Part 1: Surveillance
Location: Avengers Medical Bay, Upstate New York – 3 Days Later
The lights in the secure med bay were dim, filtered through reinforced privacy glass. Riven Dax lay unconscious, stabilized but not healed. Machines hummed around him, tracking vitals. IVs dripped slow doses of nutrients. His body was still purging toxins.
Beyond the glass, the Avengers watched.
Steve. Natasha. Wanda. Tony. Sam. Vision.
They stood in silence as a hologram played across the room: a sequence of CCTV footage salvaged from the Hydra facility.
The first clip showed Riven in his cell, chained at the wrists, jaw bruised. He wasn't moving much.
Then the doors opened. A child was dragged in by a guard. Riven lurched forward instantly, chains biting his skin. He shouted, pleaded. The guards ignored him.
A gun was raised. A shot rang out. The child fell.
Riven screamed.
> "STOP! Don't! DON'T DO THIS!"
He sobbed. Cursed them. Bloodied his own wrists fighting the restraints.
> "You sick bastards! Cowards! You sons of bitches! I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!"
> "Don't hurt them! Take me! You want pain? Torture me! KILL ME INSTEAD!"
Then another child was brought in.
Riven begged again, voice hoarse. By the time the second shot echoed, his screams had gone silent. His mouth moved. But no sound came. Tears streamed down his face. His voice was broken, but his rage was eternal.
The third child trembled.
And then, the recording glitched.
A table shook. A guard flew backwards into the wall. Another began to rise.
But the feed cut out before they could see the rest.
Wanda turned away. Her shoulders shook slightly.
Steve folded his arms. "Now we know what started it."
Tony exhaled. "I don't care what he is. Anyone who comes out of that and still tries to protect kids... he deserves better."
Natasha said nothing. Her eyes remained on Riven's still form. She didn't blink.
Vision finally spoke. "He has begun dreaming again. But not of freedom. Of judgment."
Sam glanced down. "He won't talk, not at first. We should be ready for that."
Wanda nodded slowly. Her voice was steadier now, though her gaze was distant.
> "He won't trust any of us immediately. But that doesn't mean we stop trying. He needs to see more than just power. He needs to see compassion. From all of us."
Steve agreed with a quiet nod. "No one person will reach him. He's been in hell too long. We do this together."
---
Meanwhile: X-Mansion – Cerebro Room
In the darkness of the underground projection dome, the X-Men watched the same footage.
Xavier, Beast, Jean, Cyclops, Rogue, Iceman, and Logan stood frozen as the video played across a large monitor.
The children. The gunfire. Riven's screaming. The chains. The blood. His voice cracking as he begged them to stop. The camera static.
Logan didn't speak. As the first shot rang out and the child collapsed, he growled under his breath and turned away. His fists clenched at his sides.
> "Bastards..."
He pushed the door open and walked out into the hallway, not to cool off, but because he understood it too well. The rage. The helplessness. The instinct to kill every last one of them.
Jean had to sit down.
Beast adjusted his glasses but said nothing. Even he looked shaken.
Rogue whispered, "They made him watch... over and over..."
Cyclops clenched his jaw. "No wonder he lost it."
Xavier placed a hand on the console.
> "This was more than experimentation. This was deliberate psychological dismemberment. He wasn't trained to be a killer. They built one."
Jean stood up slowly. Her voice was low, filled with something harder than pity.
> "But he still tried to save the others. Even when he broke, he didn't turn on them."
Rogue crossed her arms. "Makes sense why the kids won't leave his side. They see him like one of them."
Iceman added, a bit more hesitantly, "If he comes here... we're not all gonna be on board, are we?"
Cyclops glanced away. "Doesn't matter what we think. We saw what they did to him. And what he did to stop it."
Xavier nodded solemnly.
> "We prepare to welcome him when the time comes. No conditions. No expectations. Just safety."
---
Back at the Avengers Facility
Riven stirred on the med bed. His fingers twitched. His brows furrowed as if bracing for another shock, another scream, another day of fire and pain.
But none came.
Only silence.
One eye opened.
The lights above were unfamiliar. No cuffs. No restraints.
He exhaled slowly, confusion and instinct fighting for dominance. His muscles tensed.
And from beyond the glass, half a dozen voices waited to decide what kind of world he'd woken into.