Enigmatic | Marvel's The Avengers

t h i r t e e n

HEAVY HITS

*****

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Riley's eyes shot open, awaking from her nightmare. She quickly sat up and looks around the room, noticing she was still in the Hellicarrier. She frowns, running a hand through her long, brown locks. Shivers ran down her spine as she thought back to the nightmare she had: she stood in the center of a dark room and up ahead, she sees Clint slowly walking toward her with a bow in his hand. But the one thing that stood out to her was his bright, blue eyes that could even be seen from a great distance. She sensed this strange, sinister aura around him. He reaches behind his back and pulls out an arrow; he readies the arrow onto the bow and takes aim at her as he walked closer and closer. Fear immediately took over her in the nightmare as she extended her arms trying to project a force field. But nothing happened; her force field didn't cast around her. She tried flicking her hands toward Clint, trying to use her freezing ability, but he wasn't freezing. Nothing was working. She was powerless, defenseless, then suddenly he released the arrow and the arrow flew right toward her chest.

Thankfully she woke before the arrow hit her chest, but she could almost freel the dark, malevolent aura that surrounded her uncle. However, she knew that wasn't the man she knew so well. This man in her nightmare was his compromised self; one that she never wanted to fight against.

Riley shook her head, pushing the nightmare in the back of her mind as she moves her gaze toward the window, seeing the early morning sun peak from beneath the white clouds beyond the horizon. She scooted toward the edge of the bed, placing both feet on the ground, and stood up from the small bed; she walks out the room and starts making her way down the hall, heading toward the control room. On her way to the control room to wait for her mom, she hears a group of people arguing coming from one of the labs up ahead.

"Put on the suit," Riley heard Steve's firm voice coming from the lab. "Let's go a few rounds."

It sounded like he was threating someone. She quickly and quietly walks toward the lab's entrance, hiding behind the wall, listening in to the heated conversation. Then she heard a low chuckle coming from someone else in the lab.

"You people are so petty and tiny." Riley heard a man's voice mock in a deep accent.

"Yeah, this is a team." Bruce comments; Riley immediately noting that he was also in the lab.

"Agent Romanoff," Riley heard Nick say from inside the lab. "Would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-"

"Where?" Bruce rudely interrupted. "You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case-"

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't, I know, I tried."

There was an uncomfortable silence that filled the lab. Riley froze, her eyes widening, suddenly she grew interested, yet fearful for what Dr. Banner had to say next.

"I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out."

Riley frowns, now feeling bad for Bruce. Like others, including herself, he didn't like the 'other guy' that consumed part of him.

"So, I moved on," Bruce continues to say. "I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

There was another awkward silence that filled the room.

"Dr. Banner, put down the scepter." Steve said.