Chapter 3
Her whole body ached. Though the sharp pain in her temple was what woke her up. Her vision was blurry and refusing to focus as she blinked, the last thing she remembered Malia had been in the kitchen when- fuck! The masked asshole. Malia's hands had been zip-tied behind her back, which explained the sore muscles and why her arms had fallen asleep, and her bound hands were tied to- well something behind her. Someone -most likely her robotic armed kidnapper- had discarded her rain boots so that they could zip-tie her ankles more efficiently.
Malia could feel the floor moving beneath her and with her limited vision, she could tell that she was in some sort of vehicle- probably a plane since her ears were popping. She slowly shifted her legs closer to her chest and buried her face into her knees tiredly as she tried to ignore her nausea. Voices coming from where she assumed the cockpit was located reached her ears and betrayed her kidnappers as... Russian?
What the hell was happening?
God, her poor Pappy. He would be destroyed when he got home and found the house in disrepair like that... when he realized that Malia was gone. Taken just like Peter had been. It would break her Pappy's heart to have had both of his grandchildren taken from him. For that, Malia would never forgive these dipshits... What did these assholes even want with her?
She was just a fucking Corporal, Malia had been on leave for a month now. Any intel she possibly had was probably completely obsolete by now. In the long run, she was just a no-face, no-name military grunt. There was nothing special about her. On paper at least. Did they know about her... unique parentage?
SHIELD had sworn to keep that little tidbit to themselves. The Director, N-something Fury, had been adamant that no one else knew about her sperm donor's origins. Something about how it transcended national security and even managed to affect global security.
-To be fair, Malia's existence proved that there was intelligent life outside of earth... intelligent life that looked human enough to seduce her mother and then leave the planet altogether.-
The intel surrounding her parentage and blood had been locked away, there were agents assigned just to her case to make sure that the information never got out and that all previous records of hers were scrubbed out of existence. Had SHIELD gone back on their word? Had they sold her out? Or had their records been leaked somehow?
Malia took in a deep breath before letting it out shakily. For now, she would play dumb.
"Tsel' ne spit." a deep voice spoke up from her left. Malia tensed as she peeked through her hair to see the man who had taken her from her home sitting on a small bench in the shadows. She could feel him watching her.
"Aktiv, ona pereyekhala? Govoryat?" another man demanded from where the cockpit was. Malia didn't move her eyes from the man who'd taken her. He was obviously the most dangerous man in the room.
"Nyet."
That meant 'no.' She'd seen enough movies and heard enough Russian to know that much. A booted foot nudged her leg roughly. Malia didn't move. She ignored the other man and continued to stare down her kidnapper. The lighting was abysmal but she could still make out the muzzle on his face and the bullet that had actually dug itself into the man's thigh had been left untreated. A mercenary for hire? A part of them, but not? With that arm, her kidnapper had to have some serious financial backing.
The man that had been talking kicked her side angrily, "Pay attentions to your betters, v-woman."
Malia let out a low pain-filled grunt before glaring up at the man from under her eyelashes. She inwardly debated throwing back a snarky comment about informing her when 'said betters' appeared before her, but bit her tongue. She was already in deep shit, there was no reason to stir the pot and screw herself this early in the ordeal. The man shot her a superior smirk that made Malia want to stomp on his arrogant face.
"Zat is better. I v-wonder vhat you've done to get on za radar ov za superiors, v-woman."
That information was probably above his paygrade. Malia looked away from him derisively. His ugly face was making her nausea worse. The man kicked her even harder in the side making Malia hiss in pain as she scrunched up into a tighter ball.
"Amerikanskaya suka." he spat hatefully before spitting on her hair.
Rage simmered behind her chest as her hands balled into fists behind her, she couldn't even wipe away the pig's fucking saliva. Her jaw locked angrily as Malia forced herself not to say a word. Though she couldn't help shooting the asshole a disgusted glare.
The man growled, "Otvedi glaza, shlyukha!" before he smacked her across the face so hard that Malia's head bounced off the edge of her stoic kidnapper's chair. A pained gasp escaped from her lips as the world seemingly tilted around her, noise rang in her ears and her vision began to darken around the edges.
"Tsel'- ostavat'sya posledovatel'nym." the muzzled man grunted lowly in warning. Malia heard her attacker snap something back at him in the same ugly manner before she lost consciousness once more.
Malia woke up this time dressed in a thin garment, gagged and restrained upon a metal gurney. Her side still ached faintly and her headache hadn't exactly improved very much. There were wires of all kinds attached to her person and an annoying needle was in the crook of her arm. She could hear the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor nearby that she could only assume was her own. Even without opening her eyes, she could feel the bright and unrelenting light over her head. Small murmurs in Russian and shuffling feet let her know that she wasn't alone. The increasing notch of her heartbeat betrayed her, capturing the attention of her captors as they got closer to her bound form.
"Vitaly povysheny, Sub"yekt A-0001 ne spit." a male voice declared to her right. Malia could practically feel his body heat radiating off him.
Her breaths came out shallower as fear-spiked adrenaline flooded through her system. Who knew how long she'd been out? Or where she'd even been taken... Malia was so fucking screwed. She'd been through some pretty horrible shit while fighting in Afghanistan. Had feared for her life and that of her friends many times, but she had never felt this hopeless before.
No one would know where to even begin looking for her. She didn't even know who had taken her. Malia had a sinking feeling that she was never going to make it out of this place alive.
Pain became Malia's only constant companion.
How many days had passed?
Was anyone even looking for her?
God, her Pappy... did he think her dead? Was he alone now?
Malia prayed that their extended family was caring for him now that she was in this damned hellhole. A loud and now unfortunately familiar buzzing alarm rang from the ceiling. A whimper escaped from her lips, shutting her bruised eyes close in defiance as booted feat approached her cell and swung the doors open. Rough hands hauled her up before they dragged her through the cellblock and into one of the medical rooms where some of... her most constant torturers were waiting to exact their specific brand of care.
She let herself hang uselessly in their grip as they muttered curses and strapped her onto the gurney. One of the scientists sent her a cruel smile when they locked gazes, "Svyazno segodnya, Tema?"
Malia let her eyes drift close as another man in a white coat stuck a needle into her abused and throbbing vein and began drawing blood. They did this almost daily, to the point where she always felt lightheaded and weak. Sometimes, in the darkest recesses of her mind, she wished that her arms would just fall off so that Malia didn't have to feel them anymore.
She ignored the chatter and tried to pretend she was there... that she was back on Pappy's farm watching Nox cantar around the perimeter of the fence with her young clumsy foal on her heels. She could almost imagine her Pappy's smelly pipe, the scent of the sun beating down on the animals mixed with fresh hay, and Ms. Rosie's flowers.
Pain shot through her right calf as someone cut away a piece of her skin. Reality, her reality was so cruel in comparison. A tear escaped from her eye as the familiar stinging pain attacked her once more. Someone laughed mockingly. Shame had become her second companion. She hated this place... hated absolutely everyone in this godforsaken place. For being taken, Malia hated herself too.