They Called Me The Gorgon | Chapter Two
Chapter One
Notes: Excited to get into the deeper part of this little story in my head!
CW: Slight description of a medical procedure.
Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed
2015
I can’t remember my name.
That’s the first thought that comes to mind when the man in red metal unlocks the restraints, and I crumble, the weight of my body unfamiliar. Instead of hitting the ground, I hit the shoulder and chest of Steve Rogers. He steadies me on my feet, and I shrink back.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, “I didn’t want you to get hurt.” I quickly nod, maybe he really is here to help me?
No, I think, be smart. Be safe.
“Do you know where you are?” He asks.
I glance around and go to speak; my voice sounds hoarse and my throat is scratchy.
“This is the room they keep me in when they are asking me questions, or… putting me to sleep.”
Steve looks sad as he asks his next question,
“Do you know who you are?”
My eyes widen and I look up at him. How did he know?
“It’s okay,” the man in red interrupts, “I downloaded all the files from here, we can figure it all out at the Tower.”
Steve feels familiar, like I recognize him from somewhere in my memory, and that feels like the only thing I can trust right now, so I look to him. He meets my eyes and nods.
“We can get you out of here, bring you to New York. Somewhere safe.”
New York, I’ve heard that before.
“Wait,” I pause, “tell me who you all are. If- if you wanted to kill me, you would have by now. Why do you want me?”
The other man speaks up, I see he has what looks like a silver metal vest?
“Hydra has destroyed a lot of lives. We’ve spent the last year tracking and destroying what’s left of them.’’ He walks up next to Steve and smiles gently.
“I’m Sam, Sam Wilson. And I would love to get up on out of here. We can’t really leave you here on an island.” He takes a step closer to me, and once I don’t flinch away, he leans closer.
“I know you must be confused, but I’m sure we can get it all figured out. And you can see that the people who brought you here are gone. It’s a lot to ask, but please, just trust us. If you want to survive, if you want Hydra destroyed, we gotta go.”
I like Sam, I decide. He has an aura of calm to him. Looking around, I realize that I don’t really have much of a choice. The room is covered in dust and all disheveled, papers on the ground, chairs overturned. Whoever was here last looks to be long gone. My head is pounding, and my thoughts are jumbled. I can’t focus on a memory, it’s just all clouded.
Resigned to the fact that my only choice is to go with them or starve here all alone, I stand straighter and nod.
“I’m going to be so mad if anyone kills me,” I mumble. I don’t think I anyone could hear me, but I see Steve smile a bit.
Tony now introduces himself, and they lead me through the base. When we pass the medical bay, I gasped and shut my eyes, remembering the time they cut into my skin to reset a bone that they had broken, and I was awake for it all. A phantom pain shoots through my arm.
“Hey,” Steve whispers, “I got you.” I peak through squinted eyes and see that he has offered me his arm. I tentatively place my hand on his forearm, and he leads me the rest of the way while my eyes are closed tight.
I only open my eyes again when I feel the sunshine on my face. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, and my shoulders drop, sighing into the feeling of warmth wash over me.
I open my eyes and immediately see Steve looking at me, it takes him a second to look away when we lock eyes. Tony leads the way to what they call a “quinjet”, and while this all feels unfamiliar, the idea of an aircraft like that sticks out as especially out of place.
The three men start to talk amongst themselves, leaving me to sit and take a moment. I try to find a corner, having my back against the wall and everyone in my line of sight is the only thing that doesn’t make my heart race. Even if it means being on the floor. I start to try to remember, but I only get flashes of pain and a feeling of dread, and I decide maybe it’s okay to not remember just yet. At least until I’m alone.
Eventually, Sam walks over to me.
“Mind if I sit?”
I say yes, and he sits in front of me, criss crossed applesauce
I wonder how I know that saying.
“We’ll be in New York soon. Tony is going to set up some medical evaluations, just to make sure you’re okay. Oh, and he’s going to get a room ready for you.”
“You want me to live at his house?”
Sam chuckles.
“It’s more like a skyscraper slash hotel. Don’t worry, you will have plenty of room to breathe and have your own space.”
“I really don’t like this; I don’t know what’s going on. I feel lost.”
“Well, let’s see if we can narrow some things down. Can I ask you some questions?
I nod.
“Feel free to ask me anything you want too, okay?” He says, “First one, what is the last year you remember?”
My head aches a bit as he triggers an automatic answer.
“1972. No, wait, I remember someone saying the words 1995?” I look at him, “I assume that neither of those are correct.” He shakes his head.
“It’s 2015.”
I don’t respond. Mainly because that’s incredibly hard to process. Sam begins again.
“Let’s do something easier. What’s your favorite color?” He offers.
“Green.”
“Favorite Band?”
“The Rolling Stones wait.... Bowie maybe?” I respond.
“Well, I can confirm that definitely sounds like 1972.”
That makes me smile a bit. Learning this bit of information about myself as I say them is unsettling though. We go back and forth for a while longer. I learn my favorite fruit is green grapes, not purple, I don’t like bell peppers, and I remember turning 22.
Then, Steve walks over to us, announcing we are going to be landing and should probably buckle up. It’s also just then when something clicks in my brain.
Steve is Captain America?
1972
It’s dark, I think as I stir awake. I open my eyes, but I can’t tell a difference, I frantically look around, starting to hyperventilate. There’s nothing to see but black.
Suddenly there’s a square of light about five feet in front of me. White static on a television screen. The thunderous noise fills the whole room, like it’s swallowing me whole. I go to cover my ears, but I can’t move from whatever I am laying on, I can feel restraints on me, the pressure tight as it holds my body up from falling from the vertical angle.
A flash. The noise is gone. I squint to see the TV more.
“Honey?”
I gasp, tears immediately welling up in my eyes. Mom.
She appears on the video, she’s visibly shaking and crying, my father follows behind her.
“They say you’re alive,” She stifles a sob, “God, I hope that’s true. I love you so much, we both do.” She looks at my dad to continue.
“It's going to be okay. We will do what they want to keep you safe. Don’t you worry, okay?”
He looks behind the camera, glaring before looking back.
“My sweet girl… just hold out. Be strong. I know you can be. I promise one day we will see each other again.”
Someone yells behind the camera, time’s up. My mom rushes to get in a last word.
“They promised if we complied, they would keep you alive, please stay alive. You are my whole wor-”
She’s cut off by the camera shutting off and I finally let myself cry, and I cry so hard it’s hard to breathe.
“I hope now you will be more... cooperative with us. I wouldn’t want your parents to die before finding out their daughter alive.”
The male voice isn’t in the room with me. It’s loud and booming over the speakers, replacing the sound of my parents.
It’s only seconds before I black out again.
2015 – Steve
I see the recognition in her eyes. It’s the same familiar shock I see wherever I go, and I expect her to ask questions, but to my surprise, she doesn’t say anything. I try to do the math in my head, overhearing Sam talk to her about the 70’s. There’s no way we could have met. She looks young.
We land on top of the Tower and rain pours down over New York. Shuffling out, I hold the shield over her head to block the rain and rush into the upper level.
“You good?” Sam asks her, and she nods, but I see her shivering.
“Tony, can you call Bruce? Set up the medical bay for the doctors. Sam, can you get JARVIS to find a room.”
They both turn to attend to their respective tasks, and I lead her to the couch. She’s shivering, and I tell her I’ll be right back, getting her some clothes. A grey Stark Industries sweatshirt and sweatpants.
When I had them to her, her brow furrows.
“Stark…” she whispers, “I don’t think I like this name. I don’t know why.”
I smile a bit, “You wouldn’t be the first with that sentiment.” I pause before taking a deep breath, about to ask her a dreaded question, but she starts up first.
“How did you know I didn’t know who I was? I saw your face, you expected it.”
I don’t know how to respond. It takes me a minute to gather my thoughts, and the whole time she doesn’t look away.
“I had a friend, my best friend, who I saw die. Right in front of me. And it killed me, I thought I had avenged him in some way, or at least done right by his memory. Then last year, a man I thought was dead for decades shows up in the middle of the street, trying to kill me. He didn’t remember who he was either.”
“Does he remember now?” She sounds hopeful, and that breaks my heart.
“I don’t know. He’s off grid. We were tracking him down before we were led to your location.”
Her shoulders fall.
“I think I remember some things before Hydra. Like learning about you in school. Captain America and the Howling Commandos. You were quite the story.”
I shrug. There’s a comfortable silence before she asks if there’s a place for her to change, and I point her to a bathroom. As she walks away, she turns back for a moment.
“Bucky Barnes was the only Commando who died, right? Is he…?”
“Yeah. He is.”
She nods.
“I’m sorry, really.”
“It’s okay. I’m sorry you’re going through this.” I really am, who knows what she experienced. I only know the basics about Bucky, and it’s unimaginable.
She turns and walks through the door, and Tony rushes into the common area.
“Where is she?” He says in a hushed tone.
“In there, what’s wrong?”
Tony stares at me.
“You better come look at this before we talk to her more. Bruce and Nat will be here any second and will take her to the medbay. That little show we saw at the base? With the eyes? That was just a preview.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, she was a test subject of Hydra in the 1970’s. Where they already had an in at SHEILD, and access to all of the technology SHEILD had.”
“What does that have to do with her? It looks like they tried to turn her into a super soldier, she hasn’t aged a day.”
“Steve, they had the Tesseract. They used the Tesseract on her.”
My eyes go wide.
“What’s the tesseract?”
Tony jumps as she appears behind him, we both turn as she stares us down; a flash of blue energy appears in her eyes.
Well, fuck.
Read Chapter Three here