelled.
An intense fever spread through the young man's body. He flipped from calm and tranquil all the way to a ball of rage. His eyes shifted over into lifeless pools of green when he slammed into the edge of the cell and started to growl.
Henshaw stepped back and flipped a switch. Several blasts of tranquilizer gas filled the cage. The young man stood up straight and pushed through the containment field and landed down on the ground.
"Contain the prisoner!"
Said prisoner created a field around him which caused the bullets to free in mid-air before burning through in mid-air.
"Stand back," Harry said. "GET AWAY!"
Harry's legs and arms started to twitch in a wild fashion. He looked up to see a figure in the shadows.
'Get a hold of yourself. Clear your mind.'
Harry lapsed into a blissful state of tranquility. His heart stopped beating for a brief second and he calmed down.
Alex Danvers stood on the outside of the cell. She had been on one of the most unfortunate tasks of them all, guard duty, because of the short-handed nature of the DEO. Most of the prisoners had been sedated. She walked past the occasion threats of revenge for being contained here in the first place. These words faded into the background like noise, and Alex thought about it very little after hearing them constantly, day after day, week after week, month after month.
The most tranquil prisoner Alex dealt with was the one they dubbed "Patient E" which was short for "Patient Emerald." Not exactly the most original name in the world, even though it described those haunting green eyes quite well.
Patient E had been anything but tranquil when he showed up in the middle of the desert and started to raise havoc at one of the military bases. Hissing in tongues, acting like he was in a seizure, and the strange energy appeared to short out at least half of the west coast. The vortex which opened closed almost as soon as it had been opened.
Alex walked past this cell at least twice a week, and saw nothing. His vitals remained strong and brain activity flatlined.
"That could have gone better."
Henshaw walked out of the room the second. The emerald-eyed patient remained calmer than he was a second ago.
"We still don't know who he is, and where he's come from," Alex said. "And how he…"
"Escaped a containment field which could hold some of the most dangerous prisoners in the universe," Henshaw said.
"He could leave and we could barely do anything about it," Alex said. "I mean, we brought him in, and he wasn't….well then."
"He's regenerated everything other than his mind," Henshaw said.
Reading the young man's mind was out of the question, even if he had the capability to do so at this present time. It would be a real maze to even get through.
Alex stole another look towards the mysterious patient. He still sat cross-legged with an eerie blue light emitting from his body. The light signified power which Alex could not comprehend.
"He's not one of them, is he?" Alex asked.
"I'm not certain what he is," Henshaw said.
Why didn't he escape?
"Maybe I should talk to him….straight up, face to face," Alex said. "No offense, but you come up as a bit intimidating."
Henshaw raised an eyebrow out his agent's frank words. Given the dangerous people he had to deal with on each day, he would have to be.
"It's dangerous to go in there with him," Henshaw said.
"It's dangerous to be out here, considering he just got out here, before springing out," Alex said. "The only thing which is holding him back is…..actually I'm not sure…but maybe….I can talk to him."
The DEO Director could not believe he even considered the attempt. Alex looked at the young man in the cell.
"You trusted me enough with guard duty on one of our….most enigmatic guests," Alex said. "Trust me enough to talk about him, find out who he is…where he's come from…..he might have….escaped from somewhere else…"
"You mean to tell me you think he's a government experiment from another country?" Henshaw asked.
The moment the DEO director said this, he considered it more carefully. He had been so involved in the interests in the United States, which had been an epicenter of alien involvement in recent years, he did not even consider the fact there were other problems.
"Just let me talk to him, and find out if he remembers anything," Alex said.
"If he starts to be a threat, you're getting pulled out immediately," Henshaw said.
"Then, I'll try not do anything to upset him."
Harry Potter remained his mind a complete and utter blank. He would have escaped if he didn't know where here was. This facility looked to be very secure and it allowed Harry to be calm and regain his bearings.
'I was supposed to die,' Harry thought. 'But, nothing ever goes as it planned.'
The numbed sensations stopped and Harry snapped his head. He saw someone approach with head held up in tall. An attractive brunette woman a few years older than him, or at least what Harry assumed to be his age, walked towards her. She dressed in a black uniform which flattered her quite nicely.
"You're brave," Harry said. "Given how I could have ripped your boss apart had I not regained control and killed everyone in this base."
"You didn't know," she said. "And you could have escaped at any time, if you chose to."
"Perhaps," Harry said. "It must be a slow night wherever here is….if you want to talk to me….unless he sent you to talk to me."
"Actually, it was my idea, Director Henshaw….discouraged me from coming here," she said. "My name is Alex Danvers….I helped bring you in….you might not remember me…the desert."
"I don't remember anything, sorry," Harry said. "Between leaving and waking up here, my mind is an utter blank."
"Where did you leave?" Alex asked. "Were you being held captive somewhere?"
"When I close my eyes sometimes, I remember a place like this," Harry said. "Government labs all over vary little, don't they?"
Alex had no idea how to response. She sat down and placed a box down on the table.
"My name is Harry Potter."
"Seems normal enough," Alex said. "So…..did we just imprison…..well you aren't exactly human?"
"I'm something more," Harry said. "You still haven't told me what you're doing here….or is that classified information, not to be released to prisoners?"
"You're not a prisoner," Alex said.
"Yes, I've heard that one before," Harry said. "They told me I was being held for observation, to make sure….it didn't affect me…"
Harry stopped short of having said way too much. Alex looked at him for a moment. Her eyes met his.
"You know, you get lost there, I'm not coming to look for you," Harry said.
Alex pulled away with grace a second later from those eyes. He did not look mad, or even mistrustful for a moment.
"People rarely look me in the eyes," Harry said. "So, I'm glad you have the ability to do so."
The DEO agent's tongue tied for a second and Harry slid away from her.
"If I knew, I'd tell you, but I don't," Harry said. "I'm looking you in the eyes and telling you I don't really remember much of anything."
Alex believed every word he said even though she couldn't really figure out why she believed him. Only she did.
"You have to admit it's jarring to see someone just drop from the sky out in the middle of nowhere," Alex said. "Even in the line of work I'm in…it was almost by….."
Alex's sentence trailed off when she tried to come up with the proper word to say what she meant. Harry decided to help out the young DEO agent.
"Magic?" Harry asked.
"It's….it explains a lot," Alex said.
"Including a lot of which you can't tell me even if you wanted to," Harry said. He could see Alex shift about a half of an inch back as if looking for something. "Yes, I figured about as much."
"Why didn't you leave when you had a chance?" Alex asked.
Harry looked at the young woman for a second. Alex swallowed when those enchanting emerald eyes gave her the once over.
"Why didn't I leave when I have the chance?" Harry asked. "You burn though a lot of trouble and resources to keep me here, I assume, and you wonder why I didn't leave….and go where, precisely?"
Harry responded to his own question with a solid "hmm" and turned around. There was no window for him to look out of, but during his childhood Harry trained himself to take great interest in looking at the wall. The woman stared at his back and Harry turned around.
"You think there's more of me…whoever you think I am?" Harry asked. "Whatever you think I am? People fear what is different from them, what they can't understand."
"We want to understand…here," Alex said.
Harry responded with another "mmm hmm, and Alex struggled to figure out whether or not this was a good "mmm hmm" or a bad "mmm hmm." This proved to be one of the most enlightening, and also, the most frustrating interrogations she had.
"I see," Harry said. "I see…..well, if I ever figure it out myself, you'll be the first to know."
'So, hungry.'
Harry shook his head and cleared the intruding thoughts from it. These green eyes flickered off into the distance and turned towards Alex who opened up the box.
"Actually, we got sidetracked, and I thought you might be hungry," Alex said. "So, do you like pizza?"
"I've never had it," Harry said.
Alex had been taken aback from Harry's words. This floored her.
"Are you sure you're not from another planet?"
Harry took one of the largest pieces and took it into his mouth. The first piece of food Harry remembered eating in a long time was most enjoyable. The taste was different to what Harry remembered….actually he didn't remember eating food for a very long time. Harry almost inhaled the slices when devouring them.
"Do you want any?" Harry asked.
"No, I'm fine, it's just….you must have been really hungry," Alex said.
"Starving," Harry said. He licked his lips with a smile. "So, what else do you want to know?"
"Do you remember anything?" Alex asked.
"I remember my name is Harry James Potter, I went to a boarding school for the gifted," Harry said. "My parents were killed by a terrorist when I was one and I was wounded in the attack."
The casual way Harry relayed this piece of biological information
"I'm sorry," Alex said.
"Everyone always is," Harry said, sounding in a strange mood. "I had to deal with the terrorist and his minions for years, and I defeated him, and after that…..well…."
Harry grew really silent and his eyes flashed with a bright light. Alex skidded back on the chair and almost had been tipped over. Harry stretched his hand out and grabbed Alex's hand to prevent her from falling over onto the ground.
"Are you still there?" Alex asked. "Um, Harry?"
His eyes snapped open and the doors slid open. Alex looked over her shoulder and the other DEO agents made their way into the cell. They cut a wide path and Alex put herself in between Harry and the agents.
"I think you're done playing good cop," Harry said. "And I'm….having another flash."
"A flash of what?"
Alex had been escorted out, on Hank's orders. The young DEO agent's eyes looked on the other end of the cage. The blue glow emitted around Harry's body and turned red in a flash of light. Harry continued to twitch and those eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"Get a scan on him!" one of the doctors yelled.
They could not get in close to get a detailed check up on him. Their one attempt to draw blood from him to see what was wrong with them melted the equipment they used.
"Do something to help him!" Alex yelled.
Alex stepped back and let them do their job. She thought they were getting closer to having a break through with him than ever before. This entire situation had gone tits up, and Alex couldn't even begin to describe how frustrating it was to be on the outside looking in.
"Another moment in there, and you would have been harmed," Henshaw said. "Find a way to calm him down."
The DEO director's eyes flashed red from picking up the muddled mess of disturbed thoughts.
'Don't worry, Mr. Potter, this won't hurt at all,' a silky voice said. 'We need to ensure you don't hurt anyone again. Having the Horcrux implanted in your head for years has made you very sick. You no longer know what is real and what is a fantasy.'
"Director?"
Harry Potter sat on the edge of the bed and tried once more to get ahold of his sanity. Every time the episodes happened, it ended up being harder to pull himself back from the brink of madness.
'You're having a nice conversation and now…..this happens,' Harry thought. 'And you were really close to a break though.'
Harry wondered if the years did a number on his psyche. Bits and pieces came to him in a flood of memories, but could he trust them to be real? The line between fantasy and reality blurred.
'So hungry!'
These words echoed through Harry's subconscious with more force. The heat coursing through Harry's body increased to the point where the sensation of burning skin assaulted his entire nervous system. Sticky fluids dripped from Harry's limbs and coated his body.
The loud pounding on the outside grew more frantic, and at the same time, fainter. Harry's vision doubled over and then flashed into super sensitive where he saw even the most miniscule detail of room. His hearing grew sharper when a person's breathing sounded like thunder.
The orange fluids bubbled from Harry's skin. The government agent's on the outside tried to break through. Harry's magic reinforced the suppression field and sealed them on the outside. The computer system fried to prevent any escape.
Harry's stomach turned over and his skin hardened, coated in the orange substance which dripped around it. He stopped holding back, knowing whatever was going to happen was going to happen.
'I am what I am.'
Alex paced around in the hallway outside. She walked back towards the cell door. Something compelled her to move forward.
"I'm going back in there," Alex said.
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Agent Danvers."
Alex turned towards the view screen and the first image did not encourage her. The room lit on fire and their guest melted before her very eyes.
"We need to get him out of there, now!" Alex yelled.
"Not going to happen," one of the agents said. "The shields have tripled up, and we can't override them…whatever is going to happen he's going to…"
A crystalized shell formed over the guest of the DEO. Alex watched it before her very eyes and could not even being to fathom it. None of the DEO agents could fathom what happened. The energy spreading through the base caused them all to back off.
The flash of light retracted back from them. Alex looked over her shoulder and looked back towards her fellow operatives.
"He's alive?" Alex asked. "We're alive?"
"Check his life signs," Hank ordered.
"The energy readings are off of the charts, sir," one of the operatives said. "He's generating energy comparative to..."
These words had been cut off by movement in the containment cell. The crystallized shell cracked and they all braced themselves to deal with what would emerge from the other side of the shell.
To Be Continued.