In the Blink of an Eye

Chapter 8

The grass felt soft underfoot as I walked over to where everyone else was standing. Today we were training outside, which I guess would be a nice change as it could get awfully stuffy being cooped up inside all day. The fresh air could do us all some good.

We all lined up and Cap told us what was going to happen.

"Today, you are really going to need to join together and work as a team if you want to win. We are going to be playing capture the flag. You're going to be put into two teams, and I'll tell you what those teams are in just a moment, but first you need to know the rules. One team will be attacking, and the other defending, then you'll switch. The team attacking has to get the flag, whilst keeping as many of their team members on their feet as possible, and the team defending must try to knock the other team down, and prevent them from getting the flag. Now you can only use the items you have at hand now, or in some cases, the powers you harness. Okay, now we've established a set of rules, the teams will be as follows. In team one, Wanda, Falcon and Pietro."

I heard a small 'yes' escape from Wanda's lips as her brother walked over to join her. He turned and looked at me, giving me a small smirk as he did so.

"Team two will be those that are left, War Machine, Vision and y/n. Team one, you're going to be attacking first, so team two, you're defending."

Cap finished speaking, and team one stayed with him and Nat at the starting point, while my team went off into the woods behind the field we'd been standing on. We found the point with the flag, and made a plan.

"James, you and I will head out a bit further. Y/n, I think you should stay here and guard the flag," Vision said, and I couldn't help but feel like he thought I was going to bring their team down, like I was feeble and weak. Nevertheless, I agreed.

"Sure, that's fine," I lied, feeling useless already.

So, Vision and War Machine headed back out into the woods, and I remained with the flag.

A siren sounded off in the distance somewhere, signalling the start of the game. My whole body tensed up, and I suddenly felt a wave of nervousness surge over me. For a while I just stood there, listening to noises from afar. Then, I heard leaves rustling to my right. There was nothing there, but out of my peripheral vision I saw someone whoosh past me to my left.

'Not someone,' I thought, 'Pietro.'

I was totally on edge, all my senses tingling, and goose bumps running up and down my bare arms.

Before I knew what had happened, my whole body was spinning, literally spinning in the air, and when I came back down, I came down hard. My body smacked down onto the ground, and my stomach felt like it had just been punched about twenty times.

I got up as fast as I could, and thankfully the flag hadn't been taken yet.

A cocky looking Pietro sauntered towards me, a smug look on his face.

"You didn't see that coming?" he smirked, one eyebrow raised.

I heard more rustling coming from behind me and whipped around to see Wanda walking up to where the flag was. I swiftly froze her with my telekinesis, alas, just in time to see Pietro grabbing the flag.

Another siren sounded, signalling the end of the first half of the game, and that it was time to switch. My team headed back to the starting point and team one stayed behind.

"Don't worry. We'll get them this time," James said confidently, and I gave a weak smile, partly feeling it was my fault we'd lost.

Once again, we talked strategy, devising how best to beat the other team.

"The twins worked together last time, so they'll probably do the same this time around," I said.

"I agree," said James.

"James, I think you should take Falcon, I'll take the twins," Vision spoke, a sense of authority in his voice.

"Wait, what about me?" I said puzzled. Did he really just want me to do nothing?

"Y/n, I think you should be the one to go for the flag. You're the fastest and most agile, and I don't think they'll see you coming. You're the only one who can do it," he said.

"Oh I don't think that's true-" I tried to argue, but Vision cut me off.

"No, you are more powerful than you think. You can do it, y/n. It has to be you."

I nodded sharply, feeling a sense of pride within me, and then the siren went off.

I ran for ages, as fast as I could go. I kept running and didn't look back, but then I stopped abruptly. The twins were directly ahead of me.

'Shit' I thought. Where the hell was Vision?

Suddenly, he appeared and started battling it out with Wanda. Leaving me faced with Pietro yet again.

He dashed towards me, and without thinking, I hurled a log straight towards him. He fell to the ground and I went over to the spot he was at.

"You didn't see that coming?" I said, mimicking his tone.

He just laughed and let his head fall back on the ground, still lying underneath the log.

I sprinted off to the point where the flag was situated. There was no one there. It all looked a bit too easy, so I proceeded with caution.

Just as I thought, Falcon leaped out of nowhere, but James tackled him to the ground with perfect timing.

"The flag!" he yelled, signalling for me to get it.

I ran up to it and ripped it from the small pole it was hanging from.

The siren sounded loud and clear, and all of us went back to the start, eager to find out who'd won the game.

"Okay, so both teams won when they were playing attack, however, there can only be one real winner," Cap began.

I could feel the tension rising in my body, hoping we had done enough to secure victory.

"The winning team is, team two," Cap announced.

I couldn't stop smiling. James and I high-fived each other and Vision gave us both a nod, letting us know that we did well.

"Before you go, I want you all to know that you did well today, all of you. I'll see you all later," Cap said, and then walked off with Natasha to go back inside.

Everyone started chatting as we walked back inside, and I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hope I didn't hurt you too bad," Pietro said, half smirking as he talked.

"Same to you," I said, smirking back.

"Touché," he laughed, causing me to laugh with him.

We continued to talk and laugh with each other until we got upstairs.

"Hey, no hard feelings right?" I joked, extending my arm for a handshake.

Instead of shaking my hand like expected, Pietro pulled me in for a hug, catching me totally off guard. I was shocked for a second, but then I hugged back. He was so warm, and dear lord he smelled good. I smiled, taking in his scent for a few seconds, as he mumbled something into my hair.

"No hard feelings."

He pulled away, and I felt a tinge of sadness in him doing so. He uttered a casual 'see you later,' and then walked off to his room.

I entered my room and shut the door behind me, sliding down it. I hugged my knees to my chest and found myself smiling uncontrollably.

What was this boy doing to me?