Hey guys! I just want to thank all of you for reading this and a especially to those who review! A special thanks to abstract0118 for all the wonderful reviews! Thank you to all for the comments, they make it that much more fun to write this knowing that others are enjoying it just as much. So I hope you like this next chapter! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Marvels, only Sarah Byrd.

"If I push here, does it hurt?" Agent Myers asked, lightly prodding my uncovered lower abdomen.

"It's sore, but I think that just may be from all the activity." I told her.

As soon as Fury released us, we bee lined for the med bay. And by bee line I mean Tony wandered off to inspect the ship, Clint said he was going to call Laura real quick and it would only take a second. Tasha didn't say anything, she just gave a phony salute and walked out of the room. Cap mentioned that he had to make a phone call. And they all promised they would be down there as soon as they could.

As for Thor and Vision they didn't require any attention at all. Stupid nonhuman genes that made it extremely difficult to injure them. So instead of a trip to medical Maria led them to the helicarrier's lodging area. The only ones who actually went to get immediate medical attention were the twins.

I on the other hand made a quick detour to find food, a warm shower, and new clothing. Neither of which were hard to find because they hadn't remodeled the ship in a few years, so everything was exactly how we left it. I never had the chance to explore the carrier much but these three things I knew exactly how to find them.

I snuck into the dining hall, and since it wasn't a designated meal time there were only a couple people milling around the room. As quickly as I could and as inconspicuous as I could, I grabbed a banana and a water bottle and left. It wasn't exactly a feast but my body was so sore there wasn't much else my stomach could handle.

I backed out into the hallway and made my way downstairs to the storage area. Most of the agents had been left on the ground to handle cleanup and the refugee camp so the ship for now was pretty void of human activity. So grabbing a pair of SHIELD authorized casual wear and finding an empty bathroom was not hard to come by at the moment.

But after putting it off for as long as I could, I found my way to the med bay and decided I should get checked out. Agent Myers griped at me for taking my time coming in saying that she almost sent out a patrol to drag me here when I didn't show up right after our meeting with Fury. But I think she was secretly pleased I wasn't all bloodied up and dirty like I easily could have. Not that she would have admit it though. But at least I was content with not smelling like a dead goat.

I had only met Agent Myers once before, and I didn't even know her first name. She was a rough and tough kind of gal with normal brown hair tied back tightly in the standard bun. But instead of a uniform she was dressed in black scrubs, with the SHIELD logo on the sleeve of course.

And I don't know why she was getting onto me about coming in late, no one else had bothered to show up yet and they probably wouldn't for a while either. I glanced over at the Maximoff who were sitting on the cots across the room. They were setting the bar too high, didn't they know that people didn't actually comes to medical unless they were literally bleeding out. They were making us look bad.

They both had changed out of their battle clothes and into similar outfits to the one I had on, black sweats and a black top, to be honest it wasn't a very flattering look on anyone. Except maybe Steve, but he was Steve so you know.

It looked like Agent Myers planned on keeping them overnight, they were wrapped up in bandages like mummies and neither seemed to be expecting to leave just yet. They did just go through their first major fight so they probably weren't taking any chances. Though I can't imagine them wanting to stay in this place, it looked an awful lot like the Hydra facility where they were experimented on. And if that wasn't ironic…

Myers scoffed and rolled her hazel eyes at my remark.

"'Activity,' Listen to yourself, you make it sound like you just went to a spin class or something." She pushed a little harder on my stomach and I winced slightly. "I'm not looking for sore, I'm looking for sharp pains or things of that sort."

"Well then you're good there." I grumbled, not liking her poking and prodding.

"Ok, and here?" Her gloved hands moved upwards towards all the bruising and added some pressure. I drew in a quick breath and flinched away from her. "Bingo." The doc muttered before prodding it again in a manner that she probably thought was gentle but it felt like she was trying to push out my insides.

"Yep, there it is. You can stop touching it now." I hissed through gritted teeth, trying to squirm away from her evil hands. This is why no one on the team likes coming here. Dr. Cho's never like this.

"I'm just trying to get an idea of where the problem is. Don't be such a baby."

"Then use ultrasound!" I replied through gritted teeth, the pain was really grinding on my nerves.

"She has a thing about being touched." I heard Pietro drawl out from the other side of the room. Myers' eyebrow quirked up in amusement.

"That's just because you're too handsy." I muttered, I would have said it louder but I trying not to squeak when Myer's pushed on my stomach.

"I didn't hear any complaints." Came Pietro's smug reply.

"Yes you did, you just chose to ignore them." I reminded him. Although I couldn't see him past Myers I could feel the shit eating grin on his face.

"Pietro, leave her alone and let the doctor work on her." Wanda interjected. I sent her a silent thank you as she diverted his attention onto her instead. I heard him snort and say something else but I couldn't interpret the Sokovian.

"We'll wheel a machine in a little while, my guess is that it's just bruising, if it was major internal bleeding you would have been dead already," Myers told me, sliding the curtain in place to give us more privacy. "For now I'm just going to wrap your ribs and your sprained ankle. There will probably be some pain meds involved as well and definitely antibiotics. You up to date on all your shots?"

"Yeah, of course, but you have my files why do you bother asking?"

"Some people answer differently." She said with a shrug. "And if you didn't we'd have to load you up on meds, Sokovia isn't really known for its forgiving micro-organismal pathogens. Alright, I'm gunna need you to sit up, I'm going to check your ears." She helped pull me upwards onto the bed and leaned me back against the headboard.

"Ok, when you hear a noise I want you to say, 'beep.'" I gave her skeptical look.

"Can't I just raise my hand?"

"No, I want you to try and match the pitch." Myers said shaking her head. "You're not embarrassed are you?" If she was trying to hide her grin, she wasn't doing too hot.

"Well, yeah a little bit." I confessed.

"Too bad." She raised a little device to my left ear, "Ok, so just make the beep when you hear it." I sighed and tried not to look over her should at the twins who were staring over curiously.

There was a quiet beep and I copied it, hoping that there was an actual noise and that I wasn't just hearing the ringing in my ears again. A lower pitched one sounded in my ear, again I did my best to mimic it. This went on for a couple minutes and I tried with all my might to ignore Pietro's restrained laughed from the other side of the room. I could tell when I was hearing the beep because there would be a longer pause than normal and Myers eyes would flicker to my face before settling back on her clipboard. By the time she was done checking out both ears, I was about read to strangle Myers and Maximoff.

"So your hearing is…ok, still getting back into the swing of things, you're having trouble with the really high and the really low but it should come back in a couple days. I would avoid load noise for at least a couple months though to be safe."

"No missions?"

"Recon probably wouldn't be a problem as long as you bring ear plugs and don't get into heavy fire, but nothing too involved. And no deep water swimming or diving either." That wouldn't be a big problem, I didn't really like missions all that much, I was a linguist after all, my forte was translation not assassination.

"What about my head? You said I didn't have a concussion earlier but why was I dizzy?" That was the first thing she checked when I got to the med bay. She ruled out concussion but that didn't explain my earlier vertigo.

"That was just a side effect of your hearing being messed up. Your balance comes from the fluid in your ears, so if your ears are scrambled you'll be dizzy. You should be fine in terms of that by now."

"Right, so how long do I have stay here?"

"Why, got somewhere to be?" Myers shot back with a smirk.

"I remember you being a lot less difficult last time."

"That's because you weren't my patient, Agent Barton was and we were on the same side." A smile came to my lips as I remembered having to practically drag Clint in here after New York. The memory made me giggle.

"I had to hide from him for a whole week because I thought he was going to pop out of the rafters and make a kabob out of me." Myers laughed and patted my shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're a much better patient."

"Does being a good patient mean I can sleep in a regular bed?" I asked hopefully.

"Woah, no one said anything about being a good patient, just better than Barton. I want you to stay the night, just until morning though. I won't bother trying to keep anyone here longer than that." I frowned and pouted my lips but I wasn't that surprised with her orders.

"And besides, I'm making your little buddies stay here to, it'll be like a sleepover."

"Yeah just a normal sleepover bonding team experience…in a hospital."

"Medical ward, it's different." Myers corrected mildly peeved at my description for whatever reason.

"Right."

"Alright, enough chit chat. I need to fix up your ribs." She said pulling out a roll of gauze from her cart.

"You were always my favorite you know." I glanced up from my Russian work book to look at Luke. He was lounging on my couch like he normally did when he decided to come visit. The way he propped himself up on the cushions always gave him this regal look that didn't quit fit in my apartment. Like he wasn't just sitting on my beat up hand-me-down couch, instead he was laying on some royal futon.

"Favorite what? Neighbor?" I asked. He chuckled and gave me a look that told me I was missing something important. But around him, I always felt like there was something I didn't get. Like there was this huge mystery and it was hilarious that I was unaware of what it was.

"No, silly girl. My favorite human." Luke sent me a charming grin like that was the most natural thing in the world. Having a favorite human that is.

"You say that as if you're not human." I laughed. He titled his head, black locks moving with it.

"Who is to say otherwise?"

"Otherwise? You mean to say you're not human." I questioned confusedly. Sometimes he spoke in riddles and his green eyes would gleam dangerously like he was just waiting for me to take the bait so he could snap me up. That was the thing about Luke, you always pined to be in his favor but it was like you were always ten steps behind.

"You never remember do you?" He murmured leaning forward to stroke my cheek. My face burned red at the contact. That was out of character! Luke hasn't showed interest in me before, let alone he wouldn't touch me so familiarly.

"Remember what? What am I forgetting?" Luke began chuckling at that, it started out normal but then morphed into a maniacal rumble of cruel laughter. Like the ones you see in movies where the villains have just told you their evil plans and they think there's no way you can stop them.

Then the world around me shifted, I wasn't in my living room anymore. We were in Germany and Luke still had his hand on my cheek and he was still laughing like a crazed man.

"Luke I don't understand." I told him getting worried. And then he stopped laughing, he frowned and then his eyebrows bent into a scowl. His hand moved from my face and he harshly grabbed a fistful of my blonde hair.

"You never understood you dull child." He spat cruelly. Tears welled up in my eyes as he flung me away from him. I cried out as I landed roughly onto the wet cobblestone road.

"Luke what's going on? Why are you being like this?" I sobbed.

"How many times must I tell you! I am Loki you petulant quim! God of Mischief and a Frost Giant of Jotenhiem!" He yelled so loudly that the ground shook and all the lights in the buildings flashed out. His anger poured off of him in literal black waves and the oppression was so great I could do no more than tremble and cry.

Gone was my sweet and gentle neighbor who brought home stray cats and couldn't even watch violent movies. He was eaten up by this tall, horned, monster whose rage threatened to destroy the world.

"This is who I am, I am a god and I will not be cast aside as a distant memory!" He roared. I screamed as the street began to crumble underneath his feet and the building swayed back and forth, threatening to come crashing down at any moment.

"I will not be forgotten." Loki commanded pointed that god awful scepter in my face. "Never." He whispered as the staff lit up in a blinding light.

"NO!" I shrieked wrapping myself in a protective bubble of energy reflexively as the ground split beneath me and I plummeted into darkness.

"Sarah!"

"No!"

"Sarah open your eyes!" the voice pleaded again.

"No!" I sobbed once more. I just wanted to be left alone! Why wouldn't he leave me alone?

"Sarah, you are safe. Open your eyes." A gentler voice softly said. I shook my head, I couldn't open my eyes. If I did I would only see lies again.

"Come on now, it's alright." I vaguely felt something patting my back and it sent my eyes flying open.

I wasn't in Germany, or in my old apartment. I was in the med bay on board the helicarrier. I stayed stock still for a moment, too afraid that if I moved the world would break apart in front of me.

"Are you alright?" I recognized those blue eyes.

"Wanda?" That's when I remembered that I wasn't alone in the room. Arms tightened around my shoulders and I realized that she was sitting on my cot with me, hugging me to her.

"Yes, you-you were having a nightmare." She responded worriedly. I sighed and shook my head.

"No, it was more like a memory." I confessed, choking back another sob. There was a moment's pause, so long that I thought for sure she wasn't going to respond. Thankfully she stopped rubbing circles on my back, I hated being consoled that way. It made me feel awkward and agitated me even more.

"Sokovia? I can't get them out of my mind either." Wanda admitted sadly. I briefly wondered how much sleep they were getting, sometimes the first night is the hardest. Again I shook my head.

"No, it was about the Battle of New York. Or I guess what happened before hand." I told her quietly. I felt her nod understandingly but she didn't say anything more for a while. I sat there, all sweaty and disoriented, as Wanda who was a little more than an acquaintance let go of me but get a firm grip on my hand.

I didn't bother to meet her gaze, I knew what it would look like. I had seen dozens of times on my teammates faces and hell I had probably worn the same expression when I had to be the one to wake them up from a night terror. It would have pity and worry and sadness and something else that never set well with me.

"If you want, we can talk about it." Wanda offered. I knew she was sincere because one thing she wasn't was dishonest. But I couldn't help but snort.

"You sound like my therapist." I commented tiredly.

"You have a shrink?" Pietro asked. My head jerked up, this was the first time I was made aware of his presence. He was standing next to my bed shifting his weight awkwardly. He looked solemn… and tired.

"If you fight in enough wars you do." His electric blue eyes widened a bit, it was kinda hard to tell though in the dimmed lighting. "I'm sorry I woke you guys up." I added without giving them a chance to respond.

"It is fine, we were not getting much sleep anyway." Wanda said quietly. I wondered briefly if she had had the chance to brush her hair yet, it looked a little matted and ratty the way it was twisted into a not on top of her head. Not that it mattered in the slightest but at the moment it was something else to focus on.

"If you ask Agent Myers nicely she might give you some sleeping pills."

"We don't really like to use drugs." Pietro answered. A grim expression passed over his features and he seemed to space out. There something more to that story but I didn't have the energy to press it. I sighed again and leaned against my pillows.

"Warm milk usually does the trick for me." I offered instead. They didn't respond, instead they just kept sending each other worried expressions and then looking back at me.

"I'll be fine guys. You can go back to bed." They looked like they were going to fall asleep where they were.

"You will be ok yes?" Wanda asked, her blue eyes trained on my face. I nodded back.

"Of course, I've been having nightmares long before y'all came into the picture. Don't worry about it." That didn't seem to make them feel any better, probably should have just stopped at 'of course'. I wonder if they think they'll end up like me. Terrorized by bad dreams and old memories. There was a good chance of that happening.

"Alright, let me know if you need anything." Wanda replied uneasily as she slid off the bed and let go of my hand.

"Sure." I said settling back down into the scratchy sheets. Wanda gave me a small smile and moved towards her cot.

"Pietro?" She called when he had stayed rooted in his spot by my bed. He stared at me with an unreadable gaze for a moment longer before hesitantly walking back.

"Right, well good night." He stated rather awkwardly.

"Night." Was my quiet response. I listened to the twins get settled in and move their blankets into more comfortable positions and I tried to relax. But when I closed my eyes all I saw were Loki's green ones staring right back at me, mocking me.

I watched the clock on the wall for a while in an attempt to bore myself to sleep. 2:27 it read. There weren't any windows in the med bay so was it a.m. or p.m.? And what time zone were we in? Did the clock read Sokovian time, New York or maybe France? For whatever reason, the not knowing made me anxious and that made it even harder to fall asleep.

When I was little, around seven or eight I had my first sleepover at my friend Rachel's house. And I woke up in the middle of the night and all the lights were off and I had the terrifying thought that the sun was never going to come up again. So I ran around their house, crying, and trying to find a clock. I stared at the one on their oven for what felt like a couple hours as I willed for time to speed up so the sun would come back.

It was a silly thing to happen, but I was young and at the time my fear had seemed rational. But now I'm staring at this clock in the med bay reliving old fears and thinking that this time the sun may never rise again. Which was stupid but it made me cry.

It was pitiful, here I was a survivor of yet another battle where I had seen death and destruction and I was crying over a stupid clock with stupid hands that moved too slowly. I blew out a large breath and flipped onto my other side away from the wall clock. It was just stress, I'll be fine.

But I couldn't fall asleep, all I could do was toss and turn and try my best to shut out all the unwanted memories. Why was it that when you needed sleep the most that was the time that your brain decided to bombard you with every terrible thing that's ever happened to you?

"Hey." My eyes wrenched open and I flew into a sitting position. It was Pietro, he was kneeling next to my bed again.

"What?" I whispered back angrily, clutching at my stomach which was now strained from my sudden movements. Did he need to the bathroom or something?

"You have been moving around for the past half hour, it is distracting." He didn't say it harshly or anything but I felt chastised none the less.

"Sorry. Did I wake you both up again?" I sniffled, feeling truly pathetic.

"No, Wanda is an easy sleeper. It takes her two seconds to fall asleep and nothing short of a bullhorn can wake her up." Pietro said with the shake of his head.

"But I woke her up last time."

"Because you knocked over a bed with your shield thingies."

"My shield thingies-oh." Well that was embarrassing. Good thing it was dark or he would have for sure noticed how red my face was turning. "Who's bed?"

"Just an empty one." I sighed in relief, that would have been bad.

"So is the bed too uncomfortable or bad dreams again?"

"Neither. The sun's never coming up."

"What?" He asked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, I'm sure it's coming back." I told him with a sigh. He was quiet for a minute, contemplating how to respond. I could feel his gaze on me so I stuck to staring at the bed sheets. He probably thought I was a crazy person. I was beginning to think so myself.

"Do you want me to find some warm milk?" He whispered. My eyes widened in surprise. I didn't expect him to suggest that.

"No, I'll be ok." I responded, slightly flustered at his response.

"That's what you said last time and here we are."

"Pietro-"

"How about a story then? When I cannot sleep Wanda tells me a story and rubs my head." If possible my cheeks heated up even more.

"Uh, no thanks. You don't have to do that for me."

"Nonsense, this is purely selfish. I would like to go back to sleep before the sun rises and I cannot do that with you flopping around like a dead fish." His words were mean but the way he said it was anything but.

"Pietro-" I tried again not really wanting him to go out of his way.

"Over three hundred years ago," He started cutting me off. "It always three hundred years in the stories you know. But I am sure that this story happened much longer ago than that." He babbled. I sighed and wiped the remaining tears from my face. If he noticed he didn't comment.

"Alright so three hundred years ago there was a man, a very handsome man who was big and strong and very fast. His name was Piotr and—"

"Really?" I interrupted dryly.

"Hush, I am speaking." He said putting his hand over my mouth. I scowled and pushed it off of me and Pietro laughed softly. "Anyway, Piotr lived in a quiet village with his younger sister. He loved her very much but she could also be very annoying when she wanted to be." I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut this time. I'm sure Wanda would love to know that her brother thought she was annoying. Or did she already, she could read thoughts after all.

"The two of them were orphans who lost their parents at a very young age but despite that, they were happy because they had one another. And that was more than most." Pietro reached out and stroked my hair once, but I pushed his hand away before he could do it again.

"Pietro." I warned.

"Yes, yes no touching. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, their village was very poor and the villagers were too weak to be able to fight the people who were keeping their town sick. This angered the two siblings, so they along with other villagers protested and begged for help. But none came.

One day a foreign man came from a different land and told them that they could become stronger, strong enough to help their village and rid themselves of the oppressive powers that threatened to destroy their homes.

'Would you like to help save your village?' The strange man asked.

'Of course, of course!' the siblings said happily because finally they would be able to help. But what they did not realize was that the man was a wolf in disguise. So Piotr and his sister allowed the man to help them get stronger, and stronger they became. But it was a lie. The man did not want to help save their village, he wanted them to overtake the village completely.

So the siblings ran away. And joined a different man, one with metallic skin and eyes as red as blood. One who promised that he would save their village and foolishly they believed him. After all this man was different, he could not possibly betray their trust like the evil man before him.

And they helped him, and it seemed like they were finally doing right, finally helping their village. There were warning signs of course as there usually are. A beautiful woman showed up with her friends and they warned them that they were doing wrong, that they were on the wrong side. But the two did not listen. Piotr swore that he would not be swayed by the pretty face of who he thought was the enemy. But that too was also a lie. This metal man not only wanted to destroy their village but the entire world. Yes the siblings were strong now, but what could they do? The man was stronger still and Piotr and his sister could do nothing but watch the horrors that they helped create unfold."

"I don't like this story." I told him quietly with a frown defining my face. He smiled a little and replied,

"It gets better, be patient…..

But then the girl came along again. And although she did not trust the siblings who had twice now been tricked into hurting their home, she and her friends gave them a chance. An opportunity to fight back and protect their village. And Piotr knew, that for sure, he was now fighting the good fight.

And they were. Piotr and his sister along with the beautiful girl and her friends, they defeated the metal man and saved their village. And since all stories must end very happily, Piotr and the beautiful woman rode of on a white stallion into the sunset and lived happily ever after." He wrapped up with a satisfied smile on his face.

"I don't think that story is a hundred percent accurate." I murmured unsure of what else to say.

"Yes, well it is a bed time story so it has to have a good ending." He defended crossing his arms over his bandaged chest.

"I think the ending was happy enough without the extra embellishment." I didn't mean to sound ungrateful but the whole thing made me embarrassed.

"Next time you can tell it the way you like, but that is how I tell the story. So are you tired now?" The light haired man asked, leaning forward as if to inspect my face.

"Not really." I said, scooting back.

"That is because you did not let me pet your head. That is how you get sleepy." He tsked.

"Well I don't think it'd be appropriate."

"Ah come on, we fought an army of robots together. It is not as if we are strangers."

"I've known you for less than a week!" I countered.

"But I have been waiting for you my whole life." He remarked with a grin.

"Does that line usually work?" I replied unimpressed.

"Usually yes."

"I think it's dumb." Pietro sighed and raised his hands in defeat.

"Alright, I will stop. How about I tell you another story. It will be much happier." He must really like telling stories, or maybe like Piotr he just wanted to be helpful.

"Alright." I said, lifting the sheet up to my shoulders. Pietro smiled, obviously content that I wasn't kicking him out just yet, or rather sending him to bed.

"Ok, so over three hundred years ago there was a little village, it was so small that it did not have a name, but it was beautiful. It laid in between two mountains in the river valley below, and the fields were full of flowers that bloomed year round." Pietro was a really good story teller, he had all the right hand motions and voice inflections down to a 'T'. It was hard to look away because he was so interesting to watch. Not in a creepy way, just in an 'oh you have fun hand gestures'….ok never mind.

"The temperature there was never too hot and never too cold, and it rained every afternoon for thirty minutes, just enough to keep the village's crops healthy. And afterwards there would be a huge rainbow that stretched across the entire sky. This village was special because there was no war, no famine, and people only died when they were old and wrinkly and it was always of natural causes. There were no broken families and everything was happy." He may be a spaz during the day, but he was good at telling bedtime stories. He kept his voice quiet and it seemed like the longer he talked, the softer he spoke.

I listened to him talk about this made up place and let my heavy eyes fall closed as I imagined that this little village was real. I realized I had nodded off when I felt a hand gently smoothing the hair on my head. Sleepily I made a noise of protest, but I think it came out as more of a hum, I didn't care though. Sleep smoothly pulled me back under as I listened to Pietro talk about the beautiful fiction village where there were streets lined with pretty flowers all the time.

Thanks for reading, hope y'all enjoyed! Please leave reviews, they are appreciated greatly and feedback is great! Have a great weekend!