𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒━︎━︎ S. Rogers 【︎ 𝐨.𝐡.】︎

𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
ONE STEP CLOSER

HER VISION WAS BLURRY AS she awoke. A groan left her lips as she slowly blinked, furrowing her eyebrows when she saw a person's face above her. She couldn't make out who the person was, the blinding light over her head keeping her from being able to properly clear her vision. Her head was pounding, a pain pulsated through her neck from where she had been sedated violently with a sharp needle. She tried to move but found that she couldn't, in fact, she couldn't do anything. Her entire body was numb.

The panic began to set in. Her heart slammed violently in her chest, her adrenaline was running and she was trying so desperately to move, but her body wasn't obeying her. A whimper of fear fell from her mouth. She could hear a woman speak―︎she assumed it was Dr. Von―︎but she couldn't understand what the woman was saying. She tried to focus, but she couldn't. Her body  and mind were too consumed with panic to focus on one thing other than getting free and being in control of herself again.

     She could faintly feel a sting in her left arm, but that was all she felt. Why were they numbing her body? Liliya turned her head towards her arms, she could faintly feel a frown pulling on her lips when she saw a needle remove itself from her arm. She struggled to speak but after a few moments she finally managed to mumble something out. "What are you doing to me?" Liliya asked, her voice hoarse and mostly gone. She hissed when she could feel the pain starting to slowly come back before suddenly it all hit her at once.

A scream of surprise fell from her lips, waves of pain washing over her. Her back arched as she screamed out painfully, trying to rip herself free from the restraints that had been put on her body. She could feel another needle be stabbed into her arm, more liquids being pushed into her body. She screamed again, cries of agony being the only thing heard within the entire building. It felt like her inside were being ripped apart and pushed back together over and over again, and it was not a fun feeling. She just wanted it to stop.

The pain was so unbearable to the blonde that she passed out. When Liliya Petrova came to again, she was no longer in the lab. Instead, Liliya was placed inside what looked like a hospital room. The sound of a heart monitor going off beside of her made the woman turn her head, tiredly frowning in confusion. Her eyes trailed down to her wrists that were no longer in restraints. The pain had subsided from her body for the most part, and for a moment she wondered if it had all been just a really horrible nightmare, but she knew by the marks on her arms that that wasn't the case.

Sitting up, she pushed herself up only to gasp in surprise when her hand suddenly went through the bed. Jerking her hand back, she looked at it with wide eyes. What the hell had they done to her? Had they put her on some drugs that made her hallucinate what had just happened? That had to be it. There was no way that her hand had actually went through the mattress. That was impossible. Wasn't it? She tried not to panic, she tried to let her lessons control her feelings but she forgot everything she'd ever learned as an assassin and let herself be human and actually panic.

The heart monitor started going wild as her heart rate sped up and almost immediately doctors were making their way into their room. She clenched her jaw, ready to fight them but stopped when she saw Dr. Von enter. A part of her relaxed once she saw the woman, but another part of her sizzled with anger as she stared at the woman who was looking at her with a disgustingly kind smile. Dr. Von reached over, placing a gentle hand on Liliya's shoulder.

     "How are you feeling, Liliya?" That was the first question and Liliya hadn't a single clue how to answer it. In all honesty she was confused, a part of her was panicking, another part of her was angry. All of her emotions were all over the place so she struggled to answer the question. Dr. Von only nodded her head in understanding. "I know. It was sudden. I should have told you what was going to happen, but I didn't want to give you false hope if it hadn't worked. Luckily for us, it did, which means great things."

     Liliya looked at the woman with wide eyes. "Are you telling me that I could have died?" Her voice rose up an octave, accusations flashing through her head and lacing into her voice.

     Dr. Von just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "You still can."

     Liliya looked at Dr. Von with disbelief. Was she serious? Could Liliya actually die? Anger started to take over again. "What the hell did you do to me?" She threw her hand up, showing it to Dr. Von with a clenched jaw. "And why the fuck does my hand keep doing that shit? It just went through the mattress a few minutes before you got in here."

     "Write that down." Dr. Von calmly ordered one of the others, her eyes never once leaving Liliya's hand. She reached forwards and went to grab it, only to find that her hand went right through Liliya's. The older woman slowly lowered her hand, humming with curiosity. "Interesting. It seems that it worked. We'll have to run some tests. See what all you can do."

     "What does that even me?"

     "Don't you get it?" Dr. Von asked her, smiling. "It means we're one step closer to making you a mutant. This is good news, Liliya. Before you know it, you'll be as great as Captain America, better than the now deceased Black Widow. Hell, maybe you'll even be better than the god of thunder himself." Dr. Von relaxed, trying to contain her excitement. "Don't worry my dear. This is the next big thing. Get some rest. We'll talk once you're all healed." And then with a nod of her head, Dr. Von and the other doctors left the room, leaving Liliya completely and utterly confused.