@illbringthechaosmagic paged: "They're all afraid of me. And they're right to be. You should be, too."
"there isn't much i'm afraid of these days." evvie admits quietly, purple eyes searching the woman in front of her, soft and what she hopes is comforting. "just because some people are afraid of you, doesn't mean that i am." she's seen the worst that humanity, and the supernatural, has to offer in her long life. despite that, she tries to remain soft, to remain the one who keeps the peace and tries to see the best in people. "you are so much more than those people think you are." she pushes gently. "i believe that, and eventually, i hope you will too."
"60 seconds to dock, Wanda. You've got this. Poke around, talk to the locals. If you find it, call us back in. If not, rendezvous back at the pier at sunset, and we'll see if there's any more activity overnight."
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The breeze coming off the sea was cool despite the summer sunshine, as the speedboat turned in the bay and disappeared back towards the mainland. A cluster of buildings sat hunched together at the end of the short dock, faded, weatherworn signs that labelled the three largest as 'General Store and Post Office', 'Heritage Centre', and 'Village Hall'.
On the road, the short strip of asphalt before it gave way to gravel, a young man was busy strapping boxes to a trailer attached to a quad bike. Actually, it looked more like fighting the bungee cords, which threatened to pull him off his feet no matter how he braced his cane against the wheel.
"It only hurts if I laugh, ehehe- ouch", he lowered his head back down on the bed. "Where the hells am I?"
He looked around, noticing all the shiny machines around him. Something was off. There were... tubes... attached with needles... to his left hand?! Wait a second... that HYDRA base, of course! He charged in, alone as always, got hit with some sort of numbing poison, then he managed to get semi-fatally injured... his chest was a cage of pure agony.
"Let me guess. Stark tower. And I'm not getting up unless I'm completely healed." He stared at the IV, still slightly under the effects of some heavy drug the HYDRA used to make him immobile. Then, he glanced back up at Wanda. "Take it out? I don't need it, but I can't seem to lift my hands..."
Wanda found her way into Matt’s cell, sitting herself down beside him. “I overheard them today…talking about mutations…” she began, “how much did they hurt you?”
Oh, they'd hurt him plenty, but Matt didn't necessarily want Wanda to know that. All it would do was upset her, and there was nothing she could do to help him at this point anyway. Matt was scared, though. his body was going through some major changes, and he had the distinct sense that he was running out of time, that something terrible was going to happen to him if he continued to stay in this place.
So far, he might look the same on the outside, but he knew he was changing. Things moved around deep inside him, and just under his skin, and inside his head. And the changes were just physical either. He was sleeping less and less. He felt more aggressive towards the laboratory staff and soldiers. Matt didn't know what it all meant, but he was scared shitless that he was going to turn into one of those nasty, mutated creatures he saw in the Hive.
"I don't know..." he whispered from his half-hunched, half curled-up position at the far side of his cell. As Wanda came to sit with him, he knew his expression betrayed his fear. "Be careful around me, Wanda..." he warned. "I'm... Something's... happening to me. I don't know what, but... it can't be good." As if responding to his words, something moved inside him. He winced and lifted his shirt to show her the weird cracking, stretching, and lumps moving around under his skin that was occurring in his right side. "You... you can see it too, right? Whatever it is, moving around in there? They're all over me. I can feel them moving around all over..." His eyes filled with tears. "I'm scared I might not be human for much longer..."
