Chapter 24
Everything was quiet.
Everything was quiet.
Pain shot through her body as a burning headache took over ever since she had forced herself back into a rough mattress. Something was wrong is all that she could say.
Everything was too quiet, no vibrations that fluttered around her fingers, no background heartbeats or the deafening feel of the earth with each step she took.
A fleeting memory of pain and terror and her power shut off after a small tremor in the ground. Masked faces pulled her up as she faded into black. It was too good to be true, ending up happy with the Avengers and getting closer to Wanda. It was all too good and that was how she should have noticed an impending doom around the corner.
She had grown weak, emotionally and physically. The Avengers cracked down at every wall she a perfectly build out of concrete to protect herself from a fall out of emotions. But she smiled freely, joked without getting odd looked and wasn't put down by the thought of her powers.
Daisy could feel a rush of pure worry and helplessness go through her like a tidal wave yet knew that it wasn't her as all she felt was a pressure of doom hanging heavily around her. It happens now and again but gets stronger over time with emotions falling over the places that she was sure weren't hers.
But bring back to a conversation which seemed long ago now where Wanda had stated that because they were equals that lent they shared a sort of bond. She came to the conclusion that it was not her but Wanda's. A little elevated that she has something to connect her to Wanda she sat up to inspect her surroundings.
A single cell with a metal frame and a d grey light coming from a small window out of her reach. Bars instead of a door made her feel less like a prisoner but a rabid caged animal. Deep down personally she knew it fit her more.
Passed the bars were nothing but thin dark hallways with no light and barren noise. Nothing. A tight collar around her neck keeps her powers from leaping out and instead turning them back on her which pained her more than the cage.
Letting out a sigh of frustration at her situation. It wasn't odd to find herself being knocked unconscious and taken to a cell to be locked up. Each time it always rounded down to HYDRA and their nefarious plans. But this time was more than a simple 'we don't need you yet you can't go back into cryo' and more like 'you betrayed us so let's torture you.' And it made her frightened for what seemed like the first time in a long time.
Not even when she was destroying Sokovia. She was prepared to die even with an inkling she would have been saved. There was no turning back after she killed the guards and let prisoners escape and there was no way Coulson or May would let her join back. So if the Avengers wouldn't accept her then who's where she would be?
So she gave you them for saving her from herself and now felt scared that she was going to lose them. So she slowly began to paste the wall back together harder, tougher to not feel so weak again. She can't let herself feel emotions like she had or it would lead to her own fall.
Clank!
Jutting out from her position sitting on the bed she turned to face someone she thought had been killed.
"Look what the cat dragged in." Looking back at her, behind round glasses was the face of Daniel Whitehall.
"You're supposed to be dead." Looking back at the man she killed, or supposedly killed and she never misses a knife to a heart plus a broken neck.
"Seems like I have taken the great pleasure of being the only few that haven't fallen dead to your acts. Even a legend can't see past a simple illusion." His face was still young, thanks to her mother, which sounded very much messed up the more she thought about it.
"Well, it seems to me you have a thing for my family. My dead mother to provide you youth. My father bent madly under your control which ended with his death. And their daughter who you seek protection from. Kill me like you killed the rest of my family, what do I have to lose." She had a lot and she knew it.
"Oh, but you do my dear Daisy or I wouldn't have sent agents to watch you for weeks. And you wouldn't have sent me messages to each secret entrance to the Avengers compound or each one of their weaknesses. But we don't need them anymore because we finally caught you."
Her dark eyes looked at him confused, what messages surely she would have known if s he was sending anything to Whitehall? The man seemed to catch up to her confusion and smiled like the happiest kid on Christmas. Which sent a ray of chills down her spine.
"You wouldn't have noticed as we have been controlling you since you first came into our hands."
She found herself almost laughing, the man had gone mad she was sure of it. She can't be controlled and will never allow it to happen to her. Whitehall's face remained impassive and looked at her like she was a mad animal in a cage. Which she now became.
"Your serious, aren't you." Her voice numbed down as she looked right into his eyes. Her eyes burned as she felt her life unravel before her eyes.
"Of cause, I'm not lying. Who do you think I am? Every move you made was not your own. Well everything up till you broke out the twins all we had was to get so we can control you again. You really thought we would let you go to Shield just like that. You must be mad."
The wall she built up had gone from cracked too pieces as Whitehall went on and on about everything that she had thought was salvation was Hydras doing. Joining Coulson was fake, her small family she had thought of was fake. All that kept her from tilting into a pot of insanity was the fact that everything with the Avengers was real. Not like they had done much together but try were home to her.
"You're wrong, I know you are." She was practically begging at this point, voice breaking into millions as she fought through. He needed to be wrong, she could never betray her team. How would she ever look at them again? They would hate her so much if they ever found out that was something she couldn't handle.
"It wouldn't be fake or I wouldn't have this." He held up a Polaroid just in front of the bars, it took her one look to break down. She snatched the small photo from his hands and he didn't look surprised like he saw it coming.
It was real then, she had betrayed them. Everything she thought was real had turned out for her to be a puppet and Hydra had control of the strings. Daisy backed down onto the bed ignoring Whitehall's presence all her focus on the photograph.
"Get some rest, or don't. I'll come back when we are ready." The words were like a whisper as she felt like being dragged underwater. Every part of her was heavy as her eyes stung from the tears that wetted her cheeks.
Turning to face the wall as she lay down. Eyes reminded on the ghost in the photograph, she had killed them. A part of her that no one knows about apart from a few and non of them from S.H.I.E.L.D. Not even Wanda knew, even if she had told her more about herself than anyone else.
Laying in the dark became a regular occurrence that would lead to being unaware of the time. All she had was her dangerous thought and a will to love that hung by a thread on a sharp point of her long-coming insanity. A familiar numbness as no thoughts on the remaining days that were cut short all due to Hydra. That's if she could be saved from herself.
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The compound was a mess. Literally. As soon as Wanda stepped through the doors she began to unleash her power on anything throwable and fling it as far as it could. Pieces of glass, plastic and ceramic were littered throughout.
"What the fu-" was stopped before a flying vase sped past his head. Tony looked around his destroyed building with Natasha tagging his side and Steve, Sam and Bucky following after. Even He was reluctant to let the Winter Soldier in but then it wasn't fully about the accords.
Wanda leaned against the counter with crossed arms looking rather mad just eyes following the group. Her jaw tightened as she felt a rush of sadness enter her bond with Daisy. It didn't pay to be irrational, that only got people hurt. That's that all stopped Wanda from searching throughout America.
Clint was pacing up and down with his fingers rubbing his temples. The two had begun a friendship not so long ago. After bonding over some tv show that happened to pop up mid-conversation.
"I'm just saying if we contact Shi-"
"Look Clint, I've tried Fury and I have no idea who the new Director is or how to contact them. All we've got are my servers running everything on a 'black van with no number plate' which you would think would stand out. The only thing that went out of the country between the fitting time stamps is a plane leaving and landing in China hours later. And nothing." Tony's eyes were fixated on the tablet in his hands, while he and Daisy were never close enough she was still a team member and he would do the same for anyone here.
"I know who it is." All eyes widened as they turned to Wanda looking at her questioning whether she was being truthful. With a flick of her wrist, an object flew into her outstretched hand. After a few clicks on the phone, it was connected to the screen. Gathering around the screen was tense. Whoever they aspected to be the Director it definitely wasn't the man on the screen.
A pin drop could have been heard in the middle of the shocked silence as pairs of eyes took in the face on the screen.
"Agent?" Tony had managed to get out looking at the man he had mourned over a few years ago looking more alive than ever.
"Well actually it's Director now, but I'll let it slide this once." His voice was clear as the day had voices got stuck in their throats as Coulson spoke back to them.
"Who, What, why and when?" Clint asked with wide teary eyes at his and Nat's alive handler. Natasha herself was pretty put down after his death seeing he was one of the only few that treated her not like the lethal assassin she was and even supported Clint's idea to keep her at S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Fury, An alien drug to revive any dead Avenger, Just after the advents of the carrier on which I did die. Now I wasn't supposed to say anything but yet I'm the Director and can say what I want. Seeing you are on Daisy's personal phone call me, and the lack of her there. What is happening?"
His voice had gotten notably protective, especially over the questions. Wanda saw the two had been communicating almost every day between texts and calls. It didn't take much thought to see that Coulson also meant a lot to her, enough to have him as 'Dad' in her contacts even if it was a running joke between them.
"Well, you see. The twins and she had disobeyed my order and left the com-"
"Well maybe if you haven't kept us locked up and reminded us about it then we wouldn't need to get out. We weren't even allowed out of the grounds that are heavy on the security." Pietro bit back with narrowed grey eyes looking back at Tony.
Sighing Tony carried on, "They left after attacking the Vision. Proceeded to drive throughout the city. According to a lady on the streets two people managed to shoot her twice before impacting her. The Maximoffs were inside a small shop at this time unable to help. Pietro had used his power to check this city as far as they could have gone and more and no sign. All we have is a plane that left the city and arrived in the Hunan providence in china a lot long ago."
Coulson's face dropped at what he was hearing especially when he heard about the potential place where she was kept. Wanda caught it and found it curious.
"Your hiding something," Wanda stated standing in view of Phil. They had talked a few times that Daisy had called the man and knew that he means well. He smiled softly at her ignoring everyone else who looked at Coulson suspiciously.
"I didn't think it was much, Wanda. But in case you all want to know when Daisy, known as Skye, was with us the first time she claimed to be looking for her parents, which led to a dead end and a destroyed village in the Hunan providence. But it turned out she was never born there more her parents are both dead so it doesn't really connect with her the same way it used to."
"But it does, you just don't know the real reason." All heads turned out to the Winter Solider who was standing closer to Steve and Sam who had yet to reveal everything they had just learnt about the kidnapped Agent.
"What are you talking about?" Wanda asked stepping closer to the man eyeing him up and down. She wanted to know what he was on about especially if it was about Daisy.
"Quick run down. She actually not twenty-three but probably a bit older than Steven here. Been in Hydra for way longer and was unknowingly giving Hydra information about us." Sam informed with a flat voice as he watched a few go through all five stages of grief in seconds.
Tony was the first to react always spluttering our curse words while pacing up and down. Clint stood there with his mouth wide open as Natasha looked like her question was answered. The resident Twins looked confused like it was everyday information that everyone should have known, she must have said something back in Hydra.
Bucky looked onwards at an expensive painting that hung on the wall ignoring everyone's looks, "It's not mine to tell, it should be her telling you, especially this." He was adamant about not saying anything about that subject.
"Look, I don't care how it might affect anything all we want to do is find her and if it will help us figure out that she might be in this place then is best you confirm it." Coulson clarified looking straight into Bucky's eyes despite being behind the screen.
"It does not, I just know she will be there. It was one of the bases she had full control over back in Hydra, so drop it." His blue eyes sharpened as he took a step back to lean against a pillar and assess them once again.
"He can't just Storm the base. If it was that easy for us to find then Hydra is waiting and fully prepared for us. We will be outnumbered even if we have more power." Natasha smartly pointed out. Just then an alarm rang from Tony's set up and through the screen Coulson was on. Only at the same time Wanda stubbled back in pain to be caught by her twin. It was like her whole body was on fire there was only one time that she felt so much pain and power all at once.
"What the Fuck is that?" Tony asked when looking at Coulson and at Wanda. It was too suspicious to get a spike of power that went off the charts and Wanda to fall in pain all at once.
"It seemed we know where she is at least." But his eyes were completely on what had grabbed his attention. Looking back to the group he paired his own information with the screen. A massive power surge passed the bar and a massive amount of seismic activity in Hunan.
"Suit up everyone guess we are going on a little trip. Coulson meets us there with your team." Coulson nodded before switching offline. Everyone parted ways in seconds ready to get their teammate.
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Somewhere far away in deep space, a group of ruffians stood in shock as the deep purple stone that they were supposed to have had disappeared without a trace.