1When I woke up, I was so sore. I tried to move, but couldn't. I slowly opened my eyes, trying to adjust to the bright light above. I could hear a loud beeping, and raised my head to see what was making the noise. Then I saw the restraints. I took a deep breath. Looking around, I was alone in a white room hooked up to a lot of monitors. I knew that most straps couldn't keep me down, so a pulled at the ones on my legs. When I did, they did not budge, but I heard a loud beeping separate from the ones of the other monitors I could already hear. I pulled again, and the harder I pulled, the louder it got. A light from one monitor to my side caught my attention. It was a diagram of my body, and as I stopped trying to push the restraints with my legs, the legs on the diagram grew dark again the same time the sound stopped.
Hu. The amount of strength I used to push on the restraints was being monitored too. I tried with my arms, and sure enough the sound arose again and the arms on the diagram lit up. I was getting bored of this, but as I relaxed my arms I noticed not only an I.V. in my arm, which I fully expected, but something strange on my hands. They were kind of like gloves, and they were tight.
This is a nightmare, a living nightmare, I thought as my heart rate shot up as evidenced by one of the many machines. I almost started to hyperventilate. There was a fleeting memory that came to mind, of waking up in a similar place that also had straps that could hold me. I tried to push it aside, tried to forget it like I had for months, but it came back. I couldn't get out. So many people, strange devices… and pain. Being cut open in various spots and left to bleed, shocked until I could reproduce whatever they were looking for, tied down until I regained my 'sanity', as they would say.
I was trapped inside my own mind.
Wanda was just on her second cup of coffee when she received an urgent communiqué from Falcon. "We need you down here. The girl is awake."
In under a minute, she was back outside the white room. Earlier this morning doctor Banner had arrived. He needed to do an examination before he had any suggestions, but couldn't do so as long as the patient was unconscious. So, a week after the girl had arrived, she was being revived. However, though they tried to do so early this morning, she took several hours to show signs of waking up. This was why Wanda had gone upstairs.
The girl was awake. She could see through the screen that she was very tense, and was pushing against the restraints off and on, but had a blank expression on her face as she stared at the ceiling. No tears fell down her face, but Wanda could tell she was in a lot of pain. "Well, why aren't we going in there?" asked Falcon.
"Because these things are delicate," said Banner. "The readings are off the charts. Strength comparable to yours, Steve."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean we sit out here while you look at readings," said Rogers. "I'm going to talk to her."
"No no no, wait," said Tony as he stood in the Cap's way. "If Banner says it's not safe, it's not safe."
"Look guys," said Banner. "I want to go in and speak to her as much as you do, but whatever Tony built to inhibit her ice powers or whatever they are is sending back readings that show they are being pushed to the limit. I'm saying that if they fail, the equipment could freeze and break and she could escape." There was a pause as Tony looked down at the ground for half a second, regretting making the restraints vulnerable to extreme cold. There hadn't been time to design new ones, and he thought the inhibiters would be good enough. "Plus," he added. "Even if you could manage the calm her down Cap, you don't speak Romanian."
"I do," said Wanda.
"Maximoff, I don't want you in there," said Tony.
"Actually, Tony, she might be the best shot we have in calming her down."