As the guards pulled Skye down the hallways, she tried to keep track of the turns, but her brain was still fuzzy. The concrete was cold and scraped against her legs. She prayed that the team got her message and was looking for her. She knew what had happened to her mother and knew she could never let that happen to herself. The guards pulled her into a cell; three solid walls and a wall that was all glass, laced with metal wires, she assumed. Too strong to break easily. The light was a big surgical light that was fixed into the wall, a metal cage surrounding it to make sure no one could break it. The only furniture was a metal slab that Skye assumed she was supposed to sleep on. She looked out the glass and saw Whitehall looking at a monitor. He would occasionally look over at her, and when he noticed she was watching him he squinted his eyes, and put on a smirk.
Hours sped by like minutes, and minutes sped by like hours. Time seemed to fold in on itself, and Skye was left nauseated all along. Slowly, though, she started to regain her strength. The buzzing feeling beneath her skin gradually came back, and she smirked, her escape plans running through her mind. Once Whitehall looked away, she let her emotions free, shaking the entire room. She tried to direct it toward the glass but nothing shattered, not even a crack. Frustrated, she kept trying until she felt exasperated and guards started to gather near her cell. She knew she needed to save her energy.
Whitehall turned toward her, smirking and tilting his head as he walked up to the glass. He pressed a button and spoke into the intercom: "Well, sweetheart, you got my attention, are you ready to start?"
Skye put on her best brave face and responded. "You're just wishing I'll be your stupid lab rat!" She contemplates her response for a second. "God, that was /so/ lame," she mutters, turning her back to Whitehall.
"You're a feisty one, sweetheart," he responds. "I like the feisty ones, it makes it better when they finally break. Your mother fought, and when she finally gave in and I got that delicious compliance, it gave me a rush!" Whitehall sighed, lost in the memories of his past experiments.
As if she wasn't scared enough before, Skye was beyond terrified now. She knew she couldn't let him see it. Sucking in a breath, she walked slightly closer to the glass, summoning her courage, and holding a hand out in defense. "Touch me and my team will make sure you never see the light of day."
Whitehall chuckled maniacally. "Oh, dear Skye, the only one in this room who will never see the light of day is you." He leaned into the glass. "By the time your precious team gets here…" He smirked. "...you will be unrecognizable."
She laughed. "As unrecognizable as you? I hate to compliment you, old man, but you transformed from dinosaur to middle aged dad in the span of a few years."
Whitehall looked down at his pristine patent-leather shoes, smirking and chuckling under his breath. "It's nice to know that you're still as hard-headed as you were when I first met you. I feared your powers might have already broken you." Stepping back a step, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his subject. "I suppose I just have to do the honors."
He turned and addressed the guards, gesturing to them. "Deliver the girl to the operation room." He then looked at Skye, chiming, "See you soon, sweetheart." He pressed a button on the desk, and gas poured into the room from a vent on the wall, making Skye pass out.
Skye was drowsy when she came to. She tried to move her arm but found it kept in place by a thick brown strap. She was wearing her sports bra and shorts, and her bare skin felt much too cold on the metal table she was lying on. Looking up, she saw a woman dressed in all white and a surgical mask, wiping her inner elbow with something cold. Skye knew she was about to insert an IV and she started to squirm, trying to loosen the straps as much as possible. She only succeeded in making them tighter and rubbing her skin raw.
The woman placed her hand on Skye's head and said sternly, "Lie still, it will hurt less." Once the IV tube was taped in place, Daniel Whitehall walked into Skye's line of vision, wearing a surgical gown, gloves, and mask, complete with scrub cap. He looked down at Skye and smiled. "Are you ready for this, dear? This is going to hurt."
She smirked, shaking her head. "Yeah, I totally thought you would just be giving me a pedicure, Danny." He laughed at her response and looked at the nurse.
"Cubital," he ordered, and the nurse handed the blood-drawing needle to him with a curt nod. Skye looked dead into his eyes the whole time, not even flinching as he inserted the needle into the vein on her other arm, attaching the tube to the blood bag. He looked to the nurse again. "Make sure you get at least two and a half pints before I get back." He started to remove his gloves, tossing them in the biohazard bin and washing his hands.
She nodded. "Yes, sir." Her and Skye's eyes followed him out the door until it was just the nurse and Skye left in the room.
Skye was now staring off into the distance, trying to take her mind off what was bound to happen as soon as Whitehall walked back through the door. It came as a surprise to Skye when the nurse started talking: "What's on your mind?"
Skye sighed, directing her attention to the woman next to her. "Oh, I don't know, the new puppy Coulson promised me when I get back from being tortured."
The nurse laughed. "You're not being tortured, Skye. It's science."
Skye wiggled her arms, tubes and all. "Does it /look/ like I wanna be here?!"
The nurse contemplated that for a moment, watching as the blood bag slowly filled up. She had been told that all participants had been willing, and the restraints were just to make sure she didn't hurt herself. Her mind churned with the information. "Dr. Whitehall told me all participants were willing." Her eyes widened, darting to the girl on the table. "I'm a good person, I swear! I just needed a job. I knew it was going to be a risky one but I didn't know you were being held against your will-"
"Hey," Skye said. "It's okay, I get it, you're in a tough spot." The brunette was getting a bit out of breath, as the blood kept draining from her arm. "Listen, you need to get me out of here, contact my team, anything. Whitehall is going to do to me what he did to my mother when I was a baby and I probably won't survive. Please, I beg of you."
"I-I can't," the nurse responded. She knew it was a lame thing to say to the girl who she just learned was a prisoner, but this was vital. "He will take my kids, I can't lose them." She began to cry.
"Woah, hey." Skye managed to move her fingers so that she was touching the other woman's arm. "What's your name?"
"I'm Kathy," she replied, sniffling and wiping her nose with the back of her arm.
Skye plastered on a smile. She was starting to feel weak but she had a feeling Kathy was her only way out of this situation. "Okay Kathy, as you know, I'm Skye, and I'm not gonna let anything happen to you or your kids, I promise."
Kathy bit her lip, thinking about what Skye had offered. Before she could respond, the door started to swing open and both women looked away from each other. Kathy walked over to check the blood bag, trying to busy herself so Whitehall wouldn't be suspicious.
"How many pints are we up to now, Ms. Bailey?" he asked, sliding on a fresh pair of gloves.
"Two point six, doctor," she replied, biting her lip and avoiding eye contact with him. Unlike Skye, she wasn't a trained operative and knew she might lose her cool at some point.
"Great, go ahead and stop the draw then," he ordered. Kathy complied, gently removing the tube from Skye's arm and pressing a cotton ball to the bleeding vein.
The young agent was looking extremely pale, and her lips were cracked from the amount of blood they were taking. Kathy knew that she would need to increase her blood sugar soon if she wanted her to stay conscious.
Whitehall clicked his tongue as he approached his subject, pursing his lips. "She does look a bit weakened." He almost felt bad; her snarky nature was fading quicker than he anticipated.
"That's what happens when you take the thing that, you know…" Skye coughed. "...gives people life."
Whitehall sighed with a smile. "I was hoping to test some of your powers while we get your blood synthesized. Sadly you're a bit too weak; I forget you're different from your mother."
Skye scoffed as he walked over to his supplies table, grabbing a syringe and a bottle. He stuck the needle inside and drew out the contents. "Some adrenaline should do." Approaching Skye, he stuck the needle in her upper arm, making her wince. Kathy knitted her eyebrows; the girl had been so brave thus far and it killed her to see her fading.
In a matter of seconds, the two Hydra agents found themselves grabbing onto the wall for support as Skye started shaking the room with her abilities.
"Skye!" Whitehall shouted over the loud clinking noises in the room as supplies crashed to the floor. "You need to comply. Direct your powers inward."
"I...can't!" Skye yelled, tears welling up in her eyes from the pain as her arms started to feel the effects of her powers. Eventually she was able to quell the quakes, but not before screaming as she felt her own still-healing bones snap. Kathy had to close her eyes to compose herself and found herself unwillingly putting a hand on Skye's head. Whitehall shot the nurse a glare and she immediately pulled away, folding her hands in front of her and blushing from embarrassment.
He nodded to Kathy. "Go ahead and push more power repression into her IV." Sucking in a breath, the nurse complied, mentally apologizing to Skye for all she'd done.
Skye's eyes were only open in slits and she was close to passing out. Whitehall approached the table. "Scalpel," he ordered Kathy. The woman regretfully handed the tool to the doctor. He looked at Skye's arm, and pressed the knife into her flesh, blood beads forming on the tool.
Skye began to scream, the pain too much to handle as her nerves were split apart. She'd never experienced this much pain in her life. Her arm burning and her chest tightening, her body gave out and everything faded to darkness.
So my friend and I wrote this a long time ago, we are not done with it yet but we have 6 chapters done. I just got a job so it has been hard to write with each other lately. Please leave your thoughts in the reviews!