Natalie's POV
What. The. Heck. I woke up with an ache in my neck, one that you get when you've been in the same position for too long. Ouch. I got up from the bed I was lying on and rotated my head slowly, until my neck got better. I got up from the bed and combed my hair with my fingers. Wait. Why was I on that bed anyways? I wrecked my brains trying to remember what had happened and why I had woken up on this bed.
Just then, someone entered. It was James. His blue eyes glanced at me, looking troubled.
" Are you okay?" He asked. I detected a tremble in his voice, and I narrowed my eyes.
" Mmhmm," I acknowledged half-heartedly. " So what's up?" I asked. He looked away.
" Nothing," he answered. He kept touching his face and playing with his hair as he talked. That was a sure sign of lying. Why would James lie to me?
" Anyways, Director Fury ordered me to tell you to stay in bed," he told me, his normally bright blue eyes cloudy. I nodded and he left the room silently. I leaned back down into the fluffy Shield cushions and mulled over James's strange behavior. What had happened? Was his behavior something to do with the reason why I couldn't remember anything before I woke up on this bed? I almost literally tugged my brain out as I thought about what had happened. I looked down, spotting a new on my hand. Well, that was new. Suddenly, I felt a tug on my brain, as if the scar had uncovered some memories that were meant to be kept hidden deep inside my brain. The recollection of memories pulled me back into the past, making me lose focus on the real world and more on my memories.
RECOLLECTION
" Sorry, Natalie, but I can't have you spouting everything you know out to your parents about who you are," He said. " Can't have them with weaknesses, can I now? I have to have my two best agents without weakness, right? For their own safety. People know about you, come looking for you, hold you hostage and that would be the end of my two best agents."
" I think I'm smart enough not to be caught by enemy agents," I shot back, even as my feet struggled to hold up my body, which suddenly felt as heavy as lead.
" You might be good at fighting, but they have techniques you don't know about. They could catch you in a few seconds, and you'd never see them coming." He told me.
" My parents wouldn't believe me if I told them that I was their daughter, anyway," I said drowsily. He smiled.
" You see, Natalie, though I washed their brain clean of their memories of you, they might still have a sixth sense about you. They would hardly hesitate to believe, once you brought their memories back to them." I frowned.
" Fury, you asshole," I said.
" Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" He asked.
" How can I, when she doesn't even know about me?" Was the last words I uttered before succumbing to the constant pull of sleep.
BACK TO PRESENT
Wait. That means that Fury...brainwashed me? Woah woah woah. Back up. What? That's not remotely possible! Shield wouldn't have the tech to...actually, they would. But weren't they fighting for the good of the world, not evil? Why would a person on the good side- the leader of the good side, in fact; do such a thing?
Just then, James entered the room.
" Yeah?" I asked, pouring myself a glass of water by my bedside. He shook his head.
" Just wanted to check on you..." he answered. Creepy stalker much? I raised an eyebrow at him.
"...at Director Fury's orders," he finished his sentence.
" Oh," I answered. I now knew why James was acting so weirdly earlier. He was disturbed about my past knowledge. Fury probably threatened him somehow if he let me know anything. Why not brainwash him, though? Never mind. Fury probably set up cameras everywhere so he would immediately know if James tried to cause any trouble. There was an awkward silence as the two of us struggled to find a topic to discuss.
" James," I said, noting that he was staring suspiciously at me. Shit. I probably wasn't asking enough questions. " Why am I in this bed? How did I get here? What happened to me?" I bombarded him with questions, hoping to ease his suspicions of me. I made my face look as innocent as possible and I arranged my posture into one that was of curiosity. Since I was pretty good at lying, I think I earned a pass and James's face suddenly smoothed out, the suspicious look gone.
" Uh...I think you injured yourself somewhere on your latest mission, because you fainted on the way to the debriefing room. I was with you, so I brought you to the medics to patch you up." He said, making up a story almost immediately. I had to give credit to the guy, I mean, he didn't look to the left or right when making it up. Usually people do. Or maybe he prepared himself early to avoid suspicion. Hmm.
" So can I leave already?" I asked. " I don't feel wrong anywhere." I said. He hesitated.
" Wait. I'll go ask the nurse." He told me and went out. I got up from the bed, smirking. Since when have I been one to follow instructions? Just then, James came in.
" I thought I asked you to stay in bed?" He asked, a frown plastered all over his face. I smiled cheekily.
" No you didn't. You said to ' Wait'. That does not imply ' staying in the bed'," I answered smartly.
" Anyway, Agent Hill informed me that there was a newcomer. She wants you to make her welcome." The newcomer's a girl.
" Why me?" I asked. I was already feeling nervous about how Director Fury figured out that I had known who my parents were, probably through Agent Hill, so how could I trust her?
" I don't know, maybe the fact that you're a level seven agent?" James asked sarcastically ( or at least he tried to). Wait, what? Fury somehow made me a level seven agent after brainwashing me? I kept my cool and pouted so that James would not suspect anything. " Meet her outside. She's waiting." I nodded and got off the bed. I closed the sliding hospital doors slowly behind me.
" There's this newcomer at Shield, and she won't stop asking for a certain ' Natalie Rushman'." Agent Hill's voice scared me out of my thoughts.
" How does she look like?" I asked.
" Brown hair, brown eyes?" Agent Hill said. " Medium height, about a bit shorter than you." Wait. Was she describing...
" Shit," I said, the truth ringing in my head.
" Well? Anything you can tell me about her?" Asked Agent Hill, raising a perfectly groomed eyebrow. I sighed.
" You should have left her alone," I said, as I walked towards the training room, where this ' girl' was bound to be.
---
As I walked through the doors of the training room, my sight before my eyes confirmed my suspicions. The brown haired girl was seated on one of the chairs there. Her familiar figure made me feel guilty again. You see, the last time I left her, she was in a fire.
" Hey," she said, greeting me.
" Hey...Tessie, whatcha doing here?" I asked. She laughed.
" I don't know, maybe because I'm looking for you," she said, sarcasm practically dripping from her voice. Wait, James said that earlier.
" So, Shield, eh?" She asked, putting on a smile, but when she turned to look at me, her eyes were pained. Shit. I forgot her parents were brainwashed because they were working for Shield.
" How'd you get in?" I asked. She scoffed.
" I was recruited, of course," she said. " What kind of a question is that?" I glared at her and she sagged back down.
" Why'd you come looking for me?" I asked. " The only reason I went with...those people was because I wanted to protect you!" I whisper-shouted.
" Well, too late," she said. " I've been recruited into the tech team of Shield." She told me.
" But..." I started to protest.
" No buts!" She exclaimed. " At least you'll have an insider at Shield, right?" She asked.
" I work at Shield!" I whisper-shouted. " And shhh! There are cameras everywhere!" I shushed her as we talked.
" Don't worry. I put a camera and audio scrambler into the cameras. Nothing of our conversation will be recorded. Which reminds me, the scrambler block should be stopping in about..." Tessie checked her watch. " Ten seconds from now," she said. My eyes widened.
" Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" I exclaimed. Both of us ran out of the room.
" Uh, so now what?" I asked. Tessie winked at me and I suddenly remembered that there were cameras , so I asked," To the cafeteria?" Tessie nodded and we headed off to eat.
A/N
Okay, so crappy filler chapter! Don't worry, the next one will be better. Hopefully. So anyways even though this was terrible, could you guys just click that star button right there? Oh, and feedback is always appreciated. Hope you guys liked it. So anyways, it's the holidays now, so I might be able to update more. Emphasize on the ' might'. I'm also going through some writers block right now, so not really sure when I will update this story. I have some plans for later chapters, but I've got to type them out and all, so that might take some time. Hope you guys understand.
Stephanie out!