Project Boa

Dreams

He coughed once before speaking
"A-are you ready to start the film n-now?" I looked up at him and nodded, although he avoided eye contact, and a few seconds later we were watching the title sequence of the movie.

The film was very enjoyable, but even so, around halfway through I found myself fighting to stay awake and, despite my best efforts, fell asleep cuddled next to Peter.

The night before I hadn't dreamt, the physical and mental exhaustion so high that I quickly fell into a deep dreamless sleep. Unfortunately this time round that wasn't the case.

I hadn't been asleep for long before they began, images started to flash behind my eyelids, first of the lab, being strapped to a cold metal table as they cut me to pieces and injected me with burning liquids that made me feel like I was being torn apart from the inside out. Electricity coursing through my body as they forced me to use my abilities, powers I still don't know the full extent of.

Next came the faces, all the people that I had reduced to nothing other than food, some of them dead before they entered the room, whereas others weren't so lucky. Their screams rang in my ears and I, once again, saw the terror on their faces as their struggling bodies vanished within my own. Voices muffled behind layers of muscle as they begged for their lives while I covered my ears in a feeble attempt to block out their pleas. I did let someone out once, only for them to be tortured and killed in front of me and I was starved for almost two months, that was enough for me to learn that I had no choice other than to do what I was told.

Then came the more recent pain, of my body being beaten and ribs being broken as the handler was dragged harshly out of my throat, causing it to bruise and bleed slightly as I writhed in pain and my restraints cut into me even more.

I didn't notice when I started to tremble and tears rolled down my cheeks while small whimpers and hisses escaped my mouth.

But Peter did. He noticed when my face scrunched up in fear and panic so, without even thinking he pulled me closer until I was basically on his lap and wrapped his arms around me.

I stiffened slightly at the contact, still being at the mercy of my memories, but relaxed once I felt a hand running through my hair, gently untangling small knots as it went. I was surprised at the contact without pain since I had never felt it in all my time with Hydra, so I flicked my tongue out a few times to test the air. To my surprise the air was full of the scent of citrus and flowers, not cold and stale like the air in my cell, I also felt warmth coming from an unidentifiable source and softness all around me, instead of the cold concrete of the cell walls.

I relaxed even more and cuddled closer to the heat source as the fear and pain started to vanish to be replaced by a beautiful forest full of flowers. I let out a content sigh as I moved quickly through the forest in my true form, collecting flowers and climbing trees until the sun sank below the horizon.

I was woken by a quiet clicking sound, I groggily opened my eyes only to be met by a wall of fabric, it was only when I looked up and saw Peter's sleeping face that I realised the wall of fabric was actually his chest.

I let out a quiet huff, annoyed that I had been dragged out of my dream forest and snuggled closer to Peter before closing my eyes again.

I opened them immediately when another click sounded and tiredly looked around only to see Tony, Bruce, Bucky, Steve and Wanda all pointing their phones in our direction. I hissed at  them, flicking my tongue out in annoyance and Bucky clipped Steve over the back of the head

"I told you to turn the sound off" Bucky whispered glaring at Steve

"I thought I had!" Steve whined while Tony sniggered at his reaction.

All the noise caused Peter to stir slightly so I wrapped my arms around him and pulled myself closer before hissing at the five again and laying my head on Peter's chest listening to his steady heartbeat. I heard some quiet "Aww"s and glared at the people in front of me allowing the slits of my eyes to narrow even more. Most of them left after that, the only ones who didn't being Bruce and Tony who took a seat on one of the other sofas in the living room while they talked quietly about some science thing.

Despite my efforts Peter woke up shortly after, blinking groggily to get the sleep from his eyes as he took in his surroundings. His tired eyes widened as he noticed me curled on his lap and took in our position. 'I didn't know humans could change colour on their own' I thought as I noticed his face tint slightly red. I reached up and gently brushed my knuckles against his pink cheek, tilting my head slightly as he turned away from me and coughed into his hand

"Sh-shall we go get some food now?" He asked and I nodded, pulling myself off his lap so he could get up. He scrambled off the sofa and fell to the floor with a thud since his legs were still tangled in the blankets

Tony heard the thud from where he was sitting and looked towards Peter who was sprawled on the floor
"You good kid?" He said with a slight chuckle as Bruce tried to contain his laughter.

I held my hand towards him to help him up and he took it, smiling graciously
"Yeah I'm fine Mr Stark." He pulled himself up, not actually putting any weight on me but even so, he didn't let go of my hand until he was stood.

He placed his hands under my armpits and lifted me off the sofa with ease, I winced as my legs bent, feeling more sore than usual but that's probably just because I've been sitting still for a while. After I was carefully deposited on my wheelchair he took me into the kitchen, followed by Tony and Bruce.

I grinned widely when I saw a pack of frozen mice defrosting on the draining board, looking at Tony with exited eyes as he chuckled at my reaction.
"Thor told me you'd like them more, that and it shouldn't make as much of a mess."

My smile grew wider and I fidgeted impatiently in my chair as I willed the tiny mammals to defrost faster. I sat with the others, since their food was ready, as I waited for my meal to thaw and looked around the slowly filling table from my seat between Loki and Thor, with Tony and Peter sat opposite

"I trust you had a pleasant day young Corallus"