The Grey Raven // Bucky X Oc (Discontinued For Now)

⠂Chapter 31⠐

“Astrid. Can you hear me?” a voice asks from outside the chamber.

Panting and slick with sweat I slowly open my eyes. “I can hear you,” I respond, my voice raspy.

The chamber’s doors slowly begin to open and I squint against the bright lights. It takes seconds for them to adjust and I find the beaming face of Dr. Robichaud looking at me.

The doors open completely and a pair of scientists come over to undo the straps holding me in place.

Nearly everything feels numb and tingly, almost as if everything has fallen asleep. The same pair that unstrapped me also hold me up so I can stand.

“Did it work?” I ask, looking around.

All the scientists have stopped what they were doing and are staring at me, their eyes gleaming with joy. “Yes,” Dr. Robichaud says, smiling at me.

“Can I sit down?” I ask, extremely disoriented.

I’m quickly helped over to a chair and handed a cup of water. I down it swiftly and I’m handed another which takes me a bit longer to finish.

“How are you feeling?”

I glance up and find a few of the scientists watching me closely, pencils hovering over their clipboards. “Like a completely new person,” I say simply.

I slowly stand, waving off the scientist who steps toward me. “Can we take measurements?” one of the female scientists asks hesitantly.

“Go ahead,” I respond.

Tape measures and other instruments are held up to me. I’m also instructed to step on a scale.

“New height, 5 feet 9 inches. New weight, 153 pounds.”

I gained three inches and thirty pounds? What the heck!

I take a moment to actually look down at myself and my eyes widen in surprise. I stare at my arms and the sharply defined muscles. Holy shit.

“May I?” a scientist asks, motioning to the empty syringe in his hand. I nod and turn my arm over so he can take some of my blood.

“How about you go take a shower and wash up before we tell you the rest of the results,” Dr. Robichaud offers.

I nod, still feeling disoriented by this body that’s supposed to be mine. Dr. Robichaud brings me to my room and only leaves once she’s sure I’m not going to break something by bumping into things.

Before getting into the shower, though I’m longing for some hot water, I go to the full body mirror to look at myself.

“Holy-”

Perfectly toned muscles, my skin practically glowing, healthy, full hair, and my face. It’s still my face, in every aspect, but it’s like the best features of it are the most obvious.

I’m tempted to test out my new strength that I can feel coursing through me but I restrain myself and get into the shower.

I spend maybe a bit too long in the warm water before stepping out and drying myself off.

I quickly realize that all my clothing is too small for me now and grudgingly put the pijama-like clothing back on. I’ll need, not just a wardrobe update, but an entire restock.

I walk down to Dr. Robichaud's lab and enter, the doors sliding open.

Dr. Robichaud turns from what she’s doing and jumps, clutching to her chest when she sees me. “God, you scared me,” she murmurs, letting out a breath.

“Sorry,” I respond sheepishly.

“It’s all right,” she says, a small smile on her face. “We need to do a few more blood and oxygen tests before the physical ones.”

“Okay.” I follow her, hyper aware of not bumping into anything, over to a hospital-looking room.

She motions for me to lay on the hospital bed, which I do. A few screens pop up and Dr. Robichaud looks over them, a frown appearing on her face. “That’s strange,” she mutters, moving things around on the screen.

A light beam travels down my body and I watch as it slowly scans me. “Natural body temperature is 109.1 fahrenheit.”

“What were the other results? You said you already had some.”

Dr. Robichaud glances at me through the hovering screen. “Well… You’re aware of how we thought your allergies would go away?”

I nod slowly, unsure where this is going. “It would seem that they didn’t go away… They worsened… and your intolerance for eggs has also become an allergy.”

I stare at her for a second before shrugging. “I’ve lived with allergies for my entire life. I’m sure I can continue doing so.”

Dr. Robichaud chuckles before looking back at the screen. She does a few more things before coming over and placing a small circular pad connected to a device to my upper arm and temple.

“This should be quick then we can start on the physical tests.” After a few minutes the screen disappears and she removes the little pads, putting them away. “Shall we?” she asks, motioning toward the door.

I get up and carefully follow after her. We walk down to the little gym where a pair of her scientists are waiting for us.

I go through the physical tests. First, seeing how much I can lift, then seeing how fast I can run, which was a shocking speed; How long I can keep up my top speed; A small break then seeing how long, at a normal running pace, I can run for; Then seeing how fast my reflexes are as well as my agility and flexibility.

In every case my body shocks me by how well it does and all the things it can do now.

“Okay. Final test,” Dr. Robichaud says. One of the scientists comes over to me, a blindfold in hand.

I hesitantly let her cover my eyes, tying the blindfold securely. “So what exactly am I supposed to do?” I ask, my guard up.

“Don’t get hit,” Dr. Robichaud responds simply.

I frown slightly and duck swiftly, shifting over before standing again. I spin to my left, feeling the air of something brush past me.

A second passes before I jump and launch myself forward, roll, and stand again. I lean back, avoiding another thing then skip backward, avoiding another.

I dodge a few more before it stops and the blindfold is removed. “That… was good. Good job,” Dr. Robichaud says, sounding impressed.

“Her clothing is ready,” one of the scientists says, looking at her.

“Clothing?” I ask, looking at Dr. Robichaud.

She smiles. “Yes. There were two reasons for taking your measurements. We got you clothing based on what we’ve seen you wearing.”

“Oh… Thank you.”