Happy Tuesday, my lovely readers! January sped by and somehow we're in the month of the Six Nations...
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.
Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.
Recap
Clint came out to see her a few minutes later with her bottle of water.
"You know, this witch might come back and try her trick on you." Clint said as he sat down on the ramp just beside her.
"I'd love to see her try." Lowri replied coolly, she turned her head to look at him. "I'm like you. I don't do the mind control thing. Once is enough." Lowri faced away from him and she looked over the desert, "If she comes with her brother again, I'll whip both their asses. They need discipline."
"What happened to 'they're just kids'?" Clint asked almost jokingly.
"Are you really asking me that?" Lowri asked slowly.
She was being cold towards him and she's not even sure why, Clint is the only one to get out of that scrape without injury or a mental attack.
"Look," Clint said, he drew her attention back to him. "Cap said that he saw something that was a horrible dream but it was perfect. Maybe he saw something that he liked too much? He saw you get shot, Ri. I heard him call out your name. I saw the look on his face. Maybe the witch made him see something nice."
"I don't know what you want me to say, Clint. Steve looked scared to see me and if he saw something that turned him against me, I don't think I could do what he did, I don't think I can stick around and watch him be scared of me, or want to hurt me." Lowri said, "I'm not a strong as him."
"You don't have to be." Clint said, "He wanted to give up a few times but we wouldn't let him. You two got a love story that spans decades. Don't you wanna keep the streak?"
Lowri laughed and shook her head.
"Streak? When did you turn into a therapist?" Lowri asked, looking at him with a small smile.
"Since you needed me to be one." Clint said, he nudged her shoulder and smiled. "He'll come back. So, will Thor and Nat."
Lowri was silent for a few seconds before speaking again.
"How're you coping? I know you wanna go home." Lowri asked.
"Sucks. But I guess the team needs me more here." Clint said, "I'll go back soon. I kinda have to."
"True. I hope it all goes alright for you." Lowri said, Clint smiled warmly at her.
He left her outside and he headed back inside to keep an eye on the other three. Lowri waited in silence, worry eating at her for her three friends inside the jet. The pounding headache had been reduced considerably thanks to the pain killers but her head was still in a lot of pain.
It seemed like hours had passed before Tony made an appearance, flying in his battered suit. Lowri's eyes found Tony making his way towards her with a half-naked Bruce in his arms.
Tony neared and opened his mask and stared at her almost stupidly.
"I thought you were dead." Tony said simply as he landed in front of her. Lowri got to her feet and shrugged her shoulders.
"I was." Lowri replied, she followed Tony into the jet and hit the close button to bring up the ramp.
She hurried over to the cockpit and slid into the seat, barely able to look at Thor, Nat and Steve, all still deep in their dreams. Clint hastily explained to Tony, as they sorted Bruce out, who was recovering from a bad Code Green, about the situation they were in now.
Lowri began the process of starting up the jet and tried to focus her mind on a safe location but all of her safe houses were out in the open, easily accessible by anyone in Hydra.
Clint came up beside Lowri after Tony de-suited himself and after Bruce had been seen to, he put his hands on the back of the seat and leant in closer.
"Do you want me to fly? I can get us to a safe house." Clint asked.
"No. I need to keep myself distracted." Lowri replied, she checked the fuel levels and was pleased.
"Well, just fly us back to America." Clint said, turning from her. Lowri got the jet into the air swiftly and she began heading back to America.
Behind her, Lowri heard Clint warn Tony from approaching her, giving her the space she needs. Then she heard Clint explain how Lowri is still alive.
Lowri was glad that Clint had told Tony to leave her alone. She was glad to ignore their conversation, which seemed to revolve around Ultron, the Maximoff twins and their three friends slowly coming out of their horror dreams.
The skies turned dark around them and by the time Maria called up to give them an update, Thor, Nat and Steve were more responsive.
"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest but it's in the air." Maria said, Lowri could hear how tense and stressed she was.
"The Stark Relief Foundation?" Tony asked.
"Already on the scene." Maria answered. "How's the team?"
Lowri felt a shift in her own posture and she felt tense all over, just waiting for Tony's response. How is the team? Shaken, petrified, terrorised.
"Everyone's… we took a hit. We'll shake it off." Tony replied.
That might be harder than it sounds. Judging by the look on Nat's face, it was going to be hard for her to shake it off.
"Well, for now, I'd stay in stealth mode and stay away from here." Maria said with a sigh.
"Run and hide?" Tony asked slowly, hurt was in his voice. Lowri felt Tony move closer beside her and she could tell he was as tense as her. He had been involved in the fight that destroyed and entire city, all to calm Bruce down.
"Until we can find Ultron… I don't have a lot to offer." Maria said slowly.
"Neither do we." Tony said, he hung up the call and turned to face Lowri. "You wanna switch out, Ri?"
"No. I'm fine." Lowri replied with a shake of her head. She looked up at him with a small smile.
"Where are we heading?" Tony asked.
"I'm not sure. We're just going in any direction yet until we either run out of fuel or we find somewhere to land out of the way and under the radar." Lowri replied, she looked ahead again.
"Fly home, Ri." Clint said as he stepped up beside Lowri. "You know where."
Lowri nodded her head slowly and adjusted her flight plan accordingly. Clint moved away again, leaving Lowri and Tony alone again.
"Did you really die?" Tony asked slowly. Lowri nodded her head and sighed, she switched on the autopilot and spun the chair to face Tony.
"Yeah. I really did die." Lowri said, "It's possible. Apparently."
"But you said it was impossible for you to die." Tony pointed out.
"I come back, Tony. I'm out for like fifteen minutes, half an hour. It's happened before. The first time was your father's fault." Lowri said with a small smile.
"Clint did tell me." Tony said, "Good old Dad…"
"It helped me understand myself better, but I try not to get shot in the head often, my head hurts for hours afterwards and I feel drained for a day or so." Lowri said.
"You should probably rest then, Ri." Tony said.
"I'm fine. I can keep on flying." Lowri said, she looked at him carefully and saw he was looking at her the same way. "You don't need to worry about me."
"I do." Tony said firmly. "You're my God Mother, you've been a part of my life for too long so you can't just die on me."
"Well, you know I'll come back in like fifteen minutes so, don't miss me too much. God knows what you'd get up to if I wasn't here to monitor you." Lowri replied with a smile. Tony smiled back at her and then he left her to fly.
Lowri flew until morning, when the sun began shining on the horizon in front of her, Clint came over to her again. The jet was in complete silence, most of the team was resting.
"Wanna swap out?" Clint asked from beside her. "You look like you're about to pass out in front of the wheel."
Lowri looked up at him and smiled slowly.
"It's not a wheel." She remarked knowingly. Clint rolled his eyes at her and Lowri grinned. "I'm not sure that would be wise anyway, going back there, I mean. I'm not sure what Steve saw but all I know is that he needs space. Away from me."
"You can still give him space. Don't you remember that bed you set up on the right wing?" Clint asked with a knowing smile of his own.
Lowri shrugged her shoulders and kept her hand on the control column.
"Get some rest." Clint ordered.
"Is that an order?" Lowri asked with a hint of a smile.
"If it means that you get some sleep, then yeah. Go, Ri." Clint said and then Lowri relinquished the control of the jet to him and she left the cockpit.
"Yes, sir." She jokingly saluted him as Clint took her seat and took control.
Lowri headed into the right wing and settled on the bed, she lay back gratefully and closed her eyes but sleep evaded her.
No matter how much she desperately needed to sleep and rest but her mind was fully awake and going in circles.
What did her friends see in their dreams? Was it the same dream? Or were the dreams catered to each person? Was the witch able to show them their worst fears or something much, much worse?
Sleep evaded her completely and she lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling as Clint flew them to the safe house.
Lowri knew where they were heading, no one else did though.
They were going to Clint's home, to where his family lives with him when he can. It was a cosy small farm away from civilisation, it sounds harsh but this is what needed to make sure that his family is utterly safe
Lowri is one of the few people that knows about his family and their location, she was the one to choose the farmland for them to live on and it was Nick's job to keep it off S. H. I. E. L. D.'s files.
Clint landed the jet in the nearby woods, close to the farm house and it only a quarter of an hour walk away from the jet to the farm house.
Everyone moved off the jet, Clint first with Nat right beside him, Tony, Bruce, Steve and Thor followed behind, Steve and Thor were more alert than before, this may be because Thor is a God and Steve has the Super Soldier serum, Nat on the other hand, she's mortal.
Lowri lagged behind, feeling worse for the wear and dragged down.
Tony looked just as bad and so did Bruce, they both looked shaken up and pale. Thor was withdrawn, as if he was battling inner demons. Steve was silent, brooding and he refused to look at her.
Lowri, well, she was just exhausted.
"What is this place?" Thor asked as they walked up the path and neared the farm house.
The sun was just rising over the brow of the hill in the distance, lighting up the farm in all its glory.
"Safe house." Tony answered.
"Let's hope." Clint called back, he glanced back at Tony and caught sight of Lowri, they met eyes and he raised his eyebrows before looking ahead and headed up the wooden stairs, he opened the door and edged in slowly with Nat. "Honey? I'm home."
Lowri inhaled deeply as the group moved in through the open door, into the hallway and then through to the large living room. There were toys dotted around the room, on the couch, the floor the table. It brought a smile to Lowri's face as she stepped in.
Laura, Clint's wife, stepped out from the kitchen with a curious and confused look on her face as she peered at Clint.
"Hi. Company." Clint said, leaving Nat and stepping towards his pregnant wife comfortably. "Sorry, we didn't call ahead."
Lowri glanced around the room at the others, all showing signs of surprise. She moved over to Nat and wrapped her arm around Nat's waist, supporting her. Nat leant on her heavily, obviously she was still trying to get over that dream.
"Hey." Laura breathed as she went in for a kiss. Lowri looked away from the couple and looked down at the floor.
"This is an agent of some kind." Tony said slowly.
Lowri wanted to chuckle at Tony's way of handling things.
Clint turned back to the group, keeping a hand wrapped around Laura's shoulder and holding her close.
"Gentlemen, this is Laura, my wife." Clint said.
"I know all your names." Laura said, offering a small smile.
Suddenly, two sets of footsteps thumped down the stairs and Clint moved to the door knowingly.
"Ooh. Incoming." He said happily as a little girl and an older boy around the corner and threw themselves at him.
"Daddy!" The little girl, Lila, cheered as she wrapped her arms around his leg, Clint bent and picked her up easily.
"Hi, sweetheart." He cooed as he picked her up, Cooper, the young boy, hugged Clint around his midriff. "Hey buddy, how you guys doing?"
"These are smaller agents." Tony said uncertainly. He's clearly having trouble with this.
"Look at your face! Oh, my goodness." Clint laughed, he put Lila down on the floor again and she looked up at him happily.
"Did you bring Auntie Nat and Auntie Ri?" Lila asked sweetly.
"Why don't you hug them and find out?" Nat asked, she took some of her weight off Lowri and stepped away as Lila and Cooper turned to them.
Lila threw herself at Nat, almost knocking her over in the process as Cooper walked over to them, he grinned at Lowri and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her firmly.
"Alright there, kiddo?" She asked, hugging him back.
As soon as Cooper stepped away, Lila threw herself at Lowri and she caught her quickly. Cooper went back to his dad and Lowri lifted Lila into the air and swung her around so they were by the couch and she sat down, still with a good view of the room, with Lila beside her.
"Sorry for barging in on you." Steve began, he looked at Laura, then at Clint and his eyes found Lowri's. She looked up and they locked eyes, then he looked away sharply.
"Yeah, we would have called ahead but we were too busy having no idea that you existed." Tony said, he glanced at the kids and then looked at Laura.
"Yeah well, Ri and Fury helped me set this up when I joined. They kept it off S. H. I. E. L. D.'s files." Clint said, he looked at Lowri and smiled knowingly. "I'd like to keep it that way. I figure it's a good place to lie low."
Nat moved towards Laura familiarly and Lowri looked at Lila, still sat beside her.
"How's your schoolwork going, eh? Keeping up with your lessons?" Lowri asked, smiling at Lila.
Lila looked down at the floor, giggling and she refused to meet Lowri's eyes in a childish defiance act.
"Why do you always ask about my schoolwork, Auntie Ri?" Lila asked, she looked up at Lowri. "School's boring."
"I ask because I happen to care about ya little Barton." Lowri said with a smile, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thor look around the room and then he turned and left, Steve threw one last look her way and then followed Thor out. "And school work is very important, Lila." Lowri said, looking back at Lila.
"Do you want to show Auntie Ri your new math problem? Maybe if you ask kindly, she might help you." Laura suggested, she smiled at Lowri.
Lila nodded her head quickly with a grin on her face and she ran off, Laura sat down heavily beside Lowri and leant back against the couch with a sigh.
"Is that your guy?" Laura asked, nodding towards the door where Steve had just gone through. Lowri nodded her head slowly.
"That's him." Lowri replied.
"He's cute." Laura said, she looked over at Lowri carefully. "Come on. While Lila's getting the math problem, you can shower and get yourself clean. You look exhausted. What happened?"
"I died." Lowri said, she dropped her head back against the couch and laughed when she saw Laura's shocked look. "Don't worry. I scared Clint. He tried to pick me up to take me back to the jet and I woke up, and then he dropped me."
Laura snorted and then she got to her feet.
"Sounds like him." She laughed. "Come on. You need to clean up."
Lowri got to her feet and followed Laura out of the living room and up the stairs. Laura shoved Lowri into the family bathroom with Lila's toys scattered around and told Lowri that she'll get clothes for her and towels.
The shower was welcoming and it was nice to get out of her bullet riddled suit. It allowed her to forget. Once Lowri was done, she got out and found the towel and some clothes, which turned out to be a pair of Laura's pre-pregnancy jeans, a white vest and a checked shirt of Clint's that was too big for her.
Thank you all for reading, hope you enjoyed! I might not update next week as it's very busy for me next week so I'll update another chapter later this afternoon.
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