Whistles+ Haven't updated this fic in a long, long time. Don't know who still reads it, but I felt like updating it. Hope you all like it. And if you haven't read this fic yet, and thought it was a "Lessons" update, read this one! You don't need to know anything about X-men to read it, yet at least. Or at all. But don't forget to review. Now on to the update that has been long coming.
My arm throbbed with pain, just as my mind reminded me that I had been injured there in the beginning of this lovely evening, as the two men dragged me through the lit hallways. A light bulb flickered in the distance, interrupting the sterile perfection of the building layout. My body yelled at me to fight, but my logic replied with nonchalant and reasonable answers. The men steering me down the halls were about twice my size and they didn't look like the prime example for the term, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall" so I stayed quiet. My body and mind had been expecting a nice quiet night's sleep and had already been wearing down, with my adrenaline growing short.
I tried to keep track of all of the twists and turns that were taken through the halls, but eventually I lost track of the rights and lefts that I was guided through. I was surprised at how the men could simply turn in the correct direction with no conversation between each other and no hesitation, either. There were no signs directed me to an exit or the final room to where I was headed, just those steel doors every few feet. Every so often I heard a whimpering or crying that came from behind the doors, but for the most part, the only sound I heard were the men's leather dress shoes and my bare feet on the linoleum floor.
After about ten minutes of walking, although it seemed an eternity for me, we finally stopped in front of a door labeled "Testing". A bulky man similar to my escorts was sitting in a metal chair, looking bored. He gazed up at his collogues and nodded. One of my sentries slid his ID badge through the scanner on the left side of the steel door and the door slid open silently, just like all the others. My heart started racing as I caught glimpses of test tubes, beakers, hypodermic needles and surgery equipment. Especially when seeing the surgery equipment. No way was I going to let them cut me open, so the instincts my body had been sending me kicked in suddenly. What adrenaline I had left surged through my bloodstreams and I felt like I had enough strength left to force my way out of custody. Using the leverage I had and leaning against the bulky frames of my captors, I brought my legs out and slammed them against the frame of the steel door. This group of guards hadn't experienced me do this when they had dragged me into the actual building, so it took them by surprise. I didn't knock them off balance, but my sudden movements made them drop my arms and I took that opportunity to run. Now I know I got lost on the way to the "Testing" room, but at that point I didn't care. I just ran as fast as physically possible. I heard far off yelling for me to come back, like the men could convince me to stop and just turn around. I guess logic set into their minds because that's when I heard the bang of a gun and a sharp pain in my neck, like a bee sting. I stumbled slightly and slowed to stop, while reaching around and plucking whatever had hit me out of the flesh of my neck. The hallway grew smaller and smaller as I looked at the small capsule in clutched in my fingers. I didn't recognize it, but soon I heard running footsteps, and I fell, the world turning black.
I woke up to small pain in the crook of my elbow and came face to face with a middle aged man with his attention on a needle that was lodged into one of my veins. He was about forty with grey just starting to pepper his brown hair, mostly at his temples. I groaned with the pain in my neck, right hand and especially to the sting that had doubled in my left arm thanks to the needle jabbed into it. The man taking my blood looked up at me with a little bit of surprise in his eyes, mixed with sympathy. I couldn't tell if he was feigning the sympathy, or if he truly didn't want to hurt me. He pulled the needle out, untied the rubber band around my upper arm and then covered the spot where the needle had been with a band-aid. He walked over to a counter and set to work extracting the blood from the needle. My vision had cleared and I tried to sit up, but straps across my forearms, wrists and shoulders caught me before I could fully sit up, attaching me to the examination table that would be seen in a doctor's office. I looked at my feet and found them bound as well. Panic started to set in as I looked around the room for an exit. The only way out of the room seemed to be the door I had been dragged through. I mumbled curses under my breath as I scanned my head for a way to get out, but none came to mind. The man had his back to me, and didn't seem to be paying much attention to my cursing. As I was trying to wriggle my hand free of the restraints, the steel door slid open to reveal a dark silhouette. A man dressed in a freshly pressed suit and tie strolled into the lab as though it was the most natural of occasions.
The man came to a stop and stood next to the table and looked down at me. His dark hair was jet black and neatly trimmed to match his pristine appearance and fell into his silver colored eyes. He made eye contact with me and a chill ran down my spine. I didn't like the presence of this man; he radiated power and iciness through his eyes. I longed to be away from the coldness that he emitted. His gaze, after a few very long minutes, placed itself on the scientist still running tests on my blood.
"How are you doing, Johnson?" The man clasped a hand on his employee who looked up at him with surprise and then nodded. "How are the tests going on the subject?" I felt like a lab rat, which to them I probably was.
"Fine, sir. I'm just finishing up with the blood samples. She's been unconscious for most of the tests. Just woke up actually." The scientist never took his eyes off of his samples, as if he was scared of the man next to him.
"Good. Good. I heard she gave some of the guards the slip earlier." This man chatted to the scientist as though they had been friends for years.
"Yes, sir, she did. But they got her with a tranquilizer before she could get too far."
"Hmm, well that's good. Keep up the good work, Johnson, and tell me when you've gotten the results." The man turned away from the counter and looked at me again. He knew he held all the cards in his hand and was in total control, yet he took his role as casually as if he was the manager of a retail store. His cold eyes looked me up and down and then shook his head in disgust. He held up a leather wallet, my leather wallet and looked at the license inside. His eyebrows shot up as he read the personal information on the plastic card.
"Vala Phoenix, eh?" The tone in his voice gave away his interest in my name. I nodded in reply, too scared to talk. The tone immediately left as though the information meant nothing to him, which it probably didn't. "Welcome to Fermi Lab. Hope your stay is memorable." He flipped the wallet closed and strolled out of the laboratory, the steel doors slamming shut behind him.
Hope it was long enough. May update later… maybe not.. I just wanted to get this chapter out onto the web and out of my head. Review!
Pendragon4
