not like you → c . barton

[16]

Mrs. O'Harris didn't make it. Her bullet wound was too severe, and she died at home, with Jeb, Diamond, and Mr. O'Harris by her sides. When my mom found out, she didn't talk to me. Even dad kept his distance. If Tony or Natasha were here to give a heads up on SHIELD stuff, they just looked up at me if I entered the room. Not one word was said to me. They were treating me like an explosive. I spoke to Diamond on the phone, and there was nothing to her voice. It was flat, lifeless even. I spoke to Jeb the following day, and he sounded broken. He was a lot closer to his mom than his dad. I offered to come over and maybe help him and Diamond out, but that was when he hung up on me, angrily claiming that I had done enough. This wasn't even my fault. Their mom had been shot while we were on our way there, and it was their dad who might have caused it. He was the one who called us. I didn't say that, of course, because he hung up on me. I wouldn't have said that even if he didn't hang up.

Even Hank had been avoiding me. I couldn't call him, and he didn't come by like he said he would. Hell, even Cooper and Lila stayed away from me, like the plague. The only one who wanted to be near me was the only one who didn't understand: Nathaniel. I sat in his room, talked for a little bit, watched him babble a bit, then went into my room to cry. It was like I didn't even exist anymore, like I was the baby's imaginary friend. It made my head hurt, my stomach flop, and my heart twist. It was like I was dead to everyone at this point. So, that's how I treated it.

***

I was sitting up in my tree during a nice July afternoon, holding a slingshot in one hand. I had a bucket of pebbles hooked around my belt loop, and I was firing them at the side of the house. No one yelled at me, so I didn't care. A few almost broke my window, but I doubt anyone would care. I could run away and no one would notice. They'd all just think I was doing another stupid rescue mission, but there's no one to save. I'm too far gone myself. I reached into my bucket to grab more pebbles, but I found that I had used them all. I then climbed down from the tree, set my bucket and slingshot down, and went inside the house to grab a bottle of water. I made my way to the kitchen and went to open the fridge, but there was nothing inside. In fact, there was no one in the house at all. No mom, no dad, no Cooper or Lila or even Nathaniel. No other Avengers. I was alone.

"Hello?" I called out, closing the door to the vacant fridge. I began to walk around the house, and I noticed that it had gone dark outside. The sun was shining in the middle of the sky not five minutes ago. Something was wrong.

"Mom? Dad! Coop? Lila! Nathaniel?!" I yelled, my heart beating faster and panic filling my voice. I ran around the house, and there was no sign of life anywhere. Tears began to fill my eyes, but I wiped them away and rushed outside. It was pitch black, and dents from the pebbles were more defined. I looked around frantically, tears finally dripping down my cheeks. Out of nowhere, these eyes were in the sky, big and mean.... and red. Violet. Her shrieking laughter rang through the air, and Meathead, along with Beef Brain, emerged from the darkness behind me. Before I could run, they grabbed me roughly by the arms, and I struggled against them.

"No use girly!" Violet laughed, and I was thrown onto the ground. Dirt smudged on my face, and I got grass stains on my clothes, or so I thought. Instead of hitting earth, I hit the floor of a building. When I looked up, the entire thing was black, outlined with purple, like in a video game. Out stepped Violet, in her HYDRA garb, holding a briefcase. She opened it up, and inside was this silver stone-like device. There was also a pair of tongs in the case as well. With the tongs, Violet lifted the stone thing out of the case and set it on the ground, near my face. Harshly, she grabbed a fistfull of my hair, and she pressed my cheek to it. It felt cool, like metal, and it started to glow a bit. Then, it was like something triggered inside of me, because I began to scream, and my body was covered in stone.

"I knew she was special," Violet whispered, and the rock covered my face.

***

I jolted upright, screaming my heart out. I was back in my bedroom, and my door swung open. In rushed my parents, and immediately, I was engulfed in a tight hug. I suddenly burst into tears and clung to both my mom and dad, and my dad rubbed my back.

"Shh, Alex. We're here now sweetie," my mom whispered, and I buried my face into my dad's chest.

"W-what happened?" I stuttered, and they both looked down at me. The looks concerned me very, very much.

"The same thing that happened to your friends. You all blacked out in some way, and you all woke up today, screaming. You've been asleep for a week," Dad whispered, and I looked up at him.

"Is Mrs. O'Harris okay?" I asked, and my Dad nodded.

"She is. Don't worry."

"And what about my friends?"

"They should be just fine. Did you dream anything while you were out?"

I thought about it for a moment, and I felt fresh tears come to my eyes.

"I.... I dreamed that you all hated me, that I was invisible to you. And then... And then Violet came out of nowhere with a briefcase and there was this stone in it and she made me touch it and my body got covered with stone...."

The look my parents shared was one that made my skin crawl.

"We need to get you kids to the lab, now."