Daughter of a Witch

Chapter 7: Cracks in the Armor

The SHIELD medical wing was silent except for the faint hum of machinery monitoring Y/n's vitals. She lay unconscious on a hospital bed, her wrists bound to the bed frame by thick, padded restraints.

The injuries she'd sustained in the fight with Agatha had been enough to warrant immediate medical attention. However, she was mostly stable; her face was etched with faint bruises, and a thin bandage wrapped around her upper arm where a deep gash had required stitches.

Agatha sat beside her daughter's bed, clutching a worn baby blanket. It was soft and faded from years of careful keeping, but each fiber held a piece of the memory Agatha had carried with her since the day Y/n had been born.

She brushed a thumb over its edge, remembering the night they'd wrapped their newborn daughter in it at the hospital. It was only days later that Hydra had taken her from them, just as she and Rio had been on the verge of bringing her home.

Rio stood nearby, holding a small pendant on a leather cord. Her expression was tense, a mix of anger at Hydra and a deep, aching tenderness for the girl lying before them. Their daughter.

They had never stopped searching, had never stopped hoping. And now, even as she lay tethered to the hospital bed, a lifetime of conditioning and trauma separating them, Agatha couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope.

Finally, Y/n stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She blinked, her gaze distant as if trapped in a half-dream state. The coldness that usually hardened her expression softened just slightly, perhaps from the sedatives SHIELD had given her to keep her stable. Her gaze finally focused on Agatha, her eyes darkened, her jaw clenching.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was sharp but laced with confusion. "Where... where am I?"

Agatha took a steadying breath, keeping her tone gentle. "You're safe, Y/n. You were hurt, so we brought you here to recover." She glanced briefly at Rio, who moved closer, her face softening as she looked at their daughter.

Y/n tugged at her restraints, eyes flashing with frustration. "So, what? Am I just another prisoner now? Hydra warned me about you," she spat, her voice low and dangerous. "They said you'd try to mess with my head, make me think things that aren't true."

Agatha's heart sank, but she kept her composure, her voice gentle. "We're not here to confuse you. We're here because... because you're our daughter, Y/n. They took you from us when you were only four days old. We didn't even get to take you home."

Y/n's face twisted with something unreadable, an emotion flickering across her face before she quickly masked it with anger. "You're lying. Hydra told me the truth. They're my family."

Rio stepped forward, holding the pendant in her hands. She extended it to Y/n, her voice soft but steady. "This is yours, Y/n. We gave it to you when you were born."

Y/n's gaze dropped to the pendant, a flash of confusion breaking through her defiance. She looked away sharply, her hands clenching into fists as though to resist reaching out. "Stop it. You're just trying to make me weak," she said, her voice wavering for the first time.

But Agatha saw the vulnerability in her daughter's expression, the subtle crack in her armor. She took a chance, holding up the baby blanket. "We kept this, too. It was what you were wrapped in the night you were born."

Y/n's gaze flickered to the blanket, and a tremor ran through her. She clenched her teeth, turning her face away as though fighting against a deep, painful memory. Agatha could see the struggle-the conditioning Hydra had instilled in her, battling against the pull of a family she'd never known.

"It doesn't mean anything to me," Y/n whispered, though her voice was soft and uncertain. She glanced at the blanket again, her eyes searching its worn fabric with a flicker of recognition she seemed afraid to admit.

Rio leaned closer, her voice barely above a whisper. "That's okay, Y/n. You don't have to remember right now. But we're not here to hurt you. We've never wanted anything except for you to be safe and loved."

For a moment, Y/n's hardened gaze softened, her expression vulnerable, raw with confusion. Her eyes settled on the pendant, her hand twitching as though she wanted to reach out but couldn't quite bring herself to do it.

Agatha saw the cracks beginning to show, the faint glimmer of her daughter within the layers of Hydra's conditioning. She leaned in, her voice filled with gentle assurance. "They may have taken you from us, Y/n, but they can't take who you are. That's something no amount of training or conditioning can ever erase."

Y/n looked down at her hands, her gaze distant as if lost in thought. The anger in her expression had waned, replaced by something far more vulnerable, almost childlike. She glanced back at the pendant in Rio's hand, her brow furrowing as though struggling to make sense of it.

"Why do I..." Her voice trembled, and she looked back up at Agatha and Rio, her eyes reflecting a confusion she could no longer hide. "Why does this feel... like something I should know?"

Agatha's heart ached with a mixture of relief and sorrow as she watched her daughter wrestle with the remnants of her own forgotten past. She took a breath, steadying herself before she replied. "Because you do know, Y/n. You may not remember it now, but deep down, you know this is part of who you are."

Y/n's eyes filled with tears, her mask of defiance cracking as she clung to the pendant, her fingers tracing the worn leather and silver, as though by touch alone, she could retrieve the memories inside her. She looked up at Agatha and Rio, her expression a blend of anger, confusion, and something resembling longing.

"What if... what if I don't want to know?" she whispered, her voice small and vulnerable, revealing a fear Hydra had hidden beneath layers of control. "What if it's... too late?"

Rio's heart broke at her words, and she reached out, gently placing her hand over Y/n's, her touch warm and grounding. "It's never too late, Y/n. No matter what Hydra tried to make you believe, we're here and will not give up on you. We're here to stay."

Agatha nodded, her voice thick with emotion. "We've waited all these years, Y/n. We can wait a little longer. We want you to know we're here... and not going anywhere."

Y/n's grip on the pendant tightened, and she looked down, a single tear escaping down her cheek. She didn't wipe it away. Her expression caught between resistance and an almost desperate hope. And though she didn't respond, Agatha and Rio felt the tiniest sliver of progress, a faint crack in the wall Hydra had built around her.

They sat with her silently, letting their presence speak for the love and hope they still held. As they left the room, closing the door gently behind them, they knew this was only the beginning of their journey to bring Y/n back. But even in this small, fragile moment, they believed their daughter might still be within reach.