A Failed Experiment

Chapter 18

The nightmares had come back again. I woke up in a cold sweat. This was one of the worse ones. My door creaked open, " Astor ?" Aideen walked into my room,
" Hi Deen." She smiled slightly,
" You were screaming , are the night terrors back ?" Aideen asked cautiously . I shook my head,
" Terrors ? No, nightmares, that's all." I reassured her. She took my hand that was previously gripping the sheets,
" Astor I'm scared, for your sake." I glanced at her. I saw no pity, or sympathy in her expression, but genuine concern,
" I know, Deen, I am too."

For some reason, it had only just clicked in Tony's head that Bucky  was dating his daughter, because when I was leaving my room, Bucky was running past and Tony was chasing after him,
" Get back here you piece of shit !"  Bucky had ran past me, into my room and slammed the door, " What's going on ?" I asked,
" He's dating my daughter !"  He exclaimed,
" Yes, what about it ?" Aideen asked, crossing her arms,
" He's like a hundred !" We both laughed,
" If I can say something, he is a half-decent guy." I mentioned. Tony sighed,
" Watch yourself !" He yelled at Bucky through the door and stomped off like a defeated child, causing all three of us to burst out in hysterics.

It was three days until the fight with Elanor, and I was terrified. I wanted to go back to Kamar-Taj, but I didn't know how. I sat at my desk, scrap piece of paper and pencil in hand. I started trying to draw an Eldritch shield from memory , when I felt someone behind me. They got closer, I assumed it would be Aideen, maybe Bucky, " Hm, that's pretty close." Stephen's familiar, even-toned voice made itself known. I jumped out of my skin,
" Don't do that !"I laughed , I was happy to see him,
"  I couldn't help it, you're so easy to scare." He kissed the top of my head,
" How are you ?" I asked, looking up at him,
" I'm good, so is Wong and everyone else." I grinned,
" That's great!" He smiled back at me,
" How have you been sweetness ?" I  frowned, " Not so great." I admitted,
 " What's wrong ?"  Stephen inquired,
" Someone from my past wants to fight me in three days, and I'm scared." He put his hand on top of mine,
" Listen to me, you could take on just about anyone I know, and have quite often proved that. You, my love, are going to be just fine." He reassured, intertwining his fingers with mine

Seeing Stephen was what I needed to convince me I was going to be ok, I wasn't so scared. I spent that day training, now wasn't the time to now slacking off. I was in the training room, practicing that trick where I jumped and took the ground below me, with me, letting me fly around on it, when Vision called my name. My focus broke and I went crashing down. Since I was in an enclosed space, I didn't have far to fall, " I'm so sorry Astor!" He apologized, helping  me up,
" oh it's ok, what is it ?" I asked, he picked up a plate of sandwiches,
" To my knowledge, you haven't eaten today, so I made you BLT ! " He handed me the plate,
" Oh, thank you ! " He sat down with me and listened to me tell him stories while I ate.

Once I finished my training, I went to central park again, mainly because I needed to get out. I walked around the given paths this time, stopping every now and again to pet a dog. I was still anxious, but I decided now wasn't the time to let my emotions get the better of me.

I returned home, changed my clothes, and I headed to the living room. Most of us were already in there, " Hey guys." I announced my presence and sat down,
" Hey Ast." Wanda moved over so I would have more room. We didn't do much that night, but I was thankful for the company nonetheless. By the time I was going to bed, Bucky had fallen asleep against Aideen's knees, Bruce had curled up like a cat on the sofa and Steve went to bed an hour ago. I lay in bed, reluctant to sleep in case I had a nightmare, but then I realized I was acting like a child and fell asleep.