| The Amelie Chronicles | (MCU)

Part Two: Chapter Four

After nearly a half hour of driving inconspicuously through the streets of D.C., Steve parked the motorbike right outside his gym.

"Why are we here?" Amelie asked, her voice a whisper. She had been using her powers all this time, covering their tracks the best she could. She didn't look that great, and felt completely exhausted.

"I need a change of clothes." Steve slowly got off the bike, "Besides, no one is here yet."

Amelie nodded, getting off of the motorbike on wobbly knees. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face a ghostly white. The veins and blood vessels in her face were slightly visible through her pale, transparent skin.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Steve asked, gripping Amie's shoulder to keep her upright as they walked into the empty gym. Looking down at her feet, the teen shrugged her shoulders.

"Amie, you can tell me." Steve led them through the gym, heading into the men's locker room. It smelt like bleach and socks, making Amie's nose crinkle up as the smell stung her nostrils.

"Hydra." She said, taking a seat on the bench in the center of the locker room. Despite it being the worst place on Earth, Hydra taught Amelie a lot about her powers, even if most of those things were learned through pain and torture. She couldn't just forget any of those things.

Steve grabbed some gym clothes from his locker before taking some change out of his pocket. He walked over to Amelie, handing her the quarters.

"There's a vending machine outside the women's bathroom. You need electrolytes." Steve advised, "Remember what Dr. Cho and everyone said."

"I know." Amelie nodded, smiling briefly before turning away. She walked slowly to the vending machine, stick close to the walls in case she needed to put up a hand to steady herself.

After buying some granola bars and a Gatorade, Amie went to the ladies room. There she washed her face, getting rid of the blood that clung to her nostrils. She looked horrible, pale and exhausted-looking.

Amie remembered the first time she had really seen her reflection in full perspective. She wasn't in Siberia- perhaps some other Hydra location. They always drugged or knocked her out when moving locations so she never knew where they went. Sokovia maybe?

She was thrown into a room with two-way glass. They were doing a new type of study, and he was in the room with her in case she 'tried anything'.

"Do not try anything, Sieben." He said, blue eyes staring at her with nothing behind them. It was haunting, because he was just as much of a prisoner as she was. Amelie stood in the unfamiliar room, arms wrapped around herself as she just stared at her reflection.

The girl staring back at her was tiny, slightly malnourished from a previous power-episode. Her hazel eyes were huge, bloodshot, and accompanied by large purple rings. She never slept much. She couldn't. Her hair was knotted but recently brushed- loose waves and curls long and twisting down her back. The girl looked much younger than ten. Much smaller.

Amelie didn't understand the concept of a mirror until that moment. She had never seen herself before- all windows were one way glass in Siberia.

"Warum ist es ein Spiegel?" (Why is it a mirror?) She asked, turning to the soldier. He never seemed to look any older- even though she's seen him the majority of her life. She heard the others say he was born in the early 1900's.

He turned, looking at the mirror himself. His blue eyes made a connection with the ones staring back at him. Something inside of him seemed to trigger- some sort of light returned to them for a moment. He was confused, mostly, but also curious. Did he recognize the man staring back at him? He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.