A/N* Hello all! So sorry for the delay between chapters! I had some of this one written but then looked at it and decided to rewrite the chapter. Hopefully, I got the emotions I was going for!
Also, I'm camping this week and have been scrambling to try and get this chapter out. It's not near as long as I wanted it to be but things have just been getting in the way. I'll try to have the next chapter out much sooner and have it be significantly longer!
Aubrey rolled her shoulders back as she flew, feeling the stretch of the skin on her back. Her hair was tucked into the shiny black hood that was attached to the suit Fury had loaned her. Her wings flapped and she vaguely heard the whirr of helicopter blades several klicks behind her. According to Fury, the next base was in Kuggerlassad, Greenland. Rolling blue waves lapped beneath her, small islands a blur. Her commlink beeped before agent Hill's voice sounded.
"You're nearing the landing zone, start descent."
She murmured a response before starting to bank down, soon snow-covered ground loomed before her. Aubrey positioned herself to land and felt her knees wobble as her combat boots made a soft thud. She immediately moved to the tree-cover and followed the GPS watch strapped to her wrist. Up ahead she glimpsed a large black building, surrounded by dense tree-cover. Aubrey reached out and brushed the metal with her gloved right hand, her breath puffing into clouds. The metal was frigid beneath her touch but Fury had said that the door was hidden. She ran her fingers along the seams and several minutes later found what she was looking for. A small opening in the metal, hooking her hand into it. Straining, Aubrey felt the metal groan before creaking open to reveal a dark passageway.
"Got the door open, no hostile's yet" she muttered, notching an arrow before shuddering and turning invisible. The hallway stunk of mold and Aubrey pulled up the cowl looped around her neck, coming to a fork in the hallway. Her footsteps echoed off the black walls and the familiar sound brought Aubrey to a stop. All of a sudden her chest seized, tightening, a gasp tore it's way out of her mouth and Aubrey collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily. She flet herself flickering in and out of sight. Her mind buzzed as panic hit her in waves.
What if they were here?
What if they had taken down the helicopter and were hunting her this very moment?
What if the words started echoing in the hallway?
Her stomach rolled and Aubrey attempted to tear the cowl off, her hands trembling violently. Sweat had started rolling down her back and she sunk to the ground, eyes closed, feeling like she was burning up and freezing cold all at once. Vaguely she felt her earpiece buzz.
"Aubrey? What's going on?"
Between gasps, she grit out. "I..don't...know...can't breathe..chest...tight"
On the other end of the line, she heard a curse and footsteps clicking down the hall. Out of the corner of her eye, Aubrey saw Agent Hill hurrying down the passage. Hill's eyes zeroed in on her and she crouched down in front of Aubrey, taking in her state.
"Whats..wrong...with me" Aubrey gasped, feeling like her chest was about to explode.
"I want you to take a deep breath with me" Hill instructed calmly. Together they took several deep breaths, Aubrey struggling not to pant. Several minutes passed and gradually she felt her heart rate slow, and her chest relaxed. Leaning her head against the wall, her eyes fluttered closed.
"What was that?" her whisper sounded loud in the silent hallway.
"I think that was a panic attack-" Hill responded, standing to her feet and checking her GPS watch. "-I told Fury it was too soon to bring you into the field. What triggered it?"
Aubrey thought about it for a minute, her hands fiddling with her bow.
"I...I'm not sure. I remember thinking about how..-" she gulped "the echoing of the footsteps was something that I'd heard before I was the Eagle...while I was waiting in a cell. My brain shut down...I...I..They aren't here are they?"
She gazed up at Hill before getting to her knees and slowly rising on shaky feet.
"No, we did a scan of the area and there aren't any heat signs."
"I can't go back….If I go back...I'm not ever coming back" Aubrey's watery eyes scanned the hallway warily.
"If we have anything to say about it then you won't go back-" Hill's eyes hardened and she nodded towards the fork in the hallway in front of them. "-I've instructed the team to come in behind us and go left, we go right, still feel up to it?"
Her nod felt unsure but Hill was already headed down the right hallway. They cleared every room as they passed it but Aubrey couldn't help but feel something itching at the back of her mind….this place….this facility….it was….familiar.
Hill had taken the lead but Aubrey almost ran into her as she abruptly stopped. Hill turned around and inspected her.
"I think you should head back, you don't look so hot."
Aubrey's internal alarms started to go off and she pushed past Hill. "What are you hiding from...m..." she trailed off in shock, staring at what was before her.
The room stunk of mold and moss crept down one side of the walls, water dripping down the other. The flat mattress was gone, leaving the metal insides of the cell, including the foot-cuff attached to the wall...
Shock started to work its way through Aubrey's body and she shook her head in disbelief. Her hand unknowingly had reached out and grazed the wall. The instant her fingers touch the stone, frigid cold prickled up her arm, spreading to the rest of her body. Aubrey's hand fluttered to her mouth and she gasped, falling to her knees.
Her stutter bounced off the walls and she felt her eyelids flutter.
"This…..I...It started here." her mind rippled and Aubrey felt a new memory surface.
"Up" a gruff voice commanded her. Aubrey rose to her shaky feet, feeling the familiar weight of the foot-cuff. A man entered the cell and unlatched the cuff, leading her out of the cell and down a hallway. They came to a room with a treadmill, besides it sat various machines with cords that attach to the runner. The man motioned towards the treadmill and Aubrey reluctantly stepped up onto it, watching as the man started to attach the cord suction cups to her forehead, wrists, and over her heart. The treadmill started to hum and it's tread squealed in protest as it started to speed up. As she began to run, Aubrey felt a sharp pain in the crook of her elbow. She looked over to see that the man had inserted a needle that attached to a bag of blue, icy liquid. He flicked a switch and the liquid started to filter through the needle, mingling with her blood. Almost immediately, every muscle in her body stiffened and started to ache, pain flared in her mind and Aubrey cried out. But the only answer she received was the quickening of the treadmill. She ran for hours, on the edge of collapse, and gasping for air but the man threatened her every time she slowed and tripped. Her will to survive was the only thing between her and death.
Aubrey felt hands on her shoulders and she jumped to her feet whirling around, talons already growing from the metal plates. Her eyes played tricks on her and Aubrey launched at the man who had snuck up behind her. Except when the man cried out, his voice belonged to a woman. Aubrey's brows scrunched and she scrambled away, panting heavily, eyes blinking. Her vision dimmed and the person she had thought was a man slowly turned into a woman. The woman's sleeves on her jacket where shredded and her eyes sparkled with fear.
"Aubrey…?" Her voice had once sounded confident but now sounded scared….terrified.
Aubrey gulped, chest heaving as she leaned back against the wall, whispering. "I'm a monster, I almost killed you."
The woman, Agent Hill shook her head, cautiously standing and venturing closer.
"It was an accident. Aubrey you aren't a monster, you triggered a memory right?"
She nodded and repeated her earlier words. "Your wrong, I'm a monster. I've done so many bad things."
Hill's voice became sharp "A monster is someone who enjoys pain, you have done so much to try and fix what happened. Many more people would've died in Sokovia if not for you."