Chapter 7: Nightmares
AN: Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
One month later…
It was dark, and a thick fog covered the ground. All she could see was a battle field; covered in blood and fallen SHIELD agents. As she made her way through, she could see people she cared about; all dead. Alex walked up to a woman; it was Agent Maria Hill, lying in a pool of blood. Alex gulped, as she kept going. She started seeing more agents she knew, Sitwell, and Coulson. Alex's breathing started to get faster. She began to run, and then she saw Fury. Alex ran faster then she came across some younger agents. They were her friends. Danny, Kate, Liz, Arthur, all of them, except Skye. Alex felt a glimmer of hope.
"Skye!" She yelled as she kept going. Then she saw her, a bullet through her chest and shoulder. Alex fell to her knees, about four feet away was her parents. Alex stared in that direction for about five seconds. She crawled over to them and checked for a pulse; they were dead. Alex sniffed as she sat with the bodies. Then she saw a flash of color to her left. She looked over and saw some of a shield. Alex pushed herself up and walked over. She got down on her knees and saw it was indeed a shield.
Alex took her sleeve and rubbed off the dust and blood; revealing the red, white, and blue. Sighing, Alex got up and pushed the big piece of debris off it, and then she saw an arm. Pushing it farther she saw Cap. Once the debris was out of the way she let out a breath. Knowing he was dead she sat down. The thought was beginning to hit her that everyone she cared about was now dead. Every single one. Then she saw something move. Alex looked over and saw Skye's body move, then stand up. Alex stared in shock as she turned and looked at her with a look of hatred.
"S-Skye?" Alex says. Skye slowly puts her hand on her gun.
"It's your fault." She says. Alex gives a confused look.
"What?"
"Were all going to die Alex, and it will be all your fault." She says in a calm voice, yet full of hatred. Alex's face expression saddened.
"No, no it wasn't me!" Alex says, getting up. Then she saw other people had gotten up, the teens and Coulson, Hill, Sitwell, and Fury. They were walking toward her, the same look of hatred and disgust on their faces. Alex began to back up. Then her parents got up, the same expression.
"It's your fault." They all said.
"No! I would never!-"Alex tries to convince them.
"You will kill us. It's your fault." They say. Cap was up as well. Alex backs up faster. Skye was holding her gun; finger on the trigger.
"You can't run from it, it will happen and we will all die by your hand." Skye says. Alex felt tears burn her eyes.
"No, please! I would never hurt any of you!" Alex sees Steve adjust his shield on his arm. Alex goes for her bow, it wasn't there. Then the shield was coming toward her. Alex holds up her hands to braise herself. It her with such force, then it went black
Alex woke up screaming. She had a cold sweat and she was on the floor. Alex whips her head around, looking for threats. Just then Bobby ran in the room. He stops seeing Alex on the floor and runs over to her. Alex was breathing very fast and her eyes were huge. Bobby kneels down, he helps her get up.
"You ok?" He asks; after getting her on the bed. Alex nods, swallowing.
"B-Bad dream." She says. Alex felt like she was still in the dream, it felt like she was hit by the shield, but in reality it was an injury she acquired the day before. She had cracked several ribs while pushing herself to hard, she ended up getting into a fight with a girl who was like the Jessica of the Renegade. (Girl that goes to the teen's school) Her name was Emily Rhymes.
She kept watching her train; she would call her a freak. Then she started on her friends, mostly Skye, Steve, and Astrid and Arthur. Alex did throw the first punch, it knocked her out. She came back a few minutes later; with a metal bat. And after a couple encounters with cement wall, the trainers pried them apart. It took four adult Renegade agents and Bobby to get her off Emily.
Bobby lets go of Alex's arm, allowing her to gain her footing and stand. She was still breathing heavy and was still covered in a cold sweat.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asks. Alex lets out another breath before responding.
"No, it's nothing." Alex tries to assure him. He just smiles and nods. Alex walks over to get her suit. A few minutes later she returns from the bathroom; changed and ready. Bobby was still sitting on her bed when she came back. She sat next to him while lacing up her combat boots. He watches her as she does. Alex looks up.
"Yes?" She says in an amused voice. Bobby shrugs.
"I'm just worried about you." He says. "This is the ninth nightmare you've had in the last two weeks. It's affecting your training." He says. Alex sighs; finishing up with her boots.
"Don't worry, I'll work on it." She says. Bobby nods and stands up, heading for the door. He turns back to her.
"Wanna get some food?" Alex nods and follows him out the door.
AVENGERS
After breakfast, Alex headed off to see Storm. She opens his stall and walks inside. Strom lifts his head and greets her with his usual nicker. Alex walks up to him and pets his soft muzzle.
"Had another nightmare bud." She says to him. Storm just stares at her with big eyes. Alex goes over to his side and surprisingly Storm lies down. Alex sits beside him and leans her head against his neck. "This one was different then the last. Instead they- they were all dead." Alex says eyes tearing. "But it was my fault, I was the death of them." Alex says. Storm nickers and nibbles on the hay. Alex pats his neck. Alex stares ahead at the stall wall.
"But they were just dreams; right?" Alex says to herself. Sighing, Alex stands and gives Storm one last pet before leaving his stall. Alex rounds the corner of the stable and sees Bobby leaning against the wall; he pushes off and falls in sync with her as they walk toward the doors. Alex turns to him.
"How much did you hear?" She says. Bobby breaths out.
"Enough to know you still care about them." He says. Alex sighs letting her head fall back.
"I swear I'm loyal to the Renegade-"Bobby cuts her off.
"Alex I don't care if you still have feelings for them, I would too." He assures her. Alex nods." Just be careful ok?" He says. Alex turns to him again.
"What? Do you think I'll leave?" She asks. Bobby sighs.
"I don't know. But still you need to be careful, there's a lot more at stake here then you realize." Bobby says.
"Do you mean Hydra?" She says as it's obvious. Bobby's expression didn't change.
"Yes and no." Alex's eyes narrowed.
"Do you know something about their business that I don't?" Alex says. Bobby hesitates before nodding.
"All you need to know is that they don't trust you. Be careful which missions you investigate and which ones you don't, one wrong move and you could be thrown into something far more dangerous." Bobby says. Alex furrows her eyebrows.
"Bobby, you're scaring me." Alex admits. Bobby smiles and puts an arm around her.
"Don't worry. As long as you keep doing what you're told, you should be fine. And try to keep the nightmare talk at a minimum." Alex nods.
"I-"Alex starts hesitantly. "I miss them." She says. Bobby nods. Alex furrows her eyebrows again.
"You're ok with that?" Bobby nods again.
"Hey, I might not know about what SHIELD is, but I do know they must be good people." He states. Alex smiles. "And I also don't always agree with what the Renegade does, which is why I'm warning you." He adds. Alex nods. They make their way out of the barn and toward the training facility.
AVENGERS
"You will be assigned to a partner and I will then tell you what moves to perform." There instructor explains. He begins going through the names. "Bobby with Sarah-"Alex feels a pinch of disappointment, but pushes it away. "Alex with Emily-"Her head shoots up.
"What?!" She yells. The instructor looks up. Emily turns and gives Alex an innocent look.
"Yes Alex?" He says.
"You can't put me with her!" She says.
"I can and I will." He then goes on to giving partners. She turns to Emily, with a deadly glare. Emily gives a sweet smile.
A few minutes later…
"Alright class, partner two, and perform a scissor kick toward your partner. Partner one, do what you have to do to block it." He says; Emily turns back to Alex. Alex puts her arms up in a fighting stance to braise. She backs up and lunges, doing a flying kick toward her face. Alex grabs her foot; pushing it aside. But instead of her losing her balance she flies across the mat, landing with a thud.
Alex stares in shock.
"Alex, I did not order you to knock your partner out." He says walking over. Alex looks up seriously.
'But I-I wasn't trying to! She just, I didn't even push that hard." She stutters. The instructor gives her a stern look; Alex would never lie in class, not even if it was her own fault she would still admit to it.
'Ok, try again, this time, Emily I want you to throw a punch." Emily stumbles to her feet. With a look of disgust she sends a punch toward her face. Alex stops it in its tracks with one hand, no trouble at all. She stares in shock at her hand. Emily looked toward her in fury. Pulling her punch back she picks a real knife out of the bins by the supplies. She goes at Alex.
"Emily, put it down!" The instructor orders. She doesn't listen as she runs at Alex. Alex blocks the first swipe with enough force to send her flying and she stumbles back, she goes again this time for her head. Alex puts both arms up and blocks it, looking ahead seeing the knife about two inches away from touching her. Alex pushes her off and backs up. She comes again and then next swipe was too sloppy, Alex puts her arm up to block and she hears a crack. Looking up she see the force of her lower arm hitting Emily's broke her arm. She drops the knife in a cry of pain and clutches her arm.
Alex's breathing was a bit faster but she wasn't tired at all. The instructor was at Emily's side; holding her arm up. Bobby pushed his way through the crowd and ran over to Alex.
"You ok?" He asks. Alex nods.
"I don't know what's happening to me." She says. Bobby nods.
"I'm sure you'll be fine." He tries to assure her.
"Alex, why don't you meet us at the medical building." The instructor says. Alex nods and jogs for the door; leaving Bobby to follow.
AVENGERS
At the medical building…
Alex sat in a chair while Emily was in surgery. She had given her a compound fracture and they were trying to get any loose bone particles out of the skin. Alex sat hunched over in a chair, holding a cup of water. Bobby walks up and sits down next to her.
"Do you know what happened?" Alex shakes her head.
"No…" She says. A nurse walks out of a room and nods to Alex. She gets up and walks in.
"Now, I'm going to take a blood sample miss-"Her eyes trail over the clip board.
"Barton." Alex finishes for her. The nurse nods and gets a needle. Morgan walks in the room. Alex looks up. "Haven't seen you in a while." She states. Morgan nods. The nurse inserts the needle and take a bit of blood. Alex sits there, not really feeling it at all. She finishes and Alex rolls her sleeve back down.
"Ok the doctor will be with you shortly with the results." She says. They all nod and she leaves the room.
A few minutes go by and a different person walks in. He puts a different clipboard down and turns to Alex.
"Alright miss Barton. The results are in." He says, put his face was more so interested then trusting. "It seems these abilities of yours are increasing." Alex furrows her eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
'I mean that you're getting stronger, faster, and much more agile than the average person. I won't necessarily change your physical appearance though." Alex was somewhat in shock.
"So, how much longer until I can control the amount of strength I can use?" Alex asks.
'Well looking at these samples I'd say about three days at max." Alex lets out a breath she now realizes she was holding in. "Your fee to go." He says and walks out.
"Sooo, I'm guessing no missions for three days?" She says to Morgan. He looks at her for a second then shrugs.
"You know what's happening now, so I trust you to try and contain some if it." He says. Alex nods. Morgan's phone beeps and he pulls it out. Reading it over; his face gets serious. "Come with me." He says, picking up the pace. Alex walks faster as she follows.
AVENGERS
Alex follows Morgan into a lab and over to a case full of vials. She recognized them from the finish where she got Storm…and almost revealed herself. He pulls one out and tosses it to her. She catches it and holds it up; looking it over.
"Now I'm going to ask you something I know you might not like." He begins. Alex looks past the vial and to Morgan. "These are animal versions of your serum." Alex stares at him blankly. "And we need to give it to an animal…" He says. Alex slams the vial down and walks up to Morgan.
"Hell no! You even touch him and I swear to God I'll hurt you!" She says. Morgan was holding up his hands for her to calm down.
"Please Alex, just think of the benefits!" He says.
"THE BENEFITS!?" Alex yells.
"Yes, just think you could take Storm on missions and not worry about him. He would have the healing you do and he would be as fast as a modern day car, including better intelligence!" Morgan explains. Alex didn't know what was worse. The part about experimenting on an animal or the part where she didn't know why he was doing this in the first place.
"Why would you do that?" Morgan shrugs.
"Well we do owe you, and just think of the missions you could accomplish!" Morgan says. Alex was interested in it, and she indeed wouldn't have to worry about Strom anymore.
"I'll think about it, give me 24 hours." She says. Morgan nods and Alex walks out.
AVENGERS
"Was he serious about it?" Bobby asks. Alex had told him about the animal serum and Storm's involvement.
"Yeah, and he does own me for that one mission." Alex says.
'Which one?" Bobby asks.
"The one were Steve and Coulson almost found me and I almost got caught by the police." Alex says a bit embarrassed.
"Well what do you think you should do?" He asks. Alex shrugs.
"I almost want to. I mean, I wouldn't have to worry and I could keep an eye on him. He's the only family I've got left." Alex says. Bobby nods.
"Then I think you should do it." He says to her. Alex looks at him then nods.
"OK."
AVENGERS
The next day…
Alex was in the barn and they were about the give Storm the serum. Bobby came with her and Morgan just wanted to see it happen. The slightly sedated Strom so he wouldn't be as dangerous. Storm didn't trust any of the people there. Alex had to get in between them. Alex took in a deep breath as the inserted the needles. Storm neighed and Alex stroked his muzzle.
They took away the needles and Storm's eyes flew open. He let out a low pitched neigh as he struggled to get up. Alex gets up and began to urge the scientists back. Storm got to his feet and Alex turned to see him. He reared into the air with another low pitched neigh. Alex grins as he comes down and she strokes his muzzle. Morgan walks up, Storm turns and neighs with a threatening step toward him; he was never fond of Morgan. He backs up.
"I have a mission for you two." He says. Alex grins and pulls herself onto his back.
"When do we start?"