CHAPTER EIGHT: NIGHTMARES
I felt dizzy. I tried to shake the feeling away, but it was useless-I remained dizzy. There was a nauseating feeling in the back of my throat, and my head was pounding. I could feel someone pulling me to my feet, my surroundings were a blur. I couldn't recognize anything that I could see.
I didn't sleep well. Nightmares of the Winter Soldier had plagued my mind all night. Whenever I woke up, startled and confused, my vision remained blurred. There was red in my peripheral vision.
"It's okay." There was a voice in my ear, "we're almost there." My feet dragged across the ground. I felt rocks poking into the souls of my feet-gravel, maybe.
"Almost where?" I slurred out, my vision was beginning to clear, but the red in my peripheral remained. "What is this place?"
Ahead of us was a house. It looked like any old home, nothing special. It looked comfortable. "Safe house, I suppose." Tony's voice rang in my ear. I could only assume that the others had been knocked out by Wanda as well, stuck in a daze. Stuck in a nightmare.
Once we reached the front porch, Thor's unusually soft voice broke the silence. "What is this place?" He asked, sounding tired. I couldn't even imagine what he would have seen in his vision.
"A safe house?" Tony repeated to Thor, although, this time he sounded more unsure. He shrugged.
"Let's hope." Clint replied, his arm was around Nat as he helped her walk. He opened the door and I had to admit, it was a very nice house. "Honey, I'm home!"
"Honey?" I questioned, the corners of my mouth pulling downwards into a frown. Realization dawned on me, "the girlfriend." I whispered to myself, remembering the phone call that Clint was on not so long ago. Tony, having heard what I said, looked even more confused than before.
I looked up to see a pregnant woman making her way over to us, a small smile on her face. She was absolutely beautiful. "Hi. Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead." Clint apologized to the woman.
"Hey." She smiled before giving him a kiss.
"This is an agent of some kind." Tony sounded certain of that, he stared at the women with squinted eyes.
"Huh?" I mumbled.
"Guys, this is Laura." Clint introduced politely, an arm around her shoulder.
"Hi." I said quietly, with a small wave. I continued to sway slightly, my mind hazy, but I still had manners.
Laura sent me a small smile as she waved back. "I know... all your names." She shrugged sheepishly.
Suddenly, we were all drawn to the sound of footsteps coming our way, "oh, incoming!" A wide grin appeared on Clint's face. Before I could figure out who was running over, two children tackled Clint into a hug.
"Dad!" The small girl smiled as Clint happily picked her up.
I made my way towards Steve, stumbling slightly before I stood beside him. "I thought he only had a girlfriend." I said softly, my head tilted in confusion.
"Well, he never said if he had children or not." Steve shrugged, his eyes trained on the family in front of us.
"These are... smaller agents." Tony mumbled, a finger pointed at the children.
"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" Clint's daughter asked, looking up at Clint with hopeful eyes.
Natasha looked over at the girl with a wide smile before walking towards her excitedly, "why don't you hug her and find out?" She said before scooping up the little girl in her arms, giving her a hug.
"Sorry for barging in on you." Steve then apologized.
"Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were too busy having no idea that you existed." Tony raised a brow, I chuckled softly at the comment.
"Yeah, well," Clint started, "Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off SHIELD's files, I'd like to keep it that way. I figured it's a good place to lay low." He nodded, giving Laura a side hug.
The others stayed in the living room talked a bit, while I just walked around the house. I looked up to see Thor walking out of the house, and Steve following behind. Steve will take care of it, I thought to myself as I continued looking around.
My peripheral vision remained red. Bucky's voice echoed in my mind every now and then. I was worried sick about him, and the vision was making me worry even more. It's not real, I had to tell myself. But it felt like it really happened.
At the moment, I was sitting on the front porch, not too far away from Clint and his kids. The family was fixing the railing, as a wooden post had been knocked out of place. I kept my eyes trained on Steve and Tony at first, but now I was just kind of enjoying the nature that surrounded me, trying to block out the nightmares.
"You all right?" Clint asked from beside me, while helping his kids at the same time.
"Yeah," I nodded, turning to face him, "yeah I'm all right..." That's a lie. "I just like how quiet it is here."
In truth, I wasn't all right. My skin no longer felt like concrete-it no longer felt strong. My beautiful skin began to crack, like porcelain. I felt fragile and weak.
"Yeah, it is a nice place here, isn't it?" Clint's eyes crinkled as he smiled. He didn't seem to notice my faltering smile.
"It is. You have a really beautiful home, Clint." I fixed my smile. "I'd like to have something like this, someday."
"Thank you." He nodded. "I, uh... I guess you haven't really gotten a break since the war, huh? That's a long time." He sighed, watching as his son picked up a hammer. He quickly took it from in hands in worry that he would hurt himself.
"Yeah, I guess." I shrugged, "but I'm used to it now."
"You shouldn't have to be." He said honestly, glancing at me for a moment before looking over to his daughter. I sat there for a moment in thought, but isn't that my life? Avengers don't get a break, do they?
I sat there for a few moments longer before, completely silent, before I noticed something in the corner of my eye. A flash of light. I turned to face it, and just before it was gone, I saw a glowing figure in the distance, walking through the trees.
I immediately knew who it was.
I got to my feet, turning to Clint. "I'm just gonna take a walk." I muttered softly. "I'll be back." Clint looked worried, but he didn't stop me. As I walked off to the tree line, I began to question what he was doing there. Surely he had a reason.
My boots snapped twigs and crunched on fallen leaves. I glanced around, looking for a sign of who had arrived out of the blue. Then, my eyes landed on him, and a warm feeling spread through my chest at the sight of his smile.
"Dad." I breathed out. The red in my vision vanished, and I instantly felt better.
Apollo waited patiently as I walked towards him. I no longer cared to ask what he was doing here, I was just glad that he was here. "Quinn." He greeted, allowing me to give him a hug. His hugs were always the best-I melted into his arms. He was the sun god, so his hugs were always the warmest. His hugs reminded me of the hot summer days that I spent with Steve and Bucky on the beach, way back when. They reminded me of home.
Typically, Apollo was really outgoing. His personality could rival Tony's (I figured the two would get along). But now, he was calm, and gentle. Of course he already knew what I'd seen. He was always watching over me.
We pulled away, and Apollo rested his fingertips on my temples. Whatever was left of my daze faded, and he sent me a comforting smile. Behind that, I could see a gleam in his eyes-like he knew something that I didn't. I was tempted to ask what, but I held back.
"Better?" He asked. I nodded. He seemed pleased, "good." He examined my features as if looking for any sign of a lie, then placed a kiss on my forehead. "I have to go now. Lots of work to do, as always. But I couldn't leave you hurting." My heart swelled at his words. "Tell Thor I say hi."
Apollo and Thor were certainly a strange duo, who had met through me, but they got along well enough. They understood godly things better than I did, because they were gods.
"I will." I promised.
Apollo sent me one last smile before he began to glow. I looked away, knowing that if I looked at him in his divine form, I wouldn't survive. I could feel the boiling heat on my skin, and once the light had died down, I opened my eyes. Now, I was completely alone.
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lizzie speaks...
i rly like how i wrote the beginning of this chapter, i think. also nice little father / daughter moment yay