Hello! Oh, God, it's been so long. I'm SO, SO sorry! I've had a lot going on, and then I had to rewrite most of my stories because they sucked... Yeah... so, I'm finally back! Here's a new story for you guys! Please enjoy and review! No flames please! All flames will be used to make ramen, Inuyasha-style. ;-)
Disclaimer: In no way do I own Ant-Man or Avengers. The only thing belonging to me is the plot.
This is rated T just to be safe, because some people may be disturbed by nightmares. Better safe than sorry.
Troubled spirits on my chest
Where they laid to rest
The birds all laughed, my tall friend,
As your body hit the sand
-Your Bones, Of Monsters and Men
He still had nightmares about it.
It had been nearly six months since he'd defeated Cross, and Scott still had nightmares about it. He tried to hide it, he really did, but they still came anyway.
In them, his daughter stared at him with her big, beautiful brown eyes. Staring at him from Darren Cross' arms. In his dreams, she called to him in her small voice.
"Daddy? Is that you?" she asked. He opened his helmet and replied,
"Hi Peanut!"
Then he and Cross began their fight, and eventually Paxton burst in and tried to protect Cassie. And every time, every fucking time, he went sub-atomic to save them. He sacrificed himself so that they could live. That is what a hero did, though. They sacrificed themselves so that others could live. And Scott had known that, going in, and he'd known that he might have to lay down his life to protect Cassie.
It still scared him, though. But every time, he did it anyway.
And then he drifted. He drifted in a cold, dark world, where the laws of physics had no hold; a world where time meant nothing. He drifted for who knew how long, slowly beginning to forget everything: where he was, what he was doing here, how he'd gotten here, why he felt like he needed to get back, when had he started to forget, and who he was. And, quite honestly, it scared the shit out of him. But, after a while, the fear left him, to be replaced with an eerie calm.
And he drifted. He drifted in a state of half-awareness, until he heard a voice. A voice that, he somehow knew, was calling for him.
"Daddy! Daddy, where are you?"
And then he remembered. He fumbled for something, anything to help him. And he eventually found it.
But it slipped from his fingers every time. And he panicked every time, because, he knew, that that disc was his only way home, and that he could not lose it. But every time, he lost it.
And at this point, every time, he woke up screaming, his T-shirt, hair, pillow, and sheets drenched in sweat. He would take a few minutes to calm his breathing, and then he'd go and make some tea to calm down.
And this system worked, every time, until one day in training.
It was just supposed to be a simple training exercise: grab the box and hitch a ride with Falcon. It was just to test speed and to build trust. And all went well, up until Scott grabbed the box. His vision had been slightly blurry all morning, but when he grabbed the box, for some reason, his vision blurred dramatically. Everything turned grey, and Scott suddenly felt incredibly dizzy. He blinked multiple times to clear his vision. It didn't work. Scott quickly stumbled to the edge of the roof and prepared to jump off.
Clint (the person guarding the box for this round) looked at Scott in concern and lowered his bow. "You okay, Scott?" Clint asked.
"Yeah… fine," Scott replied, not noticing the way his words slurred.
"Uh, Scott? I really don't think that you're 'fine'," Clint shot back, already taking a few steps towards Scott, ready to catch him if he fell.
Unfortunately, Clint wasn't fast enough. Scott's eyes rolled back into his head and he toppled backwards, falling off of the roof.
"SCOTT!" Clint yelled, wildly grabbing for Scott. Clint's fingers missed Scott's foot by mere millimetres, and Scott fell over the edge.
Luckily, Sam had very quick reflexes. As soon as he saw Scott fall off the roof, he opened up his wings and flew towards Scott as fast as he could. Sam caughts Scott about a story above the ground, and then gently descended to the ground.
All of the Avengers (minus Thor- he'd gone back to Asgard) quickly gathered around Sam, all of them wondering what was wrong with Scott.
"We should get him to the Infirmary," Sam said, already turning around and striding towards the doors to the base. Everyone else quickly followed, all of them anxious to figure out what was wrong with their newest member. Sam quickly laid Scott out on a table, then stepped aside to let Wanda and Vision do their thing. Wanda shooed everyone else out, then closed (and locked) the door, just to make sure they all stayed out.
And they waited. The Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, sat and waited, feeling powerless to help their friend. Rhodey and Steve eventually got up and left, to get food and coffee for everyone. Natasha left soon after to get DVDs ("So we have something to do while we wait,"), leaving Pietro, Clint, and Sam to wait.
Natasha came back with three seasons of Doctor Who, two seasons of Merlin, the first season of Game of Thrones, and seasons 8 and 9 of Supernatural. Everyone half-heartedly bickered over what to watch, and eventually settled on Doctor Who.
Steve and Rhodey came back half an hour later with Chinese and Starbucks. The Avengers dug in, even though no one was really hungry.
Wanda emerged five minutes later.
"Only three of you can come in. I'm sorry, but Scott just woke up, and I don't want him getting crowded or spooked." They all immediately looked at Sam (who'd known Scott the longest), Pietro (who knew Scott the best), and Clint (who identified with Scott the most). Wanda beckoned the three of them in.
Scott was sitting up on the table, drinking from a glass of water. Vision was supervising, making sure that Scott wouldn't choke on anything.
"Scott! You're okay!" Clint exclaimed in relief. Scott smiled his sarcastic, troublemaker smile.
"What happened up on the roof?" Sam asked. Scott shrugged.
"I don't know. One minute I was fine, and the next, the whole world went fuzzy and I passed out."
Pietro looked at Scott thoughtfully. "Have you been sleeping?"
"What?!" Sam sputtered. Clint took a closer look at Scott, and quickly became alarmed by what he saw.
Scott was much paler than he normally was, and dark bags had formed under his eyes. He was also shaking minutely, and his eyes looked slightly glazed.
"Have you, Scott? 'Cause it sure doesn't look like it," Clint asked, worry starting to form. What if they hadn't noticed, and they'd been on a mission, and Scott had passed out? He could have gotten himself hurt, or worse… killed.
"Um… no, I haven't. Been getting enough, that is," Scott quickly added, seeing their shocked and angry expressions at his first sentence.
"Why not?" Sam asked, trying to reign in his anger. Scott should've said something, Sam thought.
"Nightmares," Scott simply replied.
"About what?" Clint asked, resting a comforting hand on Scott's shoulder. Scott remained quiet. Clint squeezed his shoulder.
Wanda spoke up. "I may be able to let someone into your dreams. It could help. What do you think, Scott?" After a few moments of silent, internal debate, Scott nodded. "Do it," he said.
Wanda nodded. "Who wants to go?" she asked. Sam, Pietro, and Scott all quickly said "I will." Wanda glared at Pietro.
"You're still recovering from Sokovia. You are not going."
Sam and Clint went over to the corner to debate.
"You would probably be a better choice. Scott feels most comfortable with you. Plus, you know how to deal with nightmares," Sam said.
"You know how to handle nightmares as well," Clint replied, although he did want to go. Whatever was eating Scott up, Clint wanted to help fix it.
Sam gave him the 'you're pretty much his father' look. Clint couldn't argue with That Look. He nodded in acceptance to Sam, and then both of them went back over to Scott, Vision, and Wanda, who had just finished yelling at Pietro about why he could not be the one to go into Scott's mind.
"I'm going," Clint stated firmly. Wanda nodded, and Vision left to make arrangements and to tell everyone what was going on.
"Are you comfortable enough?" Wanda asked Scott, checking the restraints to make sure they were secure.
"Yes, I'm fine. Let's do this," Scott breathed out, settling into the bed. Clint sat in a (comfy!) chair behind Scott's head, as per Wanda's instruction. The restraints were in case Scott started thrashing. Seeing them still made Clint's stomach clench, which made him want to help Scott get better as quickly as possible.
"Okay, Scott. Everything is ready. Just go to sleep," Wanda instructed. It wasn't hard for Scott to follow that order, seeing as how he was half-asleep already. About a minute later, Scott was fast asleep.
"What do we do now?" Clint asked. Sam, Vision, and Pietro had left the room, leaving just the three of them.
"We wait. If he has a nightmare, I send you in. If he doesn't, we try again the next time he falls asleep," Wanda responded, smoothing back some of Scott's hair. Clint nodded and fell into silence, watching Scott. (Which is not as creepy as it sounds, promise! Clint was NOT a pervert)
And they waited. And nothing happened for about an hour, until Scott's breathing hitched and increased in speed. Immediately, Wanda flew out of her chair. Clint watched Scott, feeling pained as he watched him whimper and thrash, sweat beginning to slide down his face.
"Clint, place your hands on either side of his head," Wanda commanded. Clint followed her orders, feeling Scott's sweat on his palms.
"Okay, now just relax. This may feel weird," Wanda murmured, placing one of her hands on Scott's forehead and the other one on Clint's. Almost immediately, Clint's vision whitened, then quickly faded to black.
A bedroom quickly manifested. Clint was confused. This looked like a little girl's room… oh. But… why would Scott have nightmares about his daughter?
Clint turned to his right, and suddenly realised why this was Scott's nightmare. A girl about 7 years old (Cassie, Clint remembered, recognizing her from when Scott was in the hospital with Pietro) was standing there, in the arms of a guy (?) in a very threatening black and yellow suit.
Clint looked back to his left, just in time to see Scott crash through the window. A battle quickly ensued, and Clint wanted to help Scott (because damn it, no one should do this alone), but knew that he couldn't because (he'd just figured it out) this had already happened.
Another man burst in and tried to protect Cassie, and the man in the suit (Clint mentally called him "Zapper") prepared to shoot both of them, while Scott was trying to get into the suit.
"It's titanium, idiot!" Zapper yelled, trying to crush Scott between his hands. Scott escaped, and Zapper turned back towards Cassie and the man, about to shoot them again. Scott stopped fighting to get into the suit and mumbled something about "going sub-atomic" before saying "I love you, Cassie" and shrinking out of sight. Zapper's suit began to self-destruct, and then he vanished in a flash of light.
Clint waited a few seconds, but Scott failed to reappear.
"Daddy?" Cassie asked. Clint's heart seemed to have stopped, and his stomach was doing backflips, because where the hell was Scott?
And suddenly, Clint found himself in a strange world, and in front of him was Scott. (Just floating there, boneless, not moving he should be moving)
Clint? Scott's voice echoed in Clint's head.
("Daddy! Daddy, where are you?")
"Yeah, Scott, it's me," Clint replied.
(In front of him, Scott opened his eyes and breathed one word: Cassie)
I don't know where I am. Please… help me. Scott's voice sounded like that of a scared little kid on the verge of tears.
(Scott fumbled at his belt, pulled out a disc. It floated out of his hands.)
"You're in the Avengers headquarters. Remember?" Clint said, trying to calm Scott down.
(Scott grabbed at the disc, but it was too far out of his reach.)
I'm… I'm stuck here forever, Scott sobbed. It suddenly dawned on Clint. This had almost happened, and now Scott was terrified of it actually happening.
"Scott, listen to me. This is just a nightmare," Clint stated, commanded, forcefully.
No it isn't. This actually happened, and now I'm never gonna get back, and… Clint quickly cut Scott off. He needed to snap Scott out of it, now.
"Scott. Listen. What you're experiencing right now, it never happened. You made it out of here. And right now, you're in the middle of a nightmare. Yeah, this could have happened, but it didn't. Right now, you're safe in HQ. You got out, Scott."
Re-really? Scott asked, his sobs starting to slow.
"Yes. You're safe, Scott. And let me tell you something: no one on this team will let this happen to you. You're family, Scott, and we don't let family get hurt," Clint stated firmly, meaning every word.
P-promise? Scott asked.
"Promise," Clint nodded. "Now, how about we wake up?"
Clint opened his eyes, to see Wanda unfastening Scott's restraints. Scott had tears staining his cheeks, and his hair was drenched in sweat, but other than that, he seemed fine.
"Hey. How you feeling?" Clint asked, smoothing back Scott's hair.
"Better. I - thank you. For… what you said," Scott replied.
"No problem. I meant it, too. And if you ever need to talk about anything, no matter what time it is, you can come talk to me. Understood?" Clint replied. Scott nodded.
"Good. Now, I think the rest of the team are about to mother-hen you."
And after that, every time Scott had a nightmare, he came to Clint. Clint would make tea, they would talk, and Scott would go back to sleep without a single nightmare. And over time, the nightmares lessened, until eventually, they faded away completely. But Clint would still always be there for Scott, no matter what. Because he'd seen into the bones of Scott's mind and soul, and he never wanted Scott to go through that again.
Said goodbye to you, my friend,
As the fire spread
All that's left are your bones
That will soon sink like stones.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Until next time! I'll have the prequel to this posted sometime before the end of the year... hopefully... Bye!