Unexpected

Terrible Day, Terrible Night

I scurried back to the kitchen and started scrubbing furiously away at the mountain of dirty dishes that the workers had left for me to do. As I sponged and rinsed plate after plate and fork after fork I tried to shove my latest encounter with Loki out of my head, but it kept replaying over again. I was an idiot, a complete idiot! Why had I told Loki that his plan was terrible? Was I trying to get stabbed? Was this how it was going to be every day? I'd go in that room and face him, have a strange showdown with him, and leave with my heart racing? He was frightening, powerful, and angry, but he was also clever, intriguing, and when he wanted to be, devilishly charming. His conversations were off-putting, but it seemed like he was toying with me with them, trying to set me off balance, but he also seemed genuinely interested in my answers, even the ones that upset him, like my answers to his plan questions. This interest, if it could be called that, frightened me all the more. Why me? I wiped my face of the frustrated tears that had slipped from my eyes, only managing to make my face wetter and get soap in my eye.

"Dang it! I cried at the stinging and dropped my scrubby. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

I paced around the kitchen, furiously rubbing at my eye and mumbling 'ow' to myself. That's it! I've had it! Suddenly my music was extremely aggravating. Covering my sore eye I stomped over to my phone and angrily whacked at the buttons until my music finally stopped. Then there was silence and I felt horrible. What was wrong with me? I don't get angry like this and throw fits because of a little soap! Understandably, I was in a crazy, stressful situation and all, but this wasn't me! All my life I had been the kind, patient, sweet one. I was always the well-behaved one and was expected to be the reliable, responsible, always smiling daughter, niece, granddaughter, friend, co-worker. Why was I crumbling like this?

Sighing, I pushed away from the counter I was leaning against and saw Clint standing in the kitchen doorway. I jumped and gasped, then, feeling foolish, I gave him a weak smile.

"I hope you didn't turn off your music because of me." He said, the corner of his mouth turning up a bit in a slightly sympathetic smile. This caught me off guard more than his sudden appearance had. Was he actually showing personality?

"Oh no." I sputtered, "I didn't know you were... I mean... I just, well, ugh. It was getting on my nerves."

"Is you eye okay?"

I nodded my head, "Yeah, just a little soap in the eye, nothing major."

"So why were you freaking out just a moment ago?" He asked, leaning against the wall next to the doorway, his tone was serious, as was his face, but it was no longer like stone.

I bit my lip for a moment, "It's been... a day, I guess you could say."

He merely lifted his eyebrow to ask for me to clarify.

"I mean everything's wrong. I was just minding my own business, living my own life as well as I could when suddenly, 'bang!', I've been kidnapped! That's horrifying! And then I wake up in a cell, like an animal and Loki tries to mind control me! That's not even the scariest part, because, as you know, it didn't work! Now he's asking me questions and people are testing me to see if there's something weird about me! And this whole criminal operation... I'm being forced to help in taking over the world, causing mass destruction!" I found myself shouting my rant and blushed, hushing up immediately, "And I've been brought to this. I can't handle it and it's only day one."

The pair of us were quiet for a few moments before Barton spoke up again, his tone tinted with encouragement, "You will."

I gave him a weak smile, wishing beyond wish that he wasn't mind controlled, then maybe he could help me, "Thanks."