So it goes with saying that only things I own with any connection to MARVEL I bought on Ebay or Etsy. MARVEL COMICS & MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE are their own creatures and I have nothing to do with either of them aside from the fact I enjoy reading or watching them, and am grateful for the ability to play in their world. I claim nothing, and I receive nothing for this, expect the pleasure of putting something out into the world.
You can also find this story on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN under the same title and pen name along with a place to post suggestions.
Don't forget to check out the Photobucket album listed on my profile page too.
DAY THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012
0904 HOURS
SUBTERRANEAN BUNKER
LOCATION UNKNOWN
DUNCAN
After the blood started flowing evenly in my head again, driving away the black rimmed vision of stars, and I manage to cough my windpipe back into place from where his steel toed fucking boots shifted it to. All I wanted to do was crack his head open with a pipe but then she said the magic word:
Baby.
Its amazing how a single word, even to someone who isn't a father, or ever wants to be, can be shut down so completely by that word. And how quickly it reboots me too. WHERE IS MY BABY YOU BASTARD?! WHERE IS SHE?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BABY?! The words she is sobbing don't leave much room for interpretation. She thinks he kept her baby from her!
There's another one of her, somewhere. A baby, and a girl. There's nothing in the records, but that doesn't mean much to me. Even I didn't get to know everything, and after the war a lot of things went up in smoke. Does this mean that the kid might be on earth, does mean my father knows? Does this mean I want my father to know?
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012
0904 HOURS
SUBTERRANEAN BUNKER
LOCATION UNKNOWN
CLINT
Something's setting my instincts on edge about the way my 'partner' is way too quiet in thought despite the fact I almost kicked his head off and we have a screaming 'mother' on our hands. Or maybe it's just this twitchy energy I can't shake that's got me seeing things. I make it not matter though because if he isn't going to fight me I'm gonna focus on the one who actually is.
WHERE IS MY BABY YOU BASTARD?! WHERE IS SHE?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BABY? Nora thinks she is a mother. Jesus Christ, that's what he put in her head! Son of a bitch. That was smart, that was real smart. He only had her for a couple days, but he figured out exactly how to work her to his favor. If there is one thing in the world that could shift Nora's loyalties it would be a baby, and even if she was suspicious at first, her amnesia makes her heart fertile ground for a seed like that to turn into a damn bush, and wouldn't you figure, it's covered in thorns.
What stings more than the afterglow of venom in my veins is the fact that he told her I was in on it. He told her I helped S.H.I.E.L.D keep her in the dark about her 'baby'. He told her I made sure she never found out we had her daughter. He told her I was that kind of person. I don't care if this daughter she thinks she has is a lie he fed her, I don't care if I'm already a monster because I betrayed her trust. I care because of a gapped tooth grin with brown eyes and braided pigtails waiting for me back in Iowa.
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012
0904 HOURS
SUBTERRANEAN BUNKER
LOCATION UNKNOWN
NORA
He knew? He knew. He knew! I knew he wouldn't let me keep hitting him forever, but that didn't stop me from continuing the motion even though I can feel it sinking under the weight of all those damn tears. He's my brother. He hurt me, and he lied to me. I know I should be so, so, furious about that but I keep coming back to every memory that led me to calling him my brother.
"I'm here to help you figure out who you 'are', okay kiddo?"
"I have a new name for you. What do you think of Alice Hudgens?"
"Alice?! Alice it's me, Clint. Alice, look at me? Alice, princess, look at me."
"It's by Pat Benatar, she's like... well, lady Beethoven, in the 80's."
"No, its tenny shoes, I don't care that book spells it 'tennis', just trust me on this one okay?"
"He made you bleed Nora! I don't care if his name's Tony Stark okay, he tried to kiss you and made you bleed!"
"Shh, shh, Nora, princess stop." That voice that matches my memory too well whispers as he slows down my dying strikes to stillness with gentle hands wrapped around my wrists. "Shh, you don't have a daughter, he lied okay, he lied."
That reignites the fading embers of my emotions a lot like gasoline on a fire, but even though my first punch forces some air out of his chest he was able to tight his fingers quick enough to keep me from slipping my wrists out of their control. My voice is still free though.
"I remember her you son of a bitch, I remember!" Even as the fury cracks with heartbreak. " I remember!"
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012
0904 HOURS
SUBTERRANEAN BUNKER
LOCATION UNKNOWN
CLINT
I got her pulse pounding against my fingertips, and even though her eyes are wet I have those too, and they're telling me something very important. It doesn't matter if it's a lie forged by Loki's use of words or magick, according to this in the field lie test, she is telling the truth and whether it can be proven or not doesn't matter because she believes. So I have to give her something else to believe in.
I'm quicker than both of them. Before he can finish his "What the hell are you doing?!" and turn around or draw his own gun I have two out, but only one of them is aimed at him. The other is trapped in her hand under mine and aimed at me.
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD 2012
0904 HOURS
SUBTERRANEAN BUNKER
LOCATION UNKNOWN
NORA
You'd think, for something so terrifying, it wouldn't feel so light. I missed the specifics of most of his movement, but those weren't as important as the outcome of them. I can feel the textured material of the grip put patterned lines into my palm under the strength of his hand as he locks my thumb in place with his and hooks his fingers behind my knuckles to keep me from letting go of the gun he put there.
"You know who I am." He says those words with his eyes fixed on mine, but even with that I know they are meant as a warning for Duncan, who he is also aiming a gun at. Duncan started to draw his own weapon when Clint forced one into my hand, and Clint's words are a warning, he can shoot Duncan in the head without even turning around, and his gun is already aimed and cocked, not still half in the holster.
"We don't have time for this." Duncan attempts with a voice of reason that covers up his annoyed concern as he eyes the pistol trained on him warily. That wariness increases a little with the sharpness of Clint's reply.
"She thinks I kept her daughter away from her, that gets time!" Its the sound of my nervous inhale that catches his attention, and makes him realize he was scaring me too. Dropping his head a little he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Its okay princess, I'm not gonna hurt you, I swear I'm not gonna hurt you."
Its pathetic how quickly the sound of guilt in his tone brings the tears back to my eyes and I hate it so much because he is a traitor to everything I believed about him. "You lied to me."
"It was my job." The breath hitches at how easily he admits that, and I have to clench my teeth to keep the following sobs in, my eyes following suit as I squint them shut tightly, turning my face away from him to hide some of the tears they squeeze out from his sight.
"But I'm not gonna lie to you now." The sound that leaves me is an angry huff past my teeth as I turn my face back sharply at that sentence. The unspoken message of why I should possibly believe him about anything after he just admitted he lied to me for three years is answered by his hand adjusting the aim of his gun at his heart! "Look me in my eyes and take my pulse..." He lets his sentence trail off there, patiently enduring my continued strain on his strength against the hand holding the gun between us.
Even my soft "Clint please" doesn't make him let go. He just smiles and shakes his head again.
"No, we're not moving until you do this. Take my pulse Nora, and if I'm lying you can pull the trigger." My hand is shaking but his pulse is like a warm steady drum beat, even with the feeling of his throat shifting from speaking. "If you have a daughter out there, I promise I will help you find her." His pulse doesn't race and his pupils don't widen. "I'll protect you, her too, even from S.H.I.E.L.D. And if you let me stick around, maybe she can play with my Lila." The only change in them is that his pulse slows with resignation. Its my eyes that widen. "Yeah, I have one of those waiting for me too."