Frostbite

Seventeen

Day 6 

My body trembled, the only sign that what he was doing had any effect on me, but I stayed silent. My hair was dripping water on the cold concrete beneath my knees. The guard huffed in irritation and pushed me on my ass. I coughed a few more times, my throat burning as water came up. Water soaked through the grey cloth around my kneecaps, and I kept my focus there. Not on the man in front of me.

Most of these people were ex-military and had plenty of experience in getting people to give them what they wanted. No one had succeeded in getting anything from me. They wanted to know every hide out we might have, people that could be in contact with Steve, anything that might help them locate the two fugitives. It didn't matter that everything going on here was every shade of illegal. We didn't matter.

"You're pretty much useless. I don't know why the warden keeps bothering with this," he grumbled, yanking on my elbow to force me to stand. They never called her by her name, just 'the warden'. I met his eyes briefly and couldn't help myself.

"Maybe because she has useless people working for her."

His nostrils flared, and he angrily shoved me against the wall. It was easy getting under this one's skin. I had the feeling he was new here or didn't have any experience with prisoners. It was just too easy.

"Shut the hell-" he growled, only being interrupted by the door opening. The warden stepped in, not a hint of emotion on her pale face. She looked the same every day, blonde hair pulled back in a tight, neat bun, and a black suit pressed and perfect. It was annoying as hell.

"I think we've had enough of this. Take her back to her cell for the day. And get her dry clothes... She looks like a drowned cat," she ordered him, peering down her nose at me in disdain.

"That's it?" I blurted, dumbfound. I realized it probably sounded like a challenge and clamped my mouth shut. That smile I absolutely despised tugged at the corner of her lips, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"A friend of mine, a scientist, is coming in a few days. He has an... interest in you. Wanda too. He'll need you functional. So, these sessions are done for now," she purred, a knowing glint in her eye.

I swore my heart stopped beating for a moment and bile rose in my throat. They were going to... what? Study me? Or worse- experiment. The world spun as the thought lingered in my head. No. I couldn't go through anything like that again. To be strapped to some table, sedated and helpless; a lab rat again? Real fear locked into my heart, and I panicked.

Without any hesitation, I shoved the guy off of me. The collar zapped me immediately, but I gritted my teeth and dragged myself toward the door. This couldn't be happening. She nodded to someone behind her, and another person moved into the room, a syringe in hand. A wave of déjà vu washed over me, but it was too late. The needle was jabbed into my arm, the collar keeping me weak so that I couldn't fight back.

"Keep her sedated until he gets here tomorrow."

Darkness hugged my vision, slowly dragging me under. For the first time in years, I truly wished vehemently for the sweet release of death.

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Day 8

Two days. For two days I had been subjected to poking and prodding in some lab as test after test was performed. I didn't remember most of it as I went in and out of consciousness from the sedatives they kept pumping into me. It seemed this prison had been designed specifically for people like us. Like they had planned to abuse and use us. I hated the lab room even more than the last one.

I was able to pick up tidbits of information here and there when I was semi-coherent. The scientist wanted to attempt to map my brain while I was using magic, but the warden wasn't having it. It was too risky, even if I was drugged. He was adamant, and they had argued loudly over it until she had begrudgingly agreed to try and figure something out. Though, she was probably right. If given the chance, I'd either make a break for it or make sure I was taken out of the equation all together.

I knew they had brought Wanda down at some point, because I overheard some people discussing how disastrous it had been. That had perked my interest, and I wanted to demand to know what had happened, but I had only gotten one word out before I was shocked back into silence. It hardly made me flinch at this point.

Sam, Clint, and Scott all tried to talk to me, but I refused to speak to them- to answer their questions. They didn't need to be bothered with what was going on, not when they were safe, relatively speaking. And now they were leaving Wanda alone too. If I could keep them all safe from this then I would. That left me alone with only my own thoughts and I wasn't kind to myself in the slightest.

Steve frequented my thoughts the most. From wishing to be with him to wanting to finish what I had started in the Siberia. Of course, I loved him, but I was so unbelievably pissed, and heart broken. I wasn't sure why I couldn't get him out of my head; maybe it was just a distraction from the current hell we were immersed in.

I absently fiddled with the ring on my finger as I restlessly twisted and turned on my cot. They hadn't thought to take it when they processed me, but I didn't care. I was gradually beginning to not care about anything at all.