Rebel Vol.2 | TDW & IM3

E14 - Wilderness

STARK

After dinner, Erika and Austin left to work on the Space-Jet-Z Project taking longer than we all thought. Natasha went and started dishes, while everyone kinda did their own thing in the same area. "Alright, she's way too stressed." Rogers points out, and we all gave the nod, but I gave him a look too.

"Was it the bags under her eyes or the obvious crying in the bathtub." I comment, and they all sigh. "Cause both seem like the right answer." I state as I notice Uno crawl into Barton's lap.

"Of course she's stressed. You guys talked about her like she wasn't even there yesterday." Bruce tells us as I stand up from the barstool.

"You all were also too busy fighting that Jarvis didn't even want to interpret to mention a bomb threat." Barton adds, and I sigh, starting to pace between the counter and sofa.

"From what you all have told me of the situation, it's like she has put a whole new responsibility on her shoulders." Thor states, and we nod at that. "Between what happened on Asgard a few weeks ago to today when she took responsibility for our actions."

"No." I cut in and lean on the arm of the sofa. "She's always taken responsibility for others' actions, even if she doesn't say it." I tell them. "The bad ones, of course." I got back up, now pacing between the two sofas.

"Our actions weren't of bad intent, and neither was the damage." Steve states, and Bruce winces at that.

"I'm sure my Mr. Hyde would disagree with that last part." He says, and I nod, pointing at him.

"Okay, excluding Jolly Green Giant, none of us wanted damage to happen." I state. "But she is right. We are somewhat responsible for it. I ended up dropping a few very Hungry Caterpillars on buildings, and a handful of cars dropped on people in Greenwich." I gesture towards Thor, who nodded at that looking down.

"Alright, that's not the point right now." Natasha says, finally joining in the conversation. "We all know what we've done, and we now have to live with it. She'll take the responsibility to heart no matter what. We can't stop her from that." She states, and I sigh, finally sitting down. "Personally, I think she needs to get away from everything else for a while." She says, and we all give her a look, but Bruce nods.

"She's right." Bruce says. "Get Erika away from society for a bit, away from responsibilities." He says, and I roll my eyes a bit.

"She'll still think about them." I state, and he nods.

"Yeah, she will, but she won't be able to do anything about them." He states. "It'd just be a break for her to clear her head, maybe camping?" He suggests, and Nola snorts at that.

"I'm sorry, but last time she went camping, she ended up in an Asgardian aircraft." She states, and we nod at that as Barton runs a hand down his face.

"Yeah..." Me and everyone else sound with amused looks.

"That's still a funny story." I state, then look back at Bruce. "But why camping?" I ask him.

"Well, if what she is going through is anything remotely like what I go through, then it should help." He says. "It's what I did when I was still getting used to having a nuke in my brain." He states, and we all share another look as it went silent.

"I'm not hearing any other ideas." Steve states, and I chuckle a bit.

"And as far as bad ideas go, it's not the worst." I add, and sigh. "Can't believe I agree to this, but when are we doing this?" I ask, not wanting it to be real.

"I know a place up north; it's pretty secluded." Clint says, and we all look at each other, nodding. "How about Wednesday we leave? I know a place to land the jet." He states.