Heartbeat (Danny Rand)

Fourteen

 "It's really nothing personal, Miss Green, I hope you understand that," a man who I've come to learn is Nick Fury says through the plexiglass wall. "You did quite a few things that were wrong, though, and now we need to determine the consequences. Have a good day."

He left the room with a nod, leaving me alone in the small ten by ten cell. Besides the oddly comfortable looking cot built into the wall, the room is empty and completely uninviting. I guess prison cells aren't exactly meant to be inviting though. That would be a bit counterproductive.

I sat there for who knows how long until I finally heard footsteps padding closer. I sit up slightly, gazing out through the bars.

Even though he's kind of the one who put me in here, I can't stop the grin from spreading across my face as my red footy-pajama-wearing friend comes into view.

"Hey Pete," I whisper, standing up and walking over toward the bars. He's wearing his mask which makes me a bit nervous since I can't see his expression, and I hope he's not mad at me.

He stays silent for a minute, staring at me until he finally reaches up and pulls off his mask. "Hey Ari," he says, a familiar goofy grin spreading across his face.

"I don't know what they're talking about up there, but I tried my best to sway them in your favor," he sighs, and I can practically see the guilt crawling around on his skin.

"You didn't have to do that. It's not your fault. If anything I deserve to be in here," I decide, sitting back down, leaning against the side wall next to the glowing blue bars.

They're strange, like physical beams of light or something that materialized when they put me in here. I tried pushing through them but they're pretty strong.

"Look, I've known you for a long time. I refuse to believe that you actually like being a bad person, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to give you a second chance. Okay?" He states in a voice so forceful that I can't bring myself to argue. Not that I was going to, I don't really want to spend the rest of my life in prison when I'm only 17. I haven't even graduated high school yet.

"Do the rest of your team know about this?" I ask, and Peter shakes his head.

"Not yet, but they'll probably want to talk to you tomorrow," he replies, and I feel my chest tighten.

"Oh," I mutter, my shoulders slouching slightly. Even though I've known them all for a while, I'm not sure if they'll forgive me as easily as Peter seems to have. I don't want to lose them as friends - especially Danny. I've never been happier than I am with him, and I really don't want to mess that up.

"Hey, I have to go. Its really late and as much as I'd like to Fury won't let me stay here all right. Good luck though, Ari," Peter says with a grimace before he turns and walks away.

I trudge over the cot on the wall with a groan and fall back on it, cursing how comfortable it feels. The last thing I want to do is feel at home in a prison cell.

*********************************

"Hey, Ari!" A voice shouts, quickly followed by a small, "ouch!"

"She's sleeping, Sam!" Ava quietly scolds, and I open my eyes, grimacing as they're ambushed with brightness.

I blink a few times before everything that happened the night before comes rushing back to me and I jump off the cot, scrambling toward the front of the cell.

"Hey," I say, my voice shaking slightly. Even though they don't look too mad at me, I'm still pretty scared of what they're going to say.