Rip My Heart Out (Avengers Age of Ultron)

Chapter 4

We rushed through the air for what seemed like an eternity. I couldn't see anything we were passing, only blurs of colors speeding by. I had no idea where we were or how far we'd gone. All I knew was fear.

I had been swept out of the arms of my best friend in a fury of blue light and wind. One moment we were laughing and making fun of Steve and the next I was being carried off into the night by some stranger at supersonic speeds. It was terrifying. I didn't know if I'd ever see Steve or anyone else ever again. I thought about my parents in their cottage in Northern New York. It had been weeks since I'd last spoken to them. I couldn't help but think about what they were doing.

My mom was probably knitting me another scarf. She would be sitting by the fireplace on the couch with some home DIY show on the TV in the background. My dad was probably cooking dinner in the kitchen, humming to himself as he went along. They would both have smiles plastered to their faces. They were always such happy people. They were the most in love I'd ever seen two people be, and they were so content with the life they had.

I wonder if anyone will tell them that I've been kidnapped. It's hard to say really. Maybe this would all be classified information. Maybe no one will even think about it. I've talked to Steve about my family before, but he has a million other things on his mind right now, so I couldn't blame him if he didn't.

I just couldn't help but think about how different their lives would be if they knew that their only child, their little girl was being carried to an unknown location where god only knows what would be done to her. There would no longer be smiling and humming. There would only be tears and confusion. My mother would never knit another thing in her life, because it would remind her too much of me. My father would blame himself for not protecting me.

They wouldn't be content with their life any longer. They would just be left in the wake of tragedy, trying to hold their lives together.

But I couldn't think about that now. I couldn't think about what kind of state Steve must be in either. With a panicky voice and a clenched jaw, I knew he would be searching for me. He would be looking for me and he would find me.

I just had to survive until then.

The man held onto me tight. I knew I wouldn't fall, but that did nothing to ease my discomfort. It was difficult to breath, near impossible actually. The air seemed to whip past me and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to catch any of it for myself. I could only seem to find relief if I held my head against the man's chest. It was as if he had a bubble of air around him. I was torn between breathing and touching him more than absolutely necessary, but when it came down to it, there was no real competition. I needed to breathe and I couldn't do that without leaning into him.

Once I got breathing sorted out, I started to notice other things. For instance, I was extremely cold. Logically, I knew the friction from moving so fast should be making me really hot or worse, but nonetheless, I was freezing. I noticed myself shaking all over. The longer we went, the worse it got. My hands started to go numb and I was afraid I was going to freeze.

"Who are you?" I asked between chattering teeth. I practically had to yell to cut through the air rushing past us.

"Don't talk." He replied, without even looking at me.

We kept going for a long time before anything else changed. I continued to get colder and colder, my limbs becoming more and more numb as the time passed. After a while, I stopped shivering. I was so cold, I couldn't even do that anymore.

I saw the man look down at me and wrinkle his eyebrows together. He stopped abruptly, jolting us back into a stationary world. My mind played tricks on me. It felt as if we were still moving, even though I could see everything had stopped. It was like getting off a treadmill after a long run and feeling like you're walking way too fast, only it was reversed. Everything around me was moving way too fast, and I couldn't seem to keep up. The world was running away from me.