Alone Together

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I sat silently on the cold floor of the Quinjet with my back resting against Steve's legs. The soothing feeling of his fingers running through my tangled curls was the only thing keeping the overwhelming feeling of guilt from consuming me, that and it did wonders for my pounding headache.

The fight that had taken place between Tony and the Hulk had been catastrophic to say the least. They had destroyed half the city in their showdown and though I had yet to hear an official body count, I knew that it was going to be high.

I kept cursing myself for not arriving sooner; I had been so caught up in Pietro that I hadn't been able to step in before things had gotten out of hand, though Tony assured me that if I hadn't been there things would have been much worse. I had managed to use my mind control on the Hulk to disorientate him long enough for Tony to subdue him. But by then half the city had either turned to dust or fire.

From my seat on the floor I could hear Maria Hill's voice flooding the cockpit as she spoke to Tony and Clint. "The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air." Steve's fingers stilled in my hair and I knew that he had heard Maria's words as well. I glanced over at Bruce's huddled form and it was evident that he was more guilt wracked than I was. Add in the effects of Wanda's mind control and who knows what kind of hell he was going through right now.

Tony paused for a moment before speaking, "The Stark Relief Foundation?"

I could practically picture Maria nodding as she spoke, "Already on the scene. How's the team?" There was a note of genuine concern in her voice.

Tony sighed and ran his hand over his face in agitation. "Everyone's..." He paused and started again. "We took a hit. We'll shake it off." I couldn't tell if he was saying that to convince her or himself.

"Well for now I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here." Maria responded not unkindly.

"So, run and hide?" That must have been a blow to Tony's ego.

"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer." Always the voice of reason, Maria Hill.

"Neither do we." Tony said with a tone that rang with finality. With that he switched off the monitor and ended the call.

There were a few heartbeats of silence from the cockpit before Tony spoke, this time addressing Clint. "Hey, you wanna switch out?"

"No, I'm good. If you wanna get some kip, now's a good time, cause we're still a few hours out."

"A few hours from where?" Tony sounded genuinely confused.

"A safe house."

As their conversation dropped off, I eventually gave into my overwhelming exhaustion and let the soothing feeling of Steve's fingers running through my hair lull me to sleep. I was woken up several hours later by Steve gently shaking my shoulder and telling me we had arrived.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I stepped out of the Quinjet: a super-secret military base, a deserted island, a cave. I definitely wasn't expecting a farmhouse that looked like it belonged in Little House on the Prairie.

"What is this place?" Thor asked, looking just as confused as I felt. I got the feeling that they didn't have farm houses on Asgard.

"A safe house?" Tony replied, but he sounded unsure.