Insider

Eleven

"Trish?  Trish?"

First and foremost, I needed to find Trish, Tobias, and Jasmine.  Surely one of them could tell me what Crimson Night's management was like.  S.H.I.E.L.D. gave me permission to head back to our apartment in New York City, but only if I went with Shuri.  Part of me knew that Sharon did not completely trust my judgement yet, although Mr. Barnes and Mr. Wilson assured me that Shuri would go with me for extra protection.  Besides, she wanted to experience the American lifestyle more- at least that's what she told me.  We tried the apartment first.  My heart dropped when I saw the space I had once called home.

It was a hellhole, crudely vandalized and disastrously messy.  The couch where I recovered was ripped with its stuffing strewn across the floor.  The little kitchen where I had my first proper meals had food stains and broken glass from beer bottles littering the walls and countertops.  The room I had once called my own was a wreck; the walls were streaked with red spraypaint and the blankets were torn to shreds.  It made me sad to think that a place with mostly happy memories was destroyed.  But, I remembered that I shouldn't be recognizing my time with Crimson Night as 'happy memories'- I was breaking the law and going against the good of all of humanity.  Christ, I was messed up!  I reminded myself sternly to not affiliate any good with Crimson Night anymore, and I instead thought of the corpses from those who had overdosed on this new lethal form of Criz.  My redemption was for them.

Shuri sauntered up beside me.  "Is it normally like this?" she asked, indicating the demanour of the apartment.

"No," I responded.  "Trish was much more... classy."

The princess glanced around the room and said, "It doesn't look like this Trish person is here.  Where else could she be?"  Truthfully, the only other place I could think of was her father's home.  However, that was the residence of the leader of Crimson Night, and Trish was no longer their leader.  "We need to go," I said.

A soft thunk was heard in the kitchen.  My knife was in a belt on my thigh, I instead reached for the handgun that S.H.I.E.L.D. let me use.  Shuri grabbed her weapon- some kind of gun made with high-tech vibranium.  We walked neck and neck into the kitchen, where the muffled thunking noise was coming from.  No one was in my line of sight, but I knew perfectly well that there were plenty of places for hiding.  "Open the cupboards," I whispered to Shuri.  Together, we began opening the wide cupboards.  Most were empty of cutlery and cooking materials, probably looted in the trashing of this apartment.  But, in the double cupboard beside the stove, Shuri and I were left horribly startled and aghast by the sight.

Both girls were gagged and bound, crammed so tightly together in such a small space.  They were covered in bruises and cuts, and had tear-stricken, red puffy eyes.  I fell to my knees and began to untie Rose and Jasmine.  "Sarah," Jasmine said in a weak voice so unlike hers.  Jesus Christ, what had Matt done to Jasmine and his own sister?  Jasmine's clammy hands gripped mine tightly, she was drawing blood.  Rose was apprehensive of me and backed towards the door swiftly.  Luckily, Shuri grabbed her by the hand before she could make a run for it.  "Sarah," Jasmine choked hoarsely, "I thought we were gonna die,"

"Oh, Jazzy," I said.  "You know I would never let that happen."

Shuri brought over a tear-stricken Rose and stated, "I'm assuming you all know each other.  What happened here?"

"Rose, Jasmine," I said, grabbing the girls by their hands.  "I'd like you to meet Shuri.  She's-"

"A friend," interrupted Shuri, determining that now would not be the best time to reveal her royal status.  

Eyes squinted like a snake's, Rose muttered, "This is all your fault, Sarah."  I knew she was right.  The blowout Matt and I had had caused the downfall of Crimson Night, and more importantly, their abuse.  But what was I supposed to do?  Let Matt beat his kid sister?  "Look, Rose," I told her as plainly as possible, "I've done bad things.  But, I'm trying to make it right.  I promise you that I will help you and everyone else because that's the only thing I can do in this situation.  A lot of bad things are about to happen, so my priority is to get you and Jasmine somewhere safe.  Please, come with me."

Rose complied.

Carrying Jasmine in one arm and holding Rose's hand with the other, I ushered them inside the car.  With Shuri driving, I tried to piece together what had happened.  "How long were you guys inside the cupboard?" I asked, offering them some of the candy I had packed for the road.  

Sighing, Rose said, "I don't know... a couple of days, maybe?"

"A couple of days?" repeated Shuri.

Biting my lip hard, I then inquired who had put them there.  Both girls did not know.  "They were all wearing black masks," said Jasmine in between bites of gummy bears.  "Scary masks,"  This was getting fucked up.  My obvious guess was that Matt had gathered some Crimson Night members to shut them inside the cupboard.  Either way, soon Crimson Night would discover that both girls were gone and would send out a manhunt- the Triskelion would be the first target.  I told Shuri, "We can't go back.  That'll be Crimson Night's first target."

"Well, where do you suggest we go?  Kansas?"

Trying not to let my ever growing anxiety show, I gritted my teeth and reminded Shuri, "You know more about S.H.I.E.L.D. than I do.  Please tell me they have a safe house of some kind."  Without a word, Shuri changed our course.  As Jasmine lay her head down in my lap to sleep, red-headed Rose stared blankly out the window.  Tears came slowly, but they streamed down her cheeks and glistened in the sunlight.  How long had it been since she had last seen the sunlight?  Rose was nine, the same age I was when Hydra took me.  But, she had grown up with an abusive brother- someone who was supposed to love her was hurting her.  In a way, that was worse than any of my plights at Hydra.  Tentively, I reached my hand over so it touched her empty palm.  On instinct, Rose jerked away.  I couldn't blame her, it's hard to trust people.

"Rose," I said gently, "You're going to be safe."

"My brother told me that, then he went away after you left."

Shakily, I asked, "Are you upset that he hurt you?"

"He hurt me a lot," said Rose, "I'm just upset that he promised after each time he'd change.  I'm upset that he left."  

Matt is a fucking scumbag, I thought.  But, for the benefit of everyone, I needed to keep pressing.  I questioned, "How did you get to the apartment with Jasmine?"

"Men in masks arrived a day later.  They drove me there, and Jasmine was there already.  They made a mess of the place, then they shut us in the cupboard."

Final question:  "Did Matt give you a clue to where he was going?"

Rose shrugged, wiping her eyes.  "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know...  I'm so worried for him!"

I soothed, "It's okay, you're safe now.  We'll find your brother, we'll help him."

Even though I knew the last part was a lie.