I sat in a padded doctor's chair, wires attached to my head that Bruce was rigging up to a complicated-looking machine and a large screen. I was in a hospital gown that was too big for me. The Avengers were in the same room, watching as I fiddled with my hair.
"Do you ever stop fiddling?" Wanda asked, amused.
"Nope," I said. "I have ADHD."
Steve chuckled a bit. "Never would've guessed, kid." he said sarcastically.
"OK, Kira," Bruce said, leaning down in front of me. "You're all rigged up. When I flick this switch" - he gestured to a large black lever - "all of your memories will come back."
I chewed on my fingernails nervously. "Will they all come back at once?"
Bruce nodded. "It's gonna be a bit uncomfortable for a bit, Kira, and if it's true about the Red Room, you'll probably undergo a bit of pain." He paused. "Actually, a lot of pain, if I'm being honest."
I winced. "Really?" I looked at Natasha. "You said it was painless!"
She shrugged. "I lied."
Bruce looked at me. "Kira, your mind is like a river," he explained. "And the Red Room built a dam up to stop the flow of the memories they didn't want you to remember." He paused. "When I flick the switch, it will be like someone breaking that dam with brute force." He winced. "Probably not the best analogy."
"No, it makes sense," I said, looking at Natasha. "I'm ready."
Natasha knelt beside me. "Are you sure, Kira?" she asked in Russian.
I nodded, my heart in my throat. "I am," I whispered. I held her hand softly. "We'll find your daughter, Natasha."
Tony looked at us and coughed. "It's nice and all that you two are bonding, but we need to hurry up with this. When we created the embryo of Natasha's daughter, we used the majority of her DNA, modelling her off Nat, but we also added in DNA strands from all of us here, so right now, she is the most dangerous person alive today. Theoretically, she would be able to harness the powers of the gods."
I gulped. "Then we need to find her," I said, clenching my jaw. "She sounds really dangerous." I paused. "What was her name?"
"I was going to call her Evelina," said Natasha softly. She squeezed my hand and didn't let go. "She would have been fifteen."
"That's my age," I said, smiling. "Let's get on with this," I told Bruce. "We have to find Evelina."
Bruce nodded. He walked over to the lever and all of the Avengers looked at me in uncertainty. "You sure you want to do this, kid?" asked Clint.
I nodded and prepared myself for pain. "Just do it." I said, grinding my teeth.
"OK," Bruce said. "I'm gonna give you the count of three." He rested his hand on the lever. "One."
"It'll be fine, Kira," said Natasha in Russian, clutching my hand. I squeezed it, my heart pounding.
"Two."
"Whatever you find in your memories, don't worry about them. Don't let what you might have done in the Red Room define you," she said. That made me feel even worse and I shut my eyes, adrenalin coursing through my veins.
"One."
"Just breathe, Kira."
I did.
And then I heard Bruce flick the switch, and everything spiralled into darkness and pain.