Fuckin' Mind Control
Research Facility - Hungarian & Ukraine Border - June 2015
The mood inside the lab was somber as Tony hacked his way into the CCTV to find out what exactly had gone down in the hours before they broached the facility. Twenty minutes in, Steve came jogging back to the main room with a grim expression.
“You’re gonna want to see this,” he told them, turning and leading the way to a well equipped lab, there were spotless trays of surgery equipment along with some empty test tubes with different labels on them. Picking one up, Tony held it up to the light for a second before cursing violently and running back to the computer he was doing the hack on.
“JARVIS!” He called frantically, sliding his way into a seat and beginning to type rapidly, “JARVIS Buddy, I need you to hack into the medical reports after you finish with the cameras,”
“Of course, Sir,” Came the smooth monotone of the AI, and Bucky shouldered his way past an anxious looking Steve to look over Tony’s shoulder.
“Whats going on Stark? What’d you see?” he asked, grabbing the older(younger?) man's shoulder and shaking lightly. Slapping his hand away, Tony whirled and stood, clutching at his hair and breathing deeply.
“...Tony?” Steve asked gently, and Tony held a hand up abruptly, motioning him to stay back while he squatted down and rocked on his heels. When he finally rose, he slid into the chair once more and resumed typing as if it had never even happened. For a moment, Bucky fought within himself, before thinking about what Darcy would do in his place and sighing.
“Stark?” he asked, and took it as a positive when the man in question grunted slightly and paused for a millisecond in his typing. “What was that?”
“Huh? Oh, that,” Tony replied, waving a hand carelessly, “Panic attack, happens sometimes. Not a big deal,” The room was silent as he continued typing, and Bucky brought the heel of his hand up to thunk his forehead.
“Therapy,” he muttered quietly, “Everyone in this room needs so much therapy. All of the therapy,”
It was only five minutes later when Tony let out a triumphant shout and projected the footage of the past few hours on the wall of the lab. They all watched in a horrified silence as Darcy fell to her knees, letting out an anguished scream and cracking the walls. After that, Tony fast-forwarded the video until a tall man entered the room, staring imposingly at her. He marveled a little at her strength as she straightened her spine and told him where he could shove his Nazi ideals, energy crackled around her and bounced off the walls as she refused to back down. He couldn’t understand why Thor thought it was such a bad thing - he thought she looked like an avenging angel, come to earth to wreak beautiful havoc on all of those who had done her wrong.
Then the tall man left, and Bucky found himself wanting to track down the little weasel who dared lay a hand on his Darcy and rip him to shreds. Steve let out a little pained noise when he performed the first cut on her, slicing the inside of her arm with a clinical glee. Clint let out a loud angry curse and threw something heavily against the wall when she told him in a clear voice, to go fuck himself. He could vaguely recognize the sound of the four men behind him comforting each other as they watched their little girl get tortured. He himself hadn’t even realized he’d been clutching onto a desk so hard it had snapped in half until Steve came to him and gently pried it out of his hands. They all watched in shock and wonder as one by one, the cuts sealed up until they were little more than scars - memories of the pain inflicted. The dark part of his brain admired her for the way she took the pain, with a glint in her eye and a promise for revenge.
A gasp of shock filled the room at the first sight of her eyes, they flared unnaturally as she jerked against the restraints at a particularly deep cut - whatever was holding her new found powers at bay was clearly straining against her as she let out a high pitched noise of pain before she went limp again, shutting her eyes tightly and seeming to pass out. Bucky couldn’t stop thinking about the color of them - they reminded him of ice and energy and power all at the same time. They promised hell for anybody that tried to hurt her, and they were beautiful.
When a young girl entered the room, Maria Hill let out a sharp exhale of air. Everyone in the room turned to her questioningly and she shook her head slowly.
“That's - not good,” was all she managed before she motioned to the projection, “See for yourself,” she said grimly, crossing her arms and leaning into Steve, who had taken up his place next to her.
He focused back in on the screen just in time to hear her call Darcy an Ice Princess before red light arced into her brain and she arched off the table before settling back.
They all took an involuntary step backwards as she jerked upright and ripped her way out of the restraints, frying the man next to her in a scream filled with more pain then even Bucky himself could imagine. They watched in shock as the glass cage around her shattered and fell around the two girls, making them look like they were inside a snow globe for the briefest moment before Darcy once more sunk to her knees, and a single tear slipped out of her eye as the other girl said the words that made Bucky’s blood run cold.
“Don’t you worry, Little Dove, I will make it all go away now,”
As soon as the words had been spoken, JARVIS let everyone know that the medical reports had been recovered and were ready for perusal.
“Throw it up there next to the video feed, J,” he commanded, and as he did, Bruce entered and let out a harsh curse word.
“What? What is it, doc?” Natasha asked, cocking her head at him in confusion. Bucky wished fervently he knew how to read the damn gobbledegook that was projected. Moments later, tony let out a low ‘Fuck’ as he clearly understood what he was reading.
“I swear to god if somebody doesn’t start talkin’” Carl said threateningly, and Bruce took another hesitant step into the room.
“They didn’t” he cleared his throat and shook his head, “They combined more than one different super-soldier serum and they gave it to her - by the looks of it, they used the base of centipede and crossed it with extremis,” at the revelation, Steve let out a harsh epithet and kicked over another desk.
“That isn’t the worst part,” Tony broke in, his voice quieter than Bucky had imagined possible for the loudmouth billionaire. “They didn’t just give her the serum,” he explained to the clueless looks he was getting, “The mother fuckers experimented on her with the fucking Scepter, but not before they exposed her to the teregenis,” he let out a humorless laugh and shook his head wearily.
“Are you telling me that they made her a super-soldier inhuman with possibly god-like powers?” Coulson asked quietly from where he had been standing in the corner with his team.
A loud crack of Thunder sounded outside as Thor stared at the video film where Darcy was now sitting wide eyed on the ground, rocking herself softly and appearing to listen raptly to what the other girl was saying.
“The Kree weapon alone turns even the bravest into monsters,” he said gravely, ignoring Skye’s indignant shout, “But with all of these things combined, I fear that the girl we lost is no more. And perhaps we should consider the repercussions of saving her,” At his words, Bucky swiftly drew a gun and turned on the larger man, stepping menacingly into his space.
“You listen here pal,” he said, his voice coming out in a low vicious growl, “You so much as lay a finger on that girl, and I swear to God I will eviscerate you. God or not. Got it?” Before Thor could even reply, he heard the sound of a bow being strung and Tony clunking into his armor. Without turning around he knew that the four men had also gathered their weapons and were showing their support for his sentiment.
In the end, it was Natasha who ended the tense stare off, speaking in a calm and slightly detached voice.
“I’m inclined to agree with James,” she said softly, staring out the window and into the forest, as if she were far away, “It is not what you are, but who you are that defines whether or not you are a monster,” at this she stepped in front of Thor and looked into his eyes. “And if I know anything about that girl? It is that she is an impossibly good person,” Thor met her gaze for a moment before he seemed to droop and sighed heavily.
“You are correct, I am sorry. Lady Darcy is my friend, and I have no doubt that she is strong… I just fear that she is not stronger than the evil that the Scepter carries,” As he finished speaking, they all turned to look at the camera feed as Darcy’s unnerving silver eyes stared into the lens for a second, crooking her mouth up into a semblance of a smirk before the screen filled with static.
Training Room - Alpha Facility - August 2014
“Wanda!” Darcy called - Goddam Pietro and his stupid metabolism she thought angrily as she glared at the empty shelf where her pop tarts were supposed to be. As she stared, she got the strangest feeling that she had stood in the same spot in a different place, yelling at someone else for eating her pop tarts. But that couldn’t be right, Darcy had lived here her whole life - Hadn’t she?
“Yes, Little Dove?” Wanda asked, rounding the corner and smiling slightly at the pout adorning the younger woman’s face. “Ah,” she said, glancing at the empty space, “Road runner at it again?” she asked, as her face quirked up into a tiny smile.. Brushing off the odd out of place feeling that was tingling through her body, Darcy gave her a mock glare and put her hands on her hips.
“Well, you should tell the little pest,” she said, her eyes flickering to the place she could sense the blonde man hiding, “That if he eats my food again, I’ll drop a goddamn anvil on him,” Before Wanda could respond, a blue blur flashed past, and a single cooked Pop-Tart rattled on the bench.
“This doesn’t make us even, buddy!” Darcy yelled after his retreating figure, but she ate it anyway.
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“Concentrate Darcy!” Wanda encouraged, and she was unable to stop the sparks that flew from her hands in irritation at the other woman’s encouragement.
“I am concentrating, dammit,” she growled, shifting her stance and once again focusing on sending her energy towards the dead plant she was sitting in front of. After a few minutes of tense silence, the brown and sagging flower straightened up and grew, blossoming a bright green. Breaking her concentration, Darcy gave an excited whoop.
“I did it! I actually did it!” She screeched, jumping up and hugging her red-eyed friend.
“Well,” Wanda said dryly, patting her on the back, “You were the one that scorched it the other day when you had your little temper tantrum over the funions,”
“Hey!” Darcy replied indignantly, shouldering the other girl lightly and smirking, “I cannot be held responsible for what I do when somebody takes away the hum in my tum,” Her eyes glazed over for a moment as the strange feeling, once again, that she had been in this situation before with different people. Shaking her head slightly at the conflicting feelings, Darcy perked up at the feeling of Pietro’s energy approaching.
“Oh I think you’ll live without your nasty American snacks, Princess,” came a new voice, and Darcy rolled her eyes at the speedster that blew past, pinching her on the ass as he went. Letting out a little angry snarl, she accidentally let off a small bolt of electricity, frying the plant once more.
“Oh dammit,” she sighed, thunking her head on the kitchen counter.
“What did I tell you about letting emotion control your powers?” chided Wanda.
“Shove it, witch,” she grumbled before pulling the plant towards her and focusing on bringing it back to life - again.
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“Combat training is my favorite kind of training,” Darcy sighed happily as she knocked Pietro off his feet once more with a bolt of lightning to his stupid Nike’s.
“Darcy,” called Wanda’s voice from where she was reading, “What did we say about using lighting indoors?” Huffing loudly and rolling her eyes, Darcy replied.
“That it is dangerous and not allowed,” she recited in a bored voice, turning and laying her hand on Pietro’s shoulder where he was frozen in place. “You’re right,” she called back to Wanda before sending a bolt of energy from her hand to his shoulder before releasing her hold on him and letting him fall, “That was much more fun,”
Twenty minutes later, they were working on evasion when Pietro caught her unawares - a very unusual occurrence, thank you very much - and knocked her flat on her back. She knew, realistically, that it would take more than that to kill her, or even cause her minor harm. But when the wind was knocked out of her, she couldn’t help but blink in shock at the phantom feeling of pain in her shoulder.
“Doll? Oh god, Darce, I’m here okay? Where are you shot? Oh god I thought you were dead, are you okay?” A man with shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes stared down at her in concern, His left arm appeared to be made of metal, and he brought a hand up to tenderly stroke her face. She had no idea who this strange man was, but she knew one thing for sure, he was telegraphing more love for her in that one movement then she had felt in her entire life - but no, that wasn’t right either.
“-Little Dove? Are you okay? Little-” Sitting up abruptly, Darcy used her powers to send a vicious blast of energy towards the twins, sending them both flying backwards.
“What did you do to me?!” She asked wildly, unaware of the deadly energy crackling at her distress. As the moments went on, the picture of the man in her head became more clear. he felt important - like she needed him. “You took him!” she accused the other girl, “I loved him and you took him away!” When Wanda tried to take a step forwards, a tendril of pure energy lashed out and pushed her back. Darcy could feel tears brimming in her eyes as she looked around wildly.
“Who, Little Dove?” Wanda asked gently, cocking her head and giving Darcy a confused look. Darcy resolved to not fall for her doe eyed innocence. She had taken the man from her. “Who did we take?” Wanda repeated softly, and Darcy let out a frustrated cry.
“I don’t know!” she exclaimed, and the overhead lights shattered at her ire.
“Little Dove, you have to calm down,” Wanda urged, taking another step forwards. Darcy could see the red seeping into their hands, and knew without a doubt that it would be game over if she let the other girl near her with them. “Remember what I taught you. Do not let your emotions control you,”
“Why do I get the feeling…” Darcy began, cocking her head and glaring at Wanda with a deadly stare, “That you only say that because you want to control me,” Just as Wanda made a move towards her, a loud bang echoed out in the hall they weren’t allowed to go in, and a big burly man kicked the door down.
The newcomer took stock of the situation before turning on the twins with a feral growl, much to Darcy’s shock, large metal claws slid out of the space between his knuckles with a neat snikt.
“Oh,” Wanda gasped, “They have told me all about you. So much pain - so much power,” Darcy could see the build up of red mist forming around her hands. “I would love to take a look inside of the man who single handedly took down Project X,” she purred, but her progress was cut short when he whipped out a weapon that seemed shockingly familiar but incredibly foreign at the same time and shot her with it.
“Not today, Bub,” he replied in his deep voice. At Pietro’s howl of rage, Darcy quickly whirled towards the young man and sent a bolt of electricity to his sternum, knocking him back into the padded wall of the room like a rag doll.
“Seriously,” she said, looking down at her hands with a grin, “That is never going to get old,”
Turning to the intruder, she raised an eyebrow and cocked her head.
“So what was that about there - um, uh, yeah, no. I don’t have a pop-culture reference-y nickname for whatever you are,”Letting out a rough laugh, he rolled his shoulders and smirked at her.
“Fuckin’ mind control,” he told her, shaking his head, “Not a fuckin’ fan,” Squinting her eyes at him, she tried to discern if she knew him from her weird double memory bank.
“I don’t know you,” she said slowly, “Who are you? No - wait, who is the man? With the - the metal arm? He has brown hair - He’s important, I think. Is he -” She was, once again, cut off, when a man in a trench coat carrying a staff stepped into the room and smiled at her mysteriously.
“If you want to find out, chére, I suggest you come with us,”