When Does Hope Begin?

Amaranthus

Peach had counted the days since they had taken her, she was officially in her seventh month pregnant. She would be upping her doctor appointments, in fact, she had missed an appointment. Not that time had any meaning at all stuck in an underground prison. Except for the fact that she was in an underground prison and no one in the outside world knew what happened to her. She had no family, Ellis and Ross knew that. They were hoping to use her baby against her, but she could not honestly tell them where they were. Steve very rarely gave her an exact location for safety. Except that hadn't stopped them from throwing her in jail. That didn't stop the taunts, the cold showers, and the limited food. She moved her hands to her face and flinched, her cheeks had begun to hollow out. Tony had been out two more times and she suspected that Ellis and Ross sought to keep him out. He was of no relation to her, and it was a secure prison after all. It was meant for the worst of the worst that they decided she was. 

She did have an ace up her sleeve. It was risky for Steve but she had no one to rely on. Not after the Avengers split up over the Accords. The only time the doctors were to use the number she put down was if something happened to her. Peach was hoping since she just vanished into thin air that it would constitute an emergency and they used the number. Peach stood up from the bed when Ross entered with a few guards, her heart beginning to race. "What do you want? I still don't have any answers," her voice wavered, she cursed herself but they wouldn't listen to her. No matter what she said they didn't listen. 

"You know... I almost believe you," Ross replied, moving forward and gesturing for the guards to grab her arms. "I think we need to sit you under some cold water." Peach grit her teeth, this wasn't the first time they used it. They were carefully monitoring the baby which she was uncomfortable with. They made sure nothing they did was harmful to the fetus, to her baby. They predicted the baby had super-serum in its blood. Apart of its' genetic makeup unlike its father. This time though, after her stint in the freezing water they tossed her into a room without any sort of windows. No lights. She turned trembling from the cold. 

"What is this?" She gasped, licking her blue-tinged lips, and moved forward only to have guns shoved in her face. 

"Maybe some time in solitary will convince you to talk," Ross told her, and then he turned and walked away. The guards shut the door behind them leaving her in a room so black she could not see where the door began, or where the walls were. 

"Ross! Ross!" Peach panicked, throwing herself in the direction she knew the door was. It had just been there, how could the light not get through the outline of the door? She banged on it, the silence was deafening, the sound of her own heartbeat increasing her panic. Her fists ached from the banging, from trying to get them to come back. Peach felt along the walls and found a corner, huddling into it with her wet clothes and closing her eyes. She tried to hum to herself, but that took energy. She was stuck in utter darkness and silence, and while she had always prayed for an escape from the constant taunting this was a different torture. 

Logically time would pass but Peach lost all concept of time. Seconds blended into minutes that bled into hours. Peach could feel hunger gnaw at her, but she had been sick several times. Her lungs were even beginning to hurt. She thought maybe she could figure out the time of day with meals, but the meals were even more scarce. The tears had been endless but no one had come to talk to her, the guards did not even acknowledge her. One must have had pity because they slipped in a thin blanket for her, great. She managed to find a discreet place to use the restroom but without regular fluids and food, she was having to go less. The place still smelled awful, she didn't smell like a flower either. 

Feeling faint from the lack of food, Peach found herself passing out. Her lungs hurt, and each cough was like shards of glass going through her chest. She heard something slam against the door but found herself unable to open her eyes. She had been alone for so long, no one was going to come to save her. Those thoughts were on repeat. Steve would never find her, would never see their baby. She would lose their baby. She did not have the ability to turn her head from its' slumped position to see that the door had in fact opened. 

"Peach?" There was no response from the slumped girl. Her brain barely registered the fact she heard something, anyone, because she'd tried to remember the sound of her friends' voices for so long. "Steve! She's in here." 

Peach remained in her slumped position, not even twitching as the sound of several people in a hurry seemed to enter her small room. She couldn't afford to lose any more hope, surely her heart would die of a broken heart if she let anything more damage it. Fingers gently touched her face, skimmed over her cheeks, and checked her pulse. 

"We have to get her help," the voice sounded close to panic, and strong arms encased her. Peach figured it was some guard that realized she was sick, really sick, and they hadn't checked on her. She probably held no real value but to let her die wouldn't look too good on them. After that, the voices faded, and she slipped further into the darkness of her mind. 

The next time Peach came to she was listening to the faint sounds of a heart monitor. Someone was holding her hand, pressing warm lips to her hand. That was new, she hadn't had a friendly touch since she found out about the baby. No one had been there for her. Steve had taken the supportive half with him. Tony was irritating, but he hadn't been terrible. She still firmly blamed him for the entire mess, but he did try to be a friendly face when they took her. Kidnapped right from her shop. She was too weak to sob, but the tears welled up behind her eyelids and began to drip down her gaunt cheeks. As awareness broke through the darkness of her mind, she noted that the disgusting smell of body fluids was gone replaced with a scent of clean linen, that was warm, and more of a medical setting. 

"I need you to open your eyes," a deep voice quietly begged, her heart tugging at the words. She was trying to will herself to place the voice to the name. Fear made her shy away even though outwardly she was crying there was nothing else that made her seem aware. Rough fingers rose up and wiped at the tears. "Why is she crying and not responding?"

"Could be a nightmare or a response to trauma," a female voice chimed in, she didn't sound familiar. It wasn't who she'd placed as Natasha or Wanda. "You have to give her time. She was very ill when you brought her in. Everything she had went to the baby, leaving very little for herself. We are lucky that the baby is okay." 

The baby was okay? Peach wanted to open her eyes and ask, wanted to interrogate the new voice. Make sure she heard right, because that's all she wanted was for her baby to be safe. Another hand ran over her belly, laying flat on the curve before moving to the top. It was a new feeling, someone else touching the bump that wasn't herself. At least the baby was okay. Peach could face anything as long as she was still protecting Steve's baby. The baby was the only thing that was hers. She slipped into the dark once again, aware she was warmer wherever she was.