POV: Y/N Stark,

"There are so many. If you're listening... get out." Wanda stands up and walks over to me. Her eyes are still red. "Y/N, are you still there? I'm sorry-" "Push the fingers through the surface into the wet."

The woman's voice increases in intensity, "No! Stay the fuck away-" The sound of two gunshots erupts from the speaker, before turning into radio feedback.

You've always been the new you.

Why is the chanting still there? No, no, no, not again. It feels different than last time, less disruptive . My mind is just clouded, I'm still in control of my thoughts.

Wanda towers over my paralyzed body. She softly whispers, " I'm sorry malysh, I couldn't shield you anymore." She was shielding me? Damit, that's why she was so tired; she was shielding me from the influence of the chanting. She knew I was gonna stop her if I knew it was hurting her.

You want this to be true.

This means the team has to be affected as well. Both Steve and Bucky's ears are more sensitive to sound than normal mundanes because of the serum, just like mine. If they are here, they have most likely been compromised.

"Don't worry about the team dorogoy. Focus on yourself first." She lays her fingertips on my temples, but her magic is not working. "No, no, no, come on work." Her eyes lit up red, and she puts more force behind it, but it has no effect.

I try to talk, but no sound is coming out of my mouth. 'It's okay wands, it's okay, I'm not in pain. I think so at least, I don't feel anything,' I try thinking. She looks into my eyes and nods, before grabbing my dress shirt by the collar, pulling me along the black tiled floor. My back harshly collides with the concrete wall, causing a breath of air to escape my lungs.

She squats down in front of me, placing a leg on either side of my still paralyzed body. She's risen on her knees, straddling my thighs, but doesn't place any weight on me, or at least I don't think so does. She cups my cheeks, "I'm here okay, I'm here."

Her eyes glow red again, and I feel her presence in my mind. The fogginess in my mind slowly dissipating. She's using her magic to shield me again. Wands, stop it. You won't be able to do this for long.

Click

The sound echoes through the panopticon before a voice starts talking. The voice deep and gruff, "Debrief for Mirror Excursion 7-C. Subject is Agent Hardy. Hardy spent approximately... three hours in the Mirror, the longest time on record. Can you describe your experience inside, Agent Hardy?"

Wanda's hand squeeze my cheeks, my attention back on her. "Don't focus on the talking, focus on me." I manage to blink, and look her straight in her eyes, "Yeah just like that."

I try to move my hand, my fingers, just anything. Wanda notices and grabs my hand carefully, "Try to squeeze malyska."

The speakers in the background continue, "Agent Hardy is physically healthy, all the tests have come back clean. Yet the speech issue has persisted for hours."

Following the voice, a muffled but evidently panicky screech erupts from the speakers. "!ɿoɿɿiM ɘʜɈ nwob ʞɔol oɈ bɘɘn υoY .ɘbiƨni ϱniʜɈɘmoƨ ƨi ɘɿɘʜT !ɘɿɘʜɈ ni ϱniʜɈɘmoƨ wɒƨ I .nɘɈƨil oɈ bɘɘn υoY !υoγ bnɒɈƨɿɘbnυ Ɉ'nɒɔ I ⸮ɈɒʜW"

"Calm down, agent. It could be psychosomatic, but the fact that this only occurred after returning from the Mirror makes a paranatural explanation more likely. I recommend a battery of tests and a class-orange quarantine."

I attempt to squeeze Wanda's hand, but my body still won't follow commands. "It's okay, don't worry." Don't fucking worry, I'll fucking worry. I can't move for gods' sake.

"Hey, hey, calm down, you're frustrated I know. Calm down please."

I know she's right. Alright, let's think, it's not like I can move, ha. "Seriously Y/N." Wanda looks at me sternly.

I smirk and look into my peripheral vision, trying to observe our surroundings. In front of me, to the right, is the P6 CELL entrance. The heavy-duty bulkhead has a glass window embedded in it, a red glow peaking through it from the inside, shining its light onto the shiny floor. The bulkhead itself is closed and I see a small black keycard reader next to the door.

On the left side are more observation rooms, just like before, but from the corner of my vision I see something vague black moving into one of the rooms. Involuntarily my muscles clench and Wanda notices, "What's wrong?"

She twists around, but the thing is already gone. Did I see it correctly, am I hallucinating? Wanda taps the side of my cheek, "What's wrong?"

We need to get out of this hallway.

Wanda looks around, scanning the area and I notice her eyes fall on the P6 CELL door. She looks at me, probably not wanting to leave me here while she goes to check it out. Just go . She nods and stands up, carefully making her way to the bulkhead. With her back to the wall next to the door, she peeks through the glass panel, the red glow emanating from inside lighting up her face.

From her pocket, she grabs the blue keycard and scans it on the card reader. Click . She pushes against the bulkhead opening it.

I try to keep my focus on the room where I saw that thing enter, but no more movement comes into my view. Did I see it wrong? Maybe it was just a figment of my imagination, my mind playing tricks on me. Suddenly I feel Wanda's hand back on the collar of my shirt, pulling me towards the P6 CELL room. When we get closer to the door, she picks me up bridal style, supporting me with her magic for the most part.

She places me on a desk chair that is slightly pulled back from a clean wooden desk. "I'll be right back, alright?" Before giving me a chance to think, she walks back to the bulkhead, checking outside before closing it behind her.

I observe the view in front of me. We're not really in a cell right now, but instead, we're in a giant hall, with in the middle a cage placed in the center of some kind of stage setup.

Instead of 4 walls keeping something secure inside, glass shards litter the platform, leaving only a black thick metallic frame behind. Surrounding the cage are several pillars and beams acting as a framework for spotlights and several cameras. The spotlights emit white and red lights that scatter around from all the glass pieces. In the middle of the cell is a bed with restraints, bolted to the floor. The ripped leather straps loosely hang on the side.

I currently find myself in a little control room slash observation area. Several terminals in front of me display cell footage, each from a different point of view. In the center of the control room is a large, modern monitor hanging on the wall, displaying some kind of, currently paused, recording of a man strapped to a metal chair. The video is clearly shot in some kind of medical room, with completely white walls and floor.

I notice the feeling in my body returning, as I'm able to move my fingers and neck. It feels stiff and sore as if I haven't moved in a long time.

On the terminals in front of me, I see Wanda's figure stepping into the cell. She stands next to the fixation bed, investigating the leather straps.

I look over to the stage, where I see Wanda jumping down and walk over to me. In her hand, she manipulates an energy orb, before raising her hands to my temples. I feel her presence back in my mind and I now feel most control of my body returning.

"Thank you." I manage to get out, my voice rasp and dry. I move my arms around for some time, trying to work out the stiffness. As I attempt to stand up, I almost sink through my knees, but I manage to catch myself on the armrests of the chair.

I decide to give them a second more to rest and then roll myself over to the monitor connected to the wall on a chair. Unable to find any way to control the device, I tap the screen.

Immediately a command terminal pops up, displaying several files. One is highlighted as if it was recently accessed, "Mirror Excursion 7-C Debrief".

I double-click on the file and on the screen, the recording starts playing. The intercom screeches again and a deep gruff voice starts talking, "Debrief for Mirror Excursion 7-C. Subject is Agent Hardy. Hardy spent approximately three hours in the Mirror, the longest time on record. "

Wanda walks back into the observation area and looks up to the monitor, "Are we doing this?" I didn't even realize she walked out before. I tap the screen again, pausing the recording. "I think so, yeah." I tap one last time to get the video to start playing again.

It is the same room as I noticed on the screen earlier. In some kind of medical room, I see a man strapped to a metal chair, frantically moving around in an attempt to get out. His movements are irregular, to say the least. They look… off. "This was the most recently played file."

"Can you describe your experience inside, Agent Hardy?"

The man in the chair, who I assume is Agent Hardy, starts speaking, but is voice is unintelligible, the words gibberish, "!ɿoɿɿiM ɘʜɈ nwob ʞɔol oɈ bɘɘn υoY .ɘbiƨni ϱniʜɈɘmoƨ ƨi ɘɿɘʜT !ɘɿɘʜɈ ni ϱniʜɈɘmoƨ wɒƨ I .nɘɈƨil oɈ bɘɘn υoY !υoγ bnɒɈƨɿɘbnυ Ɉ'nɒɔ I ⸮ɈɒʜW"

A man in a lab coat next to him starts talking to the camera, "Agent Hardy is physically healthy, all tests have come back clean. Yet the speech issue has persisted for hours."

"!ɿoɿɿiM ϱniʞɔυʇ ɈɒʜɈ ni ϱniʜɈɘmoƨ ƨ'ɘɿɘʜT ]ƨυoiɿɘƨ ,bυo⅃[ !υoγ ʇo llA ⸮υoγ ʜɈiw ϱnoɿw ƨ'ɈɒʜW ⸮ɈɒʜɈ ɘʞil ϱniʞlɒɈ υoγ ɘɿɒ γʜW"

Hardy now starts yelling, his previous wiggling turning into trashing around in the chair.

"Calm down, agent. It could be psychosomatic, but the fact that this only occurred after returning from the Mirror makes a paranatural explanation more likely-"

I pause the video again and turn to Wanda, "This is the recording that was playing earlier. The one we heard over the intercom."

"You're telling me that this computer was the source?"

"Well, Miss Maximoff I can assure you that the computer was indeed the source." A mysterious voice booms through the entire room.

I look around the room, searching for the source of this voice, and notice a dark figure crouching on top of a catwalk that covers the entire room's ceiling. His figure is barely noticeable in the dim light from the spotlights.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Wanda asks. "My name is irrelevant but yours isn't Miss Stark." He says, completely ignoring Wanda's second question. The man jumps down from the catwalk and lands on the stage platform, cracking the glass-covered floor. His figure is now lit up in the spotlights, making his features clearly visible.

His dark hair and scruffy beard contrast the dark grey sweatpants and matching sweater. In large black letters, 'P6' is written on the left side of his chest. He places both his hands in his pockets, while he just stands there, looking at the both of us.

"Mine? What are you talking about?"

"I've been following you, Miss Stark, for quite some time now." He grins. He has been following me? I stand up from the chair and stand next to Wanda. My legs still feel stiff and sore, but no longer numb from not moving.

Wanda takes a step in front of me, covering my body with hers, "Who are you?"

I lay my hand on her back and lead it up to her shoulder, pulling her back next to me.

"As I said Miss Maximoff, my name is irrelevant ." He says, anger evident in his voice. The man steps closer towards both of us.

"You're the sixth Prime Candidate aren't you?" Wanda asks. P6, Prime Candidate 6. Oh god, this was the cell that should hold the new Director, how didn't we notice this sooner. I notice the man's cold eyes widen in surprise before he composes himself.

"Well, well, well, you figured it out. Wasn't expecting you to do so, but congratulations." He smirks. Did this man just talk down to my girlfriend? Dickhead.

Grabbing Wanda's hand, I look up at her and notice that she's still struggling. Her eyes are no longer red, but her forehead is still covered in sweat. Her eyes loopy, tired. Her magic won't last long. I have to figure out a way to stop the chanting from influencing me so she can stop shielding me.

I look back at the man who has come to a halt on the edge of the platform, he removes one hand from his pocket and lifts it up in the air. I release Wanda's hand and place mine on the gun that is currently tucked in the waist of my pants, not pulling it out yet.

I won't be able to do anything this far away from the man, so long-range is my only option. Wanda is in no state to be able to fight and win a full-blown battle against an obviously powerful enhanced, I need to find a way to help her.

A black mist revolves around the man's, swirling above his figure. Then suddenly multiple loud crumbling sounds erupt from behind us. I glance over my shoulder and see concrete debris blocking the bulkhead door. What the fuck- We're locked in.

While I'm looking behind me, I hear an ear-splitting explosive sound. I spin around, and out of the corner of my eye, I notice something moving towards me. Trying to grab Wanda to pull her down, I lift my arms to cover my head out of instinct. The spotlights suddenly turn off, leaving only a faint red glow illuminating the room.

I wait for the impact of something but feel none. I look up and see a scarlet red force field covering both of us. Some kind of black electricity now creeps over the front of the shield, slowly dissipating at the edges.

Looking through the force field I notice the man moved, now standing on top of the cell, balancing on the metal frame, with a gun pointed at us. Black smoke coming from the barrel, "I'm afraid I'm not here for pleasantries ladies, I have a job to do."

He is holding a revolver-type gun. A red glow emanating from within. I can't quite make where it's coming from exactly. The service weapon! We saw a technical diagram of it in one of those multimedia files. I can't remember hearing something about a red glow though.

This has to be the service weapon right? The Prime Candidates would be the only ones to wield it. Oh shit-

That makes him the current director.