Tracing the Webs

Chapter 25

She raised her arm straight up and let it gently drift down to her side.

'You're not a monster. You're just different.'

Lowering her stance, she brought her hands together in front of her. Her arms slowly circled as she opened her palms outward.

'Powers or not, you've always been a superhero.'

Her hands swept out, and she shifted her weight to one leg. For a moment, she felt at peace. But thoughts couldn't be swept away as easily as air.

'But if I were you... I'd be careful around them.'

Her movements quickened. She brought her leg up and stamped it down on the ground, pushing her arms out to her right in a forceful movement.

'The threat's been neutralized. Hydra doesn't have them.'

As if an enemy had entered her sight, Gwen moved desperately. Her elbow shot out, and she twisted her body, punching out with the other arm.

'Shouldn't we be concerned about both?'

Faster and faster, she punched the air in quick succession in time with her breath. Her body mimicked the voices swirling in her mind like a storm. Further and further into her fervor, she moved without thought.

'Her powers are monstrous.'

She found herself with her fist inches away from the wall of her bunk. The voices that echoed in her head faded away, and the only sound in the room was the sound of her breathing.

Gwen stared at the concrete wall. 

Even after she and May had stopped doing Tai Chi together in the morning, she still tried to find time to practice it.

Though what was meant to be a relaxing session became too much time alone with her thoughts.

Her body felt lighter, but her mind felt tangled with nervous thoughts no meditation could solve. Her session had only helped to prove that her anxieties were stronger than any super strength she possessed.

I should've just listened to music.

As she thought that, the shrill sound of the base's siren went off.

Oh, how I wish my life weren't a series of emergencies.

Tugging on her gloves and throwing on her sweatshirt, Gwen raced out of her room and headed to the main hub. Frenzied agents buzzed around, concerned with their own duties. Gwen heard snippets of their hurried conversations about the attack on the UN that SHIELD had apparently enacted.

She ran up the stairs and found Coulson and some of her teammates on the move in the breakroom.

Her eyes met Simmons' and she quickly looked away towards her boss. "They don't seriously think we'd be stupid enough to attack the UN while wearing our logo, do they?"

"Well, they seem to be stupid enough to believe it," he responded before another sip of coffee.

A new voice cut in: "Marcus Scarlotti was behind the attack."

Bobbi Morse had officially joined the team after her undercover mission in Hydra. Hunter was unsurprisingly not pleased, but kept himself to just making snide remark after snide remark.

Gwen gave her a once-over. It was never going to feel normal meeting someone 'new.' 

"An assassin. Almost killed Barton a few years back. Runs a team of mercenaries. Mostly for Hydra." Bobbi continued.