I Thought You Were Different: Part 4

Allie

Clint and Natasha stood outside of their daughter's room, ears pressed to the door and confused looks on their faces, hearing her talking to someone but with each sentence spoken, there was no reply. She had grown too old for imaginary friends, as far as they were concerned anyway, and FRIDAY had reassured them that she was in the room alone, so their curiosity was piqued. They didn't want to intrude on her privacy, but they had to know for sure that she wasn't talking to some alien or ghost, or anything weird or threatening; with things that happened around this team, nothing could be ruled out.

"Allie?" Natasha finally began with a soft knock on the door. "Can we come in?"

"Sure, Mom!"

Nat looked at Clint, who looked back expectantly, shaking his head when she wanted him to take the lead. "Hey, this was your idea. You first."

"Chickenshit." She pushed the door open gently, making sure that she was wearing her best attempt at a genuine smile when she came into view of her daughter. Allie was sitting alone on her bed with a book, just as they had expected, with Dodger sitting at her side; his tail began to wag so much at the sight of them that he nearly shook himself onto the floor. "Hey, baby, who were you talking to?"

"Dodge."

"Oh," Clint sighed, nudging Nat playfully, "right. Okay, good, that makes sense. We heard you talking to someone in here, but we couldn't figure out who it could be. Do you talk to Dodger a lot?"

Natasha didn't take the news nearly as readily as Clint had, finding herself feeling almost sorrowful that the dog was the one taking so much of her daughter's attentions. Allie didn't have anyone her age to play with, being that she was home schooled after the disaster that had happened with your children, and your trio was too old now to want to play the way she would want to. She felt bad that they were protecting her maybe too much, and now to hear that the dog was the only one she could talk to so easily made her sad.

"I talk to him all the time. He likes to talk to me because no one else understands him like I do."

"You guys are pretty good buddies, huh?"

"Sure, Dad," the young girl shrugged, turning towards the pup when he pushed his nose up under her hand to get her attention. "What's wrong, Dodge?" Your dog whimpered a few times and let out a couple of tiny barks, keeping her hand securely in place while rolling his eyes up enough to see her. "Oh! Okay, we can go." She gave him a little pat and pushed him towards the edge of the bed, looking at her parents apologetically. "Sorry, he has to go potty. I'll be right back."

"How did you know that's what he meant?" Nat asked cautiously.

"He told me."

"He told you?" Clint whispered, his eyes widening in fear of what she was going to say next. "Like...with words?"

"Yeah. I told you, Dad, we talk all the time."

~~~

Nick sat quietly at the compound's conference room table, positioned at the far end on the opposite side from the nearest getaway, and it suddenly became frighteningly obvious to him as you, Tony, Bucky, and Steve took your seats to block it. When Bucky had been told what was going on, he couldn't get back home fast enough, eager to see the man who made both of your lives a living hell for far too long now.

Maria was in the chair next to Nick, but they were still grossly outnumbered, and his senses began to wake as his mind raced with scenarios that could potentially be played out. Logically, he had no reason to be fearful here; you were his team, and his friends. He hadn't done anything wrong, at least not lately, so he wasn't really sure where this feeling of dread was coming from; all he knew was that his palms were sweating and his hands trembled, not out of the attention of Hill.