Hydra's shadow

Chapter 8: Unlikely Comfort

* ECHO'S POV*

The cold feeling of the metal floors scraping once again against my toenails, the familiar smell of his aftershave as they shoved me into The Room. And there he was with that same grimacing smile plastered over his face, standing in the corner with the pocket knife in his left hand, ready, waiting for me. I tried to resist as they strapped me to the chair, my feet slipping against the polished leather beneath me, but it was no use there was too many of them and only one of me. My chest began to rise in panic as he advanced towards me, flicking his wrist to reveal the blade of the pocket knife. I edged away from him only able to move an inch or two with my ankles and wrists bound by leather straps covering the metal handcuffs underneath. He got so close I could feel his breath on my skin as he made his way around the chair, bending down to meet my eye-line. I cringed at the sight of him so close to me as he whispered those same words he spoke every time. The two words "little one" were enough to send me into a state of shock and panic altogether as I knew what was coming next. The blade was making its way closer towards the revealed section of my stomach, now inches away from striking.

Suddenly I felt my whole body jolt upwards as two hands gripped against my shoulders. I tried to scream but it seemed I already had been, my voice hoarse and croaky as I tried to muster the strength to scream even just a little. As I focused on my senses and the room around me, I soon realised it was my room, not The Room. It was just another nightmare. Although this one was by far the worst, as I felt myself begin to tense up in response just as those same two hands gripped my shoulders tighter. I whipped my head up to face them, my hands no longer at my side, ready to fight back if I really needed to. But as I raised my fists their face came into view, the familiar locks of red hair as it became clearer to me, it was Natalia.

*NATASHA'S POV*

I'd been woken just thirty seconds before by the sound of a muffled blood-curdling scream coming from Echo's room, almost in reflex I threw the bed sheets to the side and sprinted up the flight of stairs heading straight for her room. As I reached the top of the stairs I could already see Tony and Steve walking towards her room, Rhodey following not far behind. I wavered my hand aggressively towards them, shaking my head too telling them to stay back, they hadn't seen her attack the other morning so they had no idea what they'd be walking into. 

Relieved to find the door already unlocked I twisted the handle sharply, hovering on the inside just by the door just in case, after all in the chamber when she'd had that attack she'd been restrained, but not now. I suddenly felt a rushing wave of fear pass over me, taking me by surprise as I never really felt it so strongly, I was just very aware of the fact that it was just me and Echo in her room, and I had no idea if she would have control over herself if she saw me, even though I'd only be trying to help her.

But that wave of fear abruptly washed away as the young girl's shadow against the far bedroom wall alerted me to her hunched state, pushed up in the corner between her bed and the wall. I felt my heart drop as I noticed her shaking in convulsions, her knuckles turning white from hugging her knees so tightly to her chest. I immediately motioned towards her, placing my hands on her shoulders, but it was no use she was in some sort of trance, some sort of deep-rooted nightmare. I applied a little more pressure firmly grasping her shoulders, as she unlocked her wrists from around her knees and brought her fists up from her side almost like she was getting ready to fight. My heart truly ached for her in this moment as even in the depths of an attack she was prepared to fight me. I quickly pushed the feeling away, also ready to hold her back if I needed to, but her fists soon unclenched as she noticed it was me.

As her face came into view, all I could notice were the streaks of tears staining her already pink and blotched face, her cheeks puffy from crying so hard, her eyes bloodshot and glassy. Without even thinking as it came so naturally, I shifted my weight onto the other edge of her bed, wrapping my right arm around the shoulder she'd managed to wedge into the corner of the walls. I gently pulled her towards me, hesitant if it was the right thing to do as she felt tense and almost stiff in my grasp. But she soon loosened up in my arms, too drained to even think of moving away from me. I felt her head fall down just beneath my shoulder, adjusting my seating on the edge of the bed so her head now rested lightly against my chest just low enough so I could rest my chin against the top of her head. She was still crying, although she had grown so tired that it was now turning into stifled sobs, sounding muffled against my chest. I moved my free arm to wrap around her other shoulder so that she was tightly in my grip. I started to notice her hugging me back only slightly as she gripped with her hand against my left arm. Momentarily lifting my head, I gently moved my hand away from her shoulder and towards her face, caressing my thumb across her skin to wipe away the tears that were still falling. I could notice her eyes were starting to close, her eyelids drooping, so I moved my hand up towards her head running my fingers through her soft auburn-streaked hair taking care not to pull too hard as I could feel her drifting. After a few minutes of staying just like that, I glanced down cautiously to see her fast asleep with her head still resting against my chest, her breathing now steady. I smiled only for a second, feeling a sense of comfort with the young girl in my arms. I'd never felt it like this before, making me feel almost uneasy but I knew it to be in a good way.

I glanced over to the alarm clock on the table next to us, reading the time to be 3:47am. Now that Echo was calm I was suddenly very aware of how tired I was, finding myself slow rocking back and forth as my eyelids began to fall. And before I could realise, I was falling asleep too, Echo still peacefully sleeping against my chest as I drifted off.