The Widows Daughter

Part one-hundred

(Chloe's POV)

PTSD. Noun. Meaning: short for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Abandoned, tortured, rescued, betrayed.

"Chloe?"

Scared, hurt, loved, protected.

"Chloe, talk to me,"

Alive, dead, somewhere in between.

"Chloe, focus on me."

Hydra, Shield, Avengers.

"Chloe, please look at me."

Orphan, daughter, Avenger, teammate, criminal, runaway.

"Steve, something's wrong with Chloe,"

I blinked. Then I blinked again. Something happened. I don't remember what though.

My back is cold. My head hurts like something hit it. I can't breathe.

As the world came back into view, I breathed. Gasped really. I stared up at the ceiling as the flickering lights swayed and spun.

"Chloe? Can you hear me?" I felt pressure on my shoulder dragging me back to reality slightly.

The dust particles in the air distracted me, making me slip further into an abyss. I couldn't focus on anything tangible or real. All I could focus on was the lights spinning and the voices.

Luke's voice.

"Breathe, Red. Breath..."

Breathe.

I felt the pressure on my shoulder become greater and my body being shaken. I looked to my right, the world finally become solid again. Real. Mom leaned over me looking scared.

"What happened?" I asked sitting on my elbows.

"I was hoping you could tell me. You were fine one minute and the next you were on the floor." Mom said helping me sit up.

"I don't remember." I lied.

"You don't remember?"

"Yes. All I know is that I was walking and then I was on the ground." And I relived my worst memory.

Mom stared at me for a minute, unconvinced before she seemed to let it go. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. But my head and back are killing me now." I joked.

I looked up suddenly at the sound of footsteps. Steve appeared at the end of the hallway. "You good?" He called.

"Yeah. I'm good." I nodded standing up. I swayed as the blood rushed from my head. I held onto Mom's arm for support before steadying myself.

"Good?"

"Mhm."

——————————

I followed behind Mom and Steve with black mist trailing behind my right hand. A red glow was cast over us as Wanda and Sam walked behind me. The red glow made the archives room look eerie.

"Wanda, la lueur rouge me sent dehors." I hissed. Mom snorted in amusement.

"What?" Wanda asked confused.

"Red glow. Freaking me out here." I translated.

"Would you rather walk in the dark?"

"No.." I conceded. "Sorry."

"Mhmm."

"Alright, everyone spread out. See what you can find. If you see anything or anyone, let us know." I went with Mom and Steve and Sam went with Wanda.

I walked down a row of shelves that were full of boxes. "I thought you guys would have cleared all these out when you saved me," I said quietly.

"We were supposed to, but between the unconscious teenager we found, and the stab wound you gave me, we were a little preoccupied," Steve pointed out and I cringed at the memory of our first interaction.

"I was only unconscious because Clint shot me." I defended. "But, I do see your point."

"Chloe, see if you can sense anyone, will you?" Mom asked and I simply nodded.

I reached my hand out, my mind stretching. I could hear Wanda, Sam, and Steve, and Mom all in my head, their thoughts floating around. I pushed them out and searched deeper for someone else. To be on the safe side, I checked the shadows, looking for any unnatural shapes or bends.

I couldn't find anything. There was no one here except us. "I can't find anyone," I announced. "Are you sure there's someone here?"

"You're sure?" Steve asked.

"Positive. The only people here are us."

"Weird." Steve mused.

"Hey, Steve? We didn't find anyone, but there's a bunch of computers down here and a ton of tapes." Sam said through the comlink.

"Tapes?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, like security tapes. There are at least two boxes full of them." Sam told us.

"We'll be right there," Steve announced, and soon we were meeting the two of them in front of a row of monitors.

"Sam, these are monitors, not computers," I told him patting his shoulder.

"Oh shut up. The point is, that all these tapes have different timestamps." Sam brushed my comment off.

"How far back do they go?" Mom asked.

"This one says 1987." Wanda held up a black VHS tape.

"1987?" I asked dumbfounded. "How many are there?"

"A lot more. Those two shelves are full of boxes that have dozens stacked inside." Sam said pointing behind me.

"Does this freak anyone else out?" Mom asked and I raised my hand.

I pulled out a tape with the date, Moscow, Russia, May 20, 2011. Something flickered in my brain. Like a memory forgotten, or a dream I've had before. Like déjà vu. My brain felt fuzzy thinking about the date.

I recognized it.

But why? Why would a random date from two years ago mean anything to me? I knew that I had been in Russia at that time, but this day felt special. Like something important happened on it, but I've forgotten.

Why can't I remember what happens that day?

I must have been holding the tape for a long because soon Wanda was waving her hand in my face. "Lost in space?" She asked with a laugh.

"Sorry, just thinking." I smiled before holding the tape before Mom. "This date, it feels familiar. Did something big happen on this day?"

Mom took a look at the date and shook her head. "I don't think so. Why does it feel familiar?"

"I have no idea," I confessed. There was something special about this date, I could feel it, I just didn't know why. "Can I take this with us?"

"Sure," Steve said looking at the monitors. "What do you want to bet we can watch those on here?"

"Probably not. The whole system looks busted." Sam said patting a box.

"Fair enough. I doubt we can take all of these with us, so we should get going." Steve conceded.

I was happy to know I could leave the building that I despised with every fiber of my being. The quicker I could leave, the better. Now all I wanted to know, was why May 20, 2011, meant so much to me.

Omg, I'm actually updating? This is not a drill people, I'm actually updating! I'm rather proud of myself if no one can tell.

Jumping right into things with this chapter. Poor Chloe. Made myself almost cry with the last chapter and this time I creeped myself out. Good job me.

What do you guys think the the date is? Why is it so important? Why can't Chloe remember what happened?

Hope you guys liked it and tell me what you thought. Byeeee...