Vigilance (Avengers)

Chapter 5: Nightmare

"Take her back to the cell." he orders a few of his lackies.  They grab me roughly and pull me towards the door.  As we leave, I get a glimpse of my reflection in the glass.  I don't even recognized her.  Staring back at me is a girl with dirty, messy, long hair.  She has piercing golden eyes.  And she has wings.

*******end of dream********

  My eyes snap open, my breathing ragged.  My clothes are soaked with sweat and fear grips me.  I relax slightly when I realized that it was only a dream.  Only a dream, I inwardly scoff.  That was no dream.  I get up shakily and my fear melts into anger.  I change into my exercise clothes, a tank top and shorts.  I'm not thinking clearly, my thoughts are muddled with memories I'd rather forget.  I slip on my sneakers and head to the one place I'll be provided with relief for my anger and have privacy as I do so.  No one goes to the training room at 1:00 in the morning.  It is a rare occasion to have privacy, but my late-night trips to the training room have become increasingly frequent.  I can't remember the last time I've gotten a decent night's sleep.  These damned nightmares always keep me awake.

  Once I arrive in the training room, I shut the door quietly behind me.  I plug in my iPod into the stereo system and crank the volume.  Since the room is soundproof, I don't have to worry about waking the other agents.  I start punching at one of the punchingbags as All the Right Moves by One Republic begins to play, one of my favorite songs.  I wail at one of the punching bag, sending it swinging wildly on its chain and blow off some of my pent-up anger and frustration.  I get lost in the music as time goes by.  When Let's see How Far We've Come by Matchbox Twenty is playing , I hear a familiar voice behind me.

"Don't you ever sleep?" he asks.  I freeze in mid-swing, horrified.  In all my anger and frustration, I forgot that Steve doesn't sleep either.  And the gym is the first place he goes.  Shit.  I am such an idiot.

***********

Steve's pov:

  I walk into the training room and am hit by the sound of music blaring.  I notice Kira punching mercilessly at a punching bag.  I don't mean to sneak up on her, but she doesn't hear me enter.  I can tell she's worked up about something, because she is hitting the punchingbag hard enough to send it swinging around.  When Kira still doesn't notice my presence, I decide to make myself known.

"Don't you ever sleep?" I ask.  Kira stops in the middle of punching at the bag and doesn't turn around to face me.  I notice that she is wearing shorts and tank top, exposing her tan shoulders and her wings.  And then I notice the scars.  Her arms, shoulders and back are covered with them.  I am completely shocked.  What the hell happened to her?  My shock then turns to anger and I stride over to Kira, spinning her around to face me.

"Who did this to you?" I demand.  I don't care what it takes, I will find the person responsible for this.  And they will pay.

"You don't have to worry about that, Steve." Kira replies softly.  Her eyes have returned to their original color, but they refuse to meet mine

"Of course I should, why wouldn't I-?" I begin, but she cuts me off.

"Because I killed the man responsible!" Kira nearly shouts.  I stare at her, stunned.  Kira is barely keeping her anger in check, but she begins to make an effort to calm down.

"You should go back to sleep, Steve." she says, this time softer.  I shake my head.

"I can't.  That's why I'm here." I reply.  Kira then starts to unwrap her hands.

"Fine.  Come on, Steve." she says, heading for the door and turning the music off.  What?  I curiously follow after her as she exits the training room.