The Unexpected Vacation

The Third Day

I wake up at 10:00 AM. It only takes a second to realize that I'm not in my room. Then I remember the events of last night. I roll over to face Nat. She isn't there. "Good morning Angel!" says a very familiar voice. I sit up and face Nat's door, and there she is, standing there with a big smile on her face. "Good morning Nat!" I say. "You doing better?" asks Nat. "Yeah, I'm better now," I say. Nat walks over to her bed and sits next to me. Oh boy. We're gonna have another heart-to-heart talk. I hope it goes well like the one yesterday. "If it's okay with you, what was your nightmare about? You don't have to tell me," says Nat. "I'll tell you. It started as replaying the scenes I got scared of in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Then it changed, and I relived things from the Red Room," I say. Nat nods and says, "The other day when Tony asked those questions, and you and Yelena answered them. If I remember correctly, something happened because one minute you were normal and the next minute you were shaking like a tree, you were ghostly pale, you were sweating a little, you were hyperventilating, your eyes were filled with fear, and you were muttering things under your breath. What happened?" "I saw three flashbacks. I don't know if Tony's questions triggered them or not. Everything was fine one minute, and the next, I'm lost in some of my worst Red Room memories. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want to talk about it in front of everyone, and I didn't want to worry you or Yelena," I say. "You really are the sweetest person I've ever met. Hadley. It's impossible for me and Yelena not to worry about you. You're our little sister. We care about you and love you more than you could ever know. It's kind of our job to worry about you," says Nat. I smile, and I ask, "Does Yelena know about last night?" "About that. I haven't told her because I wanted to know if you wanted to tell her yourself or if I should tell her for you. She'll freak out if we don't tell her at all," says Nat. "Yeah, true. I'll tell her. Can you be there when I do, though?" I say. "Yes, of course," says Nat. I smile, and I hug her. "Now, I should probably go shower and get dressed," I say. "Yeah, probably," says Nat. I get off of her bed, and she says, "I'll make you breakfast while you shower and get dressed." "Sounds good!" I say, and I leave her room and go to mine.

I walk downstairs ten minutes later, and Tony says, "Sleeping Beauty, I'm so glad you decided to join us." I smile and sit down at the table with Nat and Yelena. Wanda is sitting in the living room talking to Melina, Steve, and Clint. Sam and Alexi are talking in the living room, too, and Tony joins their conversation. As I eat, Yelena says, "Well, you slept in. Any particular reason, or did that happen naturally?" I look at Nat, and she nods. "I had a nightmare last night around 2:00 AM, so I slept in Nat's room for the rest of the night. I fell back asleep around 3:00," I say. "Sorry to hear that," says Yelena. I shrug and say, "It is what it is. The other day, after Tony asked his questions, you and Nat wanted to know if I was okay. Well, I had three Red Room flashbacks." Yelena gives me a sympathetic look. I finish my breakfast and clean my dishes, and put them away.

Out of nowhere, Nat picks me up and spins me around. As I said earlier, I'm very light for my age and in general. Then Nat does a few laps around the living room while giving me a piggyback ride. It's so much fun! Despite how much older than me she is, Nat genuinely cares and loves hanging out with me. Yelena is the same way! She loves to play with me and do things for me. I am so glad that the Avengers get to see this side of Nat. The fun, silly, caring, and smiley side. Nat stops in front of the couch next to Wanda. She leans back a little, and I jump off and land on the couch laughing. I stand up and then sit down on Nat's lap as we talk with Melina, Wanda, and Yelena. I can't believe that Nat is leaving again in three days. She is here today, and tomorrow then she leaves with the team. I don't want her to go again. I want her to stay here. I know she can't, though.

Today, we are going out and walking around town. It's summer, so we don't need jackets. We all grab what we need, and then we walk out the door. I hold Nat's hand as we walk. Wanda and Yelena are talking. I'm glad Yelena is enjoying herself. Melina and Alexi are like our tour guides. They point out various stores, and we go in some of them and skip the others. We stop in front of a school, and Melina says, "Hadley, what's this?" I tense a little. "This is my school," I say. Thank goodness we can't go in. I already have to spend more than enough time there during the school year. Yes, I did join a little more than halfway through the year, but I wouldn't say I liked it. We proceed, walking down the street. We walk the town for the majority of the day before getting ice cream again.

Then we walk to the park. I immediately run to the swings. I swing high up, and then I jump off. Nat freaks out again, and Yelena and Wanda are doubled over laughing at her reaction. I keep doing that for a while while the boys climb a tree. I jump off of the swing one last time. Then we play a game of tag. Melina and Alexi don't play, but the rest of us do. I am pretty fast. I can keep up with Sam easily. Nat starts as the tagger. I sprint to avoid getting tagged. She is right on my tail and lunges to get me. I do a rugby slide to avoid her. I smirk and keep running. "Nice one, kid!" says Tony as we run. "Thanks!" I say. Somehow, Nat has corned me, and she tags me. I am now the tagger. "You guys should know. I'm pretty good. I play tag with Lila and Cooper all the time," says Clint. I am tempted to get Clint just because of his comment. But I decide that I would rather push myself to get Steve, who's a super soldier sprinting at his full speed. I go tearing off after Steve. I have my eyes locked on him. As he does a swerve, I see everyone standing in place watching. I sprint extra fast, and I'm right behind him. I reach my arm out like I'm a seeker trying to catch the golden snitch. I tag him. I turn around and see everyone staring at me, shocked. "Hadley. That was incredible. I'm a super soldier running at my full speed. How on Earth did you keep up?" says Steve. "When we said the Red Room experiments on you, we never said what they do. I still don't even know what they did," I say. Then I do a round-off backhand spring over to Nat. She high fives me. I also receive high fives from everyone else except for Steve. I won't fall for that trick. "Steve. You just got tagged by a seven-year-old. How does it feel to lose to a kid?" says Nat, smirking. I am doubled over laughing. Same with everyone else. "You know what, Romanoff?" says Steve. "Which Romanoff?" I ask sarcastically, and everyone laughs harder. Yep! Today is a good day!

We get home around 4:00. We shower from our game of tag and start Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix around 4:30. We are eating an early dinner while we watch it. The movie finishes around 6:52, and we start Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at 7:00. So far, my favorite movie is the Order of the Phoenix, which makes sense since that is my favorite book. We finish the Half-Blood Prince at 9:34, and I am sent to bed. I say goodnight to everyone, and Nat follows me upstairs. She tucks me in and says, "Goodnight, Hads." "Goodnight, Nat," I say. Then she kisses my head and leaves my room, closing the door behind her. I listen to music, and I lay awake in bed for a while. I look at the clock, and it's 11:30. I get out of bed, and I walk downstairs. The adults are watching what I call an "adult show." Nat must have heard my light footsteps because she looks at me and says sweetly, "What are you doing up?" "I couldn't sleep. Probably adrenaline for the next two Harry Potter movies," I say. "Well, you have to go to sleep at some point. I'll be right back," says Nat, and she picks me up and carries me upstairs to my room. She retucks me in and says, "Is there a real reason you can't fall asleep?" "Honestly, I really can't fall asleep," I say. Nat rubs circles on my back for a little while, and I fall asleep while she does. I feel her leave, but I don't wake up.