The Youngest Avenger

Chapter 4 - SHIELD Base 7

  Gently, like snowflakes landing on grass, I allowed lights to seep back into the emptiness of my vision.

A large group of people became slowly visible, two medics, Agent Coulson, three armed security guards and a guy with a bow in his hand.
As I hadn't turned my hearing back on, I decided to sign.
"I'm okay, don't worry."
To my surprise, the archer actually signed back!
"How are you feeling?"
"Overwhelmed. Scared. Slightly nauseous." I stood up and walked towards him. "Where am I?"
"Shield base seven." His reply left me puzzled, but I nodded anyway and turned to Coulson, who had been watching this unfold. He turned to the archer.
"You never told me you knew BSL as well!" I managed to lip read, badly; Coulson spoke pretty fast.
"I had some spare time on my hands." The archer emphasized his mouth movements, allowing me to pick up the joke.
"That was pretty poor, Archer." I signed.
"My name's Clint Barton." He smiled. "Shall we go in or do you want to stay out here all day?"

I followed him through the glass doors, into a lobby. The place looked more like a hotel than a top secret military base. I stood awkwardly by the doors while Clint chatted animatedly to a lady at the reception desk. Eventually, I plucked up my courage and gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Where are we?" I signed. "I know it's a military base, but why am I here?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I thought you were going to tell me."

"Great."

"I'm going to ask Coulson, okay?" Clint signed, stepping away from me. Although he had already turned away, I mouthed 'Okay'. I hadn't used sign language since my cousin Jack- No. I signed it involuntarily as the thought raced through my head. I had already learned that thinking about them was a bad idea. Just pretend it was all a dream. It never happened.

They never existed.

Interrupting my dark thoughts, Coulson strode through the reception doors, flanked by two enormous guys who were literally just slabs of pure muscle.

"Is the escort really necessary?" Clint said irritably. "She's a kid for Christ's sake."

"I have to be careful." Coulson sighed. "Fury's still pretty tight on security since the Winter Soldier incident."

I waved in front of Clint's face.

"Oops, sorry." He smiled. "Coulson says he's going to take you up to, uh, see the manager."

"Okay..." I left the word hanging.

"Shall we go?" Coulson asked, emphasizing his lip movements in what I guessed to be an effort at helping.

"Sure, I'm ready." I signed. "What are we waiting for?"