Speedy Eagle

In the Lab

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Steve walks back into the training room and everyone stares at him. "What?"

"Where is Anna going? Is she alright?" Pietro asks.

"She'll be fine. She just needs some time. Pietro, can I speak to you alone for a moment?"

He nods and follows Steve. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. She just needs some time. She does want to talk to you, though not right now. Just give her some time, alright?"

Pietro nods, "Okay."

Steve and Pietro walk back over to the group and they start training.

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I walk into my lab and pull up the files on Sam's wings. I play around with it for hours before taking a step back. I smile at the progress I've made. I grab a snack before collecting the materials for the wings. I clear tables and pull out chemicals and tubes. I sit there mixing chemicals and testing. I get a few burns but just work through it. As I add the last chemical, it fizzes and smoke comes from it. I blow it away. The bluish mixture is left in the tube and I write down my findings.

I start to heat up some metal, melting it down. Before I take it off the heat, I add the mixture to it. I pour it into the frames, making small pieces to the exact sizes I need. Any extra I have I form into bricks for later. I start the giant puzzle, testing out the parts I have as I go. As I get closer to completion, it works perfectly. The wings move in any direction I want them to go. The mixture I added strengthens the metal and makes it lighter than it would have been. Once I finish with the basic frame, I start adding the extras such as weapons and new tech.

Slowly, I stick metal feathers onto the frame, making a more bird like design rather than the metal patterns. They look almost exactly like they did before. The wings still work perfectly fine. Once I finish with the wings, I move them off to another table and use my telekinesis to sort the papers into files. I take out some of the extra metal and start on some new blueprints.

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In the training room, the sun is just coming up as the Avengers gather. "Has anyone seen Anna lately?" Sam asks.

"She was going to work on your wings, right?" Steve checks.

"Yeah, but that was three days ago. I haven't seen her since then," Sam informs. Pietro and Wanda look at him, worried.

"You think she's still in her lab?" Steve asks. Sam nods and Steve sighs. He looks at the others and smiles. "Who want to learn how to get Anna out of the lab?" Steve gets funny looks from everyone.

Sam snickers and Steve points at him. "Look at the first victim. Let's go."

"First victim?" Pietro asks. "What's going on?"

"You'll see," Steve smirks.

The group walks to the lab and looks through the window. Anna stands, welding a small piece of metal, her back to them. "Why do you worry? She looks fine."

"You'll understand in a few minutes," Steve assures. "Sam, go ahead."

"I have a plan this time." Sam pulls a few tennis balls from behind his back. Steve smiles and gestures towards the door. Sam tosses them in, one at a time. The first one gets sprayed by paint, the second is wrapped is string. The third tennis ball is covered in glue and feathers. When the fourth enters, a small machine gun comes down from the door and starts spraying the tennis balls and Sam with paint balls. They run behind corners and hide out of range, crouched down. "Abort plan!" Sam cries.

"Any more bright ideas?" Steve asks.

"Why has she trapped her lab?" Wanda asks.

Steve sighs. "Good luck getting that answer. Alright, who wants to go in?"

"Why not Speedy Gonzalez?" Sam asks. "He could make it past everything before he gets hit, right?"

Wanda looks at Pietro and he looks back. Pietro sighs before standing up. "Alright, I'll get her."

Pietro runs in and, as predicted, avoids the traps. When he stops, papers go everywhere, flying around and landing on the floor. Anna, jumps with a start, dropping her tools on her hand. "Ouch!" she cries, jumping around. She takes her googles off and set them on the table, looking at her hand. A light burn appears on her hand. She looks up and notices Pietro. "Oh, hey, what are you doing here?" she asks, abruptly.

"Turn off the traps," Pietro says.

Anna turns to a tablet and hits a few buttons. The door opens and the others walk in. "Hello, Anna. How long have you been in here?"

She looks around for a moment before looking back as Steve. "Good question. What day is today?"

"Three days, Anna. You can't keep doing this."

"How many traps did you spring before you sent Pietro through?" Anna asks.

"Four. Got to the paint balls. Why do you set them?"

"For my safety and yours. If you walk in here without proper gear you could get hurt or it you startle me while I'm working something could happen. They are to stop people from just walking in. There is a code that I meant to give you so you could get in." Anna walks over to her pile of papers and starts to search. "Give me a minute and I'll find it."

"No, you are going to your room and getting some sleep." Steve walks up to Anna and grabs her, carrying her over his shoulder. She crawls out of his grip and rolls onto the floor.

"I'm almost done. Let me finish."

"You need rest before you crash," Steve insists.

Anna sighs as Steve makes a grab for her. "No! Leave me alone."

"Not gonna happen, Anna. Pietro, can you grab her?"

Pietro runs forward and grabs Anna's arms, pinning them to her sides. "Let me go! I need to finish my work!"

Steve runs to a small box on the wall and opens it, grabbing an injector. He walks calmly over to Anna. "This is for your own good, Anna. Relax." Anna struggles more and Sam grabs her legs, holding them still.

Steve walks closer to Anna and places the injector against her neck. He hits a button on the side and removes it from her neck a moment later. She stops struggling and relaxes in Pietro's arms. Anastasia collapses against him. He gently kneels down, keeping his grip on Anastasia as her eyes flutter. "What did you give her?" Pietro asks. Anna completely relaxes in his grasp and her eyes close. Her breathing evens out as Steve sets the needle back in the box.

"A sedative to make her sleep," Steve says. "This isn't the first time she's stayed up for days working on something so we keep them on hand. When she's tired, she doesn't always know what's going on so she'll try to get out of going to sleep and keep working. It puts her to sleep for an hour but normally, it'll be longer since she's tired."

"Will she be alright?" Wanda asks.

"She'll be fine with some rest. If she were to stay in her lab and forget to sleep for a while then she'd probably crash. Fall asleep in here or when someone comes to get her, she'd put up a real fight."

"Where's her room?" Pietro asks.

"You'll know it when you see it. It is the only room here that's different," Steve assures. "Here, I'll take her there. You guys get to training."

"It's fine. I'll take her," Pietro assures, standing up. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes." Steve nods and leads the others to the training room. Pietro walks through the halls and eventually comes to a door covered in pictures and drawings. Anastasia's name is written on many of the pictures. He opens the door and walks in. He gently sets Anna on the bed and pulls the blankets up to her neck. Pietro kisses her forehead and closes the door.