Adopted Assassin [COMPLETED]

Chapter 14

.14
TESSA: ?
PRESENT DAY

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I heard voices again. Not the fake kind, not the ones you hear in your head. The ones that are around you. I was laying on something hard but soft. I felt a shock of pain every time I breathed in. I felt tubes going in my arms. I felt like I was paralyzed. I couldn't open my eyes or move anything.

"Her heart is beating weakly but steadily," I heard an unfamiliar voice say. Where am I?

"Then why isn't she awake?" I heard Bucky say. What is going on?

"There's the bad news, Mr. Barnes. There might be a chance that she's in a coma." Huh?

"What?!" I heard Clint's voice. "What do you mean, a chance?"

"She's in a state where she's between life and death. She might wake up, but there is a 99% chance that she won't live."

"A 99% chance? That's considerably high," I heard Natasha snap. I might die?

"I'm sorry, Miss. We don't keep patients with comas in the hospital forever. She has one month before we turn off life support."

"A month isn't a lot of time!" I heard Steve argue.

"There isn't anymore we can do." I heard footsteps walk out of the room. A month? Seriously? I wanted to move and to talk. I wanted to scream that I'm alive. I wanted to see my Dad. I didn't get to finish telling him that I loved him. I was finished, though. Even the doctor said so.

"Clint, I'm so sorry," I heard Bucky say.

"Don't be!" Clint snapped at him. "I lost her once before, now, I'm going to lose her forever. Guys, I loved her like she was my daughter, my best friend, my everything. Now, she's gone." His voice faltered.

"Clint, she was like that to the rest of us," Natasha said softly. I was? I heard footsteps come closer to me. "Clint, please -"

"Tessa?" I heard Clint say. His hand wrapped around mine. I wanted to cry out. I wanted to tell him I was okay. "Hey, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand. Please, Tess. Just a little squeeze, nothing else." His voice cracked near the end. I focused all of my energy into squeezing his hand. It didn't work. "Tessa, please. I love you. You're my little sister. Please," he said. I couldn't give up. This was Clint. I focused my heart, my soul, my power, and my mind into giving his hand one little squeeze. Please, a little squeeze, just this once. Please, give me the strength. Please, let me do it for him. For all of them. For Dad. "Tessa, come on, anything." I couldn't do it. I was weak.

"Everyone, visiting hours are over in 15 minutes." The doctor's voice rang throughout the room.

"Come on, Clint," I heard Steve's voice say.

"Go on without me, guys. I'll - uh, walk home," Clint said. I heard footsteps leave the room. The door shut and I heard the footsteps come back. I suddenly heard Clint's sobs. "Tessa, please. Just give me a sign. Please, I need you back. I can't go on. You saved my butt, on the roof. And then I saved yours, at HYDRA. And then you saved mine again, with the bomb.  But now, I can't save yours. Tessa, I can't lose you." I felt my heart break into a million pieces. His hand wrapped around mine. "Tessa, squeeze my hand." I couldn't. I was too broken and hurt. I thought of an idea. I could create a hologram of myself and send him a message. But I could only do it once. It was worth it.

"Clint," I heard my voice say. It worked. I heard a gasp from Clint. "This is only a hologram of me. I can't have a conversation with you. You can't tell anyone about this. I can only do this once, since it takes so much power.  But I'm alright. I can hear everything you guys say. I'm too weak to squeeze your hand. I'm really sorry. I feel so helpless and useless, laying here. I need to tell you that I love you like my big brother. I love you like a second father. I'm heartbroken that I can't tell you this in person. I hope I can get out of this. I can try to get out of this. I promise you, I will try. I wouldn't be able to stand that I didn't get to tell you all of this before I - before I died. Clint, you were my everything. My only hope. The only way out. My escape. I'm sorry that I can't be that for you anymore. I love you, Clint. I miss seeing your smile. I miss laughing at your jokes. I just needed to say good bye," my hologram finished. I heard Clint sniffling. "I love you, Clint. I'm proud of you even if this ends horrible. Bye, Arrows." I thought to make the hologram disappear.

"Tessa, don't leave!" I heard Clint say. "Tess, I love you too. Just fight." There was a pause. "I have to go now, see you tomorrow. I promise that I'll try to buy you time. I promise I won't tell anyone. Don't I keep my promises?"

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Over the course of the next couple of weeks, everyone visited me a lot. Clint, Bucky, and Dad were the ones who visited the most. They all told me things that were going on in their lives, about their near-death experiences on the missions, and just stories from their past.

Clint talked to me the most, though. He knew that I could hear him, so he talked a lot.

Dad also talked to me a lot, but he sometimes just sat beside me.

Bucky mostly talked, sometimes just sat there, holding my hand.

Thor told me stories about his adventures in Asgard.

Steve talked a little, but in the end, he always said, "Stay strong, Tessa."

Natasha talked but barely. She held my hand the whole time she was there.

Bruce normally talked and argued with the doctor about giving me more time. He didn't really talk to me.

Sam came one day, but broke down after an hour.

No one else came, though. Just the Avengers.

It was the day that they were going to turn off my life support. I was really nervous. I didn't understand why they couldn't give me more time. I'm twelve years old. I haven't even lived out half of my life yet. But it didn't matter what I thought. I couldn't say it.

The Avengers said their goodbyes. They all cried. I could've cried with them, but considering what circumstances I was under —

"Tessa, I'm really sorry," Clint said when he came in. It was only him and Dad left. "I couldn't buy you any time. I know that you said you'd be proud of me either way, but I feel like I failed you. I'll miss you, you know. I'll try not to die while you're gone. I promise that I won't fall off any more roofs if you're not there to catch me. I promise that I'll try not to get shot. I might even rename myself Arrows." I heard Clint chuckle. "I love you, Tessa," he whispered and planted a kiss on my head. I heard footsteps walk out of the room. The last time I hear Clint's voice. Wow. I heard someone come into the room. Dad.

"Hey, Tessa," Tony said. "The doctor said we have to - we have to turn off your life support." I heard him draw a deep breath. "The doctor won't let you go on any longer. He says that - that you shouldn't suffer anymore. Look, I just wanted to tell you that this is all my fault. I shouldn't have ordered the wrong chemicals, even though I was sure that I - never mind. You would still be with me if I didn't do it. I would have raised you if I didn't stop to talk to that stupid fan. I could have trained you if I didn't give up. I - I'm sorry. I wish that I could hear your voice say that you loved me to me." I heard nothing, not even a cry after that.

This is crazy, I thought to myself. If I can do freaking magic, I should be able to wake up. Wake up, Tessa. Wake up. Wake up for the Avengers. Wake up for Bucky. For Clint. For Dad. Wake up. Just this once. I focused all of my power, my heart, my soul, and my mind into opening my eyes. They were so heavy and I was so weak. I forced them open only to be greeted with a blinding light. I quickly shut them. No, I'm not giving up now. I opened my eyes slowly and looked around. I was in a hospital. There were machines surrounding my bed. I craned my neck over to my right, where I saw my Dad with his head in his hands. I turned my head back to the ceiling. With great difficulty, I forced my hand  up to my face and I shakily pulled off my oxygen mask. I turned my head back over to my Dad, where he still had his head rested in his hands.

"D-Dad?" I croaked out. He lifted his head slowly and gazed at me, mouth wide open. "I-I l-love y-you," I stuttered. He had gotten up by now and sat by my bed. "D-Did I-I f-forget t-to m-mention that?" He smiled at me. Dad wrapped his fingers around mine.

"Yes, yes you did." He chuckled. "Tess, please don't scare the crap out of me like that ever again."

"I can't promise that." I laughed, but immediately felt pain in my lungs.

"Easy there, Tess. You're pretty beaten up." He squeezed my hand. "And Tessa?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."