L O B E L I A

The white lab coat was snug around Elena's shoulders. After several days of intense working, it had moulded to her body shape. She had gotten so used to wearing it that taking it off felt strange. Everything made her jump, even the wind. It was like she was naked, vulnerable. And so she just stopped taking it off. It was a part of her now.

Fiddling with a microscope, she sighed. Elena had long since stopped hoping that Lieselotte would let her go. She always managed to find new work for her to do. Some days, she even resulted in having Elena scrub the already clean floors. She was away more often though, and that meant there was a better chance of escape. Whether it was trust or duty, Elena didn't care. She was going to take the chance and run with it.

Everyday, she managed to map out more of the lab. Her plan grew, and her routine had been the same for two weeks. Until it wasn't. It was a Friday, and Elena was owed her serum. But when the clock hit five, she was instead brought to a viewing room.

Lieselotte waited for her, hair pinned in a tight bun. Her lipstick was red today, but it was no less bright than the pink. Elena winced. She didn't think she would ever be used to it.

"Is there a reason I'm here and not in my room?" Elena asked, rubbing her wrist.

Lieselotte turned to look at her, hands clasped behind her back. She smiled. "You're working overtime tonight," she said. "Come watch."

Elena stepped forward, eyeing her warily. She looked out of the one-way glass at the spacious room with the high ceiling and white decor. It was like any other testing room if not for the machinery that sat in a corner. A scientist with a clipboard stood behind it, yelling instructions to the frightened rookies.

Elena felt a pang in her chest at the running orderlies. Once upon a time, she had been one of them. And with her current situation, anyone could tell that it didn't work out for her. Elena gulped, wondering how many of them didn't have a single clue what was happening. She wondered if any of them would turn out like her.

The thought of it made her sick, but Elena couldn't stop watching them. A war scene played out in her brown eyes, a memory resurfacing. She couldn't stop it even if she tried.

"Dr. Fan, you're in charge of the pressure readings. Keep it steady."

"Yes, ma'am!" Elena nodded. She tucked a pencil behind her ear, bounding over to the computers. A wide grin was on her face, childish amazement apparent in her eyes. Her face was rounder then, her hair longer. It was her first experiment as she spent most of her time with patients, but she had always wanted a taste at the behind the scenes of finding a cure to something.

Satisfied with the pressure levels, Elena looked up to watch. The shouting had mostly stopped as everyone stood at their positions, ready to take action if needed. Her heart pounded harder than it had ever before, and butterflies danced in her stomach. Elena clawed at her arms in anticipation. She had even begun to tap her foot in a catchy rhythm.

"Okay, in three everybody!" Dr. Hallman called out. "One... Two... "

Elena bit down on her tongue to keep her from squealing. It didn't help with the laughter that escaped her throat, but no one seemed to notice.

"Three!"

Dr. Hallman pulled a switch, and nothing happened. Elena didn't even have time to process the nothingness before the screams came. From there on, it was chaos.

She still had the grin on her face when she stumbled back as someone ran past. Her eyes widened, etched with confusion. This wasn't normal, right?

Falling onto the tiled floor, Elena gasped. She flung her head around, searching for the person who had shoved her to the side. That definitely wasn't normal. Scrambling onto her feet, she opened her mouth, but her questions were drowned out with the other voices.

Where was Dr. Hallman?

"Stand firm, everybody! We must finish this!"

There. That was it. Her voice. Elena nodded with all the determination she could muster. She stood up as tall as she could, pushing against the crowd. She clenched her fists.

"Dr. Hallman?" she yelled. Louder this time. "What should I do?"

Her dark eyes met Dr. Hallman's light ones. The older doctor smiled, and more butterflies migrated into Elena's stomach. She smiled back. She was doing something right if she had earned the approval of a superior.

"What's your name, darling?"

"Fan, ma'am. Elena Fan."

"Why don't you go make sure the machinery is running properly?" she said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Elena was like a salmon swimming against a waterfall of people. When she reached the main machine, she found it running normally. She grinned.

"Nothing to worry about, Doctor!" she exclaimed, turning. "Everything is—"

The ground started to rumble, and Elena's breath hitched. She widened her stance, looking down at the ground. Fear crawled into her mind, taking over everything she knew.

"Doctor?" she whispered.

Her eyes whipped up for Dr. Hallman's advice, but she was only met with a bright light. Then, an explosion, but she could still see the light. It was white.

Elena staggered back, her hands reaching up to cover her eyes. It didn't help the white light that filtered through her fingers though. She grimaced, shutting her eyes.

"What the—" she muttered, opening her eyes when it was gone. She found Lieselotte watching her with amusement, and Elena shook her head. Her head hurt.

When she finally collected herself, Elena stepped forward to look out the window. All traces of her memory faded at the sight. The scientist and doctors... They—Elena whisked around. She took a step towards Lieselotte.

"What is this?" she whispered.

A split second of surprise flashed across her face. Lieselotte was not expecting the fire behind her words. The look disappeared as soon as it came, replaced with false innocence. "They're frozen, darling," she said.

"Frozen?" Elena echoed. She glanced at the people inside. There must have been at least twenty, and they were all gray. She could see the cracks on their skin, threatening to split their bodies entirely. "They aren't frozen," she scoffed. "They're stone! You killed them all!"

Lieselotte followed her gaze, her lips a thin line. She hummed. "A minor inconvenience. We're going to have to limit the serum in each—"

"We?" Elena snapped. "I'm not going to kill people! You forget. I'm a doctor."

"You were the one who perfected the serum! It works. You should be proud of yourself!"

Elena didn't have anything to say to that. Her mouth opened, closed. Jaw clenched, she turned away. She looked out at the machine in the corner. A weapon. Elena couldn't believe she didn't see the unmistakable silhouette of a gun propped up on it. She hissed in annoyance.

No wonder the serum was so weird to work with. The normal things that would speed up freezing didn't work because Lieselotte had done something so that ice wasn't the end product but stone. She clenched her fists. Why didn't she see it before?

Was she really that blind?

"I hate you," she whispered slowly.

"Hate is a strong—"

Elena didn't let her finish. "I hate you."

Then, she turned and ran.

...

Random off topic thing: Some of y'all remember Spring right? It was a Marvel fanfic I had on my account(don't worry, i will rewrite it one day) that starred Abigail Bethel Cooper. It was intentional on my part to have her initials be ABC. 

What was not intentional was Elena, whose initial is EF. And uh I made her a doctor so you can say her initials are DEF. 

You betcha if I ever do another Marvel fic I will continue on the alphabet. I'm not stopping now.