Eloyse and the boys stared at her. Two looks of shock, one of confusion.
"Wait, what?" Eloyse cried. "I'm not anything!"
"You're an Empath. Able to sense emotions in others. Probably change them, too." Natasha stated matter-of-factly. Clint pounced.
"It was you!" He looked between the girls, "She said 'elated and curious'. That was you, not Barnes she was feeling."
"Yep." Nat smiled. Eloyse turned to Bucky, still rubbing his arm.
"Are you ok?"
"'M'fine. Just got no feelin' here."
"Can I help?"
Bucky hesitated a long moment before extending his arm. Eloyse gently touched where the nerve ran, thankful it wasn't his metal arm. She returned the feeling, and Bucky gasped.
"Oh, man! It tingles! Ow!"
Natasha and Clint outright laughed at the super-soldier whining about his arm tingling. Eloyse shyly grinned. On sudden inspiration, she put up a tiredness bar by each of them. Natasha was nearly full, as was Clint. Bucky was low, dangerously so. Eloyse tested him, faking a yawn. He also yawned. She grinned.
"Go take a rest, Bucky. Nobody wants a tired fighter on their side."
Bucky opened his mouth to protest, then shut it and slipped past all three of them to get to the hallway. Natasha grinned maliciously at Clint, then tagged after Bucky. The archer watched her with uneasy eyes. Eloyse smiled, all of a sudden enjoying her new power.
"Don't be scared," she smirked when Clint's eyes widened. "She probably won't kill you too badly."
Clint rolled his eyes. "For more serious matters," he began, and Eloyse clearly felt the mood shift. "Are you leaving soon?"
Eloyse hesitated how to answer. "Not at the moment. I promised Steve I would stick around and help you guys for a little while. But..." she sighed. "Every hour I wait is another hour he gets farther away. You have all been so helpful and nice, and I'd like to stay, but I really should go."
Clint sank down on the floor, patting the spot beside. Eloyse sat. For a few minutes they were silent, just enjoying each other's companionship. Eloyse was revelling in her new power. She could faintly feel another emotion from somebody, a certain sadness. It had to be very strong for her to feel only it and not the rest of the group, unless that one person was closer. Clint spoke, and Eloyse redirected her attention on the archer.
"I think it's fine of you to go after your brother. You should do it. But not alone, that's more dangerous. You sparred with Nat and showed you can fight, but that's not the same. According to you, both you and your brother were already caught once by HYDRA. They'll jump at the chance to have you back, because you're already showing positive signs of their experimenting. That's the Empath that's showing up in you now. They'd love to continue those experiments. So I don't want you to go after your brother yet, not until the coast is clear."
"Why would you care if I got caught?" Eloyse's voice was tense. There was a long silence from the other side, and she could feel him considering. When he spoke, she wasn't ready for the confession.
"I love you." Clint's simple words took Eloyse's breath away. She turned, unable to see him in the dark, but his eager shyness could be felt. "I-I mean," he stumbled, "not like girlfriend-romance love. Nothing like that. More like big brother. Eloyse, listen. Please." He had heard her shifting away. "My wife and kids are at home, on Earth, and I miss them. I'm sure you miss your parents too, and to top it off, your brother is gone." He paused, struggling for words. "I love you like you are my own little sister, and I don't want you hurt. Please?"
Eloyse leaned closer, "Want to know a secret?" Clint held his breath. "You're like a big brother to me." she smiled. Clint let out his breath and grinned broadly at the fifteen year old. Before he could speak, however, his comm piped up.
Everyone report to the main room. Repeat, everyone to the main room.
"Let's go! Maybe they got a battle plan!" Clint stood, offering a hand to Eloyse. She bounded to her feet, and they hurried away.
*************************************************
Hey, you alright, Ellie?
"Don't call me Ellie!" Eloyse snapped, even though she knew they couldn't hear her. The comm that Tony had tossed her as they headed into battle had quit working.
Come in, Eloyse. Are you ok?
"Umm..." she glanced upward and was dismayed to see the archer was gone. "Yea, I'm fine other than some maniac is shooting arrows at us. I don't think he belongs to us." She was standing still, looking carefully around the battle-ruined Hydra base. She could hear the rest of the team furiously arguing over the comm. Steve's voice presided over them all.
What do you mean, Eloyse isn't answering?
That's exactly what I mean! Now do you have eyes on her? that would be Natasha.
No.
"I found her!" Steve was waving from a stack of rubble not far away. Eloyse rolled her eyes. Nice, Steve. Make yourself a target! Eloyse moved swiftly to one side, feeling not safe right there. At that instant, she felt another arrow tug at her shirt and she flung herself backwards. Steve cursed. "I might have just lost her again."
She landed nearly on their feet, but instantly fell again, this time a long ways down. She lay there, panting in surprise, and looking up. She'd fallen into a pit nearly fifteen feet deep, and vertical on all sides. It was practically invisible until you stepped in it. Eloyse rubbed her ankle and growled irritably. She could hear everyone yelling at each other over the comm, and she gave an exasperated sigh, muttering under her breath,
"Somebody better fix this comm before I touch it again." she growled.
"There you are!" Steve's overly cheerful voice spoke from above her. She looked up, unimpressed.
"Your comm isn't working."
"Really?" Eloyse feigned surprise, then dropped it. "I know it's not working. Is there an archer on the other team?"
The man above her was confused now. "I haven't seen him. You seen him?"
Eloyse stiffly got to her feet, "Yea, ever so slightly." She threw an arrow up at him that had come from the enemy archer. Steve's eyes widened, and he vanished. Eloyse glared up. "Right. Just leave me here." She examined the walls, all solid concrete. Here, she found what she was looking for. A tiny little niche in the rock. She slipped her shoes off, tied the laces together, and slung them over her shoulder. Then she proceeded to climb out of the pit. It was delicate, careful work, but she finally reached the top. She didn't wait to put her shoes back on, but headed for the woods at a dead run. Upon reaching that relative safety, Eloyse sat down also and pulled her boots on, listening to the confusion in her ear-piece.
Steve was loudly arguing with Clint, the rest of the team were still fighting, agents and each other. Eloyse gathered herself and stood up. She saw Steve and Clint approaching the pit, rather carefully it seemed. They peered in, and Steve visibly started. He stared around in utter shock. His friend grinned, and began teasing him. The rest of the team quickly picked up on the conversation.
She's gone!
Again? Natasha sounded tired now. Tired of her teammate.
Hey, it's not my fault she left something that was un-leaveable!
That brought the whole team into laughter, despite the fight. Eloyse smiled. She reached up and clicked the comm off. She couldn't talk to them, so she might as well not hear them. She began picking her way toward the two by the pit, carefully. A sense was telling her that something was wrong. She kept on high alert, scanning the area and keeping her ears open.
Suddenly Clint doubled over, and sank to the ground. His bow clattered to the ground. Steve crouched over him, holding his shield between them and the machine gun that had found them in the open. Eloyse broke and ran. She slid under the shield as the gunner saw her and changed his fire.
"Eloyse!" Steve gasped. Eloyse turned to the archer. She and Steve were back to back, Clint in front of her.
"That' better not have been you shooting arrows at me." she playfully accused him. He stared at her, his eyes clouded with pain. Despite her harsh words, Eloyse was already knelt by his side, checking out the wound. He had caught two bullets, both in the back. One had come out, the other hadn't.
"Roll over." Steve helped when Clint didn't reply. Eloyse placed her hand flat over the wounds, narrowing her eyes as she saw somebody sneaking along at a distance of about thirty yards. He raised a gun toward them. Eloyse gave a little cry, ducking her head and throwing up her hands in an instinctive defensive movement. Steve heard her, but couldn't turn the shield as they were still getting heavy fire from the machine gun. He glanced over his shoulder and froze.
"We need backup!"
***********************************
"We need backup!"
Steve's frantic call was heard by the whole team. Tony and Natasha responded. Tony came flying overhead, only to jerk to a halt above them. From his upper position, he could clearly see the mounted machine gun and the single man with his gun. Steve, Eloyse, and the injured Clint were between them. But what really captured his interest was the blue halo surrounding the isolated three. He saw both shooters pouring rounds toward the huddled group, but Steve's shield didn't waver, and Eloyse, although she was in direct line of fire, wasn't hit. She was on her knees, head bowed, hands raised defensively with her palms turned out toward the attackers.
"Hey!" Tony shouted. For just a moment there was complete silence. The gunmen looked up at him. Eloyse and Steve looked up. And in the instant she lost her focus, the blue halo was gone. Tony blasted the gunmen, one with each hand. Eloyse dropped her hands, looking pale.
Tony came down. He started to help Barton to his feet, but the archer declined. "I'm fine. I thought I was hit, but I guess not."
"You were." Eloyse spoke up. "Let Tony carry you. I took away the pain, but you still need attention."
He looked surprised, but submitted. Tony soared away. Eloyse stood there in shock. She had never put up a barrier before, she had just been raising her hands as an instinctive action. But now she knew she was drained. Completely.
Steve was looking around, making sure the area was clear. Natasha came leaping over a pile of debris. She strode towards them.
"Steve, Eloyse, you both alright?"
"Yea, I think so." Steve checked over his shield as if it might be scratched. Eloyse didn't answer. She was staring away from them, a blank expression in her gentle dark eyes.
"Eloyse?" Concerned, Steve touched her arm. She flinched away from him and took a faltering step forward. Steve put a steadying hand on her as she stumbled. "What in the world?" he was confused again. "You aren't hit, are you!"
Natasha reached their side. She took one look at Eloyse and said, "She's drained. She used too much, too fast."
Steve stood still. Eloyse was gently tugging to be free of his grasp, but she didn't look all that steady. Suddenly she switched objectives and leaned on him. He paused, before awkwardly sliding his other arm around her and picking her up. She didn't resist. She looked utterly exhausted. Steve was still confused. "She didn't do anything but take away Clint's pain!"
Natasha stared at Steve in disbelief. "You didn't see?" when he shook his head, she sighed and shook her head. "She was holding a barrier. Both those guns were pouring into you guys, not a bullet struck its mark." Steve was silent, trying to take in the new information.
Then Tony's voice sounded, recalling everyone to the jet. Natasha turned away. "She'll be fine. Come on, let's go."