The Avenger in Red
Chapter 7
The rest of Maeve's day passed in a blur. She had a meeting with Director Fury and Agent Maria Hill, who asked the usual questions, ("why did you leave the Red Room", "What do you want from S.H.I.E.L.D", etc.) then dismissed her. After that she had gone to the training area and kicked Steve's ass again, much to Tony's amusement, until she had fought him and torn his Iron Man suit off of him piece by piece with her new found ability to control metal after JARVIS had scanned her and found an anomaly in her neural patterns. Then it was everyone else's turn to laugh as he ran around trying to avoid being doused in water by Maeve (who succeeded in about 10 seconds). Straight after training she went to hone her accuracy skills with Clint, who helped her transfer her skills to the bow and arrow. Finally, it was off to the showers for the second time that day.
The highlight had been dinner though, the main attraction being Clint dropping out of the vents (he always seemed to be in there) and landing on Natasha, who practically drop kicked him back to his own seat. Rubbing his backside, Clint had moaned for the rest of the meal, until Maeve had threatened to dangle him from the ceiling with his cutlery, making good on her threat 10 minutes later.
Now Maeve was sat in her room (her own room, in between Natasha and Bruce, and opposite Steve). Tony was in the middle of redoing the Avengers Tower after the Loki incident, meaning the avengers shared a floor for their bedrooms until the remodelling was done. After that, if Fury decided she could join the team, Maeve would have her own floor of the tower. For now though, one room it was. She tossed and turned for at least two hours, not wanting to face the unavoidable nightmares. Eventually sleep claimed her, and she sank into the black pit of guilt and anger that became her dreams.
"You're weak" the voices hissed. Maeve stood in an abandoned version of the Avengers tower, hearing the voices of her fellow trainees. They haunted her, following her wherever she went. Her room was deserted, so she backed down the corridor to the lift. On the way down, the voices whispered the cruel, harsh truths of her life. She was a waste. Unwanted. Untrustworthy. Dangerous. A cold, heartless machine. Then the lift dinged open and her supposedly cold heart nearly stopped. Steve Rogers was lying there, curled up in a ball while the voices she heard had taken form and were beating, slashing and shooting him with guns and knives and fists and feet. She screamed and screamed, hers mingling with his that had suddenly become deafening in her ears, before the floor fell away and she woke up.
"Maeve, Maeve! It's okay, you had a nightmare, it's just a dream it's alright!" A male voice whispered and the girl stopped struggling in his arms and looked up, her eyes wet and tired. She groaned when she saw Steve himself looking at her, not bruised and bloody, but perfectly fine, not an injury to be seen.
"I'm sorry I woke you up, it was just a nightmare…" Maeve out her head in her hands and wiped her eyes, then tried to protest and send Steve back to bed, but he wouldn't listen.
"It's fine. I was having trouble sleeping anyway. It must have been some nightmare because I couldn't wake you for at least five minutes." Steve said softly, his eyes full of concern. "Do you want to talk about it?" Maeve shook her head, but the words came tumbling out anyway:
"I was here, in the tower, but there were voices everywhere, the ones of the people I trained with, in the- in that place. They were whispering stuff in my ears, calling me unwanted and untrustworthy, like a cold, heartless machine. The followed me everywhere, until I reached the living room. Then I saw…" She didn't want to tell him what she'd seen, but took a deep breath before continuing anyway. "I saw you, lying on the floor being beaten by the voices, but they had actual bodies now… they had guns and knives and were kicking and punching you. Then the floor fell away and I woke up here."
Now that Maeve had told someone about her dream, she felt weak and stupid. She turned away from Steve and read her clock, which said 3:00am. The soldier, who had said nothing as she explained, now took her hand and turned her towards him. It was incredible, the way his blue eyes could lock onto hers and know exactly how she was feeling.
"You don't need to be ashamed of these nightmares, it's not a sign of weakness at all. You're a brave and strong person for coming to us, and what you can do is just incredible." Steve said slowly. It was what Maeve wanted to hear, and she felt better for it.
"I really am sorry I woke you up, you can go back to bed now Steve…" Maeve whispered, her eyes dry now, and she was returning to her normal self. At the sound of his name, a small smile twisted Steve's mouth, and he hugged Maeve gently before releasing her and walking to the door.
"I'll see you for our run tomorrow then" he grinned and walked out the door, and Maeve had seen a slight blush creep across his cheeks after he hugged her. With the lingering feeling of his arms around her acting like a shield, she fell into a dreamless sleep.