《CHAPTER SIX》
SHE HELD ON TIGHTLY to the metal suit as they flew through the air. Carter didn't know who this man was or where they were going, but she didn't have anywhere else to go, and this was her best option so far. She kept her face pressed against the metal suit, shielding her eyes from the force of the wind. Her arms soon began to ache, but she wasn't going to let go now.
However, her fingers slipped a few times, resulting in her stomach lurching and her heart rate picking up dramatically. Fortunately, she managed to get her grip back just in time before plummeting to her death.
When they reached the final destination, Carter was confused. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't a strange flying contraption. A hatch in the bottom flew open, allowing the iron man to fly in, along with Carter and the green man.
The green man was placed on a chair in the middle of the ship, still unconscious. Several other people were also there, sitting in different chairs. But once they realised that other people were there, they got up.
A man was the first to notice Carter. He had blond hair and he wore a blue, white and red costume with a star on his chest. His face was full of confusion as he looked at the young girl.
His finger pointed to her as he looked at the man who was previously made of iron. His suit was now gone, revealing his appearance. He had dark brown hair as well as a small beard and moustache on his face. He wore normal clothes, unlike the other man.
"Who's this?" He asked.
This caught the attention of a woman. She was dressed in all black. Her hair was cut short in an auburn colour. Her eyebrow raised as her eyes landed on the girl.
"I don't know. She disappears and then reappears and she jumped on to the back of my suit and wouldn't get off."
At this point, another man had joined the small gathering. He was much taller than the rest. His blond hair was quite long, going past his shoulders. He, like almost all the others, wore strange clothing, as well as a red cape.
He, just like the others, had an expression displaying confusion at the girl's sudden appearance.
Just as Carter thought that was everyone, another man in what seemed to be the control area, turned his head. She couldn't see much of his appearance from the back of the ship, but she heard his voice as he shouted "Hey, what's going on back there?"
"We have an extra passenger." Spoke the woman, crossing her arms.
The man in the blue knelt down to match her height.
"Hi, I'm Steve Rogers. What's your name?"
Carter didn't know whether she could trust this man. She didn't know if she could trust anyone on this ship. She began to think that maybe coming with the iron man wasn't a good idea.
She shook her head slightly, earning a small smile from the man in front of her.
The man who was previously iron scoffed. "Can't get anything out of her. Wouldn't tell me a damn thing."
The tall blond man then knelt down aswell. Even kneeling, he was taller than Carter.
"Let me try," he said, whilst in the process of getting on the floor. "Hello, small human. I am Thor, son of Odin and god of thunder. I demand that you tell me--" he said, voice rising on the last sentence before he was cut off by Steve.
He put his hands on his shoulders, pushing him away from the girl.
"Alright, alright, we don't need to demand anything."
The woman turned to the metal man. "Did she not have any parents with her?"
"No, she said something about not seeing them since she was three."
The woman's hard facial expression softened the slightest bit.
She, like the others, bent down to reach Carter.
"Kid, you're gonna have to work with us. You have to talk. What's your name?"
She stayed quietly before speaking quietly. "Carter."
She barely noticed Steve's face fall at the mention of her name, almost as if it was sad to hear.
"Carter? Alright. And your last name?"
"May. But I know that's not my real last name. It's what they used." Carter spoke the word 'they' as if it were poison on her tongue.
"They? Who's they?"
Meanwhile, an alarm like sound played. It was coming from a small computer in the middle of the ship. Metal man walked over to it. Carter saw a woman with a solemn expression appear once he pressed a button. Carter averted her attention back to the woman in front of her as the woman on the screen spoke.
"Th- the scientists." She stuttered.
"Scientists? You mean you had guardians who were scientists?"
She shook her head. "They took me from my parents. I was three."
The woman's face suddenly lit up, as if she had an idea.
"Does the name Von Strucker ring any bells?"
Carter thought for a moment before shaking her head. She had never heard that name when she was in the building. The woman's face fell slightly, but she continued her interrogation.
"Where did they keep you?"
Carter's eyes were now getting slightly teary. She shook her head again. "I don't know."
"Okay, how did you get out?"
She looked the woman in the eyes. She then made a portal appear, only going a few inches to the right. The small look of surprise that had appeared on the woman's face left quickly.
"You did that to get out?"
"Yes. But then they found me. I had to- a man's arm- I didn't mean to do it! I panicked! It just happened!"
Carter's breaths were becoming shallow again. A few stray tears began to leave her eyes as her voice became slightly louder and unsteady.
Steve and Thor now turned around to watch the conversation between the two girls. But the older woman turned. "I got this, it's fine."
"Nat, look at her. It's not fine."
Steve walked towards the younger girl.
He held on to her shaking arms. He looked her in the eyes as he said "Hey, it's alright. You're safe here, okay? It'll be- it'll be alright."
It took a few minutes, but the girl calmed down.
Steve and Nat were now whispering back and forth as Carter lay on the ground trying to sleep. Even though she was tired, sleep wouldn't come. She wasn't even sure she wanted it to. She didn't welcome the nightmares that came along with it.
She could hear snippets of Steve and Nat's conversation.
Steve was telling Nat to leave Carter alone. They would ask her more questions when she was ready, as she was clearly not in the right place to talk about it just yet. But Nat argued that she could be some sort of spy. Carter supposed she was in the right mindset. It was slightly suspicious that a random girl shows up with a strange superpower, and tells them that she was kidnapped by scientists.
They walked over to the others in the ship. Carter now couldn't hear the conversations. She was only looking at the area where the wall of the ship met the floor. And even though she wasn't asleep, a flashback came.
Room 16: Learning. The only thing good about the room was that there were no injections. Most children don't like school. They have to get up early, do boring work everyday, be with people they don't like, but Carter would do anything to go to normal school. At least in normal school, you didn't get punished severely for each wrong answer.
It was her English lesson. A six year old Carter sat on a polished white chair, in yet another all white room. Dr. Mayer, her teacher, sat at the white desk across from her. A baseball bat lay neatly on the desk.
"Definitions now, Carter."
Carter tried not to panic as she heard that. Definitions were never her strong point. But she still had to try.
"First one: Conviviality."
She thought for a second before answering. "Festive or merry."
"Gasconading."
"To boast or brag."
"Anomalist."
"Difficult to classify."
"Osculator."
Just as she began to feel she was doing well, she got one she didn't know.
Her hesitation earned a sigh from Dr. Mayer. He stood up, grabbing the bat as he did so.
Carter's arms went automatically to her head as he approached. Her legs also came up onto her chair as she tried to curl in on herself as much as she could.
He demanded the six year old to take down her legs. She did so, slowly.
Tears streamed from her eyes as the man towered over her, the bat in his hands.
"You just need to be better, Carter. Although, I have to admit, it's fitting for you to not remember that word in particular."
Once he stopped speaking, he swung the bat at the crying girl. He hit her arm, causing pain to fly through it. He struck more times. Carter couldn't even count how many times he struck, too distracted by the pain going through her body. He shoved her off the chair. He lifted the bat again.
Carter's sobs filled the room. "P- please. Stop."
"You're too weak!" He shouted, as he brought down the bat once again.
A fast downward movement of the ship broke the girl out of her episode. She hadn't even realised that tears stung her eyes, and she tightly gripped her legs to her chest, her fingernails digging into them.
She went into a sitting position as the ship landed.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
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I'm clearly AmAzInG at writing the avengers. Yeah... hopefully I get better over time, but for now, you've gotta deal with this rubbish. Oops sorry.