Chapter Six

Silence. There was nothing. Not a whisper or a drip of water from pipes. Darkness. Not an ounce of light peeked it's way into where I was. Where was I? I tried to move, to stand but I was stuck. I felt constricted, I was in a tight place. Claustrophobia began to kick in.

"CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!" I screamed, my voice unusually healed. I started to remember, what had happened. Paris' confession, the stranger and how could I forget, the serum. I had injected myself with it and judging by the way my mind was playing tricks on me, it didn't work. I was going to go crazy.

But everything felt so real. I could rub my hand over the wall in front of me. Wall? It felt more like a slab of concrete. I pushed at it with all my strength and it fell away.

There was more space, but barely. I could see the mess of what the hallway had been. Ducking and weaving, incredibly slowly, I made my way to the end and tried to figure a way to get out. I was alive for now, but if I stayed any longer the air supply would certainly run out and I would suffocate. A broken navigator was on the wall next to me, I was about 100 meters from an escape door, whether the exit was still there or not was another issue.

This hallway was going to be more of a problem than the last, it had smaller gaps in the rubble and one wrong move could send them crashing down on me, squishing me in the process. I moved at almost a snail rate, weaving in and out with utter most care. Then came a clear section, which I walked freely through, I should have paid more attention. I walked heavily along, unknowingly shaking the ground as I went. From behind, a loose pillar began to fall. It was incredibly tall, double my size. I fell as it came crashing down on me— closing my eyes and embracing death. But it didn't come. The pillar must have missed me... then I opened my eyes. Face to face with me was the concrete slab. I wasn't stuck on anything and it hadn't missed me. It was floating, mid-air, above me. I think I stopped it?

I slid out from underneath it and it crashed. I couldn't have done it, there had to be a logical explanation.

There was a crumble. I heard rocks move under someone's feet. A rescue team!

"HELP! I'M DOWN HERE!" I screamed, terrified they wouldn't hear me. Another shuffle followed then I started to hear things being moved out of the way, towards the end of the hallway.

"Scream if you can hear us!" the voice called faintly.

"I CAN HEAR YOU!" desperately I called.

"We're gonna get you outta here! Stay still." it commanded. I was in no position to argue and stayed perfectly still. For hours I heard the continuous moving of the destruction. The voice kept talking to me, keeping me sane.

"Everyone thought you were dead." it laughed. I was sure by now it was a man's voice.

"I'm a fighter." I told them.

"They told your older bro' that they thought you didn't get out. He commanded us to send a rescue squad to try and find survivors in the mess. I'm guessing he'll be extra happy." they explained, "So, what happened down here?"

"If I told you, you'd think I was mad." I said, honestly. As I did someone struck through the cement that was blocking me from my rescuers. The piece came crashing down and finally light shone through. The voice now had a face, except it wasn't a man.

"Maria Hill." she said grabbing my hand and helping lead me out to safety, "Nice to finally meet you!"

They had to cover my eyes with a black cloth to avoid giving me irreversible eye damage. Apparently the explosion happened two days ago, so I must have been unconscious or sleeping the entire time. They took me to what I assumed was a car and gently sat me inside.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked them, nervous without my sight.

"The Hellicarrier. Everyone's been transferred there since the attack." Maria explained, "You can take the cloth off, the car's UV resistant. No light's getting in."

I ripped the cloth off as soon as she said it. I didn't like being the dark, especially when I couldn't see.

I had been on the Hellicarrier once before, when they were first training me. Apparently I wasn't 'control panel' material. We were already were in motion, the land zipping by. I realized everything I owned was in S.H.I.E.L.D, though I didn't have much, it meant that not only was I homeless but I was possessionless. On top of all that I had a splitting head and ear ache. Whenever someone spoke it was almost as if someone had stuck a megaphone in my ear and shouted at the top of their lungs. Even my own rhythmic breathing hurt. No one had checked me for injuries, which was odd too. Though I knew I was fine (somehow) it baffled me no one checked me for any breathing difficulties or internal bleeding. I had a few minor scratches here and there, but they were from when the psycho blew up the lab and killed Paris.

"Why were there no medical crews back at the wreck? I mean you just shoved a cloth over my face and was done with it. What if I had come out with half an arm missing?" I said sarcastically, it seemed to make Maria squirmish. She half went to respond and then stopped herself.

"How far are we from the Hellicarrier?" I asked instead.

"About half an hour away." the driver pipped up. I nodded. Something still didn't feel quite right. I looked outside to see us passing by a group of warehouses, only that's what I thought they were. Almost as we passed them the car turned into a long driveway leading up to them.

"Shortcut?" I asked, my nervousness came through. Maria eyed the driver through the mirror and she nodded. Suddenly the car swerved and I was thrown against the side door; it was locked. I tried to pry it free but it wouldn't unlock. Then I saw it, from the corner of my eye, Maria Hill was coming at me with an overly large needle. Panicking I covered my face and screamed, doing something freaky in the process.

In my fear, the door had suddenly blown off the car and flung Maria along with it. She had dropped her syringe and I grabbed it reading it. 'Benzodiazepines'. It was a sedative but there was enough in there to knock out an elephant. They knew.

The driver came at me with a tazer and I put my hand out, sending him through the front window pane. They knew what had happened in the explosion. They knew the experiment had worked and now they were coming after me.

I jumped out of the car and began to make a break for it. They were ready though. You know how I said this wasn't a random set of 'warehouses' we pulled into... I was surrounded. The moment that car pulled down the driveway I was stuffed. All around the perimeter began to fill with gunmen. From the high perches of roofs to warehouse windows and even men standing simply out in the open. I was trapped, like a moth to a flame. Maria Hill was back on her feet by now and was phoning in someone.

"Why?" I asked her, when she came in hearing distance, "What'd I do?"

She ignored me and held her hand in the air. Around her all the firearms lifted and I saw red laser dots touch my body.

My head was bursting right now. I could hear ever the click of a gun and the hundreds of sighing breaths in the distance was ever increasing.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't even know how I did it!" I claimed, hoping they would let me go, a stupid thought, but none the less. It dawned on me that there was only one option for me now. To be locked up in a lab for the rest of my life and tested on and I'm not one for cages.

I ran again. Whenever I was afraid or nervous this 'power' manifested and right now I was terrified. Shooting my hands every which direction, guns were ripped from my attackers and came flying towards me. I ducked at the last second before they hit me and continued to speed off. Up ahead there was a blockade of men standing in my way. I didn't think that even with my new mind control thing I could move them, it was incredibly tiring moving things. Then off in the distance I heard one last gun click, it must have been a good fifty meters off but that's not what scared me. I could hear the breath, it was heavy and oddly recognizable. I knew one person panted like that. That breathed through his mouth like he was never going to take another breath again. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned, praying it wasn't who I thought it was. Time moved slowly as I faced the lone assailant, heart stopping when we made eye contact.

Phil.

We didn't say anything, just starred as confused and terrified as the other. I started to walk closer and his gun began to drop. Faster and faster, my paces turned into a light jog, Phil mimicking me.

"Phil." I cried running towards him, his arms outstretched. He caught me gently in his arms and held me tightly.

"They told me you didn't get out, that you were most likely dead." he said into my ear.

"Why are you here?" I asked him out of a flow of fresh tears.

"How could you do that?" he questioned instead, ignoring me.

"Project X. They perfected it, but the head researcher hid the serum. Then the weirdo appeared out no-where and blew the lab up. She told me that I was the only one that could make it work. She was dying and I didn't think it through." I blabbed incoherently, "Now everyone's trying to shoot me and I don't know why."

"It's going to be alright. Everything's going to be alright." he assured me, releasing me from his hug, "But they need to take you in. I'll make sure they don't hurt you, I promise..."

"You either come peacefully or... we'll deal with the other option if it arrises." Maria Hill interrupted from behind.

"But... I—," I began as I felt something sharp pierce the skin in my leg. I starred down to see a funny little dart sticking out and Phil's gun smoking. Tranq's. My eyes widened and I began to loose balance, Phil catching me as I fell.

"Why?" I whispered, my voice sounded muffled and unusual. My eye's fluttered as everything around me became numb. I could see myself being lifted into the back of another black car, back to the unknown, away from the comfort of my brothers arms.