different » marvel ¹

twelve

Sam, Steve, Natasha, and I all stand as we watch more cars drive in with agents and surround us.

They all flood in around us, Rumlow leading the whole ordeal.

"Drop your weapons!" Agents hold Nat and I at gun point. She immediately drops her weapon while I hesitate, not wanting to go down.

"Drop it. There's cameras everywhere." She tells me and I sigh, dropping the gun to the floor and holding my hands up.

"Get on your knees!" They shout at us, kicking the back of my legs and making my knees hit the hard concrete.

"Use the special cuffs on her!" I hear Rumlow order them, making me look up in confusion as one agent carries a small black case forward with cuffs inside that have a slight blue glow around them. I get those slapped onto my wrists and I'm yanked to my feet and led away from Natasha and the others to a transport van.

Rumlow approaches the guys that are walking me, stopping them. "Put her in the other one." I don't say anything, I just let the idiots shove me around to the other van.

As I'm walking I try to break the cuffs with my powers, but just like I suspected it didn't work.

"You like the cuffs we made you? They block your power with nano-tech. Of course, they won't hurt you—that is, unless I press this button." Rumlow announces and holds up a small square with two buttons on it and taps the top one gently. "Don't piss me off and we won't have to use it."

"Why am I in a separate transport? I'm not that dangerous."

"Because they're going somewhere different. You, Raven, you're going back to your old stomping grounds." Rumlow lets a tight-lipped smile fall on his lips.

My face drops as I understand what he meant, what he could only mean. "What? No, no. You can't take me back!" I begin to struggle within the mens' grasp of me, but as soon as I try to fight back, I get a needle shoved in my neck.

My vision begins to get splotchy and dark spots form at the corners before I feel my body go limp.

"HYDRA wants you back, Vixen."

• • •

   Steve, Natasha, and Sam are led inside to the facility that Fury was being kept in.

   Nat watches Steve worriedly, her eyebrows pulled together. "What's wrong?"

   "Raven isn't here. Hey, Agent Hill." He turns to her. "Did you get Raven? Where is she?"

   At this, Hill's face contorts in confusion. "No. I thought she got out?"

   Rogers shakes his head in an almost violent manner. "No, no she didn't. Rumlow put her on a separate transport." He runs his hands over his face, his breathing beginning to accelerate as he assumes the worst. "Damn it! They—They got her."

   "Steve, hey calm down." Natasha tries to comfort him. "She's smart. She'll be okay. Maybe she got away, alright? As soon as we're done here, we'll figure something out."

   "She got away from them once, Natasha, do you really think they're gonna let that happen again?"

• • •

The sound of screaming echoes in my ears as flickering, dull lights invade my vision, making me reach up to block it, only to be stopped by heavy weights on my wrists. I blink, trying to see.

There are similar cuffs like before, only now they're attached to a chain that goes into a brick wall. As I look around, I notice there's also similar devices on my ankles. Panic begins to set in as I become more aware and my vision clears. I feel my heart rate speed up.

"Because they're going somewhere different. You, Raven, you're going back to your old stomping grounds." Rumlow's voice sounds out in my head, making me wince.

I search my surroundings more intently. I'm set on the ground and the walls are solid concrete, except for the one with a solid metal door that has a small glass panel at the top. A small bed sits next to me, bolted to the ground. Didn't even have the consideration to put me on the bed.

I try to move, but the fatigue that plagues my body combined with the weight of the chains at too much for me right now, causing me to lean back against the wall with a thud. "I've gotta get out. I've gotta get out." I mutter. I can't be here again. Who knows what the hell they're going to do this time, especially now that they know how to handle restraining me and my powers.

My breathing becomes more frequent, not making the situation any better. I have no clue how long I've been here, if Steve and the others are okay, or if they've already tried to do something to me. I reach for the dogtags on my neck, beginning to flip them over in my hand.

"Okay . . . calm down. You're going to be okay. You're gonna find a way out, either that or they'll come and get you. Whichever comes first." I nod, reassuring myself. I look down, noticing that I wasn't wearing my normal attire. Instead there was a plain black t-shirt and loose grey shorts with an untied drawstring. I let out a shaky breath, lifting my hands to tighten and tie it quickly.

I close my eyes, trying to focus. Sure, HYDRA could separate me from my team, but they had no way of cutting off my connection to Heimdall.

Leaning back against the cement wall, I try to summon him. "Heimdall? Can you see me?"

I wait a second before it feels as if my mind is being shot through space and I open my eyes to find that I'm standing before him in the Bifrost on Asgard.

"Raven, it's nice to see you again." He gives me a sincere smile. I try to return it best I can. "Likewise, Heimdall. I'll just get right to the point: I'm in trouble, I need your help."

"I know."

"Yeah, of course you do. Do you see any way out of the building I'm in?" I ask, watching as he focuses.

"You're underground, but I've seen how you leave this place, don't worry. Everything will be okay in the end."

"Well, wait. I need to know—" I'm cut off by him sending me another smile and letting my figure dissipate through space.

"I'll send your greetings to Thor and Loki."

His voice fades out as the same feeling of being hurled through space invades my head, until I reopen my eyes and am met with the plain brick walls again. "You know, Heimdall, that wasn't very nice." I comment, knowing fully well he could hear me.

I clench my jaw, deciding it was time to finally get off my ass—literally—and try to find out what's going on. Pressing my hands against the wall behind me, I use the leverage to push myself up to my bare feet and walk to the door.

I force myself to stop, though, when I hear the sound of a lock turning and see people outside. I quickly pull the tags off of my neck, moving to shove them underneath the mattress of the bed and resume my old position.

The door swings open to Alexander Pierce and two agents by his side. He grins. "Well, well, well. Raven Nix, the Vixen. Not so terrible now, are you? It's been quite a while hasn't it?"

"Can't really remember, don't really care." I bite the inside of my cheek, wanting to run out the door and never look back.

"You know, for a while we thought we'd never get you back." He leans against the doorframe. "So, Strucker had the idea to just make a new one of you." He chuckles as he makes the vague statement, making my face cloud with confusion. "That's for a another time, though." He dismisses the topic with a wave of his hand.

   "We've got a lot to catch up on, Vixen." Pierce turns to the agents. "Send her down for reprogramming. I'll meet you there."

   "Reprogramming? No!" I step forward. "You can't—You can't mess with my head again." I tug at the chains as the agents step forward and Pierce moves out the door.

   "Oh, we can, and we will." At this, I violently pull the chains, fear and anger clouding my decisions.

   One agent grabs an electro-charged knight stick, shoving it into my side and sending electricity through my veins, causing me to collapse onto the floor.

The pain causes me to groan as they undo the chains from the walls. "You guys are assholes."