Candid Camera
The cold metal under her back shuttered and bumped, each small movement causing a shock of pain to ricochet through her body. Her eyes were flickering between open and closed as she stared at bright lights passing by above her. Each time she moved under another flash of light her currently photosensitive eyes involuntarily screwed shut. Iris tried to bring her hands up to cover her vision only to feel a tightness around her arms keeping them by her sides.
Another light passed above her and she closed her eyes. Once she opened them again she tried to turn her head, ignoring the sharp pain radiating from her neck as she did so. She saw two people, one on each side of her, pulling the metal bed that she now realized was some sort of gurney. They were wearing what looked like black military gear. When looking at her own clothes she realized she was clad only in a thin hospital gown.
Iris tried to shout “hey” to get their attention but all that came out was a weakened cough; she heard a chuckle behind her head. She tried to strain her neck to find the source of the laugh, but only managed to move a few centimeters before her already hazy vision blurred from the pain.
“Don’t strain yourself, sweetheart.” A disfigured head peaked over hers as they continued moving. It was Rumlow. Iris felt the need to vomit as memories of the previous day flooded into her mind. She began to pull at the restraints around her body, uselessly so.
“Feisty, I like it.” Iris felt a finger run down her cheek as she quickly gave up the useless fight against the metal surrounding her body.
Just as Iris began to try to snap back Rumlow stepped away from her vision as they continued to move forward. Iris felt the gurney turn left and right a few times, her vision unchanging as she continued to watch the florescent lights on the ceiling above her. She was exhausted to the point that the tears she felt were not appearing.
Eventually, the gurney stopped rattling. Iris heard a short series of beeps, like a code being punched into a keypad. Another second of silence occurred before a metallic pop. Iris strained her neck once more to see a thick metal door beside a large window being pulled open by the men in military gear. They pulled her into the room before closing the door behind them all with an eerie clang.
Above her suddenly appeared a new group of people, this time in doctor’s uniforms. Iris’s eyes darted from one person to the other as they began moving around her still body. She felt a hand on her thigh, her arm and stomach, eliciting a new panic. However, instead of what she expected, they released the metal spanning across her body.
Iris sprang up with a new found adrenaline. She stumbled off the gurney, pushing away the last hand on her arm. Instantly she crashed to the floor, desperately grabbing the closest thing to her: a metal tray filled with surgical instruments.
After gathering her bearings for a second, Iris seized a scalpel before springing to her feet. She leaned against the wall, hoping she looked more intimidating than she felt.
Looking around, her scalpel pointed forward in her shaking hands, she saw a room full of people, more than she originally expected. Iris saw the original two military men, both of which were pointing a gun at her. Besides them were three more men, dressed similarly, also with their guns raised. Rumlow stood arms crossed, smirking, a few feet away. With them were about six doctors and nurses.
“You afraid of a little girl?” Rumlow broke the thick silence with a guffaw, his scarred face staring straight at her terrified one. “Put those guns down.”
The men looked between each other before holstering their weapons. Rumlow took a step towards Iris. She jerked back, her scalpel still raised.
“Fuck off,” Iris growled through gritted teeth, the adrenaline turning to fear and pain now.
“I’d watch my words if I were you,” Rumlow smirked once more, now just a few steps from her. “Your little solider isn’t here to protect you now.”
Just the thought of Bucky was enough to send a burst of confidence into her veins. As Rumlow reached to grab her she sprang forward, plunging the small knife straight into his chest. Iris’s heart dropped as she barely felt it sink more than a fourth of an inch into what she now realized was most likely Kevlar.
Rumlow didn’t hesitate to grab Iris who was now already directly in front of him. Iris threw her weight against his chest as he pinned her against the wall. She watched as he smiled evilly with her in his arms.
“Don’t worry angel, we’ll have time for that later.” She felt his hot breath against her ear as he leaned in to whisper.
Once again her heart skipped. Angel?
She suddenly felt Rumlow force her forward, his arms still tightly wrapped around her chest. Iris struggled against her new restraints, but once again it was useless.
“I’ve been watching you for quite some time now.” Rumlow gestured for one of the military men to come forward. The man passed a tablet to Rumlow who held it in front of her. She could feel his heat against her back as he held her tightly against his body.
Iris felt her breath catch in her throat as the screen began to play a video. It was a video from a street security camera showing Bucky and her walking down a dimly lit street. Instantly Iris remembered that time, it was only from a week ago. They had just been walking back from a date at the movies. Though the sound was weak, Iris could make out the two of them talking.
“Good choice of movie, angel.” Iris heard Bucky’s voice crackle from the tablet.
“Really? I didn’t really like it.” She watched herself shrug through the screen.
“Why? I thought you loved that actor, what’s his name?”
“I think you’re thinking of that guy in what we watched last night.”
“Oh yeah. Oops.”
The video cut out after laughing from the two of them. Iris felt tears trickling down her cheeks. If it weren’t for Rumlow’s strong grip on her body she would have collapsed to the floor once more.
“Wasn’t that cute, angel?” Rumlow sneered, handing the tablet back to the man as she coughed and heaved. “Don’t worry, the good doctors here will make sure you continue to be that cute, little angel even after we fry your brain to a pulp. Won’t they?”
With that Rumlow pushed Iris forward, the doctor’s grabbing her arms and carrying her to a new, unmoving table. They easily picked her up, placing her chest down on the cold metal. She heard the door open and close again, hoping that Rumlow and the military men had left.
“Please, help me.” Iris tried to speak to the doctors but they ignored her. They just grabbed her arms and legs, pinning them down on the table once more. Iris strained once more, her energy dissipating with each movement.
“Procedure starting at 14 one hundred hours. Iris heard someone speak but before she could turn her head it was forced down against the table. She felt a cold piece of metal go over the back of her head, keeping it in place.
“Leave me al…” Iris began to shout at them but a thick piece of leather was pushed into her mouth by one of the nurses. Before she could spit it out it was tied behind her head, forcing it between her teeth.
“Injection one.” Iris felt a sharp pain followed by a burning sensation in her left arm. “Two.” Another sting in her right arm. “Three.” The third was the worst as something sank deep into her back.
“Okay, incision starting now.” What followed these words was the most pain Iris had ever felt in her entire life.