Chapter 17
My grandmother backhands me and knocks me to the floor, splitting my lip in the process. "Great! Now we've got to deal with a useless kid! Kat, this is your responsibility!"
"That isn't my name!" My grandfather slaps her and she stays standing but staggers a bit, tears welling in her eyes.
"Your name is whatever we say it is! Same with Andrea!"
"That isn't her name!" He slaps her again and she staggers again, tears spilling. I run over and try to stop him, only to get kicked away, hitting the wall. "Stop hurting her!" She comes over and picks me up, holding me close as my head bleeds. She runs out of the house with me and takes care of my head. "It's OK, Razi... I've got you... I'll take care of you... We've only got each other so we've gotta watch out for each other... I've got you, baby..." She rocks me gently and hides from our grandparents with me.
----------------
"Another low score? You're stupid and useless!" My grandfather punches me in the stomach after taking a drink of his beer and I cry out as I fall to the floor. "Stop being such a crybaby and get up!" I whimper as I stand and he punches me again, knocking me to the floor again. "Ugh, useless idiot!" My grandmother comes in and kicks me to get me out of her way. "Get out of my house!" I scramble to my feet and run outside, screaming when he throws the beer bottle at me, hitting the door as it closes behind me. "Little bitch!"
----------------
"Look! It's the freak! She killed her Mom, you know?" A kid laughs and I start to go down the stairs when someone pushes me down them. I quickly curl up into a ball and slam my back against the row of lockers at the bottom, the air being knocked out of my lungs as I cry out in pain while the other kids laugh at my pain.
"Miss Davis! There are children actually trying to learn something, unlike you! Up!" The teacher pulls me to my feet by my ear and takes me to the principal. "She's trying to sleep in the middle of the hallway for the fifth time in three days!"
"No, I wasn't! Someone pushed me down the stairs! All of those times! You guys just never believe me! Why am I always the one getting in trouble when it should be those kids?"
"Don't yell at us or talk back," The principal yells at me and I flinch a bit, looking at the floor. "I have tried giving you warnings and other methods of punishment, but it never makes you learn! I'm done! Bend over and grab your ankles!" I look at him, terrified, and he grabs a paddle. "NOW!"
"But I didn't do anything wrong!"
"I'm not going to ask you again, Miss Davis! Or do I need to call your grandparents?" I whimper and start to cry.
"I didn't do anything wrong. Why don't you believe me?" He glares at me and pulls me closer to him. "No! Let go of me!" He doesn't and I bite him hard on the wrist. He lets go of me as he swears and I run.
"Someone catch that little brat!" I run right into someone's arms and struggle, screaming my head off.
"Whoa, whoa! What's wrong, sis? Calm down." I look up and see my sister, hugging her tightly. "Hey, hey, hey. What happened?" She crouches in front of me and gently cups my face. "What's with all the tears?" The principal comes out with the paddle in his hand and she sees it. "Are you aware that corporal punishment in schools is illegal here? If I ever hear about you hurting my sister like that, I'll make your life a living Hell!" She takes me out of the school quickly and we both skip.
----------------
"Come on, freak! Just let us see what you've got in your pants!" An older kid laughs and I struggle in his friend's arms. "We want to see if you've got special stuff since you're such a huge freak!"
"Leave me alone! My big sister is gonna come here and beat you guys to a pulp!"
"Kat? HA! We aren't scared of that nerd! What's she gonna do? Give us paper cuts?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself? Cuz here she comes!" He spins with a terrified look on his face and I laugh when he sees no one. "Thought you weren't scared of her, you jerk?"
"You little," He drifts off and punches me in the stomach, making me cry out.
"HEY!" My sister punches him in the face and kicks him in the stomach. She turns and fakes toward the guy holding me. He squeaks and lets me go, pulling his friend up before they both run away. "Yeah! You better run!" She yells after them and turns to look at me. "You OK?"
"Yeah. I would've been able to take him if he hadn't had his friend. You know that, right?" She smiles and gently ruffles my hair.
"Yeah. You would have beat him to a pulp, huh?"
"Yeah! If he had been a fruit, I would've made him into juice!" She laughs as I punch my palm and wraps an arm around my shoulders as we walk away.
"I'm sure you would have." I smile at her and wrap an arm around her waist.
"Thanks, sis... You've always got my back... What would I do without you?"
"Same as if I didn't have you. We'd both crash and burn," She says and I join her to say the last three words. "I'll always have you back, R. You're my baby sister."
"I'll try to have your back, too, K. You're my big sister. But, y'know, I am kinda small, so it probably won't work too well."
"Nah. You've got my back in different ways. Know why? Cuz you're like a Speedy Gonzales mixed with Captain America."
"Dang right! Fight for honor while being the Fastest Mouse in all of Mexico!" I cheer and she laughs. "Race ya!"
"You're gonna lose."
"We'll see," I laugh and run off with her running after me.
----------------
"22-3-16, just give up. This gag is not coming out until you relent." A whip cuts into my shoulders and I scream through the gag, going limp in the chains after a moment as I pant. "It will be easier and less painful for you to accept your fate." The whip cuts into my back just below the first one and I scream again. "Instead of fighting the guards to try to escape, you could be fighting other slaves and making me rich!" The whip cuts into me three times, each one just below the one before it, and I scream louder. "I would be the one who broke the unbreakable 22-3-16! I would be the one to become the leader of the Kree! And you would help me because that's what slaves do!" Tressit comes into my line of sight and yanks my collar to drag my face to his, pulling my shoulders out of their sockets since my wrists were chained to the ceiling. I cry out and had tears running down my face. "They listen to their owners!" He goes back to whipping me and doesn't stop until my back might as well have no skin on it.
I try to scream but can't because I no longer have the voice to do so with and he comes into my line of sight again, a blade in his hand. "I should honestly just kill you now. The training it would take to train you to be better would result in wasted resources, wasted food, and wasted time." He presses the blade to my jugular vein above my collar and I whimper, trying to move back away from it as I shake my head. He grabs me by the throat and holds me still. "Are you telling me what to do, slave?" I quickly shake my head and he growls. "And now you're lying to your owner?" He presses something on the wall and my entire body shakes as electricity flows through it from the cuffs and collar. He lets it go and I go limp in the chains, panting and whimpering. "You've lost eating and drinking privileges. And you will stay like this until I decide to let you down."
----------------
I wake in the cell, still chained up, and Tressit looks at me. "Are you ready to be a good slave?" I keep my eyes on the floor submissively and can feel him smiling when I don't respond. "Good. However, I can tell there is still disobedience in you." I squeeze my eyes shut in preparation and feel electricity go through me, screaming as my whole body shakes from the strength of them. I feel the whip land across my back while the electricity is still coursing through me and lose consciousness for a short amount of time.
----------------
When I come too, I'm chained on the floor to be laying on my side and my gag was out. I stare at the opposite wall and hear footsteps, not reacting. Electricity goes through me and I clench my jaw as the strength causes my body to shake. Someone pries my mouth open and I scream. The electricity stops and something is shoved between my teeth before it starts again. I scream while my jaw clenches and it stops, leaving me limp on the floor while I pant. "And now you're going to be an amazing slave, aren't you, 22-3-16?" I offer nothing as a response and stare at the wall with hooded eyes. "Lovely!" Someone claps and I blink slowly, the chains being loosened. "Kneel."
I kneel and keep my head down, eyes blank and unseeing. Someone lifts my head and I know it's Tressit but my eyes see nothing. He smiles and lets my head drop back down. "Lovely, lovely. I knew this would make you obedient!" Food is set in front of me with water and no utensils. "Eat. Quickly." I grab the food and eat as I was told to do.
He grabs my jaw and tilts my head up as he pries my jaw open. "Drink." He pours water down my throat and I drink, barely managing to do it. "Good." He lets my head drop down once the water's gone and undoes the chains from the walls. "Stand." I do and keep my head down obediently. "Good. Come." He pulls on the chains and I follow him.
----------------
I kneel in my cell after eating and stare at nothing as the fights flash behind my eyes. My face feels wet and I lift my hands to wipe the sweat and blood away, emotionless.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I blink when Wanda's magic stops and shake my head slightly, rubbing my face. I look at my hands and see blood, squeezing my eyes shut as I take deep breaths. "Meditation isn't a good thing for me to do, especially when those memories come out," I say after I've calmed down and my hands didn't look like I had blood on them, not looking at anyone right now as I had my head in my hands, my elbows on my knees. No one says anything and that makes me feel like I'm drowning. "If somebody could say something, literally anything, that'd be great because I feel like I'm drowning in this silence and I really, really, really hate that feeling. So... Maybe help make it stop? Please?"
"Damn," Tony says and that makes me laugh shortly.
"Yeah. That is the best way to describe my life. Just damn." I run my hands over the back of my head and pull my hair over my face as I run my hands down it carefully before I sit up, fixing my hair.
"How'd you manage to only pass out?" Scott asks and I shrug.
"I have no fucking clue. I'm too stubborn to die?" I lean forward and brace my forearms on my knees, looking at the table.
"He sure seemed to love that whip," Michelle says softly and I nod.
"Yup. Used it at least once every. Single. Fucking. Day. I was surprised I even had skin left when he was done." I rub my wrist slightly as my eyes start to lose focus on the table and the burn marks were obvious since I didn't have them covered for once.
Someone gently touches my wrist and turns my arm. I blink a few times to get my eyes to focus again and look at Pietro as he runs his fingers over scars on my wrists. "Voices in your head telling you a lot of shit can overwhelm even the strongest-willed people," I explain quietly and his fingers pause before he looks at me. "I've made a new record, though. Haven't done it in... Two years? Since that time Loki mentioned on the mountain, however long ago it was. Even managed to stop myself from doing it again when I was putting clothes up."
"Progress is progress," He murmurs and the corner of my mouth quirks slightly, even as my head starts to pound. I squeeze my eyes shut and press my palm on my forehead, growling softly in the back of my throat. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine... When certain memories come up, I get fucking headaches and this one is already kicking my ass," I explain with a sigh and his hand cups the back of my head, bringing it forward to rest against his. He then climbs onto the couch behind me to sit on the back of it and I'm confused as Hell. "What in the fuck are you doing?"
"Hush." He starts to rub my neck and I scoff slightly but let him because it helps the headache. "Stress headaches are the worst, yes?"
"Thought you wanted me to hush, Speedy?" He laughs and I love that sound already, tilting my head back to look at him.
"With your head here, I can't rub the stress headache away, Rebel."
"Shut it, Speedy." He chuckles and I look at him. "Why you gotta be so good-looking?" He blushes and chuckles again.
"Why do you have to be such a brat?"
"Oh don't act like you don't love it already." He blushes more and zooms off, making my head thunk against the back of the couch. "Ow! Jerk!"
"My apologies, but I just remembered I need to be... Anywhere else but here right now. And you still have a list of things to complete." I roll my eyes and he zooms off while Bucky tosses me the notebook.
"We've got some training to do. You up for it?" Tony looks at me and I take a deep breath, nodding.
"Yep."
"You sure?" Steve asks and I nod, rolling my head on my shoulders for a moment to get rid of the rest of the headache.
"I'm sure. Let's do this."
"You've got to be paired up with someone, then." He thinks and looks at the others. "Thor, you up for it?"
"Very well." We go down to the gym and people pair off, Thor standing by me.
"Alright. We're going to be working on ways to take people down, the same stuff as the other day. Working on getting it down. Start." Thor sweeps my legs and I grunt as I hit the floor, getting the air knocked out of my lungs.
"Ow," I groan softly and Thor chuckles, offering a hand to pull me up. I take it and he pulls me up. "That was not very cash money of you." He rolls his eyes and tries to sweep my legs again. I avoid his leg and grab his arm, throwing him to the floor.
"Good job," Steve calls and I grin a bit at that. "Stay focused, though." I furrow my eyebrows slightly until Thor tackles me and I grunt as the wind is knocked out of me again. "Not quite what we've been working on, Thor."
"Close enough." He gets up and I give him a thumbs-up, not moving. "Are you alright?"
"I'm great," I groan sarcastically and stay where I am. "Just gonna... Stay here for a minute..."
"You're being dramatic." He pulls me to my feet and I shake my head slightly as I take a deep breath, head kind of swimming since it got bashed onto the floor when he tackled me.
"I can attempt to tell you what he's going to do, if you want," PIXEL offers and I scoff a bit.
"I think I've got it, thanks."
"I think you hurt her ego, PIXEL," Thor smirks and I ignore that, watching him. "No fighting stance?"
"Just hurry up and try something, Thor." I roll my eyes and he's suddenly behind me, taking out my knee. It buckles and I drop to one of them, starting to lose my patience and a bit of my grip on reality. I take a deep breath to ground myself and get a grip on reality again, taking another deep breath to be sure I've got a handle on the monster inside of me.
"I need to leave. Father needs my help on Asgard," Thor tells Steve before he leaves the gym and I run a hand through my hair, sitting against a wall to watch them for a bit. I rest my head against the wall and just breathe for a bit, trying to figure out my life now.
"Y'know, for someone who should be practicing literally anything, you seem to be thinking a lot of thoughts," Bucky says from in front of me and I shrug one shoulder, taking the hand he offers to stand. "Think you can manage to pin me?" I chew on the inside of my lip for a moment and shrug one shoulder. "You've got a good handle on that thing inside of you. You'll be fine. And, if you aren't, we've got Spiderboy to help out. You don't have any weapons so it should be fine and none of us have any whips so that means it'll be extra fine, right?" I nod and he nods back. "How about a challenge?"
"What kind of challenge?"
"Pin me before... Ten minutes are up and we can go do something. If you don't, I become your new training partner, and, trust me, you don't want that." I think for a moment and nod slightly.
"Alright. Deal."
"Alright. JARVIS set a timer for ten minutes."
"Of course, Sergeant Barnes. The ten-minute timer started. Is there anything that you need, Raz?"
"Uh... Nah. I'll get Pixie to play some music. Thanks though."
"Of course."
"Pixie Dust, could you play heavy metal quietly, please?" She responds by playing the music and I nod a bit, looking at Bucky. "Alright. I gotta pin you before the timer's up, right?"
"Yup. Think you can manage that?"
"We'll see, won't we?" I look at him and quickly think of the best way to pin him, not noticing the others watching me.
"Tick tock, Razzle Dazzle," Tony calls and I ignore him, shifting into a fighting stance for the first time during training as I take a slow breath. Bucky does the same and starts to circle me. I respond by shifting my right foot back slightly and start to do a spin kick for his head, moving it at the last second to kick him in the side.
"Ooh, almost, kid," He says with a smirk as he catches it and uses it to flip me onto the mat, knocking the air out of my lungs for the third time today. "Good try, though." I let out a scoff and flip back to my feet, blowing hair out of my face as I shift into a stance again. "Maybe don't make what you're going to do so obvious," He suggests as he does the same and starts to circle me again.
"Eight minutes left," JARVIS reminds above us and I focus on Bucky, feeling my mind starting to slip which makes me wince.
"Pixie Dust, turn it up, please," I murmur and the music gets louder, bringing me back to where I needed to be. I take a deep breath and see Bucky suddenly swing his metal arm at me. I catch his fist and slam my hand harder than I mean to into his shoulder, forgetting it was his metal arm.
It disconnects from his body and he stares at where it used to be then at where it is before his eyes settle on my face. I'm just as shocked and stare at his arm. "Uh... What?" I look at Bucky and see he was going from confused to pissed as what just happened dawns on me suddenly. "Ah, shit! Sorry! Fucking Hell! How? Why? Sorry!" I try to hand it back to him and fumble as I try not to drop it before he just snatches it back, making me take my hands back quickly as he puts it back where it goes. "Sorry, B-" I get cut off when he punches me in the stomach, not messing around anymore as the wind gets knocked out of me, and I stumble back a bit before I fall on my ass.
"Six minutes left."
"Should we call this off, Razzle Dazzle?"
"Uh, n- Shit!" I duck and Bucky punches a hole in the wall where my head was while I scramble backward. "No, no. I got this. I think..."
"I don't like how unsure you sounded with that last part," Strange says and I shrug, looking at him.
That's a terrible idea and it's proven when I get punched in the jaw by his metal fist, knocking me onto my back while sliding me across the floor a bit. "Fuck that hurt," I mutter and rub my jaw as he stalks over, struggling to my feet because the punch managed to make my head swim. "Ah, shit..." He grabs my shirt and rears his metal fist back. I flinch and cover my head with my arms, feeling that being on the defensive instead of the offensive might be the best idea while I wait for the punch to land.
Only, it doesn't and I open my eyes to see through my arms he was slowly lowering his fist, eyes clearing. "You alright, kid?" He asks slowly and I give him two thumbs-up as I lower my arms.
"Sorry about taking your arm off... It was an accident..." He nods and lets go of my shirt to gently pat my arm.
"Thirty seconds remaining," JARVIS reminds and Bucky looks a little confused. I want to leave the tower and do something with him because he's cool so I take advantage of him being confused.
"Sorry ahead of time for this." He looks more confused and I grab the hand on my shoulder, quickly spinning and throwing him over my shoulder while still half standing, which I'm not used to. I lose my balance and barely manage to catch myself before I fall on top of Bucky, pinning him with a hand on his chest just before JARVIS comes back.
"Zero seconds remaining."
"So... Do I win?" I ask Bucky and he laughs before he knocks me upside my hide with his flesh hand, knocking me off of him. "Ow," I groan because my head was still reeling from his earlier punch and he looks at me as he sits up.
"You good?"
"Yeah. Do I win your little challenge, though?"
"Yeah. Good job, kid." He pats my shoulder and I punch the air once.
"YES!" I smile and the others laugh. I stand after a moment and shake my head to get rid of the fuzziness, thinking a bit. "Hey, what day is it?"
"The day that should be canceled," Steve says and I look at him, confused.
"He means Tuesday," Bucky explains and I nod.
"OK, I agree with that. I meant, what day of the month?"
"Oh. Um... JARVIS?"
"It is the twenty-first of June, Sir." I nod a bit and look at Bucky.
"Could we take a rain-check on going to do something? I just remembered I got stuff to do today," I say kind of lamely as I point over my shoulder with my thumb and he nods.
"Sure, kid."
"Thanks. Later, guys."
"We're still training," Steve calls as I leave and I run a hand through my hair.
"Sorry, Cap! I gotta get this stuff done soon!" I jog to the elevator and have PIXEL stop the music. "Pixie Dust, set an annual reminder for June twenty-first, please."
"Of course, Razzle Dazzle. What is it for?" I take a moment and lean against the wall.
"Keiko's Birthday," I say softly and the notification pops up on my glasses. "Thanks, Pixie Dust."
"You're welcome, Razzle Dazzle." I get off of the elevator on my floor and go to the TV, flipping through the channels until I find a pride parade being live-streamed.
"Let's see... What was her favorite cake, again?" I think and run a hand through my hair. "German chocolate! Pixie Dust, could you find a good German chocolate cake recipe and send it to my phone, please?"
"Anything for you." I get the notification and pull up the link, seeing it was a video.
"Alright... Let's get ready to probably burn the kitchen down." I start to get the ingredients out and see Keiko in the reflection of the window, looking the same as the last time I saw her. I stare at her for a minute and she smiles before it fades away.
"Hey, kid. You in here?" I blink a few times and clear my throat, looking toward the elevator to see the Avengers coming up.
"What're you guys doing here?"
"Well... PIXEL talked to JARVIS and told us that today is your sister's birthday, right?" Peter looks at me and I run a hand through my hair. "We were wondering if you were OK."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I... I just wanted to celebrate her birthday. I haven't been able to since before... Before she died because our grandparents are assholes and thought selling me to aliens for space liquor was a good idea..." I clench my jaw slightly and clear my throat after a moment. "It was hard to know the exact day here when I wasn't... Here. The best I could get was the season it was in, and even then it was mainly just knowing if it was winter or not. So... Yeah." I nod a bit and they don't know how to respond.
"How are you celebrating?" Steve asks and I smile a bit.
"Same way we used to. She always got her birthday off, well, the day she got adopted by Mom, at least. She was born on June first, but we always celebrated today because it was the day she got adopted. It was her..."
"Gotcha Day?" Michelle asks and I nod.
"Yeah! That! We just always treated it as her birthday. But, um, we celebrated by making or buying, a German chocolate cake cuz it was her favorite. Then, we'd find a channel that had a live-stream pride parade and march around our living room, chanting with them. Mom would hold me on her back and didn't care that I'd scream the chants in her ear," I chuckle and run a hand through my hair again, smiling softly at the memories. "After she got taken under the disguise of being dead, we kept up the tradition and would do it when our grandparents were out drinking. We usually made the cake and I somehow always wound up with flour in my hair and my socks. When I got older, I started paying more attention and noticed how she would randomly sprinkle some on my head. I still have no clue how it got in my socks, though," I chuckle and the others smile at me.
"That's cool," Peter says and I nod, rubbing the back of my neck slightly.
"I, uh... I've never told anyone any of that before," I admit and clear my throat awkwardly after a moment. "I'm gonna continue making the cake..."
"What was her favorite meal?" Bucky asks and I think.
"She liked anything that I would help with. But, she liked... Baked sweet potatoes with freshly hunted venison, or deer," I say as I go back to making the cake and they're silent for a minute.
"What?"
"We'd hunt when we had to and for whatever game was in season. How do you think I got so good at shooting a bow?"
"I don't know if we can get freshly hunted deer."
"Yeah, it ain't deer season yet... That's later in the year. When we couldn't hunt deer, we bought a steak to share."
"Steak I can do," Tony says and I hear the elevator close after a moment, warmth filling my chest, unlike when I was with the Ravagers all those years.
"How are you adapting to this?" I glance to my right and see Keiko's ghost standing there. It's rough but I'm glad that I found a better group to be my family. "And your kids?" I know they'll be OK with them on the ship. "Are you happy?" Feels like it would with you, big sister. Warmth spreading from my chest, going to my fingers and toes. Never happened with any of the Ravagers or Guardians. "I'm glad. I love you, my little Captain Gonzales." I chuckle softly and her ghost fades.
"What's so funny?"
"Just a memory. She would call me her little Captain Gonzales."
"That's cute," Steve says and I nod, pouring the batter into the pan before I realize I forgot to preheat the oven.
"Pixie Dust, what does the oven go on?"
"Three hundred fifty degrees, Razzle Dazzle."
"Thanks." I preheat the oven to that and wait for it to go off before putting the cake in, setting the timer for thirty minutes.