Retrospect『 avengers au 』

Chapter III: Uncaged

"Reading is very good. And you can quote me!" - Stan Lee

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Chapter III: Uncaged

"I need to flush your IV so I'm just going to take the needle out and then I'll put it back in your arm in a minute, okay?" The man known as Dr. Bruce Banner informed the young woman. She simply nodded her head silently as he reached forward and gently peeled the tape off of her arm and slid the needle out of her skin. The girl noticed some color coming back to her skin, finding that she was rather tan, and she felt less light-headed. She wondered where she was from. Who her parents are. A veil was drawn over that portion of her brain and she momentarily gave up as she felt a migraine beginning to form from mental strain.

The girl watched as Dr. Banner flushed her IV and proceeded to reattach it and push the needle back into the bend of her arm once he had sterilized it. The spot burned and stung for a moment before the area became numb, the doctor placing a new strip of medical tape over it.

"If you don't mind, we need to check for any serious internal injuries. Natasha came to help me do that so you're more comfortable," Dr. Banner informed the girl, and she nodded hesitantly, slowly sitting up.

Natasha came to the girl's side and smiled. "I'm just going to press down a little on certain sections of your body and you tell me if it hurts, okay?" She said and the younger woman nodded her head once again.

Natasha placed one hand gently on the girl's back for support as she used the other to press down on several parts of her stomach. The girl felt no pain, no injury, no bruising. Nothing. Dr. Banner and Natasha Romanoff seemed to notice this and view it as strange, or abnormal. It was something the girl felt like she was used to. She didn't understand their confusion. But they said nothing to her about it, and Dr. Banner then performed a series of smaller tasks to ensure the girl's health: listening to her lungs as she breathed in and out, listening to her heartbeat, checking her hearing and sight, as well as reflexes. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

Dr. Banner exchanged another look with Natasha Romanoff. "Well, it seems you're... completely fine as far as injuries or pain goes... You're just a little dehydrated and starved. Are you hungry?" He spoke, sending the girl a comforting smile, and she nodded, now noticing the empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I'll bring you some water and something to eat," Natasha told her and the girl tilted her head gratefully as she exited the room, the door swinging shut behind her.

Dr. Banner stood before the monitor to the girl's right, his side profile facing her as he examined a few things silently. The girl simply laid back and took a breath in, letting it out quietly as she shut her eyes briefly. Before long, she had fallen into a deep sleep. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a dimly lit hallway. There was nothing, no one, but tipped over medical tables, tools scattered over dirty, tiled floors.

"Hello?" She called down the hall, her voice echoing eerily down the corridors before her. She spoke again as she slowly and cautiously stepped forward, "Hello?" But received no answer.

One rectangular light in the ceiling above her began to flicker, a faint buzzing noise accompanying it. She took one last glance back at the door she came from, the broken lock still sending her mind back into the familiar sea of unanswered questions she so often took a dip in. But simply staring at it would give her nothing. She turned forward once more and made her way down the hall, listening intently for any strange or unusual noises that may come from each door she passed by along the way.

The young woman's body felt different. Strange. As she pressed forward, she felt as if she were walking on air, like there was no effort put into anything she did, like she was capable of much more than she believed she was.