PICKING UP THE PIECES.
❝You thought you could break me? honey, you aren't the first.❞
Isabel Stark has lost the memories of her past. They haunt her during her sleep. The Avengers, the only family she's ever known, has disbanded. Her childhood fri...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Tic... tok...
Tic... tok...
Tic... tok...
My eyes flared open to the loud chime of the clock, and I immediately felt the floor underneath me disappear. I would be free-falling for a few seconds before I painfully crashed into concrete, able to cry out in pain for only a moment before the process happened again.
Tic... tok...
Tic... tok...
Tic... tok...
"Figure this out, Seven!" I gasped for air as the helmet was ripped off my head, struggling against the chair I had been strapped in. A younger version of the adult Hawkes was standing in front of me, a furious expression on his face as he examined the wires inside the helmet sending electric shocks to my brain. "Or should I tell your agent that you failed again?"
"I didn't fail last time," I protested, the metallic taste of blood slowly filling my mouth. I knew from the moment he offered to be my tester that he would use every tool in his power to torture me. "You changed the settings!"
"Say all you want, but your Soldier can't get you out of this one," he spat, slamming the helmet back on my head.
Tic... tok...
Tic... tok...
Tic... tok...
Again, I fell, but this time I slammed into glass flooring so clean I could see my reflection staring back at me. I didn't look the way I did in HYDRA, but it was similar to how I looked before I took the name Atlantis. Something was telling me that this wasn't a normal flashback.
"They're going to die because of you," she whispered as the ticking would occasionally interrupt, her voice breaking in horror and her eyes wide. "Don't you understand that? Zane, Thomas, Amy, everyone. Your mistakes will be their downfall."
"No," I shook my head as my breathing hitched in panic. "No, I won't let that happen. He won't hurt them!"
"That's where you're wrong, and you know it." I looked away from my reflection as the endless void around me turned into glass walls, encaging me with a roof on top to match. "He's done something horrible already." The sound of water filled my ears, and I glanced back down as the small room started to fill rapidly. "Every second is a second of your life under Hawkes's control, and he is relishing in it."
The water level was already above my waist, and I realized frantically that I wasn't going to be able to breathe. My powers were gone. I started to pound my fists against the glass walls, grimacing at the growing pain rising through my arms. "If you continue this, you're going to die with them," she continued. "Or worse, it'll just be you... alone." The walls stayed strong, and the water was lifting me up against the ceiling.
