Queen

Chapter Twelve-Little Dory

"No." Voltage runs through me and I spasm in the chair, my back arching and a scream tearing its way out of my throat.

"We were kind to you before, dear Victoria, because you were our one success. We're even being kind to you now by offering you a choice. Now, either you kill them now, or, we remove your memories and you kill them then. Either way, they die. Either way, you kill them. Choose, or we will choose for you." My mother says in her creepily smooth voice. She lays her hand on my forehead and I turn my head away in disgust. Her hand rescinds and I feel the bigger, rougher hand of my father's replace it.

"V, we made you who you are. We can unmake you." He sighs, his deep voice almost makes the chair I'm in vibrate because of the resonance. "We'd rather not because there's a risk you'll lose all physical memory as well, meaning we'd have to retrain you, but we are willing to make that sacrifice." He says, resigned. "That is the choice that will be made for you, if you do not follow our orders. Your memories will be taken from you." I am now biting my tongue to keep myself from crying. I turn back and look at him. I have always hated how I still look like my parents. I have my father's curly hair and his skin tone. I have my mother's nose and uneven lips. My eyes are the both of theirs combined; my mother's brown and my father's green. Unlike them, I have small lines beside my eyes from smiling while my father has lines in his forehead from squinting at petri dishes. My mother has deeper, curved lines around her mouth that appear when she frowns, telling others that she frowns often. I meet my father's eyes with determination and shake my head again.

"No." I decline their 'kind' offer once again, knowing that it's the last time. Both of my parents sigh, but my mother waves over an orderly of sorts who rushes over with a tray of tools. She pulls on her gloves and exchanges places with my father, both of them looking grim.

"Now, this is going to be different than all the other times. We have made a new surgery!" Some excitement tints my mother's voice and I do my best not to cringe away from her. She holds up a thin metal looking wire that can't be more than two feet long. "I'll insert this directly into your brain via your nose and put both ends against your hippocampus. That's where your memories are. Then, we'll channel volts of electricity through the wire and into your brain. Thus, erasing your memories, but hopefully not your physical responses." She explains with glee, and I shut my eyes and think of Tony saying I'm not a monster. How can I not be, with parents like these? God, what I wouldn't give to see his smirk or Steve's blue eyes. I was an idiot to come here alone. My eyes snap open when I feel a strap being fastened over my forehead and then over my chin.

"Wait, wait, wait. I have a question." I beg for them to pause, and they do, surprisingly. I glance between my parents and ask them something I've been wondering for a long time. "Why did you do this to me? Why couldn't you just...just love me?" I clench my teeth afterwards to prevent my tears from leaking out and wait for their answer. My father puts his arm around my mother and she glances up at him with a smile as he answers for them both.

"V, we do this because we love you. Can't you see? We're making you more than you are! A true marvel of science." He says with a smile, and I can no longer withhold my tears. They spill out at a rapid pace, even more when my mother begins slowly inserting the thin wire in my nostrils. But I know it's only discomfort compared to what they're about to do. I pull against the restraints on my wrists and ankles and briefly think of shifting, but know the restraints have heat sensors in them. I'm sure the voltage they contain would knock an elephant on its ass, it definitely wouldn't have a problem frying me. I shut my eyes and go over all my memories while I still can as I hear the familiar hum of electricity as the machine heats up. I go through each face of the team, leaving Nat, Tony, and...Steve last. I regret that I never got to fight Natasha. I'm sure it would have been thrilling. I remember her arms around me when she surprised me with a hug, her brilliant red hair that I'm slightly jealous of, and the secret smile she gave me when I became a tiger. I think of Tony putting his arm around me, his hugs, his scruffy kisses on my forehead, his stupid teasing and the way he broke down all my emotional walls with simply holding my hand and kissing my knuckles. I almost smile when I think of his unique smell; new cars, oil, and Axe deodorant. Finally, I think of Steve, my Steve. Those killer blue eyes and the fact that he never wanted to kill anyone. His hands squeezing my thighs, then my hand, then my waist. Our first kiss in that crowded club after dancing for two nights in a row. How our lips fit together and danced better than our bodies ever could. Me singing to him. His quiet voice singing to me on our first date, showing his vulnerability before he even knew I didn't deserve it. His voice is the last thing I hear before the searing pain starts and all thought is whisked away by agony. After a while, I can't even recall anything for me to hold on to anyway. Not even my own name. All that's left is a man's voice, soft and pleasing, singing a song I've never heard.