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The waters in Devon's mind receded slowly. A voice like honey spoke. The words made no sense but the voice was familiar and comforting. She knew the owner and although he may not have been talking to her, the voice was an anchor in the turbulent sea. Holding on to the voice as long as she could. There was heat in her hand. She squeezed her hand. Strangely, the heated chain gave and flexed around her hand. The anchor slipping through her hands as the waters rose slamming into her with the rushing currents.
Waters swirled around her for what could have been hours, days, or weeks for all she knew before the tide ebbed. The voice was distant this time but still the same connection that grounded her. Devon tried to open her eyes. Her body refused to respond, stuck to listening she tried to make out the words. The words still were odd, her brain not connecting them into anything intelligent.
Working on her eyes again, this time she managed a slit. The light blinding her for a few moments but through the light her blurry vision could make out a figure. She knew the person was the owner of the voice. She tried to latch on to it but she needed to see his eyes. He needed to turn to her so that she could see those sapphire blue eyes. The weights on her eyelids pulled them shut and slowly drug her under the surface of the rising waters.
Time passed again before the tide slipped away, leaving her in shallow water this time. Wading to the shore Devon felt the sands give way under her feet but the rushing of the waves grew quiet on the calm beach. In the distance, the voice came back to her, this time the words reaching her ears were understandable. The worry in the honeyed voice was obvious. His words called to her speaking softly drawing her up the shore.
With each step, Devon raised her eyes a fraction. The brilliance of the light washed out the beach, but as her eyes adjusted, she made out the magnificent blue eyes. Her lips twitched at the sight of Steve. She still was not really together but seeing Steve was everything she needed at that very moment. Her heart swelled at the touch of the hand that held hers. She squeezed it as a sign that she was actually there, that she was connected to him in reality and not just her subconscious.
"Hi," Steve whispered.
To Devon he looked surprised to see her awake, but there was a glint in his eyes that she thought might have been relief.
"Hey," she replied weakly.
For her the serum was not an instantaneous change. There had been a great deal of damage to her body caused by that gun. The serum had stopped it and would now slowly repair her cells to a healthy state. Already she felt better than she had before but she would be weak for some time to come.
She would take some time to review Bruce's notes on what happened to her so that she can learn the details about the gun. Maybe what they learned could help them understand her other issues. It was possible that some good would come out of all of this.
"How are you feeling?" Steve asked running his fingers through her hair.
"Better," she responded smiling slightly. Truly, she was just grateful to be alive, but it certainly did not hurt that Steve was the first one she saw when she woke up. She hoped that he could be by her side every time she awoke.
The almost dreamy look she had must have been obvious because Steve blushed slightly when he asked, "What are you thinking?"
Devon found herself giggling before she could stop herself. She raised her hands to her face in embarrassment as she blushed at her girly reaction. "Sorry," she said trying to stop the giggles, "I'm just happy."
"There's nothing to be sorry about," he said smiling back at her.
That smile was dazzling and Devon would do anything to see that smile. She loved this man. Now it seemed like they would have actually have time for a relationship. That idea made her nervous and giddy at the same time.
That idea was short lived when the door to her room slammed open with such force that it hit the wall with a clang.
"Oh, it is so good to see you awake," a man practically cooed from the doorway. The newcomer had on a medical lab coat but was missing the normal SHEILD medical identifiers, but even without that, it would have been obvious that he did not belong there by the malicious smile that adorned his face.
"Sean," Devon said in surprise as she hopped off the bed. She knew this man but it had been years since she had last seen him. Her eyes went wide as she saw the same gun that had shot her just over a week ago.
"Ah, you do remember my name. I had thought a cold heartless bitch like you might have forgotten all about me by now," he hissed out at her.
"What do you want?" Devon practically shouted, but her attempt at being strong failed when her voice waivered.
"Well I would have thought that would have been obvious, my dear," Sean said giving her a leering look.
He pulled back his lab coat and slowly caressed the electrical gun at his side, before wrapping his hand around it and pulling it free from its holster. The gun frightened her but it was the only constant in this situation. Devon had no way to know why Sean wanted her. She did not even know how he had found her.
"Hold it right there pretty boy," Sean said with a sneer as Steve tried to move towards him.
As the scientist lifted the weapon, Devon took a side step placing her body in front of Steve. While she knew that, she might not survive another shot from that gun, but she would not allow this man to hurt the one she loved.
Her hands rose in a placating manner and she took a tentative step forward, hoping her legs would hold her.
"Alright, you have me," Devon said icily. "I'll go with you but you leave everyone else out of this."
"Not that you are in any position to negotiate," he said with a wicked grin, "but seeing that I get what I came here for, I'll accept that."
When she neared him, he grasped her by the throat jabbing the gun into her back sharply. "We're going to leave," he warned with a snarl. "If you get any idea about following us or stopping us, I will shoot her. And this time you don't have any serum to save her."
The pair backed into the hall. The man stopped for just a moment to lock the door with a bloody keycard. That was when Devon noticed the dead guards in the hall.
"That won't stop him for long but it will give us a bit of a head start," he purred close to her ear. "So what's your new victim's name?"
Devon shook her head and flinched at his question. She was not about to give him any ammunition that could make this situation any crazier than it already was.
"Don't feel like talking to me." He brought his lips down to her ear, his breath ghosting over them. "It won't matter. I'll know everything soon enough," he whispered.
He guided them down the halls to the exit. When she saw the large armored truck, panic struck her as she struggled to think her way out of her current predicament. She attempted to pull away when she felt a needle go into her arm. Her world faded out as he shoved her into the truck.