Затворник (MARVEL AU) [ON HOLD]

Crazy Ideas (do not try while breathing)

The store clerk must have thought Yeva was insane. She probably looked like a missing child poster, with her matted braids and her stained clothing. Her knuckles still held traces of blood. When she read the date on the newspaper, she dropped to her knees, eyes wide, shaking madly. Her eyes read the date again and again, and each time it said the same thing, but she held onto a frantic hope that her eyes were simply deceiving her. There it was. 6/15/05. What had it been the day she'd died? 1998? 99? She couldn't remember. Maybe she was insane.

Yeva spent the better half of that day just sitting at a table in the store, staring off into space. She finally rose from the bench, her movements slow and robotic. The next hour was spent pickpocketing, untill she had enough to afford a set of clothing and toiletries.

When her mind was clear enough to think straight, she began to devise a plan to get out of the country. She was somewhere on the west coast of Russia. Planes and ships were too risky, and so was risking land travel, But if she didn't need to breathe, couldn't she just swim across the Pacific?

By the time that Yeva reached the North American shore, she had most likely convinced several sailors of the existence of mermaids. She half-stumbled, half-crawled up the beach towards the shipyard, and passed out in one of the cargo containers.

"Are you alright kid?"

Yeva felt hands shaking her awake.

"Kid?"

She opened her eyes to find a man standing over her, brow furrowed in concern. She panickedly scooted across the floor of the container until her back was against the wall. The man did not come any farther, crouched right where he had been.

"Are you okay kid?" He asked again.

Yeva just stared at him. He looked middle-aged, and was tall, dark skinned, and balding. He seemed friendly too, a word she was not yet familiar with.

"Do you have parents?"

Yeva shook her head.

"Do you have somewhere to go?" the man's concern was etched across his face. "Are you in trouble?" She shrugged helplessly. "What's your name kid?"

"Yeva Federov" She finally replied, her voice scratchy from seawater.

"Would you like to come home with me Yeva? I have a spare room."

Yeva stared at him suspiciously.

"C'mon kid, I'm gonna feel bad about leavin' you here, and besides, my partner is making chili tonight" he stretched out a hand to her. She took it and he helped her stand, steadying her when her knees gave out. He half-carried her to his truck.

"I'm Henry, by the way, Henry Thompson"

They were on a brightly lit road now, buildings whipping by.

"So where are you from Yeva?" he asked, pulling up to a stop sign.

"Russia"

"You have a passport?"

"No" his eyebrows furrowed again.

"How'd you get here then?"

"I swam"

"No kidding? Got some superpower? My partner does. They call it, uh, super human? Not human? Uh, inhuman! That's what it is. I promise, I won't leave you on the side of the road if that is it."

Yeva nodded slowly.

"So how'd you get yours then?"

Yeva hesitated. "Go on then," he prompted her.