The Hollow (An Avengers FanFiction)

Chapter Ten

I was staying in Ward's room. It had white walls with a queen sized bed with black and grey bedding, but it was hard to concentrate with that memory buzzed into me. 

I couldn't forget the way he touched me. That sinister smile he'd give whenever I'd cry out in pain. How he'd choke me just a little to make breathing feel like drowning. Delete it. Delete it! I don't want this here! I'd scan through the files in my mind and would try ripping the memory, ripping it so I wouldn't have to see or feel it anymore. But it would never work. Each time I'd shred it, it'd come back stronger than ever. 

I'd just try to sleep away the hideous memory, but it'd never work, but I so wanted to believe it would. I had been staring at the ceiling for hours on Ward's bed as I soon drifted to sleep. 

"Little brat! Can't even remember the fucking rules!" I stand in static as tears were falling down my face. My gut hurt as I held it tightly as if it were about to fall out. 

"I'm sorry!" I yell out. My voice was young, very young as I looked up to see a man with black hair and brown eyes. His face was drawn with such anger and hate as he looked down at me. "It was an accident! Please stop!" I feel a sharp pain hit my cheek. 

"That's enough Stan!" I heard another more feminine voice echo. I looked behind me to see a woman with long brown hair and blue eyes. 

"Mommy?" I said. 

"You don't get to tell me what to do, you bitch!" he yelled at her. 

"I'm your wife, Stan. She's your child," she argued, "Please, you don't have to do this." Then I heard the sound of a slap. I turn around to see that the man had hit the woman. He began beating her to the ground. 

"Daddy! Stop!" I yelled. I ran over to the two. One turned into a ferocious lion as the other was simply a meek gazelle. Once I reached the lion, I felt it's paw scratch against my stomach harshly. I landed into some furniture as I landed on my arm. I felt it snap as I screamed in pain. 

I see the lions bright red eyes stare at me with such venom. "Panda, run!" she yelled at me. 

"B-but, Mommy--" I whimpered. 

"Mommy loves you, my Panda. Now run!" 

I looked up at the open window, revealing the fire escape. I hop out and onto the fire escape. I look back to see the lion roaring and running toward me. As he reaches the window, I slam the window down where his paws were. He hisses in pain as I begin climbing down the fire escape as it soon became a tree. As I grabbed for another branch, it snapped, sending me to the wet cement below. I luckily land safely and begin running toward a place that had become home to me. 

I ran all the way to Jordan's house. Two protective eagles and a baby eagle answer the door. I ran into his apartment, soaking wet from the rain bellowing down. I began sobbing as I try to explain best I can what had happened. They call the police and an ambulance. 

The sirens soon turn to screeches of pain as I am brought into the ambulance. I felt a shaking of my shoulder. 

"Logan, wake up," a lion says beside me. I begin to scream as he goes to eat me. 

I woke up with cold sweat dripping from my body. I look up to see Ward standing over me. "Are you okay?" he asks. 

"O-of course I am. I was just sleeping," I said as I tried to regain my breath. 

"Well, you were screaming in your sleep, so I know that's a lie. Did you have the nightmare again?" 

"No," I simply answer. "I did not have a nightmare because I do not get them. I do not dream of anything," I say coldly. 

"Everybody has dreams and speaking of dreams, Hydra has given you the offer of a lifetime," he says as he sits next to me. 

"What is it?" I ask. 

"We have this machine that messes with memory. It doesn't get rid of them, it just barries them deep. We used it on the winter soldier, but you'd also have to have the serum." 

"The serum that Steve and Bucky had to have in order to become who they are? Why do I have to take that?" I ask. 

"Well, you'd be the next Winter Soldier, so you'd have to be stronger than you already are. You can think it over and you can add a few conditions to it as long as they agree," he explains. 

"Wouldn't I be too small and young to get the serum?" I ask. 

"That you're going to have to ask one of the scientists working on the project because I know nothing." 

"I wouldn't say you know nothing, science just isn't your field." 

"What is my field then?" he asked curiously as he laid down with his legs still going off of the bed. His head was near my stomach and I couldn't help, but blush. 

Being so god damn sexy probably. He starts laughing suddenly as I finish my thought. "You know you said that out loud, right?" he asked in between fits of laughter. My face goes completely red. 

"I-I mean--" I began as I squeaked uncharacteristically. 

"Nope, too late! You think I'm sexy," he chuckled as he winked at me. I hid my face in my hands as he continued to tease me. I eventually began laughing as well, seeing the humor in the situation. 

"Man, I haven't laughed like that since I was little," I sigh as I wipe a stray tear from my eye. 

"How do you know? I thought you don't remember your past," he asks. 

"I remember bits and pieces; they're mainly the more important parts like me learning martial arts or some parts of going to school, but I do like to keep some stuff like laughing with Jordan on the surface," I explain, "Though there were a whole two years where I don't remember anything. One day I just woke up and I was ten years old going through puberty." 

"Well, I appreciate you a lot more like this than as that scared kid you were when I found you; it's taken you a few weeks to even get used to me again," he commented. 

"Yeah," I sigh as the mood goes from sunshine and rainbows to stormy and dark. The memory flashes in my mind again as I couldn't see anything else. I begin to shake in panic as I relived the memory of the horrid terror. He seems to realize my panic as he brings me into his arms. 

"Sh, it's okay, it's okay," he said as he cradled me, "I'm here, I'm here. I shouldn't have mentioned it, I'm sorry." He rubbed up and down my arm comfortingly as he placed soft whispers in my ear. 

"You like that, you bitch?!"

"Please, just stop," I whimpered under his grip. I felt belittled under his touch. "Please," my voice was that of a mouse as my squeaks and whimpers filled the room. 

I awoke in Ward's arms shivering. "You back?" he asked. I nodded weakly. "Good," he said. 

"I'll do the experiment, just please, get this out of my head," I whimpered. 

"Okay, okay," he said as he continued to hold me close. 

"But I have one condition, I want to find my parents."