Amanda Smith (The Avengers ff) #English

23.

Days pass in which I refuse to leave my quarters permanently. I feel like a little kid, but I can't bear to see Peter.
Maybe he isn't there anymore.

"Amanda, may I come in?", I hear my brother ask. Actually, I have no choice, if I say yes, he comes in. And if I say no or just nothing, he comes in too. That's how it ever was.
"Come in", I say quietly, but loud enough for him to hear it.
I hear the door open and close again.
Slowly he sits down and looks at me, but I only look outside.
"Don't you want to come out?", he asks with his accustomed encouraging tone.
"I've been out several times, luckily nobody notice", I say softly.

After a while, he breaks his silence again,
"Peter asked for you", he says, looking at me.
"He wants to talk to you".
"I don't know if I want to talk to him", I say, trying to sound calm.
"Amanda, you're my little sister and I know when you're lying, you've always been a bad liar, you sure remember the year 2011, right?, he asks smiling.

Of course, I still remember it.
He had invited his school friends to hang out with them. At this time he already had house arrest. When my parents came back, I should say that nothing had happened. But that was very difficult for me. Sooner or later, I told them and Blake's house arrest was extended by two weeks. He was angry with me for a long time. The day this changed was almost a year later. It was the day our parents died.

At this thought the short smile disappears.
"I can't talk to him, he certainly hates me", I say.
"If you change your mind, you can look for him", he says, hugging me again and then leaving.
Hours pass, I'm still thinking about it. Then I'm sure.

No, I can't stay here any longer!
I've actually collected enough information in the last few days when I was secretly out.
I message Steve to send Natasha and Clint.
After a short answer from him, I think about how to get out of here.

Slowly I leave my quarters and go to the corridor.
Meanwhile, I know the place like the back of my hand and know how I can get on the roof best. I'm just slowly leading my way, not that anyone else becomes suspicious. Here are often any agents running around and watch every step of me.

An agent is just coming past me again and is looking at me. Shortly after, she grabs my wrist. I turn around and want to get away from her. But suddenly she speaks to me calmly,
"Not so fast Speedy", Natasha says, whereupon I start to smile.
"Since when are you here?", I ask.
"I came here shortly after you messaged Steve, he wanted me to take care of you".
Wow, Natasha has been here for a few weeks now and I didn't realize it. Well, she also wears a mask.
"Do you already have a plan on how you want to get out of here?", She asks after we keep walking.
"I wanted to go to the roof or I would have looked for a way out here", I say and somehow feel stupid.
"In the future, you have to be more tactical, if you want to be a real hero, that's very important", she says and I nod,
"You're right", I say, following her. Somehow strange that we aren't stopped yet.

We are just walking around a corner when a lot of agents come up to us. They aren't seem friendly.
Great!
But before one of them can take a weapon, they are already lying on the ground.
"Well done, kid", Natasha says.
Why do they always call me kid?
It's frustrating!
We continue to walk through the building. Shouting is heard, they are looking for us.
I can hear Blake too, he sounds disappointed. Does he really think I'm still on Tony's side?
After all this?
No thanks!
"Where's Clint?", I ask after a few minutes of running.
"He's outside in the jet waiting for my signal", she shouts so I can hear her as I already have a bigger lead.

After some time in the labyrinth of corridors, we finally find the staircase through that we come to the roof. Agents follow us up, but Natasha doesn't let them get very far. I'm already running in high speed and enter the door.
Such things they could have taught me during training. Natasha is here shortly afterwards. Together we run to the jet that is landing.
"Hurry, we don't have much time", Clint yells.

We're almost there when Natasha is suddenly hit by a bullet. Quickly I turn around and make the responsible agent incapacitated, then I lock the door to avoid further attacks. Meanwhile, Natasha made it to the jet.
Quickly I jump in and look back on the roof, because someone enters the door that I have just locked.
It's Blake.
Shortly thereafter, he also appears on the roof, in his suit. His disappointed, sad look makes me kills.

He didn't hate me.
Until now.
If he does it, I'm solely responsible.
If I had a conversation with him, we would probably still be best friends. But that's probably over.

Peter's Pov.

Was that Amanda, running down the hall with Black Widow?
I follow them as fast as I can. Does she want to leave?
I can't believe it!
Why does she rather run away than talk to me?
Is she scared?
Judging from the devastation in the stairwell, they want to go to the roof. Now Agent Smith is here as well, running up the stairs. I look for the injured agents and then follow him. He needs a few seconds to enter the door.
The jet is already in the air, I can see her in it. She returns my look, startled.
Is that the end of our friendship?

Amanda's Pov.

Under one of the seats, I pull out a first aid kit and help Natasha to bind her arm.
Now a few hours pass. Natasha stays calm, but you can see that she's in a lot of pain. How long can she stand it?
Clint turns on the autopilot and comes to us to take care of Natasha. Luckily, he gave her something to reassure.

I sit at the window and consider.
My thoughts are all about Peter.
Should I have talked to him?
Of course, I should have done it.
I close my eyes. When I sleep, I do less damage, I think, and sit back.
Now on to Wakanda.