Thanatophobia

8 | Dude, We're Siblings

n o d u s   t o l l e n s

the realization that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to you anymore

~~~

Gryffin had been released from the hospital earlier than Brock had. Thankfully, her files were under tight encryption, so no one knew that she was an ex-HYDRA agent. It might have also had to do with the fact that her face was badly burned in some places so it was hard to recognize her.

After spending months in the hospital in the hospital with Brock, she learned she would rather be anywhere but near him. He wasn't himself anymore. His injuries fueled his anger and strive for vengeance, and it didn't help that his sister had been the cause of his burns.

He had major plans, plans that involved death and pain, something that Gryffin wanted to stray far from. She had her own mission as well, finding the Soldier. It wouldn't be that hard, with her past experience of tracking and her easy way of travel. It was even easier now that she didn't have to worry about being recognized.

It had been a month since she was released from the hospital when she was resting in her temporary apartment, and someone knocked. She wrung her fingers a few times before going to the door.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice low and cautious. She looked through the small peephole and saw a tall, lean figure on the other side. "It's your neighbor. I was wondering if you wanted to join Costel and I for dinner?"

Gryffin relaxed. The neighbors were nice and had invited her a few times to spend time with them. It was a girl, Zrinka, and her younger brother, Costel. Their parents had passed away back when the STARK bombs hit, leaving them with their Nana, until she passed away recently. They were kind, but very cautious.

She opened the door, an easy smile on her face. "I can indeed make it today, wouldn't want to disappoint Costel again now would we?" Zrinka nodded and bid Gryffin goodbye, her Sokovian accent lingering.

Gryffin headed back to her room, when another knock sounded at her door. She opened it thoughtlessly, thinking it was Zrinka but froze when she saw a HYDRA agent there instead. She immediately went to slam it shut, but a strong hand caught it from closing completely.

She pushed against it, resisting the force before letting go quickly and ducking into a shadow, disappearing from sight. With her mind a mess, she hadn't thought of where she was going and found herself in her old apartment, only to find herself face to face with her brother.

"We knew you'd come here, you bitch." And before she could shift again, he shot her thigh, making her fall heavily to her knees. The pain deterred her from shifting out and she thrashed wildly as they restrained her and rendered her unconscious.

~~~

When she woke up, it was bright and she was laying down on hard stone floor. She blinked furiously and stood up, taking in her surroundings before she remembered the harsh pain blooming in her leg. She grimaced and leaned against the wall, and went back to observing her cell.

It was HYDRA, that was for sure. The cell rendered her useless, and she could tell because the walls rippled with power, alerting her that the cell was tampered with. The cell door opened suddenly and she looked up at the source.

"Brock." Her voice was shaky and cracked as she stared up at her older brother, who had an insane smile on his scarred face, arms exposed in her t-shirt. "Little sister. How do you like your new room?"

"It's eccentric at best, big bro. Why so plain?"

"Cut the crap. I have plans for you."

"Dude, we're siblings."

"Shut up," he snapped, finally sick of her. He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of her "room" and to what she assumed was the testing room. "The doctor has a new serum he wants to try out."

"So what, you're gonna turn me into your experiment then throw me around like a doll?"

"Exactly."

He and two other HYDRA guards strapped me down onto the chair and a doctor came in, an insane smile on his face. "Hello, Ms Rumlow. I see your brother has volunteered you for this project."

"What will the serum do to me?" She couldn't hide the fear in her voice as he neared her with the syringe and alcohol swab. "It will allow you to manipulat-"

"English, please."

"Fine. In simple terms, you will be able to create and control electricity."

"Uh, yeah. That sounds, erm, great."

"It does, doesn't it?! You are very lucky." Gryffin tried to pull away from the needle but the restraints were tight, and she could practically feel her arm loosing feeling, if that made sense. She was slightly thankful that her arm was practically dead, because despite that, the needle caused searing pain to rip through her and she screamed, falling unconscious.

~~~

For the next week, she fell in and out of consciousness. She would open her eyes and see bright flashes of lighting in front of her, despite there being no storm. Then she would close them again and hear deep rumbles of voices? or was it thunder in her mind?

When she woke up fully the first time, she found that her powers were running rampant, showing up when they wanted, and where they wanted. She ended up turning off the main power in the base, but as soon as it was off, the back up was on, and her brother was not happy.

She was tortured for hours on end.

Brock had insisted he do it himself. After all, she was the reason he was so messed up, and she was his darling sister. At the end, she found herself a bloody, sweaty, quivering mess huddled into a corner. 

"I went easy on you, Fin." He used her nickname mockingly as he picked up the bucket of water. "Don't pull shit like that again, you hear me?"

When she didn't answer, he threw the ice water over her and she screamed again, the water reacting to her electric power and sending streaks of pain through her body. Tears streamed down her face and down her throat, a few stray tears making their way into her mouth.

"I won't! I won't, I promise!" she sobbed, her frame shaking as electricity crackled between her fingers.

She didn't want to hurt anymore.

~Sarah