Chapter Six: And You Are?

There was an unfamiliar smell, something cold and hard under him. Bright lights stung his eyes as he blinked himself awake. He slowly sat up feeling stiff all over and a lingering sting in his right hand all the way to his shoulder.
The whole room was white. The ceiling, the floor and all the walls.
Except the wall he was facing was more window that wall. Beyond the window was dark, so dark that just vague shapes could be made out.

He was sat on some sort of bed. It was attached to the wall by two chains and honestly it was more of a table than a bed. There was just one small pillow on it. The room smelt strange. Artificial but clean. Like... disinfectant? Is this a quarantine room?

A small sigh left his lips, pushing the taste of blood to the front of his mouth, as he rubbed his stinging arm. His hand stopped moving. There was no fabric. He wasn't sure he wanted to look. He tore his eyes away from the window in front of him. His skin was tinged pink but there was no blisters or open wounds. Instead, there was very dark brown lines wrapping around his hand and arm. Around the lines his skin was a very angry red and it seemed slightly swollen. Starting from his palm there was one line that wrapped around to the back of his hand and continued up his wrist. At his wrist the line started to twist around his arm, with slightly thinner lines coming off it. The lines snaked all the way up his arm but there was no mirror for him to see where they stopped. Coming of the lines were other shapes... not shapes... leaves? Draco stared at his arm. His arm wasn't covered in lines. They were branches, leaves and flowers.
The leaves seemed to have two main parts, which were separated about midway. The flowers were in small clusters, each one had five petals and had both pistil and stamen. It looked familiar. Like the tree in one of his father's associate's garden.
Like a Hawthorn...

He quickly scanned the room and tapped his pockets. His wand was gone. Or was it?
He couldn't remember dropping it or hearing it fall to the floor. Sure, whoever had taken him here could've picked it up, that was a possibility worth remembering, but how likely is someone to pick up a stick if they don't know about magic?
So perhaps it was on the floor in an alley somewhere.
But then why had he been burnt by it? Clearly his magic had to work wherever he is otherwise there was no reason for Death to bring him here. Unless Death wanted to make use of his mind but that didn't seem likely. Plus, if that was the case why not just ask him? Why bring him here?
He looked at his arm again. It was a Hawthorn branch. There was no question about it in Draco's mind.
Did my wand somehow merge with me? The thought was ridiculous. It was probably on the floor somewhere.

He heard footsteps approach. Clear steps, but slightly muffled, so not a shoe with a hard sole. More like a boot or trainer, flexible and softer. Whoever it was clearly wasn't in a rush but walked with purpose. Better to be on guard than caught unaware.
He sat up straight, left hand dropped from his right arm, stared straight ahead and waited for whoever to approach.
A very intense looking man approached the glass. He wore a long black coat, black shirt, black trousers and an eyepatch. The eyepatch man stood with his hands behind his back studying Draco. He stared right at Draco's face.
Trying to make me uncomfortable, well you'll have to try harder than that.
Draco just returned the man's stare looking directly into his eye from across the room.
He wasn't sure how long they stood there like that, but Draco didn't dare drop his gaze even when he heard another pair of footsteps approaching. This time the footsteps were very clear and sharp, but not like a pair of high heels, more like a pair of oxfords.

"Really?" The new person sighed. Draco could see him in his peripheral vision. It was another man; this one was slightly shorter than the eyepatch man. He was wearing two-piece suit, black jacket and trousers with a white shirt and black tie. He had dark brown hair that seemed to be receding. He looked and sounded exhausted.

"Mhmm." The eyepatch man hummed back, still not dropping his stare. "Y'know people normally look away by now."

"Good for them." Draco answered. The eyepatch man raised an eyebrow and brought his arms in front of him, crossing them over his chest. The other man sighed again and shook his head.

"Director, I have the results from the lab." The suit man said handing a folder over. The eyepatch man, or rather the Director, reluctantly took his eye off Draco and scanned the file. A frown quickly took over the Director's face as he looked over the contents.

"Well, this is interesting." He turned back to Draco. "Looks like you're not from around here." A shrug is all he got in reply.

"Different types of bacteria, some sort of background radiation and an unidentified energy signal. All coming from you." The suit man continued, now also looking at Draco. "You're not the first person we've encountered like this."

"So, this is a habit of yours then?" Draco raised an eyebrow, eyes switching to the suit man.

"Sorry?"

"Picking up random people and locking them in a room."

"Not exactly." The Director let out a small chuckle. "You're better off here with us though."

"What makes you think that?" Why was it that people always seem to think they know what's best for you. Although, if Draco was honest, he had no idea what he was going to do now. Death didn't give him any help, just dropped him off and disappeared. Not like he knew anyone here either. Maybe this could be a blessing in disguise.

"For starters you were unconscious in an alleyway." The suit man answered. Ah, so I completely blacked out.

"Good to know. You didn't happen to pick up a stick nearby me, did you?" A shot in the dark for sure, but what did he have to lose.

"A stick? No… why would we?" Both men looked confused.

"Never mind. It's not important." He'd have to figure out where they found him and check for it later. The men looked at each other, not sure what to make of Draco's question.

"A small box did fall out of your pocket. It's in the lab." The suit man offered.

"What are you doing with it?"

"Running test to identify the energy coming from it." Good luck with that. "Unless you want to tell us?" A quick sharp laugh came from Draco. Would they believe him even if he told the truth? It's not like he knew what they would call the magic coming from his school trunk. Did they even have magic in this world? Did they maybe just call it something different?

"Something funny?" The Director didn't look too impressed.

"Not particularly." Draco shook his head. "Where am I?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters." Right, great now I know exactly where I am. Shield obviously, how could I have been so stupid? A small sigh left Draco's lips.

"Which is what?"

"Strategic, homeland, intervention, enforcement and logistics division." Supplied the suit man as if that answered everything. Some sort of security organisation perhaps. They said they had met someone like him before. Did that mean they knew about crossing universes? Or perhaps they had something else… maybe something like a magical creature? But then if they didn't have magic, what could they be talking about? He hadn't sensed anything magical so far, but that could just be the room they locked him in.

"Right thanks." He didn't really know what else to say. His father always taught him to keep his cards close to his chest, unless necessary. It wasn't necessary to tell them where he had come from. It wasn't necessary to convince them that an entity calling themself Death brought him here. He just looked at them, waiting for them to say something or ask him another pointless question.

"You got a name?" The Director asked, sounding slightly annoyed. No harm could really come from telling them his name. Unless there was another version of himself in this world.

"Draco. And you are?"

"Director Nick Fury and this is Agent Phil Coulson."