The Serpent in the Ice

-Under a Mask-

  I am once again wearing the SHIELD uniform.
  It feels great.
  It disgusts me.

  I know I must have patience if this is to be to my advantage at all.
  I made so many friends, I don't want to leave them. When I leave, I will have to kill them without hesitation if need be. I know they will not hesitate to kill Queen Hydra.
  For now, I will enjoy what I have, as I suffer through the next couple of weeks.

  Now, to explain to my superiors why I disappeared and why HYDRA let me live.

  "Marlyn!" I whirled around as Gwen tackled me in a hug. "I thought they had killed you! What happened?"
  My heart swelled at the sight of Gwen, it had been so long since I had seen my little spider.
  "Well..." I trailed of as I saw the Black Widow walk up beside Gwen.
  You know whoever is in charge has the eye color, they will see the green, you have to let me take control.
  You better not do anything stupid.
  Don't worry, they will only get the truth.
  Excuse me-
  "I'm not completely sure what happened." I answered. I saw Natasha's eyes narrow, I have to give more, I can't lie though.
  Be careful.

  "They caught me in a giant bear trap contraption and freed me right before the lights turned out."
  "And why didn't you contact us?" Natasha interrupted, her face laced with suspicion. "Your signal was out as soon as you ran off."
  "It seemed to target my tracking devices, they took the brunt of the impact, which is the only reason I'm still standing."
  "Well, you don't seem injured at all,"
  "That's the weird part, ma'am," I replied, keeping my heart rate steady, even though my nerves were on edge. "They healed my broken bones and shipped me out in a small pod before you blew it up."

  "Yeah, blowing it up was the worst part of the plan," Gwen commented, earning a glare from Natasha. She shrugged. "It's a good thing they were acting strange or Marlyn would be ash right now."
  "Well, that would be her own fault," Natasha said, glaring at me. "You deserted us, you deserve to be ash."
  I felt my heart rate pick up, I didn't try to control it as my face turned beet red,

  "Anyway," Gwen sputtered, changing the subject before a fight broke out. "How did you get back?"
  I shrugged. I don't honestly remember the trip back.
  "They just set me free, you might want to run a test for bugs, I don't know why they would just free me unless i was bugged before I woke up."
  Mhmm, you are the bug.
  Natasha and Gwen shared a worried look.

  "We should tell Fury." Gwen said uncertainly.
  "No, he can't know what we did," Natasha demanded.
  "Are you hearing yourself?" Gwen interrupted angrily. "We blew up a damn Hydra base and you think we can keep that from Shield? Everybody within a mile radius of that base knows what happened, I'm sure he already knows anyways."
  Natasha snorted. "Yeah.... well, we can handle this ourselves. Marlyn, follow me, we will go to the containment wing and do a full scan, you better have not planted any bugs. Gwen, go to the security main center and do a full sweep of the area that she entered through."
  Gwen nodded and hurried away.
  I had to jog to keep up with Natasha's brisk pace.

  That was good enough, you lost your patience, though.
  Oh, like you wouldn't have, I have a feeling it was you who made me lose my patience.
  Says the girl who killed a man for disobeying her.
  My mind flashed to the pink man hyped on Mutant Growth Hormone. That stupid serum will be the death of mutantkind.
  You know that's not what happened, and I recall you have killed fifty some people for disobedience. You keep count so closely.
  Hmmm, I don't, but I guess if you want to sift through my memories, then that's up to you,

  Natasha grabbed my arm, yanking me from my thoughts.
  "We have no time for daydreaming." She hissed.
  She shoved me into a small, dark room and locked the door.
  Keep the mask on, dear.
  Red light swept through the room, high frequency noises assulted my ears and I cried out, covering them.
  Weak.
 
  The noises stopped a couple seconds later, Natasha opened the door, I covered my eyes as white light flooded in.
  She looked disappointed. "You passed the test, clear to continue your business, just know, after what just happened, you will not be going on another mission anytime soon. We will train harder and longer, you will not break under pressure again."
  I nodded, looking down at my hands.
  She was still suspicious, extra training is just an excuse for her to keep me close so she can find something against me.