A/N
And... we're back to our favorite Witch. These next few chapters are going to be whirlpool and left behind plots from Book 1 will be rediscovered once more.
Keep up and tell me how you feel thus far, this is all very upsetting Ik.
But hopefully you can understand all this from Lorelie's point of view.
~~@ @ @~~
We must have driven to a stop.
I wasn't entirely sure.
Everything was fuzzy given how my head was screaming its protest and the veins all over my body were slowly coming back alive.
What a waste of serum. Well, constant trauma would make any ailment useless.
Speaking of useless--that was me right now.
Every time I would try to relax, my body would twitch. Flicker. Move. As though I could somehow still feel the ghost of electricity running rampant through my body even if it was all in my mind.
So I've resolved into laying still, not moving, or even bothering to pick myself off the floor. I should try at least, but I'm just so tired.
Every molecule of my body is covered in bruises and cuts. They show no sign of healing.
As if I needed any more scars.
"Eins nach dem anderen!"
One at a time!
My ears twitch from their position on the cold hard floor of the van. A guard was shouting from outside the armored vehicle.
Where are we?
Drowsily, I raise my head, eyes blinking rapidly to clear the fog in my mind. I'm going to throw up. I must have gagged because the guards in the van shifted out of the way, clearly uncomfortable.
Fuck them.
Taking a deep breath, I push myself up, off the floor with my shoulders, gaze drawing upwards and making immediate eye contact with my Protector.
He sits in the glass cage, silent, still, like a predator biding his time.
I have a sneaking suspicion that he has not once, taken his eyes off me throughout the journey.
If it wasn't for the fact that I knew him so well, that blank expression he held on his face would have hurt. But I did know him. The subtle twitch of his eyebrow and the way his hands clenched in front of him--sending tremors along the cage gave it away.
His whole being screamed; worry, anger, frustration. All of it. For me.
I shake my head because I know what that look means, I know what he intends to do.
He'd break us out of here. I only need to ask him.
My fear of what may happen to him if he does that wins over my desire to escape. He'll be shot, killed, taken back to lock-up where he'll never see the light of day.
The Sokovian Accords have already driven my family to separate sides. Fixing it will take effort and time... time, I don't have the luxury to waste.
So I mouthed two words, meant for him and only, him.
"Pover'te mne."
Trust me.
His gaze flickers, unease wrapping around them.
I'll get him out. I'll get all of us out of this mess.
It doesn't have to end in a war.
The van doors open, light streaming in, followed by what sounded like german-speaking guards.
I don't have enough time to gather myself before three guards are upon me, hands grabbing hold of my arms and shoulders without a care of being nice or kind about it.
My legs kick out defenselessly as I twist, trying hard to stand only to fail. The collar wrapped around my neck only served as a bitter reminder of the delirious pain that came with it.
Where the fuck are we?
I squint, letting the guards haul me out of the van and onto the cement floor, giving me a view of my surroundings. Armored vehicles, heavily armed soldiers and guards, a warehouse that spans much--much further than what I can currently see.
Joint Counter Terrorist Centre.
Berlin.
This was the place we'd send fugitives to for interrogation after capturing them. People like Rumlow if he was still alive. Not people like us.
"Setz sie ab," The man holding me says.
Set her down.
They let go of my arms and I fall on all fours, a weak groan slipping past my lips from the aches that I felt. The idea that I was only getting weaker is frustrating, no--it's scary. How much more will I be able to take?
I grit my teeth and ignore the chain around my neck as I lean back on my feet, hands on my sides.
Resentment threatened to break free, anger threatened to decimate the entirety of the building.
"I'm going to kill..." Tone heavy and filled with ice, I make direct eye contact with the guards that surround me and smile. "...all you fuckers."
There was a loud slam of metal meeting the floor.
From behind me, a giant forklift is lifting the cage that holds Bucky and wheeling him in the opposite direction.
The fact that he was in a glass cage with all of his limbs pinned down for people to see aggravates me. He wasn't an animal, something to be ogled at.
He was my Protector.
For a split second, I wondered about the little switch tucked behind the corner of our minds from HYDRA's training. I wondered what would happen if we flick it, how much blood we'll spill together if we do.
It's gone just as fast as I thought it.
Yet there's a voice deep down inside me that laughs.
Sighing, I unconsciously reach to scratch the back of my neck only to remember the machinery with my brother's name on it, was still around my goddamn neck.
I eyed the link, trailing my gaze toward the guard that held it.
My expression must've said something because his thumb flicked onto the button in a warning.
I grin maniacally and swiped the dried blood off my forehead, already flaking from how long I'd been in that van.
He better wish I don't get out.
In the distance, the sounds of SUVs approaching alerted me that the others were arriving. I only just turned, when the car doors opened, revealing Steve, Sam, and another man. The Black Panther.
"You gotta be kidding me,"
My shock is real.
The Black Panther I had to fight tooth and nail against was T'Challa. The prince of Wakanda.
Now it all made sense, why he came after Bucky.
Revenge. For the death of his father.
Great, this day keeps getting better and better.
"Lorelie?" Sam's eyes are the first to meet mine. "Shit--Lorelie-" He's quick to move forward, ignoring the guard's warning as he crosses the distance, bending down to quickly pull me into him.
"You better get those guns off my damn face, do you think we're stupid enough to do anything?" His anger is directed at the three guards around us as he shifts his grip, eyes warm and worried. "You doing fine, girl?"
I shake my head, delirious from the pain and how cold I feel. The only response I give is my hand tugging at the chain around my neck.
"It's not like I got dog tagged Sam, I'm perfectly fine."
He sees through the sarcasm, straight to my murderous intention, but doesn't question it. Sliding his hands down my arms Sam begins to lift.
"Come on, let's get you up."
He pulls me against him, letting me take my time as I straighten my foot only to buckle. I'm forced to lean my full weight on him, in fear of simply collapsing back on the floor.
"Lorelie..." Steve is in front of us, hands twitching at his sides, blue eyes filled with hesitance and regret.
Sam glances at me from the corner of his eye, subtly waiting for my permission.
I sigh.
Despite my feelings, I let Steve grab hold of my other arm so both he and Sam held hold of me.
I was hurt, I was in pain. I didn't care what I felt at the moment but to get this metal chain off my neck.
Both Steve and Sam began walking forward, the guards leading us toward an expecting group. My eyes narrowed at the blond situated beside the supposed 'leader'.
"What's going to happen to him?" Steve asked first, looking over at Bucky whose eyes had been solely trained on me. The Super Soldier's grip on my arm is almost possessive and I can't help but wonder if he regrets everything.
"Same thing that ought to happen to you." The man in front of us scoffs. "Psychological evaluation and extradition."
"Ooh, you might not want to see my psychological evaluation then," I grit out, smiling sweetly.
I didn't miss the way the two people in front of me momentarily flinched.
Yeah, I was pissed.
And an angry Dark Witch is someone you do not want to mess with.
"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, Ms Stark." He shakes his head, a wiry smile on his lips. "You're just as in trouble as your friend back there." I don't have to see what he means to know exactly what he was threatening.
"Then lock me up too." I tilt my head, giving nothing away. "You seem to think it's okay to arrest us without proper evidence."
"Evidence, yeah--" He chuckles, not appreciating my dig at him. "The only reason you're not getting the same treatment as Barnes, is because your brother requested to speak to you first."
The tension in the air was cracking over, growing spiderwebs along the proverbial ice.
"Apparently he says you're currently undergoing a psyche breakdown."
Sam tightened his grip on my arm. I didn't even realize I was moving forward until I felt him pull me back. He subtly shook his head, even as the person in front of me continues.
"Given you have a history of saving the world, you get one pass. That's it. No more freebies after this."
"Tell me then..." I stare at him, the venom in my eyes obvious as my rage settled deep in the pit of my stomach, churning violently and making me nauseous. "Where the fuck is my brother?"
A tremor ran along the floor, too subtle for the naked eye to see but just noticeable for people to feel it.
Sharon is the one who breaks the tension, coughing out loud to diffuse the situation. "This is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander."
He's here to prosecute us then. No wonder he's such an asshole.
"What about our Lawyer?" Steve sarcastically spits out, already knowing what this meant.
"Lawyer," Ross chuckles. "That's funny. See their weapons are placed in lock-up. Oh, we'll write you a receipt."
Steve's shield and suit including Sam's are carted off somewhere else while they watch. It's Sam who voices his annoyance.
"I better not look out the window and see anybody flying in that."
Ross says nothing, only gestures for us to follow. Left with no choice we simply did as instructed, although I'd say it was more like I was dragged for the ride given I still can't feel my legs.
I look behind me to see the closing metal doors, making direct eye contact with Bucky as we're separated. I threw a weak smile, hoping it conveyed what I want.
He simply nods sadly in return before the doors close and my Protector is gone.
Breathing deeply, I refocused on the task at hand and tried my best to keep up with the others.
Even though Sam and Steve were holding onto me, I still tried my best to walk on my own two feet.
However, that resulted in me tripping so many times.
It took a decent amount of minutes before I felt confident enough to not drag my weight and start walking.
By this point, our tiny group made it over a skywalk to another separate building.
"You'll be provided with an office instead of a cell. Now, do me a favor, stay in it?" Ross motions us.
The Wakandan Prince is walking ahead of us all as he answers Ross, a scoff in his tone. "I don't intend on going anywhere."
A familiar redhead is coming to greet us from the other side of the Skywalk. She's speedwalking in our direction, eyes scanning Steve first, then Sam, before finally landing on me.
I don't have to see the worry in them to know she must have known what the guards have done to capture me.
Natasha is quick to slip through the barrier the guards created and sliding right up beside me. She nods at Sam who lets his hold on me go, allowing the Black Widow to support me.
I watch those green eyes flicker in regret and concern but I merely shook my head, too weak to speak.
"For the record, this is what making things worse, looks like." She hisses at Steve, glaring madly through her eyes.
Steve remains blank. "He's alive."
Natasha pulls me away from Steve, forcing the Super Solder to let go of me as she snaps. "And she?!"
Steve doesn't look my way and I don't know why I still care dammit.
"I'm fine," I tell them both but even a toddler could tell I was lying.
Hell, I didn't miss how Natasha's worried eyes scanned over my terribly bruised body.
It was bad I can tell.
The veins were sucking me dry at this point as they slowly came back alive.
We made it to the other building the sliding doors opening.
Ross looks at the two guards positioned over the doors and gestures to me.
"Take her and detain her,"
They were on me in a flash and Natasha grunted upon being forcefully ripped away from me.
"Hey!"
"Don't touch her!" Steve attempts to stop the guard away from advancing, Sam right on his heels.
"Back off!"
Raised voices are thrown back and forth between my teammates and Ross's guards as we collided. Hands go everywhere, guns are shoved in faces, and somewhere in between all of that, I lose my hold on reality and fall to my knees.
A shocked gasp tumbled out of my lips at the sudden jolt to the floor.
It hurts.
My knees ache, and my arms trembled as the chain clinks loudly against the marble floor from where I land.
"She doesn't have to go anywhere!"
"I thought I told you to get that damn gun away from my face!"
"Steve, Sam--"
The commotion was growing, the altercation rising.
I suddenly find it very hard to breathe.
My hands reach up, wrapping around the chain, tugging and tugging as though it would help ease the pressure building at the back of my mind.
The heavy chain rattled loudly against the floor and I tugged harder, not caring if I was bruising my throat, not caring if that will set off the electric charge.
I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.
It was suffocating.
"Get her off the floor," Ross grumbles from where he stood hands folded.
The guards push through Steve and Sam at once, making everyone fall on each other as they fought back, equally hard. One guard managed to get through, his grip is not forgiving.
He wrenches me off the floor like a rag doll, and I cried out, pain flaring up the entirety of my torso.
I see stars.
"She can't go anywhere, look at her!" Steve shouts, pointing at me with anger and concern.
Natasha looks on worriedly. her gaze shifting between the guards and her friends. I know the Spy is unsure if she should go against them.
She signed the Accords did she not?
So she can't help me.
"Deputy Ross, such aggression isn't needed." T'Challa approaches hands on his sides, sharp eyes scanning the situation before him.
"So you're telling me how to do my job?" Ross scoffs in disbelief a sarcastic smile playing on his lips.
T'Challa must have said something else but I can't seem to hear. I can't seem to remember anything other than what was happening inside me.
I felt that boiling rage, that all too much anger spilling at the sides like a detonating volcano. It crawled up my throat, crawled up my spine, choking me, making my eyes water, making my fingers shake, making the chain around my neck tremble.
My eyes dart all over the room, desperately trying to search for that one person, the one I call brother.
"Where is he?" I ask, tone husky and deep.
No one paid any attention. All of them were arguing among themselves.
He did this. He built the damn thing that caused me so much pain. That made me weaker than I already am.
"Where, is he?" It was a demand.
I wanted to see my brother. I wanted to rip those sunglasses off his face and let him choke on them. I wanted to cause him pain, I wanted him to hurt, I wanted him to feel what I felt, to understand the betrayal that shook my core, to feel the absolute devastation that overcome my senses.
I wanted him to feel it all.
The ground began to shake. The walls began to crack.
Damn the veins that terrorized me or the pain that overloaded my mortal body, damn the government, damn the Avengers-- damn it all!
From the depths of the very cracks, I created, ash began to seep out, trailing out of the darkness, and joining my outstretched hands.
I didn't even realize I was doing it until the burning in my veins tells me I was and the darkness in my voice exploded.
"WHERE IS HE?!"
A barricade of pure black and blue energy swirled out of me like stardust. There was a flash as the guards around us are thrown back, some hitting the walls, some going over glass windows, and others flipping over tables.
The guard that held the button to the collar around my neck stood no chance. He is the one that is brutally ripped away and thrown against the pillar, making the machinery slip from his fingers.
There was a deafening silence.
My breath is loud in my ears, my heart is thumping in my chest.
I am well aware of the gap I created with everyone as the unaffected guards surround me, guns raised, safety off, fingers on the trigger.
My eyes flash toward my teammates.
Steve has a hand in front of him, his blue eyes narrowing in concern as he steps forward.
"Riley--" He stops moving when Sam tugs him backward, unconsciously shaking his head. The Super Soldier is panicking. I see it in his gaze, in the way he looks at the guns, all trained on me, all ready to shoot if I so much as flinch.
A slow dark smile grew on my lips and I raise my hands, allowing the black to slip through my body and pool all around me.
There are glints of blue but the black seemed to swallow everything whole.
I will never understand my powers. But for now, it's enough.
"What's wrong?" I ask, tilting my head in curiosity at Ross who is watching me warily. "You don't seem so confident anymore."
Ross swallows hard and motions for the guards to come closer but Natasha is faster. She leaps forward, pushing through everyone, putting herself directly in my line of sight.
"Riles, I need you to stay calm okay?" Natasha's red curls are in disarray and her green eyes warn me not to do anything stupid.
"You need to stand down. It's the only way you're going to be able to get out of this."
I search her emotions for an inkling of a lie but found none. She was telling the truth. If I react, if I attack, it's over. For me and for everyone else.
And as much as I hated it, she was right.
They already see me as a threat and if I do this, I'll just be condemning myself, and the others.
So what if they do?
It's that voice. The one that laughed earlier on.
Show them what you can do.
Releasing a sharp exhale, I force the black to retreat, fingers trembling from the effort as it slowly evaporated into mist.
I cracked my neck several times and let my hands drop.
Natasha breathes out a sigh of relief.
"Riley, follow me to the detention room," She gestures towards the long hallway. "No guards." She added, giving them a glare.
Everybody was still staring at us. I couldn't help but grow amused.
"Fine," I nodded at Natasha, following her from behind as she led me out. Before I leave, I stop in front of Ross, who flinches at my proximity. "I'm not an animal, you know."
He raises his eyes hesitantly to meet mine. As he did this, I dangerously leaned closer so he can see just how pissed off I was.
"Neither of us, are animals." He seemed to realize I was talking about Bucky.
Smiling bitterly, I grabbed the chain on my neck and rattled it.
"Maybe if you guys stop treating us like shit, we wouldn't be the one thing you're afraid off."
My eyes flash and I see the reflection from his eyes tell me they've grown black.
"Monsters."
Natasha quietly picks up the metal contraption laying on the floor and I followed not looking back at the impact I'd made on everyone else.
The journey to the detention room is laced with silence. One I was glad of.
Natasha eventually came to a stop in front of a door and sighed before unlocking it.
I spot the metal desk and the lone metal chair in the all-white room before breathing out a bitter sigh.
She enters first and I maneuvered around the chain, planting myself in the chair set for me.
Natasha lowers the contraption on the table, a few centimeters ahead of my position, and leaves it there.
"Don't touch it." She tells me and I raised an eyebrow at her.
She clears her throat and shakes her head. "I... I mean, I'm not sure what Tony built into that thing. I don't want to see you get hurt."
I stare at her, unflinching, letting her see how I could hardly give a fuck at the moment. "I appreciate your concern Nat, but it's out of the question right now."
She gingerly walks backward, hands folded head low.
"Look, Lorelie, I didn't know Tony built that thing--"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!" I demanded, slamming both fists on the desk in front of me.
She flinched at the loud noise and I watch as she molded her face into the perfect blank expression I've known the Black Widow to do.
We're both hurting.
Me, from the fact that she did nothing to stop them when they were coming after us.
Her, from the fact that I can't understand her choices.
Yet neither of us say a thing. We don't apologize, we don't make a move to forgive.
"You'll be safe here so as long as you don't try anything," She opens the door to leave and I watch her go, feeling that dread creeping up on me once more.
"You said we're a team and teams should trust each other. Remember?" A brief memory of Natasha telling me this on the night of the party enters my mind.
She pauses and frowns. Unsure where I was going with this.
"Well, you're right. Teams should trust each other." There was a cold note to my voice that made the Spy shift uncomfortably.
"But you guys weren't my team. No. You were family."
A swirling feeling was rising at the back of my throat and I can't squish it down for the life of me.
"And that's what made this all worse."
Natasha lets out a quiet sigh and shakes her head. "You don't mean that."
Turning slightly, I gave the Russian a mocking glare. "Don't I?"
The tone of my voice made her frown. She's never heard me use it before and it makes her worried.
Looking back in front of me, I released a bitter chuckle.
"I guess you don't know me well enough."
Natasha pauses, hand over the door, for a second I thought she would say something, but the moment passes and she leaves the room, slamming the door behind her.
I watch her go, well aware my spirit is broken beyond repair.
Gently tugging the sleeves of my wrists, I watch the small glow swirling in the blue veins and let out a dark chuckle.
I was doomed long before Howard got that Cancer out of me.