Slowly my body calms down. The fear of the world outside his arms has dimmed, but there is still some fear left. I relax farther in the arms, knowing that he will not let anyone harm me. That is when I realize there is two people holding me.
My eyes slowly inch open, hesitantly at what I'll find. Bruce Wayne is on one side of me. Bruce Banner is on the other side of me. Both of them are sleeping, holding me close. Even though their arms are touching, they don't seem to mind.
The other Avengers are around the room, which is the one that I'm using in Avenger Tower. None of my teachers or classmates are in the room. It makes me sad but I know that they all hate me and wouldn't care if I was killed.
Not wanting them to wake up, I slip back into dreamland. My dreams are full of safeness and reassurance. Also in my dreams are Bane, who doesn't harm me. The last image before the alarm goes off is Bane putting the bracelet on me.
Slowly I sit up, stiff from sleeping in the same position for so long. My movements wake up Banner and Wayne. They sit up, slowly moving about so that they are sitting on the bed but leaving room for me to get off the bed.
I sit between them, not wanting to get off the bed, scared. Wayne gently brushes my hair back from my face, setting it behind my left ear. My cheeks redden as I smile at him, knowing that he isn't going to attack me but care for me like a brother.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." Steve announces, staying in his chair, looking up at me with a sad, puppy look.
"Its ok." I reply, shrugging my shoulders like this happens every day, adding. "When people get that angry, they get mean."
"What do you mean?" Wayne demands, sitting straighter as everyone else looks at me like I have two heads now.
"Um." I pause, looking down at my lap. 'Do I tell them? Will they hurt me like Them? Am I safe or going to be tortured again?'
"Its ok. None of us is going to harm you. I promise." Banner says, gently grasping my left hand which is closest to him.
"From kindergarten to high school, my classmates physically and mentally tortured me." I reply, before adding. "In eighth grade They buried me alive."
"What?" Everyone yells, standing up in outrage as I cringe from the sounds, not liking the loudness, terrified.
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again." I whimper, bringing my hands up, protecting my head as I cringe away from them.
Wayne and Banner stay on the bed, wrapping their arms around me protective. The others are on their feet, angry at what I've said. Tony is wringing his hands together, talking a mile a minute about some new invention he is planning.
Even Natasha, Clint, and Coulson are angry about what I've said. They are talking to each other, using facial expressions but no words. Their bodies are tense, like they are just waiting for the go ahead to seriously maim or kill someone.
"None of us will ever harm you." Banner vows, gently rubbing my hair. "You are safe here with us. We will protect you."
"That's right. None of us will harm you." Wayne adds, hugging me closer. "You are too precious to us for us to hurt."
I relax in their holds, trusting them. Right now, I trust them a little bit more than the others, because they aren't holding me or whispering reassurances to me. My eyes slowly open as I lower my arms from my head.
"But we couldn't find anything on you before you started school two years ago." Coulson demands, staring at me, puzzled.
"Um." I pause, unsure how to tell them that I'm from a different dimension. 'How am I going to get out of this?'
Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes as I imagine what could happen if I tell them about my dimension. Lots of images flash thru my mind, each one more disturbing than the others. It sends chills up and down my spine.
They could kill me quickly, which I don't want but its my second resort. My first resort is not telling and everything will be normal again. The last resort is telling them and they experiment on me, causing lots of pain.
Opening my eyes, I can see Them standing all around me. I am floating in the river that is by my parents first house in North Powder, Oregon. I scream out, struggling against Their hands holding me tightly, bruising my skin.
Deven swims closer to me, smiling happily. He snuggly grips my neck, shoving me under the water, as everyone else lets me go. My hands claw at his hand, trying to get free, not wanting to die. He brings me back up, letting me gasp for air.
For the next hour, he forces me under the water, letting me up for barely another breath. My lungs hurt, barely able to keep me conscious. The only way that I stay conscious is because I know that the Avengers and Batman or Bane will come rescue me.
"Stupid, Bitch. I knew that you would wake up if you almost died." Deven pauses. "Now, you will watch as we kill you."
He forces me back down under the water. I struggle, hands and feet kicking out. He grins down at me as the others gather around us. Rylie pulls a knife, quickly stabbing my closest side. I scream out, water filling my mouth.
More pain fills my body, all over. I violently struggle, trying to get away. As I scream, water hurts my throat. My lungs burn as I try to get air. I can see someone reaching for me, going to save me. 'I'm glad Barnes is here' my mind thinks.
Just as quickly as it came, the pain fades to phantom pain. I slump sideways, gasping for air. A hand soothingly brushes my hair back from my face. Tears slide down my cheeks, not wanting to die, feeling weak, like after I was buried alive.
"They killed me. It hurts." I moan, eyes tightly closed but feeling safe. "Don't let Them get me again." I beg, sounding childish.
"Where does it hurt?" Banner's soft voice asks as hands pat down my entire body, searching for injuries. "Shit!"
He curses as his left hand presses against my right side, drawing blood from the stab wound that Rylie did. I whimper from the touch. More hands touch my right ankle, which also causes me to jerk away from their touch.
They put cold gel on my wounds, that sting my flesh. Stars flash before my eyes as I bite my lower lip to keep from screaming. Barely can I hold back the scream of pain. As I try to get away, the hands wrap gauze around my injuries.
Whiteness wraps around me, trying to engulf me. I can feel everything but my body is numbing. Terrified, I struggle to force it back, not liking it. Its thick and heavy, suffocating and drowning me. I can hear scary animal sounds.
Suddenly it turns to blackness. Its promising that nothing bad will happen to me while I'm in it. Trusting it, I wrap the blackness around me in a blissful cocoon. Slowly I slip into a peaceful oblivion, full of safeness and calmness.