Chapter 29: Numb
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Time moves in a linear line. Concrete. Solidified. Predetermined. Regardless of how hard you try and change the outcome of events, things will play out the way they're supposed to. When I see something, it just is. How I perceive it is what changes, not the actual event. I have yet to be able to change the outcome of a premonition... sometimes I wonder why I get them if I can't prevent them.
I still hope that even the worst of my visions can be changed. I still hope that maybe one day all the bad could turn into some good. But that's wishful thinking. I still hold out that hope... that what I see isn't what we get, that the outcome is ever-changing, and that science is wrong for once. But until that happens, I'm stuck.
Everywhere I went I was accompanied by a team of three or more security guards. Extensive measures went into place to find Emilio and the team seemed to be apart more than together. It seemed everyone was running on caffeine and power naps the past few weeks, fully invested in the search for Emilio and or the scepter. We were beginning to stretch ourselves too thin to the point where things began to slip through the cracks.
Before we knew it the things we were trying to avoid became inevitable. Elena came to visit and I couldn't stay cooped up in the tower for eternity. I convinced my head of security, Brian, to take us out to get burgers. We took every precaution possible for us to do so... but things still happen.
"You're sulking." Elena pointed out beside me. My fingers tightened against the seatbelt.
I groaned and stared out the window, "No I'm not."
"And yet you are."
"Well then let me. People are gonna die if we don't find him."
"We're doing everything we can."
"And yet it's not enough." I clamped my jaw shut and closed my eyes, "It baffles me... the fact that we can't find one man. He's avoided capture for this long then all of a sudden one slip up and he's back on my radar. I just don't get it."
Elena was getting ready to say something but stopped when both my eyes and head rolled back. The car jilted, snapping my body against the seatbelt. I instantly broke out in a sweat, my skin itching from the sudden hot flash. I sucked in a harsh breath before my body started to twitch. My body sent out every possible warning. Blue energy wrapped around me protectively before suctioning back into my body.
I was aggressively forced back into reality, excruciating pain cramping my abdomen. Tension pried my eyes open and daylight brought me to my senses. I wasn't in the car anymore, rather I was on the sidewalk.
Confusion didn't aid my pulsating headache. My mind was trying to play catch up, attempting to place the missing pieces together. It had all hit me at once, a tsunami washing away my control. Everything from the premonition I had two weeks ago came to fruition. My body felt warm, almost numb to the pain it was experiencing.
Blood coated my fingers when I touched the gunshot wound. The sound of the bullet ripping through the air still rung in my ears, distant but distinct. I wanted to move, to find shelter, but I couldn't. My body lay motionless on the pavement... my mind was yelling at me to go. Run.
The sound of broken glass crunching beneath a heavy set of boots. My eyes flickered up to see him. His face was blurry and his voice was echoey as he spoke, "Smile."
A bright camera flash blinded me and everything went black.
---
Back at the tower, Steve barged into the lab. He was already dressed in his combat suit and helmet in hand. Natasha and Banner were already gathering around a monitor, "Is she alright?"
It was the first sentence out of his mouth.
"Don't know yet. Stark's there now, checking out the scene... He's running a perimeter check, aircrafts in the area... anything and everything. Thor's on route right now, her tracking device is still hot but we're not sure for how much longer—"
The red dot on the screen went out and the air in the room stilled. Without warning, Steve sprinted out of the lab and to what they could only assume was the garage.
"Rogers— Steve!" Natasha yelled after him but he was already halfway down the stairwell by then.
She clenched her fists and pressed them to her forehead. They needed to keep a cool, level head. Banner softly ran a comforting hand along her back. "Bruce, what if something happened to her?"
"She'll be fine." He comforted, "She'll be fine." He repeated once more to himself.
"I know that... she's more than capable of taking care of herself I'm just worried about the shit they'll do to her. This guy is a psychopath, Banner. In his eyes she killed his family, she's the person who caused him— a parent to outlive his child... he's beyond reasoning. He's not gonna kill her, he's going to make her suffer— and when her meds wear off she's gonna be venerable. He won't break her easily, but he knows things about her. She's susceptible to more things now that she has powers and that's what worries me."
For a brief second Natasha showed how truly startled she was about the whole situation, "I can't just stand here, I gotta go punch something..." she mumbled as she walked away, "Or stab." Bruce wanted to follow but he knew better. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes finding Clint facing the window.
He was mumbling under his breath, his eyes were closed but he could feel Natasha's on him. "I'm trying to talk to her, hoping she can hear me."
"Is that how it works?"
"At this point, I'm hoping for anything. Nat, if anything happens to her..."
"I know. But she's a tough girl, Barton. Jarvis is going to keep us updated every step of the way."
Clint nodded his head, asking where Rogers was.
"Yeah, he left a minute ago... he just got back from a mission," Natasha Informed.
Clint took his hands out of his pockets and looked at his watch. He grumbled as he raked his fingers through his hair, "Fifteen minutes, huh? Fifteen minutes... that's how long it's been since she pressed her panic button." Clint's jaw clenched.
"Fifteen minutes."
---
I slowly opened my right eye and instantly regretted it. A beam of light peaked through the small crack between the window and the blinds, the brightness burned my tired eyes. I groaned and rolled over onto my side facing away from the light. Soreness plagued my body, making my limbs feel heavy. Instead of being greeted with Steve's face, I was met with his muscular back. The rustling must have caught his attention cause he looked over his shoulder. His sleepy eyes meet mine. He offered me a soft smile, "Mornin."
"Morning." I second
Steve's hand lightly ran up and down my back "It's time to get up, we overslept." He spoke softly.
"Five more minutes." I groaned softly as I closed my eyes.
Steve softly snorted, "C'mon, you gotta wake up."
My eyes remained shut and Steve's soft tone slowly became an echo, "Wake up."
"Wake up," A harsh tone commanded.
"Up the dosage, the last thing we need is her regaining her strength," Another spoke.
My eyes slowly opened, my vision hazy. I looked down at the restraints chaining me to the floor. I had a new change of clothes on, no blood in sight. I felt numb. Like a raging hangover, my head felt weighed down. The warning lights in my body reminded me that this wasn't a safe place to regather my thoughts. My tired body attempted to fight against the restraints.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, you could pop your sutures open."
"You son of a bitch," I grumbled through my teeth.
Emilio's broad shoulders walked into my line of sight. He was a stalky man, taller than me, but shorter than Steve. His hair was dark and his eyes matched the solemn color. He smiled as he clicked his tongue, "Ah ah ah, talk to me like that again and I'll take away the morphine."
I remained quiet. Anger bumbled in me and I formed fists. My fingers twitched, trying to summon energy. But nothing came, "And you took away my powers."
"Had too. More efficient that way."
"You drugging me?"
"Just a little concoction I've whipped up. You're the first subject it's worked on so—" he snapped at one of the doctors who was looking at me, "Draw some blood and get it back to the lab. I want to see why and perform further tests."
"You're an asshole."
"Yeah well, I'm the only reason you're still alive right now."
"Still doesn't mean you're not an asshole," I answered dryly while still trying to fight the restraints.
Emilio jabbed two fingers into my abdomen near my wound and I doubled over, "You ungrateful bitch. I did you a favor," he spat into my ear, his voice low and threatening.
"You call not killing me is a favor?"
"You're lucky I kept you living, I considered putting a bullet in your head but I figured this would prolong your pain," He applied more pressure before removing his fingers altogether. He gathered himself and straightened the collar of his shirt, "We'll start injections soon... I would save your energy if I were you."
---
The holding cell I was in was dingy, around me were brick walls and iron gates to keep me caged. When the guard went to stand on the outside of the door, I walked the perimeter of my cell. Checking for anything I could use, I noticed a loose brick in the wall. It had been chipped at. With a small amount of pressure, it began to shift.
"Get up, face the wall with your hands up," A gruff voice instructed.
I did as I was told, "You wouldn't happen to have the time now would you?" There was no answer, "Alright then."
When he grabbed my hands forcefully, I threw my elbow back and tried to break free. Before I could he stabbed a syringe into my neck, "Fuck."
"Watch yourself," He harshly removed the needle and muttered curse words. I still tried to fight back... I even managed to break free, but I didn't get very far before the effects of the sedative began to kick in.
I fell to my knees and the guard cuffed me. I groaned as he shoved me towards the door. The guards who were stationed by the door unlocked the metal latch to let us out. They were armed, nothing too elaborate. They eyed me, mumbling amongst themselves as I walked through the threshold.
I could hear the echoes of screams mixed in with the whirling of medical instruments as we walked down the hallway. The piercing noises were not what left me unsettled, it was the silence that followed and the sinking feeling in my stomach. The facility looked old— abandoned. Everyone around me was speaking primarily Spanish, although the captive spoke more than that.
There was minimal natural light, okay we're above ground. That's good. Stark's satellites could be used. I was trying to place a geographical profile on the place. I needed to find a way to communicate with the team, they took my things, including my gloves... the serum they injected me with to subdue my powers meant I couldn't use them. I was scanning for exits, trying to map a way out of here.
I was harshly jerked down a hallway and into a room. I was strapped down to a table and immediately a team of people surrounded me. I tried to yank myself away from their poking and prodding but nothing worked. They administered a shock courtesy of the guard's taser to keep me in line.
"Y'all are lucky I'm sedated right now," I groggily warned.
My mouth felt dry and I grew tired. A nurse came up to me and tried to find a vein after tying the rubber tourniquet on my upper arm. When she found a viable one, she stuck a needle into it. A man who I assumed was a doctor looked at me, then a camera located in the corner of the room.
"Subject 148, female, name: Sophia Rodriguez, 27 years old. She's in good health, powers include empathy and force field creation. I will now be administrator her first round of injections."
The same woman that stuck the IV in me shoved a mouth guard in between my teeth. The main doctor ordered all nonessential personnel out of the lab, and the guards at the door tightened their grasp on their weapons as he did so. I tried to fight off with what strength I had left, "Get the hell away from me!"
The doctor flushed my IV with whatever their injections consisted of. I watched as the blue liquid flowed into me. My mind raced with all the data I had collected about their experiments: the way some die after the first round, how some weren't able to fight off the pathogenic bacteria laced into the serum, how it's harmless until injection, how after three injections sights of cell alteration and mutations are detected, how most don't make it past the fourth, then I started to wonder how long it would take for me die.
I could feel it entering my bloodstream, my body seized and I coiled into my side. My mind raced and my heart rate went through the roof. Just as soon as the chaos started, my body sprawled itself out across the table and lay still. My back arched and I suck in a harsh breath.
The pathogens in the injections were almost parasitic. Parasites attack the hosts. They were killing my cells faster than I could regenerate them. My body buzzed and I gasped for air. I shut my eyes tightly and bared my teeth. The resistance I put on the straps around my wrist and ankles caused them to dig into my skin. I was feeling too much pain to pay any mind to it.
Every nerve ending in my body was shooting with pain, my mind throbbed and I could feel the heaviness of the air around me. I tensed and released a heavy wince. My eyes shot open and blue energy slithered out of my being in every direction.
Everything around me seemed washed out. I could hear mumbled words being yelled, "She's metabolizing the sedative quicker than I thought," the doctor began throwing around numbers to push and I squired. I burst out of the restraints and quickly pulled the IV out of my arm, completely ignoring the pain.
My body seemed to have taken over and my survival instincts kicked in. I spazzed and a wave of energy came off my body. It leveled the room, everybody hit the floor and I stood. My wobbly legs gave me a small nudge off the table and my feet touched the cold floor. I was loopy as I stumbled my way to the door. I picked up my pace once people began to stir.
My body felt like it was buzzing... itching with power. I swung open the door and an alarm began to blare. I slumped against a wall, feeling my breathing shorten. My heart rate was increasing rapidly and I tried to calm myself. Yup, that definitely wasn't working. I sighed, telling myself to keep pushing forward. My hazy memory put together the twist and turns of the hallways as I tried to find my way out.
I rounded a corner and guards stormed after me. I waved my hand across my body and an energy ball flew towards them, knocking them back. I winced as a taser zapped me in the back. I forced my body to whip around, exhaustion throwing off my equilibrium. I sprawled my fingers apart and sucked a hash breath through my clenched teeth.
The man crumpled to his knees and I hissed as I forced my pain into him. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it just a little bit. My body trembled and tears rolled down my cheeks... and for a brief moment, I didn't feel the pain. The loud noise from the alarm and the flashing of the emergency lights messed with my focus.
When the guard fell almost lifeless to the floor I placed my hands on my knees panting, "Holy shit."
I went to the wall for support, turning to see which way to go. A man with bandages around his arms stood at the end of the hallway, a scar on his forehead. He had blonde hair and hazel eyes that seemed to be becoming greener by the second. We stood, sizing each other up.
"I don't wanna hurt you," I warned
"Neither do I."
I watched the way he presented himself, he was smug... but apprehensive. With a twitch of his fingers, an opaque green smog came from his open palms. It slithered across the floor and into the air. I inhaled and quickly formed a shield. Despite my best efforts, my shield wasn't strong enough. The smoke infiltrated my senses and made my dizzy spells worse.
"The faster you give in, the sooner this will end." He bargained.
"If you know Emilio, you know it won't. He's manipulating you." I warned in a rigid tone.
"It's the only way to stay alive." He crept closer to me, his eyes glowing brighter. My attempts to counterattack were foiled by the intense wall of vertigo I hit. The room spun... twisting and pushing me to the ground.
"Let me go."
"I'm sorry," He blew some of the smoke in my face and black spots dotted my vision.