I woke up to rumbling. I opened my eyes and saw someone leaning over me. I instinctively punched at them, but they grabbed my arm.

"Woah, ma'am, it's just me," Captain America said.

I sighed in relief as he let go of my arm. I sat up and rubbed my temples.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Two hours," he said. "There's still two hours until we're at the tower."

I sighed and slumped back into the chair. I was out of Hydra. I was free.

"Ma'am, I would really like an explanation for what happened back there," he said.

I didn't reply.

"Maybe you could start with your name," he suggested.

"Y/n," I said, staring at the wall.

"Steve," he said, holding out his hand.

I looked up to him. I tentatively reached out and grabbed his hand. His glove was still on, so I felt more secure. I shook his hand.

"I'm a telepath," I said finally. "I can communicate with people telepathically, I can see people's memories, I can show them memories... things like that."

"How – how much of the memories can you see?" he asked.

I knew he wanted to know why his memory replayed from the beginning to the end.

"Well, at the moment, I can't control it. It's like being stuck in a movie scene that I can't pause or turn off," I explained.

Steve nodded.

"How long were you there for?" he asked.

"Ten years," I said.

The captain's eyes widened.

"How long had they been... experimenting for?" he asked.

"They were experimenting the day I got there. Something only happened a few years ago," I said, shrugging.

Steve nodded again.

"Just stay here for a moment," he said.

He got up and walked to the cockpit. There was a red haired woman piloting.

Natasha Romanoff. Hydra made sure that all of its members knew about the Avengers. They had a list of their weaknesses (which wasn't that big) and it was drilled into all of our heads. I remembered that Steve's weakness was the Winter Soldier. I always assumed that the Winter Soldier was a better fighter than him, but I never really knew why he was Captain America's weakness.

I heard the pair whisper up the front of the jet.

"...could be a great asset to the team..."

"...could be a spy..."

"...she was genuinely terrified..."

"...Hydra will be looking for her..."

I shook my head. I shouldn't have been able to hear those whispers. Was I unintentionally tapping into their heads?

I got up and walked over to the window. I watched the clouds and the sky. It was almost sunrise, so I looked at the colours in the sky. Orange, red, pink, with splashes of purple and yellow. It was truly beautiful and distracted me.

I heard Steve walk over to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Sometimes it's easier for me if I'm distracted. That way I won't accidentally tap into someone's mind."

Steve nodded and I continued looking out of the window.

"Hydra will be looking for you," he said.

"I know," I murmured.

"We think you should stay with us," Steve said.

I turned around to look at him.

"You've got some pretty cool powers," he said. "You could be a great asset to the team, if you wanted that."

I just stared at him with wide eyes.

"Are you saying I can be an Avenger?" I asked.

Steve smiled and nodded.

"But... you haven't even asked about my training!" I exclaimed.

"Nat can train you," Steve said. "So can Bucky."

"Who's Bucky?" I asked.

For some reason, the name sounded familiar.

"He's another Avenger," he said.

I stifled a yawn behind my hand.

"You can sleep, if you'd like," Steve said.

I looked to him and then to the chairs. Steve gave me a blanket. I walked to the corner of the plane and lay down, falling asleep instantly.

*

"Again, Soldier."

I wheezed as the Winter Soldier punched me in the gut. If he did that again I was going to throw up on him.

"Her face," List growled.

My cheek stung as the soldier slapped me with the metal arm. A metallic taste grew in my mouth. The taste of blood.

"Why did you do it?" List asked me.

"I didn't mean to!" I cried.

"You looked into his mind!" List screamed at me.

"It was an accident!" I screamed back.

List took a deep breath.

"Her finger, Soldier," List growled.

Metal fingers slid around my own. I screamed as the Winter Soldier jerked my pinkie to the left. There was a crunch and List smiled.

"Don't do it again," he warned, before leaving.

I looked at my finger and wished I hadn't. There was blood everywhere and the bone was sticking out. I looked back up to see the Winter Soldier still standing there.

He looked at me like he had no emotion, like he was a husk.

As if that was possible.

"I hate you," I breathed.

The Winter Soldier looked at me for a moment longer before leaving, slamming the door on his way out.

*

I awoke breathing heavily. I didn't have dreams anymore. Instead, I saw memories. Most of the time they were my own, but sometimes my mind would tap into another's when I was sleeping.

That one was one of my own.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I yawned and stretched, looking around the jet. Steve and Natasha were up front, talking.

"...wake her up soon..."

I shook my head again, ignoring the conversation. Instead, I went through the pros and cons of becoming an Avenger.

Con: Hundreds of organisations would be out to get me.

It was true. A whole lot of organisations hated the Avengers because they ruined their plans. Hydra was after me anyway.

Pro: I would be able to use my powers for good.

My powers were always supposed to be used for evil. They wanted me to work on mind control in the beginning.

I went through a few more. The pros won out, eventually.

I looked up as footsteps sounded. Steve was approaching me.

"We're here," Steve said.

I jumped up and ran to the window. The Avenger's tower was in plain view. Natasha flew straight up to it and landed the jet in the hangar.

"Ready to go?" Steve asked.

I nodded, sealing my fate.