When You Were Never Mine: Part 2

Triggers

At least until your eyes were closed again.

~~~

"Who are you?"

"Why are you in my head?"

The Soldier sat in his new home, a cold, gray room with a hard cot for a bed and not a single window to allow in any light of day. It wouldn't matter if there were sun anyway, as day and night didn't matter; he could hide himself away and infiltrate anywhere and never be seen regardless on light shining in his direction, just as it had been before. When he was invisible to the world around him, he felt completely secure and always carrying the advantage over his prey.

This was different and foreign to him, feeling exposed and violated by the images and voices in his head that didn't belong to him. Sure, there were memories of another life that would occasionally flash through his mind, but they didn't feel as if he owned them, as if he were watching pieces of someone else's life. This was deeply unsettling and persistent, and no matter how many times they put his brain through the blender, an essence of you remained intact and always pushed to the forefront of his consciousness. It was troubling and made for a very ineffective Soldier. He had been back in this life for only a matter of hours now, and his handlers were struggling to maintain him.

"Answer me," he tried again. His eyes darted around the room, just as they had done each time he tried to speak to you, reassuring himself that they hadn't begun watching him yet. If he could keep calm and not give them reason to, he would have time to get rid of you without their interference. It would be preferable to get a few answers before shutting you up.

If he closed his eyes, the Soldier thought that he maybe saw a color that might be that of your hair, or possibly a glimmer of your eyes, but the images were disconnected and distant. "Do you know me? Do...d-do I know you?" He listened intently for an answer, but he didn't have time to focus, when a guard opened the door to his room; he stared blankly ahead as to not draw any unwanted attention that might get him strapped into that damn chair again.

"Soldier," the guard interrupted, "you have a mission."

~~~

Once Tony regained consciousness from the hit to the skull you left him with, he tried to will away the swimming dizziness that left him ready to heave his dinner all over his dress shoes, but even the slightest movement sent him riding a new wave of agony. He could barely open his eyes without pain, and he was fairly sure that you had given him a nasty concussion as your first post-wedding gift. He could hear Steve on the floor next to him, groaning as he rolled over and pushed himself up to stand on shaking legs.

"Tony? Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah...never better," he mumbled, "you?"

"I feel like I'm a hundred years old."

"There's a reason for that. You are. What the hell is my excuse?"

Steve looked down at his friend and could feel the pain in his own head, watching Tony rocking himself gently while he held his head in his hands. The man looked absolutely miserable, not only from the physical pain that you had inflicted, but his emotions were an utter mess and he was at a loss as to what to do. That was more disconcerting to Steve than anything else he was seeing. "Tony, we need to get you to the infirmary. Here, let me carry you."

"Woah, what?"

"Tony, you can't walk," he argued, "and we need to make sure that (Y/N) didn't do any lasting damage. I don't think you realize just how hard she hit you. There's a dent in the wall."

"I'm gonna have to disagree. I'm feeling it pretty acutely, Cap."

Steve knelt down next to Tony, reaching out a tentative hand, "I won't tell anyone, okay? Does that help?"