Flashback 4: Safe & Sound

Ok, so here's the link for the soundtrack:

http://8tracks.com/littlepond/golden-storm-1

I hope you enjoy that! I also hope you enjoy this flashback, I warn you, it's a little cheesy, but I'm still an inexperienced writer; I'm still learning!

Enjoy!

Flashback 4: Safe & Sound

Aurelia Tempest always liked the punching bag.

Whenever she trained- which was often- she always found herself going overtime punching it. Whenever she was injured, the assassin always restarted training using it.

That, she guessed, was why she was here after Doctor List deemed it safe to do so.

Her training sessions with the twins had been scheduled after lunch, after the twins ate their now properly sized lunches, and after Aurelia got her wrist up to speed again.

If she was being honest, Aurelia thought that List had over reacted with the whole 'sprained wrist' thing; she wasn't going to die from it.

Ok, torn ligaments could be the result but that couldn't be as bad as a bullet in the leg.

As she landed her 100th punch- she'd been counting- an all too familiar voice asked, "You seem to be having fun."

That one agent from her adventure for the Maximoff's lunches.

Aurelia turned around to face him, braid slapping her back, "You'd assume correct."

"I'm Hunter Appleshade, by the way."

Hunter Appleshade. Well, there had been better names.

The assassin turned back to the punching bag, and landed 3 more punches, Hunter stood on the opposite end and held it still for her.

"Aurelia Tempest," she stated, landing another punch. "So, you're the agent here to train the twins."

Had the news of her arrival and why she was here spread that fast?

"Spar?" he asked.

The assassin shrugged, he really didn't know what he was doing, or just what he was facing. A new recruit, sparring with the blood soaked S.H.A.D.O? Who was he kidding?

"Sure."

The two agents walked towards the boxing ring, and Aurelia made sure her left wrist was taped securely. She didn't want her injured wrist to fail her; her reputation was on the line.

Hunter stood his ground, "Ready?" Aurelia cracked her knuckles, "Trust me kid, I was born ready."

Appleshade threw a punch out of nowhere which she narrowly missed, mentally noting that he stepped prior to punching. Hunter went in for another punch, but she foresaw it, moved out the way, and kicked him with enough force to make him fall.

"Bitch," he smirked as he stood up.

"Bitch with combative training."

"You're good. How long have you been training?" Hunter asked, throwing another punch. She brushed it away, knuckles brushing her hip, "I've been going on missions since I was 15." Appleshade stiffened and looked at her with a look of both fear and admiration, "Yeah, I'm one of those agents."

The agents fought for a while, and with each kick, punch and flip, Aurelia began to question her assumption that Hunter was a new recruit.

She had increased her skill level, and he seemed to be holding out reasonably well.

At least she had found a good match for once. Normally her sparring partners went down within 2 minutes.

Unfortunately, Hunter saw her lost in her own thoughts, and landed a good clip on the face.

"You're not so bad," Aurelia spat onto the ring's floor. As she expected, Hunter had his guard down. She took the opportunity, dropped to her knees and tripped him; a move she'd always adored.

The assassin walked over to her sparring partner, and knelt by him. As usual, S.H.A.D.O had won.

"Don't let it get you down," she chimed, offering a hand.

They exited the ring & sat down on one of the many benches littered around the room filled with sweating agents.

Aurelia took a swig from her water bottle, "How long have you been in HYDRA?"

"I've been around. Spent most of my life in Romania, but HYDRA realised I had potential and took me in. I've been here since I was what...20?"

She nodded, placing the translucent bottle on the concrete floor. Aurelia did not expect Hunter, with an impeccable American accent to be raised in Romania, but this was a fast changing world.

"And how old are you now?"

"23."

She gaped for several seconds, "What?" There was no way that Hunter Appleshade was 23. He was so scrawny! "Yep. I don't look it do I?"

"No! You're older than me!" she exclaimed, though he only had one year on her. "Really? How old are you?"

"I'm 22."

"You don't look it either."

~~~

Standing in the training platform once again, Agent Tempest spread her arms and exclaimed as Wanda Maximoff entered.

"And now the fun begins!"

The younger Maximoff still wore her ragged clothes, rustling as she made her way to the platform. "And what do you mean by fun?"

Aurelia shrugged, blue eyes glittering in a way they hadn't in a while.

"Well, for the first few weeks, we'll work on controlling emotions, particularly anger. Then, we'll focus on advancing your abilities, finding areas where you excel, stuff like that." The telekinetic nodded, soaking up the information. In this way, she was much more cooperative than Pietro. "Then let's get started."

Minutes later, Aurelia had caused Wanda to spur into a storm of anger, and all at the philanthropist, Tony Stark.

Her hands shook with raw power, her voice scarily low and calm for someone so hate filled. The assassin nodded at all Wanda said; she had to kindle this inferno in order to teach her how to control it.

"Wanda, I want you to try and calm down," Aurelia soothed, making sure not to startle her into a telekinetic frenzy.

"How?" the younger Maximoff asked, voice now longer soft and calm, but shaky.

"I've a few tricks. Can you try to picture a calming scene, like a beach?" "Can I imagine Pietro?"

The agent nodded again, trying to school her features to be as calming as possible. "Yes! That will work! Now can you try to use that to calm you down?"

Wanda nodded tightly, squeezing her eyes and clenching her fists.

Aurelia attempted to remain as still as possible whilst the Enhanced slowly relaxed, her fingers dropped like melting icicles.

"Did it work?" she asked, once all was well. The assassin nodded, proud of how quickly her friend had grasped control of her emotions, "Hell yeah."

"What next?" the Enhanced asked her. Aurelia looked at her watch. Thankfully, they had 10 minutes left, so they could begin to find specific talents.

"We have a while left, so we can start with the ability thing. Maybe you can practice the mind control?"

Out of nowhere, Wanda recoiled.

The assassin placed a hand on her arm, "You ok? You don't have to do this if you don't want. We don't want to make you uncomfortable." The twin shook her head, placing hair behind her ears, "No. I just don't like controlling the mind of a friend."

Aurelia grinned, not exactly expecting that level of sentimentality.

"What about the first time?" the agent asked cheekily, dropping her hand.

"This time I am experimenting; I do not want to damage your mind."

"Don't worry. I'm not just a pretty face. Plus, I'm an assassin, you'll technically be doing the world a justice."

The Enhanced looked at her skeptically, Aurelia suspected that her not caring about her sanity didn't sit well. Finally, she agreed, "Ok, I will try something out."

Wanda walked toward her, eyes no longer the earthy shade of emerald, "I apologise if this is painful."

She raised a hand surrounded by rosy energy, and entered her, weirdly enough.

The last thing Aurelia felt before the hallucination started, was her irises shifting, and she was willing to bet they had become scarlet.

The first thing Aurelia Tempest felt was the restraints over her wrists, ankles, waist and neck.

Metal- judging by the cold sting from which there was no escape.

Around her mouth as a gag, and a good one. When she tried to speak, only an inaudible small whisper escaped. It took a few seconds for her to fully process that she was powerless.

Her surroundings were straight of a horror film. The walls were the only part that were remotely not ugly. At least from what she could see. They looked like small gilded boxes, all of different dimensions. The roof however was a different story; silver slates framed with bronze reinforcements, in the centre was a light.

"Agent Aurelia Tempest, otherwise known as S.H.A.D.O, the Strategic Hazardous Assassination Directorate Operation, has 100 successfully completed missions. Tell me Whitehall, why is she in need of slating?" asked a female voice.

100 missions. So this was recent.

"Aurelia is due for a mission to Sokovia, I do not want her curiosity corrupting the twins. We have worked so hard for them. Besides, her curiosity has grown out of hand. She was due for a slating a while ago."

Whitehall.

A strong sense of repulsion rushed through her, and she didn't know why. Whitehall was the man who had raised her, taught her that she was destined to be an angel of death.

He lied to you. He lied about everything, Aurelia, a voice spoke in her mind, the same spirit that made her work against her restraints with bruising force.

Whitehall doesn't care. He never has, never will. Fight back!

Those trademark glasses and gelled hair came into view, and from outside the female asked, "Curiosity about what, sir?"

Whitehall shrugged, staring at her bloodied body.

Bloodied from what?

"Her past. HYDRA in general."

The woman chuckled, and the sound of switches turning on echoed through the room and the hum of electricity buzzed like a swarm of bees. She could've sworn whatever was granting her a halo.

Whitehall stood next to her, "I'm so very sorry, dearest Aurelia. But you must be silenced." His hands grabbed something behind her, a metal structure, purring with electricity.

"What is it I always taught you? Never trust anyone?"

That was when it began.

The constant electrocution. The Slating. The torture.

Aurelia thrashed against her hindrances, whose metal made the experience worse. She screamed through her gag, and howled and shrieked until her voice was hoarse, ripped from the talons of her squalling. Whenever she attempted to scream again, the assassin choked on blood. And through her dehydrated eyes, all she could see was Whitehall's smiling face.

"Aurelia!" Wanda exclaimed, shaking her into present time, both of the Maximoff's hands on her tear stricken face, "Aurelia, are you alright?"

The assassin blinked, once, twice, three times, extremely confused. The whole experience felt so real, and judging by the wetness on her cheeks, it must have felt real, enough to evoke an emotional response.

"What did you do that time?" the assassin asked her.

Wanda looked down, either embarrassed or ashamed. Maybe both. "I had an idea, one I have had for a while. If I can control a man's mind, why not make him see his darkest fear?" she muttered.

Aurelia's jaw dropped. She had to admit, despite the way it had affected her, she liked the way her friend thought. But it sparked another question. "Can it...could it make someone see memories? Experiences?" Her voice seemed to illustrate how shaken she was, and rightfully so, if Aurelia had indeed just seen her worst fear. "I don't know. I have never tried it before."

Well, it was better than a 'yes,' which would have caused serious trust issues.

~~~

Soon after, Wanda had to go back to her cell, but Aurelia wasn't left to her own thoughts. Pietro moved too fast for her to even start processing what her friend's manoeuvre had showed her.

"And so the criminal returns to the scene of crime," she giggled, The speedster only looked confused. "The scene of crime? What have I done?" he asked, crossing his arms. He really needed to stop doing that, otherwise Aurelia was sure she was going to leave Sokovia with potato mash for brains.

"Don't you remember the whole fiasco with the shelves..." Pietro laughed at the memory, "Ah, of course. Are you alright? Your wrist did not seem too good." Whether she liked it or not, the elder Maximoff; with the whole curly hair, Sokovian accent and impeccable physique was making her forget the monstrosity that was her fear very quickly.

Aurelia may be an assassin, but she was still female, and a straight one at that.

"I did sprain it, but I've had worse," she wistfully replied, pointing to the knife scar on her collar bone. Pietro's gaze fell upon the scarred skin, the first she'd ever received, and inwardly grimaced.

Aurelia remembered the story of how the scar had come to forever mark her skin- her 3rd mission in Beijing was particularly eventful, and her victim had not been so easily put down. But he did eventually, despite the fun fight he put up.

"That must hurt," Pietro stated. "It did when I first got it, but now I forget it's even there. Plus, it does look cool." The speedster laughed, then noticed the absence of the metal shelf that had caused such a rumpus. "What are we doing today?" he asked.

"I'm glad you asked that. We're going to start teaching you how to control your anger, then learn about your abilities," she explained, essentially reciting what Aurelia previously said. "I always thought the whole fast running was a talent," he smirked. Aurelia shrugged, dreading what she was going to have to do next, "But, we have to get you angry first."

She attempted to send a warning as she cracked her knuckles, praying to some higher power her wrist would be somewhat weaker. Already sensing what Aurelia was going to do, Pietro asked, "How will we do that?"

Just before she threw the first punch, the assassin apologised, "I'm sorry." Aurelia knew that Pietro could handle a little punch from her.

That was why she did it to him and not Wanda. Besides, she could tell just from the twins' skill sets that the eldest was going to spend more time in physical fights than the younger sibling; he could use more experience on the receiving end.

For the first few punches, the assassin managed to keep him down, though thanks to his super speed, Pietro managed to escape. "What the hell!" he fumed, brown hair falling in front of his eyes. "It was the easiest way to get you angry," she explained, through she knew the reason didn't sound exactly credible. "Though, I am going to teach you how to fight."

The speedster looked up, "You are?" "Yep," she smiled and proceeded to drop to her knees, swung her right leg, and tripped him.

As one would expect due to his muscle, Pietro hit the floor with a satisfying thump, and that was all Aurelia needed to set him over the edge. When he looked up, she knew that she had done enough to get him angry. Those blue eyes used to house a serene lake, now, they held a hurricane, and Aurelia was sure it was heading directly at her shores. "Ok, Pietro, we're going to calm down now. Is that clear?"

She wasn't sure if he was clear as he stood up.

Like Wanda, he was shaking with power and anger, except this time, that anger was probably directed towards her and not Iron Man.

"Can you try and picture a calming scene?" Aurelia asked, trying to assess his features to determine whether or not he'd attack. After a few seconds he shook his head, "No." One strategy down.

She had a few more up her sleeve. "Ok, that's fine. Can you take deep breaths?" Aurelia didn't exactly process that the speedster was already attempting to do that, though he still answered, "Tried and failed."

She sighed in frustration, her strategies- the ones that worked anyway -were slowly running out.

What else had Whitehall told her? "Pietro, you need to calm down," she soothed, though tried to keep her tone firm as steel. The elder Maximoff only shook his head, his hands beginning to move at an impossible speed. Aurelia's mind raced.

She remembered Whitehall telling her of a last resort when it came to calming down, but the assassin had hardly used it. What was it? Music!

Aurelia remembered that she herself had sung to herself on her way home from her first mission. The assassin had to admit, the method was extremely effective. If music could calm down a murderess teenager, it would work on the infuriated Pietro Maximoff. A 'random' song ran into her head.

"Just close your eyes," she sang, fingering the braid that had fallen over her shoulder. Aurelia was always a portion insecure about her voice, and hardly ever sang, unless she was in a plane alone.

Pietro looked up, confused at her sudden musical outburst like a Disney princess. The assassin motioned with her hands to go with it.

"You'll be all right, come morning light, you and I'll be safe, and, sound." Aurelia knew she was being cheesy, but she always thought a little bit of dandelion fluff didn't hurt. The speedster's breathing normalised, his hands' shaking ceased and finally, all signs of the storm of fury she had instilled in him stopped.

Silenced. For now, at least.

"That was a pretty song," Pietro grinned, wringing his hands. She'd never really liked it- her voice not the song. "I like it too. T-Swizzle is the best."

The elder Maximoff laughed quietly, running a hand through those brown locks she already loved, knowing that it would be a magnet to both genders. "I never thought I would hear an assassin say 'T-Swizzle,'" he beamed, his smile was a rainbow after rain.

She looked at her watch- he was due back to his cell in another minute -damn, they were having a moment! "Don't insult, Taylor!" the assassin grinned.

Pietro made sure to hug Aurelia before he left.