After standing in the middle of the room for a couple of seconds, I hesitantly turned towards the bathroom door. I focused on the very faint feeling of my power in my stomach, ready to draw it up in case there was anyone behind the door who was going to attack me as soon as I opened it up. I twisted the silver handle and pushed the door open, holding my hands out in fists as I walked in. I spun around in every direction, but there was no sign of anyone in the room, and I slowly dropped my hands, relaxing slightly.

The bathroom was a lot bigger than I was expecting, it was by far the biggest bathroom I could remember being in. The bathrooms at HYDRA were literally a big metal tub filled with cold murky water in the middle of the room and a metal toilet in the corner that constantly stunk. This bathroom had a shining white bath was against the left wall covered in salmon-pink tiles and had a window not far up the wall. There was a double sink that literally shone against the back wall and a big circular mirror illuminated by a warm light, which immediately caused me to look away from my reflection. In the corner on the right, there was a big, tall glass shower and a silver railing next to it covered in white towels. I hesitantly walked over to the shower and opened it up to reveal numerous bottles of shampoos, conditioners, and body washes. My eyes immediately widened; I was never given that much stuff at HYDRA. Any time I got to actually wash myself with any sort of soap, or wash my hair, I was given a tiny little container of it and that was it.

I slowly twisted the shower taps and watched in amazement as crystal clear water poured out of the silver showerhead. I watched it for a couple of seconds before stepping back, gratefully peeling off my dirty, mud-caked, and bloodstained jumpsuit, letting it drop onto the floor. I stepped under the water of the shower and immediately shivered at how cold it was, twisting the taps to make it warmer. Within seconds, I was completely soaked, mud and blood swirling around my feet and going down the drain. I used almost half of the shampoo and conditioner bottles, scrubbing my greasy hair so hard I was surprised it didn't fall out. I got shampoo in my eyes multiple times and I spent a least ten minutes trying to stop my eyeballs from feeling like they were on fire. I scrubbed my body with the soap, trying to get any trace of HYDRA off me, but it was difficult with all of the still-open cuts and bruises littering my skin.

It took a little while for me to feel completely clean. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a clean towel before hesitantly looking in the mirror at my reflection, glad to see that I looked moderately okay. I mean, I was still covered in bruises, scars and cuts that were now bleeding again from my rough scrubbing. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the deepest cuts, the white towel becoming speckled with my blood.

I slowly opened up the bathroom door, looking out of it cautiously, making sure no one was in the room before I slowly crept out, dressed in only the white towel. I darted to the cupboard the woman had been talking about and opened it up to see it completely filled with clothes off all different shapes and styles. My eyes scanned over them and after a couple of seconds of hesitation, I reached into the cupboard and pulled out a pair of loose-looking black pants, a long-sleeve navy blue shirt and navy-blue jumper. I knew I would be sweltering in the heavy clothing, but I didn't want anyone to see my scratches and scars and take advantage of my weaknesses.

I quickly got changed, tucking my hair into the hoodie and pulling the hood over my head to try and hide as much of my face as I could. I pulled on a pair of black joggers, wincing slightly in pain as it bumped my toe I had broken in one of the experimenting sessions ages ago. I hung up both towels in the bathroom and gathered up my HYDRA jumpsuit, hanging it on the rack next to the towels. I would decide what to do with it later.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the door leading outside my room, reaching my hand out before I hesitated for a couple of seconds. I bit my lip nervously before I slowly twisted the handle down and opened the door. My eyes darted around nervously, trying to find any sign of danger, but all I spotted was the woman sitting in one of the leather chairs. Upon hearing my door open up, she stood up and turned around to look at me, and I slowly walked out of the room, shutting my door behind me.

"You look beautiful sweetie." She smiled softly, but I could see the question look in her eyes at my clothing choice. I looked away from her, hands stuffed into the pockets of the hoodie as I looked down at the black joggers on my feet. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her big to walk towards me and I stiffened slightly. She reached out and removed the hoodie from my head.

"You won't be needing that." She said softly and I looked up at her as my damp brown hair spilled over my shoulders. I looked back up at her and she carefully swept a strand out of my face before running the rest through her fingers. I looked down at her soft hands and immediately felt embarrassed at how my hair looked. It was all different lengths from the times a HYDRA agent would come in every six months and chop it roughly to keep it from getting in the way of my training. They didn't have any care about my appearance, and I didn't normally either, but when I saw the perfect strawberry blonde hair of this woman, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

The woman smiled softly and my eyes darted up to her face briefly before I had to look away again. She dropped her hand from my hair and the uneven strands covered my shoulders again.

"Do you mind if I do your hair?" She asked and my eyes darted up again, worried that she was going to give it another 'haircut'. She clearly saw the fear in my eyes and smiled softly. "Don't worry, I just want to braid it or something. Your hair would look nice in a braid." I doubted that my hair would look nice in anyway, but I nodded softly, deciding that it was probably best that I didn't refuse anything. The woman moved to behind me and I immediately stiffened, panicking at how I couldn't see where she was. Her softly fingers began to move through my hair, gently separating into different strands. I could sense that she was trying not to hurt me and very slowly, I began to relax under her touch, but only slightly. I didn't want to let my guard down completely, but I couldn't keep thinking about how no one had ever touched me so gently, or even cared for me so much.

"Now you look perfect." The woman's voice broke through my thoughts after a couple of moments and I blinked a couple of times to try and bring myself back to the present. I slowly up and ran a hand the braid, trying to imagine what it looked like based on how it felt. A small smile tugged at my lips and I turned around to look at the woman, my smile barely visible. before I looked back up at the woman.

"Thank you." I say quietly, meeting her gaze briefly before I looked away again.

"It's okay." She smiled back before it faded a little. "Tony had planned for you to have a checkup, but I understand that given your... past, you might not want to go. It's entirely your choice." I looked up at her sharply at the word 'checkup' and my brain darted to all of the painful 'checkups' I had at HYDRA. They would poke and prod me, twisting my limbs and asking me what hurt, jabbing needles into my skin and drawing out blood. I would be restrained to a table, bright lights in my face.

"Hey." The woman's gentle voice cut through my memories and I looked up at her with teary eyes. Her blue eyes immediately softened and I looked away, sniffling and wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, trying to hide my weakness. She gently tucked my hair behind my ear in what I guessed was meant to be a soothing gesture and I hesitantly looked up at her. I looked at her blue eyes, trying to find any trace of malice, but all I could see was kindness and empathy.

"It won't be anything invasive," She spoke up, watching me. "Tony and Bruce just want to check your cuts and bruises and stop any infection. They might do a couple of internal scans as well, but that'll be up to you if you want them to do that." She wiped a stray tear rolling down my cheek, and surprisingly I didn't stiffen. "It's all your decision, you don't have to go if you don't want to, but I think it would be what's best." I looked back down at my feet, all of the things that could possibly go wrong and right rushing through my head at the same time, becoming slightly overwhelming. I too a barely noticeable breath in before I looked up at the woman and nodded softly. She smiled softly at me, wiping away another stray tear on my cheek before gently taking one of my hands before I could shove it back into my pocket. I tensed under her touch but let her carefully walk me to the elevator.

When we stepped inside the elevator, she pressed a button engraved with a 4 and as soon as the doors shut, the lift began to move up. This time I was slightly more prepared and I didn't have to hold onto the metal railing.

In no time, the doors opened again and I was met with a glass wall that stretched across the whole length of the level only a couple of steps away. Through the glass, I could see several white tables scattered randomly throughout the room, barely visible because of the papers and scrap prices of metal covering them. The lights were a bright white and the whole familiarity of the new Lab sent shivers through my spine. Flashbacks of the HYDRA Lab flitted through my mind but I took a deep breath, trying to force them out of my head, fisting my hands tightly as I felt the monster inside my stomach stir.

The woman thankfully didn't notice my small moment of weakness and walked up to the glass door, putting her hand on a grey touchpad, which beeped and flashed green. My mind flashed back to similar security at HYDRA, they had it on the Lab door too.

The door swung open and, while my heart was pounding fearfully, I slowly followed the woman inside, praying that I wasn't falling into some trap. She weaved her way through the overflowing tables, rolling her eyes several times, before we reached a new workplace. There was a massive silver bench covered in pieces of metal with someone hunched over on the other side, facing us but looking down at the table. They had a big silver mask covering their face and there was a tool in their hands that shot sparks everywhere when it connected with the piece of metal on the workbench. My heart began to pound rapidly at the sight of the tool and I hid behind the woman, terrified of what harm the person could inflict on me with that weapon. The woman smiled at me softly and rubbed my shoulders comfortingly and before stepping closer to the person, leaving me to stand by myself. She tapped her knuckles on the metal mask, and the person jumped, turning off the weapon tool and looking up at the woman. They reached up and took off the mask and I immediately saw that it was Tony. I paused, confused. Tony said he wasn't going to hurt me, but the tool in his hand made it seem otherwise.

"Oh hey Pep." He smiled up at the woman, settling down the weapon tool on the bench. "What's up?"

"Someone is here to see you and Bruce." She raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "Remember?" She turned around and gestured to me as I watched Tony and the weapon tool nervously.

"Oh yeah," Tony nodded, "of course I remembered." He grinned at the woman, and she rolled her eyes at him, but was smiling slightly, which confused me. Tony took the silver mask completely off his head, setting it down on the table before walking around the bench towards me.

"Come on kiddo." He smiled at me and my eyes darted to the woman, unsure if it was safe to go with Tony. I trusted him before when he came into my cell, but after seeing him with that weapon tool, I was slightly unnerved. The woman gave me a smile before nodding to urge me on. I took another small, barely noticeable breath before slowly following after the man as he beckoned for me to follow him. I stayed a couple of steps behind him, ready to jump or run away if he suddenly decided to turn around an attack me. I couldn't see any visible weapons in his hands, but that didn't mean he didn't have any currently on him.

He led me into a completely different section of the Lab, sectioned off my a solid white wall that had a door halfway along that was already open. We walked inside and I saw that it looked completely like the healing room in HYDRA with its white walls, beds, needles and machines. I had only been in the healing room twice, once for when I was training with another agent and he 'accidently' punctured my lung and another time when the scientists had injected me with something that I had reacted severely too, causing my whole body to swell up, including my throat. I had almost died, it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Do you just want to sit down on the bed?" Tony's voice interrupted my thoughts and my eyes darted up to see him watching me cautiously. I looked back over at the beds and bit my lip, slowly moving over to one of the beds. I cautiously slid onto it, my eyes constantly darting to Tony, my legs dangling over the edge. Tony began to type away on some projections that had appeared out of thin air. HYDRA did have advanced technology, but nothing like invisible screen that hovered in midair, completely supported by nothing. It confused me but intrigued me at the same time.

"JARV." Tony broke the silence after a couple of minutes, waving his hand and causing the projection to disappear completely. My eyes widened and I blinked, making sure my eyes were fooling me. "Can you get Bruce?" Tony looked back over at me and smiled at my stunned expression.

"Of course." Came the AI's response. The room fell into silence again and a couple of moments later, the door opened up to reveal a completely new man dressed in a white coat and glasses perched on the end of his nose, which he pushed up hurriedly. I immediately stiffened at the sight of the way too familiar Lab coats and I scrambled backwards as he took a step towards me. He paused suddenly and looked over at Tony, confused.

"It's probably best to take the coat off." Tony gestured to the white coat and Bruce hesitantly took the coat off, setting it on a chair nearby as he watched me confused.

"So this is the new recruit." The new man, Bruce, said, his eyes darting over me. He gave me a small smile, but I didn't return it.

"I wouldn't go that far." Tony said to Bruce. "At the moment, she is just in our care. We'll discuss it later. For now, we need to get her patched up." Tony threw me a smile and Bruce began to walk towards me. I wasn't fooled by him taking the coat off however, and I jumped off the bed and scrambled away from them both. I pressed myself up against the back wall, eyes wide as I felt adrenaline pumping through my veins. Tony's eyes immediately filled with pity and he stepped towards me, holding his hands up as it to show he wasn't a threat. I tore my eyes away from Bruce and looked at him, beginning to question if he was safe too.

"Please." I begged, my voice sounding weak. "Please. Don't hurt me."

"We are not going to hurt you." Tony soothed, still slowly walking towards me. "Bruce is with us, he won't hurt you. He is going to help you feel better. There will just be a blue light run over you to check your injuries and that will be it."

"And it won't hurt?" I asked timidly and Tony shook his head.

"Promise." He smiled and my eyes darted over to Bruce before I slowly stepped away from the wall. I carefully climbed back onto the bed and lay down, my whole body tense. Tony and Bruce stood on either side of the bed as Tony let a small white disk hover over my body. It took all of my self-control not to jump out of the bed and try and run away. I just clenched my fists so hard that they began to turn white.

"This should only take a couple of seconds." Tony smiled comfortingly before the little white disk began to travel up and down my body, a small blue light coming out of its centre. After a couple of seconds, it beeped and the blue light disappeared as Tony picked it up, setting it down on a table nearby. He noticed me watching it and gave a small smile.

"It's my own invention." He said, seeming proud. "It emits enough radiation to not only show bones, but can also muscle tissue, nerve structures and other stuff I won't bore you with. And even better, it gives you faster results than any other normal x-ray. JARV bring up the results."

"Of course Sir." The voice from the ceiling replied and barely a second later, the projections reappeared and I could see clearly different snapshots of my bones. "I have separated sections of Miss Emily's bones that seem to be the worse off. I can also bring up nerve and muscle damage if you like."

"Thanks JARV." Tony replied, and more projections filled the air. Bruce moved next to Tony and they began to flick through the projections, their eyes widening.

"Is it bad?" I asked timidly, sitting up slowly and beginning to fiddle with the bracelets hidden under the sleeves of my jumper.

"Well," Tony began after a couple of seconds, looking away from the projections and at me. "There is quite a large number of fractured and broken bones that have healed and are permanently growing the wrong way. This is the same with your muscle tissue, especially in your torso area where it appears you have been stabbed several times. Several of your nerves have also been damaged, but thankfully it isn't bad enough for you to feel the damage. Whatever healing process they used on you was absolute shit." Tony ran a stressed hand through his hair and Bruce gave him a look, but I wasn't bothered by Tony's choice of language. The HYDRA agents would often yell or scream at me while swearing, though it was normally in Russian, which made it a whole lot worse.

Tears pricked at my eyes as I heard all of my injuries. They all made sense, though I couldn't remember how I had gotten half of them, and I didn't really want to. I clenched my hands, trying to hold back my emotions before I took a deep breath, looking down at my scarred hands.

"They had something they would inject us with." I replied quietly, looking down at my hands and fiddling with the bracelets. "It was a bright light blue liquid, almost white, that made us heal almost instantly. But it felt like your whole body was on fire. I don't know what was in there, but I never bothered to ask."

"Those sons of a -" Tony began before Bruce interrupted him.

"Don't." He warned him before looking back at me, giving me a small smile. "Did they have any other healing methods?" I hesitated, my eyes darting up to his before I looked back down.

"Unless you count bleeding out until you fall unconscious." I said quietly. "They only used the injection if it was an absolute emergency, normally seconds before I collapsed." A tear rolled down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away, cursing myself for being weak. Tony took in a deep breath and waved away all of the projections.

"That won't happen here." He told me and I look back up at him to see him smiling softly at me. "We'll look after you." 

AN: 

And we are back to the big chapters! Sorry about that for all of you who hate reading a lot at a time. For those of you who don't mind, click that lovely little voting button and let me know what you like the most about this chapter. Just a reminder that if you do find any mistakes, please let me know!