For several months, Raya continued her hypnotherapy sessions with Dr. Burnette. Each visit seemed to peel away another layer of the weight she carried, and just as the doctor had promised, the process grew easier with time. The word—daffodil—became a lifeline.
Eventually, Dr. Burnette tested her under pressure, simulating the triggers that once snapped Raya into violence. The first time, her body reacted before her mind could catch up—muscles tightening, vision narrowing—but when the word was spoken, the haze cleared. She blinked herself back into the room, aware of the shadows that had tried to pull her under. Every time they repeated the exercise, the word worked. Raya became quicker at regaining herself, stronger at recalling what her mind tried to bury.
Still, she insisted on caution. Whenever they triggered her fight reflexes, she made sure enough people were in the room to restrain her if things went wrong. A part of her feared the day the word might fail.
Outside of therapy, her world shifted into something steadier. She moved in with Steve, trading the loneliness of her room for the quiet comfort of his. Nights shared in the same bed gave her more than rest. She slept easier beside him, the threat of "switching" losing its grip when his presence anchored her.
Her days often led her back to Stark Tower. Sometimes for therapy, sometimes for the gym, and sometimes simply because Steve was there. The Tower became a second home, one filled with new faces and familiar shadows. She met more of the Avengers, the larger-than-life heroes she had once only heard about. And beyond them, she came to know the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—the ones who kept the machine running behind the curtain.
When she finally met Nick Fury, the man studied her with that unblinking stare of his, as though he were measuring both her past and her potential. His words weren't a suggestion but a certainty: she would be an Avenger one day.
It seemed inevitable—whether she wanted it or not. Yet for the first time, Raya didn't recoil from the idea. Maybe, she thought, that wasn't such a bad fate. After all, wasn't it just the modern-day reflection of why she'd taken the serum in the first place? To be part of something greater. To protect. To fight for more than just herself.
And maybe this time, she would get to choose.
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The 3rd Experiment
FanfictionAfter the first failed attempt of Abraham Erskine's serum, Johan Schmidt, and Steve Rogers' successful second one, the beginnings of SHIELD and some of Erskine's team work together to get a third try. They use the newly recovered serum they found in...
