Sometimes kidnappings are a bitch. (Ember and Birdie.)

Andree remained in tears as memories began to return. There was an island in there somewhere. Long walks on the beach. Hunting in the forest. Her mother's death. Everything, sad and happy, was flowing back to her, except for what made her forget all this and replaced her past. She offered no resistance to Scar when she picked her up and lay her on the bed, head in her lap. The tears dripped onto Scar's lap as she stroked her hair and told her some more about her real past. "I would have definitely loved too have seen you." She mumbled through tears. It wasn't that she was particularly sad or happy at the revelation, it was just so overwhelming to her. She had never been good with expressing her emotions anyways. "How did he die?"

"I...I didn't remember nay of this until now. Why?" Were the words that came from her mouth, not specifically asking Scar, doubting she would know why either, just putting the question out there. "Why wouldn't she want to see you?" All the questions were swimming around in her head, she just wanted answers. It was an overwhelming feel, learning that everything she thought she knew was wrong. But, during this, she was thankful to have Scar with her. At least with her there, she had someone to help her. "Scar....thank you. I'm glad to have you here with me." Tears continued to spill onto Scar's lap as she said these words.

A sigh escaped from Andree's mouth as she felt Scar kiss her temple and the memories began to stop flowing. As the overwhelming feelings started to fade into the past, where they should stay, the tears that had streamed from Andree's eyes and to Scar's lap began to slow to a stop. Her breathing slowed back down to a normal pace as Scar answered one of her questions. With her chest no longer heaving short breaths in and out, she slowly raised her head and brought herself up. The fact that she had just been reduced to a sobbing mess on Scar's lap annoyed her. But, the annoyance was nothing compared to the anger she felt to whoever took her memories from her and indirectly caused her to become a sobbing mess in the first place.

Slowly, she lifted her head from Scar's lap and brought herself to her knees on the bed, next to Scar. Wiping a few left over tears from her cheeks, she said to Scar. "Alright. Let's get out of here then, we can continue story time later." She added the last part in an attempt to lighten the already tense and dark atmosphere of the place. "The last two doors have been bad. One for each of us. It might beyond turn again, it might be both of ours. I doubt it would be mine again, but you never know. No matter which it is, we'll face it together though." She tried to say, feeling awkward as she was saying it to an adult almost twice her age. She would allow Scar to lead the way through the doors and into the next nightmare.

The first thing that caught Andree's attention in the hotel room was the blood that had been splattered in waves over the walls. Some of it still seemed to be wet and fresh as it dripped down the wall, leaving a dark red trail behind it. She swallowed as she looked at the shattered glass that lay along the carpet floor, making a mental note to avoid stepping on it. Even though she had shoes on in this nightmare, she did not want to step in the glass. There was always a chance it could get past the rubber soles. Her eyes followed Scar as she moved across the room, coming to rest on the shredded bed. Her large, expressive, brown eyes looked towards what Scar was doing on the other side with curiosity, nervousness and a slight fear of what was waiting over there.

As she made her way across the room, Scar covered whatever was down there in a blanket. They gazed down at the blanket that covered what appeared to be a body as she heard Scar's voice ring out to her in a whisper. "Okay, you don't have to." She told her, sympathetically. But I'll get it out of you later. She added silently. Despite wanting to know the story, she could tell that Scar did not want to say it and Andree wasn't going to bring more sorrow into this than what was already present in their situation. Not wanting Scar to suffer as Andree could tell she was already, she made her way towards the door to leave. Less time in the room, the less time she had to see Scar sad. For now. She twisted the door handle and stepped into the new area, beckoning for Scar to follow her.

Andree was forced to face the next nightmare by herself, Scar disappearing from the dreamworld. The door opened as the angel vanished, leaving the young girl by herself. As she walked in, she saw a park and a young girl sitting there by herself on a park bench. Not a young girl, she would see, but a teenager all the same. A young woman, maybe 16.

At closer inspection, it could be seen to be Marine Park. She was sitting quietly and all alone. A car door could be heard slamming shut in the distance, and an old black man appeared. “Hello, Andree.” The man said, a brief smile on his face.

“Azad.” The younger Andree replied, still quite still.

“Stand.” Azad barked, his gentle voice replaced by a more authoritative one. Almost as if forced, Andree’s body jerked upwards. “Jump.” He ordered, and the young woman did so.

Azad smiled. “So Nightkill has tamed you. All very good. We’ll be replacing your memories soon, of course…” his voice trailed away. The memory trailed away as well.

Andree was in a new dream, but this one took place years back. A badly burned Andree was in a tank of a blue liquid which was enveloping her and healing the scars. Robotic wires could be seen underneath the charred skin. Nightkill walked toward her.

“The last experiment went remarkably well.” He said in a pleased voice. To her horror, Andree would see that she was actually the Andree in this dream. The blue slime actually was holding her down, and Nightkill was staring directly at her in his alien form.

But Scar wasn’t happy either. The man she punched went flying into the wall, as expected, and was left groaning for a while. But another doctor, a black man spoke to her in an educated Manhattan accent. “Please stay down, ma’am.” He ordered.

And Andree’s body jerked toward her. “We wouldn’t want your friend to have to restrain you here.” The black guy said. Andree’s mind was in the dream, but her body was in the real world, and under the control of Nightkill.

Andree stepped through the doorway and looked around. Immediately, she noticed that Scar had disappeared. "Scar?! SCAR?!" She yelled, obviously distressed. She really didn't want to face whatever was next all by herself. As she panicked, eyes roaming around for Scar, her breathing picked up until she was hyperventilating. "Where are you?!?!" Came her shriek of desperation through deep and panicked breaths. Her hand reached up and wiped a few tears from her eye. Calm down. Crying, hyperventilating and screaming is not going to get her back. Where is she though? I don't think I'm going to be able to do this by myself.

Her eyes scanned her new environment. It was distantly familiar to her. A sniffle could be heard from her as her eyes gazed across the park. Eventually, they found their way to a young girl sitting on a bench. The girl was silent, all alone and obviously scared of something. Andree slowly stepped towards the girl on the bench that seemed oddly familiar to her. She knelled down on one knee in front of the bench. "Hey, do I know you?" She asked. To her annoyance, her question was completely ignored by the young girl. Her interest in the situation unfolding before her was piqued as soon as an elderly African American man walked into the picture and called the young girl, "Andree". Eyes widened in shock, all Andree could think was No! No! This can't be true! It just can't be! It's impossible! The tears were beginning to flow again as she saw her younger self jump on command. Oh God. She thought to herself, sad and full of rage.

The memory shifted, Andree wouldn't have noticed though if it hadn't been for the strange sensation of the blue slimy liquid that engulfed her body. Charred skin covered her younger, smaller frame in this memory. Tears continued to trickle down Andree's eyes as memories continued to come back to her. She could feel the eyes of the alien, Nightkill, gazing into her. When I get out of here, I am going to fuck you up. She thought to herself, simply imagining pummeling this alien bastard.

Nightkill sat down in front of her, in the chair across from her. "You see, I'm afraid you were necessary. A useful tool, even if you were unable to know it. The daughter of Ryan would always be a commodity and would undoubtedly grow into something excellent. I needed your talents for my own purposes, so I cleaned your memories and replaced them with a false past. I won't apologise and I can't apologise. I did what I felt was needed, and your life would otherwise have likely been an unfortunate one. I won't say that I acted out of your best interest, because I did not. But I did act out of the best interest for the world. Every small pawn is needed for me to fulfill my ultimate goal." he said, standing up. "Even you."

He stared out into space. "So the birth of the child has been delayed. A pity. I truly had believed I could have an angel child right away...ah well. Waiting will be acceptable."
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The black doctor thought fast on his feet. "You were severely injured in your battles in the complex Nightkill kept you. An anonymous hero found you and your friend Ms. Andree in the streets of New York, Andree supporting you as you had suffered severe injuries. But when we got you here and sedated, the injuries healed relatively quickly. But we need you to stay sedated for now so you can properly rest. Standard medical procedure."

Andree was sick of these fucking dreams. She was sick of being at the mercy of others. And as soon as she got out of the vat of chemicals, she was going to fix that and get Scar and herself out of here. The moment she got out of here, this Nightkill bastard was going to learn not to touch her or her friends ever again.

The burns that covered her body while she floated in the vat of chemicals itched and burned. Every part of her skin covered by them was in complete pain right now. It was an overwhelming feeling when your entire body was in complete pain.

Andree attempted to ignore Nightkill's little rant but found herself unable to control the anger that it brought her. Her fists clenched, adding to the pain a little when the burns on her hands touched the burns on her palms. The charred skin wasn't her biggest problem right now, that was reserved for escape. At Nightkill's final comment, she smiled slightly. At least we both lose now. She thought to herself, pleased that Nightkill would not win this. The gel around her was slowly healing the burns and she smashed her fists against the glass in an attempt to break it and escape. Let. She thought after the first hit. Me. a second fist smashed against the glass. Go! She finished as her third attack smashed into the glass tube.

Nightkill glanced at Andree casually. "It won't work." he said, electricity firing out of his hands at Andree, stunning her. The gel kept her held down. "You'll be here for a while now." he told her calmly. "I'm afraid that's how it'll work and you'll need to accept the order of these things. Your father died and I gave you a purpose, even if you dislike it."
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The doctor nodded. "You've been through a tough time." he said in a deep voice. "Nurse, get her some water." he ordered, waving to a nearby nurse. Said nurse ran to fetch some immediately. "How do you feel? Sore? Tired? How far into pregnancy are you? What were you doing out there?" he asked.

A bad dream shook our hero from sleep, he woke up sweating, gasping for air to fill his lungs. Their faces, they plagued his every thought, his every dream. Death had always surrounded his life. He had become accustomed to it, accustomed to losing the ones he loved, to the point that he had nothing left to lose. That’s where he was now, with nothing left to lose; a dangerous feeling for a man with as much power and responsibility as him. Pain sat up, allowing his legs to dangle off the side of his bed as he ran his fingers through his damp gray hair. From head to toe the hero was drenched in his own sweat, panting heavily as he attempted to regain composure. His pants for air degenerated into growls of frustration and rage, unable to process his current thoughts or emotions in any other way. His fingers wrapped up tightly and pulsated with unfathomable strength, as if he were trying to rip his own hair out. His right leg bounced and shook impatiently as dark thoughts and memories plagued his mind. In the end, all he could come back to was how ultimately it had all been his own doing, that all of this darkness was the product of his own actions.

Pain rose to his feet, shaking the demons off with a pop of his neck. He went to shower, grabbing clothes at random from his dresser. His expression lacked any interest and radiated anger, he avoided even glancing at it when he walked by the bedroom mirror. The hero had little interest in most things these days. His apartment had been completely trashed, littered with bottles of rum and beer; it only changed when Scarlet came to visit. On his way to the bathroom, he grabbed a bottle of rum from the kitchen counter and pulled the top off. He kicked his boxers off as he took a swig of the harsh warm liquid. Pain stepped into the shower, bringing his bottle with him. As the scorching hot water poured onto his back, our hero drank away; one of his only sources of relaxation now.

The bottle was almost empty, maybe just a swig or two left when the loud sharp ringing of his personal distress signal went off. In an instant, the water was turned off and Pain bolted out, leaving the bottle behind in the shower. He didn’t have time to dry, only to shake his head like a wet dog as he rushed to get dressed.

There was no time to waste, there were only two people alive who could reach Pain with that signal, and Black Knight never liked to ask for help. He knew who was calling for him before he even checked the message, only needing to check for the location. On his way out the door he grabbed his leather jacket, throwing it on before making a mighty leap. The hero jumped from rooftop to rooftop, blasting his way towards Scarlet’s location with incredible speed. Getting across town like this had become routine to Pain, he knew the quickest and sturdiest routes.

It was not long before our hero arrived at the location Scarlet’s distress signal came from, and he did not hesitate to charge in. He only briefly looked over the seemingly abandoned Hospital building, a scowl clinging to his face. Whoever was behind this was going to pay, he’d lost enough already, he wasn’t going to lose her too. Pain leapt from a nearby rooftop straight into the building, ripping through the structure as if it were tissue paper. He landed on one knee, cracks rippling through the ground from his location, nearly shattering the floor beneath him upon contact with the ground. Pain quickly scanned the area around him, but this place was completely empty; he didn’t like that one bit. The hero remained on one knee, reaching into his back pocket to check the distress signal again. The signal was coming from underground; this whole building was nothing more than a disguise.

There was no thought put into the decision, only instinct. Pain swiftly returned the device to his back pocket and smashed through the floor with just his right hand; he held back significantly to avoid massive structural damage. The hero found himself underground in some sort of secret research facility. Biggest questions running through his mind, who was running this show, and what did they want with Scarlet? Those thoughts would have to wait until later. Pain was quickly confronted by guards going to deal with the intruder. He rose to his feet to view his opponents that stood on the opposite end of the massive hallway, they looked like normal men, and they were smart to keep their distance. The guards were heavily armed with automatics and did not hesitate to open fire on the intruder. There were eight of them, four in front knelt down, and four in the back firing over their shoulders. The guards fired every last bullet in their clips, raining a storm of bullets down on the hero. Their every bullet put holes in his clothes, but ricocheted off of his skin, astonishing and striking fear into the hearts of the firing crew.

Without a word, Pain bolted down the hallway at full speed, and the four guards up front foolishly ran forward to meet him in close quarters combat. They withdrew stun batons, but they would have no effect on the mighty hero. His superhuman body allowed him to move far faster than they could ever hope. Two of them had no time to react and were swatted aside like pins to the destructive charge of the hero. They slammed into the walls and likely broke several bones, both losing consciousness instantly upon impact. Pain continued on his charge, leaving the two guards behind and going straight for the remaining firing crew. Though they managed to reload, only a few shots were fired before Pain slammed into them, tossing three aside just as he did before. Only one managed to roll away, tossing aside his rifle and reaching for his pistol. Pain skidded to a halt, turning around to deal with the three remaining guards. Before he could make his next move, a bullet hit him square between the eyes; a good shot, but it simply ricocheted off. Pain laughed at the attempt, giving his opponent the same devilish smirk as he stood unflinching and unaffected.

The guard stood frozen in fear, unable to do anything as the hero swiftly charged in to snatch him up by the throat. Pain’s mighty grip was unbreakable, easily holding him high above his head. Fierce icy eyes stared up at the man being strangled in his grip, Pain was about to question him when the remaining two guards ran up to make a rescue attempt. One held his ground and withdrew his gun, firing without hesitation into Pain. While the other charged forward at him with a stun baton. Making a quick decision, he tossed the man in his grip into the trigger happy guard. They brutally slammed into one another, having a bone breaking collision that caused them both to lose consciousness.

The last man standing jabbed Pain with his stun baton, but to his horror he stood tall and unharmed. The Big Guy smirked down at him, immediately latching his massive hand onto his throat and lifting him up just as he did to his friend. “Who do you work for? And where are they? Don’t play dumb with me!” Pain shook him violently, squeezing harder as he growled lowly. “I won’t hesitate to crush you..” His fierce icy eyes stared up with a brutal glow about them, something in him had changed. Finally, Pain found a way to turn off the switch. To tune everything out and make the decisions that he couldn’t before..

Andree grimaced but took the electricity that Nightkill shot her with, after all, it was just a dream. But, the dream was collapsing. Scar's voice broke through and into the dream, as did the heat of the flames. She could feel her body beginning to get extremely hot as a few beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. Slowly, she felt her mind return to her body as Scar's hand slapped her across her face. The slap came as a shock, seeing as moments earlier she was in a dream and being electrocuted while held down by goo. "Oww!" She exclaimed after feeling Scar's hand slap her across the face.

"Couldn't think of a better way?" She teased as she allowed Scar to half drag her to her feet. She was partially walking but her legs felt like jello right now. The sounds of destruction from somewhere else in the building reached her ears. She was curious what it was but was trying to get the energy to walk so she didn't have time to worry about it. The two made it through the doorway by the time her legs started feeling better. "Thanks, Scar. I think I walk now, though." She told her, taking her arm off of her shoulder. Her legs weren't at one hundred percent but they were good enough that she could walk without Scar's support.

Once walking on her own and out of the room, that was now covered in flames, Andree noticed thatshe was drenched from the sprinkler system. Her hand went up to the necklace that Nate had given her, made of two of his own feathers. She ran her hand along it to try and get some water out of it. The tank top and jeans could be replaced later though, so she didn't bother trying to get the water out of them. I chose the wrong day to wear a white tank top, thank God for Scar's hoodie. The hoodie was keeping the top mostly dry. "Good thing you gave me your hoodie. Thanks again, by the way." She said to Scar.