Chapter 4: Realization and Confirmation

Before I know it , it is now 5:46 P.M.. With a deep sigh, I got into a plain black hoodie and make my way downstairs. Before I open the door, I get a whiff of a familiar scent ." Alright. step away from the door, buddies or else you're gonna trip and fall." I warn as I turn the knob . The redhead and Yelena are standing by the door , surprised . " Do I need to remind you that I have sharp senses?" I ask as I gesture for them to come inside ." Make yourselves comfy." I mutter as I go about rearranging books and all. " We know but we did not expect your senses to be this sharp. How do you know it's us ?" Natasha blurts with curiosity . Squinting my eyes at the lights , I answer " Must've honed them throughout my years in war , how else would I survive ?" . I turn to look at them only to see an apologetic and guilty look on their faces. " Oh." I sigh as I walk over to them " Don't feel bad about it , it's fine". " Oh, we just wanna ,y'know , hang out ." Yelena smiles broadly as she takes out snacks from her rucksack . "And here I am thinking where are you two going off to . I was just about to ask about it ." I scratch the back of my head as I go and turn on the goggle box ," Be my guest, pick anything you want ." I say as I walk to my desk . I can hear laughter from the duo so that brings me assurance .

Tony knocks on the door so hard that I thought someone is breaking down the door when I sniff at his thick cologne . "What is it , Tony?" I annoyingly ask as I pause the movie that we are watching . " Oh , why did you three not call us in to join you?" . " Because , the actual movie night is on every Friday ,you dipshit ." Natasha shouts from inside the room ." Right , by the way , party's in 30 minutes , see you there .". Surprised , I asks " Why is there a party all of a sudden ?" . Scoffing , Tony answers with a " To celebrate you joining us , duh." I roll my eyes at him , " You want to just use me as an excuse to drink , don't you, shuck face?" . Taken aback , he says , " How do you know that word ?"

"What? Shuck face?" I question in curiosity .

"Yeah."

"Well, it's a long story ."

He let out a laugh , "You're gonna meet someone familiar , bud." . I am genuinely confused at this point and ask " Who?" .

"You'll see ."

"Okay?" I shut the door and tell them that party is in 30 minutes and should be prepared . With a shrug of disappointment , they go to their room to get changed , " We will continue where we stop next time " Natasha says with an annoyed expression on her face. "Alright .See you gals later " I say as I close the door behind them . I got onto the shelf , see a nice set of tuxedo and decide to go with it since I am more of a tux person .

As I make my way to the party , I see Natasha in her leather jacket and Yelena in her blazer . I give them a little wave before joining them . " You look amazing " Natasha twirling her fingers on my hair . " You two look astounding." I say as I scan them from up to bottom . "You have a good taste in fashion ." She then whispers in my ear as I got down to tidy up my shoes . " Oh , stop flirting with me , Romanoff " I scoff at her as I got back up .Yelena hit us at the back as she laughs . " You two really should get a room ." She sniggers as her face goes red , probably from laughing too hard . " Let's go to the bar , you two favor a drink from me ?" I politely gesture . They both nod and we head towards the bar .

As I take a swig of whiskey , I heard my name being called by a familiar female voice . I turn around to go face to face with the group of people I thought I will never meet again . " Thomas ? Teresa?" I look at them , thinking they are some sort of modern realistic holograms .The way Teresa runs up to pull me into a tight hug indicates that it is them indeed , in the flesh . "What are you doing here?" I ask them , full of curiosity . Tony butts in ," Well, you don't seem as excited as them when I told you that I met people with this Gl-" . "Glader slangs " I cut him off , " Got it ." . Natasha and Yelena join us . " You know them ?" Yelena asks with sparks of curiosity, "Those Gladers ." Natasha continues where Yelena is intending to go onto .

I look at them and nod firmly ." We were all part of an experiment under WICKED ." I explain and stop halfway and change the terms , " At least most of us , anyways." . They all look at me in confusion of the sentence I added in . " What do you mean 'most of us' ?" Newt ,a Glader I know , asks with a demanding face . "I am still under WICKED's property ," I let out a sigh , " I am still being tested on in an exchange for your freedom ." . Thomas , one of the brightest lads , shakes his head and says " Impossible , we took them down years ago ." . I glare at him " Well that smart plan of yours did not go well."

"I am the only live specimen they have , after you guys burned down their HQ , WICKED is siding with the Council since the beginning . Unlike you , normal teens who are taken away , I was transferred to WICKED , to the Maze for another purpose . That is to mold a cold blooded soldier in which I am now ." I say to them in an aggressive tone . I then realize what I did and apologetically say " Sorry, I did not mean to criticize you all." and take a large swig of whiskey.

Teresa seems to know what I am going through , and so are Natasha and Yelena . " So after we are gone , they conduct tests on you in exchange of not hunting us down ?" Natasha asks , gripping tightly to her cup. I do not reply , just blankly stare at them . Tony bursts out asking "So what does WICKED stands for actually ?"

I roll my eyes at him and answer " World In Catastrophe Killzone Department ."

Zart , former Keeper of the Garden , is amazed by my memory of the place ." You still remember ." Scoffing , I reply " Why wouldn't I ? I have photographic memory for a reason, didn't I ?' .

"Well, what's with the grim and gloomy atmosphere ? We're here to party, no?" I query in an attempt to cheer things up . Soon enough , things go back to normal . I let out a sigh of relief as I walk back to the bar and pour myself a drink. Natasha joins me later on , "Why aren't you having fun with them ?"I ask without looking up at her ." Why aren't you?" She asks back . Smirking a little , I say" That's smart ,Romanoff, answering a question with a question , eh . Wonder who taught you that ."

"You, obviously ." She says , rolling her eyes .

"Mhm, figures ." I mumble , still focusing on the scotch I am holding .

"On a serious note , why? You look like a party person." She leans onto my shoulder circling her finger on the rim of the cup . "I am not a party person , and I have never been to a party before to be actually honest." I can feel my face heat up with embarrassment with that statement . She looks at me in surprise , I can feel her stare bearing into my head . I look up at her , my gaze meet hers and after a split second , she starts laughing . I look at her , a pang of relief and relaxation wash over me , it has been a while since I watch her smile so brightly , it suits her . But, the guilt of letting them take that away for years is gnawing at me . " What's wrong?" she asks when she realizes that I am drifting off into space . I got snapped back into reality and with a warm gaze , I reply " Oh nothing , just seeing you smile so brightly after such a long time is kind of ... nostalgic ." after I know this is getting out of hand , I go on with a " It suits you, y'know ." Her face starts blushing and she nudge me hard . My eyes caught sight of Tony alone and I excuse myself to speak with him in private because I had asked him to do something for me when I first got here , which is to find my parents . Funny how I remember their names but not their faces .

"Hey, Tony?"

"Yeah , bud , you enjoying this party so far?"

"Well, yes , but can we talk in private ?"

He looks at me , then agrees to my request .

We head to a lounge where no one is there . After a brief moment of silence , I hesitantly ask "Have you found them , my parents?" . He looks at me , the smile fading from his face . " I don't know if I should tell you and how I should tell you this." . I put my hand up, "Sir, it's fine , I can handle this , I'm just curious . You can tell me however you want."

"But you have to calm down for the sake of others , yeah ?"

"Okay."

He looks at me straight in the eye ," You're parents are dead a few years back ."

I have no response for him .

He scoffs ," You must've think I'm joking but-"

"I don't think you're joking at all." I cut him off. " I just want to listen , so go on."

"You sure ? You won't like the next part ."

I nod my head slowly , my eyes looking down at the floor .

"Cause of death is ..... they were murdered ."

"Who ?"

"The Council . "

My eyes widen at the name , " Who specifically ?"

"You killed them Chris . Don't you remember ?"

I open my mouth , but is too dumbfounded to form words . Then , flashes of my memories that are sealed away by the Council begin to unravel . The piercing screams of a black haired female and blonde male as I tortured them to death . I droop my head for a bit , groaning in frustration . Their faces are clear now , they are indeed my parents , Hanzo and Christopher . They have no surnames , strangely enough . In my memory , their bloody face are clear as day. Their last words to me were " Avenge us , we know you can , you have to regain control.".

Tony is shaking me the moment I snap back into reality . " You good?" He asks, obviously concerned ." I'm perfectly fine , Sir ." I say , "I learnt from a harsh young age that I shouldn't let my emotions get in the way ." . He looks at me , confused. "They wiped out that part of my memory , it just came flooding back to me ." I explain to him , staying calm . " Where are their graves?" I query him , my eyes as cold as before.

"Danzer's Cemetery, last row in the far left ."

"Great , thanks ."

"No , problem , dude.'

As I stand up to rejoin Natasha , Tony grabs my hand , " You sure you okay kid ? You don't wanna vent it out ? It's going to eat you from the inside ."

"Oh please, I have learnt not to let emotions get in the way. So, yes . I'm fine . "I scoff as I pull my hand back ," Heck , they weren't with me for long , so I am not emotionally attached , just like how I should be and trained to be."

"Okay then .Have fun. Don't let it get into you"

He then leaves to join Steve on the pool table.

I walk back to Natasha who was watching us from the bar . "You okay?" she asks , her face crease into a frown , obviously worried. I shake my head ," Yeah , I'm good.". She then pours whiskey into my now empty cup and I drift off , again , this time about what I did and what they , including my parents have done to me . I may have been looking so off that Natasha decides to shake me violently . I jump from my seat , she got up , seemingly knowing what is up with me . "You sure you're okay?" she softly asks as she gently caresses my cheek . I think that staying here is probably a bad idea and get up from my seat. "I'm fine , maybe it's because of the sudden relaxation ." I briefly explain , my voice shaking . "I'll head to my room . See you tomorrow ." I get up and scoot myself to my room . " Oh, and thanks for tonight , Nat . It's great . " I weakly utter as I pat her on the shoulder. I walk back to my room , with my head getting heavier , as I enter the hallway out of everyone's sight, I lean against the cold metallic wall, my eyes widen again.

"Fuck." I utter as I make my way to my room , still leaning against the wall. I lock the door behind me , sit in a corner and waves of memories and emotions swarm through my head. My nose scrunches up as I try to keep all that at bay. I heard shuffling outside , knocks on the door , then a feminine voice . "Hey there, you good?" Maria , Tony's left hand woman , asks , she sounds a tad bit tipsy . I open the door and look at her in disbelief , trying to mask what is going on with myself . "Aren't you the one who should be asked said question?" I scowl at her as she wobbles to the right ." Tony , he's concerned about you as well , since , y'know , you left early ." . "Oh I'm not used to this sudden relaxation , that's all." I shrug my shoulders ." You need some help ?" I query in a tad bit of concern as she puts out her hand ." Nah. I'm good ." she mumble as she walks away ." You sure still have that heart in you , I can tell, don't let people tell you otherwise." . "Okay, " I say after her " Have fun and stay safe ." . As I close the door , I can hear her yell " Tony , he says he's okay!" . I scoot back to my corner , clenching my fist till my nails are digging into the flesh , blood dripping .

" I did it , for God's sake , it was me all along ." I whisper as I look up towards the ceiling . All that is happening, the laughter of people downstairs , the commotion going on , are all blocked out , only the memories are flashing here and there .

God, I brutally ended the lives of the two people that had given me life , cold bloodedly .