So it goes with saying that only things I own with any connection to MARVEL I bought on Ebay or Etsy. MARVEL COMICS & MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE are their own creatures and I have nothing to do with either of them aside from the fact I enjoy reading or watching them, and am grateful for the ability to play in their world. I claim nothing, and I receive nothing for this, expect the pleasure of putting something out into the world.
You can also find this story on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN under the same title and pen name along with a place to post suggestions.
Don't forget to check out the Photobucket album by searching the title of this story and my user name.
CHAPTER ONE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH 2012
1001 HOURS
PEPPER POTTS CABIN, WOODSTOCK NY
2565 ROUTE 212
NATASHA
It's been three and half days since the park, and nothing's really improved, not since the second we confirmed her heart was still beating.
My little sister was kidnapped, emotionally and physically abused as well as mentally manipulated before we found her. Before we freed her from her captor, and sent him away to be punished for his crimes.
Then Steve told her that, and she made a bunch of police officers shoot her. He told her she was free, that she was safe. She smiled a little when she heard those words, and then she chose an assisted suicide by bullets.
None of the guys have taken that well, not that I have either.
Clint attacked the cop that fired first, the officer he went out to search for her with. He tackled Officer Saunders to the the ground and was set on punching his face in! But he wasn't the only cop who pulled the trigger. Clint almost got himself shot for that, and would have if there weren't S.H.I.E.L.D Agents around.
As for Steve, all he was focusing on was her. A bullet hit her in the shoulder and the chest. One grazed her neck as she fell, its original target probably something else, and the rest missed but that didn't fill any of us with relief because the water around her was turning crimson even as Steve lifted her body out of it less then a second later.
He pulled her out of the pond to opposition. There were more police than S.H.I.E.L.D on the scene, and most of them still mistakenly believed she was Loki. That belief didn't really matter though because she gave them a very personal reason to hate her. She attacked a cop, two cops. One was found suffering from a concussion. While the other one, the one she held hostage in the lake, he was still struggling to move his own muscles right.
They were willing to fight us, to take that risk if it meant making sure she stayed down. At least until the army arrived as backup. Apparently we owe Secretary Pierce for that one.
With the military backing us up, and giving us the number of superiority we lacked before, things went a lot smoother.
The arrival of an ambulance helped immensely too. We sent Bruce and Tony back to STARK Tower so they could get things ready, and work the surveillance side of the search. The timing of the ambulance told me it was already on its way even before Nora motivated a firing squad to take her down. God bless Stark, and whatever foresight made that decision, artificial or otherwise.
We took her back to what was left of STARK Tower, and the amount of trauma surgeons I saw signing NDA's told me they saw the way our rescue ended.
The surgery was interesting, just as much as it was complicated, nerve-wracking and long. On the outside, Nora looks just like a normal human woman. But on the inside her anatomy is very different from ours. That meant the surgeons had to familiarize themselves with what the S.H.I.E.L.D files contained about her biology, and figure out the rest on the fly. Such is the fact that her body was closing their incisions minutes after they were made. The skin was actually growing around the tools!
Their solution to that still makes me cringe. They end up coating the spreaders in a mild acid gel. A necessary evil. I kept telling myself. They had bullets to remove, and internal bleeding to deal with. She's unconscious, she doesn't feel it.
That was a comfort, until we realized she was staying unconscious. One by one we all came to accept that reality. Some of us took longer than others, mostly due to stubbornly clinging to hope, and the wishful thinking of 'any time now'. But that was four days ago. I know that's too soon to give up hope entirely, but it's long enough to suspect that this might be a while.
Banner thinks it might be caused by the mark on her chest. We're calling it a tattoo, only because we don't have a better word. But tattoos don't writhe, silently go though the motion of a hiss, or flick their two dimensional tongues at you. Whatever it is, despite it being 'ink' in her skin, it displays awareness, and the mannerism of real serpents. It's what's under the mark that's got us all concerned.
It's an independent nervous system, and as far as we can tell its parasitic. Its 'brain' seems to be the mark itself, simply because the densest concentration of the nerve tissue rests on her chest and has burrowed through her sternum to wrap around her heart. That's as close as it gets to a traditional brain. Typically the brain sends and receives signals from the nerves in equal measure.
As far as we can tell this 'brain' just receives signals from this 'nervous system', but the better word is drain. It seems to constantly collect energy from the rest of her, and channels it toward the mark, but what it does with it we aren't really sure, because it seems to vanish there, not redirect around her body.
Whatever it is, it's hurting her, and there's nothing we can do. How do you remove a nervous system, short of killing the person its inside? Banners suggestion was to put her under sedation for a few days, despite her unconsciousness. They could safely study the mark without risking her waking up in the process, and to give her more time to recover that way.
Clint looked ready to punch Banner over that. He demanded its removal, he even went as far as trying to put her on the surgical table himself. 'He put it on her' Clint said, 'that thing came from Loki, he knew it, and it couldn't stay. We needed to free her from everything of his!' Banner looked at him, and calmly asked Clint if he was going to take responsibility for ordering her murder.
Clint just wanted to set her free. He thought he did when Thor took him away, and then he found out that even putting a universe between them, Loki still won. Loki still had Nora, his ownership literally lived in her skin. Loki smirking before we sent him back to Asgard. This was his final hand. All our efforts amounted to nothing, because he still had chains on our sister.
Clint couldn't do anything. All his training, strength, and good intentions didn't mean a thing. All he could do was stand helpless and watch as Nora slept through her suffering, her breath fogging the mask on her face.
He's been spending all his time doing the one thing he can, letting his frustration run him ragged. I've had to intervene a few times a day, to get him to eat and sleep, but as soon as he can he is right back at it. Firing arrow after arrow into that oak tree. The side of it is so pock marked its almost pulp now, and looks as if a beaver has been chewing at it. He keeps going until he can barely pull the string back, and there are blisters on his fingers despite the gloves.
That's led to other problems amongst us, particularly with the relationship between Clint and Steve ever since they returned from Coulson's funeral.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH 2012
1005 HOURS
PEPPER POTTS CABIN, WOODSTOCK NY
2565 ROUTE 212
STEVE
"Nora please, put the weapon down. You're safe. It's over"
"It is never over."
"Nora! Nora NO! PLEASE! PLEASE NO! DON'T DIE PLEASE NO!"
"Nora please, put the weapon down. You're safe. It's over"
"It is never over."
Nora! Nora NO! PLEASE! PLEASE NO! DON'T DIE PLEASE NO!"
"Nora please, put the weapon down. You're safe. It's over"
"It is never over."
Nora! Nora NO! PLEASE! PL..."
The video suddenly changed to a black screen and silence, and was replaced by another voice. "You need to stop watching that Steve." Natasha.
After Nora was stable, and wouldn't die at any moment Natasha came to me with Agent Barton. They both had the same thing to say. S.H.I.E.L.D could not be allowed to take Nora this time. I didn't understand completely, but I knew they knew more about the situation then I did, so I didn't question it. We needed to take her somewhere else, somewhere that could keep her safe.
That problem solved itself thanks to another woman with red hair. Miss Potts. She was present at the Tower when we carried Nora inside, covered in blood and filled with bullet holes. So when she overheard our discussion she volunteered her cabin, and made it very clear that it wasn't an offer. I got the feeling there was more behind that decision then sympathy for an injured woman, but it didn't seem appropriate to ask at the time.
She called it a cabin, and while it was made with wood and stone, it didn't match the image I thought of with that word. Cabins in my opinion didn't have two story windows, an A.I butler, a indoor pool with glass walls to let you view the swimmers, or a hospital wing being added to the basement just for our arrival. Then again, it was a STARK owned property so I suppose I shouldn't be anything but grateful, which I definitely am.
I've also been far too idle. My best friend is down in that basement, hooked up to various monitors and equipment, which all say the same thing. She is alive. I should be happy about that. But I don't think she wants to be.
I sat down there earlier, but after a while they make me leave that room. If they didn't, I'd still be sitting at her bedside, waiting and hoping. They tell me it's so the nurses can work, but I know it's mostly because they're worried how it is affecting my state of mind. Not that I'm doing it any favors even when I'm not at her side. The video Natasha shut off proves that easily enough.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH 2012
1006 HOURS
PEPPER POTTS CABIN, WOODSTOCK NY
2565 ROUTE 212
NATASHA
He didn't even seem to notice me enter the room, he was that distracted by his misery. Not that I needed to get his attention to gain access to the room. This house has its own J.A.R.V.I.S installed in its walls. If Steve didn't want company, all he would have to do was tell the A.I to adjust its privacy protocols. Instead when I asked if Steve was available, the A.I confirmed it, and opened the door.
That made me suspect he set the privacy to such a low level out of the hope of good news. The name in the first question he asks confirms that. "Is Nora alright?"
"She's fine. She's still the same" I answer his question, and crush his spirits with the news, then I make a move to keep him from grinding his own further into the dirt as I close the remote app. "J.A.R.V.I.S please move that video to a private server." That sentence is met with a look of betrayal, but when the A.I agrees and asks if there will be anything else, there is no objection.
Instead he just looks lost as he sits in a room furnished in rounded oak squares and rectangles. The room suits him in a way, in its functional simplicity. Though that's not why he picked it. Its right next to the in law suite that will be Nora's, when she gets better and wakes up.
"She aimed a gun at me." Guilt is a crippling thing, even for a Super Soldier.
"Her finger wasn't on the trigger, she wasn't going to shoot you." Especially when that guilt is mixed with confusion and questions.
"I know, J.A.R.V.I.S enhanced the footage." I figured as much. He was studying the video, trying to find a reason in it, trying to find answers to a question that most likely has none. What did he do wrong? Everyone always looks for the answers to that question, not realizing that it usually has nothing to do with them. "She looked relieved."
"Steve..." He interrupts my attempt at comfort even as he lets me join him on the edge of the bed, a testament to how upset he is.
"No, she looked happy that they shoot her. I told her she was safe and that's what she choose. Why would she want that?"
Letting out a resigned sigh I give him the depressingly hard truth. "It's called Stockholm Syndrome. The victims end up viewing forming unhealthily attachments with their captors, Loki is skilled at manipulating people, and he kept her isolated for the longer half of a week without any means to measure time. We don't know what that did to her mental state, and we won't until she wakes up. She would have done that no matter who told her Loki 'abandoned' her."
"I know..." he says after a moment of silence. "I um, I did the research. I just can't reconcile her with the woman I..." I can see the frustration cutting off his words "How did you stomach lying to her like that?" before I realize it's not just frustration.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH 2012
1007 HOURS
PEPPER POTTS CABIN, WOODSTOCK NY
2565 ROUTE 212
STEVE
"It was a decision above my pay grade." I don't hit women. That's not the kind of man I am. The only exception I might make would be if it was in defense of my life or that of others. Neither is the case right now, Natasha is just sitting there passively.
But after hearing her say that so casually I won't pretend part of me isn't tempted to break my own rules. "That supposed to make me feel better?"
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH 2012
1008 HOURS
PEPPER POTTS CABIN, WOODSTOCK NY
2565 ROUTE 212
NATASHA
"No, but this might. It was lie to her or kill her." The steel of his scowl softens considerably at that.
"She started as an assignment of Clint's that I came in on, but we never liked lying to her." I submit in the spirit of full disclosure. "She was an individual with unknown abilities. The popular opinion was to take care of the threat before it had a chance to become one. Fury was able to convince the Council that her potential was worth too much to just throw away. But that's not what I came here to talk to you about."
The first third of his question is spoken through his expression. "And what else would we be talking about?"
The last is communicated through his expression as well. "Clint wants to speak to you, before he leaves."
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH 2012
1010 HOURS
PEPPER POTTS CABIN, WOODSTOCK NY
2565 ROUTE 212
CLINT
Hm, I'll give it to Natasha, that didn't take long. Rogers found me on the landing between the lower deck and the glass pool wall, leaning against the house using a bent arrow head to scrape the debris out from under my nails.
Natasha puzzled out on her own what I intended to do, and she was just as excited about the idea as the Captain's angry footsteps tell me he is, but she was more subtle about it. I told her about what Nora remembered outside that Shawarma joint, and we've talked about it. She even offered to help but I asked her to stay. Nora is going to need the female perspective when she wakes up. She got that, now I just need to make him understand.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH 2012
1011 HOURS
PEPPER POTTS CABIN, WOODSTOCK NY
2565 ROUTE 212
STEVE
Natasha told me what he had planned, and the last four days of my frustration finally got the better of me. His behavior has been bothering me ever since Nora was moved out of surgery.
That day Nora was declared stable which was wonderful news, that was given to a room that he was conspicuously absent of. Then when we were asked to attend the Agent Coulson's funeral, he was the first to say yes, he practically volunteered before the question was finished. I was convinced to go as well, ultimately because the man's sacrifice did give us the push to unify as a team. We wouldn't have become the Avengers, and we wouldn't have worked together so well, we wouldn't have turned back an alien invasion. The man died a hero, the least I could do as his hero was honor that.
But ever since then, I haven't seen him even set foot in that basement, the one where a woman he supposedly loves as a sister might be fighting for her life, and now he intends to leave. I kept my opinions to myself out of respect to Nora, but out of the same respect I'm not going to do that anymore. "I haven't seen you visit her yet."
I intended to handle this conversation like a decent man but his response really isn't encouraging any warm feelings. He shrugs with a chuckling smirk. "I'm just peachy today, thanks for asking."
Since he seems dead set on avoiding the issue with witty remarks, I'm just gonna get right to the point. "She calls you her brother Agent Barton the least you cou..."
It seems that he is a bit more of a short fuse then I expected. "I know what she calls me! And you don't get to bring that up!" But not quite short enough it seems to take it to a physical level.
After he says that, he shakes his head with a bit of hiss, and walks over to the barrier of the half wall, turning his back to me in a clear effort to cool down. "She told me about you, ya know..." He sounds a little amused when he says that, but I have no expression visible to judge it by, so I just let him continue.
"She told me about Christmas, and New-Years, and how you were the one there when she got the apartment. She told me how you met, about the way she fixed your hands..." There's another moment of silence, and this time I can see his head turn like he's popping his neck or shaking away a pain. "She trusts you, you're good to her."
"She trusts y..." He doesn't let me finish that sentence, cutting me off with a flat "SHUT UP." As I watch his fingers turn white from gripping the wall.
"She trusts you Captain, so I'm gonna got out on a limb here and trust you too." Crossing my arms I resolve to wait patiently, I can hear it implied in there, he's gonna asking me for something. It's also clear that whatever the request might be, it's not an easy one so I'm not gonna interrupt.
It takes him a second, cementing my guess that he doesn't like idea of what he's about to ask me. After a moment of fidgeting though he shoves his hands in his pockets and looks to the sky. "I gotta go do something and I need you to take care of her for me."
"No you don't." It may not be my place to make that demand, but there is no way I'm letting him run away from her like that. "All due respect Agent Barton, I don't know what happened between you two out there, but whatever you think you have to do, it's less important then going to see her. she very well might be dying in there so you're not go..."
"I put a knife through her leg and tore off her clothes, I know what her blood tastes like on my tongue now, and how her thighs fit against the palms of my hands. You want more details about what you didn't know happened? Still think she'll want to see her 'brother' when she wakes up?" There's no life in his voice or his eyes when say that, and it stops me in every conceivable track.
"You..." I don't even need to use more words, he knows what I mean.
"Yeah, me. That's why I don't go in that room. Now that's she's safe I don't deserve to be near her anymore, probably shouldn't even be in the same building."
"It wasn't you Barton, you weren't in control of yourself." I offer, trying to give him some comfort while at the same time trying convince myself that I shouldn't beat him to death right here on this porch!
He snorts with a pained smirk "Cause it was only my body that wanted to rape her works great when I wake up remembering the feel of her fighting my hands and her screams in my ears." His sentence making question why i'm trying to strengthen my resolve on the latter in the first place.
"Did you actually..." Again I don't need to finish that sentence. "No,.." This time his chuckle sounds both relieved and pained. "...we wouldn't be having this conversation if I did." I don't need that translated either, his tone makes it pretty clear. He would have killed himself if he had, long before I felt that temptation curl my fists.
"Then why leave?" He rolls his eyes at me like the answer should be obvious, and I do get it, I can't imagine what that would feel like to be around her with a memory like that, other than to know it would be terrible. But my point still stands. "Why not stay, and work through it. You can't redeem yourself if you're not here, you know that right?"
"Redeeming myself is half of why I'm leaving Captain." I want to protest what is clearly a bad decision made for good reasons, but once again he says just the right thing to make me be quiet. "She has a daughter. I promised her I'd find that kid and bring her back."
That's right Nora's a mother! I forget that because the revelation was so recent, and it got buried under my worry for her. That was almost more shocking than the fact she isn't human.
Nora always loved children, even though she was pretty resigned to the fact she would probably never have one of her own. Sure modern medicine has found ways to get around the 'traditional way' to get pregnant, but still, how unfair would it be to have a child you couldn't stand to touch. By that logic she couldn't even adopt if she wanted to, so she sort of just accepted her fate. But now, or realistically always, she has a daughter out there somewhere.
"She remembered..." He answers that unspoken question with a nod. "...She knows who she is again. Which is why it's gotta be you, you're probably the only person in the world who hasn't lied to her or used her. You better keep it that way too Captain, or I'll find a way to hurt you."
The threat may have been amusing, or even annoying, if not for level of sincerity that it was spoken with. He may not thinks he deserves to be called that anymore, but those are are definitely the words of a older brother. "You have my word..." His eyes don't connect with mine as I say that, because they're too busy focusing on the offer of my hand. " ….as a fellow soldier."
At the 'soldier' he smirks with a huff before he accepts my handshake. "Let's never call me one of those again okay?" I nod in agreement, but then tightening my grip to keep him in place I use my other hand to punch him in face, because after admitting what he almost did to her, he had it coming.
