Pandora

12

Sitting in the far corner of the cell with heavy eyelids, Pandora blearily stared at the agents changing shift for the third time that day, indicating Dover would be brought to her soon, and with it, Bruce. Gaze flickering to the short table and floor pillows, a content sigh fell from her lips. At first, she was uncertain about the lessons and worried they might be another trap, but Bruce hasn't shown any signs of betraying her. Thinking back on it, his patience and kindness seemed genuine, although there was a time when Pandora thought the same about Strucker.

       Head lolling forward, she snapped her head up and attempted to blink away the exhaustion. Muttering a song she made up as a child, eyes closing again, Pandora felt her chin dip and the partially raised it once more, only for it to fall forward. The woods to her song started jumbling together as they left her lips until they stopped completely. Nodding off, the voices of the agents became muffled, as if she was hearing them from underwater.

       Their voices suddenly became clearer, morphing into German, though Pandora struggled to understand what they were saying. Yawning, she opened her eyes and frowned at the two scientists in lab coats speaking to one another outside her cage. Knitting her brows, she thought it was odd her cage was so close to them, but brushed the thought aside as one of the scientists frustratingly shouted.

       Throwing their hands up in exasperation, the man rolled his eyes and walked over to Pandora. "When's the last time someone let you use the restroom?"

       Getting off a bed, a gut feeling told her something was wrong; no one at Hydra ever asked her that before. All her breaks were scheduled, or if she really needed to relieve herself, she could use the bucket in the cage. Then all of Pandora's doubts vanished as the man smiled and his fuzzy face became clear. Patiently waiting for an answer, Bruce opened the door to her cage and looked at her expectantly.

       Subtly nodding to herself, Pandora reasoned that this made sense, Bruce always asked her if she needed to use the restroom when he visited. He would tell the other agents to give her privacy, which they think curtain in her cell didn't provide much of. Pausing, she furrowed her brow at the thought and glanced to the bucket, noting it was now a toilet.

       Facing Bruce, the world around her transformed from a cage at Hydra to her cell at SHIELD. Nodding to him, Pandora watched as he held out his hand for her to take instead of leaving with the agents outside the glass. Pulling her fist to her chest, she eyed him warily with a frown. Warm smile in place, Bruce didn't relent and she hesitantly grasped his hand.

Leading her out of the cell, they walked to the right and down one of the halls. Somewhere in there was another exit, but it was behind one of the many doors that Pandora didn't check during one of her escape attempts. Now, it seemed Bruce was going to lead her to freedom and it was all she decided to trust him.

"I woke up at the crack of dawn today, couldn't go back to sleep," he said, guiding her through the twisting halls. "There was a car accident and lots of police, thankfully, no one was hurt."

Smiling as he spoke, Pandora realized just how much she enjoyed his stories, especially the mundane ones. There were times she didn't feel human, yet Bruce would come in and just talk to her, chasing the feeling away. Is this what it felt like to trust someone with no reservations?

Drawing from her thoughts, she and Bruce stopped at a door at the very end of the hall. Pushing the door open, he stepped aside and motioned her forward. Frown nestling it's way onto her mouth, Pandora stared at the small concrete room where a table and two chairs sat. Taking a step back, she turned to see Bruce shut the door and face her, startled at how close she was to him.