It's different to be inside the jet looking back at the tower. I look out of the windows towards my bedroom and remember watching this jet leave every day. My dad wraps his arms around my shoulders, huffing, "I'm not happy about this," He mumbles, "My baby never should've been forced into this." I lean back and look up to him. Dad looks down, "Whatever happens, Milana, I love you."
"I love you too, Dad," I whisper to him.
He leans his head to rest on top of mine, keeping me under his arms. I hear Steve ordering the team behind me, but my dad doesn't move to face Steve. He stays with me beside the window, holding me like this is the last time we're going to be together. I turn slightly to see Bextley piloting with Clint as Tony fixes her gun.
She's braver than me. Dad lets me go and sits down in front of me, constantly fixing the jacket and adjusting the holster on my leg and upper arm. He frowns, looking at me, "I shouldn't have let you on this plane."
"I would've gotten on anyway."
He nods, "I know," He says squeezing my hands. I bite down on my tongue when I feel his fears surging around and then his heart as it beats. I quickly pull my hands back and hide them in my pockets, "The scratches have stopped."
"It used to hurt so much," I tell him, "I could feel my body trying to get rid of it, and it hurt a lot. I don't feel it now," I whisper, "Bruce says I'm okay, but now I feel everything else. I can hear their hearts beat when I hold them...Am I a bad person?"
"Milana Rebecca Barnes, you are not a bad person," He says firmly, "You are a little girl who a bad person hurt. I have told you that every day and you need to trust me, alright Doll?" I nod my head.
I take my hands from my pockets and look at them. No more scratches. The jet shakes as we land, Dad stands up quickly as the others are ready to go except Bruce who is sitting by the door, "Are the kids gone?" I ask Steve as he moves to the door first.
"Most. We don't know what we're walking into, Mil, stay with your dad."
The others split off, Bextley looking over her shoulder towards me as she followed Natasha. She waves at me, with a sad smile on her face. I look at her, then my dad before I run to her. Bextley unexpectedly runs to me as well. She doesn't jump when I wrap my arms around her and hug her close to me.
She still feels warm when I hold her. I feel the warmth radiating off her heart and the sparks as I bring her close to me. I don't want to lose you. I look at her intently, then hold onto her face.
Bextley relaxes in my hands and looks at me. I don't want this to be the end. I slowly move closer to her, then kiss her gently. The sparks feel like electricity through my body as I press my lips to hers. I pull back and she is smiling, "Be safe." I tell her.
Bextley nods, "You too."
She quickly runs back towards Natasha. I turned back to Dad who was still moving towards the entrance of the tunnels. I run to him and he has his gun up to the doors. Dad faces me and holds his arm up to keep me close to him. He opens the door, as Tony is on coms telling the team that he can't get a read on the inside.
The mountain is so thick and the tunnels are so far inside, we can barely see in front of us. Our feet hit metal and we walk through the dark hallway. Dad makes sure that I'm close, but I freeze up as I hear the heartbeats around us. I tugged on Dad's shirt and he faced me, "They're here." I tell him.
Dad doesn't move, as I raise my hands and move forward, I feel a person and before they can hurt us, they drop to the floor and into our sights. It's a kid. The others start to move, dad moves to shoot. I push his gun up to the roof of the tunnel and touch their hands and faces.
Three kids have fallen, and sleep at our feet. I look down at them and palm them down for their weapons, "Lana." I look up at the barrel of a gun, it follows through until I see Noah towering over me, "Alana, you can't be here." I stare at it, and Dad is too slow, I slam my hand up to his gun and then back into his face.
Dad quickly shoves him into the walls of the tunnels and then holds him up by his neck, "Dad, stop it," I say, "Noah where is Teague?" Noah stays silent and Dad applies pressure, "Dad put him down," I pull at his arms and Noah is dropped onto the floor.
Noah is shivering, trying to move to pick up his gun but I press on his foot, shaking my head, "Alana, I can't tell you—.'
"Noah he is going to kill all of those children, where is he?"
He's afraid, "I can't tell anyone."
"Fine." I snap and latch my hand around his wrist, he drops into unconsciousness and then Dad stands me up, handing Noah's gun to me. I place it into the holster, and force myself to leave Noah on the floor, "He's my friend."
The tunnels were a mess of hallways, I kept looking over my shoulder, waiting to run back to Noah to pick him up, but I knew he'd try to hurt me again. It's quiet inside the hallway, I don't feel the presence of others. There is something off, this felt too easy.
Teague would carefully plan out everything that he would do, he planned the reactions of others. He always had a plan. This was too easy. I held onto Dad again as he approached a metal door. There are voices on the other side but I pull him once again, "Dad, no this is wrong. This is a trap."
"Mila—."
"Please be careful," I whisper, "There's something wrong." I still looked at Dad, then heard Steve's voice behind the door. Dad faces me, then forces the door open as Steve speaks into Coms again. "We have him. We found Teague."
