The Connection They Share

Chapter 8

The first thing I hear is the murmur of voices, I peel my eyes open but immediately close them again as the light was too bright. I groan and a shadow blocks my view allowing me to open my eyes fully. "Avery? How do you feel?" Thor asks and I see that it is him that is standing over me. I sit up and wince at the slight pain in my head as well as an ache in my bones. "Thor? What are you doing here?" I ask and I realise I am in a hospital wing with Steve and Helen Cho talking outside the glass wall. "I saved you from smashing into the ground. You used up a lot of your energy and you've been out for 2 days, we were worried you weren't going to wake up" Thor explains. I was worried I had broken my promise to Loki. I furrow my brows and look up at him "What about Loki?" I ask and Thor looks shocked before he realises that I read my mind. "Umm when we were escaping Asgard he made me promise to look after you, it was almost as if he knew he was going to die. Actually now that I think about it, he seemed really sincere about it, did you two have a thing going on?" My eyes widen slightly and I focus on the floor remembering the short kiss we shared. "No we were just...friends" I look up and Thor hums with a look on his face but before he can ask me any more questions Steve walks through the doors with Helen, thank god. "Avery, your vitals look good but I have to keep you here overnight then you should be good to go" she says. I nod but don't take any notice of what Steve and Helen are saying and just stare out of the glass window.
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It had been a week since I woke up and the Avengers had relocated to a new facility in upstate New York. I wandered the facility and moved out of the way of people rushing past me trying to get everything sorted. We had a few new members of the Avengers including Wanda and Pietro, Vision, Sam and Rhodey but I felt apart from them as though I didn't belong. I gaze out of the window at the soldiers being trained by Steve and Pietro zipping in between them. I smile and turn my head when I heard Clint step up beside me, "Aren't you supposed to have gone?" I ask and he shrugs, "I'm leaving soon, my boy is going to be born in the next few days and Laura would kill me if I missed it" he explains and I give a small laugh before looking at the soldiers once again. "You could come with me" Clint suggests and I quickly look at him "I mean, Laura wouldn't mind and it would be nice to have someone extra to look over the kids plus you get a break from all this crazy stuff." I hesitate. Clint sees that and places a hand on my shoulder "Just think about it okay? I'll be leaving in 10 minutes." he then leaves me by the window. On one hand staying with Clint would be a great way for me to relax and not worry about missions but on the other I would be leaving Steve and the twins, who I had gotten quite close to. I sigh and see Wanda storm up to her brother and hit him around the head for acting like an idiot. I laugh slightly as Steve runs over to break apart the twins as Pietro had flicked her hair in retaliation and a full blown fight had broken out between the pair. Even though I will miss these moments between what is basically my family, I need to take a step back and maybe sort out myself out. I run down the stairs and across the lawn just in time to see Clint walk into the jet, "I want to join you" I say and he nods but before I can get on, Pietro speeds up to me with Wanda. "Where are you going?" Wanda asks with a frown. "I'm taking a break but don't worry, I'll be back at some point" I explain and smile slightly as Pietro pouts. "Here" I hand Wanda a phone with my phone number as the first contact "If you are in trouble or just need to talk then call me."
She nods and I give her a hug, "See you later and try not to fight too much"
"Why don't I get a phone?" Pietro asks as I hug him despite him being slightly taller than me.
"I don't trust you enough" I say with a smile before walking off and Wanda laughing at his appalled face. It was time to focus me.
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I spent the next year living with Clint and his family, Laura was understanding and became a mother figure to me, I finally had the chance to act my age. Clint even took me to club where he got absolutely plastered, save to say Laura wasn't pleased. Little Nathaniel was born a few days after I arrived and he is adorable. It seems I have a charm with kids, Nate likes it when I make puffs of smoke with my hands and he immediately calms down when I hold him. I taught Lila how to handle daggers and even taught her drawing techniques. With all the Avenging I had been doing, I hadn't had the time to sit and draw but now I had done several portraits one of my favourites being of Loki sitting on the throne of Asgard. I hadn't spent much time with Cooper, the eldest, but I know he's been watching me teach Lila about daggers and I recommended some good books to him. All in all, this time of relaxation is what I really needed and the fact Clint didn't have a TV means I was truly removed from anything to do with the Avengers. It was good.

Sitting at the table with a tub of ice cream whilst the kids played tag outside made me realise something, we needed some groceries. Laura was looking after the kids and Clint was knocking down a wall in the dining room. I place the ice cream back in the freezer and the spoon in the sink before heading outside. "Laura" I call and she turns with an excited Nate on her hip. I make a face to him before looking back at her "I'm going grocery shopping, is there in particular you want?"
"Yes, can you get some jam and bread as we seem to be running low" she says and hands me the keys along with some money. I grin and run to the car, Laura hadn't let me take the car since I almost drove it into the ditch. It wasn't my fault, Clint was hammered and was a very annoying backseat driver - he distracted me.

I park near to the shop and was sorting out a bag to take with me when I was approached by two people. I stand up fully and turn to face the two people, one was a middle aged man in a fancy suit whilst the other was a blonde haired woman in a more casual dress. I raise an eyebrow "Can I help you?" I ask and the man steps forward. "Avery Barnes? I'm Agent Ross and this is Agent Carter, we need you to come with us. We have a few questions for you."