[request by: ???]

Rope burns are etched the sides of your upper arms, you’ve lost count how many days you’ve been stuck here. Wherever here is. It still feels unreal, all of it but a fantasy. But the cold air the breathed against your skin helped to remind you that you’ve lost all sense of control. The distant repeated dripping from a leak in the ceiling itches your body to move, but the more you struggle the deeper the restraints feel. It’s easier to just sit still, and let it happen

It started with you noticing glances from your fellow Guardians, Amanda and Rudy. They’d both been almost eager to speak to you following your addition to the team. You had thought they were just being friendly, and in a way, they were.

But now it’s clear they’d had alternative motives for wanting to catch your attention. It’s easy to admire Rudy’s brilliant mind and Amanda’s strength. It’s easy to ignore the warning signs of them questioning your schedule after work hours, it’s easy to ignore their insistence of requesting missions alone with you. It’s easy to play off their hostility toward The Immortal when he’d tried to give you instructions. And how Rudy had insisted he could help you adjust to the team just fine. Or how Amanda had interjected the possibility of you sparring with Shrinking Rae.

Now you’re bound to a chair. Having been brought here by the very two who’d made you feel most welcome to the Guardians. They explained themselves with a simple; “It’s for your own good.” And not answered any further questions. They’d visit often, feed you, keep you company in a sense, and leave when their presence was requested on the field. The news had called it a mysterious disappearance, something inexplainable.

The sounds of a door unlocking catch your attention, it’s Amanda who steps into the light. Your tired gaze follows every move she makes. “You don’t have to stare at me like that, y’know.” She tells you so casually, “it’s not like I’m gonna hurt you.”