Resurgence

Chapter 2: Rebirth

I placed my head against one of the cold brick walls of the alley. Tears began to form in my doe-like eyes. I heard radio feedback and loud stomping and car engines. I stood up straight as I felt someone approach me. A woman with a light complexion and raven hair that was pulled back into a low bun was standing in front of me in a navy, sleek uniform. She looked important like some sort of agent that you see in the movies. Before I could finish taking in her appearance, she was about to say something when she pushed me aside with a protective force. I hit the other wall as she drew a weapon. She began to fight a tall, masked man that was behind where I was previously standing. He was in similar gear and seemed to come out of nowhere as if from the shadows. I watched as they fought with skills that could only classify them as professionals in martial arts or something of the sorts. I attempted to run away when another man captured me. I elbowed him in the face but his gripped remained tight on my body weakening my efforts of running back to the woman that first found me. Before I knew it, another figure appeared and pulled me into a dark SUV. I fought as hard as I could to get out before they could close the door, but I then felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. Everything went black once again.

My eyes began to flutter open once again with sight that was blurred then dramatically magnified. Specs of dust on the ceiling appeared in close range as if right in front of my eyes. I looked to my side where my eyes zoomed into the ridged details of an old wall. Shutting my eyes once again, I tried to readjust and process what I had seen or better yet done then taking in where I was: a cold medical room with gray brick walls that seemed to echo my breathing. With the sudden remembrance of what had happened, I checked over myself for signs of injuries discovering my wrists handcuffed to a metal medical table. Luckily, other than the slight discomfort of my wrists, I was fine. Before making an attempt to free myself, my ears began to ring. The silent empty room became overwhelmingly loud. My hearing engulfed with sudden bursts of sounds. Trying to process each one separately I heard the rumbling of the air-conditioning unit, then the humming of an old computer unit, then the tiny patting of an ant walking on the floor of the other corner of the room, then sudden stomping approaching in my direction. My ears now focused on my accelerated heartbeat. I felt terrified and disoriented. This couldn't be happening.
I pulled on the cuffs in efforts of escaping when my mind entered a fight-or-flight mode as four men entered the room I was in. Two of them were well built and armed with various weapons. I assumed they were the ones who took me given their gear and minor wounds. They stood behind another man who had a similar hostile stance. I could tell he was older from his gray hair and slightly blurred eyes. His presence seemed to be stronger than the others'. He had to be the one in charge. Next to him, a man with a smaller stature stood in a lab coat. He seemed in a calm state, yet I could tell we shared a similar fear. In another strive of breaking free, I stunned myself as I actually broke the cuffs with a sudden burst of strength and stood up planting my feet on the floor. Immediately the armed men pointed their weapons at me. I backed away in fear of them and in fear of myself. I pushed the metal bed slightly as I backed away from them and squeezed the edge of it as I tried to grab it to regain balance. The metal seemed to bend at my grasp as if it were clay instead of a hard, firm surface. The older man had a slight smirk on his face then quickly acted concerned. He began an effort to calm me down and ordered the two men to stand down.
"It's okay. You don't have to be afraid. We won't hurt you. My name is Silas Williams. I'm the man in charge here. I just want to help." The man said in a firm yet slightly sympathetic voice.
"Where the hell am I? What is this place? How did I get here?" I questioned loudly and out of breath with anxiety.
"I apologize for the abrupt and harsh manners of my team. They had to get you before the others did. The cuffs were just a precaution." I stared at Williams with a vexed look. "Do you know how you arrived here? Not here at the facility but here... in New York." I remained silent at the ridiculous possibility that I wasn't going insane. That maybe I wasn't imagining the mind-boggling situation. Despite my gut feeling of him being the bad guy of my story, I needed answers to the new questions roaming through my mind. Before I could think of what to respond he interrupted my thoughts, "I know you're probably a bit disoriented, so Dr. Russell here can help you if you allow him. You want answers. We can give them to you if you let us help you."
A few more seconds of silence passed until I decided to interrupt it by finally replying to his subtle interrogation, "I know I'll probably sound crazy-"
"I've probably seen and heard crazier. Trust me.", he assured me.
"I was heading to my car... in Texas, when lightning came out of nowhere and a flash of blue light hit me. I passed out and woke up on the streets of New York."
He paused for a moment to process what I said, but remained unfazed by my incredulous answer. He then spoke, "Have you ever heard of the multiverse theory? We think you're from another place. Another version of our planet. Another dimension, if you will. We also believe that some sort of relic brought you he-"
"Woah woah wait! Another Dimension? Relic? Is this some sick prank or something? Did you drug me?"
"This Relic is called the Tesseract. Long story-short, It has been around for an infinite amount of years. It's capabilities are still far beyond our understanding. Something we do know is that it possesses a power that can bend the space-time continuum. The Tesseract is sought out by many for various reasons. In the wrong hands it can be weaponized and used against humanity. We've been trying to track it based on some special signatures it gives off. Our efforts of locating it were failing until we read a strong signature coming from where you appeared. The Tesseract itself is still out there somewhere, but I think it brought you here to our earth."
Right when I thought I was the crazy one, this man bombards me with information that seemed to be too incredulous for me to process. Yet for some reason I felt he was telling the truth. I still distrusted him, but I know I had to avoid confrontation given my disadvantage of not knowing what was happening to me.
I know I can't trust him, but I have to at least make him think I do in order to gain whatever advantage I could. "So I'm an alien?", I chuckled at my own response.
"In a sense", Williams chuckled back, his blue eyes profiling my every move, "We don't want to hurt you. We just want to make sure you don't contain any sort of radiation that can hurt you or others. We don't want another version of the Hulk out there in the world."
"The what?"
"He's a green monster created from an accidental gamma radiation experiment. But don't worry I was just joking. But we do want to make sure you're well.", he glances at the cuffs I broke and part of the table I miraculously and effortlessly bent before looking back at me, "You seem to be enhanced now. Unless this is normal for people on your earth to do." I shake my head in response, trying to hide my concern for myself. "Well then we should get that checked out. Again, this is Dr. Russell. He is a biochemical engineer. Also an expert in all sorts of space physics and all that cool stuff. Point is, he can study your new advancements, make sure you're in tip-top shape. I'll let him take a look at you and I'll come back to answer any questions you may have for me." He walked away with the two armed men after giving a quick dark glare at the Doctor that was now beside me.
Dr. Russell asked me to sit down on the metal bed in a soft hesitant voice. He began to look around at all the supplies as if it was all foreign to him too. As he did this, I could still hear the footsteps of the man I now know to be Silas Williams. I could hear the three men's footsteps, but his were the ones my ears focused on. I knew enough time had passed for them to be at a long distance from the room I was in, yet I focused on the footsteps as if they were only a few feet away.
My ears zoned in and out until they refocused on his voice. First low then clear again to hear him speak, "We found... something. It wasn't the cube, but a girl.", his tone different than what it was with me, "They wanted her too. We think she has it or has access to it somehow. We tried to enter her mind with the tech you lent us from the soldier, but it didn't seem to work. She woke up with an intact mind." He paused as I heard a slightly staticky noise followed by a voice. He was talking on the phone with someone, I perceived.
"How did it not work? It never fails. Did the tech fail or did you?", the mysterious voice questioned.
"The girl seems to be enhanced. When we tried using it, she was still unconscious from the travel here. We figured she'd wake from the pain, yet her body didn't even flinch. It's almost as if the electrical currents didn't even touch her. Like her skin or her mind were shielding her somehow.", Silas replied, "After she woke, she managed to break metal cuffs and bend a metal table. I'm having our new friend, Dr. Russell examine her for traces of the Tesseract. She is being cooperative given she doesn't know who we are. The doc says she's from another earth or universe or whatever the hell he calls it. His multiverse theory proves true. All signs point to it. She's the key to finding the Cube."
The voice on the other end of the call remained silent for a moment, then responded with a plan that I was going to be the center of, "We have a clean sleight with her. Use it to our advantage. Make her think we're trying to help her. Gain her trust. If she is in fact enhanced then we want her on our side. Have your team train her. I want to know what she can do. Maybe we won't need the cube if we have her. Update me on everything."
"Another 'Winter Soldier'? She's young. Feisty, but young. Can't be more than twenty. Kid's small too. She won't last in hand-to-hand combat."
"Captain America was small too and look where he got. Follow orders and train her. But keep her happy. If we can't subdue her then we have to make her believe in the cause the old fashioned way."
"Yes sir. Hail-."
Before I could hear the rest of the men's goodbyes, my senses were brought back to the room I was in when the doctor tapped my shoulder. He could tell I wasn't paying attention to anything he was doing. He asked if anyone had seen me before my dramatic extraction from the city. I pretended I didn't remember incase he was in on this conspiracy, but began to question my own judgement when I saw the same fear in his eyes that I felt were in mine. He kept repeating a mantra in a soft whisper that he believed only he could hear: "They'll find us. They have to find us. They'll find us." His french accent seeped through as he repeated it. I stared at him and took notice of his trembling form while he grabbed a machine that looked like a speed gun that traffic cops use. I flinched when he scanned it over me as it began to beep rapidly. I looked at him in hopes he'd explain what was occurring. "It measures foreign radiation. You seem to have significant amounts of it." He continued to run series of surprisingly noninvasive tests on me. He further explained his multiverse theory which I didn't fully understand due to his eloquent scientific vocabulary. He also explained to me that this so-called 'Tesseract' was a cube of alien energy that theoretically could open portals throughout space. He appeared a bit more relaxed the more he spoke to me. I even felt like I could confide in him that my senses seemed amplified. It was a gut feeling that I could trust the small older man. Something about his demeanor made me think he wasn't there willingly either. When I told him about my improved senses, he ran a few more tests then stared into nothingness for a minute then broke into a marginal panic again, "You seem like a good person. Which is why they can't know anything you just told me. They are acting like the good guys right now, but they will kill you as soon as they see you as a threat. Or worse, they will use you to their advantage. They just want the Tesseract. They want its power to do unspeakable things. To regain the power their organization had in the 40s. To instill fear and control over the world. The only reason they found you was because the tesseract itself has been acting up at a classified SHIELD base. They thought the signatures from your travel here were coming from it. I work for SHIELD. Or I did until they captured me a few days ago. I do, however, believe that the Tesseract brought you here. These tests confirm it, but for your sake and the world's I'm denying it to them. They can't know that you could possibly posses it's power. As for your senses, use them to your advantage. Use them to stay alive. Don't let them know you have them. And lastly, Pray that SHIELD finds us."
"Who are these people?" I asked with dismay.
"Their organization dates back to before World War II. They're a terrorist organization that believes power, control and terror is the way to bring order. They think that what they're doing is for the greater good which makes them all the more dangerous. Picture them as the empire from 'Star Wars' but a hundred times worse. Please tell me they have Star Wars where you're from."
"Yes, so I surprisingly understood that reference", I chuckled at the memory of the franchise, "So SHIELD are the good guys?"
"For the most part. They're not exactly the Rebellion, but more of an intense and more secretive version of the CIA. But these... terrorists have managed to infiltrated them. Double agents took me. Besides the director of SHIELD and his right hand, very few people on the planet knew where I was conducting my research. If we get out of here, we have to be careful who we trust. Remember the name Fury and Hill. Fury is the director of SHIELD and Hill is his right hand. They're the only ones that I know for a fact can't be apart of this."
"These terrorists... do they have a weird name too?"
"They call themselves-"
We were interrupted by Silas coming back into the room with his two goons. He begins to interrogate the Doctor I befriended about my abilities. My new ally lied telling him that my only enhancement was my strength he had already seen and that my only connection to the sought out artifact was my travel here. He didn't seem convinced, so I intervened in hopes he wouldn't hurt my new and only friend here by telling him I could possibly develop new abilities with time and further tests. He slightly nods to his men as if giving them the order to take the doctor away to which they did.
"Where are they taking him?" I demanded an answer trying to follow.
He stops me cautiously, "They're just escorting him to another facility. We will be brining in another doctor soon to keep an eye on your new abilities."
I refocused my hearing as I did earlier to investigate what was happening to Dr. Russell. I hear his footsteps turn to a drag. I think they were literally dragging him away now. I hear one of his captors say "Looks like we no longer have use for you."
Doctor Russell begs for mercy then gives up and uses a faint whisper knowing I could still hear him and be the only one who could, "Remember. Use them to your advantage. Survive. Remember."
My hearing focuses back to Williams as he gestures for me to sit down where I previously was. I heard a muffled beat that I only assumed was a gunshot that ended the life of my only friend. My heart dropped realizing the severity of the situation I was in. Fear instilled back in me more intensely as Silas began to speak again, "Do you have a name?", he asks.
"I- I don't remember", I play dumb, "I know this sounds odd, but I remember life on my earth, but I don't remember... me."
"Like I said, I've heard crazier. Let's give you a name.", He hums slightly as he thinks, "How about Vixen? You seem to be a bit of a stubborn fighter; Very 'vixen'", He chuckles.
A small laugh escapes me, "Vixen. I don't mind that. But naming me comes at a price doesn't it? Why am I here? What do you want from me exactly?" I question him with a sweet tone for him not to suspect that I had an idea of what his malicious intentions were.
"I'll be honest with you, we were hoping to find that artifact I was telling you about earlier. But now you're here. This is as unexpected to you as it is to me. You didn't ask for this, and I won't leave you out on the streets. I'm not a monster. Plus they'll be people looking for you now. The woman you encountered earlier, before we found you, she is part of an organization called SHIELD. They probably want you believing you have a connection to the Tesseract. If they were to catch you and find out you don't, they will kill you or they'll lock you in a cell for being enhanced. But you can stay here. I can keep you safe and teach you to protect yourself. You see I work for an organization that wants to help improve the world. You are now a part of that world and who knows maybe you'll begin to like it. SHEILD doesn't share our same views and will do anything to stop us from improving humanity. But maybe one day, with your help, we can bring peace to this world." He paused for a moment to analyze my reaction, which on the outside I kept innocent, "Well what do you think? You are free to go of course. But you'll run the risk of them finding you. Here you'll have everything you need. I'll make sure of it."
I tempted on testing him by choosing to leave, but I knew they'd come after me. I had no allies here. I was in a foreign world where I didn't know anything or anyone. My only chance at survival was staying here. Like he said, I would help change this world, only it would be by infiltrating this organization of his. This was my chance to play hero again, only this time on a bigger scale. I was going to play his game. Make him think I was the damsel in distress. The girl desperate for a home. A girl easy to manipulate. Only I would know my real intentions: to dismantle his vile plans along with anyone that partakes in them. But first I had to do whatever it takes to survive.
"So what do you say?" He asks, almost knowing I couldn't refuse his offer.
"Okay. I'll stay. It's not like I have anywhere else to go." I respond not wanting him to think I trust nor distrust him.
"You'll be comfortable here. I'll show you where you can stay." He guides me through the halls of the creepy, dreary facility we were in. He tells me him and his team mostly do undercover work but come back to the base to train and occasionally spend nights here if they go on special missions. We reached the room that I would now reside in. It was dull with only a full-sized bed, a black futon, and a small night stand in it. A bathroom was on the left corner of the room with a small closet next to it. Silas said I could touch it up with time. He continues to tell me about his team and makes efforts to convince me I'll be safe and happy here, and that I'll be an excellent new addition to his team.
"Your organization seems too good to be true", I tell him playfully, "Does this organization have a name?"
"HYDRA" He states with pride. He proceeded to take out a pin from the inside of his blazer. He gazes at it before handing it to me. It was a dark, gunmetal colored circle, with a red octopus-looking thing on it. I felt its coldness in my hand, both literally and figuratively. I ran my thumb across it and stared at it with awe before Silas interrupted my thoughts, "This is our symbol. Your symbol. This is your new home. We take care of our own. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to the team and give you a welcoming tour, and if you're up for it we'll start your training. You'll fit right in. With that said, you need some rest. It's been an intense day for you, I'm sure. I'll be two halls over if you need anything. I'll come for you in the morning." I held my arm out giving him back his pin, with his hand he rejects it, "Keep it. It's yours now." I give him a weak smile before looking back at my gift. He smiles back then steps out of my new room shutting the door behind him.
Staring at the four walls I now call my own, I run my hands through my hair in frustration and sit on the slightly rigid bed. A tear escaped my eye as my old nightly questions turned into new ones. Am I out of my mind thinking I can play them? Will I be able to survive this? Will I one day be able to return home? I laid down and continued to go through my new list of soul-stirring questions for what felt like hours until the exhaustion got the best of me and drifted off to a restless sleep.