The Sapphire Spirit | Book One~Captain America: Civil War

C H A P T E R 6

I looked up at Tin Can.

"Th-The Avengers?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, you heard of us?"

I racked my brains, sure I had heard of them somewhere. "You're the Avengers," I said slowly. "You think you're heroes. You think you know better. You try to save the city, to avenge the world..." My voice trailed off for a second, thinking of the images HYDRA had shown us. "But you've destroyed lives whiles you're at it. New York," I faltered, trying to bite my tongue; These were just HYDRA's twisted version of events. I knew that they'd saved New York that day, not just from Loki's army, but from being nuked as well.

I was visibly shuddering, my training countering all the good these people had the potential for. "No," I started whispering to myself. "That's not true. These people are good. HYDRA's bad. Bad, bad, bad."

Natasha must've seen me. She put an arm around me, whispering words of comfort.

"It's okay, you're safe. We won't let them get to you, okay? You're good, now." I leaned into her embrace, trusting her words. Despite this, my eyes darted everywhere, looking for anything suspicious. I settled on Gold-Titanium Alloy, who was talking to Lightning Dude in a hushed tone, both looking serious. Lightning Dude nodded, then flew off to who knows where. I could've listened in on their conversation, but I was too tired. I don't know if you noticed, but getting shot twice, in the same place, I might add, fending off against eight HYDRA agents, plus the Winter Soldier himself, then healing fast enough to outrun two master assassins and a super soldier takes its toll on people sooner or later. My body decided sooner.

Instead of paying attention to the world around me, my eyelids dropped, closing over in two seconds. I slipped away from the outside world, going willingly into Hypnos's embrace.

When I opened my eyes again, I was on a soft white cot in a small room. The room was white, simple, with a door that led to a balcony. Inside the room were various medical equipment. Sitting up, I took a glance around. I saw some IV bags, a tray full of needles, a couple stethoscopes, a blood pressure monitor, a heart rate monitor, and a file.

Curious, I switched on enhanced sight, zooming in on the file's title. There, in small, black pen, in messy handwriting, was... my name. "Subject E5-09," I read outloud.

"You're awake," I heard a voice say from the doorway. I looked over, seeing the red-haired woman; Natasha.

"Where am I?" I asked, dazed.

Natasha strode over and took a seat on the bed beside me. "This is the Avengers Tower."

I looked out the window, seeing busy streets several stories below. I made to get off the bed, but something was stopping me. Looking down, I saw a strap around my waist, gently securing me to the bed, permitting me to sit up no more than a 90° angle. There were two more on my wrists, and two more on my ankles. How did I not notice that before? I chastised, straining against the restraints. I tried to use magic, but I couldn't. The energy that normally flowed through my veins wasn't there... as if it had been sucked out.

"There's a power inhibitor on your wrist," Natasha said, smiling sadly. "Everyone told him not to, but nothing can change Fury's mind."

I lay back down, staring blankly at the ceiling. "You don't trust me," I whispered. Natasha made to say something, but I cut her off. "Its okay. I wouldn't trust me, either. With HYDRA's influence, there's no telling what I could do, who I could hurt. My mind could be programmed, for all I know. Ten words. Just ten simple words and I'm transformed into a ruthless killing machine, bent on completing a mission. Emotionless, unflinching, not shying away from the gun. Not looking away when killing a helpless child...." Mu voice caught in my throat. "That's what they've turned me into: A weapon. I'm dangerous. I'm nothing to them, but I'm also their weapon." My words seemed to echo in the air, Natasha giving me a sad look.

Someone coughed from the doorway. I turned my head to see a middle-aged man, maybe in his late forties, looking at us. He was shorter than the other Avengers I'd seen and had graying black hair that curled slightly. He wore a white white lab coat with a light purple blouse under, and had thin, wire-rimmed glasses. 

Natasha gestured for him to come in, getting up from the bed and taking a seat in one of the chair by the window. The new guy walked in, heading for the medical stuff. I watched him warily as he checked the files. His eyes scanned the pages I could not see, and I wondered what they knew about me.

"Subject E5-09, correct?" The guys finally asked, closing the file. He walked the short distance to my bed. "Dr. Bruce Banner." He extended his hand. I shook it gently, sure that the slightest contact would make him go "code green."

He seemed to notice my stiffness, but he smiled. "It's okay. You won't be seeing the big guy," he said. I gave a slight grin, nodding. Just then, more people walked into the room. Archer Dude, Tin Can, Spangles, and the guy with the hammer. They had all changed out of their... ComiCon outfits and into regular clothes that regular, non-super soldier/gods/genius billionaire playboy philanthropists/master assassins would wear.

"Hey, sorry about yesterday," Arrow Guy said sincerely. I looked at him.

"It's okay."

"Okay, Subject E5-09," Dr. Banner said, ruffling through the file again. He looked up at me and smiled in an assuring way. "We just need to do a medical test, and ask you a few questions, okay?"

"Then I'll be able to go?"

My question was met with hesitation and stuttering. Bruce looked at the others, unsure of what to say. Tony gave a slight nod, meaning everything was alright. At least, I think everything's going to be alright. That's usually what a nod means.

"Um," Bruce started carefully. "We'll see. We need to get through the other stuff first, though, okay?"

I nodded.

"So, you're Subject E5-09, correct?"

"Just E5 is okay," I said politely.

Tin Man, minus the... tin, cast me a sad look. "You need a name," He said.

I shook my head. "I have a name. Subject E5-09. That's who I am."

"Who you are?" Captain Spangles asked. "Or what you're called?"

I went back to staring at the ceiling. "There was a girl," I began. "A little girl, only seven years old. Her parents had... left. HYDRA took her in, promising her the life of a superhero. The naive girl agreed. She died a few months later."

The Avengers were quiet. I continued.

"A new girl was born. Subject E5-09, they called me. I was their weapon, their means for destruction. I would wreak havoc on the world. There was a date set to enter me into the Winter Soldier program. If I hadn't broken out when I did, I would probably have my own set of trigger words. For all I know, they could've already started the process and wiped my memory. That makes me even more dangerous. They erased who I was. The little seven-year-old was gone."

Silence. Someone spoke up.

"What was her name?" Natasha asked gently. "The other girl. What was her name?"

"Her name is... My name is, was..." I took a deep breath. HYDRA had spent years trying to erase my past from me. It had been almost a decade since I had last thought about it.

"Chloe," I said. "My name, my real name is, was, Chloe. Chloe Adler."