LEGACY ─ marvel

XXVI. PROJECT ENHANCED

Chapter Twenty-Six
Olivia

Uncle Sam and Aunt Jade were very quiet throughout the flight to New York, and were equally as quiet during the car ride to this secret base they remembered. As much as I wanted to say something to make them feel better I didn't, because I have no idea what I would say. I can tell they're angry, they're hurt, they're filled with a lot of remorse. I can't imagine having known about a secret government experiment and then have that knowledge stripped away. To think that if they and Uncle John had escaped, they could have stopped this war before it started. I'm sure this has occurred to them as well, I think that's where the remorse is emanating from. I only wish Uncle John could have found out the truth before he died.

I got confused when Uncle Sam pulled up to a crumbling hospital, but according to him and Aunt Jade, the hospital is just a front. The building looks ancient; most of the roof is completely gone, the bars on the windows are so rusted I think if I pulled on them once they'd break, the gate surrounding the building is pretty much fallen down, the hospital sign broken in half on the front lawn, and as we get out of the car, the smell of dust and mold almost makes me gag. I really hate my heightened senses. Uncle Sam and Aunt Jade don't wait for us before marching towards the front entrance of the abandoned hospital, with Uncle Sam using his shield to bust the door down. The doors are so old that the moment the shield hits it, it shatters in half.

Zy and I try to keep up with them, while keeping just a little bit of distance between us and them. Neither of us want to snap them out of their hyper focused attitude, they seem to be on a role.

The inside of the base is just as gross as the outside. It is set up just like a hospital, with rows and rows of halls leading to various doors. We peak inside some of these doors, some falling off in the process, to find lab equipment, cracked and partially empty bottles of various medications and serums, old blood stains on the stone floors and walls, and operating tables with hand and feet cuffs attached to them. I feel like I've walked into the set of one of Stevie's favorite horror movies. These labs alone could offer some pretty decent proof of what the government has been doing, but these small rooms don't seem to be what Aunt Jade and Uncle Sam are looking for.

They tell us to wait near an intersection of hallways while they scout ahead for a staircase down. I want to object, but I know that it won't get me anywhere. I'll just have to deal with being alone with Zy for a few minutes, I can handle it.

"I've been thinking about what Wanda said," Zy begins, his words coming out very rushed, like he's been holding them back since Scotland. He probably has. "When she said that your parents and Sam and Jade forged their own path, it made me think that maybe you and I aren't doomed after all."

"Zy—"

"Think about it," He pleads, gripping onto both my hands, his eyes, so filled with love and hope, making my heart begin to ache, making it so much harder to listen to him, and far more painful. "Yes your parents were really busy, but they found a way to raise you and Stevie in Wakanda while still being Avengers, and look at Sam and Jade, they own a bakery for Bast sake while being Avengers. It's not impossible for you to have it both ways."

"I'm not like them, Zy. There's a whole added pressure on me because of who my parents are. You should understand that more than anyone. You and I are shackled to the expectations others have of us and we can't just wiggle our way out of those shackles, it doesn't work like that."

"There has to be a way," He says lowly, his throat bobbing, his eyes welling up with tears. "I only want you, no one else."

I shake my head, forcing myself to look away from him, feeling like my heart will split open for good if I stare into his beautiful brown eyes any longer. "Please, Zy, please don't make this harder than it has to be."