Author's Note:Hearing Damage - Thom Yorke
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Ava's P.O.V
The engine of the helicopter simply cannot compete with the roaring jetstreams of water flowing through the turbines of the enormous stretch of concrete spanning the length from one foothill to the next---the very same man-made formation that has Ava reeling with an aghast expression and impossibly wide eyes.
It stands unwavering against perhaps the largest body of water the mutant has ever seen---a humongous lake darkened by the shadows of the great structure and presumably the poor souls the beast of a lake has most definitely swallowed whole. A shiver runs down her spine, prickling her skin with goosebumps and condensing her breath to a visible fog...just imagining the frigid, shocking waters filling her lungs and freezing her from the inside out is enough to make her wary.
Even fearful.
The helicopter remains high enough in the air for Vertigo to see the shoreline of this behemoth of a lake. Trees don't dare venture close to the water, staying well out of the waves and their freezing touch. The rocks, however, have to deal with the erodison, and probably have for decades.
Before Ava has time to look any further, the helicopter begins its descent down the slope of the dam. The shadow of the behemoth of a structure coats the aircraft in a thick, looming darkness, one so heavy and opaque that the fear of being crushed by the weight and sent down careening to a most certain death all too real.
"What...what is this place?" She rasps, nearly breathless in awe.
Heavy footsteps clack against the metal hull of the aircraft.
"This, my dear," The Director plants his arm at the top of the metal frame, bracing himself on it when peering through the glass. "Is Alkali Lake---the pride and joy of the Weapon-X Organization. All aspects of our branch are conducted here; testing, research, military operations, you name it---everything Weapon-X is or has ever done, our very own history, is here in these concrete walls."
"It's..." She can barely speak without having a thought of astonishment, of fear, or any other emotion clutter her brain. It severs the connection from the mind to spoken word...all she can do is stare with impossibly wide eyes in the umbra of the monstrous structure outside. "I've never seen anything like this---or even heard about it, as a matter of fact. How long has it been here?"
"Before you were even a thought, Rhodes. This place is older than I am, and has stood the test of time from even the most stubborn of adversaries."
"Have many tried?"
A dark shadow spans across the man's face as an equally sinister grin exposes what little his lips already cover.
"Too many to count. S.H.I.E.L.D. mainly, a couple of other outside parties as well. But, all who try have met the same fate," He nods to the dam.
A cold, icy bath.
She swallows her next breath quite greedily, the fear of it being her last twisting her stomach into knots. Just how many people have succumbed to the might of the organization she serves?
How many dared to do the impossible?
How many people are rotting in that lake?
Her eyes rise up to the top of the dam, unable to see the deadly waters any more, but knowing they lie just below the concrete cliff...
And the possibility of her joining those souls looming with it.
YOU ARE READING
FIRE-SONG
Fanfiction"LIKE A PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES, I WILL RISE." ------------------- Ava Rhodes has lived her entire life in the confines of the U.S shadow government, the Weapon-X Organization. She, codename, Vertigo, is one of their most skilled, efficient assassins...
