Pandora

9

       Sitting on the floor, gently touching the glass wall,  Pandora inanity felt electricity surge through her and she clenched her jaw. Eyes shut tight, she winced as the pain only grew, and she wrenched herself away. Clamoring to her feet, Pandora glared at the stupid agents guarding her cell as they visibly relaxed. For a moment, they were worried she was going to try and break out again.

Stalking over to her bed, soft blue light glowing behind her, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the massive dent in the wall. Pursing her lips in thought, Pandora lightly shook her head at her carelessness; it would only be a matter of time before SHIELD attempted to fortify their security or move her to a different cell. Trying to escape was going to become a problem if she waited any longer.

       Glancing back at the camera in the top corner of her cell, aware that someone was always watching, she chided herself for playing their game. Having constant meals that weren't drugged or poisoned, and the casual conversation Bruce provided was comfort she didn't know she needed. Yet Pandora knew it was a comfort she couldn't have or deserved.

Hydra and Strucker had made it very clear of what she was, drilling into her mind that she wasn't allowed to be normal because she simply wasn't normal. A tool, a weapon, a means to an end, but certainly not normal.

Blinking from her thoughts, Pandora returned her gaze to the cracked stone wall and stepped as far away from it as possible, mind made up about what she needed to do. Squaring her shoulders, she narrowed her eyes and ran straight at it. In mere seconds, she burst through the wall and firmly landed in the cell next to her, which conveniently had its glass wall raised. The calm blue light suddenly changed to a sharp red and an alarm wailed, intertwining with the shouts from the agents.

Racing into the hall, avoiding the electric bolas shot her way, she bounced around a corner. Pushing off the wall for added momentum, Pandora hurdled toward the exit and quickly discovered the broken door hadn't been replaced. Continuing into the stairwell, she briefly looked back to find none of the agents were chasing her. Red flags promptly raised in her mind and she diligently looked up to an empty stairwell.

Gut nervously twisting, Pandora jogged up the stairs and paused at the door to the ground floor. A part of her wanted to run to the roof again and get a better idea of what sort of trap the might have laid out for her, but the other part of her wondered if the roof was the trap.

Taking a chance, she rammed the ground floor's door off its hinges and just as she went through, she heard frantic voices floating down from the top of the stairwell.

Grinning at her victory, Pandora sprinted into an empty lobby of the building. The alarm wasn't loudly blaring there, but red lights flashed on the walls. Placing her hand on the thick concrete, the sound of heavy footsteps pounding down the stairs echoing behind her, Pandora realized she wouldn't have enough time the break through it and turned her attention to the small windows. Now that was something she could break.

Diving head first through a square window, she skillfully rolled on the ground and hopped up. The crisp autumn air nipped at her nose, a contrast to the pleasant warmth she felt in the cell. A halfmoon hung high with stars shining like pinpricks in a dark cloth draped over the Earth.

Pandora took a deep breath, relishing the outdoors. In a flash, her second of reprieve disappeared as more shouting rose close by. Quietly hurrying off to the side, she snuck toward the alleyway that she had attempted to flee from during her first day at the base.

Careful to avoid cameras scanning the grounds, she slinked alongside another building, the chain-link fence came into view as agents searched for her. Hidden in the shadows, Pandora pressed her back against a wall while a buzzing sound flew overhead.