By the time that Clint had gotten the message and was able to get to the compound, Nicki was asleep. The SHIELD medics had told Pietro that she was concuss, but other than that, perfect health. No broken bones, or major wounds. The older Barton had come running into the compound at full sprint.
"Where's Nicki?" He breathed, coming to a stop in the living area.
"She's sleeping." Steve stood to calm his team mate, but the purple wearing shirt walked past him to Natasha.
"She shouldn't be sleeping, she's probably concuss!" Natasha stood and and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Medics said she is concussed, but Pietro is in the room to monitor her and wake her every two hours." Natasha tried to reason with the frantic Clint. Pulling away from Natasha, he walked down the hall to Nicki's room. Opening the door, he saw Pietro first. The boy was sprawled in a chair Nicki had in the corner next to her bed. Nicki herself was lying in the center of her bed, fluffy blankets pulled to her neck. She was swamped on the mess of pillows and blankets that the bed provided.
"How is she?" Clint whispered. Pietro opened his eyes and sat up in the chair. His eyes glanced over Nicki and back to Clint.
"She had headache before she fell asleep, but she will be okay." Pietro ran his fingers through his hair, fixing the wild mess. Clint sighed, and sat on the edge of the bed. Pushing Nicki's hair out of her face, be bent down a kissed her forehead.
"I really don't hate her, you know." Clint spoke.
"Never said you did." Pietro leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah, but I can tell you think that. You and Wanda are so close, and I fight with Nicki everyday." Clint moved his hand from Nicki's hair, and leaned back on the headboard. "She's just so stubborn."
"But your suppose to keep her grounded. Most of the time, it is Wanda who is the grounded one. But it was not always that way. When we were first changed by Stucker's experiments, Wanda was scared, and not so grounded." Pietro explained to the blond man. "I believe Nicki is the same. Except she is still scared."
"She told me I never asked her about the island. She was right."
"They usually are. I do not even bother to question Wanda on things anymore." Clint chuckled, and looked at his little sister.
"I should probably do the same."
When Nicki woke up, she had a massive headache. Still. Pushing the blankets off, she sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. Glancing around the room she saw Clint sprawled across the bottom of her bed and Pietro was laid across a chair. Sliding her feet out of the bed, she inspected the carpet for a moment as she stood, allowing for her vision to clear. Taking her time, she walked down the hallway slowly. Upon reaching the kitchen, she found Wanda making breakfast.
"Morning." Nicki mumbled. Wanda turned around quickly.
"Nicki! How are you feeling?" The brunette gave Nicki a hug and helped her to a chair. Sitting down, the blonde leaned on the counter, Wanda handing her a mug of coffee.
"Fine, I guess."
"Everyone was worried. You should have seen Pietro carry you in. I thought he was going to run a hole in the foor."
"Yeah, when I woke up he was still in the room. Clint was there too." Nicki began to drink the coffee.
"What happened? You were not gone for more than two hours."
"Got in another fight with Clint, went out, tried to be nice, crashed a car, and now I'm here." Nicki gave a smile and gave the shortest version possible.
"In other words, if you did not fight with your brother, you would not have gotten in trouble." Wanda turned the stove off and sat next to Nicki. "With Silias coming back, you are going to need your brother. No matter what had occurred in the past, Clint truly wants to help. I can tell that much."
"Yeah, I should probably talk to him. After all I did storm." Nicki downed the last of her coffee, and slowly got off the chair. "Thanks Wanda." Nicki began her way down the hallway, her hand trailing on the wall.
"Nicki!" Wanda called out, causing Nicki to look over her shoulder. "With Silas looming over you, you will need Clint. If anything, you need your family." Nicki smiled and turned back around, walking down the hallway. After a few moments of walking, Nicki was hit with a wave of nausea. Leaning against the wall, the blonde closed her eyes. Taking slow breaths, her eyes shot open at a touch on her shoulder.
"You okay? When I came in last night you were asleep." Clint stood in front of her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Nicki pushed off the wall, and began her slow walk back to her room. Clint, who was originally on his way to get coffee, detoured and helped Nicki down the hall.
"Are you sure? I mean apparently you wouldn't tell me if you weren't okay." Clint said, glancing at his little sister. Her eyebrows knit, trying to decide whether that was meant as an insult of not. At this moment, she couldn't handle another fight, so she laughed.
"Yeah, I'll be good after I figure out what Silas wants. I mean, he hacked, then radio silence. I don't get it."
"Yeah, it has been a while." The Bartons walked in silence, and Clint broke it with three simple words. "I was wrong." This cause Nicki to quickly look up at him.
"What?"
"I never did ask you about the island. I didn't want to." Nicki rolled her eyes.
"Cause that's what I wanna hear. You didn't want to know about he island. Fantastic." Nicki spit, and as if Clint could feel her blood begin to boil, he quickly finished his statement.
"I didn't want to know because, that would make it real." Clint took a step away from Nicki, facing her.
"Clint, it was real. For months, it was real."
"Thats not what I meant. It would be real that I failed. I wasn't able to keep you safe, and I left you alone. I didn't want to recognize that I failed us. The Bartons." Clint sighed.
"Well, if we are being 'real', then I failed us too I guess." Clint began to laugh.
"You guess? Okay Nicki, I'll let you think on that." Chuckling, he opened the door to Nicki's room.
"What, I didn't know we were suppose to prepare speeches! I mean jeez, how long did it take you to come up with that?" The siblings smiled and laughed as if the island have never happened. Clint felt his pocket begin to vibrate. Digging into his jeans he answered the call. Turning his back, he began to talk on his cell. Nicki walked over to her bed and plopped down, grabbing a pillow to throw at the still sleeping speedster. Pietro jumped up and looked around the room.
"Rise and shine dear." Nicki smiled before turning back to her brother who was still on the phone.
"How ar-"
"If I hear another person ask me how I'm doing, someone is going to get smacked." Nicki took a sip of the water bottle on her nightstand.
"Glad to see you are okay then." Pietro stood and stretched his legs out from being in a chair all night.
"You know you didn't have to stay in here all night, you did more than enough by coming to get me." Nicki looked at the silver-haired man, whose stomach was growling. Clint came back into the room, an annoyed look on his face.
"Hey, so someone decided it would be a brilliant idea to have a prison break. In the middle of New York City. So in other words The Avengers need to go figure this out." Clint groaned.
"Isn't that a job for the police?" Nicki questioned, her eyebrows knitting together.
"Yeah, but it was a lot of the guys that we put up in the first place. So Steve called us all in."
"All of us?" Pietro questioned, crossing his arms across his chest, leaning against a wall.
"Not the new team. You guys are suppose to stay here and hold down the base, incase any of them come knocking."
"So it's you, Nat, Cap, and Stark?" Nicki stated, crossing her feet underneath of her, placing her hands in her lap. "What about Banner and Thor?"
"Banner just left on a personal thing, something about his blood pressure. And Thor is back on Asgard taking care of the Loki's scepter." Clint's phone began to beep loudly. "That would be the Captain. I need to go now. You guys stay here, and keep an ear out. Call if you need anything." Clint walked out of the room to go change into his uniform. Nicki stood up and began to walk to her closet.
"What are you doing?"Pietro inquired, watching the blonde.
"I'm gonna take a shower, then probably go over some old files about the island." Nicki opened the door to the bathroom, and Pietro began to head to the kitchen to talk to Wanda. Pietro stuck his head back into the room.
"Quick question. If you are scared of water, how does the shower not scare you?"
"It's not the water I'm scared of, its of things I cant control. Large water currents are included in that. Also, my feet remain in contact with the ground in the shower."
"That makes sense. I'll be in the living room if you need something." And with that, Pietro left to go fill Wanda in about the prison break.
So I know it's short, but it really just a filler chapter to set up the next one. Hopefully it will be long and action packed. So let me know what you guys think and give me some feedback! On a side note, I start my senior year tommorrow. So I'll update when I can, but It will probally be a little bit abnormal in the schedule. Till next time, enjoy!