liar liar ⦚ spider-man

ACT II, SCENE VII * Take Me To Church

Karter and Ronan sat in shock for a few moments, before Karter shook his head and the questions bundled out. Ronan panicked, raising her hands and hushing him.

"Let me explain, Karter." Ronan said, closing her eyes with a sigh. She moved her braids to one side and looked at him cautiously. "I never meant for this to happen. I was young and naive, abandoned and afraid, I had no where else to turn." She hesitated, before continuing. "That's when HYDRA found me."

A Young Ronan sat in a chair in a dark room, a man standing above her with folded arms. She looked petrified, but the man looked harmless.

"Why are you afraid, child?" The man said, his expression softening. "I won't hurt you, we want to help." Ronan looked up, her face contorting with fear. The man crouched before her, looking up at her with a small smile. "I promise you, my dear."

"Who are you?" The Young Ronan asked, her voice shaking. The man looked ashamed for a spilt second, before regaining his composure.

"A friend."

"I should've known they were lying." Ronan whispered, closing her eyes. "But after my dad left and my mother died, I felt so alone. I needed someone, anyone, no matter what form they came in."

Screams echoed down the corridor, and Ronan sat huddled in the corner of her dark cement room. She knew sooner or later the screams would belong to her, and it made her shake with fear just thinking about it. She resented the man who first spoke with her, the softness in his voice as he convinced her to join HYDRA haunting her dreams, and his smile haunting her every waking moment. The lock on the door clanged, and several men in full body armour swiftly grabbed the screaming Ronan and dragged her down the corridor, to where the previous screams had emanated from.

They strapped her down to the bed, and stabbed countless needles into her skin. They shocked her, burned her, and if she wasn't scared before, she was now. They unmade her, and built her up again. They created a monster.

"I was six when they first got me." Ronan said after a few minutes of silence. "I'd just found out who my ad really was." It seemed as if she wanted to say his name, but she simply shook her head. "I know now why he left."

"Who?" Karter asked, shocked at the revelation of Ronan's background. "Who's your dad, Ro?" Ronan simply shook her head, and looked at him with a sad smile. The two had moved from the floor to a bench in the corner, and Ronan had began to patch herself up.

"I was twelve when I met Abby." Ronan said, and Karter looked at her sideways. "She's Cleophas. It was the first day of training, and we'd started fighting because if we didn't they'd kill us. We stopped eventually, and talked. I discovered my portal ability and when HYDRA scrambled we ran. Moved in here, said we had family staying with us. We pledged to destroy those who made us into monsters. We finished that job about a month ago, and now? Abby just wants violence, violence, and more violence. I couldn't stop her." Karter put a hand on her shoulder, and shook her head.

"I am so so sorry you had to go through that." He said, and he meant it. "There's no way I'm letting you go back and stay with her. You'll come and live with me and I'll get Peter to help us take her down." Ronan smiled, a tear forming in her eye. "You've got us now." The two sat in silence, Karter watching as Ronan sorted out the wound from Abby's knife. She hesitated for a moment, before being to speak.

"My father." Ronan said, a question more than a statement. "He's misunderstood. I've always resented him for leaving me, but I understand now. He was threatened. He tried to escape it, but he couldn't and he didn't want me to get hurt." Karter looked at Ronan again, but this time she was shaking. "He's not a monster."

"Ronan, what are you on about?" Karter asked, getting progressively freaked out. The day has been long and the fact that he'd almost died mixed with the constant anxiety caused by the shooting was setting in. "Just say his name and I'll leave it at that."

"Loki."