The Shadow (Book 1)

Chapter 5

Two Options

Shadows eyes narrowed. The man didn't just know her name, he knew about the accident. It made her wonder what more he knew about her about the Doctor.

"How do you know that?" Shadow asked, pulling on the handcuffs that Oliver had secured around her wrists, ''Did agent Carlton tell you,'' she sarcastically remarked, looking round to glare at Oliver, the deadly stare burning into his skin.

''I work for an organisation, specializing in cases like you,'' the man replied, his voice remaining at a calm level. He didn't seem too intimidated by the Shadows stare, unlike Oliver, who shuffled back slightly but still kept a hand close to her body.

''Cases like me,'' she scoffed, ''what on earth do you mean by that?''

''You were presumed dead after your laboratory exploded in. However, here you are two years later, without a scratch. Well nearly,'' the man's head inclined towards her metal hand poking out from underneath her long sleeves.

"Who are you? What's the name of this so-called organisation you work for?" Shadow seethed, becoming impatient, unsure as to how long she'd be able to hold off the Doctor clawing their way through her mind.

"Very well. Agent Phil Coulson. I work for the strategic homeland intervention enforcement and logistics division,'' Phil Coulson replied, pulling off his darkened sunglasses for a dramatic flair.

"That's a mouthful," she replied, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. The war going on inside her mind was the complete opposite of how calm she appeared on the outside.

"We're working on it," came the agents' reply, with his own smile.

"What do you want from me? Since you've been following me for a while," Shadow nodded her head in the direction of Oliver, who seemed more fascinated by the stained wooden floor than the conversation taking place before him.

"We could use someone like you as an agent doctor," Phil replied bluntly.

Shadows eyes narrowed, not only from his blunt request but from the pain burning through her skull. The Doctor had had enough of waiting, Shadow had promised them their body back, and she was denying it to her. Coulson was starting to see the inner struggle of the Shadows face; her forehead had begun to crease from the sudden spurts of pain. Her jaw was clenched tight underneath the mask she had on. Coulson knew that if he had one chance, he had to take it now.

"That wasn't a yes or no question, by the way. I have a feeling you're not going to be able to say no anyway,'' Shadows game was up, her composure crumbled, a thick layer of sweat covering her creasing brow. The pain had begun too much, so much she began to scream.

''Make her stop,'' those were the last words she uttered before the cafe begun to spin. The Shadow collapsed onto the ground, a mass of tears and screams of agony. The Doctor was taking back control.

⫸⫸⫸

Coulson, by direct order of Nick Fury, sat in the corner of the room. The chair was opposite the bad, where the brunette was currently laid.

Thick leather-bound straps secured the young woman's arm and legs to the bed. A single, thicker buckled strap lay over her stomach. The restraints were a precaution, a precaution that they needed to take. The Shadow hadn't been hostile when they'd met a the cafe, but they weren't taking any chances.

A couple of hours passed until the agent heard a low groan coming from the bed. Incoherent words began to spill from the brunette's lips. Coulson caught a couple of words. However, they were in a language he did not speak.

''Bloody hell,'' the tone of her voice was softer than it had been when she'd spoken in the cafe. He watched her as she lifted her head, attempting to sit up, but giving up when once her eyes glossed over the restraints. Eyes he realised were now blue.

"Sorry about all this,'' he gestured towards the straps holding her down, ''but I doubt you would have come considering our conversation wasn't going anywhere," Coulson spoke, standing slowly, stepping towards where she lay.

Her mouth opened as if to speak, but before she could get the words out, the door opened. Coulson stepped away from the bed, back to his position in the corner. The time had finally come for the Director to meet the woman he's been searching for.

His one eye grazed over the female tied to the bed. She took in his appearance; a long navy blue trench coat hung loosely over his frame. The black patch over his left eye made her raise a brow slightly, wondering how on earth he'd injured it.

''You're an extremely hard person to get a hold of. Doctor,'' he spoke in a gruff; tone. Strolling through the room, he didn't so much glance at her. Making his way towards the open window to the right of her bed.

''I should be dead,'' she muttered, glancing over at the man by the window.

''Everybody thought you were, but here you are. Now how did you manage that?'' Fury questioned, spinning away from the window to look over the Doctor once more.

''I don't know,'' he raised an eyebrow down at her, clearly not believing her, ''I'm telling the truth one moment I was in control of my own body and the next. I was trapped by the nagging voice inside my mind. She's still in there, I can feel her.''

''The Shadow?'' Phil questioned. The Doctor nodded slowly, ''when she was in control, her eyes were green, now they're blue. Has that ever happened before,'' the Doctor shook her head slowly.

''Doctor, I'm going to give you two options. No more, no less. Do you understand?'' she craned her head round to face the eyepatch man next

to her, nodding.

"Good. First choice you become an agent, but we run tests to see what exactly is happening in your head at least once a month" he paused taking, in her facial expression. The sour look that graced her face told him that she perhaps didn't like that option much.

''What's the second option?''

"I have a feeling you might like this one better. We got you an interview with Mr stark. If you get the job, you'll be working for him and not us," he replied, his hand clasped behind his back, rocking backwards and forwards on his heels.

"What's the catch? I feel you didn't finish your explanation,'' the Doctor asked, laying her head back onto the pillows. Her gaze came into contact with the pure white panels of the ceiling. She followed the lines with her eyes, partly paying attention to the man beside her.

''We'd still like to run tests, perhaps once every other month. You see we've, never met anyone like you before. Two minds' sharing the same body, both with the ability to talk and move independently. Maybe, just maybe with time, you could be split into two different entities.''

''I wasn't always like this, I think. It's just I can't remember a time when I wasn't. Something is stopping me from remembering. I just wish I knew what,'' the Doctor spoke, her tone soft. Again Colouson noticed, unlike the gruff voice it was compared to when he'd conversed with the Shadow.

''Well, this is a mystery for all of us then. A mystery we can solve together. Scarlet,'' she wasn't sure what complied her to do so, but hearing her name for the first time in a long time caused a fleeting small smile to spill across her lips.