Disclaimer: I do not own anything Marvel other than a few comics
A/N: I know it's been a long time and I am so, so, sorry about that. I was dog sitting for a while and couldn't really get in the zone and then we're under staffed at work so there was that. But here's an update!
A/N2: I enjoy reviews.
Chapter twenty-one
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ Norah: Medical Wing ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Norah understood all of the doctor's ordering her to stay put and stay in her room in the Medical Wing until they deem her well enough to move back to her room which would be happening who knows when. But that doesn't mean she can't be annoyed and frustrated at the fact that she was basically confined to the bed she was laid up in. Hell, they barely let her go to the bathroom by herself let alone leave the room for a quick escapade to the kitchen or something or even to just walk up and down the hallways to stretch her legs. All Norah really wanted to do was just get out of the Medical Wing and be back in her own bed, she wasn't overly fond of Doctor's or Hospital-like environments…not since her mother wanted to get her 'fixed' from her Mutant powers.
For the last two days or so that Norah has been awake from her nearly two week coma she has been surrounded constantly by either Pepper and Tony or by Pietro and Wanda while everyone else had been told to stay away for at least the first day or so to give Norah a bit of time to recover from being unconscious for so long, Tony had told Pietro under no circumstances to go into Norah's room but Pietro being, well, himself he decided to not listen to what Tony said and do what he wanted anyways. Tony had yelled at Pietro a few times for doing that but Pepper had stepped in and told Tony to stop acting like a four year old child getting their favorite toy taken away and to let Pietro visit Norah if he wanted to, she told him that it was obvious that the Sokovian cared quite a bit about Norah and the two of them deserved time to talk and to spend some time together. When Pepper had said that Norah got the deer in the headlights look on her face and blushed, she wasn't sure what to say to that and was a bit embarrassed that she had said that in front of Pietro and Tony. Okay, yes Norah obviously liked and cared about Pietro a great deal and even a blind man would be able to see that and yeah the two have kissed (more than kissed in fact) and have felt each other up a bit but Pepper definitely didn't have to point out the care that the two twenty- something year olds felt for one and another. Neither Norah nor Pietro have really had the time to talk about what was going on and Norah has never really been all that great at talking about her feelings, at least not when it came to people she really liked and was interested in and wanted to date. She partly blamed it on her past and issues she has with her birthfather.
Norah did want to talk with Pietro but she's noticed over the last two days that he's barely left her side and has been spending all of his time in the Medical Wing with her and reluctantly demanded that he needed to leave for a while and do something else, something away from her and the Medical Wing. She jokingly said that she was the one that was laid up in the Medical Wing of the tower and she was itching to leave and yet here he was, healthy as a horse and wanting to keep himself trapped in the wing with her. She told him under no circumstances is he allowed to come back for at least four hours, that he needed to go and see Wanda or any of the other Avengers or even go on an adventure around the city and sight see a bit to which he said he wouldn't go out into the city until she could show him around. Pietro refused to leave at first but when Norah threatened to use her powers – which she was told to not use until further notice – he hesitated for a moment, considering his options and wondering if she would actually follow through with her threat. In the end Pietro decided to leave, not wanting to chance Norah maybe or maybe following through with her threat, she was stubborn enough to do it if she really wanted to.
"No. No. No. Ugh, definitely not." There was a heavy sigh that escaped from Norah's lips. "And no." she said from her spot on the rather large medical bed that she was laying in that would probably be able to fit two people comfortably on it, a bed which she was really itching to get out of but Doctor Cho and her team continuously told her that she could not leave yet – apparently two days wasn't long enough time to heal.
Norah was incredibly bored out of her mind at the moment and for the last two or whatever days she has been reading and listening to her music but she can only do that for so long before she needed a break to do something…anything else and she had decided to watch some TV but as luck would have it there wasn't anything worthwhile to watch on the six hundred plus channels that Tony paid for. So instead of watching anything in particular Norah was just flipping through the channels continuously, hoping something interesting would pop up but she wasn't about to hold her breath. Hell, she'd even take America's Next Top Model at this point, though she was more of a Say Yes to the Dress fan…..not that she would admit that to anyone.
"Knock, knock." A familiar voice said from behind the closed door of Norah's temporary room, the handle turning and a bright redhead appearing around it – Natasha – a smirk in place on her face. "Up for some visitors? I've been trying to keep these idiots in line but it's a lot of work without you and well, they said they won't wait any longer to see you." She told her, a rare warm tone laced in her words as she spoke.
"Yes, Lady Norah!" Thor said. "May we enter your healing chamber?" he questioned loudly to which Norah gave an amused smile to her Norse God friend.
Hearing Natasha's voice and seeing her somewhat stoic face – she was a trained assassin and Russian, emotions aren't exactly her thing – well, it just made Norah that much more thankful and relieved that she was alive and healing. Most people who met Natasha for the first time were intimidated by her and did all that they could to avoid her and would go out of their way just to avoid wherever it was that she was walking or whatever room she may be in but not Norah, no, Norah being herself decided to do the opposite of what a good deal of the other SHIELD agent's advised and approached Natasha and sat with Natasha after their training sessions. Sure, the first time Norah saw Natasha and talked to her she intimidated her beyond belief and the fact that she was a trained assassin who used to work for not so nice guys kinda freaked her out but who was she to judge, some of the teachers from Xavier's didn't use to be all that nice nor did they do very legal stuff before becoming teachers for Xavier's so really, why judge Natasha on her past.
Norah could tell that people wondered how she and Natasha became friends; Norah was intense, a whirlwind so to say, stubborn and would take anyone head on and yell at someone if they insulted or hurt someone she cared about while Natasha was more reserved, quiet, calculating and seemed to have a cold persona, she was protective of those she cared about and would do anything for them but she was slower to form a plan and would strategize. Norah was full of life and loved teasing, being sarcastic and was more than willing to smile if she felt like it while it took Natasha a lot of effort to smile or show that she cared for someone – even Clint. But both females considered each other friends.
"I suppose I could fit you guys into my schedule." Norah responded teasingly, a playful smirk on her face which was basically healed of all the bruises she had sustained during the fight against Ultron.
There was a sound of a scoff from behind Natasha who pushed the door open even more, "I travel all this way to see Little Miss Badass and all she can say is that she supposes she could fit me into her schedule. Huh? Is that how it is?" the familiar voice of Sam Wilson said as he pushed his way into the room and then stopped a few feet away from Norah and crossed his arms like a petulant child, a pout on his lips as he looked down at Norah who had a book on her lap and a remote hanging loosely from her fingers.
"For you Sam," Norah said and thought for a moment. "I can schedule you in for about five minute's tops." She said to him playfully to which he just rolled his eyes at her antics.
Sam walked closer to her medical bed and plopped himself unceremoniously into the chair that was closest to her bed and shook his head at her, "Why do I put up with you? You're a big meanie." He said as he crossed his arms and stretched his legs out in front of himself and crossed them at the ankles.
Norah gave a small laugh before giving a slight grimace of pain, she may be on the way to healing up but she was still in a bit of pain from the gunshot wounds she received. "What are you, five?" she asked rhetorically.
Steve, knowing that both Sam and Norah could banter and tease one and another back and forth for hours on end if given the chance decided to interrupt the two before they really got into it; the two of them seem to live for teasing each other and pushing the other's buttons whenever they had a chance to do so.
"Maybe I am." Sam said to her, a small smirk trying to make its way onto his face. "I ca-"
"You two act like cats and dogs sometimes, do you know that." Steve interrupted the two who turned to look at him, sheepish looks on both of their faces. "Glad you're awake Norah." He said to the younger blonde haired girl with a serious look in his eye as he looked into her dark brown colored eyes. "You gave us quite a scare."
Norah looked at Steve and then at Natasha, Thor and Sam and gave a small wavering smile at them, a smile that was supposed to look confident and show Steve that he didn't have to worry about her but she felt as if it didn't come off quite as confident as she meant for it to. She meant for it to be 'don't worry, I'm a strong bad ass female' sort of smile but seeing her friends…family surrounding her and supporting her and showing how much they cared for her, well, some days it still got to her and made her a bit emotional and act like a thirteen year old girl. For years Norah felt unwanted by her own father who barely did or said anything to her past the age of nine and then when her Mutant abilities came to the surface her mother made her feel unwanted, like a freak and even though it's been years since then and even though Tony accepted her Mutant abilities and all and treated her like a daughter it was hard to forget how your own flesh and blood treated you and it was hard to not feel hurt over that fact.
Sometimes Norah felt as if she needed to take a step back and look at the life she was living; here she was a twenty-two year old girl living at Stark Tower, was basically the daughter of Tony Stark, her friends were either Mutant's or Superhero's, she's helped save the world from a crazy murder bot, she knew a Norse god personally (how many people can say that?), she's been trained by a Russian Assassin, knew the Hulk and was friends with Captain America. Her family is filled with superheros and with them she didn't feel the least bit different because of the fact that she was a Mutant.
"Sorry Cap," Norah said to Steve as she looked up at his muscled form, though she still preferred Pietro over him or Thor any day of the week. "You know I can't help myself sometimes and just gotta worry you all, keep you on your toes and whatnot." She joked with a playful smile on her face, covering the fear that she had felt at the fact that she had almost died.
"Troublesome little hellion is what you are." Natasha said slyly, a smirk in place.
At that Norah turned her dark eyes and gave Natasha a pointed look, "Little Hellion? Who are you calling Little Hellion, you're not that much older than me the last I checked." She said and sent Natasha an unamused look for her statement.
"But you don't deny being troublesome?" Natasha questioned to the younger woman.
Looking at Norah as she chatted with Sam, Natasha and Thor and catching up on the week and a half or so that she's been unconscious Steve just looked at her in wonder and unbelievably. Steve knew that Norah was a force to be reckoned with but he felt guilty at the fact that he underestimated her and how strong she truly was and couldn't believe that even after everything that she had endured – fighting constantly for however many days straight, her life being in danger and then being shot at – that she was still the same person as she was before they all dragged her into this Ultron mess of Tony's. Back during World War two Steve had seen things that he didn't wish upon any man, he saw people get blown up, he's seen horrific wounds that men had suffered from enemy fire, he's seen things that he wished…..wished so desperately to forget and erase from his mind but can't. Some of those men didn't come back the same, didn't jump back into being the person they were before they had suffered and some of those men didn't suffer all that much but were still affected and some of those men hadn't been through what Norah has and yet this slip of a woman somehow was able to come out of this ordeal with her head on straight and without too much of a lasting effect on her person. He admired her for that, for her strength, her stubbornness, her determination and the fight that she had in her.
"Norah," Steve said gaining her attention from whatever conversation she was having with Sam. "I know you don't like it when I say things like this, usually tell me I'm old fashioned and that it sounds sexist nowadays but I'm gonna say it anyways." He told her as he looked at her intently, wanting her to know how much he believed what he was about to say to her. "You're one hell of a dame."
"Language." Natasha admonished jokingly, earning a giggle from Norah and an annoyed look from Steve at the reminder.
Hearing that from Steve made Norah smile widely, "I am, aren't I?" she said to him as she slowly shifted in bed, trying to find a more comfortable position.
"Humble too apparently." Sam uttered underneath his breath to which Norah pretended to not hear him.
Thor looked at Norah enthusiastically and nodded his head, "You are a mighty warrior Lady Norah, and for years to come there will be tales of your bravery and of your own life that you nearly sacrificed for the good of all." He told her in what seemed like a melodramatic tone of voice but knew it was just Thor being himself. "My father would have been proud to have someone such as you join Valhalla but I am glad that it did not come to that."
Norah shook her head at Thor, the guy was hilarious at times with how he spoke and how blunt he was at times and it was funny as hell watching him see or try something new that he didn't understand like video games or going to see contortionists.
"Me too big guy, me too." Norah said simply. "I'm rather fond of this whole living experience thing that I've been doing for the last twenty some years and, well, it'd really put a damper on my day if I suddenly wasn't able to do the living thing."
"Or see Pietro." Natasha said off hand, an almost Cheshire grin on her face while she said it. "You two have been joined at the hip since you woke up, I half expected him to be here when we came to visit you."
At that Norah gave Natasha a sarcastic smile for that comment, "Ha, ha. You're freaking hilarious Tasha." She said flatly to her and then looked around the room and noticed that neither Clint nor Bruce was there, Clint she assumed would have gone home to see his wife and two kids so that he could reassure them that he was still alive and kicking but Bruce, she thought Bruce would have still been there. "Where's Bruce?" she questioned.
The moment she said that Natasha suddenly took on a downcast expression, the look on her face obviously hinting that she'd rather not answer that question but knew that Norah needed to know, she was friends with Bruce as well. "Bruce…well Bruce took off a bit after the battle. He took one of the jets and the stealth technology was turned on so we don't really have any idea where he is at the moment." She answered stoically, not wanting to show how hurt she was that Bruce had left.
Hearing that made Norah internally cringe a bit, she knew that Bruce and Natasha liked one and another and had seen Natasha openly flirt with Bruce on a few occasions but he either didn't think she was seriously flirting with him or the flirting flew right over top of his head. Bruce was a quiet and shy guy and from what Norah heard he didn't date all that much and thought that he didn't deserve to be happy or have someone like Natasha be in his life as his girlfriend because of the other guy, he always thought that he would be putting them in danger or would explode one day and unintentionally hurt someone he cared deeply for.
Deciding to change the subject so to not make Natasha have to think about Bruce, Norah looked over at Sam. "So," she said looking at him curiously. "How long are you staying for?"
Sam looked at her apologetically, "Sorry Spitfire but I'm only here for today and tomorrow, me and Cap are heading off to Indiana tomorrow afternoon." He told her with a lopsided smile.
Furrowing her brows Norah looked up at Steve, "Bucky?" she questioned, hoping that finally Sam and Steve had a good lead on Steve's friend and would be able to get there before he took off once again and led them on a wild goose chase which seemed to be a common theme when it came to hunting Bucky down.
When Norah said that Steve gave a nod, a desperate and hopeful look in his eyes that this time would be the time, that this time he would finally be able to see Bucky face to face since they had their fight at the Triskelion when SHIELD had fallen. "Yeah, a few of Sam's contacts and some people I know said there were signs of Bucky in Indiana and that he had been staying at the homeless shelter last night. I gotta go while I still have a chance of meeting up with him, I…I can't lose him."
Norah hoped against all the gods in existence that Steve would finally be able to catch up with Bucky and that Bucky would give Steve a chance to talk to him, to tell him that everything was okay and that he just wanted to help him and would finally be able to bring him back to the tower to help him heal and recover from everything that he had been forced to endure because of Hydra. No one deserved to be brainwashed, tortured and used as a weapon like Bucky was, he was the longest prisoner of war and deserved the chance to actually live his life.
"You'll find him." Norah said to him with confidence, a small smile on her face that she sent towards him. "And remember my offer, if you need help don't hesitate to ask." She said and then paused for a moment while she looked down at herself and then back to Steve. "Not now obviously, I mean I would go with you but I'm kinda injured and not much use at the moment."
Sam shook his head, "Such a glutton for punishment, aren't you kid." He said to her.
Thor looked at Norah and grinned, "That is a sign of a great warrior, you are injured but you are willing to offer your aide. I do hope to join you in battle once again someday." He told her.
At that everyone stopped and stared at Thor for his comment, maybe in Asgard it would be considered a compliment and a great honor to go into battle alongside Thor but the majority of people in Earth would probably prefer to not go into battle again, especially so soon after being injured while in battle like Norah was.
"I suppose not anytime soon though." Thor said offhand after he noticed the odd looks that Natasha, Steve, Sam and Norah had given him.
"No, I don't think so." Natasha said as she shook her head.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Norah: Medical Wing: 2 AM ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Norah knew she was going to be affected by what happened in Sokovia, at least a little bit but she had hoped that she wouldn't be forced to relive what happened in Sokovia with Ultron in her dreams and had hoped that she wouldn't have to have nightmares not just about Ultron but also about what had happened in St. Louis. Both of the worst traumas in her life combined into one horrific and gruesome nightmare; not exactly her cup of tea nor was it something she wanted to see when she was trying to get some sleep. The nightmares were the main reason why she ended up not going to sleep until late, hoping she would exhaust herself to have a dreamless sleep and the other was the fact that her injuries hurt a bit and no matter what sort of med's they gave her or what position she tried to sleep in it took a good long while for her to be able to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. If she moved or shifted a certain way it would pull at her wounds, and if she laid in a certain position it would put pressure on a certain bullet wound or two and well, it took a bit of finagling before she found the perfect position that wouldn't pull or bother any of her wounds.
Tonight was going just like the last two or three nights that Norah had been out of her medically induced a coma – she was having a nightmare.
A scream escaped her lips as she woke from her nightmare, sitting straight up Norah breathed in shaky breaths and pressed her hands down into the large mattress of the bed she was sitting on top of and tried to force the images of her nightmare away but it was damn near impossible, the nightmare was so vivid. "Stop it. Stop it. Stop it Eleanorah, don't think about it. You're fine, it's over, you're not there anymore and Ultron is dead. You don't have to worry." She said to herself as she slowly started to be able to control her erratic breathing that was caused by the nightmare she had just woke from; pulling her one leg that didn't end up getting shot to her chest and then resting her forehead against it Norah did all she could to try and push those horrible images away. "It's fine, it's fine, it's fine. You're fine. Pietro is fine. Clint is fine. Tony is fine. Everyone is fine." She said to herself like a mantra and blinked the images of the bloody and mangled bodies of her friends and family out of her mind to the best of her ability.
Digging her short nails into the skin of the palm of her hand Norah's breath slowly started to even out into much steadier and even breaths; god, shew as a complete wreck at the moment and hated, absolutely hated that shew as so affected by what had happened in Sokovia. Sure, the doctors had told her that there would be some after effects from being shot five times and from being in battle against Ultron and his minions and they also had told her there was a moderate chance that she may develop a small form of PTSD for a while from what she had gone through and experienced. Norah hated that she was like this right now, hated that she wasn't back to normal immediately after waking up from her a coma and hated that she wasn't sure nor knew how to handle and deal with what happened to her. Anyone who knew her has always described Norah as being the strong, stubborn and resilient type and right now…well, she wasn't feeling all that strong or resilient. She felt like herself but a little broken but didn't want anyone to know, she didn't want her family or friends to know how much she was truly affected by the fight with Ultron. She wanted to be strong, she wanted to be okay and be able to be her old self like Natasha, Steve and the others seemed to be able to do. She definitely was going to need therapy; there was no doubt about that.
"Ms. Norah." The somewhat familiar voice of Friday said throughout the room. "Are you all right? Shall I contact Mr. Stark for you?" she questioned in concern, an unusual trait for an AI usually but Tony had a flair for eccentrics.
Immediately Norah shook her head vehemently, "NO!" she yelled in a panicky tone of voice at the thought of having Tony see her like this, seeing her look so broken and so affected by what had happened and by her nightmares. "No, don't tell Tony. Don't…I can't let him…I…just don't tell him. Please." She begged of the AI desperately.
She loved Tony and as far as Norah was concerned he was her father and sure he's seen her in many different emotional states over the last three or so years – break-ups, failure's, depression, anger and everything in-between – but this was something different, this was something she didn't want him, Pepper or any of the other Avengers to see. She didn't want them to see her like this, to see her unable to bounce back and be the person she was before all of this went down.
"I would advise you to contact Mr. Stark, Ms. Norah." Friday said throughout the medical room. "You have been having nightmares since you woke up from your coma; from the scans that I have done and the files that I have accessed from Doctor Cho I know that you need rest from your injuries and that these nightmares are causing you to have high levels of anxiety and pos-"
Before Friday had a chance to finish whatever it was that she had been saying Norah interrupted her. "I said no!" Norah snapped irritably at the AI and wiped desperately at the tears that seemed to keep on streaming down her face and no matter how hard she tried to control them and tried to calm herself down they just kept on streaming down her face.
Deciding to ignore what Friday was trying to say to her – not that Norah was paying much attention, she was pretty sure she was having a panic attack at the moment – Norah instead screwed her eyes shut tightly, tears streaming down her face, slouched her shoulders forward and over her knew that was still propped up and resting against her chest and then pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes as if she thought it would help still the tears and stop her mind from relieving what happened in Sokovia. Sitting there alone in the darkness of her medical room Norah cried and kept on repeating to herself that she was okay, that everyone was all right, that she didn't have to be afraid anymore, that Vision had made sure Ultron was gone for good, that everyone she cared for was alive and well even with Bruce MIA at the moment – Hulk wouldn't let him die anyways. No matter what she tried to tell herself Norah couldn't seem to calm down and her breaths were once again getting shaky once again and erratic and her heart felt like it was beating a mile a minute, more than likely signs of her definitely going through a panic attack.
There was the sound of the door to her room opening and she heard Friday say something but at that precise moment Norah wasn't really comprehending what was going on around her, she didn't even notice the lights of her room being turned on so that she could see rather than being stuck in pitch black. But suddenly there was a warm hand that gently grasped her around the forearm startling her and making her jolt back so that she was sitting straight up once again rather than slouching over her knee, after a few seconds of looking into ice blue colored eyes Norah realized that it was Pietro who had come into her room and who had gently grasped her around her forearm and covering the tattoo that she had there.
"Pietro." Norah whispered hoarsely, looking at him as if he was the anchor that was keeping her there in the world.
Looking down at Norah, Pietro could see the utter terror that was reflected in her dark brown eyes, he could see the complete exhaustion that she was feeling at the moment and a few other emotions flitted across her face but the most prominent ones were terror and exhaustion. It pained Pietro to see Norah like this; so far he has only known Norah as the girl he had met in the woods of Sokovia who had been a strong, stubborn, brave and determined woman with one hell of a punch who was protective of her friends and family and who had a bit of a playful side to her.
He wasn't used to this side of Norah, the more frightened and vulnerable Norah, the one who had just been through a trying and horrible ordeal, the one who tried to put on a brave face and hide all that she was feeling and that was something Pietro knew from experience was not a good thing to do. After his parents had died and once they were extracted from their building that had been bombed Pietro had hid his feelings and thoughts on what happened to him and his sister, Wanda had talked about what happened but Pietro refused to and instead kept to himself and didn't let anyone but Wanda in.
"Moj mali bik," Pietro said gently to the one woman who he was close to caring for just as much as he did for his mother and sister, something that terrified him and enthralled him at the same time. "What is matter Norah? What is wrong? What are tears for?" he questioned her softly as he slowly reached up and cupped the side of her face with one hand and brushed away the tears with the pad of his thumb, looking into Norah's eyes with concern.
Norah tried to answer him, she really did, she went through the motions of opening her mouth intending on answering his concerned question but all that managed to escape was a small sob and instead of trying to calm herself down enough to answer him Norah turned to Pietro who was now seated beside her on her bed and pressed her head into the crook of his neck and grasped at his shirt desperately, ignoring the pain she got from her wounds for moving in such a way. Right now Norah needed human contact, she needed to feel Pietro and the warmness of his skin to be absolutely certain that he was there with her and that she hadn't just dreamed everything up that has happened in the last three or so days.
Seeing as Norah was unable to speak at the moment and not wanting her to end up crying again which, if the red eyes are any hint she has already done a lot of, Pietro instead decided to just hold her where she was and slowly rub soothing circles on her back, something that worked on Wanda when she was younger and when some of the kids at their school would tease or make fun of her. Shifting a bit and being mindful of the injuries that Norah was still healing from Pietro made himself more comfortable and then gently lifted Norah into his lap who responded by wrapping one of her arms around his neck loosely and keeping her one hand still clutching at his shirt, her head still pressed into the crook of his neck where he could feel tears landing.
Moving his head a bit, Pietro bent down and kissed the top of her blonde curly haired head and breathed her in and encompassed his senses with a scent that was distinctly Norah. "Moj mali bik ja ne znam šta nije u redu, ali to će biti u redu. Sve je u redu. Ja sam ovde." He said in his mother tongue, hoping that it would help to calm Norah down from whatever had terrified her so much. "Eleanorah, it is fine. Whatever matter, it is fine. I am here with you, yes?"
Norah shifted closer to Pietro and wound both of her arms around his neck, one hand playing with the silver/blonde colored locks at the back of his neck and doing her best to not make a noise of pain that would make Pietro let her go. This is the most content and at ease she has felt during the night since she had woken up and god did it feel good to not have to worry, to not feel worry and fear about falling asleep and having nightmares. Pressing her forehead into his neck Norah sighed at the feel of his skin against the skin of her forehead and slowly began to relax a bit more.
"Eleanorah." Pietro spoke, using Norah's full name to gain her attention and locked eyes with her. "What is matter? Are you…..willing to tell me what is matter now, hmm?" he questioned as he pulled a bit away from Norah and reposition her on the bed next to him before she could even answer the questioned he just asked her, Norah may not have said anything but he knew that she was in a bit of pain in the position that the two had just been in previously.
Norah gave a small sigh as she leaned more heavily against Pietro's side, "I…I had a nightmare." She uttered quietly as she pulled her dark eyes away from Pietro's and instead stared down at her lap and pulled at the scrubs she has been wearing since she woke up, what she wouldn't do to have her own clothes to wear rather that these things.
Hearing that Pietro interlaced their fingers together and squeezed gently, "A nightmare?" he questioned to which she just nodded into her shoulder. "This….this not typical nightmare then?" he asked carefully, not wanting to anger her.
"No, I don't usually have nightmares." Norah answered and pursed her lips as she tried to shake the images out of her mind that seemed to seep in. "I…it's was horrible. We were all back in Sokovia, fighting Ultron. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak or do anything to help you guys and Ultron killed you all." She stuttered out to him as she grasped his hand that much tighter and looked up into his blue colored eyes which she has enjoyed looking into whenever she had the chance to, no matter if there were people in the room with them or not. "But he…Ultron, he saved you and Tony last. Wanting me to suffer, to feel pain and watch as he slowly killed the both of you in front of me while I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even cry." She said and gave a bitter laugh as more tears developed in her eyes and quickly wiped them away before they could even fall down her pale cheeks. "You two yelled at me to help, to save you, to do anything to help you get away from Ultron but when you two noticed I wasn't moving you both started yelling at me and blaming me for your deaths. Saying I didn't care. Then he killed me, shot me a few times and then shot me right in the middle of the forehead." She said to him as she tapped the middle of her forehead with her free hand. "God! I hate this! I hate these nightmares! I hate that I saw that and dreamt it! I hate feeling like this!" she yelled in frustration and attempted to hit her fist against her thigh but Pietro caught her wrist in his hands before she had the chance to and before she had a chance to cause damage to the gunshot wound that was there which she had forgotten about temporarily.
Before Norah could say anything else Pietro leant down and kissed her without a second thought, it wasn't the heated kisses that they had shared before or the steamy and passionate ones that they had shared either but it was soft and slow, tender and full of care. Slowly Pietro pulled his lips from Norah's soft, full lips and kissed the side of her mouth and then moved his way to her cheek, kissed the tip of her nose, moved his way and kissed both of her eyelids which she closed as he got closer to her and then made his way upwards to her forehead before he journeyed back down and kissed her on the lips so lightly that it seemed as if they hadn't even kissed.
"Shh," Pietro said as he released her from the kiss and gently pressed his forehead against hers and wiped at the tears that seem to once again be streaming down her face. "Shh Eleanorah, it is okay. We are all good, we are fine and do not have injuries. You were worst hurt Norah. Your father is fine, Natasha, Clint, everyone of Avengers is fine. Ultron cannot hurt anyone now, we are safe. Please, do not worry now. We are free from danger he caused us." He told her as he began to run both of his hands through her wild, curly blonde hair – a dangerous action considering her hair seemed to have a mind of its own at times.
"It felt so real Pietro; I felt the blood of my wounds and felt as the bullets hit me. It all….it was all just so real." Norah said to him quietly as she pulled his hands from her hair to in front of her where she kissed his knuckles gently, something Pietro quirked an eyebrow at but said nothing. "I keep having these nightmares and I can't seem to shake them and then I have a small freak out every time I wake up."
Hearing that Pietro's brows drew together in concern at that bit of information, she should not be alone in her medical room and be forced to endure nightmares every night that she sleeps, she's only been out of a coma for a few short days and needs all the rest that she can get. If she's getting nightmares though, well, it makes it hard to get a good night's rest when you're seeing horrific things in your mind.
"It is not real, not here." Pietro said as he gestured to the world around them and then looked down at Norah seriously. "These things cannot hurt you, we are not dead and Ultron is not here to harm us. We are free from him and do not need worry now. We get to live our lives." He said to her as he nudged his nose against hers playfully, a small smirk making its way onto his face. "Understand?" he questioned.
Norah gave a small sigh before nodding her head at Pietro, "Yeah." She answered.
For at least a few minutes after that neither Norah nor Pietro spoke to one and another or the subject of Norah's nightly nightmares that she has been getting since she had woken up from her medically induced a coma, both of them knew that more needed to be said on the subject of her nightmares, that Norah needed to either talk to Pietro, Tony, Pepper or any of the others about her nightmares or a professional because otherwise she wouldn't be able to fully accept what had happened to her in Sokovia which is partly why she was getting nightmares of it. But at the moment, that was a subject that didn't need to be talked about.
Trying to be subtle Norah sneaked a few glances over at Pietro who was leaning back against the back of the bed which rather than lying flat was at an angled position which made it easier for Norah to work on her computer or watch TV; this was the first chance that either have had much time to talk alone and be alone with one and another for more than twenty minutes or so and Norah was going to take advantage of it but she was kind of nervous about what she wanted to do, or rather what she wanted to talk with Pietro about. It was obvious that the two of them liked one and another, and sure neither have known each other all that long and to most people it would seem weird that Norah and Pietro care so much about each other and like each other as much as they do after only knowing one and another for such a short period of time but for the two of them it just ended up working like that.
Norah, like any female in her twenties, wanted to know what was going on between herself and Pietro and wanted to know if this was something serious or not. Of course from the way Pietro acted she knew that he wasn't doing this as a fling or just to pass time but she was female after all and needed to hear the words to be absolutely positive that he wanted something serious with her. It seems that they've done this whole….thing that they are doing backwards; they've kissed already and Norah was the one who instigated the kiss and technically speaking they may have been on a date already if you count fighting in South Africa and Seoul and fighting against Ultron as dates. God, she's never been this nervous around someone she's liked before but then again with Pietro it was different than those times, she really, really, really liked him and wanted to word this right and not majorly fuck it up.
Taking a deep breath, a breath to help her find the brave part of her she looked over at Pietro who still had his eyes closed but was obvious was still conscious. "So." Norah started nervously as she adjusted ever so slightly so that she lay a bit on her leg that didn't end up getting shot in the fight. "Is this….is this a thing that we are doing, I mean we're a….thing to one and another, right?" she questioned as she gestured between herself and Pietro and did her best to not seem like too much of a complete fool; in most circumstances she wasn't afraid to be brave, to speak her mind or yell at people who she thought were doing wrong by her but when it came to telling the guy that she liked that she liked him a long and was wondering if they were dating or something along those lines…well, she turned into a thirteen year old when that happened.
Pietro looked over at Norah and cocked his head to the side making himself look an awful lot like a puppy, "Thing? What do you mean by that word?" he questioned her with an amused glint in his eyes feigning confusion, though Norah didn't notice the playful look he had in his eyes as she had turned away when he looked at her, too afraid that he might not want the same thing as she did. However unrealistic that thought was.
Counting to ten in German to calm herself down Norah looked straight in the eye at Pietro, determined to get through this conversation and to make sure he knew that she liked him and wanted to date him – exclusively. "You and me. This…thing we're doing." She said as she gestured between them once again. Flirting, teasing and kissing and whatever, it's something right? I'm not overthinking or assuming, we're do-"
"Moj mali bik," Pietro said as he leant closer to Norah and gently grasped her chin in his hand and stared into her dark eyes intently and pressed his forehead against hers, his oddly colored hair gently hitting Norah's face. "I care for you and feel much for you, I think I am right when say you do too?" he questioned for a moment as he pulled back a bit to look at Norah who gave a nod of her head. "I…..am your boyfriend and you are my girlfriend. That is what you call it here, yes?" he asked with a raised brow, wondering if he had gotten the words correct.
Norah grinned at that, "Yes, those are the right words." She whispered softly as she reached up and pushed a bit of his hair behind his ear, enjoying the silver/blonde strands as they slid from her fingertips.
Pietro gave a half smile at her, "Then if is okay with you, I would like to be boyfriend to you." He said to her, waiting for her answer though from the smile he had on his face he already knew what her answer was going to be without her really needing to speak it.
Not being able to help herself Norah smiled so widely that it nearly hurt her face, "Yeah, that's more than okay speedy." She said to him and before he had the chance to say anything else to her she moved in quickly and pulled his head towards her and pressed her lips against his, showing him how much she cared for him and how much she agreed with being his girlfriend.
This, this was well worth the nervousness of asking him if whatever they were doing was leading to being girlfriend and boyfriend.
Pietro shifted a bit until he was laying on his left side and then pulled Norah up against him before she realized what was going on and wrapped an arm loosely around her waist and tucked her head under his chin, in response to this Norah gave a small chuckle at his antics and then reached towards Pietro's hand and laced their fingers together and rested it against her stomach comfortably.
"Comfy?" Norah questioned.
"Yes," Pietro answered honestly. "You are soft in right places, easy to fall asleep next to I bet." He told her honestly.
Giving a small smile at that Norah turned her head a bit and looked up at Pietro who was looking down at her softly, "We're taking this slow, I just want to get that out there so that we don't get any crossed wires and get confused about what we expect." She said awkwardly a bit.
Pietro furrowed his brows, confused at the phrasing. "Crossed wires?" he asked.
"So that we don't get any mixed signals about what we want, or so that we are on the same page I guess." Norah explained to him and saw a bit of confusion still on his face but eventually she saw realization in his eyes. "Does that make sense?"
Leaning down Pietro kissed Norah's cheek, "Do not worry moj mali bik, I do not expect us to be in situation where less clothing is involved until you decide for it to happen, we take things slow. We can go on…..on a date first, yes?" he asked her.
Norah laughed a bit at that, at how uncertain he was about certain words and about certain customs. "Yes, we can go on a date." She said to him before she looked back away from him and settled her head back onto the pillows of the medical room she was forced to stay in for who knows how much longer.
Giving a content sigh Norah leaned her weight against Pietro and thought about everything that has happened in the last few days; she woke up from a coma and found out she was shot five times by Ultron, found out she nearly died from her injuries, found out Ultron died, Bruce was MIA at the moment, and Tony had called her family and they would be heading to New York in a day or two or so said Tony. Personally Norah was still a bit pissed at Tony for doing that but knew she needed to face her fears – yes she was a twenty-two year old female who had one hell of a personality but was afraid to face her birth family who she hasn't seen since the age of fifteen. She could be brave and strong and determined at times but Norah was still allowed to have her moments of weakness and fear and uncertainty, like she had proved just that night.
"Your mind busy," Pietro said and gently tapped Norah's temple with one of his fingertips, gaining her attention. "What is going on up there?" he asked as he traced his finger along the outside of her ear, playing ab it with the piercing in her upper ear.
Closing her eyes Norah gave a heavy sigh that only pained her a little bit, "Tony, he called my birth family back in Minnesota. Told them that I was injured and invited them here." She told him in a somber tone of voice which confused Pietro, if he had the chance to see his mother and father again he would jump at the chance.
Pietro gave a look of confusion, "I do not understand." He admitted to her as he studied the tattoo on her forearm intently, the red standing out starkly against her pale skin tone.
For a moment Norah said nothing, not sure how to broach this subject especially considering that Pietro had lost his mother and father and yet she hasn't spoken to any of her family members since she was fifteen when she had ran away from home.
"I told Wanda a bit of this but I'm not sure if she told you," Norah began. "I developed my Mutant powers when I was young; I was seven when I found out that I could Blink from one place to another. It was brought on by my parents' divorce, I didn't understand and wanted to get away and be alone and so I ended up Blinking myself to a park I really liked to go to. I hid it from them, from my family and practiced when no one was looking or when no one would notice. I got really good. At fifteen I was arguing with my ma about something stupid," she said with a wry grin on her face and shook her head at how she had been then. "I was invited to go camping or go to my friend's family cabin with her, another friend and her older sister. I had been begging my ma for two weeks straight but she said no and I wanted to go so badly, I thought that I was almost an adult and didn't know why she wouldn't let me go. This is when I found out I had a second power, the one where I can blow things up."
Norah had a dark look on her face when she said that, "I flung my arms out in frustration and anger, because, you know. I talk with my hands a lot. I ended up blowing the shed up and all that was left of it were splinters and broken pieces of wood. I panicked and ran inside and hid in my room, Mutants weren't well liked by everyone and there were and still are a lot of Mutant hate groups." She paused for a moment and enjoyed the feeling of Pietro's fingers combing through her long hair. "We had a talk the next day; me, my ma and my older sister. Dad, well, he was nonexistent in the family and didn't really care about us. My ma and Niki talked with me for a while, Ma asking why I never told her and how long I've known and her telling me that Mutant's are dangerous and that we needed to take care of the problem." She scoffed at that and glared at the wall across from her. "Take care of the problem; she wanted to get me fixed. She wanted me to get rid of my powers because she was afraid of them and didn't understand what Mutants were. She thought all Mutants were like the ones that you see on TV; the ones who hate humans and the ones who are incredibly dangerous with destructive powers. Yes my power can be dangerous but I wasn't like those Mutants. I was still her daughter but she wanted to fix me no matter what."
"Norah-" Pietro started gently but she shook her head at him.
Norah took a deep breath, "I ran away, stole my ma's spare car and ran for it. I refused to be changed simply because she couldn't accept the fact that I was a Mutant." She said fiercely to him and pursed her lips. "I eventually ended up being found by Storm and Logan who worked at a school here in New York for kids like me, for Mutants and they brought me there and for the first time I felt accepted, I felt normal by being different. I had powers and these kids around me had powers too and it was okay. It wasn't something to be feared. My ma made me feel like a freak when she was talking about my powers, she made me feel unnatural and like I needed to change. But I didn't want to and that was why I loved Xavier's so much, they accepted me no matter what."
Hearing all of this made Pietro have mixed feelings; on one hand Norah's family was alive and well and she had the opportunity to see them if she wanted to while his mother and father were dead because of a bombing, taking away his chance of ever seeing them again. But, Norah's mother wanting to change Norah simply because she was a Mutant wasn't something he could accept or condone; no parent should try and change their child simply because they are different than them, because they are a Mutant. It's not fair to them.
"And your father?" Pietro asked hesitantly.
Norah snorted at that, "A drunken asshole, drug dealer who only cares about himself and getting high. I never got to know him, he was too busy dealing or drinking and to tell the truth from what I know of him I really don't care." She said with a simple shrug of her shoulders. "I hoped for years that he would step up to the plate and be the father I want, I hoped and dreamed of him getting better and being an actual father to me and Niki but he never did and after the age of ten or so I got smart and stopped caring. Or rather I attempted to stop caring." She said and sighed heavily. "Some days it hurts to see other family's out and about acting like a family should when I never got that chance with my birth father but then, then I remember that I have Tony, that he has done so much for me and done family things with me an Pepper and that makes up for it. Tony is my father. Even if he is a bit arrogant and selfish at times and makes bad decisions that turn something that was supposed to protect the world into a crazy murder bot." she said last part sarcastically making Pietro snicker a bit. "He's my family, the Avengers are my family and you and Wanda are important to me too now."
Norah rubbed the back of her neck, "Why I don't want to see my father is obvious, my mother though I don't want to see because of how anti-Mutant she was and because she wanted to fix me." She explained to him. "And…and I'm afraid if I see her I will revert back to the girl I once was, I could be stubborn and hard headed then but I wasn't nearly as confident or out spoke as I am now. I don't want to be that girl again, the one who was shy and liked to be a wallflower."
"It has been many years Norah, I do not think you can come close to being like you were before even when you see mother again." Pietro told her simply, confidence in his voice. "What about your sister?" he asked her.
At that Norah gave a smile, "I want to see her again, I want to know all about her now, I want her to know that I missed her and I miss our girl's nights of movies and really bad food, I miss talking with her about everything and I miss having a sister. I want to know if she has a family, if she missed me and…everything." Norah told him.
Pietro looked at Norah and pulled her back towards him and wrapped his arm around her waist once again, lacing his fingers through hers. "All will be fine Norah, do not worry. Wanda and I are here, we will keep them away if they make you feel anger. You will reunite with your birth family and talk again, settle things maybe. If they are meant to work out they will if not, you say you tried then at least. Yes?" he asked her to which Norah just nodded at him rather than answering. "Now, it been long day and you had nightmare without much sleep. I think we should try and do that now." He told her and asked Friday to turn the lights off.
With the lights off and the feeling of Pietro behind her, the feeling of his breaths on the back of her neck, Norah felt completely content and felt as if she didn't have to worry about anything – at least for that moment. For that moment Norah didn't have any worries whatsoever, she didn't worry about her family coming and the more than likely family drama that was about to happen within the next few days, she didn't worry about her injuries, she didn't worry about her friends that she still needed to tell about what happened to her, she didn't worry about anything at all. She just existed there with Pietro.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Author's Note ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
I'm still alive, I promise. And again, I am sorry tht it took so long to get this out, things happen. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you think and if there is anything in this story that you would like to see!
Smooches!
Translations:
moj mali bik ja ne znam šta nije u redu , ali to će biti u redu . Sve je u redu . Ja sam ovde.
my little bull I do not know what is wrong, but it will be okay. Everything is all right. I am here.