A/N: A day early technically, but I had it ready, I had the free time, and also I have zero self-control so… Side note, I technically recast the X-Men mentally. I just needed them older than the newest X-Men movies, but I didn't super like the cast of the older X-Men movies? Just in case you're curious. Uhhhhh I feel like I had one more announcement but I've lost it. Totes love y'all!
Chapter #10:
…It Pours
"Come on, man. Can't you see? I'm… I'm poison, Sam. People get close to me, they get killed… or worse. You know, I tell myself that I—I help more people than I hurt. And I tell myself that I'm… I'm doing it all for the right reasons, and I—I believe that. But I can't… I won't… Drag anybody through the muck with me. Not anymore." –Dean Winchester
He wasn't sure what worried him more, that the world now knew about him or the fact that not a single person would let him look at what was happening. The moment news had broken on the plane his phone had been taken from him. Well, taken wasn't a good word for it. Aj said the choice had been his but she pleaded that he give her his phone just for now. Just until things settled a little bit. Bucky briefly considered saying no, he wanted to see what the world was painting him as exactly, but he knew she had his best interests at heart. She always did. It didn't help that he was pretty sure he couldn't physically deny her anything. Aj could ask him for the stars, and he'd start talking to Stark about rocket ship designs.
Even once the plane landed, he had no time to look at anything. Steve immediately whisked him into the Compound to see Muneeba who was apparently already waiting for him. As Steve led him through the lobby to get to her office, he felt on edge. It was the first time he felt on edge in this building in a while. Bucky was aware that no one was actually looking at him. They didn't recognize him. Probably because he looked healthy and not feral. Still, he felt like someone was staring at him. It was paranoia, he knew this, but it bothered him all the same.
"Stay out of sight, alright?" Steve implored as Muneeba answered the door with a soft greeting.
Bucky shook his head. He hated that Steve would now be worried about him before going out on a mission. It was a recipe for disaster. Bucky gave him a firm, reassuring smile, "I'll be fine here. Just watch your ass out there, punk."
Steve chuckled once and pulled him into a brief hug before jogging away. Muneeba motioned for Bucky to come in, and once he was in the warmth of her office she closed the door behind them. It was habit for him to cross the room and drop down in his usual seat. It almost felt like any other visit he had with her. As if the severity of everything around him hadn't fully clicked in his brain. Bucky was still waiting for the dread of this entire situation to hit him.
"You seem to be handling this well." Muneeba commented as she sat down beside him.
Bucky gave her a curious look, glancing over at her usual empty seat across from him then back to her, "Uh, yeah. I don't know. I haven't seen anything yet. Maybe that's why."
"No other reason?" Muneeba raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well," Bucky hesitated for only a second. Talking with Muneeba had gotten significantly easier for him. It helped that he knew nothing he said here would ever leave the confines of these four walls, "I think I expected this. It had to come eventually. I wasn't going to be able to hide in the Compound with the Avengers forever."
Muneeba nodded, "That's a fair assessment." She turned and grabbed a tablet from the side table by the couch. It was one like Tony used. Muneeba turned it on while speaking, "Who kept you from seeing anything?"
"It was Aj's idea." Bucky answered.
"Smart girl. I'm still trying to find a way to speak to her, but she's as wily as Tony Stark on the topic of therapy." Muneeba chuckled and Bucky smiled to himself. He expected no less from the firecracker dame. Bucky wondered if there was anything he could say that might change her mind. "I want you to watch something."
Bucky stiffened, "The news?"
"Yes." Muneeba nodded. "A news broadcast. I don't want you to speak. I just want you to watch and listen carefully. Okay?"
Bucky nodded even though he wasn't entirely sure if was even ready for it yet. She folded the tablet's case so it could stand on the coffee table in front of them. He nervously settled in his seat, expecting the worst, as she hit play.
The broadcast began, 'Good Morning, America!' ran across the bottom banner as the camera panned down to a group of people sitting in chairs in a circle on a stage. A well-dressed blonde woman was the first to speak, "So, finally, we're hitting the big topic that the entire world seems to be talking about."
"About time." The man beside her chimed in with a chuckle.
"A real Annie story. That is… if Annie had been a dangerous criminal with questionable motives. Aimee Jane Bradshaw." The blonde woman shook her head. Bucky's eyes widened in confusion and he turned to look at Muneeba who just motioned for him to continue watching. He focused back on the screen. "The Avengers hired this girl as a personal assistant for Tony Stark himself."
A third man spoke, "Typical behavior for the playboy superhero." He motioned to a picture they pulled up of Aj running errands around New York in business clothes. Bucky had seen the picture before on a magazine. "I mean, it is right up Tony Stark's alley to hire a pretty face over anybody with actual qualifications."
The group laughed and Bucky stiffened in annoyance at the comment.
"Right!" The woman nodded. "Which is why we all turned a blind eye to it! The only question we had was when were we going to hear about the next sexual harassment scandal." Another laugh, Bucky's hand tightened into a fist in his lap. "But as it turns out this is much more exciting. John?"
The man beside her nodded, "Yes. So, a source revealed that Aimee Jane Bradshaw wasn't just some pretty face plucked off the street. She has a history." He pulled out a folder and flipped it open. "Arrested in the past for illegal underground fighting, drug possession, resisting an officer, aggravated assault, and the list keeps going. So, in case you're just tuning in the summary is this: The Avengers, the world's mightiest heroes, hired an actual criminal off the streets to do their laundry."
"No, John, she was promoted remember?" The other man commented. "She's their PR agent now."
"Right, right." The man laughed. "Makes sense since she has such an extensive history of PR experience. I believe it's on her resume right under 'breaking bones for money' and above 'drug abuse'."
The woman nodded, "Well, dealing with the Avengers all day has to be exhausting. The cocaine could just be a pick me up. Coffee just won't cover it."
Bucky felt himself get physically angry at the screen. Aj wasn't some drug abusing criminal. The only time it had ever entered her system was when they forced it into her against her will a couple months ago. The drug possession charge had been because she was breaking up a drug deal, trying to stop a younger fighter from buying anything, and when the cops showed she got caught at the scene with it. They didn't mention any of that though.
"My question is this, how are we supposed to trust the Avengers when their judgement is obviously so skewed?" A man questioned. "I mean, she is living in the Tower with them, she's right there with all the classified information and potential weapons, and they just let her roam free? It's a recipe for disaster. What happens when the lawless side of her decides she doesn't want to make an honest living? All it'll take is her grabbing a Stark grade weapon and disappearing out onto the streets. The amount of damage she could do with that alone—"
"Exactly." The woman nodded while pointing at him for emphasis. "And, I was looking at another report… She nearly beat a man to death with her bare hands. Her bare hands! Officers got to the scene in time, but most of the damage had already been done. Aimee Bradshaw isn't just a criminal. She's violent. She's dangerous. She's—"
Bucky's hand shot out to lock the tablet so the video would cut off. He leaned back into his seat in irritation. Muneeba rose from her seat and moved to sit back in the one across from him. She laced her fingers together, "What do you think?"
"I think I'm pissed off." Bucky snapped. "Why would you—"
"Were they right?"
Bucky's eyes narrowed, "No." He leaned forward. "No, they weren't. They had no idea what the hell they were talking about. Aj isn't… She had her reasons—She was forced into a debt and tortured—"
"I showed this to you because what they did to her is exactly what they're doing to you now." Muneeba said firmly and Bucky felt any other words he had die out. Muneeba leaned forward slightly. "Aj has a past. On paper, she doesn't look very good. But you and the others know that everything she did was for a reason. And yes, she made some mistakes, but there was more to the story. That if they took the time to hear her side of it, their opinions might change." She paused. "Bucky, do you think Aj deserved the treatment the media gave her?"
Bucky knew where this was going. He sighed, "No, but—"
"No buts." Muneeba cut in. "I want you to remember this moment. Remember that Aj didn't deserve any of that and realize that neither do you."
"Aj never killed anyone." Bucky said between clenched teeth.
"She killed Eugene Mo—"
"Don't." Bucky snapped with more venom than he meant to. He didn't even want to hear the name of that bastard. Not after listening to the fear in Aj's voice as she talked about how her happy place was taken from her by him. Hearing his name would make him think of that day. It would make him think of her red blood and the light fading from her eyes. He shook his head, "It's not the same thing, and you know it."
Muneeba nodded once, "When HYDRA ordered you to kill someone…what would happen?"
"They'd die." Bucky scoffed in confusion.
She gave him a firm look, "When HYDRA ordered you to kill someone, did you tell them you would?" Bucky opened his mouth, but she held one hand up and continued. "Did you, James 'Bucky' Barnes, tell them you would? I'm not referring to Yakov or the Winter Soldier. I'm talking about you. The man sitting here in front of me right now. Did you ever say yes to killing someone they told you to?"
"I couldn't say no." Bucky replied, and he hated that his voice cracked. "I couldn't say anything."
Muneeba's eyes turned soft, "You couldn't say no. You had no choice. They'd tell you to do something, and you would be forced to do it. Your body would comply without giving your mind any other option." She pressed her lips together. "Bucky, they never let you say no. To anything they told you to do. You were at the mercy of evil men and women."
Bucky's jaw clenched and he closed his eyes to take in a calming breath. Everything she said was true. He knew that. There were moments where he could so clearly remember surfacing enough to know what was happening, to understand what his hands were doing, but all he could do was scream. Bucky never had a choice in the matter. It killed him inside that he was never strong enough to put a stop to what his body was doing. That when he realized this, his conscious would just fade into the back corner of his mind to quietly watch in horror. He was never given the opportunity to choose anything for himself. The mission was given and regardless of what it was his body followed through.
"They are going to—They are saying horrible, terrible things about you, Bucky." Muneeba whispered. "But that's what they are paid to do. Most news outlets—Actually, I feel comfortable including them all. Every single news outlet in this world is paid to scandalize. It isn't about the truth anymore. It's about who can put out the flashiest, most attention-grabbing headline and unfortunately, in this day and age, bad news sells better than good news."
There was a pause of silence where Bucky let these words roll around in his head. He was starting to realize that these therapy sessions were just a physical person stating the logical, most obvious thing. If Bucky sat down and really thought about it, he knew all of this already. Looking at Aj's situation, this is exactly what he would say to her. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't get his broken brain to comfort him in the same way. It's like it tried to force him to believe he was the exception. As if what Muneeba said was true for everyone in the world except for him.
"I can't stop you from seeking out the news." Muneeba shrugged. "It's your decision on whether or not you want to watch and hear what they are saying right now, but I do ask that you give yourself the same thought process you gave Aj as you watched that news clip. Don't sit there and absorb what they say without thought. Defend yourself. Just like you did Aj."
Bucky wondered if he could.
If he even knew how to cut himself any sort of slack.
Muneeba suddenly stood and offered him a warm smile, "Come. Let me walk you back to the living space."
"You don't have to do that." Bucky shook his head and stood.
"I'd like to." Muneeba replied simply. He returned her smile and the two of them walked out of her office toward where the private elevators would be. He was thankful she came with him. Bucky wasn't sure how to explain it but having her there beside him felt nice. If he had been alone, the paranoia of being seen would've eaten him alive. Suffocated him. Having her beside him, talking to him lovingly about her daughter and son, was a happy distraction. Muneeba gave him one last comforting smile, telling him to text or call her at any time of day if he needed anything at all, and then he stepped into the elevator and left.
Being back in the private areas would help him, he thought. It was something he knew well. It was a place he felt comfortable. The moment he stepped out onto the floor he was greeted by the twins who had matching looks of concern. Bucky briefly thought the concern was because of what was happening with him, but it didn't feel right. Something wasn't right. His eyes traced the common space behind them, and he didn't like that he couldn't see Aj.
"What's going on?" Bucky asked firmly.
"Sam just called us." Wanda answered. Her eyes flashed red, something he knew only happened when her emotions were overwhelming her. "Him and Aj are going to Alabama right now. Aj's old caretaker, a woman named Rosie, is in the hospital."
Bucky felt his heart plummet to his stomach. He had yet to meet the infamous 'Granny' but Aj spoke of her with nothing but love and adoration. The Avengers were her family now, but Rosie Tanner was the only family Aj had left from her past. His hand shot to his pockets to grab his phone so he could call her, but he found nothing but emptiness. Aj had never returned his phone to him. Worry and fear ate at him, enough so that he almost couldn't even think about what the world was saying about him, and he wondered how things could go from perfect to terrible so quickly.
When it rains…
"X-Men."
Tony blinked in anticipation and waited for the punchline that was sure to be coming because this had to be a joke. Unfortunately, Coulson was wearing his serious agent face. Tony glanced around the room to see he wasn't the only skeptical one at least. Steve sat beside him in confusion, and Clint and Natasha were sharing a look that only they'd understand from one another. All of them were in uniform ready for a fight and instead they got this unusual debriefing.
"These people," Clint pointed to the screen that had various pictures pulled up, some of better than quality than others, "Call themselves 'X-Men'?" Coulson nodded once and Clint scoffed. "That's lame as hell."
"Okay, Mr. Avenger." Kate replied dryly from where she sat, and Clint narrowed his eyes at her. Kate and Coulson were the only two from this team to be in on this meeting. The others, along with Vision, were busy trying to track Rumlow down again. Tony had his own program in the background running to do the same. He wondered who'd find the asshole first.
Steve cleared his throat, "So these are the new players you referred to?"
"New to us, yes, but not actually new." Coulson replied. "From what Daisy has pulled up so far, they were established in the late 70's when the hunt for mutants had reached its peak."
"How come we haven't heard about them then?" Clint asked.
"Because unlike us, they're good at keeping a low profile." Coulson answered plainly.
Clint and Steve opened their mouths to try and argue, even Tony had his own argument ready to go, but Natasha cut them all off with a roll of her eyes, "We fucking joined Instagram. They win at being incognito. They win by a landslide."
Okay, that was a pretty good point.
"Now, mutants?" Natasha moved onto her main point. "Not inhumans?"
"Not inhumans. Inhumans are descendants from the Kree. Far, far descendants, but descendants all the same. Their genetic code reads as Kree, and once they go through terrigenesis that code is activated." Coulson explained. "Mutants on the other hand are entirely human. They're humans who have… well…"
Tony raised an eyebrow, "Mutated?"
Coulson nodded with a grimace, "Yeah. Essentially. They have something called the 'X-gene'—"
Clint laughed, "Oh, okay, I get the 'X-Men' thing now."
He was ignored entirely.
Coulson continued, "It gives them abnormal and unusual abilities."
"Like?" Steve asked.
Coulson pressed a button, and three pictures were zoomed in on, "As far as we can tell it's as random as inhumans. For example, these three are the ones we met today." He pointed to them as he spoke. "Jean Gray. From what we can tell she has some form of telekinesis."
"She also read our minds and pushed her own thoughts to creepy talk to us in our heads." Kate said.
"Scott Summers." Coulson continued. "Also known as Cyclops—" Clint laughed again "He has some kind of…laser vision."
Natasha gave him a dry look, "Did you just say laser vision?"
"Unfortunately." Coulson mumbled. He pointed to the picture again, "That's what we think the glasses are for. To control it to a degree. The last one we met was—"
"Roberto da Costa." Tony answered. Eyes swiveled to him in confusion. Coulson gave an understanding nod though. He shrugged, "I met the kid before. When his dad died, he inherited his fortune. He's the CEO of Costa International. He's rich. Not as rich as me obviously but…"
"He's also a mutant apparently." Steve nodded.
Tony shook his head, "Yeah, that didn't come up the one time I talked to him."
Kate crossed her arms, "We aren't sure what his powers are actually. We only know he turns into this black glowing ball of, like, fire."
"Cool, cool, cool." Clint nodded. "So, quick question, are they our friends or am I going to one day soon fight the glowing ball of black fire and Mr. laser eyes?"
"They don't like us." Coulson sighed. "But I think they're allies. We're fighting the same fight. They're after Rumlow because he's tied to a bunch of missing person cases. Missing mutants to be specific." He pressed another button, and a different picture came up. This time of a young girl with glowing eyes and veins. "We think HYDRA did something to this mutant. Turned her into a… mindless puppet, for lack of a better phrase."
Steve nodded, ever the leader, "Alright, so game plan. How do we convince the X-Men that we only want to help them put a stop to the damage HYDRA is doing?"
"Asking didn't work." Kate mumbled.
"Before they left, Jean Gray told me to look into something called 'Project Omega'." Coulson said. "Daisy is still trying to find all the files we have on the topic. I personally haven't heard of it, but any sort of mutant talk died out in the late 80's."
Tony drummed his fingers against the table as his eyes traced all the information on the screen again. He hummed to himself curiously and slowly attention from the others were drawn to him. Natasha was the one to speak up, "What are you thinking about, Tony?"
"I'm thinking…" Tony rolled the thought around in his head one last time. He didn't like this theory at all, but unfortunately all the evidence they had kind of pointed to it. HYDRA was looking for mutants. They were also coincidentally looking for Aj. "I'm thinking I know why Aj didn't go through terrigenesis."
There was a beat of silence before eyes shot back to the screen filled with different mutants. Funnily enough, it wasn't Clint who made the comment everyone was currently thinking.
It was actually Steve who spoke.
"Son of a bitch."
I wasn't the kind of person who was ever scared of hospitals. They never bothered me before. Standing in the long, seemingly endless, hallways right now though was overwhelming. The walls were too white, the florescent lights were too bright, the sterile air was sharp when I took in deep breaths, and something hung in the air. A foreboding fear. It felt like something was physically sitting on my shoulders and it grew heavier with every single step I took. Even with Sam's hand in mine, squeezing tightly, I felt like I was going to sink into the floor and disappear forever.
"She's stable at the moment, but we won't know more until she wakes up." Dr. Hanson said. The woman was small and petite with mousy features and that's all I really knew of her. My brain wasn't taking in information and processing it like it should.
All I knew was that Granny was hurt, Granny was sick, and somehow it was all my fault.
Dr. Hanson led us to a room, motioned for us to go in, but I stood in the doorway frozen. The thing about the ICU was that it was meant for only the worst cases. The patients who needed constant monitoring. The patients who could be lost in a blink of an eye. It was a small room, meant only for the patient and maybe one family member, but the space between me and the bed felt like a dozen miles. Granny was almost unrecognizable. Her right leg and arm were covered in the plaster of a cast. Her face was purple and blue. Black eyes, a busted lip, and swelling that had yet to go down. She was connected to monitors and IV stands and I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't breathe.
"Hey." Sam whispered softly to me. His arms were around me, and I was distinctly aware that he was holding me up. My knees were too weak to do the job itself. "We can come back…"
I shook my head and pulled out of his reach to stumble to her bed. I dropped down into the chair beside her, took her hand in mine, and then folded in on myself. My face buried into the blankets, pressed against her hand, and I broke down again. There was so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to apologize for, and I couldn't stop thinking that I'd never get the chance.
What if she never woke up?
What if I never got to tell her how sorry I was?
Hands pressed down on my shoulders, squeezing comfortingly, and I only cried harder.
Sam hadn't seen Aj like this before. The closest he had seen her like this was back when she was having nightmares, but it was different. Back then, she had been scared. Terrified. Right now, all Sam could see was gut wrenching shame and he hated it. He'd never seen Aj cry so much, see her actually break down, and it hurt his heart to watch and not be able to do anything. No words of comfort would slow her tears. Nothing he said even reached her mind. The only person she'd listen to right now was still lying unconscious in a hospital bed. Rosie could bring her comfort, convince her that she wasn't actually at fault for this misfortune, but until then Aj was drowning in her own self-hatred.
An abysmal thought occurred to him.
He was sure Rosie would be fine, positive of it, but he couldn't help but think 'what if?'. What if Rosie didn't wake up? It would be the worst kind of tragedy. Rosie was a light in this world. She was the kind of person that the Avengers fought for. Their battles weren't about defeating evil, they were about preserving life for people like the one lying in this bed. It was why, even to him, this felt like a personal failure. If Rosie didn't wake up though, that would be the end of Aj. Sam was absolutely sure of it. Aj was so good at getting back up off the ground, but if Rosie didn't pull out of this…
Sam stepped out into the hallway, his eyes still on Aj who was folded in half around Rosie's hand with her face pressed down against it. If he got close, he could hear her mumbling apologies non-stop like a broken record. A whispered prayer of desperate apologies and pleading.
It was worse than hearing her cry.
He pulled out his phone and saw the multiple missed calls and texts. The screen said they were from Wanda, but he knew they were actually from Bucky Barnes. He knew this because when they took off from the Compound, he took the time to shoot a message to Wanda letting her know what was happening. That, and Bucky's phone, along with Aj's actually, were in his coat pocket.
He still hadn't broken the news to the Avengers on mission right now. There was enough going on that they could be distracted by. This would only make it worse. Wanda had passed along his message to Bucky though, and Bucky called nearly every half hour for an update. Sam had texted him that he would call him back when there was actual news but wouldn't be able to talk before then. He wanted to focus on Aj.
When Sam hit the call button, the phone barely even got the through the first ring before Bucky's voice spoke, "Hello? Sam?"
"Hey, man." Sam sighed. He leaned against the nurse's station, keeping his eyes on Aj, "We made it to Summerbrooke. We're in the hospital right now."
"How is Rosie?" Bucky pressed.
"Still unconscious, but stable."
"And… And Aj?"
Sam hesitated, "She's not handling this well. She's got it in her head that it's all her fault." Bucky grumbled curses under his breath in various languages. Sam shook his head, "She might be onto something though—"
"What the fuck did you just say?!"
Sam sighed, realizing his phrasing hadn't sounded very good, "Chill. Not like that. Of course, this isn't her fucking fault." Bucky didn't say anything, but Sam could almost hear him seething on the other end of the line. "Paramedics ruled this as an accident. Said she fell down the stairs but…"
This did not look like an accident. This looked like someone had deliberately hurt the woman. Aj was too panicked and broken at the moment to think clearly. She was knocking at the door of the truth, but the whirlwind she was trapped in stopped her from fully realizing what this was.
"Sam?"
"This morning Aj's sister picked up the kids that Rosie had been watching for months." Sam said firmly. "Only hours later, the neighbor heard crashes from the house and called the police. They showed up to find Rosie in this state. Now, who do we know that's been after Aj and Aubrey since the beginning?"
Bucky connected the dots quickly, "You think HYDRA did this?"
"I think HYRDA, in an attempt to get Aubrey, came down here but instead of finding her or her kids they found Rosie all alone in a house that belongs to the Bradshaws." Sam said. "The heart attack I think was just an unfortunate side effect of what… of what HYDRA did to her."
There was silence over the line and Sam wondered if Bucky was thinking the exact same thing that he was right now. It would only confirm Sam's God awful theory. After a moment, the man spoke and confirmed his worst fear, "Do you think Aubrey knew someone was after her?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I do." Sam answered with a clench of his jaw. Aubrey Bradshaw showed up out of the blue, grabbed her kids, and then disappeared again. That pointed to the fact that she knew someone was coming after her. The actions were one of someone on the run. It meant the woman grabbed her kids, ready to protect them, but left poor Rosie there alone to face the wrath of those after her. That pissed Sam off beyond belief. In fact, 'pissed off' wasn't even an accurate phrase. Sam was furious at a woman he had never even met. His anger was nothing, nothing, compared to what the mourning woman by the ICU bed was going to feel. When Aj figured this out, she'd burn the world down looking for her sister. Ready for a fight. "The next question is, did Aubrey know HYDRA was after her specifically or did she just know someone was coming for her?"
Bucky replied quickly, "If she knew enough that she was able to get to her kids, take them away, and escape successfully then I think it's safe to assume she knows a lot more than we would've assumed. Do you think she's associated with HYDRA? Working with them?"
"No. I don't." Sam shook his head. "If Aubrey was working with HYDRA then they would've gotten their hands on Aj ages ago. All they'd have to do is have Aubrey reach out to Aj and she would've come running without hesitation."
That was before at least. Sam wondered if the eldest Bradshaw was ever even aware of the kind of dedication and reverence she used to have. There wouldn't have been a single thing that Aj wouldn't have done for the woman. Aubrey Bradshaw abandoned her, yet Aj would've still taken a bullet for the woman without hesitation. Sam wondered how far Aj's love could actually go. After she connected the dots between what happened with Rosie and Aubrey, would she still do anything for the woman? Or would this be the final straw?
"How're you doing, man?" Sam asked. He was at the frontline dealing with this issue, but he was very aware that there were multiple issues at hand right now. "You talk to Muneeba?"
"Yeah, I did." Bucky replied. In the same casual tone he added, "I'm fine. Focus on Aj."
"Did the legal team come see you?"
Bucky paused, "They did. They're planning something, I guess."
"Bucky—"
"I'll deal with that. You help Aj." Bucky said firmly. A sign that this argument was over. "Go back in the room with her. Keep me updated."
Sam agreed and the two hung up. It had taken a little under four hours for them to get to Alabama. He hoped that meant the others were nearly done dealing with the Rumlow problem. The only news he had gotten was the debriefing on the plane coming back from the island and all they knew at that point was that Rumlow had escaped, and Coulson's team had run into some new players. Who these new players were and what they wanted was still unknown to him. Coulson had wanted to talk about it in person.
With a sigh, he slid his phone back into his back pocket and walked back into the room to sit in the spare chair in the corner. Aj hadn't moved from her spot, he could still hear her whispered prayers, and it took everything in him to not cross the room and pull her into his arms and reassure her that this wasn't her fault.
This wasn't Aj's fault at all.
This was Aubrey's fault.
Natasha missed the days where her job just consisted of just assassinating some foreign dignity. Things were complicated now, and though she'd never trade the family she has now for anything, she could use an easy day or two. Just a simple, 'this is the bad guy, finish him'. No trying to puzzle out who they were going against or distinguish between allies and enemies.
"Do we know where we're going or are we just winging it?" Clint asked aloud. He was fiddling with a few of his arrows, "Because I'm cool with winging it. I just gotta know beforehand."
Coulson called out from the cockpit, "We're not searching for Rumlow right now. That came up on a dead end. We're tracking the X-Men. They were somehow able to find him earlier, and we still have a lock on their jet."
"Stalking. Nice. That falls somewhere between 'knowing what's going on' and 'winging it' for me." Clint hummed. Natasha leaned back in her seat, eyes drifting over the back of the quinjet. Steve, Clint, Kate, her, and Coulson were flying out to try and find Rumlow. Tony, Vision, and Daisy stayed at the Playground to try and find any files they might have on this 'Project Omega' issue. Whatever it was, Natasha had a really bad feeling that Aj was somehow tied into this. She couldn't figure out how or why, but it was a sinking feeling she had all the same.
Steve, who was seated with his elbows on his knees, furrowed his brow, "Do you guys really think Aj might be…"
"A mutant?" Natasha finished. "It would explain some things."
"But what's her superpower then?" Clint questioned. "She heals super well, but not like superhero speed. She's a natural at fighting, but she doesn't have like super strength or super reflexes. Aj's just slightly above average in all those skills."
Kate shrugged, "Maybe she just hasn't come into her full power, yet?"
"Is there some kind of terrigenesis for mutants?" Steve asked.
"Not that we saw." Kate shook her head. "But there wasn't a lot of information available to us. Hopefully Daisy and them find more."
Coulson let out an annoyed sigh, "You guys are gonna wanna see this."
The entire back of the quinjet migrated toward the front to see what the next piece of bad news was going to be. They hadn't traveled far from the Playground at all. The quinjet was only just over the Canadian border. In the distance though were a grouping of innocent enough mountains. When Natasha glanced down at the quinjet's scanners though, she saw a hidden building nestled at the foot of it.
Well, fuck.
"How did we not know there was a HYDRA based out here?" Steve leaned over Coulson's shoulder to look out the front windshield. The base was half carved into the mountain, but it was the location that still troubled her. Natasha didn't like the idea of their enemies being only a little over a hundred miles away from them.
Coulson shook his head, "It looks like a minor stronghold at the very least."
"Let's knock 'em out." Kate slapped her bow onto her back.
The quinjet was carefully landed in a small clearing in the forest surrounding the base. The same forest where they tracked the X-Men's plane to. If Rumlow were here, they had a head start on him. The cloaking was activated, and the team began to hike toward the base. Natasha checked the app that Tony downloaded into her phone and shook her head, "I don't see any activity. No guards on the infrared."
"The X-Jet was parked not far away. You think they already infiltrated?" Clint asked. Natasha gave him a questioning look, and he shrugged, "They're the X-Men with the X-gene. I think it's safe to assume they named their plane 'X-Jet'. Okay?"
Steve nodded, "Coulson, Kate, you guys find any information you can from their mainframe or anything they got lying around. Stay on comms and keep your eyes open." He glanced at Clint and her. "We're going for Rumlow."
"And if you see any mutants, try not to piss them off." Kate grinned.
They got to through the open front gate with absolutely no hindrance whatsoever. They split paths, still being cautious, but the only agents they came across were knocked out cold and lying in the hall motionless. Clint notched an arrow, "This is kind of creepy. This is, actually, worse than a bunch of agents attacking us."
The sound of voices up ahead made them slow their pace just a bit. Natasha couldn't make out what was being said exactly and before she could try any harder it got quiet. They slowed their steps again.
"We know you're out there!" A male voice called out and Natasha narrowed her eyes. They had been soundless. She was sure of that. This wasn't their first rodeo. The three of them shared tense looks before stepping into the large, open doorway. It led into an open space filled with desks. At the center were the three X-Men that Coulson had told them about, but more importantly Rumlow was here. The HYDRA operative was on his knees in front of the X-Men. Roberto da Costa was the one to speak again, "Little late to the party. Sorry we started without you."
Clint pointed toward them, "Is it just me or is he giving off a real 'Brazilian Tony Stark' vibe."
"Tony Stark wishes he could be more like me." Roberto scoffed. His eyes narrowed at them, "Does every Avenger who carries a bow act like such an ass?"
Clint shrugged, "Kate is my understudy if that explains anything. I don't think 2 makes a trend though. If I pick up a third and they're an ass, then I'll let you know."
This is what they did. Clint acted obnoxious, played dumb, enough so to piss everyone off and keep them distracted while Natasha quietly took in what they were up against. Sometimes they took turns. She'd bat her eyes, flirt, and charm them into talking while Clint took it all in. Clint typically liked being the one to play dumb though. He preferred it. Regardless, it was a good system. It was why they always made good partners even from the start. From what she could see, it truly was only the three of them. Scott Summers and Roberto were the heavy hitters. Jean Gray may have been powerful, there was no telling from where she stood, but the woman stood between the two men as if they were protecting her.
Steve stepped forward, "We're taking Rumlow with us."
"Aw, you miss me that much, Rogers?" Rumlow chuckled, but his sentence ended with a round of coughs. Blood splattered on his lower lip. He raised a scarred eyebrow, "How's Bucky?"
Natasha watched as Steve tensed, but it was short lived. Clint swapped out the tip of his arrow with a flick of his finger then let the arrow fly. It struck Rumlow in the side, shocking him in a flash of blue, then the jackass fell forward landing straight on his face.
"We weren't done talking to him." Scott Summers pressed his lips together.
"Well, I was done listening to him." Clint replied.
Jean Gray stepped forward, "We don't want conflict. Just let us take Rumlow, and we'll be on our way."
"Can't let you do that." Steve replied. "He's coming into our custody."
"Right," Roberto laughed, "Because you guys did so great at keeping him the first time."
Natasha raised an eyebrow, "What do you want him for?"
There was no answer, just a tense silence. Steve took the shield off his arm and set it onto his back before taking a few slow steps forward. He held his hands up in a show of surrender, "Look, I think we all got off on the wrong foot. We're on the same side. We both want to put a stop to Rumlow, Strucker, and whatever HYDRA is up to. Right?"
"Yes." Jean Gray nodded. "But we have this handled. The Avengers don't have to worry about this anymore."
Scott crossed his arms, "We'll take care of it."
"Excuse us if we don't take that on good faith." Clint replied. "We've been fighting HYDRA for literally years. You guys popped out of nowhere for the first time, uh, today."
Roberto scoffed, "Just because we haven't been in the news as much as the Avengers doesn't mean we haven't been busy. It just means we're smart enough not to plaster our day-to-day activity on social media."
Clint and Natasha took a step forward to flank Steve on either side. In response, the three across from them did the exact same while Rumlow laid unconscious on the ground drooling between them. Natasha recognized this kind of tension. It was the kind that built up right before a fight. She wasn't sure why it was building up though. Sure, they were in an edgy situation, but they were still on the same side overall. In fact, the three of them had chosen to take a defensive position in order to not spook the X-Men. She watched as they shared looks with one another. Jean Gray glared at Roberto who seemed to only grow angrier as he stared back. Scott shifted to stand between the two of them, but it hadn't been enough.
"This all started when they couldn't handle the situation!" Roberto suddenly snapped, he leaned past Scott to stare at Jean Gray. Cyclops kept one hand on the man's chest in a threatening manner. Scott was involved with the woman. Natasha recognized that. Her attention rolled back to the fact that Roberto was answering a question that hadn't been asked aloud. Jean gray gave him another hard look, but he didn't stop, "Twelve years wasted."
Scott shook his head, "This isn't our goal right now. Tighten up, Rob."
"How about this," Roberto turned back to them and pushed forward with an annoyed smirk. Now he was only a few feet from Steve. Close enough to reach out and grab him, "We let you take this jackass," He pointed down at Rumlow, "But you give us Aimee so we can take care of her."
The three of them tensed and Natasha could physically feel the chill that seemed to hang in the air now. She didn't like the idea of Aj being pawned off in some sort of a deal period, but to have these mutants refer to her like they were her family? Natasha could be confused about their wording later. Right now, she was just determined.
"Excuse me?" Clint chuckled humorlessly.
Scott set a hand on Roberto's shoulder, but the man just shook his head, "They almost got her killed twice in less than nine months. You wanna give them another nine to keep trying!?" Roberto's eyes snapped to Steve with a smirk that conveyed anger. "And you. Maybe I wouldn't even have to ask if you focused more on protecting her and less on getting into her pants."
It's been a rough day.
Tensions were high.
Wrong thing after wrong thing just kept happening, and Steve always did have a bit of a quick temper when it involved his any family, let alone Aj herself. And the 'getting in the pants' comment was without a doubt a very sore topic right now. Natasha was blaming all those reasons for why Steve lunged forward and punched Roberto in the face.
It was not the smart move, but it's where they were.
Roberto stumbled back and Natasha watched as a black fire began to engulf the man. Steve pulled his shield out from his back just in time to block when Roberto rocketed forward in a burst of fire to tackle the man to the ground. Clint fired another taser arrow, toward Scott Summers this time, but the man fired a shot of laser from his special glasses to shoot it out of the air. It gave Clint enough time to snap his bow into a staff and run forward to attack. Natasha took a step toward Jean Gray who held her hands up and pointed toward her.
"I don't want to hurt you." Jean Gray said slowly.
"I wouldn't sweat it." Natasha replied while discreetly letting a widow bite drop from her wrist into the palm of her hand. She threw herself forward and, like she assumed, the telepath used her powers to freeze her in place. Jean Gray snapped her hands out further, throwing Natasha backwards. As she flew back though, Natasha tossed the widow bite so it slid across the floor and activated at her feet. She slammed into a body, felt Clint catch her as they hit the floor, but she also heard Jean Gray let out a cry of pain.
When her and Clint rolled to their feet, Natasha spotted Scott kneeling on the ground holding a passed out Jean Gray. Steve threw his shield, full force, and it slammed into Roberto's midsection sending the man flying back, crumpled on the ground, while the shield flew back to Steve. A low whistle made Natasha glance up in the air to see Kate hanging upside down from an air vent with an arrow notched and aimed down at Roberto.
"Hey, buddy. Miss me?" Kate greeted. Coulson came up behind them with a gun raised and at ready. Roberto glanced around for a second before raising his hands and letting the black fire sizzle out. The man stood with a glare. Steam literally rose from his skin.
"I have a backup team of agents on the way here." Coulson announced.
"What? We arrested now?" Scott scoffed while carefully cradling the woman to his chest. Jean Gray slowly began to come back to, and his attention snapped down to her.
Coulson lowered his gun, "No."
"Uh, can we have a group vote on that?" Clint questioned. Natasha watched as Kate put her bow on her back then flipped around until she was only hanging by her hands. She dropped from the vent and landed on her feet.
Coulson sighed, "We are not your enemy, and we don't want to be your enemy."
"I think it's a little late for that." Roberto replied dryly.
"It doesn't have to be." Steve said.
Roberto pointed at him, "You just punched me in the face."
Natasha walked past Steve and ignored the fact that the three X-Men stiffened at her movement, "Aj. You referred to her as Aimee. You want her. Why?" Silence was the reply, and the red head lightly tilted her head and bit back a flash of her own anger. "Is she a mutant?"
"Yes." Jean Gray was the one to suddenly answer. Both men gave her looks of stunned surprise, but the woman pushed up off the ground and stepped away from Scott who tried to pull her back. "Aj is one of us. We reach out and help the world from time to time, but our number one priority is to protect our own. She belongs with us."
Clint pushed forward with a glare, "The hell she does!"
"All of you love her." Jean Gray replied calmly. "I can see that so clearly. Don't you want what's best for her?" All of them tensed and it was their turn to not reply. The telepath didn't stop. She glanced back at the men with her briefly, "You asked how we found Rumlow—"
Scott cut in, "Jean."
"We have a… system. A different telepath is able to use it and find anyone. It's used mostly to find new mutants, to help them ease into their life, but with a little extra work we can track down a human." She motioned to Rumlow. "That's how we found him and that's how we can protect her. If Strucker sends someone for her, we'll know it before they even hit the road. And that's if they were even able to find our base of operation."
For a brief moment, Natasha considered it. Logically, it was probably the better choice which is why the trained portion of her brain latched onto it. The thought of sending Aj away with a group they barely trusted though did not sit right with her. Aj was theirs as much as they were hers. She was an Avenger through and through, and they, like Jean Gray had claimed, protected their own. So, what if she was a mutant? That didn't change anything except maybe a few training routines Natasha would have planned for the woman she had grown to call a little sister.
"If you know what's good for you," Clint said between clenched teeth. Natasha liked that her significant other was on the same exact page as her, "You'll never even suggest that again. Aj belongs with us."
"Even if it means her death?" Scott questioned.
Clint lunged forward, but Steve wrapped an arm around his bicep and held him back. Kate began to push him back and the archer let her. The X-Men began to slowly walk forward, but they didn't move out of their way quite yet.
"Are you really so stubborn that you won't admit that our goal is the exact same thing?" Steve asked firmly.
Roberto glared at him, "Who said our goals are the exact same, Captain?"
After another tense moment, Natasha and Steve stepped back to allow a path through their small group toward the exit. When they reached the doorway, Scott turned and looked to them, "If you know what's good for you," he borrowed Clint's phrase, "You'll stop tracking the X-Jet."
The X-Men disappeared without another word and left them seething in their own thoughts in a destroyed HYDRA base. Clint was too upset to even relish in the fact that his guess on their plane's name had been spot on. Coulson tucked his gun away with a sigh, "That went about as awful as I assumed it would." There was a beat of silence before he spoke again. "Now, playing devil's advocate—"
"No." Clint snapped.
Coulson shook his head, "Take your emotions out of it. If what they say is true—"
"How do we know what they say is true!? We don't know them." Clint argued.
"We need to at least consider this." Coulson replied.
Steve, who swung his shield onto his back, crossed his arms with a slight shake of his head, "They were able to find Rumlow twice. It means that system they're talking about might actually exist and if it does… If they can keep Aj safe while we deal with HYDRA—"
"This is a waste of time." Natasha glared at him. "Aj will never go for it and you know that." Steve shot her a look that she didn't even give the time of day. She tilted her head at him, "We don't make plans behind her back. We don't decide things for her."
"I know, I know." Steve sighed and let his eyes drift to his feet.
The sound of people running down the hall made them all tense, but it was only a team of SHIELD agents arriving. They lowered their weapons and Coulson motioned for some of them to circle the perimeter again and had two others come pick Rumlow up off the ground.
"Did you guys find anything of interest?" Natasha asked Kate.
Kate shook her head, "Not really. This was either a dead end or the X-Men got to anything good before we did."
Natasha nodded and made the motion for them to head out. They slowly walked out of the room discouraged. Technically the mission had been a roaring success. They got their hands on Rumlow after all. Still, it felt like they hadn't actually won.
A moan of pain made Sam's eyes snap up to the bed. Aj shot up just as fast, hands tightening around Rosie's hand, as she desperately called out to the woman. Sam rose from his seat, calling out for a nurse, and then went to the bedside. Rosie was weakly trying to pry her own eyes open. The older woman finally managed to do so, but her eyes were still hazy from the drugs she was on.
"Granny?" Aj cried out. A nurse hurried in and began to check monitors. "Granny, can you hear me? I'm so sorry! Granny—"
The doctor swept in confidently and Sam had to pull Aj away from the bed so the woman could do the full physical exam. It only took a moment and by the end of it, Rosie was sleeping soundly again. He felt a wave of panic at the sight, but Dr. Hanson turned around to give them a broad smile.
"This was a good sign." Dr. Hanson nodded. "She was in a lot of pain, so I adjusted the pain medications, but her waking like that was very, very good. Allowing her rest now is the plan, but I think we can move her from the ICU to a normal room for observation."
Aj pushed past the doctor to take Rosie's hand again. Sam held his hand out to Dr. Hanson, "Thank you."
"Of course." She shook it. "I'll put the order in and sometime later this evening she'll be moved. Both of you are welcome to stay with her there, but we only allow one person to stay overnight."
Sam nodded, "Got it." The nurse and doctor slipped out of the room and Sam went back to stand beside his friend. He set a hand on her shoulder, "You heard the doc. Rosie is gonna be fine." He was met with silence. Nervously, Sam knelt down slightly so he could look Aj in the eyes. "Aj?"
Aj wasn't crying or fearful. The look on her face was one of concentration. Sam recognized the look of someone who was mentally connecting dots. With Rosie being out of the woods, it seemed Aj was finally letting her logical side back into the driver's seat. Sam tensed as he recognized the next look to flash in his friend's burning blue eyes.
Rage.
Scorching, all-consuming anger. The kind of red-hot emotion that one would think didn't belong in eyes so blue, but in Aj's eyes it seemed to fit like a glove. Here it was. Aj was ready to scorch the Earth and from the way she looked Sam didn't think there was a damn thing in the universe that could stop her.
I thought the hardest thing I was gonna do today was try to handle the media, but then the hardest thing turned into seeing Granny in a hospital bed. Now? Now, I was staring at my childhood home. The last time I was in this place was the morning I woke up to find my dad missing. Missing wasn't a good word for it though. The apology note he left on the kitchen table made it clear that he wasn't just missing. He was gone. He chose to leave.
"Aj, we don't have to do this." Sam said firmly from beside me. "Let's go back to the hospital—"
"No." I replied simply. As much as I didn't want to go back into this place, I also knew that I had to. "On the way here, you agreed with me."
"Aj—"
"HYDRA did this, Sam!" I yelled. Sam gave me a sad look, and I took a moment to try and reign back my anger. He was here helping me, making sure I didn't implode in on myself, the last thing he deserved was to get screamed at. I took a steadying breath, hands clenching and unclenching to try and stop from shaking, "HYDRA came to get Aubrey. They knew she was going to be here. They could've left clues behind. That's the only lead we have."
Sam nodded, "I get that. What I mean is… You can go back to the hospital. Sit with Rosie. I'll check this out."
It was a nice offer. The kind that warmed my little guilt-ridden heart, but I couldn't leave this for Sam to deal with alone. I couldn't sit in a hospital room with the way that I felt. It would boil my blood until I withered away. I had nothing but anger, and it needed to go somewhere.
"I know you're angry—"
"Let's go." I said quickly and pushed myself in the direction of the porch. No thinking. Just action. That was one great thing about my impulsive, burning rage. It got shit done. I hesitated one more time when my hand touched the handle of the front door, but only for a second. I swung the door open hard enough for it to slam into the wall.
The door had been left unlocked after the paramedics rolled through this morning. For some reason, I thought the house would look the exact same as it did growing up, but it had changed. Not in shape or design, but the walls were painted a different color and where carpet once sat was now wooden floors. The furniture was all new too. This is where Aubrey had raised her kids.
Aubrey had left Summerbrooke, left me, with her baby daddy at 18. Then when it suited her, she came back to live in the house we used to call home. It made me nauseous. I hadn't been enough to stay in Summerbrooke. I hadn't been enough for my big sister. Standing here, in her lovely little home, was a painful reminder of that. Sam's hand rested on my upper back and it snapped me back into the moment.
"Come on, Watson." I said and stepped away from him. "Let's go searching."
Sam sighed audibly and stepped into the living room to look around. I took that as my cue to walk into the kitchen. It was filled with warm, late afternoon light. A teapot sat on the stove with a mug of untouched tea sitting on the counter beside it. There were dishes in the drying rack. The kitchen table was larger than the one we used to have, but it sat in the same exact place.
Suddenly, the memory of sitting at a small table having family breakfast flashed in my head. Before I could fall into the memory, I spun around, and my eyes landed on the fridge. The appliance was covered in photos and child drawings. There was so much, in fact, that I couldn't even see the silver metal of the fridge.
There were pictures of the kids. Hell, most of them were of them. Growing up and goofing off. I didn't know the kids, never met them, but I couldn't help but smile at it. They were a happy family. They were supposed to be living the good life. The normal life. Now, they were on the run with their mom. In all this mess, in all this bullshit, I think that's the thing I hated the most. Their childhoods wouldn't ever be the same again.
"Nothing in the living room." Sam said. I glanced over at him standing in the archway with only worry on his face. It bothered me that his worry made me even angrier. Sam just cared. There was nothing wrong with that. I glanced back at the fridge and noticed one picture tucked under a few of the others. I reached out, pulling it off the fridge, and stared at the familiar photo. It was the same one of me and Aubrey that I had in my Bible back at the Compound. "Aj, I know you're angry at her but—"
"I'm not angry at Aubrey." I said softly.
Sam walked over, set his hand on my shoulders, and I looked up at him. His concern had turned to just confusion, "Aubrey picked up her kids and ran. She left Rosie here to face HYDRA alone. We're on the same page about that, right?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "But how could I be upset at her about that when I did the exact same thing?" Sam opened his mouth, but my words were faster. "I found out HYDRA wanted me and my sister ages ago. Vincent told me. And I—I did nothing. I could've called Granny and warned her. I could've had her brought up to the Compound. I could've asked Coulson to post guards but—but nothing. I did fucking nothing, Sam."
Sam shook his head, "Aj, this isn't your fault. We thought she'd be safe down here—"
"We were wrong!" I roared. I crumpled the picture in my hand and threw it aside, "I should've been there for her, Sam. She gave me everything and I—" My voice cracked, and I felt hot tears begin to form in my eyes. This wasn't the kind of anger I wanted. I didn't want wet, sad anger. A mourning fire. I wanted dry, sparking rage. The kind of anger that would set anything I touched ablaze and leave a trail of scorched Earth where I walked. "I left. I should've never left. She saved every piece of who I am, and I thanked her by letting HYDRA come knocking on her damn door."
Sam clenched his jaw, rubbed his face in frustration, and sucked in a sharp breath, "Aj. That isn't what happened here. You gotta stop taking the blame for everything, you gotta—you gotta stop taking the weight of the world onto your shoulders. It's gonna crush you."
"Maybe I should let it." I mumbled.
"Aj!"
"I took everything from her. I took everything she offered me and more and then when she needed me most—" My fists balled up. They ached to hit something. Every fiber of me wanted to scream. To rip something to shreds with my bare hands. "I wasn't there. She was alone, Sam." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "She was all alone." Sam reached out for me, but I took a step back with hands raised to stop him. I shook my head. He said my name, but I pushed past him, "I'll check upstairs."
Sam called out to me again, but I raced up the stairs. My feet, out of habit, took me to my bedroom door. In fact, I didn't even realize what I did until I was standing in my old bedroom. Aubrey apparently wasn't using this room for anything other than storage. There was no furniture. Just a bunch of cardboard boxes filled with God knows what stacked in the corner.
I chuckled to myself. My room would be storage. That's fitting.
Before I could stop myself, I grabbed the top of the boxes and shoved it down as hard as I could. The stack collapsed to the ground with the sound of shattering glass and other objects knocking into one another. The highest box had hit the ground hard enough to pop open and for the contents to spill out everywhere. It hadn't been enough. I wanted to destroy everything. Punch holes in the walls. I felt like a shaken can of soda ready to pop.
The items on the floor caught my attention. Some of them were my own books. Other objects belonged to my dad. Was this all our stuff? I knelt down and began to root through some of it. The trend followed. Everything on the floor belonged to either me or my dad. I'm not sure what overcame me, but I needed to see more. Quickly, I forced myself up and began to rip open more boxes. Fifteen minutes later and the floor was covered in old belongings and trash.
Finding my old books didn't stop me. Finding my old clothes didn't stop me. Finding my old softball gear didn't stop me. Finding my old stuffed animals didn't stop me. One thing did though. The moment my eyes landed on my dad's old leather jacket I froze. It was an older jacket. The kind where the leather is worn and almost rough to touch. The urge to rip it to apart at it's old seams was overwhelming. My hands clenched in the fabric. I spent years refusing to think about him at all and all it took was one house, one fucking jacket, to awaken my memory of him.
He had been my hero. God, I worshipped the man. Aubrey had been soft. She was ribbons and tutus and flowers and charm. Mom's precious little angel, always. I, on the other hand, had been a daddy's girl through and through. He taught me to throw a football the right way. He taught me how to get in the batter's box and crush anything that came my way.
He was the first one to teach me how to throw a punch.
Aubrey had been sobbing on the playground, some boy wouldn't stop pushing her down, and little, tiny me, in all my furious 2nd grade rage, had tackled the kid to the ground and went to town. I actually ending up hurting myself more than I did that punk ass kid. I could still remember dad storming into the school's office and losing his mind at the principal who had dragged me in. I was crying in fear that dad would be mad at me. Instead, he walked me outside, knelt down, and showed me how to make a proper fist.
'I don't want you getting hurt. So, if you're gonna get in a fight, I'm gonna make sure you know how to win it.'
How could he fucking do this to me?
When mom died, he said he'd be there for us, for me. He said we'd get through this. He said everything was going to be okay and then he bailed. Just when I started to believe him. Dad just checked out. He checked out and left us with a stupid fucking note. A note I still had memorized word for fucking word.
I crumpled the jacket in my hands but stopped when I heard something jingle in the pocket. With narrowed eyes, I flipped the jacket over and unzipped the pocket to reach in. My hands wrapped around cold metal and I was surprised to pull out a pair of dogtags. They breifly made me think of Bucky and the dogtags I had noticed around his neck yesterday. In this situation though, it didn't make sense. My dad hadn't been in the military. Not that I knew of at least.
Carelessly, I whipped the jacket across the room. I flipped the dogtags over to read the words printed on them. My eyes traced over the letters that made up the unfamiliar name. I mumbled it a few times soundlessly before shaking my head in confusion, "Who the hell is Frank Castle?"
The sound of a heavy thud downstairs brought me to my feet and when it was followed by the sound of Sam yelling out, I turned to sprint out the door. I only got a step closer to the bedroom door before an unfamiliar man stepped into view. He wore tactical gear, a helmet, and a mask. All I could see was his mouth. I tensed, my teeth clenched together when I heard Sam yelling out again followed by more thuds and crashes. The man in the door chuckled, his lips curling up into a grin that I could only describe as sinister.
"Well, lookie, lookie what I found." The man hummed in amusement and my hand tightened around the dogtags. "The Avengers left little baby Bradshaw all alone." He took a step into the room and shut the door behind him. "Strucker is gonna be so pleased when I drag you in."
"If you drag me in." I replied dryly.
"Oh, I'm gonna." The man chuckled again, pulling out a baton, "Little girl, look at where you're at. Trapped in here with me."
"See, that's where you're wrong, HYDRA Goon #74." I snapped and wrapped the dogtags around my neck so I could deal with that shitshow later. Slowly, I stepped to the side and knelt down to where I had found my blue and white high school softball bat earlier. I picked it up, testing the weight in my hand, "I'm not trapped in here with you." I flipped the bat once then rolled it in my wrist, the same way I used to do before going to bat. The man's sinister smile faltered, and it brought a grin to my own lips. Every cell in my body was burning in anticipation. The anger under my skin bristled in excitement as I pointed the bat in his direction with a growl, "You're trapped in here with me."