It's cold and the air is stale.
Light comes from industrial lamps and barely reaches the dark corners of the cave.
In a corner, a woman cowers awkwardly on a makeshift bed of rags. She is gaunt and tired, but still she refuses to talk. They are trying to break her down but she is determined if anything not to let them beat her down.
Slowly, they are beginning to win.
While she has long since lost track of the time, she has managed to keep count of other things; the number of interrogations she had endured for instance. But despite the nineteen interrogations the worn down brunette has yet to answer any of her captors questions.
Because she was Maria Hill, the Deputy Director of SHIELD.
Every time she wakes up after passing out, she can't help but feel that little closer to death, with a little less faith that someone will find her. There are only the voices in her head to keep her company when she is isolated.
She shakes uncontrollably in the darkness.
Even with dulled senses from the lack of use, it is hard to ignore the growing sounds of explosions from the other side of the locked steal door that kept her prisoner. Her body aches as a result of the interrogations and even though she feels dizzy when she struggles to stand up, she does it regardless.
There was an arm around her waist and her ribs were on fire. Her field of vision was spotty from the sudden flash bang that had knocked the door of its hinges.
"Let's go," came a voice. A flash of vibrant red echoed in her vision. "We gotta get out of here."
The light outside was blinding. And her ears were ringing after the gunshots.
It was easier to see once she was inside the quinjet; it was quieter and less chaotic, only a few people but enough for her to know she wasn't alone.
"We're taking you home, Hill," said Coulson with a smile, as a field doctor wrapped her in a foil blanket and began assessing her injuries.
She was free from her captors physically but not from her mind.
There was another flash of vibrant red in her peripheral vision.
And then there was black.