3.
Hey guys, so this is my first Avengers story! Please review and tell me if you like it ;)
Anne had thought that after all she had said, Fury would have killed her. But all he did was stand back up and leave. Shortly after, she was given back her quiver and her bow and put in a car with Barton and Romanoff. The first seemed to like her a lot. Clint thought she was exceptionally smart and talented for such a young person and he admired her even more for not joining SHIELD. The second saw her as a threat. Everything she seemed to know about her was correct and if that got out in the open, who knew what kind of damage it could cause.
Nonetheless, they were to take her to retrieve her things and then to Stark tower.
After a few hours, though, Anne noticed that they were leaving New York.
"Uhhh... Did I miss something?" she asked, quite confused.
"No. We're taking you to get your things." Answered Nat.
"My things, yeah, but... My apartment is in Manhattan. "
"Not THOSE things."
It hit her like a bolt of lightning. Utah. They were taking her home. But why? She hadn't set foot in that house since she and her dad had left for New York, and why would she do so now?
Anne's heart started racing at the thought of re opening her past, of remembering things she had tried so hard to forget. That house... It was so full of memories of who her father was. She wasn't sure she was ready.
It took them a few days to get all the way to Utah.
Anne was surprised they just didn't take a plane or something, but Barton explained that it wasn't easy or safe for them to take a plane those days and that Fury, being truly mad at her hadn't wanted to leave a private jet to her disposal.
But this didn't seem to bother any of them. Natasha and Clint seemed to like the idea of a road trip and Anne loved watching outside her window as she saw cities, villages, wide open spaces and green pastures pass them by. They reminded her of home and of the life she once had.
Anne came from Springdale. And she swore she had never seen such a beautiful place in her life. She had loved to take long walks and stop and admire the scenery a thousand times. It seemed as if she could never get enough of the beauty of God's creations.
She used to sit under the tree by their house, a book in her hands and read for hours, but now... Those times were over.
The three of them stopped rarely and only to eat or sleep.
No one seemed to be in the mood for talking.
Finally after four days, they reached their destination.
It was just how Anne remembered it. The big brown farm house. It looked abandoned now, though, and in the cold crisp of winter, even more lonely. But she knew that what awaited her inside was full of warmth.
The girl walked slowly towards her old home, setting her eyes upon everything, trying to remember with joy everything she had lived in that amazing place.
Agent Barton and Romanoff followed her slowly behind.
Finally, she got to the door and hesitated. Was everything still there? Or had they pillaged and bartered everything in the house? She took her key out of her pocket, Anne always carried it just in case, and she opened the door.
Nothing had changed. The sweet smell of book pages hit her like a slap in the face and her eyes filled with tears. Everything was still there. The young girl walked down the narrow hallway filled with books. She was used to it.
Her father, Joseph, had loved to read. Of course, he was an archer instructor, but he had always considered that more like a hobby, his true interests lied between the pages of a book.
There were books everywhere, stacked up on the floors, on the tables, on the chests, bookshelves, shelves, counters... Everywhere you put your feet, you had had to be careful to not step on one of them.
Anne entered the kitchen and she could almost picture her father sitting at the table, reading and drinking his coffee with a younger version of herself at his side doing the same. She too loved to read, and she had read probably more than all of the kids of her age put together. And they read all the time. Sometimes together, sometimes in separate places, but they were always reading more than doing anything else. In fact, the kitchen was always a mess, as were their rooms and the living room... They just never seemed to get to it.
When Anne had turned fifteen, though, she had dedicated herself more to bow and arrow. Her father had taught her everything he knew. That's why she still did it. It reminded her so much of him.
She made her way up to his room and there she found his things exactly as they had always been. Books mostly, some clothes here and there.
She picked up one of them on his desk. It was his favorite.
"Why do you like it so much, da?"she had asked him when she was little.
"Ah! Because there is so much good inside it! And if the reader is careful to each word, you can see the truth hidden beneath it."
She hadn't understood until many years later. The Chronicles of Narnia. It was one big paperback book that contained all seven books.
She had never understood why her father read such a childish book until she herself was old enough to understand and see past appearances.
Anne held the book to her chest and fell to her knees. The tears just came out. They were too fast to be stopped. Those were the tears that had been held back for so long. They were full of the pain, the desperation and agony she had tried to hide.
She started to sob when Barton and Natasha came in.
They didn't dare to say a word, but watched her with pity and compassion.
It took Anne a while to get herself back together again. When she did, she took one of her dads backpacks and started stuffing it with his clothes and hers. Then she got another bag and filled it with books. She would have liked to take all of them, but that would have been impossible.
Finally, they left and she closed the door to her past, maybe forever.
"I want to rent it out."
The two agents were surprised.
"What do you mean?"
"The books... I don't to leave them here uncared for. I want someone to take care of them."
Romanoff smiled gently.
"Would you like us to find someone?"
The girl nodded, tears still running down her cheeks.
"Someone good, who knows what he's doing and has as much love for books as my father did."
The two nodded and agreed to get right on it.