"Valen." A man's voice sang out sweetly. "Oh Valen. Over here."
Valen turned around as she stood at an intersection. All four hallways were pitch black besides the spot in the middle where she stood. She didn't know which way the voice was coming from.
"Come on, we don't have all day."
Valen had a gut feeling of which path to take. The voice was drawing her to him. She was almost in a trance to obey its orders and follow it.
"Good. Just one more step."
She stopped moving as she took her last step. In front of her, the hallway led out over a cliff. As she looked down, she could see a waterfall splashing around as it landed on top of massive rocks.
Someone tapped on her shoulder from behind her. As she spun around, Zory smiled evilly. "Boo."
He pushed her making her fall towards her death. She screamed and reached out for him, but it was of no use. He walked away back into the hallway, not caring to watch her finish her fall.
Valen tried to sit up in her bed as she woke up from her nightmare, but a body was straddling her, holding both of her arms above her head.
"V, hey. It's me. You're safe, it was just a bad dream." Wanda cooed, cautiously releasing some of her tight grip on the girl's arms.
Valen was hyperventilating. She stared into Wanda's eyes, finding some kind of familiarity behind them. It helped her relax, to take smaller breaths.
Wanda nodded her head towards Valen's arms. "I'm going to let go now, okay?"
Valen watched as Wanda sat up and released her hold on her. She had both of her hands opened beside her head.
"Why are you in my room?" Valen questioned, still underneath her.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay. Steve said you were back."
Valen moved her head around her room, growing anxious. "Where's Bucky or Peter?"
"Peter went to school. Bucky is going to be right back. He went to go take a shower as he waited for you to wake up."
Valen felt uneasy that neither of the people she trusted fully was with her. She took a deep breath to try and not freak out. Wanda rolled off of her, back to her side of the bed.
"Do you remember me?"
Valen looked up at the redhead. "Not really."
Wanda looked down at the bed and put a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's okay. I'm sure it'll come back."
Valen wanted to make her feel better, she already didn't like how sad she had made her. "I don't remember much about anyone here besides Bucky and Peter. I have bits and pieces, but nowhere near a full puzzle."
"I could help!" Wanda looked at Valen excitedly. She calmed down and lowered her voice. "If you would like."
"How?"
"Might be invasive, but I could go through your brain and maybe pull out a few memories that are hidden from you."
Valen scooted back away from Wanda. "I don't want you knowing everything about me."
Wanda already knew a lot about Valen, but she wasn't going to say that. "I won't do it unless you want me to."
"Can I think about it?"
"Absolutely. Take as much time as you need to think about it. I'm always here."
-
Natasha pulled up to the main entrance of the compound. She got out of the car and pulled her sunglasses to the top of her head. She strutted her way to Tony's office.
"Do you think she would like it?" Tony asked behind closed doors.
"I think she would love it, but she might need some more time, you know? She needs to remember more before you show her. You might freak her out if you show her now." Bruce said sitting across from him.
"How long do you think that will take?"
"I'm not sure. I don't know what all Hydra did to her. I don't understand yet how she's getting certain memories back and others not. Patience, Stark."
"Patience about what?" Natasha opened Tony's door, interrupting the conversation.
Tony quickly took a stack of papers that was on his desk and hid it in his drawer. "Romanoff. What did you find?"
She eyed him suspiciously before sitting in the chair beside Bruce. "The facility that went up in flames, it was Hydra's base. There wasn't anything I could recover. Everything was melted or completely destroyed. I have no clue where they took Valen now."
"About that..." Bruce looked at Tony to finish his thought.
"Valen is upstairs in her room."
Nat didn't move a muscle. "Repeat that."
"Valen, the silver-headed girl that lived here for a few months. The one with ice and invisibility powers. The one-"
"Stark, I know who Valen is." Natasha cut him off, annoyed by his sarcastic ways.
"She's in her old room, upstairs." Stark pointed a finger at the ceiling.
Natasha rose from her seat and marched her way to the stairs. She calmly took each and every step until she made it to the living quarters. She opened the door to Valen's bedroom, but no one was there. She started making her way to the kitchen where Valen stood beside Bucky, helping him make food for the team.
Nat nearly sprinted and almost tackled Valen to the ground. She hugged her tight, squeezing the life out of her. "Of course you're close to wherever the food is."
Valen froze, reminding herself to not attack. She looked at Bucky for help, but he just stood there smiling.
Nat pulled back, but still held onto her shoulders. She blinked a few times, not letting herself cry. "I knew we'd get you back."
"Natasha Romanoff, or Nat. Dating Steve. Told you, me, and Wanda were best friends."
Nat looked over at the table where Wanda was sitting. Wanda telepathically sent her a message.
She's been reciting what she knows about us when she sees one of us.
Nat looked back at Valen. "Don't forget I was teaching you how to fly. Also taught you some impressive fighting moves."
Valen had a marker in her jacket pocket. She pulled it out and wrote on her arm.
Nat - Teaching me how to fly
Taught me some fighting moves
Nat gave Valen a look of question as she marked her skin. Wanda already knew what Nat was thinking without reading her thoughts. She thought she would help clear things up again telepathically.
She also has been writing things down when she learns something she doesn't know. She was writing it all in a notebook, but I don't know where that went so I guess she's using her arm now.
Valen looked up sheepishly when she saw Nat's face. "Sorry. Bucky said it helps to write things down."
"No, that's good. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have." Nat went over to the table to sit in front of Wanda. She started to whisper to make sure Valen didn't overhear. "How did this happen?"
"I don't know. Steve just told us that Peter brought Valen back. That's all we know. Nothing more, nothing less." Wanda whispered back.
"You haven't dug around to figure it out?" Nat twirled a finger above her head.
"I don't go through people's thoughts for fun. I told her if she wanted help to regain some of her memories, I would, but she hasn't accepted yet."
"How has she been?"
Nat and Wanda both watched Valen smile as she helped Bucky cook. "I don't know, it's her first day back here. She doesn't talk a lot unless you talk to her first. If you're not Bucky or Peter then you don't get much out of her. Sometimes she'll ask you truth or lie before saying something she remembers to make sure it was real. She's only done that to Bucky though."
"She just has to get used to everything again. Get used to us."
Wanda nodded her head. Nat quickly thought of something and swirled her head back to Wanda.
Nat whispered at an even lower volume. "Do you know what Tony is up to? He has a stack of papers that deals with Valen. He was talking to Bruce about it when I got here, but I didn't hear what it was about."
Wanda shrugged her shoulders. "I have no clue."
Nat looked down at the table as she thought about it. Sam and Clint walked into the kitchen ready to eat. Clint was a little uneasy around Valen, but Sam walked straight up to her.
He put both his hands on her shoulders. "What up my girl? Long time no see. How you been?"
Valen furrowed her brows, puzzled about who this was.
"You don't remember me do you?"
Valen shook her head no. She knew of him, but nothing about him.
"Well, I found this." He put her notebook of what she knows down on the counter in front of her. "I added some details about me in there. Study up." He walked over to the table and took a seat beside Wanda.
-
Valen's first day back at the compound was interesting, to say the least. She wrote every memory she had in her little notebook and added details anyone said about themselves. She wanted to relearn about herself, but also about the others she knew she used to be close to.
She mainly avoided Steve. She had so much anger towards him that she knew it would be better if she kept her distance. Stark and Bruce weren't around most of the day. They seemed so secretive. Clint seemed slightly nervous around her, so she decided to put space in between them until he relaxed.
Peter hadn't stopped by all day. She was starting to worry about him. She knew he would be gone for school, but she also knew he got out around three. It was way past three now as she sat in her bed getting ready to go to sleep. Valen decided if he didn't stop by tomorrow after school, she would go find him. She didn't know if she could leave this place, but she most definitely would find a way.
Bucky, Wanda, and Nat all insisted on sleeping in her room or at least just one of them. They didn't want her to be lonely. Valen had to repeatedly tell them she was fine on her own. Really, she wasn't fully comfortable around Wanda or Nat just yet. Bucky, she just didn't want him to be uncomfortable sleeping in a chair again.
Valen pushed all her anxiety down as she closed her eyes to fall asleep. She was worried about a lot of things, including her own dreams.
"Valen." Valen's own voice sang out sweetly. "Oh Valen. Over here."
Valen turned around as she stood at an intersection. All four hallways were pitch black besides the spot in the middle where she stood. She didn't know which way the voice was coming from.
"Come on, we don't have all day."
Valen had a gut feeling of which path to take. The voice was drawing her to her other self. She was almost in a trance to obey its orders and follow it.
"Good. Just one more step."
Valen stopped before reaching that last step. "I know how this goes."
"Oh do you?"
"Yes. You're going to push me out of this hallway onto a pile of rocks." Valen turned around to face herself but as Hydra's pet.
"Let me make it different for you then." Obscurity touched Valen's forehead making her travel where she stood. The scenery changed all around her until it ended up in her old cell back in Hydra.
Valen looked at Obscurity through the familiar metal bars. "This will end."
She dropped her head to the side. "You think you can get rid of me?"
Valen's eyes shot wide open. She sighed in relief as she took in her new surroundings. She was back in her room at the compound instead of in her dreams at Hydra.
She looked over at the door that just opened to see Zory walking in, making his way right to her. Valen backed up on all fours until she fell off her bed. "No. No. No. No! The dreams over!"
When he didn't disappear, she stood up and put an ice dagger in both of her hands. She lunged towards him, making him fall to the ground. She took away one knife and held the other with both of her hands above her head. She was about to plunge it into his heart until a voice made her stop.
"VALEN!"
Valen blinked a few times, coming back to her senses. Her arms were still above her head holding the knife she created. Fear struck her body as she realized whose voice it was that made her snap out of it. She started to shake as she looked down at the ground where Peter laid in between her legs. She quickly got rid of the knife and jumped off of him, backing up to the opposite side of the room.
She put her head in her hands and started crying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Peter took a second to let the shock wash over him. He wanted to sleep in the chair again tonight to watch over her. He would've made it sooner, but Aunt May wouldn't let him leave the apartment. She had enough of him sneaking around and lying to her. He had to tell her the truth about Valen.
Peter gulped as he sat up on the floor. He could hear Valen sniffing as she put her hands over her eyes. He started to approach her but stopped when she started screaming.
"NO! GET OUT!" She pointed at the door for him to leave.
Peter could feel his heart break a little. He backed up slowly and walked out the door. She didn't want to kick him out because she was angry, but because she was scared. She was scared she would hurt him for real if this happened again.
Valen gasped for air as she breathed harder. She started to hit her head and pull at her hair. "Get out of my brain! Leave me alone! Get out! Get out! Get out!"
Valen stood up and grabbed her desk chair. She threw it against her wall putting a hole where the leg of the chair hit it. She let out a frustrated scream, waking almost everyone up.