Alex sighed as she finished making two cups of coffee in the kitchen. It had been a few hours and they still hadn't found anything conclusive concerning Rosa. She was trying to remain strong as she kept Bucky company in the med room. They had got on quite well which Alex was very happy about. She picked up the steaming cups and headed back out to rejoin the super-soldier.
That was when she caught sight of Lucy, the officer, sat by herself on the sofas. A pound of guilt washed over her. Taking a deep breath, Alex made her way over. Lucy's face paled as she caught her approaching.
"Hey," Alex said, quietly. "About what I said earlier, I was angry and it was wrong. You were just doing your job, so I'm really sorry."
"Oh," her voice was tinted with surprise. "No, you don't have to apologise. It was wrong of me to assume things. Especially when I didn't know the truth."
Alex sighed and sat down next to her. "You're right when saying that Rosa is dangerous, but the things she's done weren't her. Bucky is probably the last person she'd want to hurt but she stabbed him."
Lucy nodded at her words. "It's cruel, what this Deon Howarth has done to her. I wish we'd shut him down before that happened," she said, sadly.
Alex went to reply when Steve came running from the living space. His words sent Alex's heart into overload.
"We found her."
Both women jumped up and followed him to where the others were. They were watching security footage projected from a STARK pad. It showed a man supporting someone down a street. It was clearly Rosa, her dark hair in rags around her shoulders. She was leaning on the man heavily. Alex squinted her eyes. Who was this guy?
"This footage is from fifteen minutes ago," Hill informed, as she watched closely.
The camera switched to another, displaying them coming down a road towards a car.
"That's just by the station," Lucy observed.
"Tony, how are we coming on that audio?" Steve asked.
The billionaire across the room rolled his eyes as he tapped different buttons on a laptop. "Going as fast as I can, Capsicle."
Alex held back tears as she watched Rosa stagger. The man had to pick her up. It was clear he did it as gently as he could. Rosa clung to him tightly. She trusted him, you could see it in the way she held him. They reached the car and he helped her in, lying her down across the back seats.
"-need to stay alive for me, okay?" That was the man's voice.
Tony must have got the audio working.
"If I have to." Rosa's response was weak.
Alex pressed a hand to her mouth in worry.
"For once, just do as you're told, Shower Girl."
Shower Girl? Alex recognised that nickname. Everyone else in the room looked just as confused.
Rosa chuckled quietly at his comment. The only sound after that was the noise of the engine as they drove away. That's where the tape ended.
"We tracked the number plate for another sixteen miles, but it seemed to vanish. There was no trace of it on any road," Hill said, gravely.
"But she's alive," Alex whispered.
"What about the guy with her?" Tony furrowed his brows. "Who was he?"
"Yeah, what's with the whole 'Shower Girl' thing?" Clint added.
"A nickname?" Steve guessed with a shrug.
"Great analysis, Sherlock," Tony muttered, sarcastically.
Alex just rolled her eyes, but she understood the billionaire's frustration. He didn't like admitting it, but Peter's absence was having a massive effect on him. Alex could see that. Everyone could.
"I'll go and let Bucky know," she said to Steve quietly.
He looked a bit surprised at first but nodded.
Alex rushed back to the med room, remembering to pick up the two coffees on her way. Bucky was sat scrolling through his phone when she came skipping into the room.
"You seem weirdly happy," he chuckled.
"I have good reason to be," she beamed. "Rosa's alive. They found her on CCTV footage."
Bucky sat up, his eyes widening. "Thank God," he breathed.
Not long later, she pulled up the video to show him. He had the same question as the others.
"Shower Girl?"
********
Rosa was trying her best to stay awake. She really was. Jamie kept on talking to her. He told her to focus on his voice. But that was pretty hard to do when you could practically bleed out any second thanks to a burning hole in your stomach.
"Rosa!?" Jamie's frantic cry snapped her from her trance.
"Still alive," she managed to croak.
"Jesus," he breathed "Please, don't do that. You need to stay awake, okay? Talk me through what happened before I found you."
Rosa stared up at the roof of the car blankly. "I-I..." I stabbed Bucky. That's what she was going to say but couldn't bring herself to. She hurt one of the people she cared about most. "I deserve this. Please, just let me go." The words came out as a whisper. Tears spilt down the sides of her head. "I...I want to go home," she sobbed. Every cry sent an awful pain through her mid-section.
That's all she wanted though. She wanted to have her daily training session with Natasha. She wanted to have an intellectual chat with Vision. She wanted one of Wanda's amazing hugs. She wanted to annoy Bruce in the lab. She wanted to hear Tony call her Daisy again. She wanted to joke to Steve about his innocence. She wanted to continue the prank war with Clint. She wanted to joke around with Peter all day. Most of all...she wanted Bucky to hold her.
"You will go home, I promise Rosa. I give you my word. I'll dye my hair before I let you die," Jamie rushed his words from the front seat.
"Bullshit," Rosa managed to laugh through her tears. "You...you love your hair too much to...to do that."
"Don't call bullshit when I'm trying to motivate you, Woods," he laughed back, but Rosa felt the car accelerate under her as Jamie drove faster.
Her smile slowly died. "Jamie," she shook. "I killed people tonight."
"That wasn't you, Shower Girl. Don't think about it. Tell me about how you met Peter again."
As much as that memory brought her joy, Rosa ignored Jamie's request. "This is karma. A...a life for a life, you know?" Her eyes flickered shut.
"Rosa? Don't you dare!" He was crying. You could tell as he choked over his words. "We're nearly there...please hang on...please, just..."
Rosa didn't hear anything else he said. Everything faded out to the point where she lay, motionless. Fleeting images visited her. Rosa knew she was dying.
She wasn't in the car anymore. The voices of different people surrounded her. Someone was holding her hand as well. She felt an oxygen mask being administered. Everything seemed distant. Like she was separated from her body.
Random memories resurfaced, most likely an effect of the drugs. She could see herself lying in a bed. It must be from when she was in a coma. Deon was sat by her side, stroking her hair.
"I won't let them hurt you, Rosie. We're going to fix you. Sometimes I wish it hadn't been you," he was saying. "I wish you could have grown up properly, with your Mom. You didn't deserve this."
Surely that wasn't a real memory. She couldn't imagine Deon ever saying something like that. Unless...he did?
********
Peter leant his head against his cell wall and sighed. He couldn't help worrying about Rosa immensely. She had been made to kill again, and again. It wasn't fair. The image of her blood-stained clothes was difficult to push from his mind. However, the fact that the Avengers had turned up gave him hope. They were another step closer to going home. One step closer to seeing his Aunt May, Ned, MJ and Tony. That thought allowed a smile to visit his lips briefly.
"What's that for?" Lucy asked with a smirk. She lay a few feet away, curled up on the floor.
"Just thinking about home," he said.
"That's what keeps me going too," she croaked.
Peter smiled back, but that soon turned to a frown. There was a thin sheen of sweat visible on her forehead.
"Still think you're coming down with something?" He asked, concern woven into his tone.
The girl struggled into a sitting position and lent against the wall. "Maybe." Her voice was raspy and forced.
Peter went to question her further when the cell door was unlocked.
Clove appeared in the doorway, her eyes immediately setting on Lucy. "You need to come with me," she said.
Lucy took a shaky breath and used the wall to stand up. "Are we doing more training?"
"Come with me, and you'll find out," Clove snapped.
Lucy bit her lip and gave Peter one last reassuring smile before she went to follow Clove. He rested his head against the wall when several more voices could be heard.
"Hold the door!"
"No! Please, I need to be with her! Please..."
That was Jamie's voice. Peter felt his heart contract as the man he hadn't seen for nearly a month was pushed into the cell. His appearance was panic-inducing. He looked exhausted and mistreated. But Peter was more concerned about the blood covering his clothes and skin.
Damien looked in smugly. "You did well getting her back, Jamie. We'll consider reinstating you as a guard."
"No, please-!" Jamie's cries were cut short as the door was slammed shut. The man stumbled backwards, running his blood-stained hands through his hair.
"Jamie?" Peter said, getting to his feet.
The man whirled around. His eyes were filled with tears.
"Are...are you okay?"
"Rosa..." That's all he said before his voice broke.
Peter was unsure of what to do. He didn't want to think about what could be making the man so upset. He just walked over and put his arms around him.
Jamie flinched at first, but his arms soon wrapped around the young boy in return. The embrace lasted a few moments before Peter pulled away gently.
"Tell me what's happened."
********
When Rosa's eyes forced themselves open, the memories halted. The room around her was completely deserted. No doctors. No guards. Just...no one. Whilst unconscious, her clothes had been changed. She was now wearing a flimsy blue nightdress. The tight pressure of bandages around her stomach confirmed the bullet wound had been treated.
Rosa sat up slowly, gritting her teeth at the pain. She pulled several needles from her arm and stood up from the bed. Her breath caught in her throat as her bare feet made contact with the freezing floor. Rosa looked around the tiny room, trying to find anything that could be of use to her.
She had no knowledge of how long she had been out for. The last thing she remembered was being in the back of the car. Her thoughts went to Jamie. He had been crying, begging her to stay alive. The recollection pained her.
Something felt different. The atmosphere in the building had changed. Silence. There was no sound whatsoever. Could that mean the corridor was deserted? Rosa was willing to take that chance. That was when her gaze landed on a tray of medical tools. She took a scalpel. The instrument could definitely be deadly, despite its miniature size. Rosa gripped it tightly as she limped out from the room. The corridor was familiar. Deon was on the same one. She was sure of it.
Without much thought, that's where Rosa headed. Every step caused pain to tear into her mid-section, but she pressed on. Upon opening the door to the room, she saw him, lying in the same bed. The doctors had put him on God knows how many drugs in a desperate attempt to dull the effect of the mind control. Rosa almost pitied him. She shook the sympathy away and approached his bedside. Raising the scalpel, she prepared to bring it down into his chest.
Her action would end it. The guards and doctors would be free. Jamie would be free. Peter would be free. They would all be free. They could go home. She breathed heavily but froze when Deon stirred. His eyes flickered open and landed straight on her.
"Hope?" He murmured. "Is that you?"
Rosa was paralysed. Hope? Who the hell was Hope? She knew he was heavily sedated, but this had to be something more.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Someone roared from behind her.
Rosa span to face them. Damien had entered the room, his eyes wide. Two more guards rushed to his side.
"Restrain her. Now!" He ordered.
They did just that. Their grip hurt a considerable amount.
"Get her out of my sight."
"Where?" One of them asked.
Damien stared at her long, and hard. "Downstairs." His eyes were drowning in anger. "We need to teach her a lesson."
********
Regret. It's an odd emotion that goes well with guilt. Rosa felt both of them. The two guards had dragged her down to the lower levels roughly, no matter how much she kicked or screamed. The wound on her stomach had opened up and spotted blood on her nightdress. She ended up being thrown into a dim room. A metal examination table stood in the centre. There were four steel clamps attached to the sides for restraining purposes. She was left alone for a while.
Rosa lost track of time. It was long enough for her to check her wound. The stitches had been torn and her flesh with them. When the door finally opened again, she jumped. Damien came in, followed by the two guards from before. He looked calmer, but Rosa didn't like the smirk on his face. Her eyes trailed down to something he carried in his hand. It was long, thin and made from leather: a whip.
"Hold her for me."
The guards took one of her arms each and held it with an iron grip.
"Deon has done so much for you, you ungrateful bitch. If it was up to me, you'd already be dead."
Without warning, the whip was brought down on her back. Rosa screamed. It hurt. So. Damn. Much. He didn't stop at one. He kept going. It got to the point where the back of her nightdress was in tatters, dripping with blood and sweat. With every hit, her body spasmed uncontrollably. It was horrific.
Eventually, the guards let her fall to the floor. Rosa's breaths were uneven as she failed to cope with the extremes her body was driven to. She ended up lurching forward and vomiting from the pain.
Damien didn't stop there though. He grabbed her by the neck, hauling her onto the examination table. There was no point fighting back. She was too weak anyway. Rosa screeched as the shredded skin of her back collided with the cool surface. Her limbs were bound with the restraints. It was impossible to move. All she could do was sob.
"Shut up," Damien hissed, shoving a gag over her mouth.
It didn't stop Rosa's wailing. They left her. They left her alone in the dark. They left her wondering if death would be kinder than this.
Poor Rosa :( Thank you again for those who have stuck with this story! I'm so sorry if it's getting a bit tedious, I promise things get very interesting in the next few parts! ❤️