The tower is so quiet I can hear myself when I breathe. Dad is still talking about what he went through to find me, he said that he got close but then was struck down by Rumlow. They spent months in Washington with Fury trying to locate us, but always got stuck. I blink a few times and look at the bathroom door, "Does your friend have a family she needs to contact?" Dad asks.
"No," I mumble, "I don't think she has anybody. I said she could stay here..would Tony mind?"
"You're asking how he feels?"
I think I hurt him the last time I saw him, I remember pieces of the encounter. Teague holding my arm and telling me to harm them, he promised me that I wouldn't get hurt. He warned me if I failed he would hurt me. I rub my arms, trying to get rid of the feeling of his calloused hand on my shoulder, "I just figured I should ask him."
Dad nods, awkwardly serving up dinner. I stared at the plate and heard Bextley come out of the bathroom. She moves around and stands behind me, "The water was hot." That is all she said. Dad smiles at her, giving her the other plate. There was another knock on the door, again we all ignored it.
Dad joins us at the table, looking at me for a moment. I pick at my food, shrugging, "I just want to forget about it," I mumble, "I don't want to think about Teague anymore."
Bextley shrugged, "Maybe he's dead now."
Dad looks her way, then towards me. I roll my eyes, "She's pessimistic."
"That was the most optimistic I've ever been, hot water has changed me. I think I'll even go visit the nice lady again, she gave me clothes." Dad is still quiet. I hear his questions bouncing around in his head but it's cut off when there is yet another knock at the door, "You're popular." Bextley mumbles.
Dad glances our way before standing up, "I'm not going out there," I snap.
"Let me just tell them you're okay."
"Can we get some more...what did you call them?"
"Towels."
"Towels?" Bextley calls out. Dad doesn't answer her, walking to the front door. She rolls her eyes, "It's not over yet, you know that right?" I nod, pushing the plate away from me, "I mean, Noah is our friend but at the end of the day, Teague is...well he's like his family. His version of a father cooking food or mother dressing him."
"You used to say the same thing."
She nods slowly, "Yeah..but...then I met you."
The door is pushed open and I see Dad chasing a blur of red and blonde then someone scooping me up and bear-hugging me. I squeak and look around at the people before realising it was Steve and Natasha.
They keep me on the floor, asking a thousand questions as they try to share a hug. This is too much. I shake my head and shove my hands forward to block my face, "Stop it!" I shout. The two of them shiver, and then I feel a painful shock run through their bodies. They look at me, surprised but silent.
I breathe out slowly, looking at them both, "I'm sorry. I-I didn't.."
Bextley holds a knife to them both, but I push her hand down, "What did they do to you?"
"She's fine." Bextley snaps. Holding the knife down again, I shake my head, "They hurt you."
"I'm fine," I tell her. She lets me take her knife and then sits down again, carefully watching them. Natasha ignored me and hugged me anyway, "I didn't mean to hurt you guys." I tell them both, "I don't want to think about this anymore."
"You should let Bruce check this out, Mila, they—."
I cut him off, "I don't want to know what's wrong with me."
"She feels people's organs or something." Bextely fills them in, "A new way of killing without leaving physical scars on a person."
"Shut up," I mouth to her.
Natasha still doesn't let me go. She's almost crushing me with her grip, when she did let me go, she held onto my face, and smiled at me, "I know you're scared, but we've got your back, Mil. Just let them have a look, we won't talk about it. Both of you should get checked out."
"I'm not going." I shake my head.
"Mila—."
"No!" I shout.
They shut up. The room goes silent, and I feel Bextley's hand on my shoulder, she gently pulls me back into the bedroom and closes the door behind us. She sits me down on the bed and looks at me, holding onto my hands. She feels so calm, I can feel her heart beating slowly. She's calmer than I thought she would be, "Lana," She whispers, "It happened, and I think that the doctor can help you with this new ability."
"I don't want it to be real."
It's silent outside, nobody has dared to knock on the door. Bextley sits beside me on the bed, awkwardly cocooning me with her against the windows. She doesn't keep her arms around me long enough, knowing that I can feel every time her lungs move to breathe and her stomach churns. I carefully pull myself off of her once she is asleep, and move through the apartment. It takes most of my energy to simply open the door and move towards the common room.
Their voices are quiet and they say my name three times before I'm standing in the middle of the room and they all turn to me. Dad, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Pepper, Tony and Clint. I blink a few times as I look at them, "Bextley gets to stay as long as she wants." I whisper. Dad comes towards me, and I flinch, taking a step back, "I won't go to the lab."
"Five minutes." Bruce bargains.
"Your friend can stay if you go into the lab." Tony shrugged.
"I wasn't asking." I warn, "She's staying."
"If she stays," Dad begins, "You're both getting checked out by Bruce and Helen. Deal?" I nod, tugging at my sleeves so hard they start to rip. Dad pulls me into a hug and squeezes me tight. I feel my eyes swell with tears as I feel his frustration and sadness buried in the back of his mind.
