Chapter Text
“What happened to her?!” Someone was shouting, clearly very angry.
“I don’t know! She told me she was getting groceries.”
“Obviously, that was a damn lie!”
“Yeah, no shit Nat.”
The voices faded away again as I slipped back into darkness. My mind wouldn’t fully wake up from its dream, and my body could barely handle it. At times I could hear my heart beat out of control, and I
wondered if it was going to burst.
The screaming was back, but I had gotten used to it. No longer did I feel the need to shield myself from it, and maybe that should’ve concerned me. But I was more focused on the burning inside of myself. Not only was everything else on fire, but it felt like my body was burning in flames. I wanted to scratch the flesh off of me and run to shelter.
The worst part of it wasn’t the chaos and death, though. It was that I wasn’t afraid. I had never felt so powerful in my life, and nothing could touch me. I had the power of life or death in my hands, millions of people counting on me. I had never experienced this kind of power before.
And the purple man… well the purple giant. He just smiled at me as I destroyed the world around me. I wasn’t afraid of him either; I knew he couldn’t hurt me no matter how strong and powerful he was.
I was free.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn’t until hours later that I could finally open my eyes. When I did, I saw the whole team standing in my hospital room back at the compound. Thor and Tony looked exhausted, discussing something quietly. But my eyes immediately went for Loki.
He was slumped in the seat near my bed, not too near and not too far. His skin was pale, and his eyes were bloodshot.
I must’ve been out for days then.
He was the first to notice me awake, never having looked away from me in the first place. Jumping to my side alerted the others to my state.
“Dana!”
“Are you okay?”
“What the hell happened?”
I shook my head as their line of questioning was fired at me. My pounding head was not ready to deal with this much noise at once, and I found that I didn’t have much energy to respond to them either.
After hours of feeling like I was being devoured by flames, I needed a minute. And water.
“Water… please?’ I cracked, feeling my chapped lips.
Loki immediately shushed the team and sent Thor to grab me a cup of water. His eyes were focused on me, searching for any signs of bodily harm. However, my wounds were not present to the eye. Not yet.
After gratefully taking the cup from Thor and downing it in one go, I finally sat up on the bed. I was grateful to realize I wasn’t in the hospital room but my own bedroom. Once they realized I was healthy and physically okay, they must have decided I would be more comfortable in my room.
Tony sat on my bed beside me. From his ruffled hair and defeated look, I could tell he was extremely concerned. “Kid, I know you don’t have much energy right now, but you need to tell us if you’re okay.”
I nodded. “I’m fine, I promise.”
Steve patted Tony on the shoulder trying to calm himself down as much as Tony. “Why did you leave the compound? Where did you go?”
All eyes on me again. “I went to the store.”
Tony scoffed at my feeble attempt at lying. “Try again, Dana.”
What could I tell them? There was no way I was going to explain how a purple maniac showed up at our doorstep, or that I ran into the woods to see a future of death with me at the center of it. No, I couldn’t.
That’s how the lie slipped so easily between my teeth. “I thought I saw a figure with red hair, maybe Lorelei, so I chased her into the woods, but it wasn’t anything. I got lost, and it wasn’t until a little while later that I finally got myself out.”
“Why would you chase her?!” Thor boomed.
I had never seen the god angry before, certainly not at me. I was almost scared. “Because I can take her,” I mumbled.
Tony shook his head. “You’re not ready for this. I'm not letting you fight with us.”
Wrath ran through me. I shot up out of the bed instantly, yet not before another pounding headache almost overtook me. But I kept myself up straight. “You have no idea what I am ready for,” I growled, surprised at the voice that came out of my mouth. It wasn’t mine. “I am more powerful than any of you. You keep me locked away out of fear, but I cannot be stopped.”
And in that moment, it was my like my body had been taken over by a force older than time.
“What the hell,” Clint whispered.
“Dana…”
I felt myself slip to the floor as if the breath had been knocked out of me. Grabbing the edge of my bed, I found myself back in control. But I was still shaking.
“What the fuck!” I exclaimed, frantically looking at the team. None of them had any clue to what just happened. I searched for answers in Loki, but he was frozen in place. He was afraid.
He’s not the only one.
Nat was the first to speak up. “What is going on here?”
“It looks like something may be inside her,” Bruce chimed in. He knelt in front of me, inspecting my face and body, in doctor mode. “Like an infection.”
“What the hell does that mean, doc?” Tony shouted. He was definitely concerned now. “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know! All I know is that, it’s evolving.”
“Evolving?’ Thor asked.
All Bruce did was nod. He continued to look into my eyes with sympathy and understanding. He knew what it felt like to not be in control, to have something inside of you.
“Am I going to be okay?” I pleaded with him through my eyes to give me a positive answer. I did not want that vision to come true. I was NOT evil.
Bruce gave me a small smile before standing up and stepping back. “I think it’s her powers; I think they’re expanding. I can do some testing to get more answers, but for now, she needs rest more than anything.”
Tony accepted his recommendation. “Okay, you heard him. Everyone out!”
As the team started spilling out of my room, I felt a hand help me up. I turned to see Loki, who was pale with worry. “I’m not leaving your side,” he whispered to me.
“You have to find Lorelei-“
“She is not my first priority when it comes to your health. Besides, she may have a part in this.”
I shook my head, looking away from him. “No… this is all me.”
He opened his mouth to question me further, but Tony ushered him out behind Thor. “You need to sleep kid. I’ll have Pepper bring you some food in a little bit. Don’t move or you’re grounded.”
I laughed at that. “Good luck trying.”
I saw a small smirk make its way onto his face before he closed the door behind him. With all of them finally gone, I began to feel even more constricted. A huge pressure was on my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe.
It’s okay, this is a panic attack.
I stood up and made my way to the full-length mirror by my closet. I crouched down and got my face right up against it, searching for any sign of the “infection.” My eyes were still brown, though, so that was a good sign. I didn’t feel like I was burning alive either.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to relieve the anxiety dwelling within me. After trying to inspect my eyes, my hand slid down to my neck to wipe away the sweat that accumulated. I wanted this all to stop. I wanted to help, not to hurt. This wasn’t me; it couldn’t be.
Then I noticed the veins in my neck… they were moving. Blackness engulfed them slowly, ascending up to my face. I felt it all inside me, surrounding me.
I was infected.