Intertwine

105 - Just A Regular Day

I was pretty sure I must have some sort of PTSD. What I'd been through was traumatic, it had been lonely, it had been some of the worst experiences of my life. But I had to remind myself, it was by no means the worst. I'd watched my own father die, and now I knew it had been at the hands of one of my comrades. I wasn't sure I could call Bucky a friend, if anything we were more like enemies who worked on the same team, but at least I knew I could trust him even if he had murdered my father. Of course, he hadn't been in control of his actions at the time, and even though I'd said I'd forgiven him I wondered whether I really had? He'd had no control over my mother's cancer, but perhaps if he hadn't caused that 'workshop accident' perhaps I wouldn't be an orphan. I hated that word. Orphan. It sounded so victorian. 

It occurred to me that soon, if everything worked out which was looking increasingly unlikely, I'd legally stop being an orphan. Tony would become my father. I supposed even though everything was looking pretty grim at this point, there was always hope. Hope that we would all make it through this. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure we do. No more casualties. No one else going the same way as Fiona. I promise myself that. We were all going to make it out of here, and we were all going to be together again in one huge, messy, bickering family. 

"Did you hear something?" Clint asked, already on his feet.

"No?" I frowned at him, turning my nose up at his words. "It's silent, as it's been for the past eternity."

"No, no, I heard something." He replied in hushed tones. He turned to me and put a finger to his lips, his hand reaching behind him for his bow that he'd put on the floor. 

He didn't even have a chance to touch it. 

A bounding black mass threw him across the street, his back hitting into the dead end. 

A shrill scream came from somewhere as the creature turned on me, blood dripping from its hundreds of teeth, its eyes a deep crimson. I realised with horror that the sound was coming from me. I couldn't close my mouth. The fear was so deep I didn't know what to do with it.

It wasn't that I didn't like dogs, but I didn't like dogs. One had bit me when I was 3, and even though I don't remember it, the phobia has stayed with me alone with the scar on the back of my left thigh. 

I was scared of a lot of things. I was scared of dying, I was scared of being alone, I was scared of the dark (something that had been temporarily remedied by my powers while I'd had night vision). I was scared of cancer, and cops, and failure. 

But standing in front of a 20 foot dog as it bared down on me, its hackles up, its eyes locked onto me... I was in my own personal hell. 

One padded foot after another it came towards me, its growl penetrating my very soul. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was able to correct myself. Wolf, not dog, wolf. It's a wolf. 

It didn't really matter, but I liked to be accurate, especially if it was going to kill me. I clamped a hand over my mouth, the sound still coming out of my lips as I was physically unable to close my own jaw. 

What did Mom tell me about dogs? You have to be the alpha. She would tell me that every time we passed a dog on the street, whether it was a toy poodle or a great dane. Make yourself big, make your voice low and deep, stand tall and confident. I was doing none of these things. My scream had become a high pitched whining, I'd backed myself into the wall, my body curling into itself on instinct. I was now crouched against the damp brick, both hands covering my mouth as sweat poured off my forehead. 

I could smell it now, like back garden dirt and fresh meat from the butchers in the fancy part of town. It was sniffing me too, locating my scent, latching onto it. My hands went to the floor to keep myself steady, my fingers brushing against the cool metal of Clint's bow. Clint's bow! I gripped it in my hand, the solidity of it giving me some confidence. It was something to hold onto at least. 

The animal gave one last snarl before leaping. 

At the last second my training kicked in and I rolled to the side, the wolf slamming snout first into the brick. It turned to me, teeth gnashing. 

"ARRGHHHH!" I screamed in my best deep voice, brandishing the bow, waving it wildly as the creature came towards me. It truly was a thing of nightmares. 

It looked as though it was about to pounce again and a deeper instinct kicked in. Through the terror in my mind, my body took over, and bright light spurted out of me in all directions.

The dog let out a whine and turned its head, its eyes nearly blinded by my light. But the light only lasted for a second, while my fear had been at its height. A moment later and I was surrounded by darkness again... With a trembling hand a shot a spear of darkness towards the wolf, but it just absorbed it into its mass of grey fur, as though all I was doing with the darkness was making it stronger.

BE LOGICAL! A voice in my mind screamed. THINK ALINA, USE THAT BRAIN OF YOURS! It doesn't like the light!

I slammed my metal gloved hands together and brought them apart, a large sphere of light between them just as I programmed. I shot it towards the wolf who let out a yelp of pain as the white light touched its skin, burning through its fur. Its eyes rolled back into his head, and its neck lifted as it let out an almighty howl before bounding away, into the darkness. 

I knew Clint was coming back to consciousness by now as I heard an annoyed groaning coming from his direction. I was incredibly glad he hadn't seen me cower in terror like that. 

I was still panting as he made his way over to me, and the both of us stared into the darkness beyond. 

I glanced at him. "Still just a regular day?"