"I'm standing here taking in all of the damages that occurred here in Manhattan. Although it is not quite like what we saw a few years ago with the alien attack, the cleanup is still going on with no word from the Avengers on what it was that triggered the event."
"That's right, we still have yet to receive an official statement from the group as they have not responded to requests from news outlets. Government sources have refused to issue a public statement as of yet, but we will be sure to relay the information as soon as it is made available."
"Until then, I'll be here in the city, covering the cleanup and recovery."
I sighed as the news reporters continued to speculate, eventually changing the channel and being met with another station doing the same. The shaky video taken from various cameras and cell phones showed different angles of the fight for seconds at a time, but for the most part were cut short when the person behind the camera was forced to clear the area or take cover. Seeing everything over again didn't help. I'd hoped that maybe I'd recognize a face or two and be able to jog a few memories, but there was no such luck while observing the shots focused on the larger mutated agents.
"Don't drive yourself crazy with what they say." Clint took a seat on the couch.
None of this was supposed to happen, how did it get this way? "How?" I couldn't just look away while others cleaned up the mess.
"You focus on what can be done moving forward."
"I was trying, looking for anything to help me remember anything important, but I just can't. We're cooped up here, people are getting hurt, and I can't make it stop." Everything just came tumbling out without a filter. A part of me regretted unloading everything right then and there, but how else could I express what was going on to someone trying to tell me to just keep going?
"It'll come back. Sometimes it'll come flooding back and sometimes you'll think you've got everything figured out before something new creeps up."
I furrowed my brows, "You're speaking from experience." It wasn't a question. His choice of wording was very specific and personal.
With a small inclination of his head, he elaborated, "Loki got into my head at the beginning. I killed people, people I knew and worked with, even innocent people. It was like I was there and at the same time not, but when I finally came back for good I couldn't remember everything." He paused as he thought, "It came back little by little, sometimes after seeing or hearing certain things and sometimes out of the blue. I'm not even sure if it all came back, but the only way for me to keep going with what I do know is to try to do the right thing. I have to try to do the right thing for everyone that now can't because of me no matter what the cost. I have to keep the ones I care about safe." He was tense, but the sincerity rang true in his eyes.
"Does it ever get better?"
"You learn to live with it." After a pause he added, "Sometimes it makes you stronger and sometimes it breaks you."
"I am glad to meet you, Lady Rachel. I only wish that we could have done so under more peaceful circumstances." Thor hesitated for a moment before extending his hand with a small nod to himself as if to confirm that it was the correct move.
I exhaled, a breath of laughter escaping me as I realized why he'd done so, "It's good to meet you too." I shook his hand, loosening my grip once I'd realized he'd been making a conscious effort to not accidentally hurt my hand.
He grinned, seemingly a little proud of his mastery of the handshake. "Stark tells me that you and Friend Banner are partners?"
I paused for a moment to process the question, his booming voice and blunt wording caught me off guard and my eyes widened. Bruce, who had been in the process of assisting with the dinner table, stopped and looked to me as I did to him. We'd never even talked about it, we just were. Our gazes shifted to Tony who suddenly excused himself and then back to each other. When my eyes met with Bruce's his shock and annoyance seemed to melt as he chuckled softly to himself and continued to place a glass to the side of each plate, leaving it up to me to answer the question.
My heart pounded, our relationship hadn't really been defined. "I uh-" There wasn't an easy way to word it without being blunt. The words caught in my throat as the Asgardian raised an eyebrow, unsure if he'd asked something that shouldn't have been. "Yes, we are." I managed, deciding that there wasn't really a point in trying to think of another way to word it. From the corner of my eye, I could see Bruce looking up again. He smiled, looking almost relieved to hear it.
"Wonderful!" Thor set down his hammer on a nearby table and began to walk towards the dinner table, "Will you be residing in this tower as well?"
My jaw set and I was left surprised with another question. I followed him to the table and took a seat, but before I could even begin to piece together an answer Bruce finally chimed in, "You know, Thor, it's been a long day. We've still got a lot to talk about."
Breathing a sigh of relief, I nodded in agreement. Although no one really wanted to go into it, we did need to let Thor know what had been going on and discuss what could be done about Hydra. Once everyone was at the table and had eaten a bit, we each took turns explaining what had been going on. The casual mood disappeared just that quickly and the meal became quiet.
Tony had been looking at his phone on and off throughout the meal until he finally decided to speak on it, "Guys, we need to make a statement soon or else they'll take whatever they can and run with it." He was of course talking about the media which was still running stories and speculating on the events that took place earlier. "I've been getting calls from all over."
"We have to let them know that this was Hydra again, at least they won't think it's someone new." Steve was the first to give his opinion.
"They'll panic. As far as most people are concerned, Hydra went down with S.H.I.E.L.D." Natasha looked at him, "You remember the backlash from that."
"It's something that could hurt people, they should know." I stared at the red head, waiting to hear what could possibly be a good defense.
"Just look at it for a second. A bunch of Hydra agents show up, some of them are mutated, one is basically a red Hulk, it just doesn't look good. Imagine the leaps they'd make with Hydra and a bunch of little Hulks." Clint elaborated.
"Really?" My gaze shifted to the archer, "Weren't you just talking about doing the right thing a few hours ago?"
"I'm not saying that they shouldn't know, just that it'd have to be worded properly. I can see why calling them Hydra would cause a panic, but if we didn't give a name, maybe we can avoid some of that."
"The fear of the unknown could be worse." Steve shook his head in disagreement.
"They should know." Bruce broke his silence, drawing eyes from everyone.
"Do you know what sort of stories they'll make?" Natasha let everyone imagine their own media headlines for a moment, "Are you sure?"
He shrugged, "They'd do it regardless."
"Do they not know that Banner has protected them in the past?" Thor stared between everyone as if the fact should be obvious.
"Unfortunately that doesn't stop people from selling headlines and pushing agendas." Tony sighed, still engaged in the conversation though on occasion he would scroll through the incoming messages he received. "So I think we've got our vote then." He stated with finality, looking at everyone around the table. We all nodded, each deciding to put the dispute behind us.
After we'd finished the meal and cleaned up Tony headed down to the ground floor of the tower and allowed the media to flood in and ask questions. The reactions were as we'd expected, fear, anger, and disbelief. What seemed to stand out the most was the uncertainty from all of the reporters. Their expressions spoke volumes as they tried to get Tony to give them the answers they wanted about how the situation would be handled in the future. After a few minutes and the same questions being reworded, they understood that they'd gleaned all that they could from the information Tony shared and allowed him to return to the upper floors of the tower with promises of updates in the future.