Chapter 25
The door to the infirmary was knocked open, slamming into the wall where the handle lodged itself into the plaster.
"I'm not taking any more tests! I have been stuck in this room for five days now. I have not once seen my daughter and I refuse to stay in here any longer!" Zaria's angry voice filtered out of the now open room.
"These tests are important Zaria. We need to know what effects the drugs have had on you." Bruce's voice stated calmly.
Zaria stormed out of the room and pointed at the door. "Do you see this? Do you see the door lodged into the wall? That's what the effect has been."
"Yes but it would be best to know how to control it so that you don't do something to accidentally harm yourself or other people; especially your child." He continued as he came to the door.
"If I'm not emotional I don't have this ridiculous strength." Zaria snapped.
"Then we should figure out ways to help you control your emotions."
"Not being locked in a room for five days might help!"
"She has a point." Steve had come around the corner upon hearing the shouting. "The moment she woke up she's been stuck in that room and you and Samantha have done nothing but run tests. I don't know what Directory Fury expects you to find, but she deserves a break and she hasn't seen Sarah at all."
"Steve…" Zaria breathed as her shoulders slumped; Steve smiled at her.
"I think she has the right to a break, she's not some science experiment." He continued.
Bruce sighed. "I just don't want her to have side effects from the drug that might cause her or someone else harm."
"I'll be with her. If anything happens while she's not in here I'll let you know immediately."
"Fine, I can't really say no as nothing has happened so far."
"Thank god." Zaria muttered under her breath.
Steve smiled lightly. "Come on, Sarah is just down the hall."
Zaria fell into step with Steve as they walked in mutual silence for a while.
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine. I feel perfectly fine." Zaria answered bluntly.
"I'm glad. We were all really concerned when you woke up and started screaming and thrashing. No one knew what was happening and it honestly seemed like whatever Mr. Banner gave you was killing you instead of helping you."
Zaria looked down at the floor. "I don't remember anything…"
"This is probably a good thing." Steve smiled at her. "I don't think it was something you really want to remember anyway."
"Did they do a blood test on Sarah…?" Zaria asked quietly after a moment.
"Yes, just yesterday. I finally agreed to let them do the test."
"Took you that long to agree to it?"
"I honestly wasn't sure if I ever wanted them to do the test at all. Peggy finally convinced me by telling me it might be best to find out if there could be anything wrong with Sarah later in life."
Zaria nodded half-heartedly. "And…?"
"Well, to everyone's knowledge, she is the first person ever to be born that is considered a "super human"."
"So she only has the enhanced DNA?"
"Yes, there is no trace of what they consider "normal" human DNA. She's the first born "super hero" I guess." Steve laughed lightly as he stopped by a door. "Here we are."
He opened the door to a small room that had all the items needed for a baby's room with all the items were done in a crisp white and pastels. Peggy sat in a rocking chair where she was reading until the door opened. Her head snapped up and her eyes narrowed when she spotted Zaria.
"Not to be rude, but what is she doing here? I'm pretty sure she hasn't been cleared to leave the room she was being kept in." Peggy's voice was cold.
Zaria opened her mouth to snap back but Steve cut her off. "She's here because she's allowed to be here. This is Sarah's room and Sarah is her child as well as mine. I will not have you fighting with her today Peggy so if you're going to have a problem I would please ask you to step out of the room." Steve responded quietly.
Peggy's mouth dropped open, a very similar expression to Zaria's shocked look. "I can't believe you Steve, she could hurt Sarah and you're just going to let her in here?"
"I'm not here to fight Peggy." Steve said softly. "I'm not going to pick sides, but do you honestly think Zaria would really hurt her own daughter?"
Peggy looked like she wanted to argue but instead she snapped her book closed and stalked from the room, pausing long enough to whisper to Zaria. "If you hurt her I will kill you."
"I would like to see you try." Zaria answered back.
Steve pretended he hadn't heard them and led Zaria into the room and over to the crib where their infant daughter was sleeping.
"She's so small…" Zaria murmured softly as she gazed down into the crib.
"Mm-hmm…" Steve answered as he smiled lovingly at Sarah. "You should hold her."
"But she's sleeping." Zaria answered.
"It'll be fine, she shouldn't wake up."
"I… I don't want to hurt her…" Zaria admittedly finally.
"You won't." Steve leaned down and scooped Sarah up gently. He turned to Zaria and carefully set Sarah down in her mother's arms before Zaria could protest.
Zaria cradled her daughter in her arms and looked down at her sleeping face. "I have no idea how to be a good parent."
"I don't either. We'll figure it out. Why don't you sit down in the rocking chair for a little bit."
Zaria sat down in the rocking chair where she started rocking lightly and staring at Sarah. Steve pulled up a stool and sat next to her, running a finger lightly over Sarah's cheek.
"Things could have been so different…" Zaria murmured.
"What do you mean?"
"If we had never met, none of this would have happened…" Zaria's voice was quiet as she continued to rock gently. "Or if you had been a different person I would have died back when Pepper and Jane had been kidnapped. None of this would have happened if not for that."
"Do you regret it?" Steve asked after a long moment of silence.
"No… Not really… I've had moments where I have wished Peggy were not around but I've realized that you and I were not compatible. That we would not have stayed together anyway. And I know that, no matter what, you will do everything you can to raise Sarah right, to raise her with love, and you will never abandon her."
Steve stared at Zaria's face. "Is something wrong?"
Zaria shook her head lightly. "No, nothing. Everything is fine."
They sat there together in companionable silence for a long time until finally Zaria stood up and carefully handed Sarah to Steve.
"I need to do something. It might take a little while but I'll be back before long." She said while gently caressing Sarah's head. "Besides, I'm sure Peggy would like to come back in now."
Steve looked at Zaria with concern but didn't push the subject. "Don't take too long, you have a lot of catching up to do."
Zaria smiled. "Yeah, I have a lot to learn." With that she left the room quickly without looking back.
Struggling to keep her movements calm and precise instead of running down the halls, she made it to her room without incident, locking the door quickly behind her and making her way to the computer. Flicking on the screen she saw the map she and J.A.R.V.I.S. had been working on before she had gone into labor.
"Welcome back." J.A.R.V.I.S.'s cool voice filled the silence in the room. "The map is precise to within a .01% given the information we have been able to obtain."
Zaria stared at the map long and hard. "Can you give me a topical view so I know what it looks like from the sky?"
After a moment the map changed to images of forests and desolate ruins far removed from civilization. She stared long and hard, memorizing each contour, each tree, each stone so that she could remember it when she saw it from the air. Still not taking her eyes from the image she sat back, sighing and pursing her lips.
"Is there a weapons cache here in the tower?"
"We have limited supplies for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents."
"Is there anything that flies?"
"Agent Barton just arrived; his plane should still be on the roof."
"I need to know how to get to the armory and to the roof in as little time as possible. And you are not to tell anyone about this, do I make myself clear?"
"What do you intend to do?"
Zaria leaned her elbows on the desk, clasping them together and resting her forehead on her thumbs as she thought about her daughter. There was nothing more that she wanted than to have her daughter safe, and there was only one way she could be sure that would happen. "I'm going to find my grandfather and I'm going to kill him before he can find out about Sarah."