Lieutenant - Daughter of the Captain

Chapter 28.0 - Voices

"J.A.R.V.I.S., you're in charge," Tony said as they loaded the last of their equipment onto the Quinjet.

Carter rolled her eyes, "He's always in charge," She quipped.

"That's cause you're eleven, Jr." Clint joked, giving her a quick pat on the head as he walked past, which she instantly slapped away.

He'd taken to calling her that since they started training, and she'd only complained the first time.

"Yeah yeah, I'm lucky you don't leave me with a babysitter," She joked, and she heard Bruce chuckle.

"Babysitters are lucky we don't try and leave you with a babysitter," He said with a smile. He'd begun joking with the team more often, especially since they'd discovered the lullaby and he could offer more than just a brain.

The girl pretended to think for a second, "No, yeah I would terrorize them," She chuckled, sitting on the ground just off the ramp.

It earned a few chuckles, but they began buckling themselves in. Only Steve went to actually say goodbye.

"If anything happens-"

"Relax, Maria is going to be here in the morning, I'll be fine," She tried, but his stare held.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. calls you, and I call Sam, I know," She rattled off, giving him a hard time for his protectiveness.

She pretended to hate it, but over the last few months it was almost comforting to have someone worry about her safety.

"See ya later, kid," He said, to which she saluted.

"Don't die," She called toward his back, and she could tell he was already rolling his eyes.

She watched them take off, and then made her way inside.

She ate leftover pasta for dinner, having to stand on a chair to reach the microwave.

She found herself in her room, with nothing better to do...

"J.A.R.V.I.S., dim the lights," She asked, and immediately the room darkened to her preferred setting.

She looked around, cleaning up a few loose items laying around. A sweatshirt she hadn't hung up, a few books she'd been choosing between, and a wrapper here and there.

When she was done, she layed out a thick yoga mat, and sat herself cross-legged facing the window.

With her eyes closed, and the room fairly dark, she took a few deep, calming breaths.

"Deactivate," She whispered, and the new voice-activated setting on her E.A.R.S. immediately let the world in.

She focused her strength on holding out, not opening her eyes, and not trying to block the waves coming towards her.

Instead, she brought forth the memory of the incident.

She focused.

On those two red eyes.

On the voice she'd heard.

She reached out, she felt her waves go as far as they possibly could, and then felt a singular echo that went further.

She'd continuously done this, felt this link she shared with the strange voice in the back of her head.

She'd never had the courage to go any further.

She'd never wanted to push herself too far, especially since she was- once again -doing this behind everyone's back.

Hello...

She gasped lightly as the voice rang through her head for the first time since her session with Bruce.

Um...hi...

Who are you?

Carter thought they sounded foriegn, even in her- their? -head.

My name is Carter...who are you?

It almost took too long for a response to come, Carter was close to passing out.

But it wasn't what she expected.

...The Avengers...

The voice sounded angry, and it was more like a question.

But Carter didn't get a chance to ask as dizziness overtook her, and she had to reactivate her E.A.R.S and let the voice fade away.

She let herself recover for a few minutes, meditating to steady her breathing and lessen the headache that was forming behind her eyes.

Then, she eased herself up from the floor, and sat at her desk.

The TouchPad read her fingerprint, unlocking her StarkTech laptop and opening the document she'd been journaling her progress in.

With blue-light glasses- courtesy of Dr. Tech-will-ruin-your-eyesight Banner -perched on her small face, she typed the encounter out in bullet points. Step-by-step instructions to her future self on how to reach the voice again.

By them time she was done, it was well into the night and she was exhausted.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., activate night light protocol," She called, rolling up the yoga mat and getting changed for bed.

The room dimmed even more- but not to a pitch-black. She heard the door lock, and watched an extra layer of glass slide into place in all the windows of her room, including the one in the bathroom- which she could see now that the door's tempered glass had almost magically cleared with the new setting.

It was a safety maneuver Tony especially designed- and named, much to her distaste -for her room and her room only. He installed it all during the remodel.

The light was for higher visibility, as well as the see-through bathroom door. Bulletproof glass not only locked the windows, but protected her from any armed projectiles.

And the door had a three-foot pin that slid into place inside the door jam that prevented anyone from opening the door without her verbal permission.

The only person who could override it was J.A.R.V.I.S., who- as a computer -was the only one trusted enough to make that judgment call when she couldn't because he wasn't susceptible to mind control.

She slept like this most nights, and it was a requirement when they were on mission.

The few times she hadn't were usually when she had fallen asleep in another room and been carried to bed by Steve. And that had only happened when she had rest days that she spent reading until she passed out. 

So she set her phone on it's assigned place in her nightstand, watching it light up as the built-in wireless charger came on.

She tucked herself in, thoroughly un-tucking her puffy, down comforter and burying herself in it's fluff.

She fell asleep quickly, and soundly despite the fight that was raging halfway accross the world.

She didn't know that Clint's life was in danger.

She didn't know that they'd found and recovered the scepter.

She didn't know that the same voice that rang through her head, was fighting her honorary family at this very moment.

Agghhhh! Shorter chapter, buuuuuuut...

I'm so excited to announce that we're officially starting Age Of Ultron!

The next chapter will start in a new and exciting perspective...

Any guesses?

Love you lots!
Many thanks,
C.B.K.