Magic & Desire (Clint Barton Fan Fiction)

Chapter 27

"I shouldn't have let her come on this." I think that was Levi talking. His voice sounded like it was in a barrel, making hearing a little difficult. What I could hear though was an annoying beeping noise could be heard in the background of the small talk.

"It's not your fault, Levi." That was a female voice. It had to be either Natasha or Wanda. There wasn't an accent on the voice so I assumed it was Natasha.

"She's not even an Avenger though." Another male voice said. That must be Clint. It sounded like him. "She's made it clear she doesn't want to be one of us. She shouldn't have gone with us."

"You know what, guys?" Natasha asked. "Shyla did go with us and she told us what the hell the whole place was and warned us about the truck driving off. She'll pull through. You know she will. You've seen her through worse, Levi. One little bullet isn't going to kill her."

"One little bullet broke a rib, fractured another, and caused her lung to collapse." Clint said bluntly. There was a moment of silence before Levi spoke.

"But Natasha's right. She'll be able to pull through. She's got to."

I wanted to open my eyes, to wake up and tell them that I was fine and they were overreacting. However when I actually tried to open my eyes, it felt like there was something preventing my eyes from opening. The beeping noise began to escalate to be even more annoying and rapid.

"Something's not right." Clint said and then shouted to someone. "We need a doctor in here! Now!"

I tried to fight the sleepiness that was pulling me in and dragging me down but it was too much.

"She's flat lining!"

The darkness won.

•*•*•

"Shyla?" Clint gently shook my shoulder. "Baby? Wake up."

"Et ego odi." {I hate you—Latin} I mumbled, scratching whatever was tickling my nose. But the tickling sensation didn't go away.

I opened my eyes to see a big black cat laying directly on the pillow beside my head. For a moment, I was confused and say up quickly but then the cat opened its eyes when I moved so suddenly, disrupting its sleep. Its eyes were the same golden color as Ember's.

"Somethin' wrong, Shyla?" Clint asked from somewhere behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see he was getting dressed, like he was about to leave.

"No.... No." I shook my head, sitting up on my knees. "It's just.... I don't remember Ember being that big."

"I told you to cut back on feeding her. She's getting fat."

I shook my head gently. What was happening?

My hand came up to my right ribcage, where I had been shot. Nothing hurt and I was breathing fine.

A dog barking from somewhere beyond the opened door to our bedroom frightened Ember and she scurried to get into my lap. Sharp claws came out of their sheaths and scratched against the bare skin of my thighs.

I winced a little and repositioned her.

"What was that noise?" I asked Clint.

"Lucky." He replied as he buttoned up a white dress shirt. "He's probably pissed cause the kids are hiding his toys." Clint lifted his gaze up to look at me when he got to the last buttons at the top of the shirt. "You okay?"

I shook my head, running my fingers through Ember's black fur. My stomach had this weird feeling that made me want to vomit.

"What's wrong?" Clint moved to sit on the edge of the bed.