i sat and waited for instructions, not knowing what to do. i felt like i wasn't meant to be here and honestly, i wasn't.
i had already studied the contents of my file at least five times and nothing changed, each time it only had the mission details in it, which were very vague.
rescue hostages, do not engage on dreykov unless attacked.
is what it read. we didn't have anything to get rid of the mind control but however, since i was part of the program, i had figured out ways to get out of it. if you closed your eyes and thought of your favourite smell, it helps bring back memories. not that i had much, but nice ones of the red room, like the night i got my necklace.
the rest of the team already know this as i told them how to undo the mind control around ten minutes prior, now we were just waiting for the descent.
at one point nat came up to me and tried to spark a conversation with me but failed as my nerves were going through the roof with the thought of going back to the red room.
i was usually good at hiding my emotions but right now, i feel like i have no control over them. it's quite scary actually. ever since i was born i came up with my own ways of calming myself down and cheering myself up, they've always worked up until now.
my head perked up at the sight of the jet feeling like it was falling. suddenly, the jet tilted towards the left, making everyone go flying. since me and thor were both on the right side of the jet, we both got the worst of the fall. i fell and hit the other set of chairs before falling straight onto wanda causing her to yelp. my head was a bit blown and i tried to stand up but the jet was still tilted.
we all heard clint yell from the pilot seat "the left engine has been detonated"in a panicking tone.
we all continued to fly around the jet and hold onto each other for dear life as the jet quickly descended back to earth.
the jet hit the ground with a thud causing all of us to groan in pain due to hitting our heads on the ground.
i got up and quickly shook it off, even though i felt a sharp pain in my right abdomen. i looked down to see a gash of blood there but nothing serious, nothing i couldn't deal with.
everyone else got up before checking each other. luckily there was no serious injuries except for a few cuts and bruises here and there.
natasha came running over to me when she saw my side was bleeding, "athena you're bleeding" she said, like i didn't already know. "i know, it doesn't hurt much though it'll be fine" i replied.
she looked at me as if to say you're getting that checked out later, which was fine with me.
we all walked out of the now pretty much demolished quinjet, and looked around. we were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around us but a road.
"well does anyone have any ideas?" tony suddenly said.
i had a sense that this was one of the roads from when i got transferred from the red room to hydra as i remember there being a really long road with no curves or stops. this seemed to be it.
"i might" i looked at him and the team.
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we have been walking for around 30 minutes now, and no one knows where they are going except for me.
i had to retrace the drive that i had been part of a couple months ago but it was no big deal. it really was worth memorizing the route then huh.
i was stood at the front of the team leading the way as everyone followed behind. i turned a right and saw a forest up ahead of us. i knew we where close so i assumed that this was where the base was. quite smart if i'm being honest.
clint and sam were at the back of the group complaining the entire time about how the mission said nothing about walking 45 minutes to get there.
i checked to make sure i had all of my weapons on me as i was walking. looking down at my thigh where my gun would be kept, i saw it wasn't there. panicking, i looked around to see nat twirling it around in her hand. i quickly snatched it back and placed it back where it belongs.
"you're no fun" she said. i smirked, "well maybe if you could stop playing games and focus then we wouldn't be in this position"
we entered the forest and immediately i felt like i was being watched and knowing the red room, they probably were watching us. that meant we would have to sneak in and find a way to get in without setting any alarms off.
i led the group around the forest to the side of the building, a way that wasn't in the clear view of any cameras or anyone patrolling.
it was an underground base, so you couldn't see anything from above ground, but i do remember there was a tree somewhere that had a hidden button on it to bring you inside.
i couldn't remember what it looked like so i closed my eyes and allowed my mind to guide me to where i thought it would be situated.
eventually, i led us to a large tree that to any other human being, would look like a normal tree, but to me, i could see the difference.
this tree was artificially made, but to a point where it looked as if it was a part of the forest. i could also see that there was a very small hourglass imprinted onto the bark. this was definitely the tree i was looking for.
i realized that when i pressed the button, it would alert the guards. however, there was no other way in so we had to go in this way.
"this is the only way in, but when we do go in, it will alert the guards and dreykov in around four and a half minutes. we have until then to rescue as many hostages as we can without guards noticing or informing others about our presence" i informed them. they all nodded and readied up.
i found the button and pressed it. immediately the ground opened up to reveal a set of stairs that led down into a dimly lit corridor. i remember going through this corridor on my way out.
we slowly walked down the stairs, careful to not make any sound. we had our weapons out and ready, waiting to see any guards. we got to the end of the corridor and turned to see two guards. wanda used her magic to make them unconscious and we carried on.
eventually, we split ways. bucky, nat, tony, bruce and steve went to go and hopefully assassinate dreykov, whereas me, wanda, clint, thor, vision and sam went to rescue any hostages we came across.
i was at the front, knowing which ways to go as i knew the layout like the back of my hand.
i came across a guard and came up to them from behind before shooting them in the back. i raised by eyebrows, thinking about how i could've done that better.
we walked through some more hallways until we came across the cells. there were girls in there, due to it being just past lights out. however, this did mean it was harder to see and it would make the mission harder, but that's something we can worry about later.
i opened the first cell gently to not trigger the girls in there, but the moment they heard me they grabbed their knifes and held it out in front of them.
it reminded me of the night that yelena came into my room and gave me my necklace, and i smiled for a second before realizing i was back in the hell hole that gave me a lifetime of trauma.
"i'm here to rescue you, we can take you out of here and you can be free, you can make your own decisions" i told them both. they looked at each other before nodding at one another. they picked the locks on their cuffs and stood up.
i had my hand rested on the gun sitting on my thigh but the moment they looked at it with a bit of fear, i let go and put my hands in the air, "i'm not going to hurt you i promise" i smiled.
they put their knifes down, hinting to me that they trust me, and walked over to me.
"go help others, we're trying to rescue as many of you as we can" i told them.
they listened and walked off to go help their friends and spread the message.
clint and thor came up to me to tell me they had succeeded and got some girls out, but wanda, vision and sam were still working on it.
we all split ways to free more girls, walking through the hallways, you could imagine the mind and trauma each of those girls had been through.
i came across one cell where i saw two girls lying down, asleep. one of them was blonde, facing away from the door, and the other was a redhead, lying facing the blonde.
they seemed so content and used to their life it was strange. i stood there for a moment thinking before i shook the thoughts out of my head and opened the cell door quietly, but loud enough for the girls to wake up.
they did the same as the girls in the other cell had, bringing their knifes out to protect themselves.
i understood them, you can't trust anyone in this facility, even if you think you can. if you think about it, everyone betrays you in one way or another in the end.
but the moment the blonde haired girl turned around to look at me, i stood there dumbfounded. it was the girl from my dream, the girl from that night, the girl who i felt i knew so well but didn't know at all.
"yelena?"