Phoenixfire

Ashes and Dust II

Phoenix had left for a grocery run because she wanted to prove herself. Driven by the urge to proof she's sane and whole and not broken. She would get this done on her own. For once she wouldn't just order in, as she usually did, but wanted to go herself and see, what was on offer in the local markets. Nat felt the anticipation and happiness coursing through the other woman as everything went smoothly. Shopping went without a hitch and only one more stop was on the agenda. That little Asian shop had the sweet coconut flakes Phoenix loved and she decided to treat herself. As she decided to park a few streets back to walk a bit in the glorious sunny afternoon, Nat begins to feel dread creeping in. Phoenix had the same feeling creep up on her moments later. Something felt strange. Off. The street was suddenly empty and void of people. At a street corner a van came to a halt screeching tires and all. Before Phoenix could summon so much as a spark to her hands something pricked her. She slapped herself on the neck just as her muscles lost strength and she fell hard. Just as the van's doors opened, and five man ran to grab her. One of them picked her up and carried her out of sight in a narrow alleyway. "We have to be quick about it – no one knows if the other Avengers pop up!" "Na, she's alone, Just a lonely little princess." "Let's at least have a little fun with it." The voices were accented, harsh. Phoenix fought for control, but neither voice nor power responded at all. Nat could hear Phoenix's internal scream and felt the fiery bird, that lived inside Phoenix, screech in indignation and frustration. She was ready to fight, but something blocked her. A woman stepped up to the group, but any flickering hope died instantly. The red hydra-symbol on the lapel was too hidden in the red of the blazer for the panicked Phoenix, but Nat saw it instantly. "Beeilt euch" the woman said. "Macht ihr genug Angst, damit der Vogel versucht auszubrechen, dann nehme ich, was ich brauche." The men nodded and began to quickly and effectively torture while one of them opened his fly fast and rammed his thick member in between Phoenix's legs, to have that bit of fun he craved. He took her, hard. While the others sliced and beat and kicked. The night of punishment all over again. Phoenix's mind started to spiral. The woman looked on with cold, calculating eyes, as a sixth stepped up. Slender, youngish, fanatic sheen in his eyes behind thick spectacles. He carried a metal contraption. Phoenix screamed internally and cried and begged for them to stop, for someone to come, to see, to help. For Nat to come raining hell. Her Phoenix screeched louder and louder with each cut, bruise, thrust. As the man fucking her came, he bit into her breast hard, and the Phoenix finally snapped the chains of the drugs. She burst free in a torrent of flame, burning the men, hurting them. But not for long. The woman did something, grabbed the Phoenix behind its wings. Phoenix the woman panicked as she felt a rip ad tear deep within, as her power was ripped out at the stem. As ashes settled instead of burning warmth a single tear escaped. The woman held the flaming bird by its talons and wings and thrust it into the metal contraption shining with blue light. It screeched one last time before it vanished from view. One of the men kicks the broken woman into her side, hard. "Why can't we just kill her?" "Ich will sehen, ob Sie noch einmal überlebt." The woman leans down to Phoenix and snaps her finger, until she looked up to her. Her voice is cold, and it takes Phoenix a moment, but then she understood the language she had learned years ago under tons of arctic ice. "Keine Wissenschaft ohne Opfer. Wag es dich, jemandem hiervon zu erzählen. Ich finde es raus. Du bist uns zweimal entkommen. Dreimal, eigentlich. Ich will sehen, ob du auch mich überlebst. Wenn du vom Experiment abweichst, werde ich dich wieder finden. Und ich lasse dich von den anderen so lange vögeln lassen, bis du zerbrichst und du den Verlust deines Phönix gar nicht mehr spürst." Her words are followed by a blue sheen sinking into Phoenix. "Lauf nachhause, Kleines. Dein Vogel ist bei mir sicher. Lass uns sehen, ob der Phönix wirklich aus der Asche neu entstehen kann, auch ohne Funken. " After a last disdainful look, she turns and leaves. One of the five, the one that had raped her, sticks a needle into her arm. "This will wake you up soon. You go home and don't tell or I will be back every night. Dream of me, will you?" He says and after a moment's hesitation he kicks her hard into the abdomen. She can't breath as the pain explodes inside, quickly replaced by feeling numb as her mind shuts down. When she can move again, she whimpers and curls up around the core of ashes inside, right there in the dirty alleyway slick with her blood and other things. After a long while she can move again. And single minded does so to get back to her car and to Nat. Her bag forgotten somewhere on the ground. She must get back to her safe harbour. And not show what happened. Must never tell. In her mind the emptiness is hammering along with the order "Don't tell, don't tell, don't tell." On the way back Phoenix fought hard for the mediocre hold on herself so she would be able to hold it together until being alone. "Don't tell. Don't tell. Don't tell."