Ready, Aim, Fire~An Avengers Story

Escape/Prisoner of Power/Studied

Jamie's P.O.V.

  I felt someone kicking me hard in the ribs, over and over, and heard laughter, and wanted them to stop, as sharp pain shot through my sides and body. Without even thinking, I wished they'd die, and a split second later, a sharp cracking noise was heard, then a loud thud beside me. My eyelids fluttered weakly, before my eyes opened completely, and I found myself still in the prison. I slowly sat up, then coughed hard, and finally, turned onto my side and threw up, every inch of my body in agonizing pain. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, shaking, and froze, as a gun cocked and touched the back of my head. A voice full of fear said,"Don't move, or I'll blow your head off, freak." I whispered,"You don't want me to move? I won't.." I closed my eyes, and a moment later, heard the man's arm break, his gun clattering to the floor. He screamed in pain, and I shakily climbed to my feet, blood dripping from cuts all over my skin. I slowly lifted my head, and saw the Avengers watching me, weapons drawn. The one I dimly remembered as Wanda watched me warily, and I could see a mixture of fear and sadness in her eyes. Just then, a large group of soldiers started firing at me, and I barely managed to stop the bullets from hitting me, my legs shaking with the effort of holding me up. Their thoughts got louder and louder, and I fell to my knees, before screaming,"Leave me alone!" Every soldier and the Avengers were sent flying backwards, and I fell sideways, my head hitting the metal flooring. All the soldiers lay in twisted and unnatural angles around me, dead, and I shook.

    I whispered,"I didn't mean to..I didn't. I just wanted them to leave me alone.." I watched the Avengers get up, one by one, but stayed down, too weak to get up again. Tony glared at me, and said,"Likely story. What, you tried to murder us, then feel bad for murdering other people? Bull.." Natasha said,"Tony, look at her. She's scared to death..I think she's telling the truth." She walked over to me cautiously, and kneeled beside me."Don't move. You're injured pretty badly, but we have a doctor with us. Okay?" I whispered,"You want me to come with you? After what I did?" She sighed, and nodded."Look, what you're doing isn't your fault. We want to help you. But before you come with us, I have to do one thing.." She pulled back her fist, and punched me hard, then darkness closed in on me, knocking me out cold. When I woke up again, I found myself inside what seemed to be a plane, and my head was in Wanda's lap. I groaned in pain, and Wanda peered down at me, a concerned look on her face. "Jamie?" I blinked, blushing as I realised fully where my head was, and tried to sit up, finding myself tied up tightly. "Hey..Hey, let me up!" Wanda said,"Shh, it's alright. You're safe now.." She looked worriedly to her left, and stood up, leaving me alone in the seat. I couldn't turn my head, still too weak, and heard her say,"She's awake." I heard Clint say,"Good..We're home. Bruce said to put her in that special room. The one that keeps her from hurting people."

      I felt myself being lifted, and stopped struggling, reading their jumbled mess of thoughts."Wait..You're locking me up again?? No..Put me down! Put me down!!" Clint said,"Whatever you say", and dropped me on the floor of a room, the door slamming shut behind him. I coughed, and forced myself to stand, finding the bonds holding me gone. I desperately looked for a way out, but couldn't find one, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open the door with my powers. A voice that belonged to Tony came over a hidden speaker,"Uh, yeah, we might have forgotten to mention that we had this room built to hold Wanda. Your powers won't help you get out of there, sweet cheeks." I curled up in a corner of the room on the floor, and started crying."Please..Please let me out. I won't hurt you. I swear. I was supposed to in the lab, but I won't here. They made me do it..I didn't want to..I didn't want to hurt that nurse, either. That was an accident..I thought she was gonna hurt me. Sometimes, when I get too scared or upset, I lose control. Accidents happen..And I get punished. And your soldier friends..They cut me, and burned me. I just wanted them to stop hurting me and leave me alone. I don't even know you people." Another voice came over the speaker,"Uh..My name is Dr. Bruce Banner. If I come in there to fix you up, you won't hurt me, right?" I nodded silently, and about ten minutes later, the green man I fought before and Wanda walked in, shutting the door behind them. Banner pulled out a needle, and I flinched away from him. He said,"Hey, no, it's okay..This is to help make the pain go away. I'm not gonna hurt you. God knows I know how it feels to lose myself to my dark side." I swallowed hard, and slowly held out my arm, flinching a tiny bit as the needle slid into my skin. He sighed, and looked at Wanda. "She'll have to, um..Take her clothes off if she wants me to help her." I felt the darkness inside me bristle at that, wanting me to crush him for it, and I whispered,"Stop..I'm not going to do it. He's trying to help." Bruce took a tiny step back at that, and I took a deep breath, before shedding my jacket, then pulled my shirt over my head, and my pants off, leaving me even more vulnerable and powerless feeling..

Wanda's P.O.V.

    I felt my heart nearly stop, as my eyes traced the scars, cuts, bruises, and burns on her skin. I knew the fresh ones were from the raft prison torture, but the rest of the scars..They must have been from the lab. I locked eyes with Bruce, and he seemed to come to the same conclusion. I gently took Jamie's hand, and whispered,"It's alright. No one will hurt you here. Being locked away in here won't be forever, Jamie. We just want to help keep you safe." She muttered,"You mean keep others safe from me. You can say it, you know. I know what they think of me..And what you think of me, Wanda. And you're right..They tortured me in the lab. Every time I did something wrong, or didn't do well enough in their tests." I flinched, as I could see vivid memories of the tests she spoke of, and swallowed hard. "Then you also know I went through that as well. Not like you, but similar. My brother and I were their pride, and we were also their downfall. They turned you into their new weapon, because they lost us." As Bruce finished tending to her injuries, I let go of her hand, not having realised I had held it so long. She slowly pulled her clothes back on, and I went to leave, freezing, as she whispered,"I'm sorry about your brother. He seems awesome." I turned to her, and smiled a bit."He was..I think he would have liked you." I felt a bit of accomplishment, as she smiled a small half smile, and I walked out, shutting and locking the door behind me. I watched as the smile fell from her face, and told Bruce,"I hate having to watch her suffer alone. She can't even see us out here, though we can see her. I know how she feels; betrayed, lost, alone..She doesn't deserve to be locked away." Bruce sighed, and shrugged."It's not up to me, Wanda. Tony says she needs to be studied, so we can see the full extent of her powers, though I'm certain it'll be the same as yours." I closed my eyes as he walked away, and whispered,"That's what I'm afraid of."

      For the next few weeks, I volunteered to guard Jamie, worrying as she barely moved at all from where she'd sat the first day. Every now and then, she would scream at no one, and a few other times, she just screamed. At night was the worst time for her, I noticed, as she had nightmare after nightmare, shaking for hours afterwards. I wanted nothing more than to be inside the room with her and tell her it was alright, but Tony wouldn't allow it, saying that she was too dangerous for even me, after she had almost crushed me to death with a truck. I began noticing other little things about her as well, like the way she sometimes sang softly to herself, and how excited she became when we allowed her to have books and movies in the room with her. I started to wonder if she remembered more than she let on, as she talked to herself about being kidnapped, and an antiques store, but then, she would always shake her head and insist it must be a dream. One day, I went to watch her like always, only to find her having a seizure. I knew no one else would get there in time, and so, I opened the door, and ran inside, lifting her head up, and put it in my lap, stroking her hair. "Shh, Jamie..It's alright, you're safe now." I swallowed hard, as she went still, and stopped breathing."No..Jamie! Jamie, please!" She didn't move for a few minutes, then she shot up, gasping for air, and looked at me, tears running down her face. She whispered,"Oh..Wanda, I've done bad things..Very bad things." She started sobbing, and I was at a loss for words, gently wrapping my arms around her shaking body, trying to comfort her. I whispered,"I don't understand.." And shock went through my entire body, as she whispered against my shoulder,"I remember, Wanda..I remember everything.."