My hands hurt.

My... head hurts?

... I think I'll just go with my everything hurts.

A groan manages to part dry lips as I take a deep breath.

    "When you lift your head, do so slowly. It will cause less stress upon your mind."

    "Hi to you too, Daniel." I mumble, but I'm not sure that it's even worth it.

I would be so much happier if I could just go back to sleep...

Not yet.

     "They may return with more questions, you might want to be awake this time." He suggests while I listen to the echoing of his voice, "You must resist the pull back into the dark, and look towards the light."

     "Your metaphors hurt." I sigh as I move my head slowly upwards until it hits wall. My neck sings to me while I do so, stabbing my skull and spine as hard as it can.

How long have we been out of school? I had English to get done.

I have more important things than English, and need to wake up before I start worrying about my history next.

What about your math test?

Joke, Swifty. It was a joke.

One eye flickers open, but immediately shuts. The light from whatever this is hurts to even look at. After waiting for who knows how long, I peek them open again and test how much I can see.

A solid quartet of cement walls greet me along with another head belonging to a human. A living human.

Oh, a Daniel human.

     "Breath deeply, let your body wake you up." He instructs, again with his eyes closed.

He looks like he might fall back asleep more than I would.

However, I close my eyes too and take a deep breath.

Then another.

And another.

"I don't think-" I start, but his eyes opening make me pause.

"The sun doesn't rise in thirty seconds." A smile actually comes across his face as he closes his eyes again.

Grrrrr.

Leave the "growling" to me, please. I can do it so much better.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Point taken.

I close my eyes again and let the tension in my shoulders relax. My feet are found below me as I broaden my breathing to deeper paths.

Surprisingly, the headache actually begins to go away. I slowly blink my eyes open again to test it.

The lights are perfectly fine, a little yellow, but I can at least see. Cement walls aren't as smooth as they might've looked. There's a giant section of wall beside Daniel that seems to have been missing for a while. A thick, metal door is at one end with a prison-styled window in it.

"Who's been here?" Although still raspy, at least I sound human now.

"Two of them are young, although one has seen his time in the field. His life isn't the calmest when at home." His eyes have closed again, making me think that he's mentally picturing them.

This makes little, to no sense.

I understand it... I think.

    "The other nurses an injury of old, but has a loving home to return to. Then... The only one of wisdom, but scared of what might happen. He doesn't carry a sure hand with his work."

    "Care to speak out of tongues?" I mutter as I begin to check what keeps me restrained here.

    "What I speak is only what I see." He returns with a very nice calm.

I should've known that he wouldn't be very scared, it would be against his teachings.

Technically, it's against yours too.

Beside the point.

The restraints aren't ones I'll be getting out of. They seem to have been made with the intent of keeping any sort of escape out of mind, like with the way Daniel's were made it seemed like even Luke would have issues getting free. Mine seem more built towards keeping flexibility down, since they've locked around my palm and down to my elbow.

How long have we been out? There's no way that we were out long enough for them to build these?

The lack of dust and equipment leads me to believe they were made previous. Also, they're big on you, so meant for someone else.

   "I may regret asking, but can you tell me in a way I'll understand how long we've been out?" My eyes slowly move to him as I mentally prepare for the headache he'll bring forth.

   "No." The amount of time it took him to think of the one word, was not proportional to how short the word was.

    "Oh, well, thank you anyways." Despite having been sarcastic earlier, I was actually grateful for such a simple answer.

But before I can ask another question, or even look to the shackles again, the metal door scratches open. Three people file in, the middle one is wearing the lab coat.

   "Ah, awake I see." His voice sounds like the textbook nerd, "Perhaps you can answer more questions than your friend here."

   "What makes you think that? Surely you three sentient monkeys could've come up with something without the help of a female." My sarcasm is treated unkindly, as the trio glare at me.

Two of them are young...

The words float through my mind as I look at them, slowly recognizing the details on them. One of them has a scar stretching from just below his ear lobe to his jaw.

...although one has seen his time in the field...

Which would mean it was his life isn't the calmest when at home.

I turn my eyes to the others before they start talking to me.

The other nurses an injury of old...

He seems to be holding his arm, the right one, close to him. He opened the door with his left hand, and is currently putting the code in with his left hand, but he's clearly not left handed.

A loving home to return to.

The only one of wisdom...

An older man wears the lab coat, but his eyes keep dancing around the room. His hands are fidgeting in front of him as he pulls on his sleeves.

... but scared of what might happen. He doesn't carry a sure hand with his work.

By the time I've figured out Daniel's metaphors, they've entered my area. I can't call it a cell, because there aren't bars holding me in. It's more of a thick glass pane running from one wall to the other.

    "Your sarcasm is dully noted." The Labcoat speaks, glancing to my shackles. "You were able to have been shot three separate times, and it still took the dart we specially prepared for Parker to take you down."

Don't react.

I know, now shut up. I can't let them catch anything if they have brain wave sensors.

Thankfully, she falls silent, and my face reveals nothing but boredom.

    "I'm sorry, Parker? Like, Peter?" My eyebrow rises, "You made a dart specially for him? Don't tell me it made my brain dumber, I would hate that very much so. Oh no, tell me it wasn't meant for-"

     "Enough!" His bark makes me jump slightly, but the other two are stone still behind him. "You know exactly who Parker is, I know it, you know it, and he knows it." He jabs a finger in Danny's direction before stepping towards me, "So drop the act, Zoey Hayes. Or would you go by Liden, your middle name?"

   "Congrats, you can read a book. I don't think that my name is 'confidential' though." Without preparing, I end up in a staring contest with Labcoat. So, obviously, he wins.

I think that should be cheating.

Are you seriously worrying about a staring contest?

I think you're putting us in more danger than I am, does that mean I can tattle to Fury?

    "No, but your background is pretty hard to get hands on." He folds his hands behind him as he paces slowly in front of me. "Parents?"

    "Nope." I interrupt with a smirk, "Nada. Wanna go again?"

    "Not even a single record of them." He muses, looking up at the ceiling as he continues, "Even orphans have records of mothers, marked down to show that somewhere a child was born. And she gave it away. But you... you don't have any records."

Neutrality.

Too late, Swift.

My hands clenched before I had realized it, tightening around the metal shackle on my palm. The sounds of nail against metal sing in the small room.

It doesn't go unnoticed.

    "Ah, sore topic is it?" He smiles as he stops in front of me, not even two feet away.

"Yes, but so is your nose." I smile as politely as I can and kick out, knocking Labcoat back as he bounces on his butt before one of the guys catch him.

     "You-!!" He growls, but is led away by one of the men as blood pours down his face. "Take her out!" He calls back as the door slams and clicks shut.

     "Sometimes the mouse can make the greatest impact on the lion." Of course, I hear him, but listening to metaphors while someone closes in on me isn't the best of my skills.

I told you to-

Stop it!

Zoey, please, we aren't stable, there could be a-

I didn't ask for your help!!

As he starts to get close enough, I kick out at him, but he knows that trick now. He easily evades with a small shake of his head.

... A loving home to return to.

   "You need to try better than that." He remarks, moving closer.

    "As you do, with moving out, right?" I was never good with riddles, but the fact that his face went a little pale told me I was right. "You stay with your mother, that's what happened when you got back home. I'm guessing that scar was from an actual battle...?"

"Quiet." He growled, but he was backing up. He shook his head and turned. "How do you even-" He cuts himself off whirling on me. "Stark took my home. He replaced it with- with a shopping mall!! My home!" He beats his chest, seeming to hype himself up.

I can use this.

We can use this.

Please, Dear, I'm trying to keep a straight head here.

Oh, so now we're-

Later.

"What do you think happened to my parents?" I look down, my eyes watering as I sniffed. "They-" Although unplanned, my voice crack worked for me. I try again, clearing my throat. "They died working on Stark's construction project!"