So.. how's everybody doing?
I've been cranking these out, and I'm happy about it. It's nice to be updating on a daily basis.
I do not own Marvel.
This is the second part of the Downtime moments with other Avengers.
3rd POV
"No.. don't sho.. Leave her be…" Heather whimpers to herself. "..Where are you?" She turns over. 'I can't- I can't find her! She's here, I can hear her, but-'
Heather sits up, panting. She's started to sweat. She looks around, realizing she was a having a nightmare. Her room is still dark. She sighs, trying to stop her racing heart.
'That felt too real.' She pushes the covers away and stands up. She tip toes passed the other bedroom doors to the stairs. Each one is closed, no one else is up. She doesn't stop at the living room and walks right out onto the porch.
The screen door that Steve added recently hits the frame with a 'thwap,' making Heather cringe. But the only thing that follows the loudest noise she has made since she's been up is silence.
She sits down on the bench, looking out at the scene before her. The nightmare is still fresh in her mind, behaving more like a night terror than anything.
The Hydra goon had a mask on, his facial features obscured. He has his hands firm on her brother, and Heather wants them off. Andrew looks at her with absolute fear. "Heather save me!"
Heather couldn't. She was free, nothing holding her down. But she couldn't. She couldn't move. Her feet were planted in their spots. "One step and she dies," the Hydra goon says. Heather looks up. It's now her mother on her knees, a gun to her temple. "Now drop the weapon."
Heather looks to her hand. She's holding a gun, the same one that she had strapped above her tailbone on her first mission. The one she never fired. She looks up. "Sweetheart, save me," her mother says. Heather looks at the gun again. A sickening feeling in her stomach builds.
"Only for you, Mom," Heather says, "No one but my family." Heather lifts the gun and aims at the man's head. He reaches up and takes his mask off; It's her dad. Heather stares in horror, but then the whole scene fades away and Heather falls into space below her. She lands with a thud and her whole body fills with pain. She has bruises, cuts, gashes, and burns all over her body.
"Heather...!" Heather looks up. That's Leslie's voice, distant. She stands up and sees she's in a hallway. There is no where to go behind her, so she walks forward. A door appears at the end. "Heather!" Leslie's voice is louder. Heather runs to the door. "HEATHER HELP!"
Leslie is right behind the door, Heather can feel it. She opens the door- There's another hallway, just like the one she left. "Leslie?" Heather asks.
"Heather…!" The older sibling runs again, to the end of the hall. There's another hallway, and Leslie is once again in the distance. Every door she reaches, her sister is always too far away.
Heather snaps herself out of the memory. She feels sick. She couldn't help her brother, she almost shot her dad for her mom, and she couldn't find her sister. She puts her hands on her head and shakes it slowly, to get rid of the questions that go through her head. 'Why did I dream that?'
The screen door snaps again, jolting Heather to sit up. She looks to her right and sees Natasha standing there, wearing her black pjs. There's a small silence that follows. "Are you alright?" Natasha asks.
Heather sits up a little more, "Yeah, just.. Couldn't sleep," she tells the half-truth. Natasha sits next to her.
"Any reason?" Natasha asks. Heather shakes her head. "Heather, you're crying," Natasha adds, like it was obvious. Heather touches her cheek and warm tears transfer to her fingers and lazily trickle down.
"Oh.." Heather crosses her arms over her stomach, willing the sickening feeling to pass. It doesn't. "I had a night terror," she admits.
"Want to tell me about it?" Natasha suggests, a little out of her element. Heather shakes her head, so Natasha doesn't press the matter. They sit there together, watching the fireflies blink and listen to the trees rustle in the distance.
"..Why are you up?" Heather asks.
"I heard the screen door slam. Thought it best to check for an intruder." Heather looks at her. She sees a mask on Natasha's face, but there are cracks where pain pushes through.
"I know you're lying," Heather states.
"..How?"
Heather looks away, "If I tell you, then you'll adapt." She peeks at the ex-assassin, "So why are you really up?"
Natasha doesn't answer. Now it's Heather's turn to not press it. Natasha doesn't seem like the person that would answer.
Natasha looks at Heather. She finds herself looking at Heather like she's her little sister, in need of protecting and encouragement. She hasn't been the greatest at family related things, but she feels a bond toward the teen.
Natasha agrees with Steve. Heather is not a soldier. She shouldn't be trained to be like any of them; especially Natasha Romanoff. "I'm sorry that I insisted that you carry a gun," Natasha says, "you don't have to if you aren't comfortable with it."
"I forgive you. I'm glad I didn't have to use it," Heather says. Natasha looks up at the stars. "..Are you ever going to tell me about why you are up?" Heather prods.
Natasha stiffens. The doors open, the smell is enough to make her puke, but she stays stoic. Don't show emotion, emotions are weak.
"You will be strong."
Natasha blinks. She had a nightmare too. Only hers was a memory. A memory of the Red Room, of her upbringing, of all the lessons she took. But there is no way that she's going to tell Heather about that.
She looks at Heather and sighs. "It's in the past. I'd like to leave it there."
Heather considers the statement for a moment. "Okay," she decides. Natasha is relieved that Heather isn't being as stubborn as she was before. She's more.. Timid, cautious.
'Maybe her terror was about her family,' Natasha guesses. She's about to ask Heather what her nightmare was about again, but then she feels something lean against her shoulder.
She looks to her left and sees it is a head of tangled brown hair. Heather doesn't make a big deal out of it, she just needs the comfort. But for Natasha, this is big. Heather trusts her.
"You are the little sister I never had," Natasha says quietly in Russian.
Steve had to go out on a personal mission, so he entrusted Sam with Heather's training for the day or days he's gone. After the stretches and a brief sparring, they ended up at the track. Heather stretches again on the black top and Sam takes a drink of water.
"Do you know what his mission was about?" Heather asks.
Sam shakes his head as he screws the cap back on his bottle. "My only guess is it is to look for Bucky. But.. I could be wrong."
"I'm just glad I'm not stuck with Stark for the time he's gone," Heather says as she stands up.
"Why's that?" Sam asks.
"He'd talk in his science jargon and I would easily get bored. And when I'm A. bored and B. around Tony, I end up doing something to get him on my bad side. I have yet to feel retaliation, and it's fun to mess with him, but I have a feeling he's planning something." Heather smiles, "Plus, you're easier to hang out with."
They take positions on the track. "Go!" Heather and Sam are off for a run. Sam pumps his arms and legs back and forth. Then Heather passes him on his right. 'Okay, she's got Steve's stamina.'
And she disappears around the bend. Sam goes about a fourth of the way around, and Heather passes him again.
'Really?' Heather disappears behind the trees as she makes the turn. She appears behind him again not much longer. "Really, you're going to keep doing that?" He asks as she passes him. Heather chuckles a little before pulling ahead.
Sam comes to a stop at the beginning of the track again and slows to a walk, huffing and sweating like crazy. Heather's already there. "You okay?" she asks. She hands him his bottle.
"Why.. did I think, racing you.." Sam says as he unscrews the cap. He takes a long drink. "Would be a good idea?" Heather laughs a little, aware of the irony.
Heather stares at the computer screen. The game she's playing is boring, easy, and not amusing in the slightest. She turns to look at Tony, who is halfway under one of the many projects he's working on. She looks back at the screen. She moves the chair she's sitting in back and forth on its swivel, making an irritating squeaking noise.
"Do you have to be down here?" Tony asks.
"I'm not bothering you, so quit complaining," Heather says, "And yeah, I do. Steve isn't back yet and Sam had to join him."
"And everyone else-"
"Is busy," Heather finishes.
"You are in my space," Tony states, "you always bother me."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asks, shutting off the computer game.
"..Put more coffee in the machine," Tony decides. Heather stares at him.
'Seriously?' Tony stands up and wipes off his hands. Heather sees the dark circles under his eyes. Heather looks at the coffee machine that is sitting on the desk. Tony had bought one for easy access in his lab. "How long have you been up, Stark?" Heather questions casually.
"About.. Four days," Tony answers, squinting at his calendar. Heather nods, just to show she's listening. She crouches down and opens the coffee cupboard. She looks at the different canisters and finds one Steve bought on the last trip to a store. She smiles.
She stands up with it and fills the machine. She closes the cupboard and walks away from the machine. Before she can get back to her game, the door opens and Steve walks in. "I'm back, I'd like to go over something with you, Heather," he says.
"Okay," Heather instantly stands up off the chair that she put her butt back on a second ago and walks up the stairs with him.
Tony walks to the machine and gets another mug of coffee. He sits back at a project and starts to tinker. He takes a sip of the coffee. Sometime later, he realizes that it isn't going to help him. Tony groans groggily and walks up the stairs.
Steve and Heather are still in the barn. Steve shows her a move and she mimics him. Tony walks over to them. Heather sees him and smirks. "Heather.." he says, "Did you check to see what the can said before filling the coffee machine?"
"Mmhm," she says, "you need sleep."
"I told you to-"
"She's right, Tony," Steve says, stepping in, "go to the house. Ten hours at least, nothing less."
Tony grumbles to himself and starts shuffling to the doors. "I'm just trying to look out for you Stark!" Heather calls after him, "Someone has to."
As you can see, I don't have a specific moment for Steve. That's because he and Heather will be having a lot of said moments.
I'd love to hear feedback! You guys are awesome!
Next ones are a part one part two again.
Heh.. I just realized something. This is chapter marks the beginning of summer in the story, and it's the beginning of summer. :D HOW COOL IS THAT!?
~CtW