SHIFTER ─ marvel

XXXVI. Two Pawns In The Game

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Soroya

It's now four in the morning. After an hour of sitting here in the lab, Analiese hasn't said a word. She hasn't been very talkative to me the last few days either. She seems very deep in thought whenever I'm on guard duty, like she's pondering a question bouncing around in her head.

I've taken this time to get some reading done. I've started a great series called The Hunger Games, which I know has also been turned into films. I've read the first one and I'm currently on the second. I never get much time to read anymore and it's a shame. I finally read all of the Harry Potter books and I've read a couple more series as well, but this series in particular I have a strong attachment to. These poor children forced into a governments game, slaughtered like pigs for all of the world to see. It's horrible and inhumane. It's what I was subjected to for most of my life.

I glance up from my book and over to Analiese, remembering that this was her life as well. We are two people used as pawns in a corrupt government's game. She lays there still, her eyes focused on the machine's arm right next to her head.

"Did you ever read when you were younger?" I ask her, closing my book and setting it on my lap.

She glances over at me, looking taken aback by my question. "Julian and I used to read together as children," she tells me, her voice very indifferent. "We both loved science, so textbooks were something we would read through together."

I smile gently, thinking of young Julian with his head hidden behind a biology textbook. It seems like something he would have done. Analiese sees my reaction, looking at me with confusion.

"Why are you doing this?" She asks me, looking at me like I'm a ticking bomb about ready to explode.

I tilt my head, crossing my ankles. "Doing what?"

She gestures with her head to the machine surrounding her. "Why help me? Why give me the cure? Why not kill me when you had the chance? Why get me my own room in prison? Why?"

I smile at her, leaning forward in my seat. "You're Julian's sister. I loved him like he was family. I know he wouldn't want you to spend your life in a cage, because you have lived in one ever since you joined HYDRA. But not just that. I remember what it was like to not be in control, to fight in your mind between the human and the animal. I had someone to help me, I had your brother. But you didn't. After he died you were all alone. I'm giving you what I was given; I'm giving you help."

She still looks confused, like she doesn't believe what I'm telling her. "I've killed so many people," she says matter of factly. "I tortured you, nearly killed you. I threatened your brother and your boyfriend...after all that and you still deem me worthy of your help?"

I nod firmly. "Nobody is beyond help."

She lets out a disbelieving laugh, shaking her head. "I originally thought this was all just a hero act that you put on to keep a good image, but no. You really are this idealistic. I know what you've been through in your life. I know the people you've lost, the people you've killed, and I know the horrible things people have done to you. After all that and you still believe there's good in everybody?"

"My parents always taught me that there was good in everybody," I tell her, smiling to myself as I think of my parents. I was glad I could think of them now without sadness or guilt, only joy. "You never know what is really going on with a person unless you walk a mile in their shoes. You'd be surprised how good intentioned people can be. Even in my time in HYDRA, even when I was faced with the most evil men and women in the world, I saw some good in them. Some agents believed in the cause...but most had a shimmer in their eyes; a shimmer of pain and guilt. My parents were the ones that taught me to see the good in everyone, but HYDRA was what proved to me that people are shades of grey, not black and white."

She smiles mockingly. "So you don't believe I'm evil?"

"I don't believe anyone is truly evil. Not you, not Becker, not Killmonger, not even Thanos. I think you're misguided. I think you're lost and you're trying to find your way back."

"Back to what?"

"Back to yourself."

She scoffs. "I think you missed out on your calling as a psychologist. I feel like I'm talking to a shorter and bustier Sigmund Freud."

I ignore her comment, picking my book back up again. "When your powers are taken from you I think you'll have a different view of things. Perhaps in time you might even feel the weight of what you've done. Perhaps you'll stop hating me."

She rolls her eyes. "I wouldn't hold your breath. People aren't all that you believe them to be, especially me."

I smile at her, flipping back to the page I was on. "I believe in you. So did Julian."

This makes her stare at me for a long time, her features conflicted between confusion, annoyance, and pain. The thought of her brother must have taken her aback, and she genuinely seems to let that sink in. I didn't tell her about the vision I had of Julian, because who would believe me if I said it was real? But I know in my heart it was. If Julian believes in her, then I do too. If there is even a shred of Julian that lives in Analiese, I believe that she can change. As I stare into those familiar yet foreign hazel eyes, I see a conflict there, I see a flicker of light within the empty void. For a moment it's like I'm starring into Julian's eyes again. And for now that's a start.