I woke up face down in my pillows. I pushed myself up and all I could taste was cotton. I rubbed my eyes lazily as I slid off the bed and padded over to the bathroom. I looked into the mirror at myself. I looked god damned awful. Well at least the size of the bags underneath the eyes had decreased in size. I gave a heavy sigh.
I looked down at my body still dressed in the clothes from the nights before. I watched as a bronze and silver haze enveloped me changing my jean and top into a knee length black skater dress. On my feet was a pair of black lace pumps and a large gold necklace with green emeralds sat snugly on my collar bone. I combed my fingers through my long black hair smoothing it out into a presentable sight. I sighed and entered the world of the living with a single click.
I closed my room door behind me. As I walked towards the living room I began to hear loud mental and verbal voices.
“Where is she?” Clint asked boyishly, almost impatient.
“I said she was a sleep.” Eric’s voice was strong but it was obvious that Clint may have been asking this same question for the last hour.
“I’m sure she’d want to be here for this.” Bruce said with a smile in his voice. Why was he so happy?
“So do I.” the last voice was mental, and it made my heart clench. I ran towards the living room. I kicked off my flats as they impaired my running. The automatic door welcomed my arrival; I skidded into the center of the room and gasped.
Tears welled up in my eyes, my heart skipped a beat and everything came tumbling down. You know the usual clichés.
Tony sat there smiling at me, his white teeth showing in a big, “Are you surprised?” grin. He stood up from the sofa and grabbed a thin metallic walking stick that had been resting next to him on the sofa. Tears spilled over the edge of my eyes. He was here, he didn’t have a single visible scratch or bruise on him, and the black eyes he once possessed were now gone leaving clear tanned skin. His legs were obviously much better as I watched him slowly but surely walk towards me.
I took a few stepped forward and met him half way there. Everyone was silent in the room as we stood toe to toe.
“You’re ok?” I questioned with a wavering voice, another tear crawled its way out of my eye, and trailed down my face. Tony reached out and caught the tear before it dropped off my jaw.
“Not without you help, both in the tower and in the medical bay. Jarvis showed me what you did, before you healed me I had an eleven per cent chance of waking back up out of that induced coma, and a three per cent chance of walking on my own again.” I smiled at him through quivering lips, my chest constricted and my heart hammered against the small space left leaving an almost unbearable pain.
“When you kissed me, my odds were automatically raised. Eighty-seven per cent chance of waking up, and ninety-one per cent chance of walking unassisted. Liberty I heard everything you said to me in the infirmary, you we’re right about what you said. What you did helped me a lot.” Tony wrapped his arms around me; he leaned against me as I wrapped my arms around him. I heard someone sniff and looked to see Clint running his hands over his eyes trying to stop the tears. I chuckled into Tony’s shirt as Clint scowled at me with tear filled eyes.
“Nothing wrong with crying, it just shows you care.” He wailed as Bruce patted his shoulder. Logan gave me a small apologetic smile to me, while Bruce also had tears in his eyes but wasn’t making such a fuss about crying, while smiling at me and Tony. I pulled back allowing Tony to gain his balance again. I gave a tearful smile as I looked up at him. He kept an arm wrapped around my waist as he pulled me with him towards the sofa.
I sat there almost in shock as Tony told every one of my heroics, but I was no hero. I could see the ruffles underneath the fabric of his jeans, he was still injured greatly but here he was sitting next me as if nothing had changed, as if I had never left the avengers, as here we were siting relaxing between all of the chaos.
Clint rambled dramatically about how I saved that little girl from the burning building; I clenched my hand as I remember the feeling of the line digging into my flesh, muscle and bone. My teeth smashed together as I can remember each inch of friction as the little girl clung to me, at that moment I was the only person who could save her, I remember those big eyes almost pleading, but still holding hope for me and her.
I shook the image and feelings from my mind. As I looked at Tony he smiled down at me, and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“I was telling the truth Liberty, without you I wouldn’t be sitting here listening to your heroic efforts from Clint.” Tony spoke softly to my mind as Clint continued to explain the scene. I chuckled and smiled up at him, something swelled in my chest something I hadn’t felt for a while. It was joy; it was almost painful how alien it felt in my chest. I wanted to cry, I gently slipped a hand onto my chest pressing gently on the skin above the pain. My breathing was sore almost like I had laughed too much to breathe.
“Are you ok Kid?” I looked over to Logan who had a small apologetic smile on his lips. He was obviously sorry for his reaction to my past, I nodded and smiled at him, his smile grew larger showing one of his wolfish canines poking out over the ledge of his bottom lip. I moved my hand from my swelling heart and put my hand on Logan’s knee. I squeezed it, and then relaxed my hand still keeping it on his knee. He was warm, and even though he didn’t first understand what I went through, now he did and that all that matters.
Suddenly I felt vibrating against my thigh coming from Logan, I raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled. As he hurried to take the phone from his pocket. He darted up from the sofa, as Clint arranged his arms to look like he was shooting a bow upwards. My, he was very expressive with his body. I chuckled and leaned against Tony who pulled me closer to him.
He pressed his iPhone against his ear, and place a finger against his other ear, he sighed as he answered.
“Hello this is Logan…I guess you saw the news…I know bub, but Tony stark has just come back to the world of the living…I know…I know…Ok, Fine.” Logan pulled the phone away from his ear, and looked down at the caller I.D. He sighed as the room grew quiet. Clint had stopped his dramatics, and Eric was suddenly up on his feet next to Logan. They moved away from the center of the room, and into the kitchen.
“I guessing this is about you?” Tony asked as we continued to stare as Logan and Eric.
“Scott and the professor want Liberty back at the school.” I heard Logan say mentally with stress in his mental voice, as if he knew already that I didn’t want to leave, and he was right.
“Then we have to go back, you know whatever is happening there at this moment must be urgent, they saw what happened, they wouldn’t just pull Liberty away unless it was something significant.” Eric’s mental voice was full of authority, as I followed his lips forming each word, and no matter how cold his answer sounded he was right. But still I could feel Logan’s anger building, he didn’t think Eric cared and from what I was reading all I could feel was cold collectiveness. Maybe Logan was right, maybe he didn’t care.
“People keep forgetting I can read minds don’t they.” I said in an amused yet sad tone, Tony nodded and gave me a small but sad smile. He slipped his arm off my shoulders and laid both palms on his lap.
“What’s happening now?” he asked as Eric and Logan darted a glace towards us. I smiled sadly at him and grabbed his hands in mine, and just sat there for a few seconds. It’s strange how much you miss people before you have to leave, it makes leaving all that much harder. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“I’m going back to the School with Logan and Eric, myself and they understand that whatever they need me for must he urgent or they wouldn’t have asked, especially after what’s happened.” Tony nodded and smiled down at me.
“You have no idea how much I missed you, and I already have to say goodbye again.” I chuckled and squeezed his hands. My heart constricted in my chest this pain was more bearable than joy, I was used to it, but that didn’t stop it hurting.
“I have I small idea how much you missed me, and also you could have said goodbye last time I was here, you just never wanted to.” Tony chuckled and squeezed my hands back. Eric and Logan began to walk back towards the living area, when I leaned forward.
I pressed my lips gently against Tony’s bottom lip, still slightly swollen from the aftermath, but as I kissed him it reduced in size, and I watched as the bronze and silver haze poured from me and soaked into Tony, filling his body, he glowed slightly as I healed him. I pulled my lips from him and squeezed his hands.
“You should be fine now Tony, your new muscle tissue will learn from the muscle around it, you should be running, jumping and flying in no time.” Do not bring up the Mark V. He chuckled as I stood up from the sofa, and looked at Eric and Logan. Logan hand an anger fed guilt look in his deep blue eyes while Eric had a scowl aimed toward Tony buried deep beneath layers of poise and purpose.
I rolled my eyes and looked at the two men before.
“You really don’t have to say anything. Let me make my goodbyes and then we’ll leave.” My voice shook with each breath I took; I looked at the sofa to see the most of the avengers assembled in front of me. Bruce and Hawkeye got up from the sofa and walked towards me, joy evident in their eyes as much as the tears. I smiled up at them and gave them both a hug. They’re arms wrapped around me in tight embrace.
“Liberty you know I’m always listening no matter how far away I am.” Bruce gently spoke into my ear. I nodded as he placed a delicate kiss on my cheek. He pulled away just leaving Hawkeye clinging to me in a tight but comfortable hug.
“Liberty what you did for both Tony and that little girl was incredible, your incredible. It’s very rare to find anyone like you anymore Liberty.” He pressed his lips against my ear as I felt his tears pour from his cheeks onto mine. I nodded and kissed him on the cheek back and pulled away to look into his glazed eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere Clint.” I said with a light pleasant smile on my lips. Clint finally pulled away from me and rubbed the back of his hand over his cheeks.
“And Tony, this time I think its best we say goodbye.” I smirked at him and he smirked back. He nodded and walked surely over to me. He embraced me in a large hug and pulled my body against his. I nuzzled into the crook of his neck and sighed. He pressed his lips against my ear and gently whispered to me.
“Goodbye Liberty, I’ll always be listening.” I nodded and pulled away from Tony. I kissed his cheek and nodded to him with an unstable smile on my lips.
“Goodbye Tony, I’ll see you soon.” He chuckled and gave me a two fingered salute.
“I’ll hold you to that Liberty.” I smiled over my shoulder as I turned to leave with Eric and Logan. We walked in silence as I could still feel each kiss from the people I loved. My skin had pricked up on my ear and cheek, and my lips had a static hum to them also.
I trailed my fingers over my lips as we exited the safe house. The sky here was blue but still there in the distance we saw the red and grey chaos ridden sky. We walked up to the coastal rode where Scott leaned against a black Audi A8. I didn’t speak a single word to him and Logan opened the back seat door allowing me to slide in.
Logan slid in after me and sat there with his leather jacket which shrieked against the leather interior as he made himself comfortable. Eric slid into the front seat which had an acrylic partition making all audible noise on that side mute.
I looked out of the black tinted windows out to the choppy blue seas reflected against the sky. I felt my bronze haze take the form of my phone and in-ear phones. I searched my music libraries and found the prefect song. “Not Strong Enough by Apocalyptica.” As I stared out at the sea following the grave costal rode, my eyes began to close.
The pain, the joy and the hurt from saying goodbye so soon had exhausted me. I felt my eye lids grow heavy as I remembered Eric’s kiss. I trailed my nail over my lips suddenly nicking the tender flesh, but still it didn’t stop exhaustion taking over my mind.