"Alex!"

I groaned and rolled over. " Go away."

"Alex!"

My eyes fluttered open. I sat up, my hand scraping bark.

Crap. It wasn't a dream.

I leaned over and looked down the side of the oak. Far below on the ground stood Cap, in a hoodie and jeans.

"Come down here!"

My breath turned shallow in my lungs. I couldn't go down. He'd take me to the tower and, and-

I'd have to face Bruce.

I quickly stood up and leaned against the tree, my pulse quickening. "Go away, Cap."

"Alex, come down. It was all just-"

"Go Away!" I yelled. I quickly walked out onto a limb before jumping into the closest tree. I climbed slightly higher in that tree before jumping to another. I had to get away, and fast. Maybe I could lose him in the trees-

I heard muttering behind me. I froze as I saw Steve slowly making his way up the tree. He breathed heavily as he finally reached the limb I was on. "Don't," He gasped," Move."

I took a step back. "Go away, Steve. Leave me alone."

He ignored me."Do you know what has been going on at the tower? We have looked everywhere for you! Tony is combing the city, Bruce has gone through hundreds of security cameras-"

I sucked in a breath. "He has?"

"Yes! We've been worried sick! We thought you'd gotten mugged, or lost, or-or- SOMETHING!"

I took another step back. I raised my hands into the air, surrendering. " I'm sorry. What are you doing here?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Me, Nat, and Clint have been walking the streets. We've checked in alleys and abandoned buildings." He looked at me and shook his head. "Why did you run off?"

I froze. "Bruce didn't tell you?"

Steve shook his head again. "He was really vague. He said he had seen you run off, but he wouldn't tell us anything else."

I looked down. "He must have been... very worried."

Steve stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We all were."

I sighed. "Call up the team. I'll come back to the tower. Just-"

CRAAAACK.

I had forgotten we were standing on a tree branch. While it held all of my weight fine, it couldn't handle the combined weight of me and Steve, especially once he stepped out onto the limb with me. Panicking, I used all my strength to push Steve back against the tree trunk.

His eyes grew wide. "Alex-!"

CRA-A-ACK.

I screamed as the branch bowed beneath my weight. There was no time to pull out wings. My leg gave a sickening crunch as I landed on it. I passed out when my skull smashed against the concrete sidewalk./div