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Nora was sure and nervous all at the same time.
She had contacted Fury as soon as she can, after the failed assasination attempt on her, telling him that she had think it through and she now so wanted to continue with their previous plan– to return to that god forbid base that has been her biggest hell, and destroy it from it's core– all the while hoping this, or after a few, it will be the end of HYDRA too.
For a second, she could feel the fatherly concern of his that he rarely shown, wondering why she changed her mind suddenly, when she was positive telling him the other day that she would be staying in Avengers without any condition this time, all the while telling him that she don't want to go back to that place, if it meant relooking in her past, when she had got everything she ever desired right in the palm of her hand.
It was quite obvious for her, she was tired, and she hadn't realized how much until those two tried to snatch away her life with her. She was tired of living in a constant state of alertness–seeing every lingering eyes as potential threats or a return of her past. She was tired of living in a world where there was always a fear that HYDRA would somehow again come and meddle in her life.
She was tired, because somewhere deep inside her heart, she felt afraid. The broken voice of her inner child that she never bothered to face and talk to, shuddering, fearing what if they do get her again.
And so she decided, maybe it was about time she confronted her past despite how daunting the topic seemed to be.
Or...maybe that if she turned that base into nothing–the base that was the only source of her past, she possibly never have to confront it.
Tomorrow was the day.
She leaned against the railing, looking at the sky that was covered with stars that night, their gentle presence a constant remainder of light. She clenched and unclenched her fists, her mind and heart in a turmoil that constantly waged a war if her ideology was right, what if something went wrong, something went off track...
There were more questions that she dared confront or think of, she knew that believing in herself wasn't her best suite but, now when she made a decision that would involve the whole team with her leading it, because she knew the base best.
It was haunting.
Only then, can she think about what Fury feel when he announces a new mission concerning agents that he had started caring about, or what Steve feel when they are on the field, everyone on his command, their life on lines.
"Tony," she whispered, when she felt two warm hands wrapping around her waist. His strong frame engulfed her in a back hug. The scent of his aftershave tickled her senses and she sighed, her body relaxing almost immediately in his embrace, feeling the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat against her back.
Tony leaned his head against her neck, placing a soft kiss on the scar just above her carotid artery, the one which represented her freedom and fears at the same time. He was of course, very worried the night when JARVIS finally getting his signals back informed Tony that Nora was on the rooftop and the situation there.
