The Dark Witch: Rising (Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 48

Cold.

Cold.

Cold.

This isn't my bed.

I'm on the ground. It's hard, rough, almost like stone or marble I wasn't sure.

Sitting up, my palms scrap at the ground, the pain is brief but it doesn't matter.

Pain doesn't matter.

Not when there's so much to do.

So much to discover.

I rise unsteadily on my bare feet, the ground cool beneath my warm touch.

Black skies are all around me and the stars are littered in full.

I'm back in the beginning. Back where it all began.

I am no longer connected to the Tesseract. How am I here right now?

The ground opens up in front of me, stones shifting and crackling revealing bright lights that make me wince.

"It's over, Fury has released everything to the public,"

A voice calls out from the light, its pieces crackling back and forth to project a face.

It was like staring at a mirror. A bright, mystical mirror.

"Everything, he knows about."

The voice is familiar. Like I've heard of him before. Like I've met him before.

The image ultimately clears, revealing two men as they walk through numerous metal bars and handles to go deeper to their destination.

I crouched on my knees, peering forward as confusion filled my mind.

Why am I seeing this?

What is the reason behind this?

"Herr Strucker, if they get word of our work here, if they find out we serve HYDRA..."

The bald man stops him at that, urging him not to speak.

Strucker.

Pierce's other right-hand man.

The other voice who was there to control me.

To make me, better.

The ground beneath me seem to shake at my realization. Like it knows my anger and my rage.

"HYDRA, SHIELD, two sides of a coin that's no longer currency."

They stop in front of a lab and it's only then, do I notice the sceptre.

Loki's sceptre.

The gem glows a luminous blue, like its calm and thinking. I felt the familiar call.

The call to return and be with it.

Gritting my teeth, I pulled myself back from its hold, knowing its shared qualities with the Tesseract.

"What we have is worth more than any of them ever knew. We've only scratched the surface and already..."

They walk away from the lab and turn the corner, climbing down a bunch of stairs.

"There are other facilities doing HYDRA's good work around the world. We'll feed them to Captain America and his colourful friends. Keep them off our scent."

The nervous man behind him spoke up. "What about the volunteers?"

"The dead will be buried so deep their own ghosts won't be able to find them."