Whoever was controlling the little metal desk in the back of my neck decided to fill my head with as many memories as they could for the rest of the night. They were mostly fleeting, only brief flashes of fire or ash or the sound of someone screaming. Everyone noticed how withdrawn I was from the conversations going around, and Wanda sat by my, calming me down when the flashes echoed through my brain. Loki stuck by closely too, sitting about five metres away from me and constantly watching me, though I barely noticed. I didn't touch much of my breakfast, I didn't have any appetite, my power kept creating a horrible curling feeling in my stomach, despite the bracelets. I was tempted to take them off to stop the horrible feeling in my stomach, but I knew that if I burst into flames, I wouldn't be able to control it.

Wanda, as if sensing my thoughts, gently placed her hand on my forearm and I jumped slightly, lost in the different memories flashing through my head. My eyes darted over to her and she gave me a comforting smile that I couldn't return. I looked back down at my plate of food and took in a deep breath, closing my eyes briefly. I fought back the fire flickering in my memories beyond my eyelids and focused on the pounding of my heart in my ears.

Something metal clamped around my head, pressing in against my skull, cold metal against my sweating skin. My skin was prickling, I felt fire creeping up my arms and my vision blurred.

I immediately opened my eyes and clenched the fork in my hand tightly. Wanda rubbed my hand and watched me carefully as I swallowed thickly. I shoved a piece of hashbrown into my mouth to try and push back the bile rising in my throat as I began to hear screams echoing in my ears, the pained cries of people who I didn't even know.

"Tony," Wanda said softly to Tony, who was sitting not far away from us. "How about you start setting up that stuff?" Tony's eyes darted to me and he set down his almost empty place, Bruce standing up as well. They grabbed a couple of bags and began to slowly move some of the mattresses that weren't occupied, creating a space in the middle of the lounge room. Wanda stood up and moved them completely out of the way with her power, stacking them up against the back wall.

"Reindeer Games." Tony called out, setting down one of the bags and opening it up to reveal a whole bunch of medical equipment. I don't know why he was so prepared and had brought all of it, but it wasn't my biggest worry at the moment. Loki tore his gaze away from me and glared at Tony, his green eyes piercing.

"Can you conjure up some sheets or something?" Tony asked, rummaging through the bag. "I don't want to make a mess on the rug." My eyes darted to Tony and I tensed slightly at the thought of what he could be doing that require by blood splattering over the floor. Loki was clearly thinking the same thing, but Tony wasn't paying any attention to him. Loki's eyes darted back to me and I quickly looked back down at my plate of mostly untouched food. He looked away and waved his hand, white sheets appearing over the cleared space in the lounge room. Tony dragged a chair from the lounge room and placed it in the middle before beckon to me. I swallowed nervously and slowly stood up, putting my plate of food on my bed and walked over to the chair.

"I'm going to just give you a little bit of anesthetic." Bruce said, noticing how my eyes darted to the needle he was holding in a now gloved hand as I walked over. "It is just going to be a little prick in the back of your neck, it shouldn't hurt much." I nodded and slowly sat down in the chair, immediately noticing the number of scalpels Tony had lined up next to the bag. I tensed and clenched my jaw, fighting back memories of the number of times HYDRA scientists had used scalpels in the experimenting sessions.

"Relax." Wanda said, sitting down next to the chair. "Its going to be okay." Bruce gently swept my hair away from my neck and carefully placed a gloved hand on my skin, the familiar prick of a needle arriving a couple of seconds later.

"It would be ideal to put you under completely." Tony said, walking over with the blue-lensed glasses on again. "But I'm afraid we don't have everything we need for that." I didn't say anything, looking down at the clenched hands in my lap. Tony replaced where Bruce had been standing, looking closely at my mostly numb neck with his glasses. He reached out with a hand and carefully touched the metal disk. Immediately, a shock wave went through my whole body and I clenched my mouth shut to try and hold back the cry of pain, but a small whimper still escaped. Wanda reached up to rub my hand and I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the disk begin to pulse in my neck.

"Sorry." Tony said, looking down at me before turning his gaze back to the disk, and when he did, he swore. "I'm picking up waves from it, frequency waves."

"Did you accidentally trigger something?" Steve asked from where he was leaning up against a wall, his arms crossed.

"B12." A voice whispered in my head and I immediately recognised it as Zola. "B12."

"Emily." Tony broke through the voice. "Is it hurting you?" I shook my head stiffly, clenching my hands so tight that my mostly non-existent nails dug into my palm.

"B12." A voice whispered again, this time it was Strucker. "We know you can hear us, its good to see that the disk works. It's a very useful invention, don't you think? It can do almost anything to you, even control your mind." His voice sent shivers down my spine. "We have to be closer to do that though, so why don't you come to us."

"No." I whimpered before I could even think about it.

"We don't take no for an answer." Strucker snarled. "We are coming to get you B12."

"Emily." Someone was shaking me and I opened my teary eyes to see that it was Tony. "Emily, what's happening?"

"Don't tell them B12." Strucker whispered. I whimpered again and as Tony reached out to rub my shoulder, I flinched away.

"B12." Strucker's and Zola's voices compined together and filled my head. Their whispers echoed and slowly grew louder and louder, like a chant. "B12. B12. B12. B12."

"Stop it." I begged, covering my ears. "Stop it please."

"Emily." Tony's voice was barely heard over Strucker's and Zola's whispering.

"B12. B12. B12. B12." The chant was incessant, growing steadily louder and louder until I couldn't even hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. Flames flickered in my mind and tears rolled down my cheeks as the disk in my neck pulsed hard, sending waves of pain through my body. Suddenly, someone began to pound at my skull with a hammer, my whole head throbbing in pain, feeling like it was going to be split open. I began to feel like darkness was swallowing me up, I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't think anything. Something was pushing me down, pinning me down and my instinctively thrashed against it without me thinking about doing so.

"B12. B12. B12." The chanting grew stronger, driving me more and more insane.

"Stop it!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face, gasping my head tightly as I tried to cover me ears in a weak attempt to stop their voices. "Stop it, please!"

And suddenly it all stopped

Blinding light filled my vision and I jerked backwards in shock, a pair of hands grasping me tightly. My chest heaved as I spun around, only to find that I was seated on a chair. Another pair of hands grabbed my shoulder just as I almost fell of the edge of the chair and I jerked my head around to see that it was Steve. His face was etched with worry and as my eyes met his, he slowly let go of me.

"Emily." A voice said and I jerked my head back around to see the other pair of hands on me belonged to Tony. "What happened?" I couldn't form any words, my chest still heaving and sweat trickling down my forehead. Wanda stepped forward, reaching out with her hands covered in tendrils of her power, and I immediately flinched away, without even thinking about it. She stopped up short and her power slowly disappeared.

"Emily, talk to us." Steve said softly. "What happened?"

"HYDRA." I managed to croak out.

"Were they in your head?" Wanda asked softly and I gave her a jerky nod.

"Could you see anything?" Tony asked Wanda and she shook her head.

"I tried to see," she replied, "but there was some sort of wall in her mind that blocked me out."

"It was stronger than normal." Loki spoke up and everyone immediately turned to look at him. "Even I couldn't get in. It kept throwing me out."

"What did they say to you?" Tony turned back to me, crouching down in front of me. "What did they say?"

"They..." I struggled to try and get all of my thoughts in order. They were buzzing everywhere and I couldn't think straight, I couldn't focus on anything.

"Maybe we should let her rest Tony." Nat said softly, watching me as I hunched over and clenched my softly shaking hands in a fist on my knees. Tony sighed and nodded, straightening. Wanda stepped forward and carefully put her hands under my arms, helping me stand up on my legs that felt like jelly, walking me slowly over to my bed in the corner of the room. She helped me sit down on it and I didn't even need to try to fall asleep, darkness dragging me under.