You Didn't See Us Running

Chapter 3

I sat on one of the desks in Tony's lab as he clicked through the files.  "They're all gone," he said.  "Ultron must've escaped through the internet and taken everything with him."

"Any sign of who he killed?" Steve asked.  Steve, always looking out for the people.

Tony pushed a few buttons and a glowing hologram came into view in the middle of the room.  "JARVIS," Tony replied.

"Which means we have next to no connection to figure out what Ultron is after," Natasha said.

"I think he made it pretty clear," I added.  "He wants us dead.  Poof.  No more.  Bye-bye Avengers."

"Yeah, we kind of got that," Clint said.

I held up my hands in defense as I leaned back a bit to keep my balance on the desk.  "Just saying."

"Well can you say something that would be helpful?" Clint asked.

"Just call me when you need someone to run," I responded snarkily.  I wasn't in the mood to be bothered by stupid questions, but clearly the other Avengers weren't either.

"Guys, stop fighting.  We have to figure this out," Steve said.  I crossed my arms and sighed.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes.

"Kim-" Steve said.

"Don't talk to me like that.  Stop treating me like the kid that I'm not.  Solve this problem and I can deal with myself," I responded.  I jumped off the desk and flipped the hood of the sweatshirt that I had changed into up.  The navy blue fabric made me unable to see on my sides, but I started walking out.  "Call me when you need me."

The door opened automatically and I walked out to the balcony.  The stars were barely visible over the light pollution, but I still stood out there watching.  Waiting for something to happen that I would be needed for.

Waiting for a chance to run.

___

I must've fallen asleep outside, but I woke up when Tony came outside.  "Get ready," he said, clearly heard over the sound of traffic below.

"For what?" I asked as I stood up and brushed the dust off of my dress skirt and my hoodie.  The rough stone and dirt that were always on the balcony not matter how many times we sweeped it normally got stuck in my clothes whenever I slept outside, which was quite often.

"We have a lead," he responded.  "Be ready to fight."

I took off.  In seconds I was changed into my Nike gear, light blue running tank top and neon yellow shorts.  And my white and lime green sneakers, which were basically my twin babies.  When I got to the jet, everyone was already there.

"Dang you all beat me for once," I said as I slid into a seat.

"We told you to get ready once we were all ready.  It helped," Natasha said.

I nodded as the plane took off.  As we flew over the ocean, it was silent.  "So what exactly are we doing?" I asked.

"Figuring out what Ultron wants with the vibranium," Tony responded.

"Oh, ok.  Because that totally answers all of my question," I said.

"Look, you need to quit it with the sass.  We get it.  You run fast and that's all you want to do.  But you need to shut up, slow down and listen for once," Clint said from the front.

"I can't slow down," I replied.  "Last time I did-" I scoffed as I broke off my sentence.

"What happened last time?" Steve asked.

It was dark.  So dark.  And I couldn't do anything to stop it.  I couldn't do anything to save him.  I wasn't fast enough.  I couldn't do anything but stand and watch through the darkness as everything I knew fell apart.  I couldn't do anything to help.  I couldn't do anything to fix it after.

I couldn't tell them.  I just needed to run.

I never responded to Steve's question.

_____

We landed in Africa, nothing too exciting.  I walked out of the jet and looked around and I breathed in the fresh air.  This was good running air, so much cleaner than the city air.

Not that I would share that.  They wouldn't get it.

Steve was going on about the plan, but I barely heard him.  "Blah, blah, blah, stop the guy... blah, blah, blah... vibranium... Ultron."

Whatever.  Just get the goods and run, that's what I got out of it.

"Kim are you listening?" Steve asked.

"Guy, Ultron, Vibranium.  When can I start running?" I replied.  Everyone sighed in response.

"Do you never learn?" Bruce asked.

"I'm the runner.  I run.  When will you get that?" I said.

"Fine.  Go," Natasha said.

I took off.  Running on water was one of my favorite things.  It took an extreme amount of focus on where to place your feet and how fast you had to move them in order to stay on top of the water.  I ran a circle around the boat in order to find the best entrance point, then I climbed inside.

It felt so good to run, so good to be free, for once.