The Phoenix || Marvel

prologue

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16 YEARS LATER . . .

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RAENA'S EYES fluttered open as the lights of her room turned on. She groaned, turning onto her side on the uncomfortable mattress below her, only to hear a loud and familiar banging noise at her door.

She didn't even flinch as she looked over at the door, spotting the blue eyes of a guard looking through her door's small window.

"Wake up, we're not doing this shit today, Crawford."

Raena rolled her eyes, unamused. She raised her middle finger toward the door as she sat up, avoiding eye contact with the guard as she spoke plainly, "Bite me."

The guard scoffed, unimpressed by the 29 year old's immature behavior. A grumble escaped him as he leaned against the door, holding his gun to his chest. "Immature little bitch."

Raena, hearing the comment, didn't respond. She took her red hair out of a ponytail and sighed, fluffing it out with her hand before standing up.

"What's on the schedule today? Breakfast followed by sitting in my room to rot? Y'know, same old story?" Raena sarcastically commented, rolling her eyes as she turned to a fresh stack of clothes on the bottom of her bed.

"How'd you guess?" The guard responded back, still sounding unimpressed. "Get dressed, I don't have all day."

Reluctantly, Raena dressed herself, picking out a maroon v-neck and black jeans. Then, she grabbed her brown ankle-boots and placed them on her feet, quickly tying the laces.

She walked up to the door and banged on it a few times, watching through the small window as the guard flinched in surprise. He turned to her with wide eyes before his expression contorted into a scowl.

"You gonna get me out of here, or..." Raena tilted her head innocently, making the guard grunt and roll his eyes, reaching into his pocket for a key.

"You're a pain in the fucking ass."

"As you usually tell me."

"Oh, fuck you, Crawford." The guard spat, unlocking the door and swinging it open. He nudged the gun toward her, signaling her to leave the room, which she rolled her eyes in response to before doing as demanded.

"So, is there anything on the schedule today? Or am I really just rotting in my room again?" Raena questioned, her voice filled with genuine curiosity as they began to walk down the hallway toward the cafeteria.

"You have another injection later tonight." The guard stated calmly, hugging his rifle to his chest. Raena raised an eyebrow, trying not to show how upset she was after hearing that.

"Fucking great..." She mumbled, tucking a piece of red hair behind her ear. "You people aren't very good at letting things go. I was a child. You put that stupid shit into me for a reason and now all you're doing is hiding it away with injections. What gives?"

"You really need to shut up, you know that?" The guard responded, clearly avoiding the question. "Just be ready by 7:00. Not that hard."