Atonement ‧₊˚ ☽ ⋅ Moon Knight

Chapter 6

Part I · Chapter 6
Devils in Suits

Louise decides she won't completely relent to HYDRA for the sake of her sister.

⚠️TW/CW: mentioned death of family member, kidnapping/abduction, manipulation, Agents of SHIELD S2 references ⚠️

‧₊˚ ☽ ⋅

Unknown Location
1999

The first thing Louise recognizes when she comes to is the smell.

Pharmacy. Hospital. Laboratorium, to be exact. It reminds her of that one time she had to go under a biopsy to examine her swollen lymph nodes. To be honest it wasn't exactly a fun time but necessary measures had to be taken. Anyway, here she is, now.

...Where is she?

Then, the pain comes in. Her muscles strain as she moves them, groaning. It feels drowsy still, the world feels like spinning. Not only her muscles that strain but her hands, too. Her wrists. It's cuffed behind her. She's sitting on a chair. The constant rattle of metal against metal from the cuffs against the chair prompts her to gain consciousness as seconds go by. Then, she cracks her eyes open, only to squint when faced with the bright, white light.

I'm definitely not dead yet, she thinks.

"Ah, you're finally awake!"

Louise pants. She really isn't in the mood to talk back now.

"Please, take the cuffs off of her. We don't need her to be in any more pain. And she must be thirsty."

Footsteps that come from behind her approach with a rustling of keys. A moment later, she breathes out in relief as her hands come free. With gathered strength, Louise sits up – with her weakened condition it's more like limping forward in her seat – and leans on the table, almost knocking off a glass of water in front of her.

"Be careful," says the voice again. The man watches the water spill on her arm. "Wouldn't wanna make a messy spill on the table, would we?" He let out a huff of laugh.

After bashing away the ringing in her ears, Louise shakes herself to full consciousness. As the blur from her sight subsides, she registers that she is in a room with gray, concrete walls. In front of her sits a white-haired man dressed in a sharp, formal gray suit. Formal suit. Louise inhales sharply.

"Please, child, drink." He gestures to the glass of water. "You must be thirsty."

Gripping the arms of the metal chair, she lets out a breath. The man talks with an accent. German, perhaps. No, it is German. Meaning the man in front of her isn't the same man who ordered the murder of her grandparents. Nevertheless, she's been taken by them.

"Where am I?" she croaks out, her voice barely above a whisper.

"The answer depends on how well you shall cooperate with us, child," the man answers, dragging his chair forward. He intertwines his fingers on the table. "Let's have a conversation, yes? But first, please, drink. Your throat must've hurt when you talk."

Louise eyes the water. It looks refreshing. When it splashed against her skin earlier by accident, the water felt cool. Must feel so good to drink the whole thing and soothe her sandpaper of a throat.

"It's not laced with poison, if that's what you worry about. We are here not to kill you. If we wished to do such a thing, we would've done it the moment we took you."

The possibility of such an event happening instead of her being here, kidnapped but alive, makes her blood run cold.

Carefully, still glaring at the white-haired man, Louise gulps down the rest of the water.