Come Back To Me

Hiding

The next morning, I wake up and smile when I realize Thor will be here today. He normally comes in the afternoon, giving me plenty of time to prepare his room and get some final things together.

"Good morning Tony!" I say walking into the kitchen. He's sitting on his tablet like he does most mornings.

"Good morning sweetie." Tony says and smiles. He knows I'm excited for Thor coming home.

"I'm going out for a bit to get Thor's ice cream and a few other things. Did you wanna come?" I ask Tony.

"I can't today. We have a mission coming up and luckily Thor will be here for the briefing." Tony says.

The last time we had a mission, Tony kept me on the sidelines. Him and Nat said it's because they want to take care of me, but I think it's because they don't want hydra getting word that I'm on the other team now.

"Will I be coming this time?" I ask and look down.

"Since Thor will be coming too, yes. He can help look after you."

"I don't need anyone looking after me Tony. I'm grown up now and let's not act like I'm not the most powerful avenger." I say and Tony rolls his eyes.

"I'm not letting hydra find you. We've gone over this. I won't let them find you!" Tony says raising his voice a little.

I was taken aback with his tone. I knew he wanted me safe, but he doesn't realize that I can protect myself. Without saying anything else, I walked to the garage and hop on the bike Nat has always let me use.

"You know that's my bike right?" Steve says and startled me. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"I know it's your bike. You can have it back if you want. I'll just take a car."

"No. It's fine. Where you headed?" Steve asked and chuckles.

"Grocery store. Thor gets annoyed when he gets back and we're out of ice cream." I respond.

"Yeah. He's like that." Steve says and notices somethings off. "Is everything alright?"

"Tony won't let me fight during missions and it's frustrating. I can protect myself just fine and he doesn't realize it." I say and roll my eyes before sitting on the bike.

"I'll talk to him. Or I'll have Nat talk to him." Steve says and I nod at him before taking off on the bike.

When I get to the grocery store, I can't help but remain angry with Tony. He's taking the father like figure to a whole new level. I just want to help fight our enemies and if hydra finds me, so be it.

I walked straight to the frozen section and  picked up the biggest tub of chocolate chunk ice cream for Thor. When I turned to walk towards the check out, a man was standing at the end of the aisle staring at me.

Without making it obvious, I turn and walk the other way. I kept glancing and saw him following me. When I made it to the register, he waited in an aisle, acting like he was looking at stuff. I slowly pulled out my phone and texted Tony.

Man following me in store. SOS.

I pressed send and hoped it got to him in time. When I paid for the ice cream I rushed out the door to the bike. Right when I got to the bike, the man was stepping right behind me.

"What do you want?" I ask and try not to reveal my powers to him.

"Are you Laura O'Hara?" He asked and I turned my head in confusion.

Just before I could answer, Tony's suit landed right behind me with a loud clank of the metal. The face mask lifted off his head and he stared at the man. He lifted his hand and I could hear his suit charging up a blast.

"Who are you?" Tony asks and stares at the man.

"He knows my name Tony." I whisper to him and step behind his suit.

"Who are you!" Tony shouts making the man flinch.

With a single movement, the man reaches for his watch and presses a button. Tony and I stare at him and he just starts to laugh.

"They'll find her now. We've been looking for her for a long time." The man says.

Tony grabs him and looks at me.

"Get back to the compound. Right now." He says before taking off with the man in his arms.

I hop onto the bike and go as fast as I can back to the compound. Tony must have called Steve and Nat, because they were waiting as soon as the garage opened for me.

"What's going on?" I ask and walk inside with them.

In the kitchen, I see a tall brunette waiting in a chair for us to come inside. I throw my hands up but Natasha grabs my shoulders.

"It's alright." Nat says. "This is Bucky."

I look at Nat and scrunch my eyebrows.

"What's he doing here?" I ask and look at the bag on the floor. "Thor's ice cream is going to melt." I say with an attitude and use my powers to open the freezer and put the ice cream inside.

"Laura, someone's going after the stones." Nat says and I finally calm down and listen.

"What?" I ask and clench my fist, wanting to keep my stone safe.

"The man Tony found. He was very willing to talk when Tony threatened to drop him from 30,000 feet in the air." Steve says.

"I don't understand." I say and keep an eye on Bucky, still not trusting him.

"He was working with Loki. All those years ago. Word got out to someone called Thanos. He's sending people to come after the stones." Steve continues and I look down at my hand.

"He won't get this one. I won't let him." I say and bite my lip.

"He will. If he gets a chance he will." Tony says busting through the door. "We have to put you into hiding. Somewhere they won't find you."

I was so confused by this point. My eyes travel to Nat, who looked extremely nervous.

"Nat, I'm confused." I say and walk towards Nat.

"We have to send you away. Thanos needs all 6 stones. If he gets them, he will kill us all." Nat says and grabs my right hand, showing me she's not afraid of what I can do, like she always had. "If we can be sure that he never finds this one, then we can beat him. But you have to stay away."

I look at her and tears form in my eyes. Since I was 13, the longest I've been away from Nat was 6 hours. I've never been away from her like this.

"How long?" I ask wanting to prepare myself.

"However long it takes." She responds and a weak smile forms on her lips.

"How are we going to be sure I won't be found? I've never gone into hiding before." I say and look at Tony.

"That's what I'm here for." Bucky says from behind me.

I turn around and can feel my hand start to ache from the stone. He looks kind, but I'm still scared of him and don't want to be alone with him for who knows how long.

"No." I whisper and look at Tony.

"You have to. He knows how to hide and stay hidden. You don't have a choice." Tony responds.

"I said no." I say firmly and Tony scrunches his eyebrows.

"Cool it." He says and I look at my hand glowing. "I'm not giving you a choice. He can keep you safe."

I take a deep breath and calm down before I hurt anybody. When I turn back to Nat I can see how sad she was that I have to leave, but if I can protect the world by leaving, then I must do it.

"When do I leave?" I ask still looking at Nat.

"Whenever you're done packing." Tony says.

I look at him then back to Nat. Tears form in my eyes and I nod my head slowly before heading to my room to pack. My heart is aching at the idea of losing Nat or Tony, even if he gets on my last nerve. I still love them so much. They're my only family left.