Elizabeth Barton/Ghost (Avengers Fanfiction)

The Avengers' Recruits

Hello Marvel fans,

When I really love something, I just have to write a fanfiction about it. And I LOVE the Avengers. This fanfiction follows the plot of the movie, but with the addition of a character of my own creation. Elizabeth Barton has a complex story of her own which I have done my best to weave into this story. I hope you enjoy this fanfiction as much as I did writing it.

     Clint hovered over me, lifting me off the gurney and into his arms. My vision wasn't very clear, but I could make him out okay. The bright white light coming through the open door into the pitch black room surrounded him. I could almost believe he was a guardian angel coming to my rescue.

There were tears in his beautiful blue eyes that were lighter blue than the clearest sky. They were the color our mother's eyes were. "Clint," I whispered weakly. A new round of pain racked through my body and made my skull feel like it was about to split open. I writhed, crying and screaming and Clint struggled to hold onto me as I flailed.

"It's alright Lizzie. You'll be okay. I promise." I could hear the pain and tears in his voice. A needle was jabbed just below my elbow and drowsiness swept over me.

"No," I screamed at him. "Please, no more sedatives." I sobbed as I grew even sleepier. I was afraid of what would await me in the darkness and of what might be waiting for me when I woke up.

"Shh, it's okay. You need to rest. I have to do it." he tried to soothe me. He clutched me tighter with one arm as he brushed my bangs away from my eyes with gentle strokes, his fingers trembling as he did so. "I'm so sorry, but I have to. I'll be here for you when you wake up." I clung to that promise as I drifted away.

Thunk! The fifth knife stuck in the red bull's eye of my target. Breathing hard, I wiped my brow and continued my knife throwing. Strength flowed through my arms, strength I wished I could use to pummel Loki instead of uselessly practicing in the training room. Another knife sank perfectly in the center of the same target...

Lights blinded me as I opened my eyes. I was aware of a slow beeping by my right ear. Tubes were taped to my arms and I almost freaked out as I thought I was still in Facility A-24. Could Clint rescuing me have been just a dream? It wouldn't surprise me. The Operators had messed with my brain so much that it didn't seem so crazy to have some hallucinations now and then. It might have even been expected even though I hadn't had them before.

But no, there was a sharp smell in the air that tickled my nose, a smell I usually associate with antiseptics and medicine. A doctor's office... a hospital. I was in a hospital, not in the facility. No more darkness, no more drunk awareness, no more figures in dark clothes with hoods up, and thank God, no more getting strapped down to a gurney, wires attached to a machine taped to my forehead and forearms. I wouldn't have to feel volts of electricity being shot through my body, the brain signals reacting to the shocks traveling to a computer that was monitored by the Operators. And best of all, no more shots of serums were going to be injected into my veins, running through my body and changing me. I was going to be their guinea pig no more.

"Lizzie," My eyes saw white tiled floor, rows of cabinets, pale blue ceiling, a vase of flowers on the bedside table and an open window pouring cheery sunlight into the room before I saw my brother in the armchair beside the hospital bed I was lying in.

I smiled a tired smile. He grinned. "You have no idea how good it feels seeing you smile again."

"I'm glad you found me Clint. I don't know how much longer I would have been able to hold out." I winced at how rough my voice sounded.