As the others began to rise and slowly wander in towards the dining area, she remembered the liquid she drank earlier. Thanks to how she freaked out on them, they didn't tell her exactly how long it would take until she could eat real food, and watching as the platters of food were being brought out, she really wanted to have some. After her punishment weeks, those first few meals at the Raft base would give her stomach cramps, twisting it up to the point where not eating was preferable. But if what they had said in medical was true, then that shouldn't happen this time and she wanted to make sure of it.

Not feeling too comfortable about heading back to that place alone, her stomach gave her its opinion with a growl so she decided to take Sam up on his earlier offer.

"Would you still come back with me to the medical room? I think I can handle being around them again. They gave me something earlier for my stomach and I want to see if they think I could handle eating real food so soon."

"Of course I will. Have you had problems before, after they took out the feeding tube?" he asked, to which she nodded.

"The first day or two would be the worst, mostly stomach cramps," she explained.

"Does that have something to do with why you would hide food sometimes?" Sam asked her, surprising her that he knew about that.

"Yes," decided to admit. "The first few days I would keep stuff to eat when my stomach felt better. Then, when it got close to the time for another punishment week, I would hide stuff and eat it right before. The liquid meals always made me feel hungry, so my snacks helped to stave that off the first day or so."

"It's clever that you figured that out. Come on then," Sam told her as he stood up and offered her his hand to help her up, which she took still a bit surprised that he was so willing to touch her skin. As she stood, he joked, "If we wait too long, that group in there will only leave us with a bunch of crumbs. Always make sure you fix your plate before Steve if you can."

Every so often when he had offered his hand as they talked, she'd accepted. If he really had been scared of her, she didn't think that he would, especially now that she was 'free'. When not in the headgear, guards would use the shock collar if she got within arm's length of them. And she didn't want to think about the times she had been touched with them on.

They walked back towards the door she's escaped through earlier. Over his shoulder, he informed Steve, who was talking with Bucky and Clint close to the den's door, "We're heading down to medical. We'll join you in a while," receiving a nod in response.

Sam moved to hold the door open for her, the act pleasing her since she didn't have to use her sore hands to do it.

Stepping inside he asked, "Polly, why did you decide to run earlier?"

She was still a bit suspicious but she'd told herself to give them some benefit of doubt so she didn't have any real reason to not tell him.

"When I first got to the top of the stairs earlier, I'd noticed that the lighting here was not like the other bases," she gestured to the frosted glass panels surrounding them. "But when I realized that the changing of the brightness was due to the sun, I decided to take the chance to try and get free."

"So why did you stop?" he asked as they began to head down the stairs.

"After getting through the door I figured would be locked, I did'na expected what was on the other side of it. I'd expected ta' find metal fences, maybe even concrete walls ta' keep me in. Finding myself in that garden...to say it was a shock would be an understatement. I thought the roaring sound was machinery, plane engines, not waterfalls. Besides, it'd been so long since I'd seen the sky."

"Keeling never let you even see the sky?" Sam's voice was laced with sadness for her.

"No, it was another rule of his. And when I was found secured in the truck, they were not sure if I was dangerous. So they did'na remove my headgear until after I was already at the Raft."

They walked quietly through the halls, seeing others either coming or going and nodding in acknowledgement. Dinner was upstairs waiting and she hoped that they told her some good news. She would love to eat anything solid.

Kilani was still on shift when they arrived but now they both noticed that she was a bit more hesitant around her. The other staff that he didn't recognize seemed to be acting the same so either they remembered her or had already been told the story of what happened earlier. She had a feeling that she was going to get that treatment for a while until the villa staff understood that she was not really a threat to them.

Sam explained why they had returned and Kilani said that they could easily find out if she could now eat. They led her back over to the same scanning machine, and it was just as simple and quick as before.

"Polly, can I get a copy of the medical records they've made? They might be useful to bring with us when we leave," Sam asked her, as the results were being looked at.

Not seeing any reason to deny the request, she agreed.

It only took about three minutes but they were told that the new scan they did showed her body to be working properly again. She learned that the drink they had given her earlier had healed her insides since she had been in here. They only suggested that she eat slowly to make sure that she did not overload her stomach and to avoid spicy foods to be on the safe side.

Walking down the hallway back and up towards the common room, which had a dining area on the far side, Sam asked, "So what are you hoping for as your first real meal in a while?"

"Anything!" she eagerly told him. "I'll take anything offered right now."

Sam had a smile at her response, stating, "Then let's go see what's for dinner."

Arriving back at the dining room, Sam saw that the others were already around the table eating without having waited on them. There had been no telling how long they would be gone so it made sense they wouldn't wait. There was a long buffet table along one wall with a lot of steaming bowls and platters with food for them to choose from. Some were dishes that he easily recognized, but there were a few that he figured were local.

Polly walked slowly down the length of the buffet studying the variety of dishes. He liked the smile that appeared on her face as she inhaled the scents wafting up from the dishes. It saddened him a little that such a simple moment that he and the others had taken for granted meant so much to her. Everything that she was about to experience over the next few days would almost be like the first time all over again.

Sam picked up a plate and offered it to her as she made her way back towards him. He noticed again that she seemed to have trouble holding onto the plate firmly but she did manage after adjusting her grip. After being in the ball cuffs for so long, her hands were probably sore from not being used. He figured it would take a day or so until she was able to properly use them again.

"See anything you like?" he asked scooping up what looked to be mashed sweet potatoes.

"I'm not sure. There's a few things that look almost right, but I'm guessing they're not made just like back home."

"Home?" Clint took the offering to see what they could learn. "Ireland, if we are judging your accent right."

Polly seemed a bit annoyed but she had to know that her words were sometimes laced with a familiar tone.

"Yes," she then actually agreed.

"So what does looks familiar?" Clint then asked, trying to keep her engaging with them.

"The blaas looks fresh baked, there's a strange colored boxty, and the warming stew smells good too," she told them…and not a single one of them understood what she meant.

"What the hell is blaas, besides Sam's personality?" Bucky then asked, receiving a punch in the right arm for the taunt from Steve who was sitting next to him.

Polly walked over and awkwardly held up one of the three types of rolls offered.

"Blaas…I think," she took a small hesitant bite. After a few seconds, "Nope, not exactly right."

"But is it still good?" Sam asked her moving to continuing filling up his plate.

"Yes, but right now anything would probably be the best thing ever."

"So then what's the boxy?" Scott asked.

"Boxty," Polly said clumsily using the tongs to pick up a flat fried item. "It's potatoes made into flat cakes, but I don't know why it's an orange color."

"The chef mentioned that those were made from a local wild potato that grows here," Natasha explained as the two of them continued to gather up a few items. He saw that she chose two of the rolls.

Turning to the large table, Sam took the free chair next to Nat and moments later Polly sat down next to him at the end of the row. There was another free chair next to Scott but it seemed that she was becoming comfortable with being around him at least.

The group chatted for a while as he watched over how Polly ate to make sure the nurse had been correct. Polly was taking small bites, chewing it very well, and then giving a few moments before eating more or moving to another item. Not once did he notice any sign of discomfort from Polly when it came to eating the food. But it seemed that her weak hands made her struggle to hold utensils while her drink glass still required the use of both.

However, as they all chatted while eating, any time that one of the group tried to ask a question she felt was too personal, Polly was hesitant to answer. Even though she had admitted that she was from Ireland, she refused to give any family member's name or location close to where she had lived. She was still trying to protect them.

"Polly," Bucky said to get her attention, "Would you tell us how Hydra found out about you?"

Sam watched as she seemed to consider this request while picking at her roll.

"I guess that wouldn't hurt," she offered. "It started while we were having our Leaving Certificate examination at school. There was a boy sitting in front of me using a cheat sheet. I don't know where he got the answer key from. But when he saw the professor making his rounds, he tried to hide it. While trying to shove it into his back pocket, it fell to the floor at my feet. The professor saw it land and picked it up. He thought that it was mine. I told him it wasn't and even said that it was the boys, who of course denied it."

"What happened then?" Scott asked.

"He took the both of us to the principal for him to question us. When he kept denying that it was his, I got so angry that I grabbed his bare arm. I demanded that he tell the truth of where it came from, which of course he did. He admitted that the cheat sheet was his and who he had gotten it from."

"So the professor and principal saw you use your abilities?" Natasha then asked as he noticed Polly do a strange movement with her hands.

It took Sam a moment to realize that the second roll which had been on her plate was now gone, most likely hidden away in a pocket if he'd understood her hand's motion correctly. She was worried about not having access to food later on and was hiding it. Was she still worried that they would try to lock her away or deny her food?

Sam wasn't about to call her out for what she had done in front of the others and hoped that after some time she didn't feel that doing so was a might have to have a talk with her later on to try and reassure her again that she had nothing to fear from them.

"Yes, but I don't think they really understood right then. Then after confessing, the boy once again began to deny saying that I made him admit to it," Polly admitted. "But days later while picking up my test results, I was called into the principal's office. He talked with me for a few moments about what had happened, telling me that I was in no type of trouble. He wanted to know if I had actually been able to make the boy tell the truth. I simply nodded. He then asked if anyone else knew. I'd never told my parents, worried about what they might think. He said that he would also keep it a secret and then let me leave. I thought that was the end of it."

"You didn't think to deny your abilities? That could have been very dangerous," Wanda told her.

"It was," Polly then said. "A few days later while I was driving home late one night, there was a police road block out on the bog. The officer walked right up to my car and used a stun gun to knock me out. When I woke up, I was in a warehouse handcuffed to a chair surrounded by a couple of guys in all black. Then my principal and another man came in. It turned out that my principal worked for Hydra. They had been bribing him, and others who worked at different schools, to be on the lookout for individuals that Hydra could use or train to work for them."

"That's how they got some of their recruits?" Steve commented shaking his head. "They were going after kids who didn't know any better."

"They are the easiest targets to manipulate," Clint pointed out.

"What happened after that?" Sam asked while guessing a large part of the answer.

"Hydra took me to some base a few hours away. They did initial testing to make sure that my principal had not been lying. I tried to fight them…" Polly's voice faded off but Sam noticed that she was rubbing a long scar on her forearm.

"Is that when they started hurting you to get you to comply?"

Polly hesitated before answering, "Some, but they also threatened to bring in…," she stopped speaking and looked around the group.

"A family member," Bucky finished for her.

Polly nodded.

"They threatened your family until that didn't work anymore, but they never did, and then they moved on to physical torture," Bucky then supplied.

"Yes," she responded. "Was it the same for you?"

Bucky shook his head while glancing at Steve.

"No, they went straight for the torture with me, but I know their tactics."

The entire table got quiet after that while everyone finished up their meals. Sam knew that by telling them her story that Polly had opened up a lot of bad memories for almost everyone sitting nearby, even if she didn't know it. Later on, he would see about having other members of the group talk with her one-on-one to get to know her and open up with their own experiences. That would go a long way with getting her to trust them.

After everyone was finished and the question of what to do for the few hours before bedtime was broached, Bucky finally got Steve's attention saying that they needed to have a private talk. The two of them headed towards the waterfalls, leaving everyone else a bit curious also. Maybe since it was just the two of them, without the others to hear, that maybe it didn't involve Polly. The two of them did have a lot to catch up on now that they had the time to do so.

With a loud clap of his hands, Scott's cheerful voice broke the long silence, "So, I found the media room earlier. Who's up for a movie?"

Her eyes were glued to the large viewing screen that the movie was playing on. It seemed that the king had not spared any expense when it came to entertainment around his place. The group was sitting in a large theater like she had been to in the town so many years ago. But there, the screen was much smaller and the quality of movies were not very good. She had much preferred watching bands play or just hanging out with her friends, trying to keep them in line.

She quickly made her way to the back row so that nobody would be able to get behind her, and Sam had taken up the spot next to her. Bucky and Steve also sat on their row, with the others below them. Bucky had nodded to her in a strange approval of the seat choice. She guessed he didn't like someone being able to sneak up on him either.

After a ten minute argument as to which movie to watch, it was decided that because it had been so long since she had seen any movie that they needed to go big...so the movie Avatar was chosen for viewing tonight. They were then handed glasses to wear since she was told it would be in 3-D. Given the previous horrible effects from different old movies, she didn't give this one much hope.

But what was in front of her…this was amazing.

During parts of the movie, she found herself actually reaching out to try and touch something from the screen that looked to be just in front of her face. Every so often when she did, there was a slight chuckle from Sam who was sitting next to her. That was what always made her put her hand back down. By the end of the very long and brilliant movie, she wanted to watch something else. This was the best experience she'd had in so long.

When the credit began to roll on the screen, the others stood up and started chatting about the movie, slowly making their way out of the room. Sam also stood and was moving to join them but she saw him turn back and look at her. There had been parts of the movie that had made her start to cry from the emotion of the story, but now the tears that she was trying to hide were different. She kept the 3-D glasses on to hide her eyes as Sam looked at her.

"Polly, are you alright?"

Sam was moving back over toward the large leather reclining chair that they all had enjoyed sitting in. Nodding her head, she reached up and began to wipe away the tears that were making their way down her cheeks. Sam sat back down next to her.

"I'm fine," she told him and she could hear her voice wavering. "It's just been a long time since…"

Sam gave her a funny smile and seemed to know exactly what she was trying to say.

"Maybe we should have started with a movie that sucked."

She gave a bit of a laugh before stating, "It's been so long since I've seen anything, I'd probably hav' loved the worst movie ya could think of."

Sam chuckled at her jest.

"Then I'll have to make sure that you only watch the good stuff for a while. That way you'll know a horrible movie when you see it. Did you used to watch a lot of movies before?"

She heard in his voice that Sam was trying to be friendly without reminding her of what she had gone through. It was a strange feeling to have someone seem to care about her. Even earlier when T'Challa asked that she go back to medical, she was surprised that he had even pointed out that he didn't want her to get sick.

"Not really. My town had an old, small screen. Nothing like this. I used to hang out with friends at my uncle's pub where folk bands would play on the weekends. If there wasn't anything to do that night, I would stay home and read."

"Well, if you like to read, then I'm sure that we can find you a tablet and get a few books on it for you. Reading has come a long way."

"Tablet?"

"A flat hand-held electronic device that you touch the screen of to do things," he explained so that it jogged her memory.

"I've seen those," she told him. "The guards would sometimes have them in their hands. I never knew what they were for since I wasn't allowed to touch them."

"Then I'll definitely have to get you one of your own. There's a lot of games and other things that you can use them for. What type of books did you read?"

"I liked mystery books, like Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie. I always tried to guess who the murderer was. But I also read older fantasy books, with lots of magic, like Oscar Wilde," she told him remembering something. "Right after I was taken, I used to wish that I had been given the ability to use magic instead of making someone tell the truth. Then I could have gotten out of there."

"Then I think that you and Wanda will definitely get along," he told her making her a bit curious.

"Wanda? What does she have to do with magic?"

Sam gave her a knowing smile and said, "Ask her to show you one of her tricks. I have a feeling that you'll be amazed."

"Alright," she said now curious as to what Wanda could do.

"Why did you decide earlier today to sit next to Wanda?" he asked.

"She reminded me of some of my friends, because of how young she looked. And being a girl, I figured she might not hurt me as bad," she told him.

"Well she definitely won't hurt you but Wanda is the most powerful one in our group in her own way," he explained now really making her curious.

They both stood up, being the last to leave the theater room. At the door was a table for the special glasses to be put on.

Walking through the dark halls she knew that it was very late. Even though the movie had been long, it was worth it. Others were saying their good-nights to one another before retiring into their bedrooms.

"I'll see you in the morning for breakfast," Sam told her, stopping as they passed by his door first. She saw him focusing on her face for a bit longer than normal, almost making her a bit self-conscious. Was he quietly guarding her? But then Sam gave her a smile and went inside of his room, leaving her alone to do whatever she wanted.

She walked over to her room, which she realized was right next to Sam's room. Turning on the lights to full brightness to get rid of the dark, she headed for the door to the outside patio. She gave a sigh of relief as it opened, worried that she would be locked in. But it seemed they trusted her at least this much.

There was a cool breeze blowing in the night and the sounds from the nearby jungle were so much different than what she was used to hearing back home. Out on the bog, there were a lot of insects and the occasional howl of a dog.

Stepping from the porch area, she walked over to where the expanse of grass started. Looking around to make sure she was alone, her sandals were quickly removed and tossed back towards her room. There were light fixtures along the pathways as well as illumination from a partial moon. Even though it was dark, it wasn't the right type of dark to frighten her.

For the next few minutes she walked around the barely lit garden feeling the grass under her bare feet, touching the exotic flowers, and running her hands over the sculptures that were spread around the large area. The fragrant scent from the flowers was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. The peat bogs back home did flowers...but not like this. Here, the air was light and gentle, not heavy and thick.

This place was almost magical.

If only she hadn't had to deal the horrible hand she'd been dealt in life to get here.

Even with all the doubts that didn't seem as heavy anymore, she decided that maybe she hadn't made a mistake in leaving the Raft…

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has left such positive reviews! I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying the story.
Polly seemed to have handled the end of the day better than she did the beginning. Curious as to how she'll deal with the night?