Nightmare (sequel to Electric completed)

Chapter 24

Winky

          I wake up to the sound of the door opening. Not my cell door, but the door that leads to my cell. I slowly open my periwinkle blue eyes, and listen to a set–no two sets–of footsteps walking up to my cell. I hear the two visitors whisper to each other. Both male, ones very familiar, the other I don't recognize at all.

"Winky, you awake?" Asks Tony.

"Hmm, what's he doing here?" Purrs the voice. Ignore it.

      I groan in response and sit up, my hair curly and greasy from not washing it in three days. I see Tony and another man with curly, brown hair, and glasses over his brown eyes stare at me with fascination. He wears a white T-shirt with a colourful picture of some band from the 90s and a suit jacket, paired with blue jeans and sneakers. He somehow makes the outfit look formal. He could where it at a red carpet event and people would still think he got it at some high end clothing store. He holds a strange looking bag. Since I don't know what's inside of it, I don't like the bag. Wow, I'm tired.

"Winky, this is Dr. Bruce Banner" Tony introduces, "He's going to–"

"Check me over for any remaining injuries from Alaska" I finish for him. The playboy sighs.

"Please cooperate, you might be allowed to be released if you behave" he pleas.

"I got no reason not to" I shrug.

         Bruce makes a curt nod and let's Tony lead him to the cell door located on the my left. After a few button pressing and scanning, the door opens. Tony let's Bruce in first, but when he tries to walk in, but the Doctor stops him.

"You don't need to be here, I'm sure if she's smart she won't try anything" he says. Tony nods and closes the door behind him. He walks out of the room, closing that door behind him as well.

      Tony told me a bit about Bruce. He's not in the Avengers anymore, but comes when he's needed. I saw him a grand total of once during a very important, save-the-world mission. But I didn't talk to him that much, although I did see what he's capable of. I may be on the verge of insanity, but I think even Nightmare knows not to get him angry. So at least if I do somehow lose it, Nightmare wouldn't try anything on him.

"Well miss Lomen–" Bruce starts, but I cut him off.

"Periwinkle" I say, "or Winky if you prefer that"

"Ok" he says while taking out a note pad, "Winky, before I start, can you tell me what injuries you sustained in Alaska?" I sigh. I don't want to talk about it at all. But this is important, and I might have a chance at getting out if I cooperate.

"I dislocated my left shoulder, broke my right leg, several of my ribs, and got a concussion. I also got a lot of bruises and scrapes, but they already healed a long time ago" I answer.

"Yes, I read your file. You have quick healing like Rogers, yes?" He asks. I nod.

"It's a little faster than his" I answer. Bruce writes something down on a notepad.

"And how long were you down there?" I pause before answering.

"...I don't know" I finally say. I barely remember falling off the mountain, only Heartbeat trying to catch me. After that it's all black, like it's been plucked from my brain and thrown into the ocean.

"When the Sovereign took you, were you in a cell?" Bruce asks. I only nod, worried my voice would waver if I try to speak.

"Did they do anything to treat your injuries?" He asks again. I shake my head.

"I need a verbal answer" I look at the doctor with wary eyes, and sigh.

"They didn't do anything to treat my wounds, so I had to heal my self" I answer.

"Was there someone in there with you?" I tense up at the question. I don't want to answer it, I should just nod.

"Bad idea. He'll just ask for a verbal answer and that'll make you cry like a little baby" says the voice. I shut my eyes and mutter "shut up"

"Sorry?" Bruce asks. Shit, he heard me.

"Uh, n-nothing" I stutter. The doctor gives me a sympathetic look.

"I understand if this is hard for you. If this is too much, we can continue tomorrow" he says. I shake my head.

"No. I can do this" I decline, "yes, I did. And no, she didn't, and couldn't help me with my wounds other then pass me my food" Bruce raises an eyebrow.

"What was her name?" He asks.

"...Nebula. She was blue and had completely black eyes and one hand. Her insides were made of gears and wires, but she's just misunderstood" I explain. I look at the doctor and see a look of confusion and slight fear.

"Oddly enough, that's not the weirdest thing I've heard" he replies.

"Makes sense, you are the Hulk after all. You must've heard some pretty messed up shit" I agree. Bruce makes a breathy laugh and looks down at the floor. I return with a flash of a smile on my face.

"Enough about me" he says while putting his note pad and pen in the bag, "let's focus on your leg for a second. Does it still hurt since it wasn't properly cared for" I nod in response.

"Can you give me a scale of one to ten?" I pause before I answer.

"Um...I-I guess a 4" I stutter.

"So not too much then?" I nod.

"I still limp on it, but I'm fine. I dealt with a lot worse" I explain, feeling my voice shake from anxiety. Bruce obviously notices, and gives me a concerned look.

"Are you sure you can do this?" He asks. I nod, but the doctor sighs and takes off his glasses.

"Tony told me about most of what happened in the past week. If I were you, I would be curled up in the corner pathetically crying" he admits. I stare at the bed, not able to make eye contact.

"Little does he know that you're on the verge of breaking" the voice butts in. Just ignore it, ignore it, ignore it...

"I know it's very hard for you, Periwinkle, I understand. You're afraid that you can't handle it, that your not strong enough" Dr. Banner says. I nod in response, the only thing I can do at this point.

      I hate this, feeling so vulnerable and small. I wish I can just punch a wall and scream all the fear and anxiety out of me. I wish I was alone so I can cry until I get dehydrated, but a small itch in the back of my head tells me that I don't want to be alone. Not really.

"Periwinkle?" Bruce snaps me back to reality. He sees my tired eyes and knows that I'm exhausted.

"I have one more question, then we're done" he says. I nod and let him continue.

"When I read your file, it said that you controlled your victims before killing them. Did the Sovereign give you that power?" He asks. I look at him while my face looks downwards.

"...no" I answer after a pause. My voice sounds dark and scary. It almost scared me. Bruce gives me a look of slight fear.

"Fear me..." whispers the voice. It's coming, keep it down. Keep it down, keep it down, keep it down.

"Then how did you control them?" He asks warily. Interest and fear cover his features.

"I used my eyes. Everyone always said they were beautiful. And if that didn't work, I sang to them. It's hard to block out noise" I answer, feeling a smile come on my face. It's not mine though, it's Nightmare's. I quickly lose the smile and go back to my empty stare.

"We're done now. I'll come back at a later time to finish" Bruce says.

      The doctor packs up his stuff and grabs his bag by the handles. He walks out of the cell and to the door, looking back and waving at me before he exits the room. I give him a flash of a smile and watch him disappear behind the door. I'm left in the silence of my cell. I burst into tears.

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You hear that? That's my heart breaking.