V I G I L A N C E ~ (MCU) ~

C H A P T E R 1 1_

"Every moment we sit here the enemy gets stronger—!"

"Someone just died!" Rogers cuts in, yelling at Stark.

It's quiet for a moment.

"Does that mean nothing to you?" Steve presses.

Stark sets his jaw angrily... "...I won't let everyone else stay here and end up just like her..."

Steve hesitates but then says, "Well you can do what you want... But I won't throw wounded soldiers back on the field. Not until they can rest and recover, and we can make sure Darcy Lewis isn't dead herself." He gives a cold look to Tony before leaving the room.

Thor still stays on the floor, completely broken as he breathes loudly. He lets out a painful cry again as he bends down further. His brother Loki stares at him, trying to look plain but there is something behind his eyes that hates the sight before him. I can see a pinkish color on the whites of his eyes as he swallows and finally leaves the room.

I let out a small sigh as I look out the door that Loki just walked through. I want to go after him, but I feel that if I stand up I will fall back down.

Pietro's eyes are cast down in sad thought... and then he looks up at me when people disperse. "Come on, little one. You should be resting." He pulls his arm under my knees and the other around my back to lift me and walks from the others.

Quicksilver carries me into my room and lays me on my bed gently.

The light in the room is dim but I can see well now from being used to the darkness. The sun has let a tiny bit of light lay across the smoke filled sky. But in here we are spared from it. In here it might as well be its darkest out there.

I look back at Pietro with sad and tired eyes. "It's never going to get better, is it?"

"War always has to get worse before it gets better," he says quietly, his eyes downward. He is kneeling beside me bed at eye level with me.

"You've been in a war before," I state as I watch him.

He frowns a little and swallows, his brows tensing as his face looks serious. He shakes his head slightly. "Not as many as all of you have... But I know a thing or two about losing people... and the pain it brings."

I nod. "That's the worst part. The pain. You can't stop it. It demands to be felt. And it just comes crashing down on you in tidal waves."

He looks down from my eyes... "I am sorry about what happened to you, Esther. I know what it feels like for the ground to just... give way beneath your feet... everything is destroyed and you feel lost."

I can only stare at him as I listen to his words. "I do feel lost sometimes, but then I remember that I'm not."

"No you're not. You're right here... And so am I. It's taken a long time to get here where we need to be but..." He looks in my eyes that still probably look a bit worried. "Don't be afraid of tomorrow, Esther." His eyes are kind and they make me feel safe.

I shake my head. "I am not afraid of tomorrow. I'm afraid of what it will bring."

He stares at me for a long moment. "We'll get through it... I promise." He takes both my trembling hands in his and frowns as he notices how weak I am. "You're even worse than before," he mutters. "Is anything broken?"

I shake my head in response.

He nods a little. "Try and sleep. That's an order," he almost smirks.

I give a weak smile. "Yes Drill Sergeant."

He chuckles then, a cute smile on his face. "Sleep well, little runt," he says in return and stands up, giving my hands one more squeeze before he leaves my room, still smiling.

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(song: "Artibeus" by Hans Zimmer)

(song: "Oil Rig" by Hans Zimmer)

(song: "Tornado" by Hans Zimmer)