A Complicated Web

Chapter Fifty Four: Over Thinking

Loki drove almost like a maniac, or like he was being chased by the Hulk. There was no way of knowing just how much time had passed inside the Hydra facility while he'd transmitted all the information he had to Kally's AI. It could have been a day, maybe several days. Either way, he needed to get back there as soon as possible to let them know the information had been received.

Then there were the plans of what they would do once the help arrived. There were things that needed to be taken into consideration, such as Hiro's condition, as well as figuring out just how many people were now inside the facility, and where they were keeping the DNA they hoped to use against humanity. Too many other possibilities popped into his mind as he drove full out. Anything could have happened in his absence, especially with that Kendrick woman. Oh how he wanted to rip her throat out and feed it to the dogs!

But that wasn't an option at the moment. Instead, he raced to return before anything too extreme could happen. It would go against everything he'd worked so hard to achieve, even if it wasn't exactly the typical egotistical plan he was used to employing. These two children were too much like him and he'd be damned if he let them share the same fate.

Finally, the mountain peak he sought came into view. Now that he knew the lay of the land, he needn't park in the same place as before. It was probably a wise move on his part anyway. It would be better to park somewhere less obvious, so he chose to go off road instead, thankful his chosen vehicle was up to the task. Once it was parked well out of sight, and covered over with camouflage, he dashed up the mountainside to the area where the door he'd used before waited.

Like before, there was a guard there, though he didn't stay long. It looked more like he'd just finished a cigarette break than like he was there to actually make sure no one had found that entrance. Since the time was so different between the two areas, he couldn't be sure. It would be a long break on the one side so maybe it was just a routine check. This, of course, suited Loki just fine. It meant they hadn't discovered the untimely death of their coworker. Or, if they had, they assumed he'd fallen over the incline and smashed into the rocks below. There was a bit of a drop off to one side, after all. So, as soon as the man went back inside, Loki was more than willing to follow, once more in the guise of a Hydra employee.

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Kally woke much as she had that one night back in Stark Tower, though she had no idea how much time had passed since she'd last been conscious. Her eyes simply opened and her entire body remained still. Despite the relaxed state of her muscles, she could feel the same kind of tingly energy she'd felt before, now remembering what it felt like when those two Hydra agents had tried to take her the first time. It was almost as though that memory had unlocked itself so that she could view it from all angles, not just the ones Hiro had shown her in a video.

If she concentrated, she could pull up the exact sensations, smells, and other stimuli of that situation, almost like she was reliving it, except she knew she wasn't. Kally knew exactly where she was and why. She also knew there was only one other conscious person in the room with her, a medic who was more intent on the other patient in the room than on her.

She turned her head to one side to look over at this other medic, realizing they were in a different room than the one she'd originally thought they were in. This was not the front area of the medical lab, but a smaller, similar room. And the medic was intently watching Hiro Hamada, who lay unconscious on the bed opposite her.

The beep of two heart monitors filled the room, one hers, one his. And even though she didn't see any real changes from when Hiro normally slept, she knew there was a difference. Something had happened to him in-between the time she'd last seen him and now. In fact, she'd be surprised if it hadn't been in the last day or two, after Loki had left the area.