A/N: Yay quick update, expect a lot of these because I'm on a quick schedule to get the story updated before the release of Age of Ultron. I would like to inform you that I have created an 8tracks playlist dedicated to Phoenix, the link is in my profile page, make sure to check that out. Also a quick reminder that I am on tumblr, the link to my account is also on my profile page, be sure to follow me if you guys have a tumblr. That's all from me, so don't forget to read, review and enjoy.
"Get Bruce!" Clint shouted as he placed his arms underneath Phoenix's unconscious body and picked her up, in his arms she looked so much smaller and vulnerable. He looked down at her, moving her head so it leaned against his shoulder instead on dangling backwards over his arm.
Natasha checked Phoenix's pulse and inspected the red mark on the side of her forehead before nodding at Clint to take her away. He carried her to her bedroom, and gently placed her on the bed. Clint was thankful to see her chest rising and falling as she exhaled and inhaled slow breaths.
He sat on the edge of the bed beside her and barely had a moment to think about what had happened, before Natasha came running into the room with Bruce close behind her. Clint stood up and stepped away so Bruce could get close and examine Phoenix.
After a minute he looked up at Natasha and Clint. "What happened?" he asked.
Natasha looked at Phoenix's unconscious form. Her head rested on the pillow, a peaceful expression on her face. She looked to Bruce and shook her head. "She um," Natasha began but couldn't find the right words. "I don't know. We heard Steve calling for help and ran into the hallway. Phoenix was on the ground, crying and shouting. We tried to pull her to her feet but she pushed us away. And then she…"
Natasha found herself unable to continue so Clint took over. "She tried to kill herself by bashing her head against the wall," Clint finished Natasha's sentence. Though Clint felt a horrible mix of rage and sorrow, his words came out emotionless and hard.
Bruce looked down at Phoenix, considering what Phoenix had suffered it wasn't surprising. He knew exactly how she felt, but he had trouble accepting that she could've done such a thing. It was as if he didn't want to believe that she was damaged beyond repair. Like him.
"I'd like to know what caused this," Bruce told Natasha and Clint. "You said Steve was with her when you found her."
"That's right I was," Steve entered the room, closely followed by Tony. "As for what sent her over the edge, I don't know. I was waiting outside of the elevator, and she came out looking like…well she looked like a mess. She was on the verge of tears and she looked terrified. She tried to run away and I stopped her because she looked like she needed help, she broke down, right there in front of me."
Natasha sighed and buried her face into her hands while Clint looked away with clenched teeth. "What is it?" Steve asked them upon seeing their reactions. "Did I do something wrong."
Natasha cleared her throat and looked up at him. "Whenever Phoenix feels unhinged or unstable she will hide herself away somewhere private, where she can release her emotions so to speak," Natasha explained. "I assume that's what she was trying to do when you stopped her, and by stopping her you made her feel trapped."
"In her mind, since Phoenix couldn't get somewhere safe, it meant she was forced to release emotions in front of other people and that makes Phoenix feel weak and vulnerable," Clint told Steve with a sickening fake smile plastered across his face to mask the rage. "So yes, you did do something wrong."
"It wasn't his fault, he didn't know," Natasha told Clint dryly. "Besides, it doesn't exactly sound like Phoenix was in the right frame of mind when he found her."
Bruce stepped back and addressed the people standing around him. "Phoenix needs her space right now, but I think someone should stay with her for when she wakes up, just in case she's still feeling unhinged," Bruce spoke and looked to Natasha and Clint. "I assume you'll wait with her?"
Natasha nodded, moving closer to phoenix, she knelt down at the edge of her bed and placed a hand on her forehead. Clint stood a little way back from Nat and simply watched. The others left the room, but Tony, who had been strangely quiet, stayed back for a moment.
Walking over to the small CD player on Phoenix's chest of drawers, Tony pressed the play button, and music begun softly playing, quiet enough that Clint couldn't register what was playing, but loud enough so that it could still be heard.
"She likes to have it playing while she sleeps," Tony addressed Clint's questioning look before exiting the room.
Clint nodded, attempting to express gratitude, but rage made his face feel cracked. As he placed a comforting hand on Natasha's shoulder all he could think of was putting an arrow through the brain of the monster that had done this to Phoenix. He knew full well that Doctor Blake was dead, in fact it was Phoenix who had killed him, but that somehow made it worse.
"First Loki shows up, and then this happens," Clint sighed as he gestured to Phoenix. "This has been a nightmare of a day."
"Did you hear what she screamed?" Natasha asked Clint, but it was a rhetorical question because Natasha already knew the answer. How could he not have heard it. "She screamed out that she was a monster, and who do we know that always uses that word around her?"
Clint sighed and bowed his head. "Natasha you can't blame Heather, for the same reason you stopped me from blaming Rogers," Clint told her. "While they may have said or done things that increased Phoenix's chance of a breakdown, Phoenix isn't stable. It was bound to happen at some point."
"How am I supposed to save her when she's this damaged?" Natasha questioned, and although she had turned to look at Clint, she was questioning herself. "Doctor Blake destroyed her, and because of that, she may never have a normal life. It's a miracle she lasted so long before falling apart, especially with The Experiments here."
"Natasha she spent - months in a training facility without any issues, she's stronger then you think," Clint tried to comfort her by grabbing a hold of her hands but she pulled away.
"Those were different circumstances Clint," Natasha shook her head. "There were no constant reminders of what happened to her, but here, she has to face her past on a daily basis. To do that takes a lot of strength, and it's wearing her down. I'm scared for her Clint, what if it ends up killing her?"
Natasha looked down at Phoenix, quietly lain on the bed, an expression of peace on her face. Her long orange hair framed her face and was strewn across the bed. One arm rested across her midsection, while the other lay across the bed, palm facing upward, looking as if it had fallen in that position. "A friend once told me that you don't know how much something means to you, until you nearly loose it," Clint told Natasha as she continued watching over Phoenix.
"She means a lot to me," Natasha said quietly. "You're right, I care too much to stand losing her. It's a weakness."
"Or a strength," Clint offered.
Natasha scoffed and shook her head. Not wanting an argument, Natasha nodded in the direction of the door. "Go and let The Experiments know that we won't be training today," Natasha ordered. "But don't tell them why, even if they ask, and they probably will ask."
Clint obeyed and left the room while Natasha knelt beside Phoenix's bed yet again. She took the young girls hand in her own and brushed a hair from her eye while wearing a small smile. "I'm here for you Milaya Moya," Natasha murmured. "Don't leave me."
Since training had been cancelled earlier for unknown reasons, Mark didn't really know why he decided to go down to the training room. The likelihood of Phoenix showing up was minimal, especially since he hadn't seen her all day, and especially after what he had said about her. He felt stupid for saying it and not to mention guilty.
11 o'clock at night, and he was sitting around in a darkened gym, instead of curling up in his bed and sleeping. He was just about to get up and leave when there was a ding, announcing the arrival of the elevator, and Phoenix stormed into the room, she seemed extremely angry, but when she saw Mark, her expression relaxed slightly, meaning her anger wasn't directed at him.
"Evening Nix," he greeted her, using a nickname he had been working on all day. At one point he had wanted to call her Phoeny, which would've earned him a slap across the face, no doubt.
She gave him an odd look as she threw a black duffle bag across the room, landing near Marks feet. "We need to settle some ground rules," she told him, her voice harsh, as she walked towards him. "Firstly, anything I say goes. No matter what I tell you to do, you will do it. Question me all you like, but never refuse a direct order. Got it?"
Mark nodded and gave her a mock salute. She slapped his hand away from his face. "Secondly," she spoke loudly as Mark rubbed his hand. "No messing around. This is a serious matter, and if you treat it like a joke then you'll become target practice." She gave him a mock smile as she pulled an arrow from her duffle bag and tossed it to the side.
"Rule number three," she stopped and looked him dead in the eyes. "When you walk in this room, you leave your past behind. Bring in your emotions, your anger especially, and use that to fuel your strength, but I don't want to hear about your mommy and daddy. In here, it's just me, you and a whole lot of training equipment, and that's how I want it to stay."
Mark nodded in agreement, and Phoenix smiled, pulling a gun from her duffel bag. "And lastly," Phoenix spoke and she loaded the gun and cocked it. "Don't ever call me Nix."
She placed the gun into Mark's hand with a sly grin, which Mark returned. He knew for sure now, Phoenix wasn't a monster. If anything, she was more human than the other Experiments could ever be.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Clint leaned across the kitchen bench and tapped the space in front of where Phoenix sat to catch her attention. "Let me see the list."
Phoenix handed over a notebook that had a variety of scribbles jotted down in dot points. Upon Phoenix arriving at the tower for the first time, Clint discovered that she was raised on a diet of processed foods, broken down into a form that resembled mashed potatoes, and provided Phoenix with her required daily nutrients. Clint was outraged at this, and insisted that Phoenix was to be eating a variety of different foods each day.
The list was Phoenix's idea of recording the foods she ate so she could keep track of them. Clint honestly found it unnecessary, but Natasha praised Phoenix for her organisational skills. Clint was too upset that Phoenix had never tried 'real food' so he left it be.
As he skimmed the breakfast list his eyes caught something on the page. "What is this," he demanded. "Natasha gave you toast for breakfast, just toast. How am I supposed to educate you on excellent breakfast foods when she just gives you toast."
"It wasn't just toast," said Phoenix as she took the list back off him. "I had some strawberry jam and butter with it as well."
"Sinful, just sinful," he shook his head dramatically, causing Phoenix to laugh. He grinned back at her and turned on the stove. "How does French Toast sound?"
"Isn't that toast?" Phoenix questioned. "Why are you getting mad at Nat for serving me toast when you're about to do the same?"
Clint scoffed as he pulled eggs from the fridge and cracked them open into a large circular dish. "French toast is not just toast," he informed her as he held up a piece of plain white bread in front of her face. "To make French toast, you soak your bread into egg and then cook it in a frying pan. It is much more than just toast."
Phoenix watched him demonstrate what he just told her, and frowned as Clint stood in front of the frying pan, holding it by the handle, he moved it backwards and forwards slowly. "Wouldn't it just taste like cooked eggs on toast? Why go to the effort of dunking it in the egg?"
"Shush," Clint hushed her over his shoulder while focusing most of his attention on the food he was cooking. "You'll see soon enough."
Phoenix waited, head rested in the palm on her hand, while she watched Clint continue to prepare his food, looking rather skeptical about what was to come. Using a spatula, Clint placed the now cooked toast onto a plate and cut it into triangles.
"JARVIS, where's the icing sugar?" Clint asked the AI as he rummaged the drawers.
"Third cupboard from the right Agent Barton," JARVIS answered.
Clint made a triumphant noise as he found a large container of icing sugar and pulled it from the cupboard. Phoenix watched in horror as Clint doused the toast in maple syrup and then sprinkled icing sugar onto it, once it was placed in front of her, she continued to stare at it.
"Icing sugar?" she gave Clint a doubtful look.
"Just try it," he commanded her, pushing the plate closer.
Phoenix narrowed her eyes, but picked up a fork anyway and cut of a small piece, that Clint noticed was the most devoid of icing sugar. Once she tried it however, and began chewing, her expression changed and Clint grinned.
"You like it?" he asked.
Phoenix shrugged. "It has a pleasant flavour," she answered, not wanting to give him the complete satisfaction.
Clint simply grinned ear to ear and allowed Phoenix to continue eating her breakfast while he rummaged around to find food for himself. About halfway through her food when Clint sat down next to Phoenix, cereal in hand, she turned to him.
"Who was the intruder?" she asked.
Clint sighed and placed his food onto the bench. "Phoenix it's nothing you need to be concerned about. The situation has been handled."
"Is he locked up in the tower?"
"Phoenix," Clint warned.
"I have a right to know."
Clint pushed his cereal away and swivelled around to face Phoenix. "Natasha and I are trying to protect you," he told her, and as she tried to open her mouth and argue he silenced her before she had the chance. "Don't argue Phoenix, trust me when I say its better off not getting involved. It's safer that way. The only thing you need to be concerned with right now is finishing your French toast. I didn't slave over a hot stove for nothing."
Phoenix rolled her eyes at him, (a habit she had picked up off Natasha), and went back to eating her French toast in silence. After a minute Natasha joined them, and received an earful from Clint about the blandness of ordinary toast. In response to this, Natasha eyed Phoenix out of the corner of her eye, and the both of them smirked.
Phoenix was sent down to the training room, ahead of Natasha and Clint, who were tasked with rounding up The Experiments, while Phoenix was given specific instructions on how she was to set up the training room for that morning.
By the time The Experiments arrived, blue training mats had been set up in three different areas of the room, each area comprised of four training mats pushed together to form a square. Phoenix stood proudly in the centre of it all, and Natasha and Clint took a place on either side of them.
"Today we're going to see how you all fight," Natasha addressed them. "You can fight however you want, you wanna play dirty, that's fine by us. I only ask two things of you; do not knock your opponent out or attempt to kill them, and no holding back. If I see any of you not putting effort into this, I'll put you up against Phoenix, and believe me she does not hold back."
"We've put you into pairs based on your sizes and experience, just to make things fair to start off with," Clint explained. "Once each pair has a winner and a loser, we'll switch you around. At one point or another you will all end up fighting each other. The first pairings are, Bella against Josh, Heather against Mark and Phoenix against Sam. Good luck."
All of The Experiments fell into a stunned silence, and one by one they looked over at Sam who had gone pale. Natasha began to grow annoyed at waiting, and started to count down from ten, and all the Experiments grabbed their partner and scrambled over to a mat.
Sam however, slowly moved towards Phoenix who had already put herself in place and waited in a fighting stance, as Sam stood opposite her, he hastily tried to copy her stance. Natasha took to the centre of the room. "The goal of the match is to knock your opponent to the ground. Agent Barton and myself with be refereeing, and we will call out a winner when we see one," Natasha informed them and waited for a moment before giving them the all clear. "Begin!"
Phoenix was on Sam before he had a chance to react. Charing at him with all of her force, she collided into him and grabbed him arm, flipping him over his back and slamming him onto the ground. She pinned him down by pressing her elbow against his throat and keeping her knees pressed against his stomach.
All of this occurred within several seconds and Clint stood a little way behind Phoenix and whistled. "Phoenix is the winner!" he declared.
Phoenix got to her feet and offered a hand down to Sam but he gave her a dirty look and pulled himself to his own feet. Phoenix looked away, and joined Natasha and Clint in watching the other two matches that were still continuing.
They were all moving slowly, unsure of whether or not to attack each other. Punches and kicks had been thrown, but there was no real competition happening. Bella had gotten a hold of Josh and was trying to pull him down, but she was going about it the wrong way. Heather and Mark had reached a stalemate, Heather had Mark in an arm lock while Mark had a hold of her throat, so if she took him down, she would go to.
"Let's liven it up a bit," Natasha whispered to Clint, before addressing the fighting pairs. "One of the losers will have to fight Phoenix!" she called out to them.
The next moments were a blur. Bella quickly gave up on her attempts to pull Josh to the ground and roundhouse kicked him in the stomach with a force that knocked him backwards. Bella then proceeded to take a running leap towards him and physically launch herself at him. She rammed into him with an unprecedented force and continued to claw, hit and pull his arms backwards until she gained an advantage and kicked him hard enough in the knees that he flopped to the ground.
"Bella is the winner!" Clint declared, shocked as the rest of them that Bella had a vicious streak that deadly.
"That was an impressive roundhouse kick, where did you learn to do that?" Natasha asked.
"I took taekwondo until I was twelve," Bella told her quietly. "They kicked me out because of an incident during one of my competitions."
Meanwhile Mark had successfully managed to pull himself out of the arm lock and delivered a punch directly to Heather's jaw, stunning her for a moment, allowing Mark to knock her to the ground. As Clint declared him the winner, Natasha already formed the new pairs in her mind.
"Phoenix against Josh, Sam against Heather and Mark against Bella," Natasha announced.
The matches continued, Phoenix winning each time. Heather struggled, mostly due to her hatred of taking orders from Natasha. Sam, angered over his loss against Phoenix, was much more prepared as the matches went on, and continued to win. Mark also held his own much to Natasha and Clint's surprise, he had a very well developed punch. Josh struggled, and Bella only managed to take another win, nearly scratching Heather's eyes out in the process.
The finals matches were announced by Natasha and everyone held their breath, because Phoenix had yet to challenge only one person. "Mark against Josh, Bella against Sam and Phoenix against Heather!" Natasha announced and the room went still.
Heather did not argue, nor cry out, instead she simply glared at Phoenix. Those surrounding them were seriously thinking that Phoenix's winning streak and Heather's losing streak would both come to an end. Heather looked ready to kill, and as much as Clint wanted to call the fight to an end before it started, Natasha felt a personal need to see this done.
Phoenix knew that charging Heather and catching her by surprise wasn't an option, Heather was prepared. So instead they slowly moved in a circle around each other, neither one of them wanting to make the first move. Heather's rage poisoned her facial expression, she scrunched her face up tightly and flared her nostrils. Already standing at a height three inches higher than Phoenix, she tried to make herself taller by puffing out her chest.
Both girls took off at a sprint, simultaneously moving towards each other at top speed. They collided into each other, Phoenix going for Heather's abdomen and Heather going for Phoenix's throat. Phoenix tackled Heather while Heather clawed at Phoenix's face trying to push her off.
Heather fell to the ground but jumped up quickly and surged forward, delivering one sloppy hit after another to Phoenix's face. Phoenix countered easily and elbow Heather in the stomach sharply, winded, Phoenix managed to gain the upper hand.
While Phoenix had the skills and proper techniques, Heather was unstoppable and full of rage. Somehow, Heather pushed Phoenix off of her, and wrapped her hands around Phoenix's throat. Heather screeched in aguish as her thumbs pressed hard against Phoenix's throat, slowing cutting off air. Phoenix grabbed Heather's shoulders and head-butted her, a last attempt to remove herself from Heather's grip.
Phoenix pivoted on the spot, gaining momentum, she raised her right leg and delivered a sharp kick to the centre of Heather's chest, throwing her backwards. Phoenix then crouched low to the ground, and used her right leg to kick Heather's ankles, knocking her to the floor.
Phoenix was on top of her in an instant, pressing her knees to Heather's chest and pinning down her arms. Clint, who had been holding his breath the entire time, exhaled in relief and walked over. "Phoenix is the winner!" he declared as he helped Phoenix to her feet. "Nice save."
"Thanks," Phoenix responded.
Sam and Josh both helped Heather to her feet, but she angrily pushed them away. She stormed over to Phoenix, and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around to face her. "YOU!" Heather shrieked. "YOU TRIED TO KILL ME! YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF GAME!"
Heather charged forward but was stopped by Natasha who stepped in the way and pushed her backwards. Clint stepped in front of Phoenix protectively and put one arm on her shoulder. Heather shoved Natasha and roared at her. "SHE IS NOT YOUR PET! NOT MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PLAY THE FAVOURITES GAME WITH HER, AND DRESS HER UP TO BE SOMETHING SHE ISN'T, SHE WILL ALWAYS BELONG TO DOCTOR BLAKE! SHE WILL ALWAYS BE HIS SOLDIER!"
With those final words, Heather stormed out of the room and towards the elevator, and if it was possible to slam elevators doors, Heather would've done it, but instead she mashed the buttons furiously until the doors finally closed on her face, alight with pure anger.
Phoenix began to tremble where she stood and she turned to look at Natasha, pain in her eyes. Natasha hurried to her side and tried leading her from the room, but Phoenix stood her ground. Slowly, she moved to stand in front of the remaining Experiments.
"I don't belong to him," Phoenix managed to choke out. "That's not who I am anymore. I'm well aware of what I've done, and I accept that. I know how you all see me, but I didn't try to kill Heather, I would never hurt any of you. I'm sorry."
Before Natasha could move to comfort her, Phoenix began sprinting for the staircase, sobbing as she ran. Clint moved to run after her, but Natasha stopped him, shaking her head. Phoenix needed time alone, so did Heather, in fact The Experiments all needed time to cool down.
The whole situation was chaotic, none of them could be in the same room together without a confrontation. Heather was a loaded fuse and Phoenix was a broken mirror, one more crack and she would shatter. There was no chance that they could ever work together.
Especially when Heather was claiming Phoenix's attempt a murder, when in reality, when her hands were around Phoenix's throat, Heather's eyes had been filled with murderous bloodlust.