Chapter 8:
For the first time in a long time, Natasha was speechless. Curled up elegantly on the bed, was a creature she had never seen before. It had a cat like face, large eyes, a long fury tail, and pointed ears on the side of her head. She sat gracefully, her legs tucked underneath her, her tail swishing over the bed. Her first thought was, It's the Lion Queen.
The dim lighting in the room vanished as soon as Natasha stepped in. When the glow flooded the room, Kate went from dark smoldering gray, to feathery yellows and silvers. It was rather off-putting. Have they been keeping her in the dark? What for? Natasha scanned the room quickly. The accommodations were few yet comfortable. Smooth floor that transitioned seamlessly into smooth walls. A bed, currently occupied by Kate. A small shelf, what use for it Kate could have she didn't have the faintest idea, and a sink occupied one wall.
Surprise rippled across Kate and her eyes widened with surprise. She literally rippled. Blue waves crossed over her again and again, until it stopped. The rough noise of her tail dragging over the bed stopped. Her tail became rigid and the fur bristled; the light made the hair look prickly and brutal. She turned grey, the same color as the uniform, except for her eyes, which remained brown. Her ears flattened. Without delay, her posture went from curious to hostile. Not a good sign. A hint of a snarl formed on her face. It was a little unnerving, but the Widow had dealt with far worse.
Natasha stared at the mutant girl, unsure what to do at first. What approach should she use? Her brow crinkled slightly in frustration. A gentle approach would most definitely not work. Maybe a friendly one? She really should have prepared for this, but she didn't think this would throw her off. Then again she had only seen the girl during her transformation, not at the end.
"I need to do an evaluation of you." She said, deciding on the straight forward approach, purposefully saying that she needed to, not anyone else. Kate continued to glower at her. Her tail flicked threateningly. The girl radiated suppressed rage. Natasha, for the first time, didn't know what to do if a fight broke out. Perhaps continuing like nothing was the matter would work, but she didn't think it would and she was out of options. "If you would please stand up-" Without warning, Kate sprang off the bed, and flew at the Widow. The blow forced her to the ground. Natasha fought the heavy girl on top of her. Kate's teeth were bared and saliva hung in slimy ropes from her fangs. She groped for the gun at her belt, trying to keep the girl off her without hurting her, but still trying to avoid getting her head bashed in. Natasha let out a cry of pain as claws dug into her shoulders. Warm sticky blood trickled down her arm and onto the ground. Kate let out a growl of anger before stopping her attack abruptly. She sheathed her claws, but kept the woman pinned to the ground. Natasha's heavy breathing echoed in the room.
"You deserve to die." Kate growled. Her voice was low and gravelly, not the clear, gentle accent she had had before the serum. Natasha stopped moving, her hand still on her belt and the other pressed against Kate's throat. The woman looked her in the eyes steadily, no fear or anger, or anything for that matter, but rage still came off her in waves. In the corner of her eye she saw Kate's tail thrash in the air violently.
"I know." She whispered. Oddly enough, she was telling the truth, but she had a plan. This was all new to Kate, maybe catching her off guard would give her an opening. Just as she predicted, Kate's face went slack with surprise. Natasha could tell she hadn't been expecting that at all. Kate shook her head, and slowly got off of her. She eyed Kate the whole time, watching her move around the room slowly. When the Widow had picked herself back up, she still watched her but suddenly, she wasn't there. Right in front of her eyes, the girl had vanished. She had to blink a few times to reassure herself she wasn't hallucinating. The cell was empty, and the door was closed. Realization dawned on the woman. She drew her gun and turned around slowly. She should have known Kate could camouflage.
"I'm not going to hurt you Kate." She said. "I just need to test you." She continued to search the walls of the room, but knew it would take a miracle to see her. Her gun was ready was to fire and she continued to back up to the door scanning the walls and ceiling intently. She should have been paying attention to the floor though. There was movement out of the corner of her eye. She barely had time to register it and block the girl. Again, she was knocked to the ground. She groaned slightly. There would certainly be bruises tomorrow. There wasn't any rage issuing from Kate anymore, but she was still dangerous.
There was real regret in the girl's eyes as she said, "Sorry Widow," which was also the last thing Natasha heard before all went dark.
Kate's breathing came in ragged gasps. She had just attacked and knocked unconscious one of the deadliest assassins in the world, who also worked for SHIELD. Her gasping increased rapidly and she knew she was on the verge of a panic attack. She shook her head, holding it together was necessary right now. The woman would be fine, but Kate wouldn't be if she didn't get out of there. She regained her composure, and went to the door. Of course, it was locked. It couldn't ever be easy.
"Natasha Romanoff is leaving." She said, hoping the computer would let her out if it thought she was the Widow. For a brief moment she hoped it had worked. No such luck.
"Smithton, Kate is not permitted to leave her quarters." The voice said smoothly. Kate scowled at the doors. "Any attempt at escape will lead to your incarceration."
Fine, then. She thought. Kate put her hands against the door and pushed as hard as she could. The metal creaked, but otherwise did not move. She dropped her hands, wheezing. Her eyes trailed over to the unconscious woman and the blood spots speckling the floor. Dread settled in her stomach, but it only reinforced her resolve; getting out was necessary. She gritted her teeth, deciding to try again. With her shoulder pressed against the door, she rammed it with all her might. The door groaned, louder this time. Kate was worried that someone might hear, but not too apprehensive. Her muscles burned in protest. Her shoulder ached from being shoved against the door. Sweat beaded on her forehead; the fur and feathers felt much heavier than they had earlier. Another assault on the door did nothing whatsoever in her escape attempts. The door continued to screech. She slowly pushed off the door, brows creased and saliva coating her lips.
"Gah!" she roared, slamming a fist into the unyielding metal. Her resentment at the situation coursed through her. When she slammed her fist into the door as hard as she could a second time, her knuckles stuck. Her anger dissipated instantly.
"What?" she said, incredulous. "What in the world?" She pulled at her fist, but it wouldn't budge. "Let go, let go, let go." She repeated over and over. "Why does this always happen to me?" she growled indignantly, frowning at her hand. The ridiculousness of the situation hit her and she couldn't help but laugh. When she had regained control, she looked at her fist to see what could have even caused it to bond to the wall in the first place. What she saw alarmed her.
The culprit, were four smooth claws protruding from her hand. She gaped at them in astonishment. "Cool." She murmured. She felt the smoothness with her finger tips. How had she not realized she had these? Were they hidden like Wolverine's claws? She hoped not.
Now that she knew she had them, how would she sheath them? Pulling them out wasn't working. Maybe the trick was to gently slide them out, like Chinese Handcuffs; that is, if they aren't serrated. She tried to slide them, but they stuck firmly.
"That's not working." She muttered. Then an idea came to her; desperation had released them, maybe calming down would help.
She chuckled for a minute. "You're not freaking Buddha, Kate." It felt ridiculous, but maybe closing her eyes and humming would help. So she did, and guess what, it didn't. She sighed heavily. Relaxing would help. She closed her eyes, and focused on her pounding heart rate. Boom, ba-boom, boom. Her heart went. She focused on just the noise, on making her beating heart become steady. Her fist fell from the wall, landing forcefully against her side.
"I did it." She whispered. She smiled triumphantly at her hand. When she opened her fist, it was sore. She winced but didn't mind. She did an inspection of her knuckles. Moving her fur aside, and looking at the skin. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about it, but upon further inspection, she saw the points of claws poking out. She made a fist again, pointing outwards. Four, five and a half inch claws slid out of her skin. They were serrated on the inside and smooth on the outside. At the tip they were translucent but the closer to her hand they got, the darker. At the base they were dark brown. Her mouth formed an 'O' shape in wonder. Forget knives, these were far more hazardous.
She focused her attention back on the door. Where her fist had been, four circular holes two inches in diameter. Her claws had pushed into the metal completely, almost punching through the outer layer.
Excitement built in her. She could escape. Get away.
She punched the door with both fists closed. The metal buckled as soon as contact was made. She slashed at the door again and again, her claws dragged down, gouging out huge chunks. With each swipe she snarled, determined to beat the door. She slashed one last time, and the remainder of the door crashed onto the floor. Kate stood in triumph, a raw pride emanating from her, but the feeling didn't last long. Her smile dropped. Alarms started to blare and flashing lights glared at her from every angle.
There wasn't a single person in the hall, but that wouldn't last long. The security system would alert somebody that she had gotten out. She didn't know what to do. How long would it take guards to get here? Probably not long. She didn't have time to come up with a plan, because right on cue, jarring boot steps could be heard coming down the hall, from the left and right. Her heart raced in fear. What could she do? The guards had to be armed. She clenched her fist instinctively, her claws knocked against her leg. Kate jolted as she remembered she had her own deadly weapons. When she had heard the pounding, she had let the fear take over her rational thought. She frowned. She didn't want to kill anyone considering she was having a hard time controlling the abilities, but since there wasn't a way out, she might have to fight. An idea occurred. With her new abilities, she might be able to withstand a bullet shot, but now was not the time to test it out. She needed an escape route.
Then, she saw it; a maintenance hatch, cleverly concealed in the ceiling. She climbed the ladder quickly, even bending some of the bars. She didn't have time to marvel at her own strength, before she heard the shouts.
"There she is!"
"Surround her!"
"She's going into the service tunnels!"
No, no, no. Kate reached up for the hatch, pushing with everything she had. It swung open, and a blast of cool air reeking of ozone and dust hit her. Despite the stench, it brought relief; she would make it. She sneezed, and as she did so, she caught sight of a man clad in red, white, and blue. The same rage that had filled her at seeing Natasha, filled her again. Without even realizing what she was doing, she leapt from the ladder onto the Captain.
Shouts filled the air, along with gun fire. On impulse, her wings folded around her head and chest, forming an umbrella. Her claws came unsheathed. She roared in his face, feeling the urge to kill, hurt, destroy. Dimly she wondered what she was doing, but the destructive creature inside her urged on the fight.
The Captain was much stronger than the Widow, so he was able to deflect more of her attacks, but she still managed to scrape him and rip parts of his suit. This enraged her even more. Her attack increased in ferocity. The gunfire and shouting only egged her on.
The Captain was using one arm to hold her off him and the other to try to shove her off. She wrenched her head off his arm and lunged at it. She gripped his forearm in her fangs, biting with everything she had. Her finely tuned ears heard the sounds of splintering bone. Her attack on his arm became even more vicious, utterly destroying the padding and suit that covered it. Blood coated her fangs and dribbled down his arm onto the floor. The Captain yelled. The gunfire was too loud for her to hear anything, but even if she wouldn't have listened. There was only one thought in her head: kill. His arm was close to breaking. Only a little more pressure and it would snap. Then her teeth closed on empty air. Kate snapped in rage when the Captain wrenched his arm out of her jaws. He punched her in face before she got the opportunity to bite him again. She roared, outraged. Again she snapped at his fist, but he pulled it away just in time before he punched her shoulder, and she lost her balance. He tried to shake her off, but she hardly swayed. In the second that she was unbalanced, the Captain managed to drag his shield between himself and Kate. When her claws hit the metal, a sharp peal reverberated in the air. Her claws and fists pummeled the vibranium, not even scratching it. The only damage it caused was the paint peeling off.
The slippery surface didn't offer much purchase for her claws and she slipped. Her feet were still planted on the Captain's thighs, but her upper body toppled forward, landing with a thud on the ground. She thrashed around, trying to get up. The Captain took it as an opportunity to stand up. It was a mistake. A strong sure strike from Kate swiped his legs out from under him and she shoved herself off the floor. Sharp stinging on her wings made her roar. She wheeled around lashing out blindly. She heard a cry of pain. A horrible pleasure welled inside her, she loved that sound. She struck at the first moving thing she saw, this time aiming at a guard. He dropped to the ground, clutching his side as it bled profusely. When she saw the blood pool over the ground and the guard's horrified face, she stopped moving. The sickening sight was enough to clear her head. She looked around, horror stricken and baffled. What had she done?
"Stop! Stop! Hold your fire!" the Captain shouted. When the hail storm of bullets stopped, Kate unfolded her wings. The rage was gone, replaced with fear. She shouted, then rammed through the guards, knocking them over like bowling pins. She leapt off the ground as hard as she could, catching hold of the lip of the hatch. She hauled herself in, slamming the door over the opening closed. Her fingers fumbled with the lock. It took longer than it should have, but she finally did. She felt traumatized and nauseous at the thought of what had just happened.
Her breathing came out in uneven gasps. She folded in on herself, breathing laboriously. Why had she attacked the Captain? He hadn't done anything to her. He hadn't harassed, yelled, or threatened her. Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember even jumping off the ladder. The battle between herself and the Captain had seemed like a blur, a dream. Then she remembered the blood; so much blood. And the guns, all pointing at her. Had she been shot? She reached around to her wings, stretching one out as much as she could in the cramped space. Small holes perforated her wings, the blood already starting to clot. Her whole body went a sickly white tinged with green. She had been shot with real bullets, multiple times. She might have killed someone. Then the sight of the guard on the ground surfaced. That terror, that fear, and the blood. At that point she broke out in a cold sweat, it glistened on her fur. Her throat was dry. She needed water. When was it last since she ate or had anything to drink? Maybe eating was a bad idea, she felt like she was about to be sick. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to pull herself together. A red flashing light above painted the insides of her eyelids red; like the guard's blood. Her breath came even faster. Surely the entire carrier could hear her.
"I killed him." Kate croaked out. She raised a shaking hand to her mouth, attempting to stifle the wheezing. Tears started to form, clouding her vision. "I killed him." She cried out. She started to choke on her own tears. Her distress was sending away all rational thought.
Pounding on the hatch pulled her out of her panic attack. They were coming. They would kill her. She wiped her tears away, and forced herself to pull it together for the time being. She could freak out all she wanted later. More banging and muffled yelling from below intensified her resolve. She scrambled to her feet and took off running down the narrow hallway, tail whipping like a banner behind her. The dim lighting was no problem to her, but in her haste, she ignored the wires. Many times she tripped and without bothering to untangle the cords, she ripped or slashed them off and continued on her way, disregarding the consequences. Eventually, she found herself at a dead end. Above her was another trap door, there was another below her too. She needed to get out of here. The walls seemed to be closing in on her. She needed freedom.
The low ceilings of the tunnels had hurt her back when she had been sprinting through them earlier, but now, it helped her. She didn't need the step stool. The well-oiled latch slid over easily and with a slash of her claws, she broke the lock. The door flew open, with little assistance from her. She pulled herself up and out of the Heli carrier into the sun. It felt like a million years since she had last seen the sun or smelled air so sweet and fresh. For a moment, she forgot about everything. About her transformation, her attacks, her nightmares, Loki, Fury, Natasha, and everything else; she just basked in the warm rays of light and the wind that teased her ears. But her reprieve from reality was short lived.
Soldiers, guards, and agents marched towards her from all sides, oblivious to the wind. She had nowhere to go. The guards had guns strapped to belts, but in their hands were three pronged rods of pure electricity. Those would definitely do damage. The soldiers held strange guns she recognized as tranquilizer pistols. No way was she going to be drugged again. A few agents prowled on the edges, armed with strange compact hand guns.
Despair washed over her. She was going to be punished and trapped, or executed for killing a guard who had only been doing his job. Her wings rustled behind her, hitting the sides of the hatch painfully.
A particularly strong gust of wind whipped her hair around her face and tickled the tops of her wings. "Oh." She murmured. Her eyes widened with excitement. A shiver went through her body, traveling down her spine to the tip of her tail. There was a way out; flying. She pulled herself the rest of the way out of the hatch. The wind buffeted her instantly. She found her footing quickly, and started running to the edge of the Heli carrier. She was oblivious to the shouting from the guards. Only one thought was in her head: freedom. Before she even got to the edge of the platform, her wings were already unfurling. A strong gust of wind lifted her off her feet into the air. Exhilaration carried her into the blue sky. A laugh of pure joy sprung from her mouth. She smiled at the gawking agents. It wasn't until her feet left the platform that she realized something: she didn't know how to fly.
The pocket of air she had been hovering on previously vanished. She plummeted through the air, arms flailing and a scream escaped her. Her wings were being bent and warped from the wind and her own failed attempts at flying. Through her terror ridden mind, she loosely realized she needed to right herself. When after a brief power struggle with the air she managed to right her body, but now she didn't know what to do. The wind whistled in her ears mockingly; telling her to just stop this silliness and join the clouds. She wished she could.
"Spread your wings!" A voice shouted. Like a beacon of hope, she whipped around to find the owner of the voice. Falling with her, was a man with a machine strapped to his back. His red wrap around shades reflected the glittering sunlight, blinding her briefly. The man didn't have a parachute or wings like her, but Kate had no doubt that the contraption on his back helped him move through the air. He looked from her to the ground again and again, calculating something. Kate didn't care as long as he could save her.
"Open your wings!" he shouted again. Kate nodded. She fought against the current of air, trying as hard as she could to open her wings. Deep inside, she knew she could, but she didn't know how. Her wings just stayed locked to her sides. The buffeting gusts were too strong though. She couldn't do it. A bubble of hysteria rooted itself in her chest. She was going to die.
"I can't!" she screeched. Now real fright started to overwhelm her. She couldn't fly. Before, the fall had happened so fast that she hadn't had time to really register it. But now, it was all too real that she was going to die. "I can't!" she screeched again, this time even more hysterical.
Without a word, he pressed a button. When he did, red wings much larger than hers, unfolded from the machine and he glided on an air current that took him far away from her. He turned into a speck very quickly, before vanishing behind the shrinking Heli Carrier. She was shocked. He was abandoning her? Why? She was going to die!
The ground was getting closer with each millisecond. Kate gave up hope. Gave up thinking. She gave in to the primal fear that had been on the recesses of her mind. She just fell. She had accepted her fate. She was going to die. Tears streamed down her cheeks like rivers. Then, when all seemed lost, something clicked. Her shoulders tensed and her legs straightened. Her wings snapped open. Her tail went ridged. Soon, she was being carried by the air up and up and up. Her wings, without her consent, were flapping and carrying her into the air. The ground got farther and farther away from her, while the clouds got closer.
There was not a single thought in her head at all. Flying wasn't considering consequences or thought; it was passion. Only raw untamed emotion swirled like a vortex inside her. A fierce happiness, a calm anger, and other strange emotions filled her. They were paradoxes unto themselves.
On the underside of a cloud was a tunnel of air, and she reveled in the smooth texture. The tunnel opened into a chamber nestled in the cloud's heart. Her wings slowed down slightly, and she sort of hovered inside the safe confines of the cloud. In here, she thought, I am safe. Hues of blue and purple and gray surrounded her. They were quite regal. The interior of a cloud was much different than expected. It was foggy, for sure, but also large. It was like being in a heavenly cathedral. With a little imagination she might have been in a floating cave. It was warm too. She liked that. There was a particular shade of gray tinged with purple she like. Concentrating, she became the smoky purple, with a smooth transition to gray on her wings, feet, hands, and tail tip; her face remained creamy white. The colors blended in seamlessly. She also enjoyed the silence. It was so thick that it absorbed the deep beating of her wings. The stillness was enough to lull her to sleep. She might have actually, if the commotion hadn't followed her.
"Kate! Come out! We aren't going to hurt you. This is Falcon." He must be using a megaphone because his voice resonated around her. Kate wasn't scared anymore. She trusted her wings to keep her aloft. She knew in her bones that the air was her territory. "Not anymore. No more being afraid." She growled to herself. In response to Falcon, she bellowed. It was a challenge. No one was going to get her in here. She would fight to protect herself. Now she didn't have any qualms with hurting anyone. Because she wasn't going to attack first, that way she had the moral high ground.
Falcon stopped trying to get her to come out. Kate strained her ears, trying to detect anything. Through the soft swoosh swoosh sound her wings made, she heard the faint rumble of machinery. She whipped around in time to see a red and gold suit of flying armor come towards her.
"Should've come out kid." The armor said.
Again, a storm of fury swept through her, disintegrating everything. Another roar came from her, but this one was different. It was a battle cry. Iron Man stopped in his tracks, evaluating the situation. Kate didn't bother stopping. Her wings propelled her forward rapidly. She crashed into Iron Man, sending both of them flying through the air. She held on to his suit, her wings flapping and wheeling, trying to keep her it the air. She let out another thunderous roar and dug her claws into his suit. He shouted obscenely when he realized the damage she was inflicting.
Her whole body was completely black, shot through with jagged white and red, highlighting her eyes, ears, claws, and tail. The sight was more than intimidating. Stark continued to shout at her to back off, but in her rage induced mind, she heard none of it. Her claws ripped at his suit, effortlessly tearing the metal. The suit couldn't take much more of the beating. Kate's wings were the only things keeping the two of them in the air. Stark kicked at her. When that didn't do anything he resorted to more forceful methods; he used his repulsor to launch her backwards.
The strike winded her temporarily. She did something similar to a backwards somersault. She regained her poise quickly and bared her teeth in a snarl. Another roar of irritation from her signified she wasn't done.
"Bring it." He said. In the blink of an eye she was on top of him again, kicking with her hind legs, driving him down and effectively destroying his suit. Wires tangled around her toes but she paid them no mind. Her claws punched into the armor repeatedly but each hit was weaker than the last and Stark knew it. In a last attempt to end him, she gave another powerful shove with her feet, launching herself into the air, and him to the ground.
"Now! Do it now!" Stark shouted from below her. Kate was still moving up, and her eyes hadn't left the barely working suit of armor. Her breath came out in icy puffs that hovered before her eyes. A white flash came from him. In Kate's fevered mind she didn't even care; then the tranquillizer hit her shoulder. She yelped in alarm, pulling it out right away. Half of the stuff was empty. Her animalistic frenzy came back, but this time it was much weaker. It didn't make her any less unsafe though. In her head, she didn't see Tony Stark or Iron Man, but prey and she was the hunter.
Her trajectory was planned and Stark hadn't moved. Perfect for her to take down. But she would never even get close to demolish him. Falcon flew into Kate, disrupting her path and sending her far from Stark. The force of the collision, shook her out of her rage. She instantly became disoriented. She looked around, desperately searching for an answer to her confusion. When she saw the two men not far away, her face went slack. Falcon was half dragging half supporting Tony back to the Heli carrier's platform. Had she done that to Stark? No, she wouldn't. She didn't even remember doing it. Paralysis from terror began to creep back in. Falcon looked over at her. She wasn't close enough to make out his expression, but she knew he was angry.
She closed her eyes briefly and hung her head. "I'm sorry." She whispered. No one heard her of course, and even if someone did, no one would believe her and she knew it. She didn't even hear the whistling of the Hammer flying towards her until it was too late.
The Hammer hit her left wing, folding it in. Her right one flapped uselessly, trying to compensate for the other. Mjolnir seemed to be stuck on her wing, because it wouldn't fall off or go anywhere. She cried out. She didn't know what was going on. Her body was so worn-out, and although her right wing was working harder than it ever had, she was steadily falling down. Then, without warning, she was saved. Thor wrapped his arms around her tightly, pinning her remaining wing painfully to her side. She screamed from exasperation, but her body was too spent to really do anything. She tried in vain to use her claws, but her arms were folded in awkward angles against her chest, and the most she would do is hurt herself. Resisting him was useless, but she tried anyway. He gripped her tightly. Mjolnir carried them both back to the deck of the Heli carrier. Kate continued to scream and fight the entire time. Her body was flashing through every color ever seen and more, like her sub conscious was trying in one last attempt to stun her captors. It didn't work.
"Let me go! Please let me go!" she shrieked, but no one was paying attention to what she was saying. The indifferent faces of the SHIELD agents overlooked her tear streaked face, pleading to be let go. The masks of the guards flashed in the sunlight and the rigidity of their stance was nerve-racking.
She scarcely had time to register her surroundings and the people around her, before she was roughly shoved to the ground. Her head knocked against the pitiless floor. The impact reignited the fight in her but it was quickly doused. Thor pinned her wings down, onto her back. She felt something cold and hard clasp them together. At that point, she knew she was done. There was nothing she could do to fight them. They had bound her wings together. Now she couldn't fly at all. Even if she could somehow get the strength to fight them off, she had nowhere to go, and jumping off the edge of the Heli carrier again wouldn't end with her flying off into the sunset.
A battered, grim faced Tony walked up to her. He knelt down next her. His suit was sending sparks from random places and wires could be seen through holes; holes she had caused. Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought to keep them from falling. She had to preserve what little dignity she had. Tony held her gaze steadily, and his eyes softened slightly when he saw the fear in hers. He opened a small box that was handed to him from an agent with the word 'Emergency' written in large black letters. Kate gulped nervously. What would they use on her now? An ominous click reached her ears. She watched with wide eyes as he took out a large syringe with a long needle. He gently moved her head up, exposing her neck; she didn't fight him. He put the long needle against her neck, moving fur aside. The needle pierced her skin, but she didn't even wince. A small whimper from her was heard by no one but Tony.
"You should have listened Kate." He murmured quietly. Darkness gathered at the edge of her vision. She tried to say something, but by the time she knew what she wanted to say, she was already unconscious.
"What did you do to her?" demanded Rogers. His voice was quiet but there was obvious anger underneath his tone. Loki sighed. He knew this would be coming. Something must have happened, but what he did not know. Had she attacked someone? Probably, but why? Was she provoked? He hoped she wasn't injured too severely.
He observed the Captain quickly. He looked tired, and weary. There was a thin scratch on his jaw. Partly hidden by his shirt was a cast. Loki had never heard of the Captain getting that badly injured before. Every time the man moved his arm, he winced. Loki knew it had to be Kate who caused this, but what could the noble Captain have done to provoke her into fighting so viciously? Now that he thought about it, what could Kate have been using to inflict such harsh wounds? What other abilities had she been given?
"I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened." He said lazily. He really was quite interested, and worried. Ever since he had been dragged out of her holding cell, he hadn't heard anything about her. His own cell was quite dull. With his limited magic, he couldn't do much to entertain himself. The thick glass used for the window, was somehow magic proof in a sense. He couldn't perform or send any spells outside of the cell, so he had to busy himself with turning things like his pillow into pencils and what not. At one point he had turned his bed into a large soap bubble and had watched it drift around lazily.
His cell was small, but comfortable. It had a bed and a pane of glass separated him from any interrogators should they want any privacy or safety. The room behind the glass was small and dimly lit unlike his cell, which had glaring white lights.
Rogers took a deep breath. "Have you even told anyone about what you saw in Kate's head?"
Loki just stared at him. "Do you think this would have happened if anyone had?" he said with mockingly. The Captain's jaw clenched. "Let me guess," he continued, "You sent someone in to 'evaluate' her, or in other words interrogate her. She felt threatened and attacked." He knew he was right when Rogers avoided his eyes. "Humans, so idiotic. If you had just come to me and let me inform you of her state of mind, then the outcome would be much different!" he seethed with anger at their stupidity. Rogers' posture changed to defensive, and Loki quickly calmed down as much as he could.
"How do I know you didn't plant the idea in her head to kill us?" he asked hotly. The smirk fell from Loki's face instantly. Kate killed someone?
Loki laughed coldly. He fixed the Captain under an icy stare. "I told you this would happen. You humans are too delicate to be changed. When will you listen to the advice of those more intelligent than you?" he asked, a sneer curling his lip.
"Remember who won the battle of Manhattan, Loki." Rogers said, irritation clear. Loki stared back at him. He couldn't tell him what happened. Rogers would never could never know or understand what he had been through in The Void; no one would.
Rogers took his silence for submission, and continued. "She almost killed one of our agents, but he'll live. She's more dangerous than we thought."
Loki processed all this information quickly. She attacked them, but there hadn't really been any real reason to. There were many missing pieces to this puzzle.
"Who did you send in to interrogate her?" he asked severely. Accusation lit his eyes.
"It wasn't an interrogation; it was an evaluation. We sent in Nat." he said grimly.
Loki stared at Rogers in disbelief. "You sent in a deadly assassin, who if you would care to know was the same one who shot her with a gun, and obviously Kate didn't much care for her before her transformation. You could have at least sent someone in who she liked." By now he was standing, inching closer with each word to the window. He was practically seething with rage. For whatever reason, he had this instinct to protect her, like she was family. The only other person he felt this way about, was Frigga. He knew it was ridiculous though, not only had he just met her, but she was, she was human. An aggravating one at that too, even more so than Stark.
"Who then? You? If I remember correctly, she blamed you for being caught." Rogers stated, pointing a finger at him harshly.
Loki's face hardened. "No," he said slowly, ignoring Roger's jibe. "I would have sent in Banner or Stark." He was still in turmoil that Fury would send in someone as unsympathetic as the Widow. Unless…
"Did, Fury authorize this?" he asked curiously, narrowing his eyes at the man. It was obvious by his face that Fury had not. A wide grin broke through his callous face and he laughed coldly. "Oh my, what will Fury do to the oh so heroic Avengers, when he finds out? What will Kate say when she finds out it was your fault that those people could have died?" he smiled when he saw the doubt and anxiety Rogers was so desperately trying to hide. It made his cynical smile grow even more.
Loki kept his voice casual as he said, "If you had just come to me, this could have been avoided. Why did you decide to free her so soon?"
"First of all, we didn't know where you were being kept, alright. Secondly, Bruce found out that they were going to put a tracker in her, so we had to act quickly. The plan was to get her out the night before the tracker was to be put in, so Nat was going to see how she was doing considering she was the only one of us that had access to her cell." The man's face was quite grim.
Loki shook his head. This, for lack of a better word, 'jailbreak' had gone horribly off track, not that the plan had been much better.
"Well, since you did not take advantage of the information you could have gotten from me, why are you still here wasting my time?" he growled. His eyes had taken on a steely glint. The Captain was unimpressed.
"I need you to tell me if you did something to her when you were in her head." He said. Rogers changed posture until he looked, or tried to look, intimidating. It was in Loki's eyes pathetic; he had faced beings much more retched than him.
Loki turned his back to the window, heading back to the cot to sit. "And why should I do that?" he drawled lazily.
"Because somewhere deep down I know you care about her and I don't know why. You wouldn't have healed her feet, if you didn't." Loki stopped in his tracks, silent. "Yes, I read her medical file and I know you had something to do with it. I'm not close to being as smart as Stark, but it doesn't take a genius to realize that you don't have a limit on magic if you do something kind for someone else."
Loki turned around slowly, a small sinister smile on his face. "Well, done Captain. You figured out Odin's special curse he put on me. I didn't mend her feet to be kind; I did it because now she owes me."
Rogers sighed heavily, and his shoulders slumped ever so slightly. "Fine, whatever, but we need your help in figuring this out."
Loki's smile had gone from sadistic to monstrous. "Alright then. When she attacked, was it instant, or did she hesitate?" Loki questioned. He never stopped watching the Captain closely, watching him think. Loki started to pace the cell, his hands behind his back.
He furrowed his brow in thought. "It was immediate. As soon as she saw me she jumped from the ladder and tried to kill me. She didn't seem to notice the other guards even though they were doing the shooting."
Loki nodded thinking. He could think of quite a few spells that could, in a sense, program someone to attack or kill another when in sight, but who would, or could do that to Kate? No one on Midgard, that was certain. Perhaps, someone from another realm, but that would hint that the caster had to have visited Midgard for whatever reason, and chosen Kate out of the billions of humans, to do what? Kill the Avengers? If so, how could they have known Kate would be in SHIELD custody? A programming spell is complicated, taking years to really settle in the mind. There would also have to be a trigger… The odds of Kate having a spell of this magnitude put on her was astronomical, but not impossible. There was something not right about this girl and her past, he just had to figure it out. Paired with her being the only available candidate for the serum was an uncanny coincidence, and in these cases coincidences never happen. Or, Kate could have traveled, but that was highly improbable; how could she? Could that presence he had felt in her head have something to do with it? Maybe, but it was unlikely. That presence had felt peaceful and protective, not cunning or evil.
"Anything else?" he asked, business like, still pacing.
"She has claws. I couldn't get a good look at them, but they seemed to come out of her knuckles." Loki scowled a little. "Obviously they're pretty effective." He added, motioning to his neck. Loki smirked at him. "When we cornered her in the stairwell, she was a mix of grays and reds, but when she saw me, she instantly went all black and white and red. Her eyes changed to solid black too, and her fur fluffed to twice its size. She turned demonic. Why would she do that?" he focused on Loki, clearly looking for answers. Loki had a few ideas, but the only way to pursue them farther was to get out of this blasted cell, or better yet, Midgard. But no one would let him leave considering his past, and Loki didn't expect them to trust him with anything more important than muffins.
There was a short gap in the conversation, that Rogers quickly filled. "I need to know what you saw in her head. It's important."
Loki smiled sadistically, giving the desperate Captain a sly look. "Get me out of here and I'll tell you." He could see the war going on behind the soldiers face. Rogers jaw clenched. Loki's ominous grin returned. "Do we have a deal?"
A deep throbbing pain covered her head and back. Waves of pure agony radiated repeatedly from her temples, spreading outward. Whispers echoed all over. Her eyes were closed firmly. She didn't have the strength to open them or care why she was hurting. Faintly she felt a pressure over her hands and feet, but the darkness of sleep was too inviting for her to bother.
"Are you sure those numbers are right?" a voice hissed from far, far away.
"No, not yet." Repeated another in the same soft tone.
Numerous voices filled the air. Everything was distorted; almost syrupy in its slowness. It took longer than necessary to process the voices and words in her drugged hazy sleep.
"Stop." She whimpered, almost inaudibly. The throbbing had risen quickly, sounding like someone was beating a drum in her head. As swiftly as it had come, it was gone. She was so drained and she didn't know why, but then again she didn't care. All Kate wanted was to be comfortable and asleep, to go back to that silky darkness were nothing existed and everything was safe.
The voices were gone. After a minute they were back, buzzing around the room like bees.
"Help me." She mumbled once more. Another spike of pain assaulted her head, jerking her out of sleep. There was a shrill beeping from above that made her headache, or more accurate, head-torture, even crueler.
Someone made gentle shushing noises above her. "It's okay Kate. Just relax. You can wake up soon." A familiar voice said softly. The voice was enough motivation for Kate to try to open her eyes. After a lot of fighting and a great amount of willpower, Kate managed a squint. She would have tried to open her eyes more, but it was too much work for her exhausted mind.
Dr. Banner's face hovered over her. He looked concerned as well as tired. Kate tried to say something. Her mouth opened and closed a few times in her attempts, but all that came out were a few croaking noises. Dr. Banner shushed her again. Kate didn't want to be put back under. She had been unconscious fat too much, but she had no way to tell him that.
"You need to go back to sleep. You're safe." He said just loud enough for her to hear. Weakly, Kate began to fight against the drugs coursing into her, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. "I know, Kate, I know. I'm sorry." He murmured. Dr. Banner smiled down at her sadly. He carefully put a hand over her eyes and when he took them away, she was fast asleep. This time in a nightmare.
Okay... so it finally worked! Yay! For some odd reason the doc manager didn't like my files, so it decided to ignore me. Problem finally solved! Sorry it took so long. I will update again tomorrow, as promised! Hope you like this chapter, and please Review, Fave, and Follow! :):):):):):):):):)