Locked Away

I

"He's having nightmares again?" Lena said as she held her coffee mug in her hands cradling it.

I put the last two pancakes on the serving plate and shook my head, "I feel like they're getting worse but he says they're about the same. Something just doesn't seem right to me."

"Did you seal the door tighter?" Harlow asks as she peers out to her patio. Casually watching her husband try and string up lights she had to have on their oak tree.

I shot a look at her and shook my head. I couldn't put him through that again. "Har you know that I can't do that.."

Lena gently rubs my arm and gives me a reassuring smile, "Everything will be okay Em. No need to panic." She glances at Harlow and tilts her head a little before looking back at me. Totally one of those moments where you say something to make another person feel better but don't know if it's true.

"Honey can't you just do some 'witchy-woo' crap and hang these?" Clint managed to muster out as he extended his reach as far as he could. Obviously struggling to hang these lights on the branches.

Harlow sneers at him and slowly brings her champaign glass to her lips, "This isn't a cartoon babe, real magic doesn't work that way."

"Lumen," she says just before the liquid hits her lips. The light illuminates from the bulbs and quickly dims out. "There's your party trick you wanted."

"Hey I'm just saying if you can light 'em up you can hang 'em up babe," Clint shrugs as he swings the strand upwards to Atlas.

"You know that we can easily kick your ass right?" Atlas remarks as his blue eyes turn a shade of bronze, trying to prove a point with our abilities.

Yes witches are real. But none of that fake magic where you can move things with a flick of a wand or make things come to life and your life is all peaches and rainbows. This stuff is the real deal, its dark magic and can easily be manipulated and absorbed into the wrong person's hand. You must learn control, restraint, and above all - strength. This kind of magic can drain you physically and emotionally in the blink of an eye and is not easy to recover from if you get too carried away.

"No, I know my wife could kick my ass which is why I am hanging these lights. So shut up and help me," Clint remarks as a matter of fact, "And your wife can kick your ass just by looking at you."

Natasha chuckles as she helps bring breakfast out to he patio table. Sunday mornings were a staple for us all. It's the day we can try to have a normal life...no magic, no fighting. The calm before the storm if you will. We can be with our kids and do whatever we want without having to worry about what the next day will bring..if we will see them that day or even that week. Every Sunday we meet at a house and we have the biggest breakfast we can make. I'm talking pancakes, waffles, fruit, bacon, the whole nine yards. Mainly because our kids think it's the coolest thing ever, it's an all you can eat buffet when you're five years old.

Harlow, Lena and myself gather the kids once the table is set. Harlow and Clint definitely have the best view at their house..a massive farmhouse in the woods that overlook the river. It is so peaceful and relaxing to hear the birds singing while the sun shines through the leaves. The breeze blows through their flower garden and fills the air with the smell of springtime. The water dances against the rocks and its like you are in paradise.

I take a look around the table at the kids; I see Oakley, Wren, Sawyer, Lincoln, Paisley, Celia..but we are missing one.

"Have you guys seen -" I start looking around the yard thinking he may be on the swings.

"Jackson is right here..always late to the party," James emerges from inside the house. Jackson is slung over his shoulder with a firetruck in his hands. He sets him down next to Lincoln and holds his hand out for the toy. Jackson peers up at his dad with the poutiest look in his eyes. It gets me every time when he does that.

"Good try but he's not your mom bud," Atlas laughs while he scoops Celia some strawberries onto her plate. I glare at him for making fun of me. Nat punches him in the arm, he tries to seem like it doesn't hurt but we all can see him wince ever so slightly. Pure gold.

We all dish out plates to the kiddos before making ourselves a plate. I peer around the table at all my friends and how I managed to get lucky to be with them.

My eyes fall on Harlow first, I remember meeting her first. I thought I was the only witch in the world. I had never met another witch before and when we saw each other we had an instant sisterhood. Turns out, our covens practiced together for thousands of years before they separated. I noticed that she still wore her necklace that protects her abilities. She can harness its energy and be very powerful when needed but it can be dangerous since she doesn't practice regularly. Overall she tries not to do magic, she wants to be your average farm girl.

I look over at Lena as she cuts up another pancake for Wren. I met Lena a few years after Harlow. I didn't think she was a witch at first until I accidentally walked in on her levitating feathers in the air in a bathroom at a bar. VERY long story so that's for another time...but that is one thing I love about Lena is she is always trying to get stronger. She practices daily and she gets stronger each time she tries a new spell. When she fails, she keeps at it. She is even starting to teach Wren how to control her energy when she is frustrated into something fun. She can turn her energy into sunlight, or when she's sad she will turn it into rain. Her number one rule is "NO magic when you're angry" and I swear I can hear her saying it to me now. 

Then there's Atlas which is an ironic situation. James, Loki, Clint and Nat were all on a job and they actually had to fight Atlas. He was in a bad spot and the magic consumed him and it was taking control over him. The magic part of SHIELD assigned Lena, Har, and myself to that job because the outcome wasn't looking good. You can't really fight someone who can control your mind without even looking at you. Atlas is extremely powerful..it took years before he was even allowed to be around anyone. Transferring the darkest parts of his magic was the hardest thing we had ever done, it almost killed Lena.

I am so glad to have them and the families they have created. I would be lost without them and alone. Natasha met us first when we were in a snag in Budapest and that's where we also met Clint. Who of course Har instantaneously fell head over heels for all because he had a fohawk. Natasha seems to be the only person who can really calm Atlas down all the way. She was chosen to monitor him once he was taken back to SHIELD and they gained a strong bond. When Atlas gets angry or frustrated she usually can calm him down with a single touch of her hand, it is mind blowing honestly. And of course with Nat comes the packaged deal with everyone else. I love that we have stuck together this long and I know all of these people have my back no matter what happens.

"Mommy, Jackson's eyes are glowing again," Sawyer pointed out while looking at my son's face.

I glanced down next to Lincoln and sure enough Jackson's eyes were bright gold. Swirling around his pupils as he was looking up at the clouds. Lena knelt down next to him and pushed his black hair to one side of his forehead before giving me a slight smile.

"Relaxat.." She spoke softly caressing his forehead with her thumb, "Cessabit."

The gold slowly stopped swirling before fading back to the deep blue color, just like James' eyes. He blinked a couple times before looking at Lena, "I was thinking about butterflies Auntie Lena."

Lena smiled at him and gave him a big hug before speaking, "That's really nice Jackson," She lifted her eyes to look at me and I looked back at Celia.. she was painting butterflies in Jackson's mind. I gave her a little nudge with my foot and she looked at me and giggled. She thinks she is so sneaky.

I looked back at James and noticed he seemed a bit disconnected. I know the dreams were bothering him, so I took his hand and smiled at him. He kissed my cheek because he knew I was worried. I was worried with what was happening to him. I was worried that my son's abilities were getting stronger. I was worried that something would happen to them, or to my amazing friends.. and I won't be able to help a single one of them.