Trust | 2 |

Chapter Twenty-Seven

For once in my life, it felt like there was nothing eventful happening to me. I had been living in the upstate facility for a week now and followed pretty much the same routine.

Every morning I'd wake up at five and go for a run outside. After that, I'd shower and put some lounging clothes on for the rest of the day. Breakfast usually ended up consisting of an orange or other fruit with a cup of water.

After that I would sit around in my room on the laptop Tony bought me and research. My journal had become less of a place for me writing about my day and more of a place for me to record my research. For hours I'd sit at the desk under my tall bed and just search around on my computer.

There was never a breakthrough though, and the only thing I had written on my 'Profile Page' was my name and birthday. The pages after were filled with some things I thought were true, but ended up getting scribbled out because they weren't true.

Other things I started searching for revolved around my need to get rid of my abilities and trigger words. Doctor Strange was a dead end, so I decided to look into less conventional methods.

A lot of people had a lot of things to say about ways to 'clear your mind' and 'getting rid of the negativity in life.' I tried the meditations and the exercises I found and nothing worked. Of course, I shouldn't be surprised considering I wasn't just looking for a way to clear my mind for yoga or some shit.

I usually skipped lunch with how intense my research was going, and would be forced out of my room by Tony or FRIDAY when I needed dinner. After dinner, I'd go to bed and fight off nightmares through the night.

The routine was good, albeit in need of a little adjustment.

During my researching time, Tony came into my room in a huff. "You sit there literally all day and don't come out unless it's to eat dinner. It's getting exhausting," he said as he walked closer to my desk.

I didn't look up at him in favor of continuing my reading. This made him sigh and he closed my laptop. "Hey! I was reading that," I said, finally looking at him. "Am I the only other person you have to talk to or something?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "No, I've got Rhodey and... I've got Rhodey. What I'm doing here is simply looking out for your health," he said and crossed his arms. I rolled my eyes. "Come on! You need to do stuff other than hide away in your room, typing away on the laptop to find answers that aren't there."

Tony knew about me looking into my past, but not about the other thing. Either way he was right. "I know, but I want to have some hope," I mumbled. "Besides, I can't even leave this place and it's not like there's a lot to do here other than watch TV and train."

We were quiet for a second as I watched Tony bite the inside of his cheek in thought. "You're right, and you know why you can't go out so it's not like I'm Mother Gothel or anything. But we can figure something out."

He didn't give me a chance to argue before grabbing my hand and hauling me out of my chair. We walked down the hall and into the common area. When we got there, I paused slightly and thought back to what happened last year.

We didn't dwell for long. Tony brought me to the ground floor and down another hallway. He opened a door and the smell of chlorine hit my nose. "A pool?" I asked as we both fully entered.

"A pool," Tony stated.

I looked at the gigantic pool, and then back to Tony. "I don't have any swimming gear."

He hummed in thought and then looked at me. "You wanna go into the city and get some? And other things to do while you're up here?" he asked. The question threw me off and I blinked a few times in confusion before he shook his head. "Come here."