▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐲-𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓, much older. All of his hair was gone except for the facial hair that was completely grey. His eyes crinkled in the corner, his lips curling into that cruel amused smile he'd always worn since she was a kid. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you came back."

     "Yeah, well, when I really put my mind to it you weren't that hard to track down. You should learn to cover your tracks better."

     "If I didn't want you to find me, then you wouldn't be here right now, would you?" Alexander's smirk widened. "I heard you and your little. . . Avenger pals broke up. I also heard that you are a wanted criminal. I must say, you have made your father proud. I knew it was only a matter of time. Though, I have to admit, I am surprised that your sister was with you."

     Olivia's jaw clenched. "Where is she?"

     "Oh, you don't have to worry about her." He waved his hand, walking over to the desk pressed against the wall in front of her, pulling out the chair and sitting down. He crossed his right leg over his left, intertwining his hands and placing them in his lap. Olivia kept her gun trained on him. He let out a laugh. "Geez, Livvy, can you put that thing down?"

     Her voice came out in a snarl. "Don't call me that."

     "I just want to have a civil conversation with you."

     "Civil?" Olivia scoffed. "Since when have you ever been civil? Where's my sister and where's the girl?"

     Alexander furrowed his brows. "Girl? What girl?"

     "Don't play stupid with me. I saw you. You kidnapped a little girl."

     "I didn't kidnap anyone." He stood up.

     Olivia's grip on her gun tightened. "I swear to God you take another step and I'm putting a bullet between your eyes."

     "Why don't we just sit down, talk this out. I'm not the same person, Olivia."

     Olivia swallowed. "Even if that's true, I'd still kill you. Men like you don't deserve to live. You don't get second chances. Not when you spent our entire lives being a monster. Experimenting on your own children!" Her voice grew louder with each word, her anger growing like a disease. He opened his mouth but Olivia decided she'd had enough. "This conversations over." The gun went off, the bullet placing itself right in the middle of his chest. He fell to the ground dead and Olivia walked out.

She holstered her gun, running down the stairs and searching for the basement. When she found the door she kicked it open, running down the steps and making it onto the basement floor. Her heart stuttered, a feeling of unwanted nostalgia washing over her as she took it in. It was the same exact setup.

     "Daddy, what are we doing down here?" Olivia snapped her head towards the sound of her own voice, watching before her as her younger self and her father walked hand in hand over to the table.

     Alexander smiled. "Getting you more chocolate, sweetheart."

      Little Olivia shook her head. "I don't like this place. I always hurt."

     "I know, but this is for your own good." He picked her up, sitting her on the table. "You see, you're sick sweetie. And I have to do this to help you get better."

     "I'm sick?" Olivia frowned. "I don't feel sick."

     "I know, but you have to trust me, okay? This is gonna make you feel better."

     Olivia nodded and laid down, her father strapping her to the table and preparing his tools. He smiled manically as he picked up a pink vial, choosing to stick with that same color since it was Olivia's favorite. "This is gonna hurt," he warned before inserting the liquid into a needle and injecting it into her skin. Her screams were loud, echoing throughout the entire room. Nothing but pure agony was in those screams.

Olivia blinked and the memory was gone. Her heartbeat was in her throat, panic seizing her bones keeping her frozen in place. Her breaths grew uneven and she was fighting to get oxygen to her lungs. A hand was placed on her shoulder and she instinctively sent her hand out, sending the person flying away from her. She turned her head at the sound of a groan, spotting her sister laying on the floor.

     "Allison." She took in a breath, forcing herself to gain control of her breathing and running over to her sister. "I'm sorry."

     "It's alright." Allison grunted as she pushed herself up from the ground. "The little girl isn't here. We have to go, Liv. It's a trap."

     "It's fine. I shot him. He's dead."

     Allison paused, her brows raised. "Oh? Just. . . just like that?"

     "Yeah, Olivia, just like that?"

     The two sisters quickly spun on their heels to see him standing there, a rag in his hands as he wiped off the blood. Olivia swallowed, trying her best to hide her disbelief. "I shot you. You were dead."

     "You thought I was dead." He slowly descended down the stairs. He stopped on the last step, looking between them and smiling. "Isn't this nice? A little family reunion. If only your mother was here."

     "Like she'd come." Olivia spat. "Even she realized how psychotic you were and left."

     Alexander laughed. "Left? Left? She didn't leave, no, no, no, she never left." He had that insane look in his eyes, the one Olivia had always feared. "Your mother, see, she thought it was okay to disobey me. She-she tried to pack her things and leave. But I wouldn't let that happen. No. No, I, I did what I had to do."

     Allison straightened. While neither of them particularly liked their mother, she was the lesser of two evils. Did she deserve life in prison? Absolutely. But knowing her father did something to her made her jaw clench. "What did you do to her?" Alexander only laughed and Allison lunged forwards, gripping his shirt in her hands and slamming him roughly on the ground. "What did you do?!"

     "What I had to!" Alexander yelled. "She wouldn't listen!" Allison released her hold on him, stepping backwards and standing slightly in front of Olivia. Alexander stood up. "She threatened me."

     "So you killed her?" Olivia asked.

     "She threatened to take you away." Alexander said and those few words smacked Olivia right in the face. "I couldn't have that. That bitch had already taken one daughter away, I wasn't going to have her take another. I was protecting you."

     Tears formed in her eyes. Her mother was trying to save her. All these years she thought her mother had just up and left, but that wasn't the case. She was going to get her to safety, and her father ripped that from her. "Protect me?" Olivia's voice was a broken whisper. "You weren't trying to protect me. You just wanted to keep me so you had someone to do your experiments on!" Her voice rose and anger replaced the shock. "I was a child! I was six! I didn't deserve that. Neither of us deserved that!"

     Involuntary tears trickled down her cheeks. "You were supposed to be our father. You were supposed to love us, take care of us. Instead you used us as your lab rats! What kind of father does that?"

     "I don't regret what I did." Alexander replied and Olivia scoffed, wiping away her tears and shaking her head. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be where you are now. You are a hero!"

     "I WAS A CHILD!" Olivia shouted. "You were never going to let me go. I had to escape. I am not a hero because of you, I'm a hero despite of you."

     "And I stayed an experiment." Allison's voice cut through the tension. Her face was hard, her jaw clenched, nothing but pain in her eyes. "I got taken by a group called HYDRA. I was brainwashed. I killed people, innocent people. And you put me in their hands."

     "HYDRA does great work."

     Olivia just blinked while Allison stood there in unsurprised disbelief. Olivia pursed her lips. "I'm gonna pretend like that didn't just come out of your mouth. Yep. That's. . . that's what I'm gonna do."

      "Can we just go back to the real topic at hand?" Allison urged. "How are you not dead?"

     Alexander looked between them. "Isn't it obvious?" They only stared at him in response. "You weren't the only ones I experimented on."