Daughter of Stark #Wattys2017

Chapter 2: Prisoner

Kennedy's POV

When my eyes open again the first thing I am aware of is a ringing in my ears, Then the grey ceiling above me. I try to sit up but instantly lay back down when my head starts throbbing, so I shut my eyes again and wait for the throbbing to stop. I'm confused, this definitely isn't home, and this definitely isn't my bed, I don't know where I am or how I got here. I concentrate and try to remember what's going on, the pounding in my head is making it hard to think. Oh thats right, I remember the coffee shop, hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D. the men in black, and. . . Victoria! Is she okay? What did they do with her? I can't answer these questions now, I have to find out where I am. When the throbbing in my head subsides into a low pulsing I sit up, noticing my whole body tremble at the effort, and look around the room. The walls are grey and have hexagons all over them, it reminds me of a honeycomb. There are no windows but there's a large metal door on one wall. The room is well lit by columns of light in each corner, and the only things in the room are me and the bed. The walls are pretty much solid all the way around, there's no way i'm getting out of here. I run my fingers through my firey orange hair and groan at the situation, then I realize something, I put my hand back on my head to make sure, my hat! Where is my hat? I jump up off the bed and tear through the blankets, yup, just like I thought, it's nowhere to be found, they took my hat. I plop back down and lean against the wall to wait for whatever fate is going to befall me. But quickly getting restless I decide to sweep the room for something that might help me figure out where I am, or help me escape. But the room turns out to be very little more than original observation, just a big metal box with a bed. I lay down once again and close my eyes, trying to think of a plan.

After what feels like hours of laying there, I hear the door start to open, and quickly sit up as a man with an eye-patch walks into the room.

"You hacked into our system. Who are you?" The man asks, standing in front of me, tall and menacing.

"Where's Victoria?" I counter, trying to hide the fear in my voice with confidence.

"We're talking about you, what's your name?" he repeats. My mouth stays shut, I don't know why, it's not like I have anything to hide, I guess it just makes me feel tough. After a few seconds of waiting for a response he spits.

"Fine, I don't have time for this right now, we're in the middle of an important mission so I guess you'll just have to make yourself comfortable until we can deal with you," He starts walking away, but stops when he gets to the door, "Oh and I almost forgot, I believe this is yours Kennedy Grayson." He pulls my hat out of his coat and tosses it on my bed, then leaves the room. How does he know my name? I pick up my hat and quickly remember that my name is written on the inside. Soon after the eye-patch man leaves, someone else comes in carrying a metal tray, he sets it on the floor and leaves without saying a word. I walk over and pick up the tray, taking it to the bed, I hadn't realized how hungry I am until now. The food is all breakfast food so I assume that it must be the morning after I was captured. I skeptically examine the food, but since I don't know how to tell if it's poisoned, I decide to eat it anyway. The food tastes pretty good, not what I was expecting, when it's gone I feel fine so I guess it wasn't poisoned. I try to 'make myself comfortable' like the pirate man said, but since there's nothing in the room besides me and my hat, I am soon bored out of my brain. I manage to entertain myself for a little while by building a blanket fort under the bed, maybe it's a bit childish but give me a break, there's nothing better to do.

I count the passage of time by the meals that are brought to me, and I guess the guy who brings my food must feel bad for me because he keeps leaving little things on the tray with the food, like a pack of cards, a rubber ball, or a small notebook. Those things make the time go by a little faster. By my count it's three days before the Mr. angry pirate man comes back. He walks into my cell followed by a woman with dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. A few more people come in and set up a small table and two chairs, then quickly leave.

"Are you finally done with your 'important mission' so you have time to 'deal with me," i ask using finger quotes

"This is agent Hill, she's gonna ask you some questions and are gonna answer them," He says threateningly, then turns around and leaves the two of us alone in the room. I stare at the woman, waiting for her to say something, she doesn't seem as the one eyed man, but she has a look that says she could probably kill me if she wants to.

"Please, have a seat," she invites, taking a seat at the table and gesturing at the chair opposite her. I comply and sit in the hard metal chair. "Well Kennedy, since we already know your name, why don't you start by telling me how old you are?"

"Where's Victoria?" I ask again, hoping for better results this time.

"Alright, I know you probably have a lot of questions to, so let's make a deal, I'll answer one of your questions, then you answer one of mine. Sound fair?" I think about it for a minute, then nod my head in agreement, like I said, it's not like I have anything to hide.

"Where's Victoria?" I repeat.

"I'm not sure who you're talking about." She says, moving her arms to rest on the table.

"The girl who was with me at the coffee shop." I clarify, mirroring her action.

"Oh yeah, she's probably still serving coffee, aside from a few questions, we didn't bother her." That's a relief, now I can stop worrying about her and just worry about me. "Okay, my turn, how old are you?" She interrupts my thoughts.

"Fifteen."

"Only fifteen and you can hack into one of the most high security government agencies in the world? Where'd you learn to do that? She asks in surprise.

"Hey, it's my turn to ask you a question!" I complain, though I can't help but smile, I'm proud of my hacking abilities.

"Right, sorry, go ahead," she apologizes.

"Okay, what's with the angry pirate dude?"

"You mean Fury? He's my boss, but don't mind him, he's not much of a people person." she explains, before returning with her own question. "But how did you learn to hack like that?"

"Um, google I guess?" I shrug as if it's no big deal.

"You learned to do all that just from google?" her eyebrow arches skeptically.

"My dad taught me some, but yeah, mostly google. So what does S.H.I.E.L.D. do?"

"We help protect people from things they can't handle themselves, that's why Fury put together the Avengers."

"The Avengers! S.H.I.E.L.D. works with the avengers?" I gasp.

"Yes we do, if you're lucky you might get to meet some of them while you're here." She smiles at my enthusiasm.

"And exactly how long will I be here?"

"Sorry, it's my turn, where do you live?" She continues the line of questioning. I pout, but answer the question anyway.

"At the moment, under some trees in central park."

"You're homeless? But I thought you said your dad taught you to hack." he expression turns to confusion.

"He did but. . . He died when I was ten." I quietly clarify. Before agent Hill has time to say anything, the door opens and the one eyed man comes in.

"I'm not done here, sir," Agent Hill protests, looking up at the tall man.

"I know, but there's another matter that needs your attention," He says sternly. Agent Hill nods in response and stands up, walking out of the room. "As for you, we're gonna have to keep an eye on you until we can figure out what to do with you." He says, as he starts to leave the room.

"So you're just gonna keep me prisoner for no reason?" I shout, stopping him in his tracks.

"You might not think of yourself as a prisoner when you find out where you're going." He says mysteriously before stepping out and shutting the door behind him.