The Girl in Purple (Pietro Maximoff) #Wattys2015

The Girl Who Had A Headache

As she sat beside Pietro, with her legs drapped across his legs, as they both reading happily side by side. There was just one thing that was bothering poor Arrabella.

A headache, well, more of a migraine that had persistantly been annoying her for the course of two weeks. The female had not mentioned the pain to any of the other occupants of the Towers, as she had hoped that the ache would fade with her usual dose of painkillers. It hadn't.

Despite trying to ignore the dull throbbing, she could not seem to focus on the words of her book.

The pain just seemed to be increasing. Was the room spinning? She was pretty sure that it was spinning. Her vision was focusing in out out and beginning to black over, her knees felt weak and a huge wave of nausea swept over.

She glanced around and noticed the bath room near by. Quickly, she hurried inside, slamming the door and luckily threw up inside the toilet instead of over the floor.

Noticing her hasty departure, the handsome male followed her into the room, shocked at the fact that she had removed her muzzle and was heaving her guts up. Helpfully, he gathered her silky locks in his hands, gently moving then away from her face.

When she was done, she washed her mouth out with toothpaste, her skin a slight shade of green. She continued to sway unsteadily on her feet, so Pietro scooped her into his arms and carried her into the sitting room, whilst she quickly secured the muzzle back onto her face, to prevent herself from screaming. "It's okay, Bella." he kept whispering to her, over and over again. "You're gonna be okay."

He lay her carefully upon the bed, before joining her and laying by her side. Pulling Arrabella close to his body, he held her gently in his arms, rubbing small circles on her back, trying to soothe her. "It's okay, it's all going to be okay." he paused, watching as her tears feel thicker and faster, Arrabella was obviously in a lot of pain. "Do you want me to get Bruce?"

She nodded her head, eyes wide with agony.

XOX

"It was a difficult mission but I think, Doc, I got the information you and Stark need." Steve placed a thin manila envelope on Bruce's desk. On the front of the document holder, a large, red logo stared at them visciously, almost mocking them.

"Well, at least we know that it definitely belonged to HYDRA." Tony sneered, looking angrily at the symbol.

Opening the file in silence, the doctor scanned the document, reading over the paragraphs regarding Arrabella's condition. "This is bad." he murmured, skipping to the next page.

"What does it say?" Bucky frowned, as he and Steve shared a similar look of fear.

"Tony look at this," Doctor Banner pointed to the text he specifically wanted the other male to read.

"Anemia, Pseudobulbar, MS...this are all of the conditions Arrabella has suffered with."

"Exactly, it's not a self-destruction button in her head, it's a countdown. Each condition is leading her to the final phase."

"Which is?" Natasha questioned, her eyes falling on the papers in Bruce's hands.

"A new Winter Soldier."

"That cannot be right," Wanda interjected. "when I scouted through her mind, she told us herself. Arrabella was a failed attempt."

"Apparently, that's what HYDRA has been wanting us to believe."

"You're wrong," Bucky hissed, his facial expression cold. "you're forgetting that I saw what HYDRA was doing to her. They wiped Arrabella because she loved me."

"Read the document yourself, James. It says it all here. You falling in love with her, that was just perfect for them. HYDRA were going to wipe her anyway, it's just that you gave them the perfect excuse, the perfect alibi to do so. You falling in love provided them with the perfect idea for a simulated excuse. The day that Pietro found her...they wanted him to, to think that she was an innocent experiment. We've been harbouring the enemy without even blinking an eyelid. All this time, I've been feeling guilty, thinking that I'd caused Arrabella more pain, when really, she was never going to get better. It was all a web of lies, spun by HYDRA. Isn't it weird how we never questioned why HYDRA had never even tried to retrieve Arrabella, or why she was able to just walk out of their facility?"

"Bruce, calm down. It's not to late, right? We can fix this." Tony attempted to soothe the obviously riled doctor.

"Wait." Clint said, with a sense of dread washing over him. "You said that each condition is one step closer to the final phase, which I'm guessing is her as a Winter Solder mark two. Doctor Banner, what's the final condition?"

The was a silent pause, an in take of breath as the stressed doctor glanced down at the paper, his hands trembling. "A headache lasting just over two weeks."