The Seventh Avenger

Chapter 59: Germany

Despite the fact that Clint was the last person that I wanted to see at the moment, I don't move as I watch him through the dusty window, walking down the path from the house and gradually becoming closer towards me. Neither do I move at the sound of the old barn door creaking slowly open, informing me that he was now inside the rusty shelter. Nor do I move when I hear him rummaging around through the various objects on the floor below, no doubt looking for the ladder that I had kicked down after I had climbed up here on the second level of the barn. I could have flown up easily if I wanted to, but the thought of using my powers now- and at any moment for that matter- was enough to make me feel sick to my stomach.

Even though he had moved closer towards me, I kept my gaze firmly on the horizon through the window in front of me, watching as the sun started to slowly sink and cast an orange shade across the sky. My nerves explode as I feel his presence behind me, not having the courage to turn around and look up at my uncle, knowing perfectly well that all I would be met with was a look of utter fury and disappointment. I could practically feel his gaze bore down into the top of my head, the sensation causing me to absent-mindedly fiddle with my hands.

"You know, you might want to think about changing your hiding place every now and again," He says, surprisingly calm. "You always used to come up here when you were younger. It's why you always sucked at hide and seek."

This was true. Whenever the two of us had played the game when I was younger, the second level of the barn was always the place that I would go. Something that always amused Clint, who would always snicker at the memory and teasingly elbow me, telling me that he didn't think I had quite grasped the concept of the game. Other times I had simply hidden up here whenever my mother had warned me that in ten minutes we would be leaving and returning to our home back in San Francisco. The words would have me tearing off to the barn as quickly as I could, waiting until someone came and found me. That someone had always been Clint, and he would always take one look at my pleading, blue eyes, before he would sink down to the floor beside me, promising me another five minutes with him before I had to go.

But as I grew older, the less that I used my little hideout for something as simple as hiding and more so for a place that would allow me to think. With the view of endless fields and hills, the horizon in the distance and the occasional farm animal in neighbouring paddocks, it was easy and quiet enough for me to easily gather my thoughts. And though living in a city was something that I had wanted since I was a little girl, every time I glanced out this window and breathed in the dusty, metallic air of the space I found myself in, I couldn't help but think that I was home. The best moments were sunset, with grasshoppers chirping from their own little hiding places outside, while a light breeze would seep through the cracks and holes of the old barn, nipping at my cheeks.

"I'm not hiding," I reply. "I'm thinking."

"That's dangerous," Clint remarks lightly, no doubt trying to lift me from the dark mood that he could undoubtedly sense. But when I don't so much as let out a small chuckle or noise of indignant at this, he lets out a weary sigh. The floorboards beneath his feet creak as he moves to stand beside me, though he doesn't remain upright for long. Sinking down onto the floor, he shifts until he becomes comfortable and joins staring out the window alongside me. Sneaking a peek at him from the corner of my eyes, I see that he was casually leaning back on the palms of his hands, the sleeves of his trademark flannel rolled up to the point of his elbows. He wore an unreadable expression on his face, a sight that causes my stomach to drop with dread. Normally I could get a read on Clint as easily as reading an open book. But the fact that I couldn't pick up on a single thing about him now, is enough to make me squirm nervously where I sat beside him.