Amy's head turned in excitement when I opened the door to her room, her wings folding up in excitement. She was already looking much healthier, but the shirt and sweatpants she had been given to wear hung baggily of of her frame, almost like she was swimming in it. I closed the door behind me, and her face fell when she realized the gravity of my visit.
"I'll... I'll start with what I should've told you the moment I found out," I told her slowly, rubbing my hands together and taking a few steps into the room. Amy nodded, her brows furrowed, ready for me to continue. "After Hawkes was done extracting my DNA, he got a status report on my abilities. It was... interesting, to say the least. During it, we both learned that I..." I swallowed, the familiar lump in my throat coming back. "Due to my powers and how much I've used them, I'm going to die in four years."
"Oh, my God," Amy said in shock, taken aback by how forward I was. "Isabel, I... I don't know what to say. Are you doing okay?"
"There's more," I stopped her, and she got quiet quickly. "The process we went through to get our powers- the experimentation, it affected all of us. I have four years at the most,; the rest of you have a little over ten." Amy's face paled, and her wings drooped slowly to the floor.
"Ten... ten years?" she repeated, and I nodded grimly. "Oh." Her hands were shaking, and I felt sick for telling her. She had to know, and from how Zane took it, this was information I couldn't keep to myself. "Who else..." Amy's lip quivered as she tried not to cry in front of me, biting down on it in hopes that it would stop the shake. "Who else knows?"
"Zane," I answered. "I told him a few hours ago. He's here in Wakanda, taking sanctuary. The issue is with Hawkes having all of our DNA is that he can bring Colin back. When we escaped, I was able to get a glimpse in his head, see what's brought him where he is now. Hawkes has nothing left to lose in his life, nothing to hold him back from falling into complete insanity."
"You think he isn't insane already?"
"I think I started sending him over the edge when I killed his son," I continued to explain. "He lost his job, his identity, his wife, and then found out Colin was next. Hawkes was spiraling during the program, trying to keep his son alive. I don't know how he made it to this summer." Amy sat down on her bed, thinking out loud.
"They always had our blood samples," she told me, glancing up as she realized. "During the experimentation, they'd always take blood from us to make sure we weren't having any unpredicted side effects. It wasn't blood given out of our free will, but it contained bits of what gave us our powers."
"Perfect enough to hold Colin until he could find a better solution," I nodded, following along. "That's why he wanted us to give consent. It was like... self-protection so no one could figure out what HYDRA was truly up to." Before, I always felt obligated to give blood for testing, but I never truly gave it away deep down.
That was why I never got a power analysis until Hawkes had finished torturing me.
"Isabel?"
"Yeah?" My head jerked up as I snapped out of my daze, blinking a few times as Amy stared at me. "Sorry."
"I asked how do we stop Hawkes?" she repeated, criss-crossing her legs on the bed. Amy rubbed her left middle finger between her right pointer and thumb, taking a deep breath. "I don't want to die without doing something good in my life. If stopping Hawkes speeds up the process, so be it."
"You... you want to help me defeat Hawkes?" I asked her, making sure this was her decision. "Zane's opted out, and Thomas is on the other side. It isn't looking the greatest right now."
"I want to kill Hawkes," Amy corrected me, her wings giving a small twitch. "I want him to suffer slowly but in agonizing pain, just like he did to me. I'll sacrifice anything to get revenge." It wasn't the answer I wanted to completely hear, but I knew it was a valid one. I just had to make sure that she wouldn't get close enough to kill him. Speaking about killing a person was one thing, but doing it? Then again, she seemed to get over murder spree missions faster than the three of us. "When would we leave?"
"An hour and a half," I told her. "Flight would bring us to Avengers Compound by sunset. It's been a while since I've flown, but I'll manage. My father is the only person we can trust right now. The United Nations knows I've been looking for you all, he just deals with the legal stuff for me. The moment Hawkes makes a move... it won't be perfect but at least we'll have a chance."
"Alright, boss," Amy gave me a small smirk. "Let's get this thing going." I started to leave, my hand hovering above the door handle for a moment before I turned around.
"Thank you," I said, which earned me a look of confusion. "For trying to protect me after the extraction. " Amy tilted her head to the side, giving me a wink.
"You'd do the same for me."
______________________________
"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked me as I approached the final room I wanted to visit, Sam walking on the other side of me. "The girl in there might not be the girl you used to know. A lot has changed."
"I know," I assured him, staring at the door and nodding slowly, "but I can't give up on her. Not after everything we just went through." I looked at the two ex-Avengers, not ready to say goodbye. "Are you sure you two can't come with me? We can figure something out with my father, it wouldn't be easy-"
"The world still needs our help, Stark," Sam told me gently, crossing his arms against his chest. "Sure we have to be a little more... under the radar, but it works. Still, we don't leave one of our own."
"How did you find me, anyway?" I asked the two of them curiously. "Hawkes's base was designed so not that Stark tech couldn't find it. Have you been tracking me or something?"
"We've kept tabs on you ever since you first left Wakanda," Steve explained. "After you dropped off the face of the earth for a month-"
"-I was in space, actually-"
"It was Wanda's idea have someone peak in on you every so often, whether it be to make sure you were going to school, your apartment, or the compound. Once you spoke out publicly about Hawkes, we stepped back just in case the UN would accidentally realize we'd been following you."
"She isn't here though," Sam quickly stepped in, seeing the look on my face and knowing the question I was going to ask. My shoulders sagged slightly. "Her and Vision are off on a mission right now, and we didn't want to worry her about you going missing. I'm sure you understand."
"Yeah, I do," I agreed, but deep down, I wished my sister was with me. I hadn't seen her in months. "So, finding the base. What happened?" Steve and Sam gave each other a look before turning back to me. "What?"
"We were hoping you could answer that," Steve told me truthfully. I continued to stare at him in confusion, my brows raised. "When we backed away, we had no idea about the Framework or you finding Zane. We never even knew you were kidnapped. Hawkes must have told Tony to stay quiet, and he did. "
"All we know is that one day we get an alert about an extreme energy jump in Russia," Sam continued for him, watching his teammate closely for a moment to make sure what he was saying would be agreed with. "Like a pulse, you know? It lasted for an hour, long enough for us to track the exact location and try to decipher it. I don't know how, but after an hour or two of messing around with it, we realized it sounded like you."
"Whenever Hawkes thought I was reaching a breaking point, he'd make me repeat my words of surrender, almost like a contract," I mentioned, humming as I thought. "I didn't have a power inhibitor on so I could heal as they literally held me at the verge of death. Sometimes my blood would glow after I'd speak, similar to when my Inhuman powers activated a few months ago."
"I'm sorry, your what?" he questioned, and I rolled my eyes.
"It's a long story and I'll have to get into it later," I sighed, "but the point is... maybe that's how you found me. A tracking beacon." I crossed my arms against my chest like the rest of them, growing aggravated. "Hawkes was given a pretty thick file about me and my blood, who knows what information there is? He only read me sections from a few pages." I turned to Steve, unable to hide the disappointment now from my face. "I... I just wish it could be easier. I've received two out of the three fragments to help me figure out my identity. The last one is virtually impossible, and somehow Hawkes managed to learn it for himself. Forgive me for saying this, but it's not fair."
"No, it's not," Steve agreed, "but you're so close, Isabel. You can't give up now." He pulled a flip phone from his pocket and passed it to me, and I took it with my right hand slowly. "For a rainy day, alright, kid? It was stupid for me to not have given you a way to contact us to begin with, but I had to make sure-" He cut himself off as I threw my arms around him, and he hugged me back.
"Thank you for everything," I told him, letting go after a moment, and he smiled.
"Anytime."
"So, do I get a hug too?" Steve chuckled at Sam, who was raising an eyebrow at me. "Sure, I didn't carry you out like Mr. Macho Man over here, but I helped."
"Alright, alright," I teased, giving him a hug as well. "I'm gonna miss you too..." I couldn't resist. "... bird brain."
"Hah, hah, very funny." The man gave my back a pat before letting go. "It was nice seeing you again, Stark." I nodded, sighing to myself before turning away to the door, not able to say goodbye. My hand hovered over the handle. "What is it?"
"For a month I've watched her parents, people who used to welcome me into their house without hesitation, turn me away like I never meant anything to them," I said slowly. "I just... a part of me worries they'll do the same to her, and I have no clue what has happened." Steve put a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up at the ex-Avenger with wide eyes. He smiled down at me comfortingly.
"Whatever happens next, I know you'll make the right decision," he told me, and I gave a small smile back. He and Sam started to walk down the hall, leaving me at the door. Closing my eyes, I set my hand down on the handle and twisted. As the door creaked open, Stacy's head jerked toward me. Her hair was snow white and her eyes pale blue. She stared at me, watching me closely like how a predator stalks its prey. Stacy stood up from her bed and moved to sit at its edge, her gaze never leaving me.
"I was starting to think you'd never come," she said, breaking me out of my trance. Her voice was still somewhat hoarse. "Thank you though... for saving my life. The light at the end of the tunnel was starting to get really tempting."
"I couldn't just let you die," I told her, closing the door behind me. Stacy raised a brow at my words, and I squirmed. "What?"
"Sorry, just..." She paused to scoff before looking at me in disbelief. "I treated you horribly about Flash revealed your identity. I mean, I was hurt, but I still wasn't right in my actions. Hawkes made that very clear.:
"You can't believe what he says."
"He said that even though he hated you, you had three times the spine I or any of the other kids he took in for testing had," she told me, words spilling out like she was reciting a memorization. The memory was that clear to her. "He said I had nothing to worry about because despite me being cruel to you, you would still sacrifice you life for mine if it came down to it." My jaw dropped slightly at her words.
"Okay, well," I said sheepishly, "maybe he hit that one on the nose." I moved to the couch in the corner of the room, sitting down and crossing my legs. "I would've been here sooner, just... I needed time to heal. Unfortunately, that doesn't get to last for much longer." I set down Steve's burner phone and fidgeted with my fingers, growing more and more uncomfortable from Stacy's unwavering stare. "You look different."
"More has changed than just my hair," she laughed at me. The girl raised her left hand, positioning her palm to face the ceiling. "Look." I watched closely as she took her right and held it above her other hand, moving her middle and ring finger in two different smooth motions. Stacy started to curl her left fingers into her palm and would then pull them away as she continued this motion with her right hand, her eyes narrowing as she focused. "Sorry, sometimes it takes a little bit."
"What are you talking-" I stopped as I saw my breath in the air, and my head jerked in the direction of the window. Frost was slowly covering it, moving from the ceiling downward. My eyes continued to follow it, gasping slightly at the snow flurries that were starting to fall around Stacy's bed. "Oh... my... God." I looked back at the girl, who's eyes were glowing slightly and a small white orb of energy was starting to grow between her hands. "Stacy, you... how long have you had these powers?"
"Since I woke up here," she answered with a grin. She found the situation much more enjoyable than I did. "After your extraction, they literally locked me in a freezer. That's where the Falcon found me. Since I didn't technically have my powers yet, it just kept me in a stasis of some sort. Shuri came in when I woke up, and she was telling me, oh, did you know she's basically a princess here? I didn't know you were friends with royalty. Anyways, apparently my hair had changed by then and..."
As she continued to ramble, I couldn't help but feel my stomach sink as I watched her powers continue to spread around the room. Hawkes knew I would find a way to escape somehow, and he created a backup plan. No, not a backup plan, but more of a warning. Stacy was the first sign that a person could survive a transfusion with all of our DNA, making her the first of a second generation of the Elementals. I could almost see him realizing my realization, giving the sick and twisted smile he usually would.
Doomsday was on its way, and I was barely prepared. And that fact alone terrified me.