shield | b. barnes

"Make sure you aim for the head."

[Corinna]

I hear something ringing - almost like an alarm - but I'm not sure since my hearing seems to be out of whack after the machine fried my brain. Well not actually fry my brain, but it might as well have.

"Corinna! Oh my god! What the hell have they done to you?" I hear a familiar voice ask anxiously. A girl's face pops into my vision wearing a look of worry as she tries to unbuckle the leather straps from my body. "It's okay, you're okay." She mumbles repeatedly as she moves to remove the straps from my legs. I remain still, frowning at the ceiling as I try to dig my mind for the girl's name.

Tara? No, that doesn't sound right. Tammy? No, that's not it.

I know her, but I can't place my finger on her name.

"My- my name is Corinna." I mumble tiredly as the girl wraps her arms around me to help me out of the chair. I place an arm around her shoulder, while the other holds onto the chair for support. I feel like I'm about to fall down, even though the girl is holding my body upright.

"I know. Do you know who I am?" The girl asks. I turn to look at her, squinting my eyes as I try to get a better view of her face, but the limited lighting isn't helping.

"Get her out, Trisha!" I hear someone yell from across the room. I turn my head, searching the area, but there's too much smoke for me to see anything. I hear a lot of shuffling and grunting, but I can only see bodies being thrown through the smoke near our feet.

I turn to look at the girl next to me, "Trisha," I whisper with a frown taking the girl's appearance in, "you're Trisha."

"Oh thank god, you remember me!" She sighs in relief as she guides me through the smoke. I blindly stumble along; my head feeling like it's detached from my body.

The smoke begins to thin out and I notice a group of people fighting. My eyes linger on a few of them. It feels like I know them. They're faces, they're suits – it all looks so familiar.

"We're right behind you!" A woman yells as she lands a roundhouse kick on a man, consequently leaving him unconscious on the floor.

"Copy that." Trisha shouts, gripping my waist tighter as I trip over an unconscious body.

"Oops." I mumble, looking down at the ground with a frown. How did that body get there?

As we get closer to the door, my eyes fall on a man fighting. What catches my attention is his metal arm and his long brown hair. He lands punch after punch on someone that also looks familiar. Without giving much thought, I let go of Trisha and slowly stumble towards them.

"Where are you going, Corinna?" I hear Trisha ask in exasperation.

I ignore her as I get closer to the men. The metal-armed man doesn't notice my presence, but the man being brutally punched does. He smirks at me, despite having a constant stream of blood flow down his nose.

"Corinna." His gravelly voice greets.

I stop walking when a wave of nausea hits me. Gripping the nearest table, I stare at him with a frown. For some reason, I know that I don't like him. His face makes me want to bash his head into a wall, but the question is why?

I feel the metal-armed man watching me as well, but I ignore him as I continue to stare at the smirking man. A memory enters my mind - one where he's waving a taser in front of my face as I'm being restrained. Gritting my teeth together, I search the table for something that I can use as a weapon.

My eyes fall on a pair of scissors and without a second thought I grab it. Letting go of the table, I slowly stumble towards the two men, painfully aware of their eyes watching me. Just like with Trisha, I know these men, but I can't seem to figure out who they are.