By the time I have changed and got my ear com in I can hear them all yelling various things to each other.
"Where do you want me?" I say, holding my breath as I pray that they aren't going to try to make me lock myself in a room and wait for them to rescue me.
"Third floor, Clint," Nat yells back,
"On it," I reply before the others can comment.
"Addi," Steve's voice crackles as I run and I can tell he is fighting, I can hear it.
"Bit busy here," I reply as I find Clint, or rather he finds me, if the arrow embedded in the wall an inch from my face is anything to go by.
"Be careful okay," he says after a moment,
"You too Steve," I reply before ducking quickly and sweeping Clint's legs, feeling quite proud of myself for bringing him down until a pain in my stomach causes me to double over as he kicks me.
Our fight is viscous and seems to last forever. I was kidding myself when I was arguing with Steve, I may have thought I was ready but Clint had trained me, he was better and I had a horrible feeling I was about to die and it made my heart for several reasons, but mostly because when they managed to bring Clint back he would be horrified at what he had done. We had grown close since he rescued me and had become the overprotective older brother I had never had. The thought of hurting him, in any way made tears well in my eyes, which is most inconvenient as I am currently trying to fight. Another well aimed kick to my face this time has me sprawled across the floor pain rocketing through me as I try to get some kind of foothold and get up. A growl behind me makes me turn onto my back and I see him over me with his knife and I do the only thing I can, I freeze him and a second later he slumps over me unconscious and a very rattled looking Natasha is standing behind him holding a piece of debris in her hands.
"Thanks," I murmur after a moment not knowing what to say and she nods her mouth stretched into a grim and determined line.
"No problem although I'm sure you had it under control, we need to get him into medical and strapped down before he wakes up," she says and so I struggle up and despite the pain in my face and head and the tiredness that was making my limbs weak I help her drag him into the medical bay and strap him down.
"Coulson is down," Fury's voice seems to echo over the ear coms and for a moment everything becomes a lot more real. I had known of course that it was a real battle, I had felt the fear and pain but until now I could almost imagine it was like it was before, back in London with Terry, but now… This was all too real!
"I have to find the others," I say in a whisper after a moment of heavy silence, a sudden and gut wrenching fear that the others, that Steve would be hurt too.
"He'll be fine Addi," she whispers still staring down at Clint and I pause in the doorway,
"I know he will, Clint's strong," I reply and she looks up at me for the first time since we had strapped him down to the bed.
"I meant Steve," she says and I blanche a little as I stare back at her.
"Why… I don't know… What?" I splutter and she almost smiles as she shakes her head a little turning back to Clint.
"You will, you both will soon I hope," is all she says and then the door is closed and I am leaning against it, barely feeling the pain in my face anymore as confusion instead becomes the main emotion flowing through my veins for a moment. It's true that Steve was the only one of the Avengers that I had not been able to place in the family tree I had formed in my head. Bruce was the father, Clint and Tony my brothers, one annoying but protective when it came down to it the other just incredibly over protective, Nat was the sister I had always wanted, both sharing and kind and protective and pushy. Even Fury had taken his place as slightly creepy and irritating Uncle and Thor had become a cousin of sorts but Steve, I had never worked out how I felt, where he fitted and I assumed it meant we were friends but could it… No! That would be ridiculous, I was still recovering from what Terry had done to me and he was out of his time and still in love with the woman Peggy, he had always loved her, he would always love her, there was no place for me as anything other than a friend.
Taking a deep breath, I hiss a little at the pain the movement causes in my face and, pushing off the wall, I begin to make my way down the corridor, eventually finding the meeting room where Steve and Tony were sitting Fury standing in front of them. Steve is holding some cards in his hands, blood spattered cards that I recognise as the ones agent Coulson had asked Steve to sign and I a little hitching gasp escapes my throat at the look of sadness and regret in Steve's face. He is on his feet in an instant standing over me, his eyes examining me carefully and I have to look away from the intensity in his eyes as he takes in my face.
"Agent Wilcox, Barton and Romanoff?" Fury questions and I sit silently in a seat, tugging Steve down with me trying not to think too much about his close proximity or the confusing feelings that were currently free flowing through my system, I think it must just be the adrenaline, yes, that's what it is!
"Clint is unconscious and Nat is with him, she thinks the hit he took will be enough to bring him back," I say quietly and he nods, "where are the others?" I ask after a moment and they all hang their heads a little.
"Loki has succeeded in scattering us, Thor, Banner they're both god knows where," Steve says and I instinctively grab his hand to other him comfort, letting it go quickly when sparks seem to dance across my skin, I think maybe I hit my head harder than I thought.
"What do we do now then?" I ask trying to sound hopeful in the face of this epic setback.
"We figure out Loki's next move," Fury says simply and for a while we all sit in silence trying to think, trying to comprehend what had happened, what was going to happen.
"He won't be satisfied, he means not to just separate us but to destroy us," Steve says after a while and I look up at him gulping,
"He'll want an audience for that," I comment in a whisper and it is Steve's turn to grab at my hand now and he doesn't let go as he squeezes it trying to offer me some comfort.
"Stark tower," Tony says in a half whisper after another moment and a fraction of second later we are all on our feet.
"Prepare yourselves and suit up, all of you, we'll be in New York within the next five hours," Fury says striding out and I suddenly sit again, feeling as if my legs may give way if I don't.
"Addi…"
"I'm fine," I say before he can finish even as he crouches in front of me taking my small hands in his much larger ones, an action which was beginning to become an all to familiar and comforting one.
"Your face," he sighs as I stand, his fingers tracing the marks that must be appearing and he is standing impossibly close to me now, I was finding it hard to breath actually as his fingers continue to ghost across my face sending sparks of electricity throughout my entire bodyas he does so.
"It's not so bad, I've had much worse," I say, only half lying and I instantly regret it as he tenses all over.
"I hate that you have been hurt," he whispers,
"We have all been hurt Steve but you saved me," I say flushing as I realise the connotations of my words, "you all did, the Avengers I mean, you saved me and gave me a new life and a family,"
"When will you tell me the truth about your past Addi?" he asks now his voice still so quiet and gentle that if he wasn't standing so close to me I wouldn't hear it at all.
"Another time, now… we must concentrate on the mission at hand," I say gazing up at him, for the first time wanting to tell him everything.
"I don't…"
"Let's not argue again, please Steve, I need to know you support me, I… I can't go out there and fight if you are angry with me," I interrupt him and I watch the battle in his eyes as he works out what to say before he growls a little and pulls me suddenly into a very tight hug.
"I'll always be on your side Addi, you're my best friend," he whispers into my hair and despite myself I can feel my heart sink a little, not that I was expecting him to profess his undying love for me or anything but it was a little gutting to know he saw me as no more than a friend.
"Come on then Cap, let's get to it," I say plastering a fake smile across my face and moving out of his intoxicating presence slightly. Nat and Clint are standing in the doorway as I turn towards it smirking and I feel myself flush as tears gather in my eyes and so I shake my head a tiny bit at them and just about see them begin to frown before I push past them and head to my room to change into a fresher outfit and clean the cuts on my face a little.