Aim: Hydra | Y/N Story | Sequel to "Aim: Avenger"

19. Old Friends

"Friends? You know the people in there?"

"Person. Not people, and yes. Order everyone as far away from the building as possible. If she sees you, she'll break. Again. It'd take too long to explain, just get everyone back."

"What are you-wait, where are you going?" 

"To deal with the situation." I replied as I deployed my wings, scanning the building for the best entry point.

"You can't do that alone, you could get hurt."

Finding the perfect place, I answered, "that's fine," and flew at a window on the top floor. Using as little momentum as possible to dampen the sound while still breaking through the window, I rolled onto the very thick carpet of someone's office. Sneaking out onto a balcony of sorts, I could see several floors down. I would've been able to see a lot more if it wasn't such a dark night, so I had Amandine pull up thermal imaging. Using my new sights, I found a large mass of heat about halfway between me and the ground floor. Far, far away from the large group of hostages was a puny dot, a few floors above them. The shape was so small the person must have been curled into a ball. "That's her," I mumbled, flying low and quiet until I landed almost silently several feet from the figure I'd focused on.

As I crept forward, I reached a point close enough to hear her muttering under her breath, "go away, go away, go away, go away," over and over again, and I knew it was the girl I hadn't seen in years.

"Di?" I whispered, but her head still whipped up as she scrambled away from me, fumbling for her gun. "Hey, Di, it's just me. It's just Erin." I raised my hands up as she pointed the weapon right at the center of my brain. I could tell her aim was perfect. "I'm here, Di. They're gone. You've been far away from them for a few years now, remember?"

Her gun didn't waver, her hands surprisingly steady even as her chest heaved. Her voice cracked as she spoke in her gravely voice, "they're in my head. They won't leave. They won't leave my head, Erin."

"I know. I know. But they can't hurt you, okay? Remember? They think you're dead, so they can't hurt you anymore. I'll always protect you. I promise." She finally met my eyes, and I saw the all too-familiar desperation in them.

"They hurt." She whimpered, finally dropping the gun at her side as she jumped to her feet and into my arms.

"Let's get out of here and you get some rest, okay? We can talk about this in the morning." I lowered one arm under her knees, the other supporting her back, as I scooped her up and flew off, telling Amandine to notify the police officers below to get the hostages.

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The girl, only two years younger than me yet so much smaller, had finally relaxed into a light sleep on my bed when I heard a small knock on the door. Confused who would be up this late - early, actually, according to the clock, I opened it to reveal a familiar and casually dressed man. "Tony?"

"Hey, kiddo. Mind if I come in?" He asked.

I stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind me. "Yes, I do. What do you want?"

He raised one eyebrow slightly as he said, "oh, now I'm much more curious as to what's in there. It better not be another hostage." He tried to step around me, but I moved with him.

"Cut it out, Stark. It's none of your business." I growled lightly.

"It is if it has anything to do with a hostage situation late last night, where I apparently sent someone to help, and the one responsible disappeared without a trace." He tried again, and I stopped him. Again. And again. And, shocker, again. He managed to grab the door handle before I summoned a knife and pushed him back with the hilt, flipping it until the blade was at his throat.

"I said, 'no.'" 

A door opening sounded, and Peter stepped out of his apartment, waving goodbye to Aunt May as he popped one earbud in. He was about to do the same with the other when he looked up and saw us. He cleared his throat, saying, "so, I take it she didn't want to go to school then."

"Well, I was just getting around to that when she went all 'Jack the Ripper.'"

"Well, he was trying-" I was interrupted by a shrill scream coming from my apartment. "Crap. Stay here, both of you!" I yelled as I raced to my bedroom, opening the door carefully. "Di." I whispered as I knelt at her side. "Distortos, you have to wake up, okay?" I placed my hand gently on her shoulder, and she shot up, grabbing the gun from the bedside table and pointing it at me. "Di, you aren't going to shoot me, put it down."

"Shoot you?" A boy yelled behind me, and both men stormed into my apartment. Tony had pulled an Iron Glove over his hand, aiming the repulsor at Di.

"No!" I threw a knife into his hand, right as I heard a gunshot from behind me, followed by shattering glass. I turned and barely saw a shadow disappear around the wall, but I heard her as she hurried up the fire escape to the roof. I went after her, trying to catch up to her. "Di, wait!" We reached the top, and were annoyingly followed by the two troublemakers.

"Go away!" She screamed, her voice rough.

"You tried to kill-"

"No!" I interrupted the billionaire. "She wouldn't hurt me."

"Oh really, because the gun pointed at your temple told a different story." He shot back, floating a few inches away from the ledge in his suit. The knife I'd thrown at him was still stuck in one of the hands.

"She was scared. We do it all the time, now back off." I glared at them both, standing my ground as they exchanged a glance and nodded, going back the way they came. I took a deep breath before turning back to the only other girl.

"Pain", she said in sign language, and I understood what she meant.

"I know, Di. I know the scales hurt, but they won't judge you, okay? They're friendly, like Ben and V."

"Where are they?"

Oh god, how do I tell her? "They're, um, they're gone." She tilted her head, so I elaborated, "they thought that it would be better if they left, so they weren't reminding me of past mishaps." I cleared my throat before changing the subject. "But they won't hurt you, I promise. They didn't mean to scare you, I haven't told them about you. Or the team."

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