The Dark Heart(B.Barnes)

21: Prep Her

{Song: Panic Room by Au/Ra}

~Edited~

We drove until morning, the sky had darkened with clouds and the rain was just starting to pelt the van when there was a dip and we entered an underground parking garage. When the van had stopped, the back door was flung open and a group of armed agents were waiting to escort me out. Even with the power dampening cuffs secured to my wrists they were vigilant and tense around me.

I kept my head lowered as they led me through a vast and intricate hallway labyrinth until we entered a dank room and the door was secured behind me, leaving me alone. I took this time to look around the room, there were no visible cameras but that didn't mean someone wasn't watching. There was a large mirror on one side of the room which could easily be a two way mirror.

There is a metal table screwed into the center of the room, and what looks like a grate is set into the wall to the right of the mirror. There was nothing I could use as a weapon, no chairs and there is padding on the ground and walls. I walk towards the mirror and stare straight at it, cocking my head to the side as I concentrate on feeling for minds on the other side.

It took more concentration than normal, most likely because of the cuffs secured to my wrists. But I eventually felt the small flicker of two minds in the other room, it took a bit longer for the thoughts to become more present in my mind. 

'God, it looks like she's staring into my eyes. She can't see us right?' A thought came to me softly, it was a woman. I could sense the second mind better as well, a male presence standing next to her, who was also thinking about how eerie it was that it seemed like I could see through the glass. The woman quickly made an exit, her last thought was about how she couldn't deal with the feeling of me watching her.

I quickly turn around when the door unlatches and swings open, not wanting my back to face an enemy. A tall, bony, and stern looking woman stalks in with a pile of clothing and a permanent frown etched into her dark skin.

"Strip everything off, and put these on." She commands in a sharp tone, a small accent was clear in her voice but I couldn't place it. Her lips pinch together into a thin line when I just stand there and stare at her. I point straight at the mirror, in the direction that I knew the man was standing, "Only once he leaves. I won't be changing in front of an audience" I state, my eyes refusing to back down.

The woman hesitates before she makes a nodding motion at the mirror and I hear the man's mind fade as he also leaves. Once I was certain this woman was the only other person here I quickly took off my clothing and swapped it with the cargo pants and tight black shirt the woman had brought.

"That too." She looks down at the bracelet and I bring the wrist it was on up to my chest in a protective manner, "No. This is the only thing I have left of my family." Which wasn't technically a lie, Tony made it for me and he was part of my family now. Her brows rise even higher on her face and the skin over her sharp cheekbones look like it is being painfully stretched.

"You are refusing to remove it." She didn't say it like a question but I nod in response anyways. She breathes in quickly while glancing from the bracelet to my face, then spinning on her heel and rapping her knuckles on the door a few times before stepping back. A slim man in an expensive looking suit slips into the room, a smirk on his face and a file tucked underneath his arm.

"Hello Alika, my name is Alastair MacCaibe. You might not have heard of me, but I run the sector of HYDRA based in Scotland. I've taken over this region after the sudden demise of my colleague, Alexander Pierce." The man says in a thick Scottish accent. He walks towards the table and sets the folder down on it, slowly pushing it towards me and then opening in.