I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 45

Rachel is led through the new base with the men surrounding her, prepared for any tricks that she may have up her sleeve. The mistress leads her through all their new facilities, including their training room and living quarters which may as well be called cells with how unhospitable they are. When the mistress opens a door and enters with Rachel behind her, Rachel's heart rate quickens and her breathing becomes shallow. "This is our new experimentation room. We aren't set to start for another few weeks, but it's ready" the mistress explains and Rachel stares at the table. It has restraints all over it for the patient, the victim, the lab rat. Rachel's stomach churns as she finds herself remembering her experience.

17 year old Rachel lies on the table and the agents around her starts strapping her arms and ankles to the table before tightening a strap over her chest. "What are you doing?" she asks shakily but they don't say a word before stepping back. A man in a white lab coat enters the room, takes one look at petrified Rachel and grins at her. "Relax, it'll all be over soon" he assures her, the grin never leaving his face. Rachel's fear increases by the second and when she sees him take needles out of his briefcase she starts panicking. "Please, don't. Don't hurt me. I just wanna go home. Please. Stop" she pleads as she tries getting out of her restraints. The so-called 'doctor' makes his way towards her with one of the needles and the tears start streaming down her face as she continues to beg.

The doctor nods to the men surrounding the table and two of them hold Rachel's arm down tightly, restricting any kind of movement. The doctor injects the needle before taping it into place and hangs up the drip of clear liquid above her head. Even though, Rachel doesn't feel any kind of pain from this drip, she knows it's nothing good and the pain will probably start sooner or later. Eventually, the doctor injects some of the other liquids into the bag of clear liquid, mixing it all together. Rachel feels the burning sensation in her arm after he's mixed some of the liquids. "Please, make it stop. Please" she pleads as tears stream down her face.

When the doctor finally injects the last of his liquids into the drip bag, he takes a seat and watches as Rachel is used as his guinea pig. His lab rat. To be his test subject. A 17 year old girl who has done nothing wrong. The burning spreads across Rachel's entire body and she starts fighting against the restraints when she feels the need to move. As if moving will cause all the pain and agony to dissipate. The pain increases and she's screaming in pain and she tries to writhe on the table. The screaming causes her throat to become soar and horse but she doesn't stop. The screaming seems to be her only way to react to the pain. She can't move, or claw at the skin. She can't do anything but scream. Maybe a part of her hopes someone will hear her and help her. She knows that's unlikely, she's been here a year already. There's no getting out.

The agonising pain and screaming causes Rachel to pass out and the doctor checks her pulse occasionally while he waits for the drip to finish being injected into her. He takes a sample of her blood to study before allowing the men to take her. They untie her from the table before dragging her out of the lab and to her cell. They throw her in and her still unconscious body hits the floor with a thud before the men lock the cell door and leave to find another job to do.

Rachel is brought out of the memory when one of the men nudges her, ushering her to follow the mistress. She follows the mistress and wipes the tears that had collected in her eyes at her traumatic memory.

When the mistress finally finishes the tour, she leads Rachel to her cell which is where she'll be staying. One of the men shoves Rachel into the cell and locks the door behind her. Rachel watches the men and the mistress walk down the hall, leaving her in silence. She sighs and glances around the room to see the small bed and the very small window, letting in very little light from the outside. For the rest of the morning, all Rachel could do was stare at the ceiling as she lay on the incredibly uncomfortable bed. Her mind wandered to Steve and the Avengers and hopes that they aren't looking for her. She knows that she asked Steve not to and she strongly believes that he'll respect her wish. But she also knows that he'll do anything to protect her, even if that means ignoring her wish. Which is why Rachel is going to be as quick as she possibly can to take this place down and return home to her family. Whatever it takes.