Distribution

I dream of Eden: Your wishes have been granted, friend! After all, it wouldn't be a very good romance story if it didn't have a lot of interaction between them.

FanGirlForever19: Thank you!

gotmoreissuesthanvogue: Glad you liked it, even though it is a bit of a cliffie.

kuppcake: It seems like everyone liked that moment at the end there, so glad you did too!

NileyFreakk: Yesssss that half smile. All of the questions you mention, by the way, are some of the things that Eliza will have to face- particularly in the next few chapters.

"Eliza?"

I turned back to see a slightly cocky looking James, and I had to admit that the expression looked good on him.

"Come find me later, okay?"

I nodded my head, maybe a bit too quickly. "Will do." I tried to ignore the way my face felt like fire when he smiled, or how my body was screaming at me to go back and stay with him. But, I had a job to do…unfortunately.

I felt like a couldn't breathe, and Dr. Banner wasn't doing much better. Mr. (or Agent, as I'd heard him called multiple times now, even though he'd never told me he was such) Coulson stared at the cross-referencing on our maps in silence.

"…how many days do we have?" he finally asked.

Dr. Banner and I shared a look before we consulted our findings again. After a minute, he cleared his throat. "Seven, maybe six days tops-"

"Five," I stated firmly. "It matches the pattern. They'll be here in five days."

Agent Coulson nodded, unfazed. "And any ideas on how they found us?"

"The bifröst testing," Dr. Banner answered. "It attracted a lot of attention from science communities around the world…and where else were we supposed to go after they stormed our base?"

I swallowed hard, looking for any sort of reaction from Agent Coulson. But he stood firm, as if he'd expected this.

"Well then," he said, turning to face us, "I guess we'd better get ready."

To say that things were tense would be an understatement. Steve no longer smiled at me when I ran into him in the hallways. Dr. Banner's voice was constantly wavering, more so than it usually did. Even Tony had stopped blaring AC/DC in his room. Everyone was fidgety, ready to fire a gun at a moment's notice.

During the next two days, I met more Avengers than I could keep track of. The legendary Dr. Stephen Strange had been brought in, along with the literal god Thor, the Ant Man, the Wasp, and a teenage boy named Peter. All of them seemed more than ready to fight, and that alone scared me. The more people they put in this fight, the higher the chance one of them wouldn't come back.

All of these thoughts ran through my head each time I heard someone's name come over the intercom. Sometimes it was Sam, sometimes it was Vision. Then finally, it was me.

"Eliza, you don't understand-"

"You're right, Tony, I don't understand. So do try to explain it to me."

Tony shared a look with everyone else in the room. They had all been in there for an hour before me, and when I entered, none of them looked happy. But as hard as I tried, I couldn't find a pattern between them. In the room with Tony was Thor, Dr. Stephen Strange, and Clint. Then finally, James.

Tony paused for a moment before he continued. "I get it, you're upset. But take a look around— does anyone in here look happy about this?"

I did as he asked, but kept my voice cold. "Why is everyone else here?"

"Because they're in the same situation as you, sweetheart," Tony answered. "We all have someone we care about, someone we can't afford to lose. That makes all of you targets, high interest, top of the market. And that means you have to go."

My jaw clenched. "Why?"

"Jane has already been moved," Thor spoke up.

"And I have no idea where Christine is being taken," Dr. Stephen Strange added on.

I looked to Clint, and he nodded. "Laura and the kids are being taken to South America, that's all I know."

I took in a deep breath, my eyes drifting back to where Tony stood.

"It could be worse," he stated. "You won't be far away. I've got a place set up for you in London. FRIDAY can keep you company— she'll let us know if anything's wrong."

He must have seen my hesitation, because the billionaire stepped closer to me. "Look, we don't need you in the middle of a hostage exchange. This is about your safety, and about his."

My eyes flickered to where Tony was pointing. James' head was hung, and his hands were folded together on his lap. He hadn't said a word since I got here.

"If they get you, you're a bargaining tool to get to him, understood?"

I looked back at Tony, hearing the pleading tone in his voice. After a moment, he swallowed hard, his voice shaking. "Pepper has already been moved, too. Please, just…do it for him. It's one less thing he has to worry about."

My mouth opened to answer when the door slid open to reveal Agent Coulson.

"If you have your information, get going. We're meeting in room C-12 in fifteen minutes," he instructed.

All of the men moved to get up and go toward the door, except for James. Agent Coulson looked to me for an answer, but I gave him an expression that said I didn't know either.

After rousing up some courage, Agent Coulson began to repeat himself. "If you have your information, get-"

"I request permission to accompany her plane to London for security purposes," James said suddenly.

Agent Coulson looked back and forth between us. "Permission denied."

James' eyes snapped up, his mouth open to retort, but Agent Coulson beat him to the punch. "Your decisions are being compromised by your emotions. Whatever your relationship, you are not allowed to accompany her. That would contradict the point of her being moved to a separate location. Permission denied."

Agent Coulson spared me a glance as he walked out of the room. "Pack a bag, Miss Reynolds. You leave in two days."

The second the door shut behind him, I found myself in James' desperate grasp.

"Breathe in, breathe out," I instructed softly. "Breathe in, breathe out."