Chapter 14

"I'm not bad. I'm not bad."

"How long has she been like this?" a woman's cool voice asked. The voice was familiar, but she couldn't get her mind to focus properly on it. With her eye's covered, she couldn't see her.

"For a few hours now," a man answered. She knew his voice. He had been tormenting her for…what? Days? Weeks? Months? She wasn't sure how long.

"No, no, please…," she pleaded.

"She was a tough cookie," he continued, ignoring her. "Very strong willed, resisted suggestion for longer than anticipated. But we finally found the right combination. We can twist any of her memories to follow our narrative, even insert new ones," she could hear the pride in his voice.

"And her motives?" the woman asked.

"The Commander is her only motive. She just wants to save him. That's all."

"How disgustingly sweet," she replied.

"Good work," a different man praised, she didn't recognize his voice. "She'll be an excellent asset. It would be a shame to lose her."

"Give me a few more days, and she'll be ready. Don't worry, I won't let you down."

"Very well. Keep us informed."

As their steps faded into the distance, her tormentor came over to her side. He was close enough; she could feel his breath on the side of her face not covered.

"Well, Frankie, shall we continue?"

"No…," she whimpered.

"Frankie," Rory's urgent voice penetrated the haze in her head. "Frankie, wake up."

Opening her eyes, at some point the hood had been removed, she met Rory's worried ones.

"Rory," she whispered, "you came for me."

He gave her that boyish smile she loved. "Of course. I would never leave you."

There was a rattle of chains as he unlocked the cuffs holding her to the wall. Her legs refused to hold her weight and she crumpled, sliding down the wall.

"I got you," Rory caught her and held her up. She leaned her head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart through his shirt.

"Come on, we got to go before he comes back." Supporting her weight, he led her towards the door.

"Wait," she stopped him. "How'd you get in here?" Nobody but the man torturing her had been in the room, except… she wasn't sure. Had there been others? Maybe. Her mind was still too hazy to organize her thoughts effectively.

"I'm the commander, Frankie," Rory assured her. "They couldn't keep me away from you."

She pushed him away slightly, "it's been weeks. Why'd it take you so long to come for me?"

"No, it's only been a couple of hours, Frankie. I came as soon as I realized what was going on."

Just two hours? Her brow furrowed. "No, you're mistaken. I've been here a lot longer."

"I know it seems like it from your point of reference, but believe me, it's only been just over two hours since they brought you here. Jacob came to me after your conversation with him and told me everything. I went to your room and found the door open and the interior wrecked. I thought the worst had happened. I immediately started searching for you and didn't quit until I found you here."

The concern in his eyes was genuine.

"Now, let's go before he comes back."

Frankie let him lead her from the room and down the hall. Through the maze of corridors and stairs they went, only stopping to hide when they heard voices approaching. Soon they were at the elevator that led to the exit above ground. Rory keyed in his access code and pressed the UP button. Frankie leaned against him as they waited.

"Thank you, Rory."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze, "you know I would never leave you."

The elevator chimed as it reached their level and the doors slid open, revealing Glenda and two security guards; their weapons raised and pointed at Frankie and Rory.

"I would have never thought you'd be this stupid, Commander," the woman addressed Rory calmly.

"What you're doing it wrong, Glenda," he responded. "I won't let you hurt her anymore."

"Well, then, I guess we'll get rid of two traitors at the same time."

She fired her gun. Two shots in quick succession. Point blank into Rory's chest. The impact drove him backwards before he fell to the ground.

"No!" Frankie screamed and ran to his side, dropping to her knees on the cold floor. He was still breathing, but it was labored, and blood dripped from his lips. Blood spread from the holes in his chest at an alarming rate. Frankie pressed her hands over the wounds to staunch the bleeding, but her efforts were futile. It was like trying to stop the flow of water in a river with a single stone. The stone would stop the water, but the water always found a way around the stone and continued unabated.

"Oh, Rory," she cried.

Her friend looked up at her, the pain on his face breaking her heart. "You failed, Frankie," he told her.

"What?"

"You promised to save me from them, but you failed. Just like you failed to save me back in New York. You just left me to die alone. Just like you failed to save your mother and father."

"No, that's not true."

"Yes, it is, and you know it deep down inside. You fail everyone you love, Frankie."

His eyes grew dim and the light in them went out as his breathing stopped.

"No! Rory! No…" she cried, bent over his lifeless body.

"Well, isn't this pathetic?" a dry voice asked behind her.

Frankie sat up and looked over her shoulder at Glenda, standing with her gun aimed at Frankie's head.

"You are such a pathetic failure, Frankie. I'm glad you're not on our side," she said as she pulled the trigger.

Frankie's world went dark.

"Frankie," Rory's urgent voice penetrated the haze in her head. "Frankie, wake up."

Opening her eyes, at some point the hood had been removed, she met Rory's worried ones.

"Rory," she whispered, "you came for me."

He gave her that boyish smile she loved. "Of course. I would never leave you."

There was a rattle of chains as he unlocked the cuffs holding her to the wall. Her legs refused to hold her weight and she crumpled, sliding down the wall.

"Let's get you out of here," he said as he caught her.

"Well, well, well," Glenda said from the door of the room. "What do we have here?"

"Get out of my way, Glenda," he ordered the woman. "I'm not going to let you continue to torture her."

"I don't think so," Glenda said as she raised her gun and fired it.

Rory pushed Frankie away as the bullets meant for her tore through him. Crawling over to his bleeding body, she tried to stop the flow of blood, but it still pooled on the floor around her like a black lake.

"You failed me, Frankie," Rory whispered. "Fail….everyone…you love."

"No, no, no, no," she moaned, cradling his limp head in her lap.

"Such a shame," Glenda tutted as she raised her gun.

"Frankie," Rory's urgent voice penetrated the haze in her head. "Frankie, wake up."

Opening her eyes, at some point the hood had been removed, she met Rory's worried ones.

"Rory," she whispered, "you came for me."

He gave her that boyish smile she loved. "Of course. I would never leave you."

There was a rattle of chains as he unlocked the cuffs holding her to the wall. Her legs refused to hold her weight and she crumpled, sliding down the wall.

This time, they made it to the exit above ground before Rory was gunned down. The next time, he was gunned down in the corridor outside. The next, before he could unlock her chains. On and on it went in an endless cycle. They all ended the same way. Failure.

A cool hand cupped her cheek gently. She leaned her face into it.

"Welcome back, Frankie," Rory's voice was soft and soothing like his hand.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking against the light in the room. She was back in the fake hospital room.

"Rory?"

"I'm here," he assured her.

The events of the past week rushed back, and she panicked, frantically trying to sit up. Rory put a restraining hand on her shoulder to push her back down.

"Easy, easy," he coaxed. "It's over. You're safe now."

"No! You don't understand. She's coming. She's going to kill you again and there's nothing I can do about it." She was close to hyperventilating.

"Calm down, Frankie. Breath. It was all just a bad dream. It's over now."

"We have to get out of here, Rory! They know. They know…," she faltered.

"They know everything, Frankie. Everything. You have nothing left to hide." He smiled down at her, "you made it. You're one of us now."

"One of you? What? How?"

"You passed the test. You're officially a member of Hydra now. No more secrets. No more hiding."

"Over? It's over? Truly?" she asked hopefully. She can't remember the last time she had any hope.

"Truly," he smiled and leaned down to kiss her cheek. At her sigh, he pulled back slightly and searched her eyes. Her frantic breathing slowed at this longing on his face.

Slowly, he lowered his head and kissed softly. His lips were warm and soft, gentle and non-demanding. It was this that she responded to, that warmth spreading through her body as she kissed him back tentatively. He never deepened the kiss, instead letting her set the pace. When she opened her mouth under his and her tongue touched his upper lip, he responded in kind, exploring her mouth slowly, learning her taste and feel.

She raised her hands to run them through his hair and felt a sharp tug on her right arm. Her quick intake of breath at the pain made him pull away. Grasping her hands gently in his, he lowered them back to her sides on the bed.

"Easy," he told her softly, "you don't want to pull out your IV. We'll have plenty of time to continue this when you're all better." He smiled at her forlorn expression. "You need to rest now."

As if on cue, the machine attached to her IV chimed and a warm wave rolled over her as more morphine was pumped through her system. As her eyes flickered closed, the last thing she saw was Rory, smiling down at her.