Evil is Subjective Part 9 (Avengers x Villain!Reader)

Author’s Note: Hey guys! So as it turns out, I don’t do very well with quarantines! Sorry I haven’t posted in so long. I feel kinda bad I just let this story sit for so long. To those who asked to be on the tag list, first: thank you! Second: I’m not sure if it accurately tagged all of you. I tried my best but I’m not very good with technology so I might’ve made a mistake. Anyways, I hope you all like it.

Description: You wake up on the riverbank and have to decide what you’re going to do with a certain injured super soldier.

Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7 Part 8

Everything felt fuzzy. You know, like when you’re channel surfing and there’s no connection, so the screen is just that fuzzy grey and black stuff while the speakers make that buzzing noise? Ugh, I hate that buzzing noise.

Slowly, I took a breath, just allowing myself a minute to let my lungs fill with air, and it felt simply amazing — like ecstasy but without the glow sticks. Unfortunately, though, it couldn’t last forever. I needed to actually do something, instead of just sitting there until the end of time. So, I very painfully forced my eyelids to open, taking in all of the blurry details around me. God, it’s like coming down from ecstasy, too.

Ok, so I was on the shore of some body of water, judging by the sound of water nearby, plus my drenched clothes and the pebbles digging into my back. Now just to figure out how the hell I got here. The last thing I remembered was the evil helicarrier going down. I shook my head and pushed away the memory, my stomach churning as I remembered James’s face.

I groaned and urged my aching muscles to work so I could sit up. The headache was absolutely splitting. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and glanced around to take in a better account of my surroundings, though there wasn’t much there.

Pebbles, river, trees, Steve…

I could feel a jolt spark through my chest as I saw him lying there, motionless. With shaky breaths, I crawled my way over to him, ignoring the sting in my knees and palms from all the pebbles.

“Hey, Rogers? C’mon, buddy, it’s time to wake up,” I said, my hands going to his shoulders to try and shake him awake. Oh god, this is all my fault. He must’ve been the one to pull me out. I’m the only reason he went into the water in the first place, and now I might’ve killed him. I almost threw up just at the thought. Quickly, my fingers ghosted over his neck, pressing down for a second just to make sure he still had a pulse. It was weak, but it was enough to send relief flowing through me the second I found it. “Come on, Rogers, wake up! Steve!” I was starting to get more desperate, my heart in my throat as I continued to shake him. I didn’t care how loud I was being, I just needed him to be ok. “C’mon, Steve, please just open those baby blues for me; say some stupid, righteous comment, anything! Just wake the hell up! Please!”

“Steve!” I froze. That wasn’t my voice.

I glanced at the line of trees, my entire body shaking. He was so close, he could easily find me. Instantly, every nerve in my body kicked into high gear, my instincts screaming that I had to run, quickly.

My eyes landed on Steve again. He needed help and fast. I gritted my teeth together and squeezed my eyes shut. I’d probably get arrested if I simply stayed there, let alone if I did something colossally stupid. Still, I just… I couldn’t bring myself to run. Well, I guess I always was pretty good at the insane and stupid side of things. 

I knelt beside Steve’s sleeping form and reached my hand out towards him, but I paused as I caught sight of how badly my fingers were shaking. The idea of what I was about to do made me sick to my stomach. I hated this. I felt like I was about to betray everything I believed in. Why did I even care so much? What had this righteous jerk ever done for me? You know, besides help me at every turn.

I groaned and shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut for just a moment in an effort to collect myself. I had to do this. There was simply no other choice. Once again, I reached out and gently wrapped my fingers around Steve’s neck. “God dammit, won’t you just die already?!” I screamed loudly. Apparently it was loud enough, because I could hear footsteps immediately start running towards us, and I quickly braved myself for what was to come.

I gasped as the man from earlier – the one with the mechanical wings – came into view.  His eyes sharpened as they met my own, and he immediately fell into a defensive stance. What was he doing here? Who even was he? I’d never seen him before, that’s for damn sure. He was exmilitary, that much was written all over his stance, and he clearly didn’t trust me. Maybe he’d seen the news recently. Of course, it could’ve just been the fact that it looked like I was choking his friend. Really, it’s a toss up if you ask me.

“Who the hell are you?  Get away from him!” he snapped.  His words shook me from my daze and sent my brain into overdrive. He wasn’t an avenger or a cop, so overall, this was a good thing. He’d be more hesitant to kill me if he was just a citizen. Of course, his obvious training wasn’t gonna help very much, but if I played my cards right, it wouldn’t have to come down to physical fighting.

I forced myself to stand, cursing softly under my breath at how badly my legs were shaking.  The fight against James – no, against the Winter Soldier – had completely drained me.  I had absolutely no energy left in my body.  Silently, I thanked my lucky stars that my obvious fatigue could actually work in my favor this time.

I smirked and lowered my chin slightly, letting a shadow fall over my eyes.  “Well, aren’t you a troublesome little pest?” I chuckled lowly.  I turned to face the blonde man with a sigh.  “It took forever and almost all my energy, but finally knocking you out meant I had a chance to kill the great Captain America.  What a pity your friend had to come and ruin the fun,” I pouted before dropping into a low crouch and placing a hand over his heart to reassure myself one last time that he was still breathing.  I sent him a quick, sincere smile before swinging my head back around to meet the now more than hostile glare of Robot Chicken, forcing my smile to drop into what I hoped was a sinister looking smirk.  Of course, whenever I used to practice my evil face in the mirror I always just ended up looking constipated, so it probably wasn’t all too menacing.  Still, it can’t hurt to try, right?

“Uncle Sam here-“ I paused a moment, my eyes immediately catching sight of how his muscles tensed just a fraction further. Was that his name, Sam? I’ll think about it later and just use a different nickname. “The Ultimate Frisbee Champ is still alive, but only just, so you may wanna get him to a hospital.”  I stood and stretched, trying to ignore the searing pain in my muscles.  “Whelp, I don’t wanna get arrested, so I think I’m gonna head out.  I’ll kill you guys next time, though, ok?”  I grinned and winked at him. The poor man was speechless, only able to stare as I skipped forward.  Our shoulders just barely brushed against each other while I passed.  “Fix him up for me, will you?  It’s no fun killing someone who can’t put up a good fight.”

I slipped into the cover of the trees nearby and watched as Birdman picked Steve up and carried him towards the nearby search party.  As soon as they were out of sight, I bowed my head.  

I didn’t have any other choice.  He would have questioned why Steve was with me.  Steve would have been in danger of being caught helping America’s current public enemy number one.

That’s when I finally realized what I just did. I really just played the villain. Sure, I’m sarcastic and a bit of an ass, but I usually don’t lie, especially about hurting people. I don’t consciously make people believe that I’m evil or that I want to kill them, with the exception of murderers and other scumbags. I shook my head in shock.  Since when did I care enough about him to worry about him being caught? And more importantly, why the hell did I care about him?  He’s just some schmuck I tricked into working with me!

Wait, that must be it!  If he was caught, I’d lose my connection inside the Avengers.  Of course I didn’t care what happened to him. That would be insane. All I cared about was helping myself against his teammates. That’s why I helped him, and that’s why I’m following his ambulance on a stolen bike — to make sure my tool didn’t die before he stopped being useful to me. That’s why I sat outside of his second story hospital room window for hours, barely balanced on a branch as I waited for him to wake up. That’s why I felt so terrified right now.

“On your left.”

My head snapped up, and I almost fell straight off the branch at the sudden noise. I felt like a severely uncoordinated squirrel as I crawled forward, but I quickly forgot about how stupid I must have looked when the hospital room became visible through the leaves. I couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto my face at the cheesy line, despite desperately trying to keep it off.

It took a while, but thankfully, the overprotective mama hen eventually left the room with the excuse of finding some coffee, giving me the precious few minutes I was waiting for.

Carefully, I stood up on the branch. The whole thing shook, which didn’t do much to help my overactive imagination that was currently working on picturing the sound my body would make when it hit the ground — I couldn’t decide between the sickening heavy thump and the more cartoonish splat. Carefully, I focused my powers on the latch to the window, gently unlocking it and pushing it open, all the while trying to ignore the burning in my lungs from overusing my gift. Then I took one last deep breath and jumped.

“(Y/N)?!” I quickly shushed the super soldier, gesturing wildly at the many, many soldiers stationed outside his hospital door. Steve glanced at the door before returning to staring forward, trying to act completely natural as the wanted woman squirmed through his window. “What are you doing here?” He hissed, doing his best to keep his eyes forward.

“I’m the stripper-gram you ordered,” I rolled my eyes, savoring the bright pink that spread across his face for just a moment as I plopped down on the cold hospital floor, gently shutting the window behind me, and shimmied my way over to the wall. Will messing with him ever get old? I highly doubt it. “I’m here to make sure you survived, dumbass.”

“Since when did you care what happened to me?” Steve scoffed.

“Oh, I am begging you not to flatter yourself right now, Miss America,” I leaned my head back against the wall from my seat on the floor that was just barely not visible to the guard stationed outside his door, doing my best to control my labored breathing. “I’m just here to make sure I haven’t lost an asset.”

Steve glanced at where I was seated with furrowed brows. “Are you ok? You seem a little out of it.” His voice was layered in concern.

“Of course I’m fine,” I snapped, my nails digging into my palms. Why was I acting angry? I didn’t feel angry. Granted, I’m not quite sure what exactly this feeling was, but I’d felt anger more than enough times to know that this wasn’t it. “Why should you care anyway? Why drag me out of that river? I’m just the girl who’s blackmailing you.”

“I didn’t drag you out; I thought you dragged me out,—“ wait, what? “—and besides, aren’t I’m just the guy you tried to strangle to death? So why exactly are you here checking up on me?” Steve snapped back. It was silent for a moment.

I chucked dryly and let my head fall back. “I’m guessing Mother Goose told you?” He nodded slowly, and I let out a big sigh. “And you didn’t even question how you were still alive, why I would give up my position like and idiot by screaming, or why I would even try to kill you in the first place.” It was more of a statement than a question, but his silence still answered everything. “I’m such an idiot,” I muttered softly. For some reason, it actually hurt. Seriously, what the hell was up with my emotions today? I still have at least another 2 weeks before I was supposed to start having these stupid mood swings. “Have fun recovering. I’ll call you when I need you,” I muttered, barely even believing the half-hearted promise to contact him myself as I wormed my way back over to the window.

“You know him don’t you?” Steve called before I could reach it. Images of the Winter Soldier both now and from all those years ago flashed painfully behind my eyelids, and slowly, I nodded my head.  “And he doesn’t know you?” I winced at the thought and let my fingers dance over my swollen, freshly bruised neck.  My free hand clenched so tightly my fingernails almost drew blood from my palm.  I couldn’t shake the image of him on top of me, his hand wrapped around my throat with his head turned away, refusing to meet my eyes. I nodded once more. I still remembered how Hydra worked — the process they put their most valuable weapon through. The taunt that soldier had jabbed at her long ago about ‘putting him back on ice.’ How many times have they wiped him?  How many times have they stolen his memories?

I grit my teeth and opened the window. I didn’t want to think about this. About how my only friend in that horrible place — the one who had protected me from them and who I left behind to just save my own sorry ass — was suffering because of me. Didn’t even know who he was because of me. Was being forced to kill people he once loved because of me.

“You’re wrong.” I frowned and stopped, my fingertips grazing over the window ledge. “He recognized you; I saw it. He looked away and let go for a moment. It’s the only reason I was able to get him off you.” My head snapped up, and I stared at the Steve.

He recognized me?

So then the person who dragged us out of the water must have been…

“James…” My own voice broke the silence that had surrounded us like a heavy blanket.

“He’s still in there. We can still save him.” I stared at Steve fully now. Maybe he was right. Maybe we could do this.

I let out a short, clipped laugh and shook my head.  “You really do get off on all that inspirational crap, huh, Rogers?”  I smiled ever so slightly and let my eyes meet his once more. “Alright.  Let’s bring him back.”

My Teddy.  I’ll find you.  I promise.

To@mikariell95 @request-me @m4shtyx @lostsunshine @spiderlingsweb @gaylemonshark @jax-h-moon @ssourpatchkid @loverofanime333 @creatorofstars@leasly@billywig-on-baker-street@annshit@buckysjuicyplums@asapkyndall@potter-holland

Evil is Subjective Part 8(Avengers x Villain!Reader)

To@mikariell95@request-me@m4shtyx@lostsunshine@spiderlingsweb @gaylemonshark @jax-h-moon

Description:  A flashback to your time when you knew the Winter Soldier, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes – or as you knew him, Teddy.

Author’s Note: To Hey guys! So I’m just gonna go ahead and pretend I haven’t been MIA and just post this here instead! So yeah, enjoy!

Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5Part 6Part 7

Cold, empty, lonely, and scared.

That was what she was.  Curled up as tightly as she could get, her arms heavy as they gripped her knees and held them against her chest.  Her little nose was bright red, and her skin was littered with goosebumps.  She didn’t know where she was or why she was there.  All she knew was that she didn’t like these metal walls very much, and she wanted nothing more than to have her favorite teddy bear with her, Lieutenant General Teddy.

Her breath caught as the metal door swung open, trying to hide her tear-stained cheeks from the rather scary newcomer.  He loomed above her, his large frame taking up the majority of the space.  The man crouched down, causing the little girl to let out a soft whimper.

“Come on.  It’s time to get ready,” he spoke levelly.  She frowned and curled further into herself, refusing to move.  The man sighed and said, “Look, kid, if you don’t come with me, they’re gonna be mad, and it won’t be good for either of us.”  The girl sniffled and glanced over at him.  It was then that he noticed how badly she was shaking.  “I’ll be right there with you.”  He almost found himself wondering who said that, not quite believing that he was offering the young girl comfort.

“B-but I don’t even kn-know your n-name,” she fought out between strangled sobs.  The man lifted a brow.  At least she was cautious.  That would help in here.

“You and me both, kid,” he wanted to laugh, but his face instead remained still, frozen in place after years of being punished for so much as a twinkle in the eyes.  She retreated further into her little ball, letting out a stubborn little “hmmph.”  The man fought back the urge to roll his eyes.  “Fine.  If it makes you feel any better, you can call me soldier.”

The girl frowned up at him and shook her head.  “No, that’s stupid.  How ‘bout instead you can be my new teddy, and I’ll call you… Sergeant Teddy.  Since the Lieutenant General isn’t here, you can take over for him,” she finished triumphantly.  The man’s brow twitched, torn between telling her not to use the annoying nickname and just wanting to get her to go with him before the guards got impatient.  Quickly, he made up his mind.

“Alright, fine, now let’s go,” the man stood back up, offering the girl a hand. 

Why did he do that?  She should be able to get up on her own.

“Woah, Teddy, you have a really shiny arm,” she breathed.  He glanced down at the metal and frowned slightly.

“If you don’t like it, you can get up yourself-”

“No, it’s pretty.”  The words caught him offguard.  Most people here couldn’t even stand to look at it.  The girl grabbed his hand and stood up, drawing his thoughts away again.

The man shook his head and led her out of the cell and down the halls, his hand unconsciously tightening around hers as they neared their destination.

“Teddy?” she whispered.

“Hmm.”

“I’m scared.”

He couldn’t exactly be surprised.  She was just a kid after all, and these people were monsters.  Anyone in their right mind would be scared.  He shouldn’t say anything.  She needs to learn how to survive in here, and coddling her won’t do her any favors.

“It’s ok.  I’ll protect you.”  He almost kicked himself for doing something so stupid.  He let his emotion get the better of him – something he hadn’t done since his first few weeks in this hell.

“Thank you, Teddy.”  She seemed to relax slightly.  The man nodded, his doubts gone when he saw her little smile.

–(short Time Skip)–

“I can’t,” she sniffled.

“Well try again,” a man in a white coat snapped, shoving the glass of water towards her.  She scrunched up her face, staring at the glass as intensely as a child could.

“I can’t!” She frowned and slumped in her chair, giving up on trying to do what they asked.  The soldier winced from where he watched behind the glass.  They would be mad.

The man in the white coat clenched his jaw and nodded towards the door.  Immediately, a few guards marched in.

“No, no, I’m sorry!” She screamed, tears quickly spilling over her cheeks.  “Please, I’m sorry!  I can try again!”  One of the men grabbed her by the arm and yanked her roughly from her seat.  “I’m sorry!-” he punched her in the gut.

The soldier turned away, unable to watch as they beat the poor girl mercilessly.

“Stop!  Please!”  Her cries rang in his ears.  In fact, he was so focused on them that he didn’t notice his hands balling into fists or his muscles getting tense.

“Teddy!”

He was by her side before she could even finish the name, the guards immediately taking a hesitant step back.  This was insane.  He couldn’t do this.  He would be punished.  “Teddy,” the soft, broken whimper was all it took for him to steel himself back up.

“Touch her and die,” he growled, eyeing each of the guards in turn.  When he was satisfied they wouldn’t advance, he turned to the girl.  He knelt before her, running a gentle hand through her hair as she rushed towards him, burying her face in his chest.  “It’s ok,” he soothed.  “Teddy’s here.”  He let her cry for a moment before grabbing her by the shoulders and making her look at him.  “You need to try again.”

Tears quickly sprung into her eyes again.  “I can’t do it.” Her voice was shaking.

“Yes you can,” he said firmly.  “Now focus hard and do as he says.  I’ll help you.”  He grabbed her hand and squeezed.  The girl sucked in a harsh breath and gathered herself up, nodding determinedly back at him.  She faced the table and took a deep breath before tucking her chin slightly to stare at the glass.  Everything in the room faded away – the door slamming open, the man in the white coat screaming as loud as he could, the cocking of the man’s gun, which quickly silenced all of them, she didn’t hear any of it.  She could only feel the metal hand that engulfed her own, offering a kind of reassurance that she would succeed.

Slowly, the water in the glass rose.  It wavered and splashed at the minimal amount of control she had over it, but it was something.  It was control, though little it may be.

The entire room stared at the girl as she held the writhing ball of water suspended in the air, almost entranced by the feat.  The water came crashing back down into the cup, and she squealed, jumping and wrapping her small arms around the still kneeling man’s neck.

“Teddy, Teddy, did you see?!  I did it!  I really did it!” she continued to squeal, her previously thick voice and tear-filled eyes now morphed into what can only be described as the pure joy that a child experiences when she knows she did well.

“Yeah, I saw it,” the man chuckled a bit at her excitement.  “Good job, kid.”

The girl pulled back a bit to show him the largest beaming smile she could muster.  “Don’t be silly, Teddy!  You can call me (Y/N)!”

The man lifted a brow, but she stuck out her bottom lip, glaring at him and making it very clear that she wouldn’t be taking no for an answer.  The man sighed and stood.  “Alright, fine.  Let’s go, ok, (Y/N)?”  He held a hand out for her, and she took it without hesitation.  The crowd of guards parted for them, far too terrified of her Teddy to even think about getting in their way.

–(Time Skip)–

“No!  I’m not going!  Not without my Teddy!”  They’d tried everything to get her out of the room, but what can they do when they can’t even get close enough to threaten her?  The girl sat in the middle of her cell, a whirlpool of speeding water surrounding her.  One of the guards who had been stupid enough to try to force his way through had gotten his shoulder dislocated by the incredibly strong currents.

“At least we know she’s powerful,” the supervisor commented.  “Where did she even find enough water to create such a thing?”

“W-well, sir,” the man in the white coat started nervously.  “We aren’t really sure.  Although, some of us think she might have plucked it from the humidity in the air.”

The supervisor blinked in surprise before falling into a smirk.  “From the air, eh?  Very powerful indeed,” he chuckled softly to himself.  One of the guards screamed, interrupting the conversation.  It seemed that he had attempted to just touch the water, and his finger was now twisted beyond recognition.  The supervisor frowned just a fraction, which was more than enough to terrify the man next to him.  “Your men are useless,” he commented casually.  “I will have to get her myself.”

The man in the white coat’s eyes widened in terror.  After all, if the supervisory died, he would probably meet the same fate.  “B-but sir-”

“Must I remind you of what happens to those who speak out of turn?”  The supervisor snapped before he could protest.

“O-of course, sir.  My sincerest apologies.”  His voice was shaking.

“Remember your place, rat.  Do not attempt to crawl from the gutter, or you will be exterminated.”

The supervisor walked into the cell, not even bothering to glance at the frozen man behind him.  Slowly, he approached the whirlpool.  “So I hear you miss your teddy bear,” he called out above the roaring of the waves.  “Perhaps I can find you a new one.”

“No, you can’t!  Teddy isn’t some stupid bear, he’s my friend!”  She screamed.  the waters seemed to speed up a bit, causing the man to take a cautious step back.

“Well then maybe I can find him for you,” he called again.  “If you describe him, I’ll find him and bring him back to you.”

The water slowed with his words.  It wasn’t enough to make them fall, but it was at least enough so that he could now catch a glimpse of her, rather than the endless stream of white foam.  “R-really?  Promise?”  She said warily.

“Promise,” he nodded.  “I just need you to tell me what your teddy bear looks like.”

The girl frowned. “What are you, stupid?  I told you, he’s not a bear.”  Oh, how he wanted to slap her for speaking to him like that.  Of course, he stopped himself.  He needed her trust if he hoped to control her.  “A-also, he has really long hair.  It’s brown and soft.  And his eyes are blue.  He’s super big and strong and brave, and he has this really pretty arm.  It’s all shiny with a big star on it.”  She finished.  Just talking about her teddy had calmed her down enough to let the water fall, revealing her full frame.

The man frowned darkly.  “Are you talking about the Winter Soldier?” he fought to keep his voice level.

The girl furrowed her brow and tilted her head.  “Who?”

“The Winter Soldier, Sergeant James Barnes, is that who you speak of or not, you stupid child?!” he snapped.

The girl’s features hardened.  “He isn’t Sergeant James, he’s Sergeant Teddy.  And I’m not stupid, you’re just a big dumb meanie-head!” she screamed back.

The man opened his mouth, fully prepared to scream at her and punish her for her for her insolence when he saw the fallen drops of water gathering at her feet and forming what looked suspiciously like spikes.  So instead, he counted silently to five and said, “Your Teddy is a very dangerous man.  I don’t want him to hurt you-”

“He won’t hurt me, Meanie-head, he’s my Teddy!” She stomped her foot on the ground, the spikes at her feet growing more defined and threatening.

The man grit his teeth together and growled softly under his breath.  “Alright, fine, I will get you Teddy.  And when I do, you will go with these men like a good girl or else you’ll never see Teddy again.  Understand?”  She nodded.  “Good.”

It wasn’t long before the door opened again, revealing none other than her Teddy.  She squealed and ran to him, where he received her without any hesitation.  “Teddy, I was so lonely!  They wouldn’t let me see you, and one man kept calling you Sergeant James, even though I told him your name was really Sergeant Teddy, and I was so scared they wouldn’t let you come and-and…”

“It’s ok, medvezhonok (little bear).  I’m here now,” he shushed her gently.  “I’m here.”

The next few years went by in a similar fashion.  Whenever they needed the girl to train, she would refuse to move an inch until they brought her Teddy.  He taught her how to fight, both with and without her powers; how to use any and every weapon she could ever need; and stayed with her while she was learning how to read coding and force her way through firewalls for information.  They were not happy – no one could be happy in a place such as that – but they found comfort in one another.  In a life of constant danger and fear, they felt safe when they were together.  Until one day, when it all ended.

She was 12 now, but her skills already exceeded those of anyone they faced her against in training as well as all of her guards.  “Where’s Teddy?” she asked, confused at why he wasn’t with them.  Most of the guards had given up trying to move her on their own.

“Move,” one of the men snapped harshly.

Immediately her heart started pounding.  It was never good when they didn’t answer.  “Where is he?”

“This is ridiculous,” one of them scoffed.  He looked new – he was still confident… and stupid.  “Your ‘Teddy’ won’t be joining you again.”  Her heart must have stopped, her breath caught in her throat.  “The freak was put back on ice.  If you’re lucky, though, you might get to see him in another ten years,” he snorted.  “Now let’s go.”

The poor girl was feeling a lot of things – sadness for her lost Teddy, fear for what the men might do to her with him gone, but mostly it was anger.  She hated these men more than anything, and now they had taken away the one thing she had left – her last bit of comfort.

And really, it wasn’t her fault when it happened.  That stupid young guard had jabbed her with the end of his gun at a moment when she really shouldn’t have been jabbed, and the powers she had been struggling to control had simply taken over.

Most of what happened was a blur for the poor thing.  It wasn’t until her powers had run out and she had finally regained control that she saw all of the blood.  It painted every wall, every hallway from her cell to where she now stood, across the compound.  There were no bodies, but she had a sinking feeling that they might be mixed in with all of the blood.  Above her was a big, red sign lighting up in the word ‘EXIT.’  She didn’t really care about that, though.  She had to find Teddy.

But he could be anywhere – he might not even be in the building anymore – and she was starting to hear footsteps heading her way.

So, she made a decision – one that made her sick to her stomach.

“I’m sorry, Teddy,” she whispered softly as she pushed open the door.

And she was free.